Anticipation

My hubby called tonight very nervous and excited to ask me something.  After a pause, he asked me if he could spend half of our 1 Year Anniversary budget on an event (which is still undisclosed) that he is fully confident I would love.  His question then made me both nervous and excited!

Of course I was nervous because he was asking to use half of the money we were planning on spending.  That would leave only half for the potential hotel or dinner costs.  We only decided on our budget last week while driving home from our Moab, UT trip.  I initially expected the hotel to be the majority of our cost for our anniversary.

However, excitement rushed through me because I can't wait to have something to look forward to!  I started attempting to brainstorm with hubby weeks ago.  We will be celebrating our first year together in early November.  I know many people don't plan nearly that far in advanced, and that we still have plenty of time.  Nonetheless, half of the fun of great events is the planning and anticipation!  Remember anticipating things like your first date, graduating, going to college, and getting married?  Anticipation is a key ingredient to help keep things fun and exciting!

I think that sometimes we forget how important it is to give ourselves something to look forward to.  Life isn't always fun, it is frequently exhausting and sometimes overwhelming.  Having something to look forward to is motivating, and even helps relieve stress.  Even if you don't have anything coming up, existing special occasions aren't requirements for planning something.  Often simply planning in advanced is what makes the occasion special, because the excitement builds up.   It is so easy to neglect the "anticipation factor," especially because life is busy!  I think that making a point to continue dating even after getting married, and planning a few special things every now and then has a huge positive impact on relationships.  Knowing that my husband is thinking about our celebration three months out makes it feel extra special.  Thinking about going to a fun event is making my face light up.  My heart is beating faster because I can't wait to plan the rest of the details with him.  Ultimately, the anticipation of it all is making me feel closer to my hubby.  

Do you think anticipation helps things become more special, meaningful, or romantic?

Friday Night Date Night

It is Friday! Typically we plan on going out to dinner together on Friday night, but we went Wednesday this week to celebrate being married 8 months on the 8th of the month. :) I know we're silly, but it was a fun excuse to go out on a weekday.

We always try to plan something together for Friday Night Date Night. However, we are postponing our date night this week until Saturday night because we are going to go to West Side Story at the Scera Outdoor Shell! I love going to musicals there! My husband and I went to Beauty and the Beast at the Scera Shell in May. We brought tons of blankets to lay down and keep us warm. Then we snuggled up and enjoyed the show under the stars. It was seriously romantic, and so fun. I always enjoy weekends that we have something extra fun (a little more than just dinner out) planned.

If you're married, do you try to plan a date night every week? What is one of your favorite dates? I'd love to hear your ideas.

When we got married, as part of my wedding gift to my husband I gave him the book "How to Date Your Wife" by Stan Cronin. I'm not going to lie, I have read this book more than he has. But it has some great ideas in it! He breaks down his dating ideas into categories: daily, weekly, quarterly, yearly, and 5-year. Breaking it down like this helped us understand the importance of planning ahead and making certain occasions more special. He recommended planning your quarterly dates 3 months in advanced, so that you get to spend the 3 months working up to it getting excited about the anticipation. The same goes for yearly dates (or anniversary dates), and that starting to plan a year out helps make the occasion more special.

There is one idea in particular that I want to share with you. I loved this idea so much, that I took time to read it with my husband. Cronin has this great idea about saving up for a special 5-year date. I mean really special, like Europe or Hawaii trip special. When I first told my husband that was something I wanted to plan on, he got that anxious "how in the world would be afford that as a young and poor couple" look. BUT when you break it down to setting aside $15-$20/week a big celebratory trip is totally do-able.

Since we've hit 8 months and don't have anything planned for 1 year yet, I've been trying to come up with some smaller ideas (compared to Hawaii) that we could look forward to... any suggestions?

Where have you gone on cool trips to celebrate special occasions?