"It's a Date" Book and our January Date

As I mentioned before, I gave Greg a date book for Christmas that was a compilation of 12 pre-planned dates, one for each month in the upcoming year.


It took about 3 days to create and these were the supplies I used.


How I made it:

1. I cut 4 inches off the ends of 13 brown kraft envelopes and inked the edges to keep it masculine. 
2. I then punched 2 holes in the cut ends and used a 7 gypsies elastic band to bind the envelopes together.  
3. I added Making Memories rub on letters for the title.
4. I used a 7 Gypsies mini 'door handle' on the first envelope page and a small little charm tied to the elastic band with waxy flax. Inside this cover page was a card with a note explaining the purpose of the book.
5. Then I added a monthly sticker to each envelope page and a small 'clue' in the form of a silver word plate on the facing page. Inside each months envelope page is a card that explains our monthly date.
6. The most time consuming part of the entire project was thinking of 12 dates, taking into consideration the month, special occassions and/or local events.  Here's a peek at the cards - I had to make sure I didn't give anything away in this picture since these are all top secret! (The card in the bottom right hand corner that reads "Gift of Love" is the explanation card that was inside the first envelope page.) I printed the cards and SEALED them in their respective envelope pages, waiting to be opened on the first day of the month, when we will look at our calendar and schedule our date unless it's a local event that already has a set date.

Today, we went on our date for January.  As you can see from above, we went for a drive to the lake in the ZO6 and were we ever surprised at what we stumbled upon!


I knew Greg would enjoy the winding curves and hills of the roads to Canyon Lake but when we turned into the parking and dock area, we found about 10 Audi R8's and another ZO6.  I told Greg to park the car, we were joining the car show! He was hesitant at first but I convinced him and he pulled in by the other ZO6.   


Even though I've watched my share of Top Gear, I fail to retain what I learn.  So I asked Greg what was so special about the all those Audi's and he said the R8's are about $180K - each.  In short, we were looking at about a million dollars worth in cars.  Can you say crazy?



It was a totally fun date, though I can't take credit for the extra cool turn that it took!  Speaking of cool....he totally is and I love him for it. :)


I also made a video of us driving back from the lake to give you an idea of what the drive was like.   It is not for the faint of heart!

Simplifying the Season

In November, I realized I would need to simplify our upcoming holiday season.  So I took inventory of everything coming down the pike between school performances, church duties, work responsibilities, chores at home, etc. etc. and deliberately started letting things go!

First and noticeably from my last post date, I neglected the blog - there was simply no extra time to do it, so I just didn't. 

Second,  I didn't have the time or budget to create a Christmas letter so I minimized it to the photo card and within minutes, I was done! Keeping conservative, I only printed 50 copies in lieu of sending out a 100 as I've done in prior years.

Third, Christmas gifts.  I am the primary person to worry deal with these details each year and typically, it's my biggest season stresser.  So this year, I chose simple and minimal to free myself from the stress!  For those who treated us to a special occasion such as dinner or a party, I gave fresh flower arrangements.

For out of town relatives, I gave our family calendar.


For Nathan, I found something I knew he would love.  What tickled me though, was a couple of weeks before Christmas when Nathan built an aircraft carrier out of legos and left it on the floor just inches from the very large air craft carrier wrapped up under the Christmas tree!


As I suspected, he loved it. =)




For Greg,  I didn't spend alot (which makes him happy) but I did put a lot of thought into it.  I made a 'Date' book with 12 months of top secret pre-planned dates. He doesn't handle surprises very well though, so this was a little risky.


During the mad dash to Texas, we guarded our time and kept our activities to a minimum.  We didn't visit with friends but just spent our short time with relatives.










Our more exciting table talk though was about our reality show relatives, whose show "Texas Multi Mamas" would air on WE Tv, 3 days after Christmas.  This plug's for you Ryan and Teryn! ;)


This just happens to be a new favorite of Greg & Nathan.


Christmas at this age is such a special time, I think it's because it's before any 'expectations' are developed. 


Before I knew it, we were in the car again driving back to Arizona. 

New Year's Day was on a Sunday.  Both Greg and I were scheduled to serve at church so we canceled our New Year's Day brunch.  Though, I enjoy ringing in the new year with friends - it was a welcomed break!

As I suspected it would, the holiday season came and went in a flash.  Would I liked to have done more or even given more?  Of course. But it wasn't realistic so I had to let go of some self imposed expectations in order to simplify the season and I'm glad I did because I still have some sanity about me!

Lastly, it seems every Christmas there is either a video or a picture in which I look absolutely ridiculous. Since I'm a good sport and love a good laugh, it's become a little tradition to share here so we can all have a good laugh together - cause I'm fun like that. ;)  So here it is.  This Christmas' picture where I look absolutely ridiculous!

Bwahaaaa!!  So when I showed this picture to Greg, he said I look like this ALL the time.
Wait.
Whaaat?  Really?
If this is true, shame on all of you for not telling me!! :)

Happy New Year ya'll!