12 Months of Dating…

Last Christmas I needed to keep gift-giving to a minimum. So… I created the ‘12 Months of Dating’ mini book!

The idea?

To come up with a year of date ideas that wouldn’t cost much AND would also produce a mini album of experiences.  What I came up with was pretty genius, actually. 

My boyfriend, Rafe, thought it was a very thoughtful and AWESOME gift.  Our family and friends, along with my blog followers, have had fun watching us unveil each date on social media, too!

1 simple rule for the 12 Months of Dating:

Each date card can only be opened by the recipient on or after the 1st day of the month, but only in the presence of the gift giver.

Now, being that I lost all my previous blog posts in an update the other night (Bah!), I have decided to recap our last 5 dates for you…

JANUARY 2014: A Day at the Horse Races!

Rafe and I have never been to the horse races, so I thought it would be fun to check it out.  We took a morning seminar at Portland Meadows to learn how to beat the odds in betting.  Apparently there is more to betting than just picking the fastest horse or funniest name. Who knew?!

We had a GREAT time and spent the entire day at the track learning and exploring!  Definitely something we will be doing again from time to time.

FEBRUARY 2014:  Snow and Sweets!

What can I say about this one?  Our February date was suppose to take us up to Mt. Hood with a side stop at a Candy Shop along the way.  Well, we kinda got this freak snow storm in the Portland area instead.  8″ of pure white beauty!  But, had I been wearing my thinking cap, Rafe and I could’ve taken a picture together next to a snow bank while eating cupcakes – Doh!

INSTEAD, we found our way onto one of the last flights to Disneyland before the snow storm shut down the airport. We even took 2 of our 5 kiddos with us!  …Of course, if I had thought to wear my thinking cap yet again, we could’ve gotten a picture in front of the Matterhorn instead of the Castle – Doh!  Oh well.  Leave it to me to have 20/20 hindsight.

MARCH 2014:  A Monopoly Marathon!

Fully knowing that Rafe and I would be heading to Costa Rica with other Close To My Heart incentive trip earners, I wanted to choose a date that wouldn’t cost anything.  Monopoly.  Kinda funny that we ended up having to buy a brand new Monopoly game because neither one of us had it, though – lol!.  We spent an evening wheelin’ & dealin’ in our PJ’s until I gave in and let Rafe win.  He’s just so stingy when it comes to trading – lol!   So YEP, I admit it… I tossed the game so that the Marathon would only last several hours instead of several days.  Besides, he’s pretty much a poor sport when he loses and it’s only fair that I LET him win at something, right?

APRIL 2014:  Tulips and a trip to the Casino!

After doing a little research I found out the Tulip Farm would be in bloom during April.  It’s also the half way point to Spirit Mountain Casino – perfect combo!  Yeah well, we didn’t quite make it there… YET!  Of course now when we decide to go, the tulips won’t be in bloom.  Maybe lady luck will be on our side and we’ll win enough to buy some tulip bulbs with our money, cuz we never seem to win more than that – lol!

MAY 2014:  Glowing Mini-Golf!

While coming up with date ideas, I did a lot of research into things around Portland that I never knew existed.  Glow in the Dark Mini Golf was one of them – Who knew?!  Of course, April seemed to get away from us, too, so this date is on rain-check status along with the last several.  lol  We have every intention of getting there so that I can beat Rafe (again!) …it’s just a matter of making time to do all these things.  But that’s what summer is for, right?

12 Months of Dating – JUNE 2014 – Coming Soon!

I hate to insert a teaser here but this one is COMING SOON!  This is the date card that started it all off and I want to make sure that I can showcase the pictures we take with it with the grandest display! It’s deserving.