How Many Trips To The Store Can We Make?

 I've shared my need to make lists many times before. I have lists for just about everything: an ongoing list for grocery shopping and certain stores, to do lists, bucket lists, etc. These lists provide a false sense of organization because the truth is, quite a lot of the time I'm a jumbled mess. I've lived and learned enough to know that just because I have something on Monday's To Do List doesn't mean life will cooperate. Living has taught me to be flexible enough that I can roll with the unexpected, which is probably why I'm not bothered when things don't go as planned.

Lately we've been extremely busy between jobs, activities, holiday celebrations and parties, and just day to day life, so many things have been forgotten. Many things like miscalculations in how many sticks of butter or chocolate chips will be needed for holiday baking or how much hand lotion we'd be going through in these cold winter months. This has resulted in A LOT of unplanned trips to grocery stores.

My husband and I have turned it into a joke at this point. There's texts that begin, "guess where you need to stop after work?" Then he has to guess which store he needs to go to. It's been fun....and exhausting. For real exhausting. I keep telling myself we just need to make it through next week and then we'll go back to our twice a week grocery pick ups, quiet-ish schedule, and not playing the how-many-trips-to-the-store-can-we-make? game.

Lovely, Boring Day Dates

 We may have started the day at a Pancake Day Festival (read about that here), but when we returned to Des Moines, we dropped the minis at my parents, left the dog for a bit, and had a late day date. We had plenty of options: Oktoberfest, a movie, fancy dinner, mingolfing, a night out with friends. Instead, we (and by we, I definitely mean me) went for the wonderfully relaxing, boring date.

We sat on a El Bait Shop's patio in the shade and ate a leisurely late day lunch/early dinner, sipped drinks, and chatted. We people watched since we were downtown and enjoyed the music from the nearby Oktoberfest. We made a trip to Target, grabbed paletas from Monarca, watched episodes of Evil, and took an after dark walk around Grey's Lake.

Yes, I got pictures with my dog, who you can barely see because he's as dark as the night around us. There are zero pictures of my husband and I together. Oops!

Peaceful, simple, restful, perfect. At one point in my life, I would have felt sorry for couples like my husband and I. Now I get it. 

I No Longer Have Keep Track Of My Cycle

 

I'm not laughing at you if you have to keep track of yours. It's just so glorious that I don't have to that I can't help but smile about it!

No, this is not a pregnancy announcement, nor is it because I have a medical issue. I no longer keep track of my cycle because I no longer have to. My husband voluntarily got a vasectomy (nearly) nine years ago after our youngest was born. Being in a monogamous relationship, I have not had to worry about getting pregnant for nine years now.

So, when I sat in my doctor's office for an appointment and they asked me the date of my last period was, I had no clue. The nurse looked at me and then proceeded to ask me a slew of other questions, "just to rule everything out." She had misunderstood the confused look I gave her when I said my "I have no clue." I looked at my calendar to figure it out because I didn't want to sit through five extra minutes of the questions. I'll be honest, the only reason I got a date was because we've been swimming a lot lately, my cups were being cleaned, and I had to use a tampon for the first time in years.

Life after my husband's vasectomy has been wonderful and freeing. For me. I'm sure for him too, but you'll have to ask him about his experiences. Not only is our sex life on fire after 13 years of marriage,  but it's truly freeing to not worry about getting pregnant. I no longer keep track of my cycle in any way. I don't worry if my period is a few days late because the chances of me being pregnant are slim to none...oh, and I actually never know if my period is a few days late. I've definitely noticed it being a couple of weeks late (due to stress), but my periods have always been like clockwork.

Maybe it's age or not worrying about any form of birth control, but my hormones have leveled out. I no longer have crazy periods; they're short and fairly simple minus some blood clots that I've developed. I haven't suffered from PMS in years. Did I mention our sex life? I like to say it's because we know ourselves, our bodies, and each other better, but the vasectomy has also played a part in having a great sex life. No longer keeping track of my cycle, no longer needing to, has been freeing. I can't imagine still thinking about that in my late thirties. Whenever a good majority of my friends bring up birth control, I find that I can't relate. I'm so far out of the birth control game that I don't even know what's offered. It's one of those conversations I have to sit back, listen to, and cannot offer one thing other than, "I don't keep track of my periods." I typically get glared at for that one.

This isn't a 'jump on the vasectomy bandwagon' post, I promise. It's more of a 'I'm super happy I don't have to keep track of my cycle.' It's glorious.

Daycare Weddings And A Reception

 I don't lack creativity and neither do my daycare kiddos! They love planning things and have gotten impressively good at things. I do have to mention things here and there, but for the most part, I do what I've always done: get toys/activities/etc. set out and let the kids play with them however they'd like. This time, the kids chose to do a party. A wedding followed by a reception, to be exact.

The bigs thought of everything! There were shopping lists, a wedding playlist on Amazon Music, menus, and a schedule of events. They did a great job and the morning was great! I had three little boys who were quite confused about what was happening, but they went along with things...likely for the cupcakes and juice on the other side of the wedding!

Thankfully, I had a surplus of white table cloths because we used them for everything: as the aisle, as a back drop for the photo booth, and to cover the red canopy. Why did we cover the red canopy you ask? Well, because their wedding colors were black and white, so "the red canopy doesn't go with our colors at all." As I said, they thought of everything!

They created seating with little chairs (from inside) and deck chairs. I had a fresh bouquet of flowers from our yard. The flowers were sitting on my table one minute and the next minute they were petal-less. This was a double wedding day, but the weddings were performed back to back because the brides didn't want to share the spotlight (no surprise here). Because there were two weddings, that meant there were multiple flower girls. The flowers had to be handed out evenly, so they all had the same amount to throw!

Then I noticed the oldest. Pokemon socks and Keens, walking down the aisle. He was the photographer.

One of my favorite parts of the entire "wedding" was when this young groom set the ring ON TOP of his bride's hand instead of on her finger! Eh, close enough. 

Zeus made an appearance at wedding number 2 (there were wardrobe changes and the dog needed to pee). He quickly discovered the chocolates on the table.

The rules of the bouquet toss: anyone and everyone could try to catch it. Including the other bride. I loved their made up rules about the wedding reception!

I snuck in one surprise for the wedding: sparklers on the requested red velvet cupcakes! The sparklers and cupcakes were both well received.

The unexpected toast from one of the grooms (also, my middle mini). He was giving big Gatsby vibes. 

Not pictured are the above bridge and groom feeding each other wedding cupcakes, posing for photobooth pictures, kissing (with masks on), and the other bride and groom bringing out their daughter, Emma Cheetah. It was quite the celebration! At the end of the day, I was most thankful for the kid's creativity, the littles going along with the shenanigans, and my storage of party supplies!

When A Night Out Is Our Life Now

 

Dessert from Black Cat 

For the first time in a long time (a year, maybe?), Mom and Dad had a night all to ourselves. We did....a whole lot of nothing. Maybe it's because our kids are older now, so we can leave them for a while when we need to. The novelty of being able to go wherever and whenever we need to has worn off. When we first left the minis home by themselves to run an errand, it was like we were breaking a rule. It was freeing. Now it's life.

Not that we didn't enjoy a quiet house or a dinner in a restaurant (because that's always nice), but we were definitely "those people" that younger me would have been ashamed by! Here we are in our late thirties, with a night away from the minis and we ran errands, fixed the dryer, did the laundry, and watched a few episodes of Mad Men. I feel accomplished and so disappointed in our boring selves at the same time.

With the minis getting older, I'm noticing a lot of these subtle changes in our lives. This is another one, but I can't say this one is bittersweet. This change happened right under our noses and we only realized it this morning as we were on our way to pick them up from grandparents. There was once a time when I would eagerly leave the house without the kids at the end of the day because all they wanted was to be with me, touching me, needing me. Occasionally a mini jumps at the chance for errand running, but they're no longer attached to me all hours of the day.

While our beer was nice and cold, and we didn't have to rush our leisurely dinner, a night out without kids is now a normal thing for us. I honestly didn't think we'd ever see that day when the minis were toddlers! I had looked forward to this time and thought of all the wonderful, cool things we would do. Never did I imagine the most exciting thing we would do on a night out is fix our dryer.

I'm always amazed at how small our bill seems when we dine with the minis!

I Am Not Okay Today

 You were going to be treated to a fun, educational post about helping preschoolers learn their letters, but my mind is elsewhere today. The state of life today is affecting me greatly. I've spent the last year keeping my business afloat, making sure my house, the location of my business, were safe for all who entered, thinking of my children's health and safety, and my husband's job. There were times I thought plenty about myself as well, I'm not completely unselfish. But overall, I've had three goals at the top of every day

1.  Keep my kids healthy and safe.
2.  Keep Covid out of daycare/from spreading/from extended closures.
3. Keep my husband working. ** He is considered an essential employee and must be at work. There is no work-at-home option for him. With my income loss in the last year, his job was essential to our family's lifestyle. Yes, he's been vaccinated, so the "rules" are a bit more lenient. Let's be real for a moment though. If he gets Covid (because just as with any vaccine, there are still small chances you can contract the virus), he has to miss work. We've taken the necessary steps to keep him healthy.

Today, I feel slapped in the face. Today I feel that every protection we have taken is gone and that our family, once again, must make sacrifices for others. This was done at 12:30 a.m. in the dark of the night, giving no one time to prepare or properly process:

You may be asking why I feel this way. My kids are homeschooled and I can still require masks to anyone who enters my home/daycare (private business; as far as I know, this new law doesn't affect my business, but that could change, which is a good part of why I feel the way I do). Well, you see, in two weeks, two weeks exactly, I will open my home to all of the kids who are no longer required to wear masks in their schools. I've worked with kids long enough to know that they're all coming from different cess pools. There's a MUCH greater chance of them bringing some of those germs with them to my home (unknowingly or knowingly, but does that really matter?). The three things I've fought so hard for that last year will be compromised. My livelihood is now compromised.

Kids are unvaccinated from Covid. They can spread it, they can get it. They can force 14 day closures upon my business that I DON'T GET PAID FOR. Imagine, if all 15 kids on my daycare roster were to get Covid and I had to close each and every time. I wouldn't be able to open my business all summer long! Masks are one way I can protect my business, my family, not to mention the very kids in my care AND their families. I run my business on good faith and what I would want in a daycare. Can I no longer run my business off the morals and ethics I have the last ten years? Worst off, there's a greater chance of passing it to my husband who would have to miss work. He would either have to use PTO or go unpaid. That vacation you're thinking of taking? My husband may not have that option for an entire year because of my business. I don't even want to think about if we BOTH have to take time off unpaid for an extended period of time.

This announcement just does me in. I'm not a pessimist by any means, but when I see local rights being taken away, I fear my rights as a business owner may be threatened. My own policies may not means anything. Those same policies that are in place to protect my own family and my daycare families. I spent a ridiculous amount of time making decisions and guidelines for my business that this needs more processing time. I feel like that time is coming (too soon) where I'll have to choose between a business I've spent ten years growing, a business that has shaped who I am and brought invaluable people into our lives and the well being of our family. To be completely truthful, this is where I'm at after a year of dealing with guidelines and bull shit.

When we sit in our hotel room this weekend, we'll be having the hard discussions about family, life, money, jobs, marriage, and goals. I wanted nothing more than a carefree weekend visiting one of my best friends and finally meeting her baby. Instead, Iowa is handing me a basket of crap to contemplate.

Anniversary No. 13

Arches National Park, February 2020

I'll be honest, we didn't celebrate our anniversary this year. I received my second Covid vaccination dose and it kicked my ass. Anything I had planned flew out the window. Instead of sipping our favorite drinks, I sipped a Gatorade he picked up on his way home from work. I don't have a lot to say about our marriage or anniversary. Thankfully, despite varying views on the pandemic, how to handle things, and comfort levels, our extended time together hasn't torn us apart. It hasn't brought us closer together either. Instead, it's given us time to grow in our own ways and has taught us to greater respect each other for who we are as individuals. 

I wrote something last year on a picture I posted on Instagram. The picture is of us hiking through Arches National Park. February 29, 2021 marked 13 years of marriage of us (of course, there was no February 29th this year). It's been a hell of a year between our 12th and 13th anniversaries, but what I wrote a year ago is very true and is an honest reflection of ou marriage:

Today is our 12th wedding anniversary (or 3rd, depending on how you count the leap year wedding). I would be lying if I said every day of the last 12 years we've loved each other. Hell, I'd be lying if I said we loved each other every day for the past 12 days. But we've stuck together. As friends, partners in crime, someone to get mad at when things go awry, and someone to share in life's highest highs and lowest lows. I don't believe in soul mates, but I do believe we are a good balance for each other (most days). Marriage isn't easy, marriage isn't always fun, but being with someone who makes you laugh during those times is key. I didn't come here for a sappy anniversary post, because I already high fived him at midnight, but as a place to put this picture that sums up our marriage. He pushed for a couples trip, I rolled my eyes and agreed. I pushed for an insane day hiking arches and canyons, he rolled his eyes and agreed. And we've wound up with a spectacular trip, tiring trip. A little bit of shoving, a little bit of pushing back, and a lot of compromising.

Happy 13th Anniversary to the one who doesn't bat an eye when I tell him I'm doing a virtual play or that I'd like to go camping on the beach with three kids and a puppy (okay, he did roll his eyes at that one and then proceeded to get me a car topper for my birthday to carry all of our camping gear). I'd list a bunch of goals for the year for us, but let's be real, if the last year taught us anything it's to let go of our plans and let life lead us. We'll find a way to enjoy the ride no matter what.

Skip The Baby Classes, Go Learn How To Take A Picture Instead

It's the middle of October and I still have yet to take one great picture of my children and myself. By great, I mean one that's frameable. One that has us all looking in the same general direction, one that doesn't make my ass look like five times its normal size, one where someone isn't crying or asking when we're done, and one that has a decent back drop to it. The year is almost done and I have yet to get that one great picture.



That is in part due to my husband.

Apparently he never learned how to point a cell phone and take an okay-ish picture. Now, I have hundreds of cuter than shit pictures of our children and him.

Adorable, right? They're all smiling and laughing. With gorgeous fall leaves.

Here's the scenery for our pictures and then this is what I got.







What in the actual fuck?? Us and the parking lot??

When I asked for a re-take it resulted in tears from the minis, so a re-take was skipped. 

I want freaking pictures of my children laughing and smiling with me. Honestly a pretty typical day for us. But I have none of those. I see no other choice than to hire a professional photographer to follow my children and myself around for the next two months just so I can get a damn decent picture.

It can't just be my husband/partner/significant other that sucks at this. In fact, I know it's not since it's been a hot topic on Mom's Night Out. I really wish we had skipped the How To Care For A Baby class and did a How To Take A Picture Of Mom and Her Child(ren) class. Why don't hospitals offer those for parents-to-be? This would have come in much more handy and would be useful for the rest of our lives. Baby care only lasts what, twelve months. Twelve months of knowledge vs. a life of knowledge. I'll let you decide what is more useful because it should be pretty evident what I vote for.

My Husband And I Sleep in Separate Beds

I remember watching an I Love Lucy episode with my grandma when I was younger. It featured Lucy and Ricky reading the newspapers in bed. In their separate beds. I remember thinking that was so odd, as my parents shared a bed. In fact, all of the couples I knew in my life shared a bed. As an adult and after 10 1/2 years of marriage, let me tell you a secret, Lucille Ball was onto something. A freaking genius she was.

My husband and I (sometimes) sleep in separate beds and it is heaven. I'm not a sharer when it comes to bed space and blankets. For years, we remedied the situation with separate bed spreads and blankets followed by a king sized bed. It helped a bit. But on those nights when one of us would fall asleep on the couch (we're both night owls) and just happen to stay sleeping on the couch, those nights were the best. I slept through the night with no interruptions. It was glorious.

Of course, add in parenting to the mix and I became a fairly light sleeper over the years. Every snore and turn made me wake up. I was frustrated. Now, I could have taken my frustrations out on my husband and thus, our marriage. But I'm more of a let's find a solution type person. The solution was easy in my mind. Sleep separately.

No joke, I bought a new couch for those nights one of us was up late and decided to just sleep on the couch. I bought a comfy new spare bed and blow up mattresses (hey, I like to have options). Of course, I didn't share this information with others. Most of our friends were just getting into serious relationships, moving into together, picking out curtains. Spending every night together was exciting for them. I didn't really feel as though anyone would understand, which is odd because I generally don't give one iota as to what others think. I do what's good for me. In this case, I did what was best for our life and kept it to myself.

One night, a few years ago, I went out with friends and had one too many margaritas. A friend was near exhaustion and complaining about her husband's snoring. Between babies and the snoring, she was lacking in sleep and it was showing as the tears flowed into her margarita. I blurted out, "so just sleep in different beds. Then you wouldn't be ruining your margarita." I've never been extremely tactful if you were wondering.

This drew all eyes to me and I, drunkenly, began my spiel (I won't use quotes because I don't remember what I said, but it has been repeated to me many times since then): Everyone thinks it's a bad thing to sleep on the couch during a marriage. Like, one of you did something wrong. What if you just need space. I like space. When you're married you don't get a lot of it. I don't want a frick'n hug in my sleep and have it labeled as cuddling. I want to stretch out and not feel a hairy leg next to me. I want sleep. If you can get a full night's sleep just by sleeping on the couch or in a spare bed, then why not? Sleep is important and you clearly (me giving my wonderful friend a not so nice look; one that she never lets me forget either) can't function without it, so do something about it. Omg, did you see Target had a sale on kids clothes?

And those are still my feelings (legit, did you see Target's sale this week??). It's not every night I need my preferred space. For that next question that most people want to ask, but are too shy/nice/respectful to ask, no it doesn't hinder our sex life. It has not had a negative effect on our sex life at all. In fact, quite the opposite since we're both well rested, we're happier, therefore more "in the mood" than we would be if we were suffering from pure exhaustion.

I'm not saying this is for everyone. I'm also not saying this is a marriage "fix" for those who need it. I'm saying what has worked/s for me/us (and continues to work). I've always been open about our life and how our life runs. This is just one of those things that after speaking up about it for the past few years with friends and acquaintances, I've realized how common sleeping in separate beds (or the want) really is. There's no shame, there's nothing wrong with finding ways to make life easier. There's only someone here who says, keep on doing what works for you. And what works for me is (sometimes) sleeping in separate beds. Because this momma loves her sleep.

This Is What 10 Years of Marriage Is Like

We made it ten years. I have been married for ten years today...no yesterday? My wonderful husband chose February 29 to get married so we don't actually have a wedding anniversary this year. But if we did, it's TEN YEARS. We're not celebrating with a fancy meal or taking the honeymoon we have yet to take. No, instead we're going the typical Thursday night route: take out from a small local restaurant and a movie that will take us at least thirty minutes to agree on. Then I'll continue typing wildly while he pays attention to the movie and asks me every few seconds, "did you see that?" or "did you hear what he just said? That'll probably be important later on."

I've been asked numerous times in the weeks leading up to this monumental anniversary, "so, what are you guys doing for your anniversary?" When I reply with my usual, "nothing much," there's a look of let down in whomever I'm speaking to. But the truth is, I like that nothing much. I like the simplicity in our every day. I like that neither one of us are morning people, so we rarely speak more than a few words to each other each morning. I like that our night's are (usually) predictable: dinner, showers for the kids, talking with the kids about our days, bedtimes, playing rock paper scissors to see who gets to clean the floors, Netflix (or Hulu), sharing our vastly different working days, me typing on my keyboard as he turns up the volume on the TV to drown the noise out.

These are the things that make 10 years possible. These simple, little, mundane tasks and things we do. These silly things that we still enjoy together. 10 years of marriage isn't glamorous. 10 years of marriage is messy, chaotic, and for us, entertaining. It means knowing the other person and giving them what they need. Sometimes that's space (we both like our space), sometimes that's spending all of our time together, sometimes it's pushing the other, sometimes it's letting them be.

We've decided to forgo a chance at a honeymoon and are instead taking the minis on our planned trip to Florida. And after ten years, I'm more than okay with this. I can't say that I love my husband more than the day I married him because after ten years of marriage, three kids, two felines, multiple moves, a house purchase, vehicles purchased, high highs and low lows that love is different. I love him differently than I did that day. The love is deeper and more understanding that it was that beautiful February day. It's connected and grown in ways we couldn't imagine then.  It's learning how to manage growing as individuals and growing together.

Maybe when and if we get to 20 years, life will look differently. I'd honestly be surprised if it didn't. But for now, I'm good with 10 years looking like this:

We celebrated earlier in the week with "fancy" take out from Malo, while we sat in sweatshirts and drank a beer with our meal. Typical Monday night quite honestly.

 Champagne cake from my parents.

Anniversary dinner: Jimmy John's. Backstory: this was the meal we ate right before our wedding. My husband picked February 29 as our wedding date, which just happened to be a Friday. We were busy all day doing the day of stuff and failed to eat. On the way to our wedding site we stopped by JJ's for sandwiches. Every year around our anniversary we do a JJ's run.

A Grocery List For Husbands

In all honestly, I'm pretty lucky when it comes to my husband and shopping. My day job is done out of our house, while my evenings are taken up by my other "jobs" (or projects, if you prefer), also done at home. In other words, I spend a lot of time at home during the week days. I often send my husband on quick errands throughout the week after work or in the evenings. We're lucky that I have the bulk of our groceries delivered weekly, but there's always those odd and end things that we suddenly run out of or items that I must have from certain stores (my current obsession is Trader Joe's Vegan Pesto. O.M.G.).

He's gotten so good that I recently sent him to the store with the vague instruction "I need more maxi pads." Let me tell you, that man came home with the exact maxi pads I use. I didn't need to even tell him the brand he was looking for. Most couples might be embarrassed by this, but not me. I was so incredibly proud of him I had to restrain myself from instantly doing a Facebook shout out about it. Of course then there's the mishaps, like when he came home with the wrong kind of cat litter because he thought it didn't matter. He learned quick that it mattered to both me and the cats. Oops (and yuck).

This past weekend was busy and I failed to schedule a grocery delivery. No biggie, we can grab stuff ourselves. Apparently I've become very accustomed to my grocery deliveries because I can no longer successfully grocery shop myself. Thus, this afternoon found me quickly making a list for my husband. I made a very husband-friendly grocery list.

It's actually a typical list for me to make, but I had to laugh at it. Only our grocery list would have to differentiate the food that was for sensory activities versus the food that was for eating and little notes about the things he's buying (the veggie meatballs actually made me giggle because if anyone else saw this list they would be confused, but we know that as long as the kids don't see that the "meatballs" are in fact veggie balls, they'll eat them just fine. As soon as they find out they're vegan, they tell us the "meatballs" taste horrible. Go figure).

2018: A Year Of Doing And Looking Back

2018 is a big year for this family. We celebrate a lot of milestones this year. It is a year for reflection, gratitude, and doing.

10 years ago on our wedding day and four months before having our first child. I was pregnant, he's not just oddly kissing my stomach.


Ten years ago at this time I was madly planning our wedding. In seven weeks, with the help of family and close friends, we threw together our intimate ceremony (and brief reception). Ten years ago at this time I was spending night and day feeling like I had the stomach flu and eating steak whenever I could keep it down (ten years later and I'm a vegetarian). Ten years ago, in the midst of wedding planning, we were also preparing for our first child. Ten years ago, we had our first child. Ten years ago I quit what I thought would be my lifelong job in the medical field. Ten years ago I decided to stop my schooling in the medical field because I just wasn't sure of life at the moment. I had no idea what was in store, but I just knew that there was better things out there for me. 2008 was a life changing year.

For years I viewed 2008 as the highlight year of my life. While it was a BIG year for me, for us as a couple, and for us as a family, it's nothing compared to this year, 2018. This is the year we celebrate all of those years in between these two big years. In these ten years we've moved three times, bought our perfect-for-us-house, had not one but three kids, laughed until we cried, cried until we laughed. We fought with passion, loved with passion, and lived life with passion. We experienced the happiest of moments and moments I never want to experience again. We felt fear, we felt unsure, we felt anger, we felt joy, and most of all, we felt love.

In these ten years we've lost touch with a lot of those close friends that helped with our wedding (although they will always hold a special place in our hearts for the rest of our lives) and have gained new friends. We have gained and lost family members. We have grown as individuals, as a couple, and as a family.

I'm not a fan of new year resolutions, but I am a big fan of To Do Lists. The minis, Hubs, and I sat down early last fall to make our 2018 To Do List because we knew the gravity this year holds for us. At the top of this list is being thankful. Thankful for all we have, all we have worked for, all we have lost and gained in these last ten years. As we went over this To Do List one last time the other evening, I made the comment that I can't believe it's ten years already.

"We've been married 10 years! We've been parents for 10 years! Can you believe it??!!? I can't believe it's been 10 years. It sure doesn't feel like it," I commented to my husband as I got ready to cross the first item off of our To Do List.

"No I can't, but I don't really know what 10 years feels like either." I had to think about this one. For me, ten years feels like this:

It goes faster than you think. In honor of these past ten years, in 2018 we'll be taking a big family vacation to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We'll celebrate owning our house for one year as we begin a kitchen update and numerous other home improvement projects Hubs and I are sure to disagree on. We'll fight about whether to get chickens and/or a dog. We'll make memories and live life exactly how we have been: adventurous with a side of crazy. That's what I'm hoping for 2018.

A Real Life Saturday Night

I was going through "old" photos last week when I came across some pre-kids pics. Not only did I have an amazing pre-babies body, but I noticed the lack of wrinkles, bags under my eyes, and no grey hairs in sight. I came to a stack of pictures from a rather...hehmm...fun night out. I don't exactly remember this night well (no surprise), but I do remember that this was the scene nearly every weekend. I smirked at the past times and got me thinking how different life is now.....

The date: 2007

The time: 10:00 p.m. Saturday night

The place: Whatever bar we deemed worthy of our hard earned paychecks

We danced. We laughed. We drank. A lot. We ate. We played pool. We met new people, who were also drinking a lot. We talked about the future. We laughed at the older couple, who had found their way into our shenanigans, when they informed us they needed to leave to get home to their kids. We still had all night ahead of us. I promised my boyfriend (now husband) that would never be us if we ever had kids.

When the bar closed at 2 a.m., we were the last out the door. We would continue the party at our apartment for several more hours. Friends would sleep on our sofas. We would have a great time in our bedroom (boomshakalaka). We would wake up the next morning afternoon and know what a great night's sleep felt like.

8 Years Later....

The date: 2016

The time: 10:00 p.m. Saturday night

The place: Our couch, which I deemed worthy of our hard earned money from my own businesses

We ate dinner at 4:30 p.m. because that's when the kids were hungry. We ate at a trendy restaurant, but laughed when the waiter brought the kids water in glasses. We requested plastic cups for the table. We haven't seen our friends in a while because they all have kids too. Unless we're all meeting at a playground (where we last saw each other), nights out with everyone are nearly impossible to schedule around sports, work, school events, and prior commitments. My feet hurt from the dance party we had with the kids right before they went to bed two hours ago. Also, I'm extra tired because I indulged in a glass of wine at dinner. We watched Netflix and fell asleep on the couch before making our way into bed. We're both exhausted from a busy day with the kids and fear falling asleep in the middle "of it" so we actually go to sleep. The next morning we're woken up before the sunrises. Our favorite phrase is now "we'll be able to sleep when we're dead...hopefully."

25 Date Night Ideas

Adults night at our local science center makes for a fun date night!

Sometimes, just sometimes, we find ourselves in a date night rut. Here are 25 of our favorite (and memorable) date night ideas:

1.) A day of golfing or a night of mini golfing.or bowling.

2.) Paint ball.

3.) A concert or a play.

4.) Eat a leisurely dinner at your favorite restaurant. We've got a few go-o restaurants on date night, but one of our favorite spots is our first date restaurant.

5.) Grab coffee. So we usually need the coffee to keep us going after our long days, but it always results in a quiet moment and good conversation.

6.) Take a walk. A late night walk can be incredibly romantic.

7.)  Go enjoy open houses, check out houses way out of your price range, just for fun.

8.) Museum/art gallery/science center. Our local Science Center does a Mixology night for adults to play and explore at the science center just like kids do, but with adult beverages in hand. Hubs and I have a blast at this monthly event.

9.) Go to a movie. This is a nice option when we just want time away.

10.) Game night. We love game nights with friends or other couples. Our go-to game is Cards Against Humanity (not for the easily offended).

11.) Date night in. We're pros at this one: take out, a movie or a game of Scrabble, and wine. It's our typical Thursday night.

12.) Drinks. This can be as laid back or fancy as you choose.

13.) Dance classes. One of our favorite date nights was a salsa class we took back in the day (long before kids were even a thought).

14.) Ice skating/roller skating. We've flashed it back to the 80's at the local roller rink a few times and have had a blast.

15.) Hockey/baseball/basketball/football/etc. Game. It's not always for guys and their buddies. 

16.) Couples massage.

17.) Book store. So, I'm a geek, but I love browsing shelf after shelf of books. Even better that hubs enjoys it too. We geek out together.

18.) Shopping. Yeah, this sounds boring, but sometimes it's nice to just have a break to get errands done together. Twice a year, Hubs and I hire a babysitter and make a day of shopping for presents for the kids' birthday's and Christmas. We've had a great time doing this and have some priceless memories. FYI, adults can be asked to leave Toys R Us....

19.) Champagne brunch.

20.) Dessert bar.

21.) Cooking class. Re-create the meal on a date night in.

22.) Kayaking, boating, biking, hiking.

23.) Hit up an arcade. "Bar-cades" that feature pinball and beer are the best.

24.) Trivia night. Many bars and restaurants host trivia. Great to go with friends or other couples.

25.)  Cook through a cookbook together.  Each week feature a new dish from the menu. 

Las Vegas: Day 2, Night 3

Las Vegas: Day 2, Night 3....and some of day 3 1/2 (most of this day was spent returning the rental car and waiting in the TSA line at the airport). Day 2, Night 3 was our busiest but we saw nearly everything we wanted to see before we got back on the airplane. We got a few hours of sleep Sunday morning before our adventures began, with margaritas and salsa of course.

The inside of the pyramid hotel we stayed in (The Luxor). We ate brunch at T & T (Tacos and Tequila). My white peach margarita and the green salsa was the best I've ever had! Great start to our day!

We found a great deal on a rental car for the day (we waited to rent one for last minute deals. Also, if you're renting a car, it's a lot cheaper to rent a car at the hotels than at the airport). The only catch? We had to get to Treasure Island hotel to pick it up. I didn't feel the need to walk the entire length of the strip right before hiking in the mountains, so we went to catch the bus at the stop right outside of Mandalay Bay. While we were that way, we went to Mandalay Bay's aquarium. 

                                         Matt pet a sting ray and I touched a star fish.

                  We had such a great view that we could count the sharks teeth as they swam above us.

We picked up the car with no issues and we were out on the open road. It was a gorgeous ride into the canyon.

Our main destination was Red Rock Canyon, but we stopped right before the canyon at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park. We did a few hiking trails up the mountain and into the canyon, but the real surprise of this stop was the ranch in the park. The ranch has been owned by a number of people and is on the national register of historic places. We had a wonderful time hiking and loved chatting up the folks that work at the ranch. It was such a great impromptu stop.

                                      The trails started out smooth but turned rocky.

The lake in the mountains. I had to giggle when I saw the "lake" as we have ponds in Des Moines bigger than this.

For the first time in my 31 years, I climbed a mountain (it was on a trail but it totally counts in my book)! I heard a good rumor that Santa is bring hiking gear for Christmas so the adventures can continue.

We did not see any poisonous snakes, but we saw a lot of little lizards. I shrieked every time I saw one dart in front of me. Matt tried to catch one.

Howard Hughes owned the ranch for a few years. We didn't tour all of the ranch, but they had tours of the house and barns available (free to the public).

Our intended destination: Red Rock Canyon. We were running short on time (and I had a wicked headache from the desert heat) so we didn't get out to hike. We did however go to the scenic outlook. We had such a gorgeous drive through the mountains.

 After hiking, we needed to load up on greasy food before the night's festivities. 5 Guys Burgers and Fries had just what we wanted--and peanuts!

 A stop at the Las Vegas sign was in order since we had not yet done that. I didn't feel like battling the long line to stand in front of the sign. We made it quick and easy and went to the side. Good enough for me!

My 5 minutes rest for the day on an unbelievably comfortable bed.

This was the best night of all. We walked down to the Bellagio fountains and caught a night show, saw the Mirage volcano show, got an open bar ticket on the Highroller at the Linq Hotel, and spent some time in the MGM casino.

As I've said before, the Bellagio Fountains were my favorite thing in Vegas. We saw them not once, but twice night #3. Here's a video of the night show:

 The Mirage volcano show was pretty cool. We never made it into the hotel though. This was the only thing on my 'want to see list' that we didn't get to. Not too shabby for only being their 3 nights and 2 1/2 days.

The Highroller at the Linq Hotel. A month ago, Matt found a Groupon for a ride for 2 on the Highroller with an open bar (for only $60). To sum it up: it's half hour ride around the giant ferris wheel with as much as we could drink. Best ride ever with a fantastic view.

 Our bar tender was awesome! Shortly after this, a couple got engaged. Everyone in the capsule did a celebratory shot for them.

 Cool views.

 After the Highroller we strolled through the outdoor mall at the Linq. I fell in love with a store called Kitson, but thankfully for my checking account there was limited space in our luggage so I didn't buy too much. However they do have shipping...

 The Flamingo Hotel

 Frozen hot chocolates on the patio at Serendipity 3.

 Taking a late night walk through the Bellagio to get dessert crepes at Jean Philippe Patisserie, we got to watch workers take apart the garden and put in the fall decor. That was really interesting to see.

                                                                One last fountain show.

 MGM Grand casino

 Monday morning we had just enough time to go to CBS Television City in the MGM Grand, check out of the hotel, return the car, and get to the airport....and thankfully we got there early because the TSA line was insane! Although it moved pretty fast, I had visions of being stuck in the line for hours.

 View of the Luxor while we waited to board the plane.

Until next time Vegas!

Planning a getaway to Vegas? Here's a few important tips:

• During the week days, hotels, restaurants, shows, etc. all run specials and discounts. We had no choice but to go over a weekend this time around, but you can save hundreds of dollars going during the week instead of the weekend. That being said, weekends are a total blast and I actually felt safer (people weren't as stupid) on those busiest nights.
• Wear walking shoes as you'll do A LOT of walking.
• You can get very good and very strong drinks everywhere in Vegas, but drink TONS of water! I got a headache every afternoon from the intense heat despite keeping myself adequately hydrated.
• Stay center strip (Monte Carlo and Bellagio are next on my list of hotels to stay at).
• Don't use public transportation unless you have an insane amount of patience. Groupon came out with a deal on a car rental the day we left or look into picking up a car from one of the hotels on the strip (tends to be cheaper than the airport). Driving the strip is difficult because it's a very pedestrian friendly road, but if you plan on going off strip at all, you'll want a car.

Check out Day 1, Night 2 and Night 1 posts for our earlier adventures of the trip.