Merry Christmas to you all!

Take time this holiday season to spend some alone time with your spouse! We often get wrapped up in helping others or with holiday tasks, so take a night out for one another! I am in the process of creating dates for the coming year. These planned dates will be my hubby's gift. It has been a blast to work on... I will post more later! The ideas I get from The Dating Divas website are all winners! Visit them at www.thedatingdivas.com

Date Night Photos: How To the "Price is Right"

Couples came together to spend the evening playing The Price is Right! Couples competed for a chance to be the contestants on stage to play the fun games. Almost all of our prizes were virtual, but a few were the genuine article. We had hoots, hollars and running down the eisle!

One of the games we played was Money Game! A piece of posterboard was used to create the board with pairs of numbers covering either a $ or the front/back of a car. Contestants chose a pair of numbers for the first two numbers in the price and the last two numbers; the middle number in the price is given to the contestants. If a $ is revealed then it went in the cash stash. The goal was to uncover the front and back ends of the car. If they reveal the correct pairs BEFORE getting four $ then they win the car (a Hot Wheels car).

It's in the Bag! was the next game up to play! Contestants needed to match the five items to the correct price on each bag (brown bags were labeled with item prices). The first price is checked and if correct they win "$1000" (play money). They can risk the chance to earn $2000 if the next item and price are a match or they can walk away with the money they earned. Each time they risk a chance the money doubles up to $16,000! In addition to the play money our couple also took home the five grocery items from the game.

Our next couple played Punch A Bunch! A board was made with holes for the couple to punch "out" to reveal a possible prize. We used foamboard and cut out the circles with an x-acto knife. We taped squares of tissue paper from the back and then taped a plastic solo cup to the board. Just make sure you put a prize in the cup BEFORE you tape it on! We used certificates for a free drink or free sandwich as prizes. You could also put coins or a dollar bill in each cup. The contestants earn punches by guessing if the price of certain products are higher or lower than the actual price. We projected photos of these prizes via power point on a large overhead screen.

That's Too Much was our sixth and final game of the night. A car (hot wheel) was up for grabs. The couple had to determine which price was just over the actual retail price of the car! Prices were already written on posterboard pieces and taped to our partition. I would have the prices already up and covered with another piece of paper to "tear away" if we were to do this again. Price is Right Date Night was so much fun! These are only a few photos from the couple's event. Details on how the event was planned will follow soon! Click here to download the Power Point we used for the event. https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B44KylRfq1pUc09TVUp6NnltcWs

The Price is Right Date Night

The importance of the marriage relationship is something that can often take a back seat to everyday life. As I was watching FIREPROOF (my daughter's choice of movie) I was reminded of our lesson from this morning. Caleb, Kirk Cameron's role, was apologizing to his wife and admitted he was selfish. This was also a key part of what was discussed during our Art of Marriage class. We are selfish beings and need to learn to put our spouse before ourselves. One way to accomplish this is to plan a "date night" for your spouse. You may think you don't have time or that you don't have any ideas... well your solution is just a click away. Visit www.thedatingdivas.com for tons of date ideas and printables. It makes the planning effortless and fun! Guys-- this is your way to score some "points" by doing something she might never expect! To help couple's plan a date night we took into consideration that many have young children, work outside the home, have kids' schedules to keep up with and so much more! One of those being... no extra money to spend on a night out. So I headed to www.thedatingdivas.com to plan a group date. I came across their idea for The Price is Right and immediately started thinking of how I could adapt for a large scale event. We are in the midst of planning our October 6 "airdate". This is an exciting time for our church and the many couple's who are participating in the marriage emphasis. To God be the Glory... it is Him who accomplishes good things. My prayer is that He can use me to further His kingdom and help others.

Weekend Away for Two

Wow! It seems like ages ago that I posted last. For good reason-- my hubby and I spent the weekend away from our kids enjoying time with one another. No daily distractions and just time to focus on one another. It was fabulous! We took off on Friday afternoon and went to a nearby town until the following day. The whole idea was to spend time together and make it an adventure. The only thing that would have made it better would have been nicer weather (it was cloudy and sometimes rainy). We went shopping, ate dinner, spent time in the jacuzzi and just enjoyed one another. The following day we walked around town and a few shopping areas before heading home. The weather prevented any type of real outdoor activities because of the rain. It was great fun going to dinner at a local restaurant and sampling Australian fare. Teasing and laughter were both part of our conversations. Afterwards we took time to get out our Couple's Almanac questions and answered a few about the other person.. what are your spouse's passions, what movies do you like to watch together, and more. Check out our blog post that tells all about what a Couple's Almanac is, why to make one and it even has some sample cards that can be filled out to make your own! http://journeyoflove-sarah.blogspot.com/2011/05/couples-almanac-how-to.html a follow-up blog post... http://journeyoflove-sarah.blogspot.com/2011/05/layout-for-our-couples-almanac.html Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Hello Again, FINALLY!

It has been a long while since I last posted... but all is well on the home front! My husband and I are planning on attending a marriage workshop put on by the Army National Guard in a few weeks and I mentioned this to our daughters the other evening. Consider the fact we have always told them that we are 100% committed to our marriage and that divorce is not an option for us. Well, our oldest said "why? are you having marriage problems?" This was the prime opportunity to share a life lesson with them, without "preaching" to them. I told her no, we don't have marriage problems. I could have left it at that but decided to share a bit more with her. I said "why wait until there might be problems? Isn't it better to go to a conference to try to prevent problems then wait until problems happen to fix them?" She thought about my answer and thought that sounded good, but still asked "so your not going to get divorced?" Mind you, we have discussions but never really have arguments or fighting that might indicate issues. I shared that it is better for us to go now so we can continue to keep our marriage strong. She was good with that! It got me thinking a couple of things... 1) Couples need to be proactive in protecting their marriages and 2) Kids of any age worry about their parents relationship/marriage. So what can be done? 1) Be Proactive! Go on dates, talk about your feelings, share stories with one another, serve the Lord together, hold hands, say I love you, take the time to smile at your spouse, exercise together, go on family outings, eat dinner together, send texts during the day, discuss goals for the future... I could go on and on! 2) Be an example to your children and others! My husband and I try our best to be good role models for our children, their friends and the kids we work with. We talk things through, make time for each other, let our kids know the importance of marriage, share our views of marriage (during tv shows, movies, music), show affection toward one another (even when they say GRRRROOOOSSSSSS!), let them know of our future plans, include them in making family plans and more! They need to see how much we love each other... who they choose as a spouse has a lot to do with what they see/experience at home. To me the biggest thing a couple can do is to be selfless towards one another... put the other person first. Life is not all about ME! This is such a strong example for children. When they see loving compromise, working together, sharing differing ideas and putting others needs first (not to the extreme) they begin to form opinions/ideas of what they want in a spouse. Have a wonderful day and stay strong through your JOURNEY of LOVE!

Your Spouse's Passions

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I last posted!  It has been a busy start to the summer and I don't think it will slow down.  Our family of four just returned from a brief day at Branson Landing and lunch at Joe's Crab Shack (YUM)!

One of the reasons we went down there was to buy some books for Ronnie; he has his Annual Training trip soon.  There is a Christian book store there at Branson Landing where most books are $5.  Among my husnband's passions are playing the trumpet, golfing, growing pineapple and reading Christian mystery thrillers.  On our way down to Branson I began thinking of his other passions, specifically growing pineapples!

Sounds like an odd choice of hobbies for someone who lives in the southwest part of Missouri!  We get odd looks when we share this information with others, but it provides for interesting conversation.  It all began when we visited Maui, Hawaii in 1998.  While there we went on a boat excursion called "The Trilogy".  What a fantastic day on the water!  Part of the day included a lunch buffet prepared by the crew of the catamaran.  During this time they discussed pineapples and how they grew. . . that sparked the interest of my husband.  We brought back a few fresh pineapples from the island and the challenge began!

 

Over the past 13 years he has learned about pineapple plants, how they grow, how to "force" them to bloom, how to plant/pot them, and so much more!  On a trip to Ohau, Hawaii in 2002 we even visited the DOLE plantation to see how pineapples grow there.  I certainly didn't know how many varieties of pineapple there were; big and small.  This is something I know my husband thouroughly enjoys and so I support him in these adventures! 



The beginning of a new pineapple plant!  It begins growing up from
the center of the spiky leaves.  (2005)

When you plant a pineapple, you cut the top leafy part off the rest of the pineapple... which is what you cut to eat!  Then the spiky leaf top is propogated until roots begin to form and then you plant it!  Now with our climate it takes much longer to grow!  We keep the pot with the plant inside during the cold months and outside during the hot months.  This is something that takes A LOT of patience since it is not a plant that is grown in Missouri.  If I remember correctly it took at least two years before our first plant produced a fruit!  I'll have to find those photos and scan/post them.  

I could have been a non-supportive wife and told him it would never work, or that he was foolish to try to grow a pineapple.  But I didn't!  Why?  It was his heart's desire to try this and see if it would work; I love my husband and wanted to show him that by encouraging his efforts.  This wasn't an adventure I would have done on my own, but that doesn't mean I can't/shouldn't support him.

This is 3 months after the May 2005 photos where you see it beginning to form a new plant.  He has cut it from the stalk (where he is holding it).

Here Ronnie is holding his latest conquest: Pineapple #2!  This one is smaller than the first one he grew which he had to "force" it to bloom.  It was sweet and had a fairly concentrated pineapple taste.  YUMMY!

I will add more photos later... but think about what your husband likes to do and try your best to support him in every way possible!  It shows him your love, but more importantly your respect!  And respect is VERY important to a man in his marriage relationship!

 
This group of four pics is from July 3, 2007... Ronnie's third pineapple!  All pics are from it still on the stalk that grows up from the middle of the spiky leaves.  After this one is removed the plant in the pot is no longer good for producing another fruit.  Each plant only produces one pineapple in it's lifetime.  So we throw out the old plant and repot the top of the newest pineapple once we cut it off.  Then the cycle begins all over again!