3rd Annual 12 Dates of Christmas.

After much planning and researching, I mapped out exactly how I wanted to do our 12 Dates of Christmas this year! Then... life happened, and some of the dates got changed around. Over the years, I have SLOWLY learned how to just go with the flow, but I am a planner at heart, so "going with the flow" hasn't been an easy lesson to learn.

I was so excited when a few people started doing their own 12 Dates of Christmas, and they would share with me their dates, ideas, photos, etc. Granted, this whole 12 Dates of Christmas was NOT an original idea by yours truly. Several years ago, I was just brainstorming on things to do for my husband at Christmas time when I came across a blog with ideas, and have been hooked on doing these dates every year since then. Through these dates, I've laughed as people have told me "You are like the Pro at Christmas Things to do in the DFW.".....something like that. I can't recall the exact words at the moment. And as much as I wish I could say that I am, I'm totally not! I just look up a few things, like City Events for Dallas/ Fort Worth, Grapevine, Irving, etc (anywhere close to our general area). I take into account our budget, and things we have going on at church. I consider when the Cowboys play (because Heaven forbid my husband miss watching a game :)!) I also see what we have that we can use, like our season pass to Six Flags, movie giftcards that were given to us, groupon deals, etc. I tend to repeat some dates, but will also try something new (as long as the price is right).

The following will be the dates that I did this year, with some of my thoughts on each date. Maybe you want to do something for Valentine's Day, or a Birthday for your loved one, and just need some ideas. Granted, these are Christmas dates, but don't let that stop you from getting some creativity flowing in that brain of yours! 

Date 1. Setting Up Tree/ Dinner & Homemade Cookies. (FREE)
- This date required hardly any money. Our decor has been the same for Christmas ever since we got married, so every year we just pull out our two storage boxes full of Christmas decor, and set it up around the house. I made bbq chicken sliders for dinner (here is the recipe: Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sliders: 6-8 Chicken breasts (I usually just use two since it't just the two of us), Frank's Red Hot Sauce, Package Ranch Dressing, Put in low crackpot for 5-6 hours. Shred, remove extra juices and add additional Frank's sauce to taste. Serve on King Hawaiian Rolls and ranch dressing.) I also made chocolate chip cookies but that recipe is a family secret ;)! We also danced around with our dog, Maggie, and I about died from laughing.

Date 2. Grapevine Parade of Lights. (FREE)
This was our first year to attend this event, and it did not disappoint! I was (and still am) obsessed with watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix, so going to this event felt like I was stepping into a small town (which I grew up in) and captured my heart. We brought lawn chairs (I would recommend this) and parked ourselves on the corner of the street an hour before it started. There are several restaurants around to have dinner at before or after the parade, and so we ate at Esparza's right behind Main Street. 

Date 3. Dinner & Games at Home w/ Friends (FREE)
I made Mississippi Roast from a recipe I found on Pinterest. My friend brought over Reese's chocolate chip cookies (so good!) and we played a round of What's Yours Like. I love having people around our table to share a meal, conversation, and laugh with.

Date 4. Grand Prairie's "Prairie Lights" ($20? with a Groupon, but the friends we went with already had the Groupon, so we got in FREE)
This was a fun night, that I brought my big canon with me to take pictures, and I'm glad I did. We drove around to look at all of the lights, and had a good time. We had tickets to get into the laser show, and let me just say, if you don't have kids with you, don't go to this. The four of us sat there with a look of "ugh, are you serious?! this is a joke" when it started. Granted, your kids will probably love it, and it only lasted ten minutes, but still. It's definitely worth the trip out there, and the hot chocolate they sell for $1 is surprisingly really good!

Date 5. Christmas Movies at Home. (FREE)
It's not Christmas for us until we watch Home Alone 1 & 2.

Date 6. Truthical the Musical at Gateway Church in Southlake. (FREE)
This is a MUST. It was our very first time to see this production, and I could rave about it all day. It was SO GOOD! Plus we joined several of our friends for the event, and caught dinner at Palio's down the road for pizza afterwords (with a Groupon).

Date 7. Bahama Bucks Snowcones ($8) and Addison Vitruvian Park to look at lights. (FREE)
This date was kind of a whim, because other plans that I had fell through, so Jearen totally took the reins of this night. He knew that Addison had lights, but we were blown away by how awesome it really was. Tons of trees were covered in lights, we caught a string ensemble playing Christmas music (like All I Want For Christmas is You). The weather was a little chilly, and if we would have known about the free concert, we would have brought a blanket to sit on. This is for sure a date I will want to repeat next year, and maybe bring some friends along with us to have a picnic.

Date 8. Dinner at Texan Station inside the Gaylord Hotel to watch the Cowboys Game ($10 for parking plus food).
I wasn't thrilled to have to pay for parking, but once you're inside the Gaylord, it's worth it. They have  lots going on during the Holidays, so if you haven't been to ICE, you should go. We have gone for several years, and always have had a good time, but I was trying to do something a little different, and since the Cowboys were playing for the night I planned, I wanted to catch the game. The food was pretty good, but the atmosphere is what draws you in. After dinner we walked around the hotel, where there are lots of lights and decor to catch your eye. I had a hard time getting a good photo of the lights though, so we captured one of us thanks to huge mirrors near the exit.

Date 9. Dinner at our House w/ my In-Laws. (FREE)
I made a big batch of Texas Chili, and we shared a meal around the table with my husband's dad & step mom. After dinner, we introduced them to Mad Gab, and it was HILARIOUS! I can't wait until they come over again for dinner & games. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the four of us, but took one of my five minutes of rest & reading this book before they came over.

Date 10. Cowboys Game (FREE)
Yes, free! One of my friends at work offered me the tickets back in October, so I planned to make this one of our bigger dates. Who knew the boys would do so well in the season to WIN the game we attended, the NFC. It was literally the best game I have watched, and had my attention the whole time. I'm slowly loving watching football more & more, all thanks to my husband and his patience to explain everything to me :). We had a blast! And after the game, we went straight over to Six Flags to check out the Holiday in the Park (we have season passes). We met up with our friends and the weather was just right. It was chilly, and we had to bundle up, but it wasn't miserably cold. 

Date 11. Christmas Lights over the Ft. Worth Skyline (Gift from Sherry). I am unaware of the price for this event, because this was a gift from Sherry. We went with Jearen's dad & step mom, and three of his brothers in a C47 WWII plane to look at Christmas lights in Downtown Ft. Worth. I was a little nervous of flying in a smaller plane (I guess I was expecting a lot of turbulence), but it was smooth sailing. Once you get in the air, you are allowed to get out of your seats and walk around the plane. I camped out near the huge window & took in all of the sights. If you have the opportunity to do this, DO IT! My only wish it that it would last a little longer. It was about a 30 minute flight, and a really cool experience.

Date 12. Christmas At Home! (FREE)
My husband and I spend Christmas evening opening gifts for each other, cleaning up around the house, and watching A Christmas Story. It was a nice ending to a fun filled month. 

So, I write all of this to say, use what you have to make a fun experience. A lot of my dates were free and didn't require a lot of planning (other than picking out what meal I would make). I know there will be new things we do next year & I am so grateful for all the things we got to experience due to giving friends & family.

Happy Planning!
Becky

Valentines '14!

It comes as no surprise that I LOVE my husband. He is the best thing that's happened to me, so I try to show my love to him on a daily basis. Being that he is a romantic guy, I am spoiled often by the things he does for me. In three weeks I will be joining him on his work trip in Vegas, so I didn't want him to try to plan anything for me for Valentine's Day. I wanted him to plan our dinners/sight seeing in Vegas :)! I also realized that the past couple of years have included homemade dinners & diy projects to celebrate Valentine's at home. I wanted to keep the tradition going, but add a twist. I love planning things, especially when it's something revolving a date and my man, so I made sure to do just that. My goal was to spend less than $50, and I easily did that. There was a few things that didn't go as planned, but the night was a success regardless. I loved every minute of this, and hope you enjoy our little J & B Adventure. 

We started off trying to go back to our very first Vday date 6 years ago, but it had closed down. Bummer! I knew when I tried looking up a website for this place with no success, I should have changed locations. 

Next we went out for chips & dip and thankfully was in & out in no time. We were behind on our schedule of events due to Jearen working late, but with the golf driving range closed & not getting entrees, we were back on schedule! 

The next part of the date was probably my favorite. I had no idea trying to buy Jearen a gift for $2 would have been so difficult, and also didn't know Goodwill was going to close 15 mins after we got there, but I was able to find him something. He was so funny. He gave a lady in line his $2 and a brand new stuffed animal and told her to purchase it & meet him outside. I had no idea what was going on until he told me he didn't find anything and then walked out and grabbed something from a stranger. I laughed so hard as I stood in line watching what was taking place outside the store! He's so sneaky! I found him an old Tommy Hilfiger tie & hat from a place that he has a sweatshirt from. He got me a teddy bear that said Hug Me. How fitting! 

Next was dinner at home that I prepared the day before. I didn't want to spend the whole evening in the kitchen, so I prepped ahead. It was yummy! 

I also made Jearen a six pack of Cream Soda that said "Soda, you wanna be my Valentine?!"  

For dessert we made Red Velvet Rice Crispy Treats. Easy, Red & took no time at all. 

We ended the night with the last envelope. For Christmas I bought Jearen the first three seasons of Community and so when I realized a fourth season had came out, I had to buy it for him. Thanks, Amazon Giftcard! 

I hope to keep the homemade valentines tradition going. I'm so glad he enjoyed everything and doesn't get annoyed with all of my diy crafts and cheesy lovey dovey stuff. I married the best man for me! :) 

Becky

Myers' Vegas Vacation

I should probably make it clear from the get go that this wasn't technically a vacation for Jearen. I was lucky enough to have my boss approve me to take off two days of work BEFORE Spring Break began. This however, was a work trip for my husband, and that is exactly what he did. I will try to keep this post brief, but with the amount of pictures I want to show, we shall see how that goes, haha. I left Dallas Love Field Wednesday night on my own. I am a sucker for anything "sky" so seeing a beautiful sunset in Dallas and beautiful lights flying into Vegas made my heart happy!

Jearen picked me up from the airport & we cruised the streets of Vegas. My first take of this city was that it didn't seem real. I felt as if I had been strolling through a carnival, with all the lights, attractions & people. We ate dinner at Max Brenner's Chocolate by the Bald Man in Caesar's Palace, and the dessert was sooo good!

Thursday was a full day spent at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

 That evening we had a date at a restaurant called Simon at the Palms. We enjoyed steak & seabass (not me of course! I'm not a seafood lovin' gal), followed by a dessert plate that included cotton candy! 

Friday was a rainy day at the track, and left us with not a lot to do. Saturday was a fun day. I got to see the beginning of the race with Jearen on some VIP level area, ran into Kid Rock & Jimmy Johnson, and spent the day admiring how hard my husband works.

 That evening we took a few hours to walk around the strip. I LOVED the fountains at the Bellagio, and felt like a little kid as I squealed and awed at the show! We walked through several hotels and had lots of fun taking pictures. Prior to the trip I had several friends tell me that they couldn't wait to see pictures because they were going to live vicariously through me, but I have to disappoint some, and say we DID NOT GAMBLE. Not once, not even the penny slots. It just isn't our thing and is not how we want to spend our money, and we are ok with that :). So for those of you hoping I'd be bringing back the Benjamins, sorry! We had dinner that night at The Sugar Factory, which was basically like a loud club that served food, haha. Jearen loved it, and I'll admit...after a few minutes of getting over how loud it was, I enjoyed it too. 

Sunday, oh Sunday. That was a BUSY day at the race track, with the final race going on. I had become quiet the goofball around Jearen, and especially when I'm around Nascar fans. I had a blast being around my husband for an entire week and I was glad to keep him company. 

Hope you come back for one heck of a surprise from my husband....a trip to the GRAND CANYON!! :)

-Becky

Valentine's Day!

I looked forward to this day for so long. After planning ideas on Pinterest, I finally took out a pen & paper, and mapped out what I would be doing for Jearen this year for Valentine's Day. I must be a party planner deep at heart, because I loved getting all the details nailed down and figuring out ways to make each thing special.

This year I made clues that lead to four rooms in our house. Being that we bought our house back in July, I wanted to incorporate it into the date. Last year I transformed our little apartment patio, so having an entire house to decorate was so exciting to me.

For dinner I made buffalo chicken sliders from a recipe on allrecipes.com. It was DELICIOUS and my husband told me I needed to make this a staple in our dinner menu. That alone made me feel like a champ! We played The Newlywed Game thanks to a free printable online. Then I showered him with a few gifts, including a photobook I made online and ended the night watching a movie on Netflix.

I loved doing all this for my man. I got so giddy to surprise him with a night at home. I felt so loved just knowing what a great man he has always been to me. I wasn't expecting any gifts or flowers, but this sweet guy surprised me with a Diana F+ lomography camera. HE was so excited for me to has this camera. He is such a good gift giver.

Now that Valentine's is over, my goal is to continue to do sweet surprises for Jearen just because! Thank goodness for Pinterest! Always keeping me on my toes to be creative!

-Becky