Fun Dates, Part 2!

Yesterday I started reminiscing about some fun dates we've been on through the last few years, and before I knew it, the post got lengthy! So I decided to spread the fun out over a few days and I'm back today for more! (All of this was inspired by this post I read, which listed a bunch of fun anniversary date ideas. So again, all the ideas listed out came from the blog I read, and I'm just sharing ways we've tried some of them!) 

11. Go out dancing. 

We aren't really dancing people. (No skills for this girl. Ryan was in show choir, so he does have moves.) BUT!!! When we went on our first cruise back in 2013, we did dance a little during one of the fancy dinner nights, and it was so much fun! We even found ourselves on TV later in the week when they showed some recaps of activities on the ship! 

12. Take a luxurious soak.

Back in the summer of 2020, we went to the Hocking Hills of Ohio for our birthday trip. You may remember this as the time we went to hike Hocking Hills State Park and did not know it was entirely closed!! We found other parks to hike, so the trip wasn't a lost cause, but one of my favorite parts of that trip was our tiny cabin! It was an actual tiny house - and it had a GREAT hot tub on the back porch. We loved soaking in that after our hikes!! (Owning a hot tub is still on my bucket list. And this one was the perfect size. Built just for two!)

13. Returning to your wedding venue.

CHECK!! For any of you who may be new here, we got married in Siesta Key, Florida, in December of 2012, and then five years later, we took our "Friendtastic Fifth" anniversary trip. We went many places over almost a two week span on that trip, but we started by heading back to our beloved wedding cathedral on the beach. It was one of my favorite trips. Recreating pictures on our actual beach? Oh yes, please!! 

14. Go for an adventure.

We've been on so many adventures. SO MANY. You remember the waterfalls, right? But I feel like the true winner of the adventure has to go to the time we went ziplining on our first annual birthday trip. No photo has ever topped this one. And I've never been so relieved to live through anything...

15. Book a photo session.

This week, I took a photo of one of our tenants for the framed collection in our community room. He told me he didn't love pictures, and I promised him it wouldn't be too painful. I took the pictures quickly and then said, "That wasn't so bad, was it?" He said, "It hurt a little." LOL!!! Well, he'd never survive in Shafferland, would he? We do a photo shoot every fall for our annual Christmas card picture, and it is always one of our favorite times!! It reminds us of our engagement photo shoot, which Ryan's mom did for us just a couple of weeks after we got engaged. I am so happy we have photos and fun memories from each fall of our marriage! 

16. Cook at home.

We enjoy cooking together! One of our favorite memories of cooking together was back on our first Valentine's Day together! We decided we didn't want to go out and fight the crowds, so we cooked at home! Ryan grilled and I made dessert...and we had the most romantic dinner at home! 

17. Book a Couple's Class.

This was another of Ryan's really great date ideas! This was another Valentine's Day date - back in 2016. He booked a class for us at Sur la Table and it was SO MUCH FUN! I was nervous about being in a class with a bunch of people we didn't know, but it ended up being fun! And that food was so good - as was the coffee. I actually still think about that coffee sometimes. It was THAT good. 

18. Get Crafty Together. 

Ooohh, we can't think of one for this one! Does remodeling all our houses count as a crafty date?? Because we really have painted and crafted a lot of things in houses. And Abby the RV. It's true that last fall, many of our days working in Abby counted as our dates! Maybe someday we'll try out a pottery class or paint a picture together, but for now, we're going to count renovations for the win!

19. Check out some live music.

We've done a LOT OF THIS! Much more at the beginning of our marriage than now, because I was working at the radio station and we worked a ton of concerts! Those made for some really wonderful dates! I'm not even sure what our last live music date was, but we have many great memories from those early-year concerts. But since the whole idea of these posts had to do with anniversary ideas, I will throw back to our very first anniversary, when we went to hear a Gaither Christmas concert in Indianapolis. (Fun fact about that trip? We saw Sandi Patty every single day we were in Indianapolis. She was at every event we attended!)

20. Go to an arcade.

Well, this one is a fat fail for us. We aren't really arcade people, I guess! But in its place...can I recommend mini-golf? We did that for one of our alphabetical dates, too, and it was really fun! (We also mini-golfed on the ship when we cruised for Ryan's 40th, and that was also a lot of fun!)