50 Before 50 List...Part Three

 

Good morning! Welcome to a brand-new week and a return to my 50 Before 50 list. I have a few more categories to share with you this week, and I hope you have fun reading along with my dreams!

                Today’s category is…DATES! All these ideas are fun ideas I hope to enjoy with Ryan in the next couple of years. This is actually one of my longest categories. Hope you enjoy!

1.      Go to the hot air balloon festival in Angola. Fun fact that you may or may not know about me: I have been up in an untethered hot air balloon! A hot air balloon ride was my mom’s gift to my dad on his 50^th birthday, and as the balloon took off, I decided I wanted to go. Someone lifted me into the basket, and off I went! I’m glad I did it then as a five-year-old, because I’m certain I’d be too chicken to do it now. But I do think hot air balloons are beautiful, and I’d love to see them at the annual festival in northern Indiana. It didn’t work for this year, since it took place this past weekend, but we have more chances in future years!

2.      Do some sort of coffee adventure (flights, city crawl, something). Coffee flights fascinate me, but I’ve never had one. (Or shared it.) Ryan and I once did a mini coffee crawl around Kokomo as part of our alphabetical dates in 2017, and that was fun. I think it would be so much fun to go on some sort of organized coffee adventure date: share a flight, do an organized coffee crawl, or take some kind of coffee class.

3.      Date day at Top Golf. This has been on our list for a while, and we haven’t made it there yet. Neither of us are golfers, and we don’t aspire to be, but we think Top Golf would be fun to enjoy together on a date!

4.      Spend 1 night at JW Marriott. The JW Marriott is a huge hotel in downtown Indianapolis, and when Ryan and I were dating, we had a picture taken with this hotel in the background. We originally intended to stay there on our way to our honeymoon, but then we did a destination wedding, so that didn’t work. We still haven’t been there, and I would love to bring this moment full circle. This hotel is DEFINITELY outside our budget, but it would be fun to say we’ve stayed!

5.      Go to a new-to-us Christmas light display. We’ve been to the displays in Marion, Kokomo, and Fort Wayne, and to some in various states on our anniversary trips but I’d like to find at least one new place to visit. I always love seeing a new display!

6.      Go on a fancy picnic with Ryan. Think of it as glamping for picnics! We’ve gone on picnics before, and we always enjoy them, but I think it would be fun to step it up to super-fancy status. (Think something like this….)

7.      Manheim Steamroller concert. I first learned about Manheim Steamroller from hearing them on WBCL, even before I started working there. I saw that they’re going to be in Shipshewana this December, and I would love to go hear them in person!

8.      Recreate five simple dates we’ve done before. We have done some really fun things over the years. Why do some of those great moments have to be one and done? I’d love to recreate some of our favorites – like the night we went to the drive in and had a whole little picnic in the back of the car!

9.      Try a salt cave. We have a couple of salt caves/rooms around here, but I’ve never been to one. I have heard they have great health benefits and provide a fun experience, so I’d like to give it a try!

10. Find “our” restaurant. I love the stories of people who have “their” restaurant that they love to visit when they celebrate something meaningful in life. For some, it’s the place they went on a first date or the day they were engaged, but it could be any restaurant loved for any reason! Ryan and I have been to many restaurants we like, but we haven’t yet declared one “ours” – to be enjoyed on moments that matter most to us. Maybe, for me, this feels like putting down roots. I’d love to declare our spot!