Mandatory Date Night

You might be saying to yourself, "well date nights shouldn't mandatory, it should come naturally", and to that I say "it's more complicated than that." Yes, during the courtship portion of any relationship you'll generally find yourself wined, dined and wooed often, but what happens when years start passing by? I'll tell you what has happened in my situation. While the love is strong, and the romance is always there, the date nights have dwindled as time has gone by. I feel it's only natural to find yourself in the daily grind, busy with work, house chores, projects, family get-togethers that before you know it you let weeks pass by without planning out a special time for you and your hubby (or long time partner). Before we were able to buy the house we currently have the everyday stress of work and responsibility was weighing me down. I was having a hard time sleeping and a few times I just would start to break down and cry. Even though I am a natural born crier it was obvious I needed a small escape. One week without me bringing it up Brian took me on a great getaway, and even though it was just a couple of days I'll never forget it. So what did Brian do? He told me to take a Friday off of work, and that Friday night we checked in at Malibu Country Inn. To our luck they upgraded us to a newer, recently renovated room. It had its own little deck with spa and the room was cute enough. The thing I liked the most about the place was that it was walking distance from Westward Beach. We got there just in time for sunset and we just sat on the beach and watched the sun go down and the waves hit the the shore. It wasn't crowded at the beach and with all that quietness I was able to just truly enjoy the beauty of everything and focus on Brian and me. Afterwards we went down the street to Zuma Sushi, and to our luck there were outdoor seats open. The air was cool, the stars were out, we ate some of the best sushi I have ever had and just talked and laughed for quite awhile. The next day we went hiking at the Los Liones Trail to Parker Mesa. The weather was perfect and the view at the top was gorgeous. After the weekend was over I felt refreshed in love and in life. It's often hard to find time to focus on the things you love the most and enjoy the God-given beauty of the world, but we just have to make time. It's already the middle of June and I swear that I was looking at January on the calendar just last week. I don't want to take life for granted or the love I have been given. So Brian and I have a promise that every so often we take turns planning a special thing, small experiences that are new to us or old ones we just love to do together. I know as long as we keep that up our relationship will be strong for it.