Thursday, May 31, 2012

Date 41 - My LIFE Would Suck Without You!

Date: Thursday, May 24, 2012
Type: Theme, Simple, Fun, At-Home
Cost: $
Planned By: Dani

Life. What a great theme for a date. A super cheap and fun date.

Adam and I hadn't played a board game together in awhile. A few years ago I bought him The Game of Life; Twists and Turns. There were just a few other things we needed to acquire before the date. We each got a Sobe Life Water. I got black and blue berry. Adam got orange tangerine. They are actually really good for you; high in Vitamin C and antioxidants.We also got a bag of Life Savers and Life Savers Gummies. Adam didn't particularly like his Life Water. He thought it tasted like funny water. I liked mine. We both loved the Life Savers and had extra to snack on the next few days.
          
We set everything up on the table. We drank our life water, ate life savors and played 20 years of the game. Adam always beats me at Life. I was determined to win. I started out doing really well. I got two promotions right away, got an SUV, got a degree and got married. Adam focused on promotions and trying to get life points. He decided to get married on the very last turn. Neither of us got any children.
         
Adam still beat me by 17,000 points. He kicked my butt, but that's OK because in real life what's mine is his and what's his is mine. So really we both won!
                                                
This date was simple, but fun.. and I got candy out of it!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Date 40 - You Keep Me Running.

Date: May 19th, 2012
Type: Physical, Health, Double
Cost: $$
Planned By: Adam's Parents

Adam and I ran our very first 5K for our date this week. Anyone that was ever in our gym class would know that we weren't the most proficient runners. I could hardly run a mile without needing to walk. In college, though, we were inspired by our former boss & friend, JT, to start running. We discovered it actually wasn't that difficult. So when Adam's parents asked us to do the 5K with them we said yes.
                                         
I'm still not that great of a runner so I had to train. Adam is a good runner so he only trained a little. The Rite Aid Cleveland 5K started at the Cleveland Browns Stadium. We ran 3.1 miles through the city seeing the Warehouse District, Tower City, the lake, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, & Progressive Field. It was a really nice tour of downtown Cleveland.
        
Of course five minutes in to the race I got a cramp. I didn't get any cramps while training so I was pretty upset. The run ended up being much more difficult than I had anticipated. My goal was 30 minutes. I was determined to at least run the whole thing, and Adam stayed with me the whole time to make sure this happened. I finished in 31:06 Adam finished in 31:04. I'm still proud of my time even though I didn't make my goal.. I did run the whole time. Adam could have finished at least five minutes earlier but he stuck with me, and I love him for that.
 
Adam's parents walked the full 3.1 miles in 54 minutes. Which is a really good walking time and they were proud of! We all had a great time participating in this event together. I hope we can get a bigger group together for next year's. Adam and I will probably start running in more races. We are hoping to do a half marathon (13.1 miles.. my goal would be to finish it) this year, and Adam's main goal is to do the Disney World Marathon someday.
                   

                   
(TOP: us in the background, BOTTOM: Debbie & Richard in the background)
Working out together is a great date. It's good for your body, fun, and releases endorphins which will make you happier. Everyone should try it! :)

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Date 39 - I still do!

Date: May 12th - 14th
Type: Romantic & Fun
Cost: $$$$
Planned By: Dani & Adam

We did it! We made it a whole year through marriage! Because this is such a big accomplishment we celebrated all weekend together.

First, we started at Huntington Reservation in Bay Village, Ohio. Here we took Anniversary photos. We used a tripod and took them ourselves to save some cash. They turned out really good. We plan to do this every year, and each year change the number in the frame! That way in 100 years we'll be able to see how much we've changed.
                  
Next, we drove to Sandusky, Ohio for a get-a-way at Kalahari Indoor Water Park and Resort! We reserved the King Whirlpool Room for one night, but it comes with two days admission to the water park. We weren't supposed to check in until 4PM, but they had our room ready at noon! Perfect!
                                               
Our room was huge. Way too big for two people, but we didn't mind. It had a full kitchen, a whirpool bath tub, a king size bed (in its own room), a fireplace, living room, dining room, and balcony! It was quite ridiculous, but we loved it.

 
 We put on our swim suits and headed down to the water park. First, we laid outside to get a tan because we were so lucky to have a beautiful day. Then we took advantage of all the fun stuff inside. There were tons of water slides, a lazy river, a wave pool, three hot tubs, a saloon, and snack areas. There were a few long lines for slides, but they weren't too bad. 
 We went back to the room, tried out our whirlpool, sat by the fireplace and drank some wine all before dinner. The resort has a few different restaurants to eat at. We chose to go to The Reserve which is a nice restaurant by day, but a nightclub after hours. I got the Chicken Cordon Bleu sandwich and it was delicious. I loved it and I would definitely get it again! Adam got the BBQ grilled chicken sandwich. He played it safe, but he really enjoyed it. We also shared a 42 oz Rum Runner that came with a huge souvenir glass. The glass could also be refilled anywhere in the resort for about $6 cheaper!


 We returned to the waterpark, but it closes at 10PM. So we spent the rest of the night enjoying each other's company and drinking our other bottle of wine.

The next morning we went back to the water park to get on the slides early before the crowd got there. Our plan worked. We spent most of our time in the 21 and over hot tub/swim up bar. We refilled our souvenir glass with a huge Adult Chocolate milkshake.. which was amazing! We started to get tired and decided to head home. Kalahari made for a great anniversary get-a-way. It was like tropical resort, but only an hour away in Ohio. It was perfect!

On Monday -- our actual anniversary -- we celebrated by watching the DVD of our wedding, eating the top tier of our cake, and drinking a blue drink from our wedding glasses. The 1st anniversary is known as the "paper" anniversary. So I got Adam toilet paper. He got us candy to share. The candy was way better than the cake. Let me tell you, year old frozen (we thawed it first) wedding cake isn't actually very tasty. It was funny to eat it thought so I don't regret it. It was fun watching the DVD because we decided to wait until our anniversary to watch it.

 
 Overall, our first anniversary was amazing. I can't think of anything that would have made it better. I'm excited to see what we plan for next year, and all the years to come!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Date 38 - Fiesta!

Date: Saturday, May 5, 2012
Type: Fun, Group Date, Party
Cost: $$
Planned By: Dani & Adam

For anyone who doesn't know what Cinco De Mayo is (May 5th) it is... Who am I kidding? Everyone knows what it is. It is the date in 1862 when the Mexican army surprisingly defeated France. It is widely celebrated in the United States because of Mexican-American heritage and because their win in that battle helped the United States against France, too.

I mostly celebrate it because I like margaritas, but those are good reasons, too. Every couple months our college friends like to have a little get together if possible. We offered our apartment for May. We couldn't invite too many people since we down sized to a one bedroom, but there was enough room for the people who came.

We started out by making margaritas and playing a card game. The twist to the game was each player had to say the card in Spanish. Adam was the only one who didn't take Spanish (he took French, boo!!)... so it was a fairly easy twist for the rest of us.
               
When the last person arrived - closer to dinner time - we got the taco bar all set up. We had flour tortillas, taco seasoned ground beef, tortilla chips, queso, salsa, and all the toppings. The tacos were delicious!!
                                    
What is a party without a Pinata? Not a very good one.. don't worry we got one! We had to hang it from a door with hanger. We also didn't have a stick to hit it with so we used a kitchen utensil. Still got the job done! Everyone had a great time crawling around on the floor trying to get the candy and little bottles of liquor we put in the pinata.
               
             
Adam and I also bought everyone a little shot of Patron Tequila. Adam didn't feel like waking up from his nap to take his. Sean didn't take his because he doesn't like tequila. The rest of us girls attempted to choke it down with salt and a a lime.
                                             
Next, we went out to the Warehouse District. We got free mustaches and a sombrero at The Barley House, checked out the cool view of the city at Velvet Dog, and rode the mechanical bull at Tequila Ranch. Our night out on the town was a success.
            
                  
In the morning we realized we didn't have our ice cream tacos. So we had those for breakfast. Waffle turned in to a shell with ice cream instead. Delicious!
                                            
Overall, this Cinco De Mayo was amazing. We all had a great time, and I can't wait till we see our friends again! :)
                

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Date 37 - Poker Face.

Date: Saturday, April 28th, 2012
Type: At Home, Simple
Cost: $
Planned By: Dani

Not your averaged poker game. The stakes were high. We'd both played Texas Holdem before. We're both super competitive. We got our poker set, popcorn, and appletinis all set up at the dining room table. Then it was on.
Adam and I played Texas Holdem. We each had enough chips to equal 60. It wasn't worth 60 dollars though. 60 chips equaled 60 minutes. At the end of the game we'd get to choose what to do with our time. Or choose what the other person had to do. (For example; 10 minute massage, 10 minutes of cuddling, 15 minutes of cleaning.. whatever you want)
               
We played for about 45 minutes. Adam won a few rounds and I won a few. We both ended up getting some pretty good hands; straights, flushes, full houses. Going in to the last game I was winning by 6 chips. It was very exciting.. who is going to be the champion? I started out with a great hand so I bet a lot. I even bet a 10 minute chip and Adam called. When we showed our hands all hell broke loose.
                                                 
I had two three-of-a-kinds, which means I had a full house. Adam also had a full house. My three of a kind was larger than his, but his pair was higher than mine. Because we aren't professionals and hardly ever play we didn't know who won right away. I fought for my winnings, but Adam insisted we look it up online. The person with the larger three of a kind wins. By the time I finished looking it up Adam already stole his chips back. Jerk. We argued until he gave me his 10 minute chip.
            
Therefore, I kicked his butt. 73 to 47. We decided you could spend the time whenever you want and it didn't have to be that night. So I have spent 1 minute making Adam act like a dog, 1 minute making Adam do the robot dance, 5 minutes of cuddling, 20 minutes of getting to read, and a 10 minute massage. Adam has only spent one minute making me tell him how awesome he is. I'm not sure what he is planning to do with his other 46 minutes, but I hope it had nothing to do with cleaning the apartment!
                                               
This was a really fun and extremely easy date. It is also practically free! If you need a super cheap fun date, try this out! :)