Many of those who know me know that I very much enjoy creative date ideas. Back when I was single, I used many of the following techniques to woo potential girlfriends. Now that I’m married, I still enjoy just about every one of these activities as an opportunity to strengthen my relationship with my wife.
I guess this marks a new chapter in our blog. I’ll go ahead and list the ideas that I’ve accumulated over the years here, but stay tuned because as Katie and I actually do the date ideas, we’ll take pictures and document the whole thing for you to see just how it turned out.
Simple Play Frisbee Go Ice Blocking Fly a kite Go bowling Play air hockey or other arcade games Play ping pong, pool or other games at a local community center or institute Play guitar hero or other video games Play croquet Play frisbee golf Play laser tag (Me and Katie's first date!) Go to a concert Play with legos, erector sets or k'nex Play board games Go for a bike ride Go roller blading/skating Go to a skate park or roller rink Go ice skating Go to a sports event Go to a roller derby Watch a little-known sport event (lacrosse, cricket, hockey in some places..) Visit a nearby landmark (Grand Canyon) Watch or play with fireworks Play a computer game Play a card game Watch the DVDs of your favorite show (like 24!) Make home made ice cream Go to the local science center Visit a planetarium Watch a movie outside with a projector and a sheet Carve a pumpkin Go to a comedy club Watch some belly dancers Go to an opera or symphony Watch a spring training baseball game Go to a racetrack (horse race, drag race, etc.) Go to a car show Go to an air show Romantic Go to the drive in Go to the airport and watch the planes Watch the stars with a telescope Go on a picnic or picnic in the woods Visit the Christmas lights at a zoo Rent a paddle boat on a small pond Take a horseback ride Adventurous Go camping, if not overnight then at least to a bonfire Visit a nearby, quaint little town like Sedona, AZ Raft or tube down a river Go boating Go cliff jumping Sneak in to a ritzy hotel to go swimming in their pool Go Paintballing Build a fort or tree house (best over multiple dates) Play on a rope swing (preferably in to water) Build and shoot a potato gun (more fun for the guy than the girl) Go hiking Go across the border in to another state/country (Mexico!) Go to the sand dunes Ride in a hot air balloon Play with a remote control airplane (or go watch others who do) Build and fly a model rocket Go toiletpapering Religious Do a service project (like the canary) Walk around a beautiful building (like the LDS temple) Help the local missionaries Go to the local rest home and visit
We would love to feature your story if you try any of these! Enjoy!
Dallin
I got to learn a lot about my wife this last weekend as we visited the town of Thatcher, AZ where her dad grew up for their annual “Pioneer Day” celebration. It was GOOD FUN and I suspect we’ll be going back every year. I grew up in Spring City, UT and although we did have a similar festivity (I remember a fireman’s breakfast and fire trucks to wake everyone up at 6 am), I don’t think our little town of 900+ residents was able to put on quite the show that Thatcher (a whopping 4,000+ residents) does.
I say it was “good fun” and I’m being totally honest. Once you see the pictures below, you may think I was being sarcastic but I really did enjoy myself. I think that now that I’m a big city boy, laughing at the traditions of a small town was only so fun because it hit so close to home.
We got to Thatcher just in time for the parade at 5:00PM. It was raining (as you can see from the pictures), but not even the most fierce storm could have stopped us from supporting these guys. Here are some examples of the floats we saw. Most of them have to do with the recent announcement that a new LDS temple will be built in Gila Valley.
Pioneers digging in to that fresh soil.... on the back of a flatbed trailer
This one was actually cool. That sign states a prophecy by John Taylor that "one of the most beautiful temples ever built among the Saints in the Rocky Mountains ultimately would be built in the Gila Valley."
I would have liked to see more than 30 seconds of work go in to making this float
Kind of disturbing
And what parade would be complete without some mormon missionaries??
Good ol' Mr. Ed
There were others but I think these should be enough to give you an idea. After that, the whole town (and surrounding towns) head up to the college of Eastern Arizona football field to have some food and watch the fireworks. I had forgotten what a friendly and fun environment a small town can be (to visit, not to stay!) Katie’s dad spent the whole evening talking with old friends while Katie and I took Bauer (their dog) for a walk
who me?
Lots of hilarity ensued. I love that dog. Anyway, remember how I told you that a storm had been breweing over head the whole time? Well now it stepped up a notch and we got soaked. Of course it was right in the middle of the fireworks, so we couldn’t very well get up and leave (at least I couldn’t) and we decided to stay and “weather” the storm.
And now for the climax of our story. I was content to be wet on the car ride home, but Katie’s grandma
Insisted that we have dry clothes. We had to take them off of course, and in the mean time, she provided us with … clothing (can I call it that?) to wear until they were dry. Katie got off easy with an old red robe of her grandma’s, and I got stuck with a hand made v-neck sweater from 1940 that used to be her grandpa’s. Take a good look at these photos, folks — you won’t find them anywhere else.
Princess Katie
A close up
Our winner!
So there you have it, folks! Will we be seeing you there next year?
Dallin
So, I’m no book critic- really, I’m not- but I am an avid reader! I love to read, I love to think about what I read, and I love to talk to other people about what I read! so I suppose this begins another facet of our blog- Katie’s book reviews!
I just finished Stephanie Meyer’s The Host a few days ago. it was one of those books that I was really excited to read, because I wanted to see what this author could do outside of the “Twilight” series, which, although it has made her insanely popular, in my opinion, does not display the best writing out there. I was hoping she could break out of the “He’s so devastatingly beautiful…marble skin…piercing eyes,” on and on routine that, if we’re perfectly honest, really does dominate the “Twilight” books and almost, almost, hides the story.
And that is really a shame, because she has great stories, with amazing potential, that she generally does a fantastic job of telling. The Host, for instance, tells the story of Wanderer, an alien “soul” who has possessed the body of a human girl named Melanie, as has become routine to the point that true humans hardly exist on the planet anymore. The conflict arises as Wanderer realizes that Melanie is still conscious inside her body, and Wanderer cannot escape some of the stronger feelings that Melanie possesses, including her love and concern for Melanie’s brother, Jamie, and boyfriend, Jared, who are hiding out in hopes of remaining true humans.
Wanderer sets out to find these two boys she can’t help but love. She finds them hiding out in the desert mountains of Arizona with a small colony of humans who have escaped being possessed by souls. The majority of the rest of the book takes place within these caves, as Wanderer tries to become accepted and trusted by these people who have experienced nothing but fear, sorrow, and loss at the hands of her race.
This really is a very good premise for a science fiction book. It involves strange, outlandish (but still thought provoking) ideas, and really delves into the idea of what it means to be “human.” Wanderer’s feelings show true human complexity as she feels anger and frustration, emotions that are not commonly felt amongst her own kind. The humans within the story are just as conflicted, unsure about how to react to the presence of a member of the enemy society. Most of them adjust, however, and one boy, Ian, even falls in love with Wanderer, loving her for herself instead of for the mind of Melanie struggling within the shared body.
The biggest problem with the story, unfortunately, is the way it is presented. Meyer’s writing is incessantly repetitive, constantly re-reminding the reader of the same thoughts and feelings multiple times. It almost wouldn’t be too much, if the book wasn’t so long. Another writing issue arises towards the end of the story, when something happens that suddenly makes Wanderer’s path perfectly clear to her, and leaves the reader (or at least me) going “wh-what? why does that mean she has to do that? where did that come from?” continuing for several pages, until you’re sure you missed something and have to go back and check. And then, when it is finally actually explained to you, you think: “Oh. Well that isn’t a very big deal. She should have thought of that before.” Wanderer becomes completely obsessed with this solution, positive that it is the only solution and absolutely nothing can be done about it, and the reader is left to wonder where it came from, and why it is so inevitable.
In short, The Host is a good story that was probably dragged out a little too long, and that has a climax that falls flat. After the long middle portion of the book, in which too much is written and not enough happens, I was expecting a really dynamite ending, and I felt like I just didn’t get it. It is, however, worth reading. Like I said before, the story will make you think, and while the characters may be somewhat cookie cutter, they have passion. Just don’t expect a stellar experience. And for goodness’ sake, stop calling Meyer the new Rowling. Ridiculous.
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/thehost.html
Grade: B-
Reading next: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
just a quick update on what we’ve been up to for the past couple weeks…
we celebrated our TWO month anniversary on july 10. dallin is a complete sweetheart and brought me two roses at work. we celebrated that night by going to a great thai restaurant.
here’s us with our waitress…haha kind of random i know…but it’s the best picture i have of the day!
anyway, so that was a happy event. it was closely followed by a fun-filled rock band night at our good friends josh and kortnei’s beautiful new house. we had a bbq and rocked the night away.
this picture turned out more scary chick than rocker chick…but whatever.
the next morning (early the next morning) we set out to meet my family at lake powell. my little sister’s best friend’s family has a timeshare in a houseboat, so we hung out there for a few days, riding the jet skis, wakeboarding (dallin) and avoiding fish (me) and swatting bugs (everyone). it was a lot of fun! we even avoided getting sunburned.
i really don’t have an even partially decent picture of me from this trip, so you get this nice one of dallin.
well, we’re back now. back to work, not back to school yet, thank goodness. hopefully we’ll have the chance to get away again before our last year of school starts. it’s quite the amazing summer!
-katie
and…a wedding picture, just for good measure. 
we celebrated our independence day by journeying up to richfield, utah to hang with dallin’s family! it was an… explosive weekend!
dallin had more than just a fun-filled weekend in utah up his sleeve, however. he cooked up some reason for us to drive through vegas instead of page on the way to utah on thursday (he even got my mom in on it) and then, as we’re driving through surprise, az, he gives me a surprise:
tickets to see phantom in vegas! you see why i love him? you see?
i, of course, am beyond excited. we ended up taking the long way to vegas (blame yet to be determined) and made it to the show just as it was starting. we didn’t miss a second of it! sometimes i love the way dallin drives. sometimes. the show was spectacular! they’ve really spiced it up a bit. love love loved every second of it.
we made it into richfield a little after 2 on friday morning. after not enough sleep, we woke up for the festivities, including, but not limited to, a parade, a carnival-esque event in the park, snow cones, firecrackers, tons of food, the works.
dallin and dayton having a go at each other in the park
ready to take a nap
and that night was full of fireworks and all that that entails…including fearing i might become an early widow as the pyromaniac in my husband is revealed.
on saturday, we took some four wheelers out and drove up the mountain for a picnic. that was great fun! the view from the top was awesome. dallin and i carved our initials into a tree (awww…)
i know we look tan…believe me, it’s just dirt
ready to roll out!
so, we had a great time in richfield, visiting family and everything. it was good to see everyone! but the fun didn’t stop there…
we decided to take the long way home, going a couple of hours out of our way to explore some unfamiliar territory. the results were great! the desert really does have its own kind of beauty to it.
we also stopped at meteor crater, since neither or us had ever been there before. it was pretty cool too!
so that was our fourth! it was a lot of fun to celebrate with family and to get away for a bit. next time i might make dallin wear a helmet the whole time though…
god bless the usa!
-katie
if you want to see all the pictures, go to http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2334388&l=c197e&id=10035798
hello hello!
so we had some friends over for dinner and fhe last night, and they asked us what we had done for some of our date nights. the more i got to thinking about it, the more i thought that this would be a great thing to blog about! it’s not always easy to find something to do when you’re a newlywed. i mean, it’s a friday night (or…tuesday, as the case may be) in chandler, az, and you’re a newlywed who doesn’t want to spend a ton of money. i think the majority of our nights, we end up just “hanging out,” playing a game or watching a movie or working on separate stuff. that’s all fine and well, but it’s great to go out (or stay in) and do things, with time that is specially set apart for your spouse. dallin and i love hearing new ideas of things to do, so i think i’m going to start adding posts about date activities dallin and i do and enjoy.
the first is what we did tonight, and it rocked-pun intended. we’ve currently got my parents playstation 2 on loan, so we played guitar hero!
oh, he’s a rocker, make no mistake
we had a ton of fun, playing our favorite songs, trying out levels that were way to hard for our skill level (as impressive as that may be), and getting just a teensy bit competetive
dallin blamed his losing on his arm being sore…riiiiight.
i, however, just shrugged it off (i mean, it didn’t happen very often…)
so basically, we had a grand old time! it was a great way to hang out and have fun together, without going out and spending money. if you don’t have the system and/or the game…i bet you know someone who does! borrow it and ask them to come play with you! then you’ve got a real party on your hands!
if guitar hero isn’t your thing (like, really isn’t your thing), any video game or computer game will do. just play!
-rock on-
-katie