Want a Little Romantic Giveaway?

NOTE: You can still enter to win the prize package from yesterday’s guest post by Jill Tracey. Scroll down one post for details.

Also, be sure to pop on over tomorrow when I’ll have a Proverbs 31 Encouragement for Today devotion running on Crosswalk.com. With it, there will be a great holiday giveaway package! Stay tuned.

At the hectic holiday times, it is easy to run around trying to find everything on junior’s wish list, knock yourself out making 12 dozen cookies for the neighbors, fudge for the teachers, and pumpkin bread for the pastor.

And all the while, there sits the hubby, last on our list.

In our early marriage, Todd and I always took one night in November to stay at a quaint inn near our home on the Michigan-Indiana border to slow down and reconnect.

And then we had kids.

It has certainly taken more effort now. Some years we make time for a getaway. Other years our “date” is sipping hot cocoa by our fireplace once we’ve come in from hanging up the outdoors lights.

Here are a few date night ideas for you and the Mr. to try during this hectic time of year. Some are simple. And one, though a bit more involved, just might be the highlight of your season. :-)

~ Coffee anyone? Rather than trying to talk over the TV and Xbox or whatever commotion is at your house, steal away to a coffee house to discuss your gifts for the kids or holiday travel plans. Order something hot and creamy or some steaming tea. The atmosphere will be more date-like, but you’ll still be getting some tasks done. Don’t make it all planning. Each of you share your favorite Christmas memory from your childhood.

~ Reel in the holidays. On a night the kiddos are at Grandma’s or a friends, rent a favorite holiday movie and stay home to watch it together. For a tear-jerker, try this one or for mostly funny, with a tad of tear-jerking, this one. They are my favorites. Also whip up a snack to split. This is a half-way healthy one we love.

~ Take in a show. If you both can slip away from your work during the day, take in a matinee when the prices are cheaper.

~ Trading kiddos. Swap kids for a Friday night and the day on Saturday with another couple. So, one weekend you will have all the kids at your place while they have a free night. The next weekend, switch. You can use the time to do something fun or to enjoy the quiet around your house with the lights dim and the tree lit.

~ A romantic getaway. If you want to really treat yourselves and can get to the Grand Rapids, MI area, check out this fabulous special from my new friend Cheri from Prairieside Suites. I stayed there last month and it was divine!

Lovers’ Dream-FREE Massage, Chocolates & Firelight Romance Candles:

Prairieside Suites Luxury B&B a 7 time National Award winning B&B offering Luxury Spa Rooms with all Jacuzzi-Fireplace Suites and King beds. See our beautiful rooms and check availability online at www.prairieside.com or call 616.538.9442

Bring your sweetheart to unwind for two nights in one of our fabulous spa suites equipped with a two person jacuzzi, fireplace, king size bed, heated towel bar & heated toilet seat and we’ll have a free box of gift-wrapped chocolates and a free firelight romance candle package waiting in your room. Plus, we’ll arrange for one free 1/2 hour massage. Then, the romance is up to you!

Free offers cannot be combined with other free or discounted items but can be used with paid packages. This offer is available through February 28, 2011.  Book online by checking off this special under packages with your reservation.

Remember, be sure to come back tomorrow for a great holiday giveaway!

photo credit

8 Comments

  1. What a neat thought! Must be why our holidays have gotten so stressful between us. We don’t take time for each other. Please enter us for the romantic getaway. Thank you for your great ideas!

  2. Our children are successful, married and ready to meet life’s challenges.. and then we are empty-nesters with looking for a time away from the adjustments of all that has changed. this would be a perfect opportunity and we pray that we will be chosen, my husband of 33 years and I. thank you and we wish you a Merry Christmas!

  3. Wow, its amazing how time goes by & you realize with the busyness of life already & the holidays, that you we don’t take the time as a couple for just us to enjoy. My husband & I will complete 24 years on November 22, and have five children. By the grace of God we have been so blessed to make it through all our holidays seasons with all the expectations of in laws & schedules. Just those little moments of yes, having a cinnamon dolce latte enjoying our conversation of how exciting it will be to see our children open their gifts mean so much to us. We have been blessed, with five amazing children & their smiles are all so worth it.

  4. My husband and I have only been married 3 1/2 years, but I am so grateful for this awesome man of God that has been brought into my life. He is a wonderful person and really my best friend. He has a strong sense of family and a genuine concern for seniors. I don’t think I could’ve drawn up better specifications for a husband. I love, honor, and respect him!

  5. My husband & I are high school sweethearts with 9 children ages 7 months- fifteen. We never had a honeymoon & with our anniversary being right before six birthdays & Christmas we have never even managed a weekend away. But now that our family is complete we are ready to have our first getaway. Our hope is to do that before we hit 20 years together ;) .

  6. What a wonderful thing. My husband Jerry & I will celebrate 31 fantastic yrs together Nov. 30th. We were never able to take a honeymoon as I was in college, then we had a family, then he was in college. You know Life began & continues. We have, however, always tried to keep one night a week for date-night. When our kids we little they knew that night was “date-night” & it belonged to us & they knew not to make any plans with friends. It was an awesome thing because they grew to respect that time set aside for us & now that they have both grown & married, they too try to keep a “date-night” with their spouses. That is real romance. He still takes my breath away. Keep honoring each other in this way. Thank you Crystal Mayfield

  7. Wow…The Mississippi Mud bars sound divine. And I can eat them all myself since my hubby doesn’t like chocolate. (Oh, I guess that’s not very romantic!) Anyway, love your ideas for romance. It really doesn’t take much, just time, which I know can be so hard to come by, especially with younger kids. I’ve started walking very early in the am with my husband, which is bonding us in a wonderful new way. Blessings!

  8. I love the Thanksgiving/Christmas season. For us, it is all about spending time with our family. Though gifts and food are plentiful, we know this is not the reason for the season. It is truly a time of sharing and enjoying each others’ company.

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