Date Night

Since we've been talking about quality time and connection, I thought I'd continue on with that in this post.

We will all have times in our relationships where we're feeling run down, or when we take our partner for granted, or when it just feels like we don't have enough romance in our lives. At that point, you have two choices. You can go with "I'm feeling disconnected so I'm not really feeling like making an effort," and continue the way you're going and drift further apart. Or, you can acknowledge there's been some drift already, and work to close the gap.

It's not always fun to pour effort into a relationship, especially when you might not be feeling especially loving towards your partner, for whatever reason. But ultimately, you can choose to take actions that will bring you closer together, or that will bring you further apart. If there's a real issue to discuss, definitely do that! I don't mean to gloss over relationship problems with romance. But if it's just the day to day grind wearing you down- think about what you can do to bring the focus back on you and your partner.

I've always been a hopeless romantic- the kind of woman who dreamt of the big, showy gestures. But realistically, the partners I've dated aren't the kind of people who went for that sort of thing, and that's okay. Henry, for example, consistently goes for the little things and those are pretty awesome. I've read that little gestures more frequently can boost relationship satisfaction higher than the big gestures, and I'm sure that's right. It only makes sense that the more frequently you put energy into your relationship, the happier it will be.

But... I happen to like the big, showy, romantic gestures sometimes. And I've learned that it's almost as much fun being the person who plans them, as it is the person who receives them. I can't remember how much I shared here, but my proposal to Henry was a big, showy, romantic gesture, and he loved it so much that it brought tears to his eyes. Fortunately, I had a photographer standing by to capture it!

And so I have another special plan for Henry. I am not going to write about it yet, in case he happens to choose this time to randomly read my blog (Hi, sweetie!). But we have decided that we want a dedicated date night for our marriage, and the first night is my turn, and I want it to be something really over the top.

What do you do to keep the romance going in your relationship(s)?