Well, the first week went really well. We stuck to the meal plan and had delicious meals at home.

Mark didn't care for the potato soup too much, so I'm afraid that is not going to be finished. That recipe makes a lot of soup. If we were going to eat it, I was going to freeze the extra. That's what I'm going to do with the chili. Mark is the one who makes chili at our house, and he always makes a lot. He makes it different every time, but it's always delicious.

Next week, we have some special events going on. On Monday, we are meeting up with some good friends for tacos. Wednesday is community group, as usual, but it's also my birthday. Sunday will mark 10 years since Mark and I began dating. We've been married almost 4 years now :) Anyway, the meal plan is a little easier this week.

Here it is:
Monday: Tacos at K & R's
Tuesday: Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, peas
Wednesday: Pot Luck at Community Group- bring birthday cake
Thursday: Left over meat loaf & potatoes
Friday: Enchiladas
Saturday: Date Night
Sunday: Easy Chicken Bake

I started meal planning fairly regularly last year. I've tried a couple of different methods and think I've found some good ideas to help me get organized pretty quickly. The biggest help for me is the spreadsheet I created for meal planning. It lists a bunch of our favorite meals along with a side, the main ingredient, and a note of where to find the recipe (link included for internet recipes). When it's time to start planning, I can open it up and pick out some ideas based on what I know I have on hand and what we feel like eating that week.

Ok, so... I'm considering this as my practice blog until I actually get the hang of it. I've been reading lots of blogs and learning what I like, so maybe someday I'll know what I want to really do with a blog. For now though... I though it would be fun to share a fun date Mark & I went on.

There's a website called The Dating Divas that has a lot of great ideas for dating your spouse. I found one called "Choose Your Own Destiny" and thought it would be fun to try. I wanted to do dinner, an activity, and possibly dessert. I chose three options in each of these categories and printed off pictures as "clues" for each option. My clues weren't really helpful in any way, but Mark was a good sport and took his chances.

What would you choose?

We went to Grub's for dinner. Neither of us had eaten there before. Mark thought his burger was good, so we were off to a great start. Of course, I forgot my camera, so we stopped back at the apartment to pick it up (like I said, Mark was being a good sport!). Mark chose the picture that represented Go Karts, but we weren't sure we were really up for that. So, we broke the "rules" and decided to go to Gator Golf instead.

The rejected Go Kart Card

It was Mark's idea of a perfect night as far as weather goes: warm (not hot) temps, slight breeze, & cloudy. We played one of our worst games of mini-golf ever, but had a lot of laughs.

Gator Golf

One of the dessert clue cards was "Home Sweet Home". Mark's not much of a dessert guy, so he liked the idea of heading home which was fine with me. It was a great night, and I'm hoping we'll have a lot more like it this summer.

What are some of your favorite date ideas?