Date Night

It is now the wee hours of the morning on Saturday...approximately 5 a.m.. Can't sleep. The baby has a cold and I heard her coughing so I got up to check on her at about 3:30 and I wasn't able to go back to sleep. So I decided to check my emails and my favorite blogs that I follow.

Last night was Date Night. I love Date Night!! Not because of where we go or what we do, but because I get to spend time with my favorite person in this whole world...my husband Chris. I love him! I know, you are thinking...."yeah, I expect you to love your husband", well of course. But I love to spend time with him, talk with him and do absolutely nothing with him. More and more, I realize how blessed I am to have him. Just tonight, I was talking to him at dinner about how I like the way we work together. Our marriage is a testimony of love for not only each other but the power of faithfulness to God. I truly believe that God has blessed our marriage because we have kept our focus on Him.

A little background for those who don't know me personally. Chris and I met for the first time when we were 14. He can tell you not only where (a park), but EXACTLY what I was wearing that day. We did the 14 year old "dating" thing...you remember, call each other on the phone but never go anywhere. After 2 weeks we broke up : (

But this was not the end. About a year later he ended up moving in with his aunt and uncle who unknowing to me, went to the same church as I did. We went to youth group together, never giving him a second thought. Our junior year of high school we sat next to each other the whole year in school (STILL not a second thought in my mind). But that summer, between our junior and senior year, MY EYES WERE OPENED!!! Chris started hanging around with 2 guys from church, Dana and Brandon. I hung around with Dana's sister, Pam and another friend Maureen. Well that summer we all, as a group, would hang around together. Just as friends. All of a sudden I WANTED to be where he was. It was very strange to me. We were now 17 and I couldn't understand why I liked him after 3 years of not even really noticing him. Well long story short, a year and half later we were married and in January we will celebrate our 16th anniversary. I am not for teens getting married, in fact our oldest is 14 and I couldn't imagine him getting married in a few years. But I do believe that was God's plan for us for reasons I won't get into today.

So back to date night (I have a tendency to go off on bunny trails). I had a great time. We went out for dinner to Applebee's and then did some shopping at the mall. I honestly forgot it was a Friday night until we pulled up to the mall. Going to the mall on Friday night is entertainment in and of itself. I can not believe that some of these parents would actually let their child out dressed or acting like that. It was one of those moments that made me thankful for my children (especially my oldest) and for the power of God in our life. We ended our night at the mall with a drink from Starbucks and headed home. 3 out of the 5 were still up, one being the baby. My Mom, who is the only one crazy enough to watch all 5 so we can go out, couldn't get Miss Emily to sleep. Mom says that is the only time Emily gives her a hard time. So I got some goodnight cuddles from her and we BOTH feel asleep on the couch. My Love put us both to bed.

So there you have it. Date night. It might NOT sound exciting to some, but to me it was fantastic. And one more thing....as a little side note. Brandon and Maureen that I talked about above, they got married a year after we did!! Little did any of us know that summer back in 1990 that we would find the love of our lives!