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What Our In Home Date Night Looks Like | Stacy Hudson | Better Than Newlyweds

June 6, 2016 by Mrs. Hudson

I am a Date Night Believer! I believe they can change your marriage. We recently started having an in home date night. I believe that even just one date night a month can help you reconnect with your spouse and remind you why you fell in Love with them in the first place! An evening out for a romantic dinner is usually what folks picture when they hear “date night”. I used to picture that too. However, our world has been blessed with a little ball of energy we like to call Sarah and date nights have changed.

Date nights have changed because we can’t just decide at the drop of a hat to go out for that romantic dinner anymore and we are new-ish parents still figuring out that whole “plan ahead” thing. We also don’t really want to spend $50 – $150 every month on Date Night. We would rather save it for a new vehicle or put it towards retirement. ( That sounded way too grown up! 🙂 ) So, what is the solution? When we don’t or can’t go out we have found that an “in home date night” can be romantic too!

Our “in home date night” usually involves us cooking together, a red box movie, and a fun dessert!

We had an impromptu “in home date night” recently so that meant that our sweet ball of energy was along for the fun! We decided to create an area she could roam free in and we wouldn’t have to worry while cooking or watching our movie. We set up what we like to call the “thunder dome” or what I call the “Sarah dome”! 🙂

She bounced from toy to toy like a ball in a pin ball machine! It was great! While she played we were able to cook dinner (checking on her from around the corner a ton) and then also watch our movie! We only had to stop the movie for bottle and diaper change breaks… but for a $1.50 for a movie at home… instead of $20 or so at the theater (not including a babysitter) we will take it! AND I get to be comfy in my pj’s while snuggling on the couch with my hubby… I’ll take that too! A different kind of romantic. 🙂

Our night was pretty simple. It wasn’t about the food but about the time we spent together. Because we were at home we could be silly in the kitchen cooking together and we could pause the movie when we wanted to talk about the movie. Conversation is an important part of a successful “date night”! On the menu was tacos and cookies for dessert.

Just for fun I picked out special messages from our stash of Taco Bell sauces to go along with our tacos. 🙂 Why waste an opportunity to be sweet!?

We kept the tacos pretty simple but we kicked our cookies up a notch though! 😀

Pazookie anyone?

What is a Pazookie you ask?! 😀

It is a special sweet treat! Bake some cookies and then put one upside down on a plate. Then plop some icing on the cookie. Add an upright cookie on top of the icing and squish the cookies together! 😀 Enjoy! And for extra fun… add sprinkles!

While we are on the topic of sweet treats! Let’s take a look at the sweet beginning of “man” and “woman” through creation.

“Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field.

But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:18-24

Sometimes my husband calls me “his rib”… at first it was a quirky term of endearment. But now it is sweet. It reminds me that from the beginning God knew. God knew what I would need in a husband and so he created Dwight for me. He also knew what Dwight would need in a wife and created me for him. God didn’t just stop at our needs though He blessed us with many things we didn’t even know we would want in each other! Isn’t it great to have a sweet God like that?

Pray with me:

I pray today that every husband would “hold fast” to his wife. I pray that husband and wife would operate as one flesh in agreement with His word. I rebuke every scheme of the devil and declare that all his plans to bring division must stop in Jesus’ name. May we rest upon His word and His truth and know that the same power that raised Jesus from the grave lives in us. Jesus, help us to stand up and put the devil under our feet where he belongs. Help us to stand up for our marriages and operate as one unit against the enemy. Help us recognize his schemes and submit to you all that we do so that when we resist the devil he must flee! Thank you for who you are God. Help us Love like You Love. Amen.

30 MINUTE DATES TO REVIVE YOUR MARRIAGE | Better Than Newlyweds | Stacy Hudson

March 7, 2016 by Mrs. Hudson

When you first met your husband/wife and realized you liked each other… what did you do? Maybe a few of you immediately got married but I have a feeling most of you are like me and you dated. While on dates we focused on each other with the goal of figuring out if this was a forever thing! I am so glad ours was! A list of 30 minute dates to revive your marriage is below and I hope you will use it!

We could sit in a coffee shop for hours and talk. Driving around together was a treat and a chance to talk. Lay on a blanket outside and just look at the stars. Going to the beach and just listening to the waves and gazing into each others eyes was enough….for real. When we went to the movies we would share popcorn and hold hands annnnd while we are talking about going to the movies…

I was so clueless on our first movie date…second date total! We went to see of all movie titles … “The Proposal”… I should have known then right? 😉 Well I had the popcorn in my lap and I was eating it and offering it to him but he didn’t want any. I noticed he kept looking over at me but I didn’t know why. Well, as soon as I put down the popcorn I learned why. He immediately reached over and held my hand! I didn’t mind at all and he still holds my hand… after I put the popcorn down of course!

It is hard to keep dating once married. As much as we try to keep things fresh…. things change. We get into routines. We start to take for granted that we get to see the Love of our lives daily! When we were dating I couldn’t wait for my Love to show up at my house for a visit and I hated it when he had to leave. Time seems to go by faster once married. Dates become less of a priority sometimes and we end up spending more time gazing at our phones than gazing into our Lovers eyes.

I hope these 30 minute date ideas will help you revive your marriage and start dating again!

30 MINUTE DATES TO REVIVE YOUR MARRIAGE

Go to a playground near your house and hit the swings.

Walk there together if it is not too far and talk along the way. If conversation is not easy… discuss what you like about the houses/cars on the street. Anything to get words flowing.

Bring home deluxe ice cream fixings and set up your own ice cream sundae bar.

Have fun shopping together and making sundaes. If you want more fun maybe try to guess and create the perfect sundae for each other! This may seem silly but… isn’t that what we did while dating? Silly things that made us laugh together. I think it is in those moments I really fell in Love.

Turn off the TV and play cards. Get out of your Netflix rut for a more interactive evening. Don’t like cards? Try a favorite (or new!) board game instead.

Don’t get my wrong… I love netflix. BUT I Love my husband more and would gladly turn it off so we could spend 30 minutes hanging out playing cards. This one is not hard as it doesn’t even require you to leave your house! I am pretty sure we all have a pack of cards around the house somewhere and know how to play Battle! Just remember to play nice and the goal is connecting not winning! 😉

Have a picnic in your own backyard. Pack a basket of yummy eats and a blanket, and head out to the coziest space in your backyard.

This one requires you to leave your house…but not you yard! Pack a basket and enjoy some time in the sun together. Put your cell phones IN the picnic basket once you take the food out! This will make it easier to concentrate on each other.

Snuggle on the couch together and watch an episode of a show you both enjoy.

See,I told you I loved netflix. Most of the sitcoms on netflix at 21 minutes long. So, get some popcorn or another snack, snuggle on the couch and relax together.

“when I found him whom my soul loves; I held on to him and would not let him go”

SONG OF SOLOMON 3:4

KEEPING SEX FREE

May 24, 2014 by James Ogunyemi

Keeping sex free
We have probably all heard it, they make jokes about it on TV that married couples are always saying “I don’t get sex, I am married” or some other comment like that. This happens a lot because sex is uses as a control feature in a relationship. If you do everything right you can have it but if you do anything wrong the answer is no. The bible says in 1 Cor. 7:5 paraphrased to only not give each other sex for times of fasting and prayers and then to come back together so you are not tempted by the devil. God understands our need for human closeness and actually designed sex to be wonderful and fulfilling. There are so many biological processes that are restored and renewed by this act within a married couple. I encourage all of you reading this today to not use sex only for reward and punishment. If you are doing this you can drive each other apart. Once the sex grows cold in a relationship it does not take a lot for the devil to start dislodging some other bricks of your marriage house. So I tell you all to take up this key and once again become open to the loving advances of each other. Maybe its a little time in each others arms this is exactly what’s needed to start turning your relationship around. .

Read 10 Great Dates to Energize Your Marriage | Better Than Newlyweds

May 3, 2014 by Mrs. Hudson

Doing this book with a group at our church has been a great blessing to our marriage. I can also see how it has benefited some of my friends too as I watch their interaction with their spouses.

You don’t need a group to do this–just your spouse. But our church made it easy and fun by providing free childcare (for 2 hours on Sunday evening) at the church so that, when we went for our dates, we could all leave our kids for a couple of hours with some responsible teenagers from our youth group supervised by 1 or 2 single adults. Also, our pastoral staff talked to local businesses near our church letting them know we were doing this to strengthen marriages and inviting them to give us deals since we needed to go to a place close to the church to be back in time for our kids–many business owner’s thought it was great and offered us coupons and even “buy one meal and get one free”!

As a result of doing this, the couples who participated became more invested in one another’s marriages–encouraging each other. Did I mention we had about 35 couples commit to this 10-week marriage builder?! I have noticed more looks of admiration and adoration between spouses going around …

This isn’t a bible study or group discussion really: you meet to view a 5 minute video recap of the chapter you read in preparation for the date. Then you go out! It’s really about building a deeper connection with your spouse by talking about things deeply. The spirit of the book is very non-confrontational so enjoy!
Kim B.
http://www.christianbook.com/great-dates-to-energize-your-marriage/david-arp/9780310210917/pd/0210917

The Night Dwight Proposed | Stacy Hudson | Better Than Newlyweds

April 30, 2014 by Mrs. Hudson

The date was July 17, 2010…

Earlier in the week Dwight had told me he wanted to go to Tsunami this weekend. I said “oh ok…we can do that”… thinking to myself that he doesn’t really eat sushi? ha. But then he said “I wanna take you out… it is our 11 monthiversary too” and I said “oh yea you are right … ok lets go out!”

So, On Saturday July 17th our night out started at 4 with BIll Cassidy’s Election Kick Off Party. It just seems right to have had a political event on the day we got engaged! So we got dressed up for that…or so I thought. After the Kick Off we headed downtown to have dinner at Tsunami. After circling for a spot we found one close enough my feet wouldn’t fall off since I was wearing heels. We walked across the street and watched some kids playing in the fountain. Dwight said lets go thru it… I said “really?” He was like yea… and so we are standing in front of this fountain as it shoots up and then flattens out…and i feel him start to go… so we hand in hand “run thru the fountain”…it counts even it the fountain was not shooting RIGHT when we ran thru it! ha!

Even with our little fountain adventure we arrived a bit early so we went out on the rooftop and walked around looking at Baton Rouge from up there. It was beautiful out and quite a romantic spot.

Eventually our table was ready. We had a great time at dinner. We always have good conversation with many silly moments (Dwights pic below) and lots of laughter. A great view overlooking the Mississippi and across the table! I should have known something was brewing though because Dwight kept smirking and grinning (more than usual)… but I just figured he was happy to be out on the town with me. And he was…but he was also smiling about what he had planned for the rest of the night.

After dinner we had made plans to go get cookie dough because we Love cookies. Before we left though we went back out on to the rooftop so he could see the old state capitol lit up for the evening. It was beautiful. It was wonderful to stand together overlooking this city we both Love. Dwight asked if i felt like going for a walk…and I said “as long as I can change my shoes!” I had on heels but had some flats in the car just in case.

He wanted to go for a walk at the park in front of the Capitol. He had mentioned doing this before so I didn’t think anything of it. We park and I did not know til later that his “putting his phone in the console so no one will see it” move was really him getting the ring box! I also did not know til later that during our walk he was very purposefully staying on my left side so I would not notice the ring box in his left pocket! So sneaky!

As our walk was coming to the end of the path he said he wanted to go to the top of the steps to see what the garden looked like from up there. I had a half-second thought that he might propose and then it was gone. I didn’t even recall that thought again until after he proposed. We walk to the steps and start our climb. When we reach the second flat level he stops us…and then takes me by the shoulders and places me in a very specific spot facing him and says “yea…yea this is a bout right! This is about the spot we probably first caught each others eye and smiled at each other…don’t you think?” … and I’m so clueless at this point…so I just looked around and was like “yea… I think so”. (LEFT: is a picture I took of Dwight speaking from that SPOT at the July 4th event at the Capitol)

And he continued ” Yea..this is the right spot. Thats why this is the perfect place for me to ask you this….(gets down on one knee and pulls out the ring)… Will You Marry Me?! I was surprised and choked up but managed to say YES!

After calming down a little we just sat on the steps and he started telling me about how he had plotted this whole thing since Tuesday! My mom and family knew and no one said anything or even hinted!!! (That is a big deal for my family!) He also shared how his niece helped him pick out the ring…which I thought was too cute!

While we were sitting on the steps talking a car drove up and someone starting taking pictures of the Capitol. I turned to Dwight and said ” I wanna go ask them for copies of their pictures because we HAVE to be in them?!” … so we walked over to the two ladies and I said “Is there any way we could get a copy of your pictures?” and she said “yes.. sure” … but I could tell she was thinking “why do they want the pics?!!?”….so I continued and said “The reason I’m asking is because we just got engaged on the steps like…. 5 minutes ago!!!” … and she got excited and “oooooh! Congratulations!” Dwight had gone to his car to get a business card to exchange information and was making his way back at this point. Before he handed her his card she looked at him and said “Is your name Dwight Hudson?” … and he then recognized her and said “Katie?!” Turns out they went to school together from elementary thru High School! Katie was showing her friend Sarah the Capitol! Sarah was taking the pictures!

After they realized they knew each other Katie asked “do yall want some more pictures?!” So we went back to the spot her proposed and posed for some pictures! God is so good. He even provided a photographer for our special night!