Date your spouse

A big part of this blog is to try new things. Over the last year or so, Matt and I have tried a few new restaurants, date ideas, etc. Today I'm sharing our favorites...

Last weekend we went on what I consider to be my "perfect date" - (no, not April 25th) 

We hired a sitter for Kess & headed to Boise to make the 4:00 Temple Session. It felt so good to leave the world behind. I truly believe that sometimes a person needs silence to gain understanding, I felt so at peace. At the end of our temple date, we headed over to the Village at Meridian to spend some gift cards. All the restaurants were over an hour wait, so we headed to our good ol' standby - The Outback. We never turn down a bloomin' onion. ever. 

It, too was over an hour wait. Matt remember that Copper Canyon had opened back up downtown. I'm so glad he did! It wrapped up our perfect date night. The food was insanely good, the courses were timed well & the live piano music was to die for. You know those perfect dates that you don't want to end? This was mine. We talked about Kess, our future, our past - all the good stuff! 

This type of date is actually a rarity for us. We often feel guilty for leaving Kess with a sitter when we could be spending time with her, or we could go out as a family. We often feel guilty for spending money on something frivolous like eating out, instead of cooking at home. And we definitely often guilty for feeling like we desperately need a date night, when life just isn't that bad. But we have come to realize that our time together is beyond needed. It's so important to spend alone time with one another - not alone time after you get the baby down for the night & you start your Netflix cue off where you left it (although we really do love that, too.)

Of course, not all your dates have to be fancy. Like I said before, we rarely do the fancy date thing. We actually have a lofty savings goal this year, so we decided to splurge on a fancy night one last time ;) 

Our favorite cheapo date is pizza & Redbox movie, grabbing Chinese food, getting frozen yogurt or heading out with friends to have appetizers for dinner. What are you favorite date nights? I kinda want to give pottery painting a try. Or a paint & sip night, or something crafty like that. Have you ever done those? Give me the scoop! 

Friday Faves + IKEA LATT Hack

Happy Friday, my friends! We did it, we survived another week. We have been getting back on track after the holidays. We miss Matt now that he's back at work & busy busy, but we got a lot done this week!

I managed to deep clean the majority of my house & we are starting to Spring Clean a little early. Do you ever just get so annoyed by all the things you have in your house? Me too. I started a very large "donate" pile & an even bigger "throw away" pile. One of my goals for 2016 is to live a simpler life - guess I'm starting to embrace that! ;)

I wanted to share a few things with you before I sign off for the weekend! This cleaning technique for
vinyl floors has my "stay at home mom" heart singing. We have vinyl floors in our kitchen & they hold on to dirt like there is no tomorrow. No matter how many times I mop, the dirt doesn't seem to come out of the creases. So I decided to give this a try on a few "squares"... worked like a charm.  Planning on "ironing" the rest of my floors this weekend!

I've been loving these crayons for Kess' new coloring table. I know these aren't new or even super cute, but dang it, they are sturdy & I don't have little bits of crayons all over from Kess breaking them. I think they will last us a long time!

Santa left this Essie Gel-Setter top coat in my stocking this year - he knows me so well. I finally got around to trying it & love it. The finish is great & I'm excited to test out the durability over the weekend. I always feel so put together when my nails are painted, so I hate to see them chip. ;( Hopefully this top coat will extend the life of my polish a bit!

And finally - the IKEA LATT hack. I seriously love this little table.  Kess thinks she is pretty cool stuff when she sits at it. She loves to color & put stickers on her paper. She even shares her chairs with her teddy. I knew she would love this (actually, I didn't know, but I loved it so...) I bought this from IKEA when I went down to UT this summer & it's been sitting in my garage ever since. Of course, I waited until the very last minute (we were painting the second coat on Christmas Eve, yaaa...) But I think it turned out so darn cute. There are "IKEA Hacks" all over Pinterest, so I did a quick search & found some ideas. I decided to go with white & gold dipped legs. It will match her room perfectly & I think it will be easy to clean up. We decided to do the top with chalk paint, but it's already flaking off, so I recommend spraying/painting the rougher side (bottom), not the white (smooth) side.

We painted all the pieces before we put it together. Matt taped off the legs & we spray painted them with some gold spray paint. It was super easy to put together. Easiest little furniture makeover, ever! It already has crayon marks, but hey, that's what it's for right?

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you have a great weekend! XO

Year in Review

How is it 2016? I remember thinking that 2014 was going to be a wild year because we would be having our 1st baby. She turns 2 this summer. 

2015 was a wonderful year for us. Matt blessed Kess. We moved back home to Nampa, from McCall. Matt finished his fellowship & got a great job. We were sealed for time & all eternity. Kess turned one. I went on not only 1, but 2 baby-free girls trips. We went on our 1st official camping trip as a family of 3.  Kess fell in love with playing in the pool. Kess & I survived Daddy being gone on his long hunting trip. We picked our first pumpkin. Kess was the cutest ballerina for Halloween. We chopped down our first Christmas tree as a family of 3. We survived the holidays with a 1 year old! 2015 was beyond good to us. We can't wait for what 2016 is going to bring. 

Matt & I write down our goals every year. Individually & as a couple. Our couples goals always seem to be attainable, but my personal goals tend to be blown out of proportion like... get into an exercise routine & eat healthier ;)

Although, those are on my list this year... I'm going to try to keep 2016 simple.

Fuel my body with good things, but live life - splurge occasionally. Spend less time on my phone, especially around Kess & my family. Keep truckin' through this blogging adventure with all of you - keep trying new things. Cook more; eat out less. Go on more dates with my husband. Give Kess more one on one time. Be more present with Kess. Get down on the floor and play with her. Read more, check social media less. Say my personal prayers more often. Build a closer relationship to my Father in Heaven. Tell my husband I appreciate him more. Declutter & live a simpler life. 

What are some of your goals? I would love to hear them!