The month of February was filled with celebrations of love.  Oh, I’m sure people celebrated on Valentine’s Day, and there were some that may have known about National Marriage Week to go on a “date night” one night that week.  For my husband and I, though, we decided to take advantage of the entire month of February to celebrate … US!

Date nights used to be so rare for us.  With rushing children from daycare, school, and their extra curricular activities, to all of the commitments we had and committees we were on at church, it was rare for us to have a single moment to ourselves.  When we did, we were TIRED!  Now that our children are older, we do have a bit more freedom.  We also realized a few years ago that we were really getting burnt out going and doing everything!  We decided to perfect saying, “No.”  While that did not go over well with some, it was what we needed to do for us and our sanity.  I even had a friend tell me once a few years ago that she was tired just from hearing about our hectic schedule.  The thing is, at the time, we did not realize that we HAD such a hectic schedule.  We just thought we were a normal family affording our children with the best opportunities by having them involved in different activities that interested them.  Growing up, I never had these opportunities, so I gladly offered them to my children.  From ballet, clogging, and soft ball, we were quite busy, but they loved it!  At first.  After several years, though, they lost interest in the pointe shoes they were working hard to earn, and the tapping and clicking of their clogging shoes no longer held their interest.  Likewise, the ball heading straight for them no longer thrilled them when they dove forward to give it a good wack to send it sailing over the net.  It was at this point that we said, “Okay … we’ll rest.”  AND, we all breathed a big sigh of relief!

In came more family time together … and more time for each other!

While the children and I were technically “together” in the car as I carted them here and there, we were not sharing in an activity together as a family.  My husband and I also did not have very much “alone time.”  Now, though, we make date nights a priority, and we LOVE trail riding together as a family!!

Family time really and truly is important.  Couple time is just as important, too!

We have always made sure to have family meals together at the table.  That has been an important part of our evenings is gathering together for a nice meal.  Here, we reconnected after a long, hard day.  We could each talk about how our days were or what we had on our minds at that particular point in time.  It really makes a difference when you carve out time for those that mean the world to you!  There are so many people pulling on us during the course of the day making demands of us that it is quite refreshing when we’re gathered together as a family.  No demands.  Nothing required of us.  Just our little family enjoying each other’s company!

When was the last time you and your special someone carved out time just for the two of you?  If it’s been a while, I encourage you to make time!!!  You cannot go wrong by investing in your relationship together.  Whether you enjoy dinner and a movie, or strolling by the water’s edge with the sand between your toes, do something that shuts the entire world out and only has room for two as you celebrate each other.

For us, we enjoy camping with our horses.  We went a month or so ago in 25 degree weather camping overnight just to have some time together; us and nature.  It was perfect!

Since then, we’ve made special reservations at a few pricey restaurants that we’ve been wanting to try out, and took the time to celebrate … us!  Why wait for a special occasion?  Take any opportunity you can to make an ordinary day special for your loved one.  We’ve learned to do just that and encourage you to as well!

If dining out isn’t your thing, make a nice meal at home and have it by candlelight with soft music playing in the background.

You just can’t go wrong when you put your mate first and make spending time together a priority!