USS Constitution

We are really enjoying being in Boston and finding free dates! 

So I am starting a series on free dates in Boston. 

I call it, the Free Dates in Boston Series.

SUPER clever right?

The first on our list is the USS Constitution. 

It is so cool! And totally free. 

Tours are every 30 minutes or you can do a self guided tour but only of the top deck.

We opted for the 30 minute one and went below. 

This little lady is the oldest floating war ship in the world!

It has been in 33 battles and survived them all. Talk about Lucky.

We had a great little history lesson and saw the gun deck and sleeping quarters.

This is a great family outing too - we brought our Sweet B with us and she loved it!

All is all, the USS Constitution is well worth a visit. 

Completely free and completely awesome!

Visit the ship's website for times and visitor information.

Happy Dating!

Romance Spotlight: Elise

Hello everyone and welcome to another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT! Elise from The Frugal Farm Wife is here to share a fun date that she and her husband had. I hope you take a minute to read about it and make sure you stop by her blog and say hi!

Take it away Elise!

Last Friday I was over at my parents and dad mentioned that he had to go to a town about 30 miles away for a few small things for his work truck.

 I jumped on the opportunity and offered to go get them if he would watch Garrett. Gabriel and I haven't really been able to date as such since Garrett was born last June. But now that he's 11 months old and eating quite a bit of solid food, we're finding that I can leave him for a few hours at a time without undesirable repercussions, so I jumped at the chance to turn an errand into a date!

Dad accepted my offer to go get his stuff, and I ran to see if Gabriel was up for it. He was of course. One of our favorite things to do together is ride motorcycles which, again, we haven't really done since Garrett was born. So we ran home, suited up and took off!

We took some beautiful back country roads and road through a small Amish community to admire their spring gardens. After we stopped at the small town auto parts store and picked dad's order up, we took a different route home to stop by our favorite little country store where we purchased some dried fruit and peanuts and sat on the store's porch looking out at the creek to eat our snack.

 

Gabriel and I in front of the ice machine of all things!

On the way home we drove by some hay fields that were being baled - they smelled wonderful!

How's that for an unconventional date?!

 It may have started out as a simple errand, but I think Gabriel and I were both happier with our date knowing that we had been at least semi productive while having fun. And besides, The whole thing cost us little more than five dollars since we traded an errand for baby sitting. Now that's my kind of date! :)
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Elise is a child of God, wife, and mother. She blogs on frugalfarmwife.com about her journey in thriftyness, farming, and food allergies

Thanks so much Elise! Loved it!

Be sure to stop by again for another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT!

Happy Dating!

"We're Sick" Date

My little family is sick. 

While being sick is no fun, it does have its perks. For instance, it means that Hubby is home!

Not so good to miss school and work but I'm trying to look on the bright side.

Since he is rarely home these days we wanted to take advantage of it and have a date.

But we both felt totally blah.

Going anywhere or doing anything besides sitting was not an option.

Reading a book or watching a movie was about the only thing we had energy to do. So we made a date of it. And since neither of us were fit to be seen, this is the only photo that will be published. We grabbed a blanket and cuddled up with a P.G. Wodehouse book for each of us. For dinner, we had some chicken noodle soup and orange juice-with a side of Kleenex. 

Even if you're sick, try to enjoy your time together. 

And hey, it's free.

Happy Dating!

River Walk

We made it!

 I now live in BOSTON!

We still have a lot of unpacking to do and need to figure out where things are, but we are here.

And safe.

And missing friends....

Anyways,

Neither Hubby nor I have ever been here before so we have a lot of exploring to do. 

To kick off our Boston dates, we decided to take a stroll along the Charles River.

There is this great walking trail by our apartment complete with hundreds of geese and ducks. 

It was a perfect day for a walk like this! We did lots of exploring, talking and making silly faces for the camera. 

After some flexing and karate kicks, we fed the geese some bread and headed home. 

Taking a walk is a fantastic date because

1. Its FREE!

2. You get in some exercise - which is always a bonus

3. Plenty of time to chat and enjoy the view

4. It's a great way to explore a new neighborhood

Stay tuned for some more dates from the Boston area!

Happy Dating!

Photo Shoot

For our date today, we had a little family photo shoot!

My wonderful neighbor from Something Swanky took them for us.

 While we were up there it started raining! We had to pack up everything and go sooner than we expected but it was still fun to get some pictures with my two favorite people.

We even took some in the rain just for kicks and giggles. 

I have to be honest here people. When Hubby and I look in the mirror, I don't think we are an ugly couple....

But whenever I see a camera, something happens. 

I don't know what it is.

My eyes shrink, my cheeks triple in size and don't even get me started on my thighs.

Apparently, I don't know how to smile either. 

Anyways, lets just say pictures can be deceiving. 

At least thats what I am telling myself. 

But on a completely different note, this date is totally FREE!

Just grab some props from home, and a friend to take the photos.

Pinterest is crawling with photography ideas that I just love.

Hubby wasn't too excited about a lot of them but I did convince him to do a few. 

Before your shoot, find a few poses that you want to try. 

Or have an awesome photographer who will help you create them like we did!

Thanks Ashton!

A few posts ago I mentioned that we are moving. 

Now that we have an apartment all ready to go, I think its safe to announce the location on the blog.

We are moving to BOSTON!

I am so excited! 

And sad.

Our whole life together has been here in Virginia. 

We met here.

Dated here.

Had our baby here.

Have amazing friends here.

Virginia really is for lovers.

But I am so excited to start a new adventure in Boston! I am sure that there will be tons of opportunities for FREE dates up there. I have never been so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know!

Wish us luck on our move!

I may have a few more posts from Virginia but look forward to dates from the Boston area in a couple weeks!

Happy Dating!

Romance Spotlight: Camille

Hello everyone and welcome to another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT! Camille from Friday We're in Love is here to share a FREE date with us! I'm so excited that I "met" Camille because she blogs about dating too! So be sure and stop by her blog for some awesome date night ideas!

Take it away Camille!

Hi Fridaynightdatenight readers, I'm Camille and I blog over at fridaywereinlove.blogspot.com.  Mackenzie and I connected online and realized we were kindred spirits, both out there trying to spread the love and share date ideas.  I'm thrilled to trade a post with one another!  We talked about going with the idea of free dates, and I had a recent one come to mind that I'm so happy to share!

Did you know that most cities do a free museum night or day once a month?  Seriously, call your local museum!  We tried to hit up the Arizona Science Center on First Friday when it's free, but and it just didn't happen.  We decided we'd try and go the next month, when our lovely friend clued us into culture passes.  They are passes you can check out from the library for 2 people to get free admission to a participating museum. If you go when it opens you're almost guaranteed to get the one you want.  We were thrilled to nab one to the Science Center, and decided to forgo the First Friday madness and visit on a less busy day instead.

We hit up a pizza place on our way, then it was off to get our science nerd on for one of the funnest dates we've had!

Some dates I feel like I get to play professor and tell Jacob all about the art or the literary references, but this was one date that this cute electrical/energy engineer told me about everything we looked at.  He was like a kid in a candy store with a big smile on his face at every exhibit.  He's also the hottest tour guide I've ever had!

 He decided to make me take a picture with this, making sure I was touching it.  He couldn't stop laughing.  And I had no idea there were some valuable uses for cow dung.  Now I do, with picture to prove!

Then we played with some smart windows that help save energy.  

This was followed by a lesson for me on lighting.  Jacob is the man to ask about light bulbs, he really knows his stuff and can calculate all kinds of power savings and conversions in his head, I guess doing it for a living helps quite a bit.  I sure love that I married a smart man! 

We played with many other exhibits and learned quite a bit (well, at least I did).  

 Did you know there are more bald women than women with green eyes?  I'm a rare breed!  (Okay, I probably learned that from a Rogaine commercial for women years ago, but it sounds like I should have learned it here...right?)

One of our favorites was the bed of nails.  Man physics can really be so cool!  And I'd like to shout out to one of the best teachers I've ever had, Mr. Pa'ne for teaching me the rules I still remember and letting me walk on a bed of broken glass in class.  I'll always owe my love of science to that man! 

Jacob had a helper who really wanted to push the button for him.  He's such a nice guy to hand his life over to a toddler!

But one of the reasons we REALLY wanted to go, was for the special exhibit- Van Gogh Alive.  I know, if you've ever read my blog this won't surprise you.  If not, let me introduce you to my obsession with Vincent (here or here).  I feel like I've studied him so much we're on a first name basis here.
This part wasn't exactly free, but it was really inexpensive with the culture pass and it was optional.  The exhibit is usually $25 to get in, but with a culture pass it's only $11- double score on that one!

The exhibit really is quite the experience!  Images are projected on every crevice of the room with classical music, quotes by Vincent, and animations from elements of paintings- all designed to help you get inside the mind of Van Gogh.   I was sold the second his bedroom was dissected and I felt like I was sitting inside the room.  If you want a taste of it, you can watch a video by clicking the video tab on this website.

Luckily for every one not in AZ- it's touring and hopefully will show up at your state science center soon!  

Even if you just choose the free option this is really one fun, academic date that I think any couple would enjoy.

Thanks for letting me post Mackenzie!  Happy dating everyone!

Thanks so much Camille! Loved it!

Be sure and stop by again for another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT!

Happy Dating!

Indoor Drive-In

Hubby and I really wanted to go to a drive-in the other night. 

Few problems though:

Our budget is non existent at the moment.

No babysitter.

It has been scorching hot and humid lately.

I mean stepping-outside-is-like-stepping-into-a-hot-shower kind of hot.

No problem!

We made an indoor drive-in at home!

Welcome to the Whiteley Drive-In!

I had most things ready before Hubby got home so when he walked up the stairs to our apartment, this is what he saw:

I used construction paper, ribbon, scissors, glue....anything and everything I had on hand.

This date didn't cost a dime!

I made a "road" street sign and stop light to keep with our vehicle theme. 

Inside is where it really got fun.

I took christmas lights and strung them on the ceiling to create "stars". 

Then I brought out a cardboard box (we have plenty of those around since we are moving in two weeks!!!) with paint, paper, tin foil and clingy wrap.

Then we went to town making our "car" to take to the drive-in.

Hubby painted doors and handles, while I made a cute little license plate ;)

We used clingy wrap for the windshield and tin foil for the side-view mirrors. 

Once we were done, we "drove-in" and watched a movie together under the "stars"!

So fun right!

This date was completely awesome because :

A. Free baby! 

B. We had complete temperature control

C. Hubby and I got to create something fun together instead of just watching a movie

Try it! 

And send me pics! 

I would love to see what kind of cars ya'll come up with. 

Stay cool and....

Happy Dating!

Linking up:

SKip to my Lou

Waterfall

It has been gorgeous here in Virginia lately. Just gorgeous!

 Hubby and I wanted to take advantage of the fantastic weather so we drove up to a little dam and played in the creek. It was extremely hot today so it was nice to cool off in the shade and splash in the water.

 Someone made this awesome path of "stepping stones" that were fun to walk across and we did a little climbing too. We love rivers, creek, lakes and ponds. They're beautiful and make great date night locations. 

Do you live by a body of water? Go there with your Hubby. 

Spend a date together where the its quiet and peaceful. There is something so soothing and romantic about water. Places like this are free too! Can't beat that now can you?

Happy Dating!

Romance Spotlight: Amanda

Hello everyone and welcome to my ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT! Amanda from The small-time Adventures is here to share an awesome date that she and her hubby had at home! I hope you take a minute to read all about it and be sure to stop by her blog and say hi!

Take it away Amanda!

 Hello "Friday Night Date Night"-ers! I found Mackenzie's blog a short time ago & loved it! It's so fun & fits so well with my life & what my husband & I try to do - date & keep falling in love without breaking the bank. ;)

One of our own favorite dates started like this - our honeymoon was not very long, but very eventful. We were supposed to spend a couple of days alone in a family member's cabin before having to U-haul it up to San Francisco, but a snowstorm closed down the road right before we got there. Blocking both the road in AND out of a small nearby town, we ended up holed up inside a Best Western Motel which had a mysterious wet spot on the carpet which never dried or shrank in size. We still managed to have a great time though, because hey, being snowed-in on your honeymoon is pretty romantic... even if their is a large spot on the floor you have to avoid. ;)  We did, however, decide we could take a slightly longer & more thrilling honeymoon during my husband's spring break in March.  Knowing we couldn't go somewhere extravagant we thought that hiking & staying around Yosemite would be wonderful.

Beautiful, isn't it?

But by the time March came around, with no car & a small budget we decided to nix Yosemite.

Welcome: Apartment.

view from our front door is another plain apartment, but if you look to the left - ALMOST like Yosemite?

We switched off planning dates that week to make up for it, & on my turn I decided we would go camping as much as possible. So I told Derek to wait in our room & I'd pick him up, while I made dinner, packed our backpack full of the essentials, grabbed all the sheets and pillowcases we owned put on my hat and told him we were going camping.

We used part of our laundry line for the top of our tent, and used chairs and such for the frame. We were pretty excited with how it turned out. :)

That's my husband sitting inside the doorway.

 After that was done I brought out our meal trying to make it look "campy." The dark jar is full of homemade salad dressing if you're puzzled. ;)

 Our fire

Our dessert-ish snack. Derek LOVES Ritz crackers, so I "splurged" on some to wrap up the night. He was so into them he missed the picture. ;)

After placing all our blankets down for padding (hard floor) we played games and spent the night in our makeshift tent palace. It was awesome. Take that Yosemite. ;) 

Thanks so much Amanda! Loved it!

Hope you stop by next week for another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT!