for the first time in almost 7 years the hubs and i went to a Jazz game. the last one we went to was on our wedding night...ah, how romantic! each of these times we were given tickets as neither of us are rabid fans of anything. well, except for one another.when we got married we promised one another that regular dates were worth it. what ever *it* happened to be. in the early years those dates were difficult because we.were.so.poor. seriously. we would go to the dollar theater on tuesday nights so that we could get in for 50 cents a piece. we quickly used all of the gift certificates that were gifted from our wedding. we had a whole lotta love and a tiiinie bit of money. our first anniversary we went diggin' up in the hills above the hub's hometown, made tinfoil dinners over a real life fire, and i shot a gun for the first time at some targets. it was wonderful. we talked about where the past year had led us and where we wanted the upcoming years of our marriage to take us.

our weekly dates grew more difficult as we had children. we were still SO poor, and now we had to PAY someone to watch our kids? i'm sure i'm not alone in my apprehensions about finding the very best babysitter for our kids. someone that was firm, but not mean; fun, but not wild; able to cook dinner without burning the house down; i'm sure you understand. and luckily we were blessed with the very best babysitter ever, she became like a sister to me, i will always protect and love her! and thus the dating continued...

sometimes dating can be difficult because we plain don't like one another every single day. but at least 3 times a month we like one another enough to be alone together. hehe. i really do love my hubs.

the beauty of dating for me comes when we've been out for about an hour and i realize... *we're not talking about the consistency of poop anymore! we're having an intellectual conversation! sweet bliss!* because eventually our kids will grow, become more independent, and finally spread their wings, make stupid decisions that we can't control, grow up some more, and leave us... alone with one another. and by gone it, i want to be friends with THAT man. i want to know what his dreams and passions are not just yesterday or today, but in that day far from now. i want us to be working for the same goals and ideas. i want for us to grow and learn new things, but to transform-- one whole in purpose.

i may be alone in this idea, but i don't believe that soul mates are found. i believe they're created. two souls may be so open to one another that they instantly complete one another, i've seen that happen. but for me, i see us in the process of completing one another. one step at a time. line upon line. grace upon grace. discovering and reveling in each new layer of one another; there is sheer bliss in finding a new layer that i didn't know existed.

would any date be complete without a baby tagging along? um, yeah, probably.

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