A Night In With Crayola

This weeks date was a fun one, and something we have never done before.  On Thursday evening we went to the gym as usual and then made dinner at home.  After dishes were put away date night commenced:

Jason pulled out black plastic, set up a makeshift table using some sawhorses and wood, and brought out two hairdryers (where did he find a second?).  Then, he brought out two glass doors and...

Aha! Crayon art!

Jason and I aren't the most artistic people, so this was bound to be interesting!  He had already pulled up some examples of artsy ideas, so we looked at those and did a quick pinterest search.  If you haven't seen crayon art, check it out.  There are some really fun designs out there.  I liked the one of a couple under an umbrella with the wax dripping on them like rain - but, we decided it was a little bit cliché.  Instead, we decided to create two separate pieces that would (hopefully) complement one another.  In addition, Jason already had an idea of using an existing photo that we had on hand.  

We melted wax on the back of the frame,
 but taped the edges to protect the wood

Jason cut out a photo for us to use, so I did my piece using a picture of Jason, and he used a picture of me.  Also, it turns out that we don't print photos very often, because the ones we had on hand were from engagement photos taken more than four years ago!  It was fun discussing how we wanted to coordinate, and how we wanted them to be unique.  We put our pictures in different spaces on the glass, and we each chose a different color scheme.  Jason also decided to drip his wax 'upside down' for a contrasting effect.  It is pretty interesting to see how we both differ artistically.  

There was a lip from the frame to glass, so I started mine on the
ground to avoid some splattering

Jason has an easy time visualizing what he wants, and making that happen.  So once he started melting the wax it was a pretty quick project for him.  He seemed to have an idea how it would look before he began, and I think he was pretty pleased that it turned out within his expectations.  I, on the other hand, have a very difficult time visualizing the outcome. I started mine several minutes before he did, and only barely finished at the same time as him.  

Jason's duct tape crayon contraption

I won't go over the details of how to do this project, but it did involve double sided foam tape and a hairdryer (if you want more specifics check it out on Google or Pinterest).  Once the crayons started melting a few of them fell off, so I ended up just holding up individual colors that I wanted to use (this didn't work great, because the wax already on the glass continued melting, and my fingers got hot!).  Once the crayons began falling for Jason, he used duct tape to make a little pack...far more efficient than my single-crayon-at-a-time effort... After knowing someone for so many years and being as close as Jason and I are, I often see how we think similarly, and forget just how different we really are!  This is one of the things I have always loved about Jason - sometimes he gives me a perspective I never would have noticed on my own.

Like I said, we are no Picasso's, but we had a lot of fun learning about one another's artistic preferences, being creative, and a little bit messy together.  Afterwards, we set our frames up to dry, left our mess for tomorrow, and curled up on the couch to continue reading through proverbs.

Cost:

Crayons - $5.89

Tape - $3.79

Glass doors - we already had these on hand!

Second hair dryer - borrowed from a friend

Finished products - backside

Finished products - front side

there it goes!

Jason melted a lot of wax quickly for a thick layer up top

Lots of wax on the kegerator.  I *think* wax splattered
when one of the crayons fell off my frame...from 5 feet away...

Dinner and a ....

Week two is now in the books, and i'm really excited to see what this year brings.  I'm realizing dating is not easy!  To be truly intentional and to actually have a date planned out takes time and energy.  Like anything else we do, we will only get better at dating as the year goes.  I hope to better understand which events (dates) really makes Kimberley stoked.

Kimberley planned our 2nd date on Friday night.  After a long week at work it was really nice to come home from work and know something is planned.  The excitement of not knowing what we were doing caught me off guard.  It's a rare occurrence in married life to have very many surprises on the dating side of things.  For us it is normally a planned nice dinner out to our favorite restaurant.  So coming home knowing that we had the evening planned but unsure of the events was a forgotten experience for me. When Kim and I were first dating this was a more common feeling, but as we became closer there were less surprises.

When I walked in the door (yes, I went around and rang the doorbell) the lights were dim and there were candles lit around the room. A bit romantic for a second date, but I will give Kim the benefit of the doubt.  Kim had prepared bacon wrapped dates following by an excellent broccoli/cauliflower soup topped with more bacon.  Someone knows the way to my heart.  Kim read a catechism out of a new book that our church is following and we discussed the topic.

After dinner we rushed off to a to make a 7:30 time spot. Kim told me to dress warm, so I bundled on a couple more layers.  It became clear as we began driving that we were heading to the sportsplex ice arena.  Our local junior hockey team The Bellingham Blazers played Wenatchee in a great battle of the puck.  Wenatchee took the lead pretty early on and defeated the Blazers.  I didn't know how intense our hockey fans are.  There were cowbells and fog horns, and the trash talk that was being given to the opponents goalie was pretty darn humorous.   The Bellingham Blazers do have a beer garden!  What a fun date event, and something we wouldn't normally do.  It was a great throw-back to our actual second date which was also a sporting event (minor league baseball).

I was freezing when we got home, but luckily Kim pulled the couch close to the fireplace and we enjoyed the warmth.

Dinner Cost: Approximately $15 for dinner
Sportsplex Hockey: $14

In love,

J.Harper

Dinner and a Movie

Alright, the pressure of week 1 is done.  On Friday night Jason took me out for the first of our 52 date challenge.

Jason decided to go with a standard date for the first go-round.  Dinner and a movie. Maybe he wanted to get an easy one out of the way so that I couldn't use it instead.  I'm mildly disappointed that I won't have that to fall back on later...but, it fell within the date challenge parameters, so I can't complain.  We should also note, many of our dates will probably include a dinner of sorts, since we do need to eat!

Earlier in the week Jason asked me if I could meet me at 'his place' on Friday night.  I agreed.

When I got home from work I came around to the front and rang the doorbell.  It was fun being greeted with a smile and a hug (and briefly pretending like I didn't live there). After walking through the door, I found the table nicely set, with one rose.  Sidenote: way back when we were first dating, Jason brought me one rose on our one month 'date-aversary' and three on our third.  I know, it's silly.  We were in high school... what else can I say?  Cheesy and I love it.

Anyways, Jason started preparing our three course dinner which included the following:

• salad greens with pecans and bacon, tossed with oil and vinegar
• seared scallops drizzled with deliciousness (sauce consisting of coconut oil, ghee, coconut milk, salt/pepper/garlic)
• grilled sirloin steak

Oh, and there was wine.  Don't want to forget the wine.  Everything but the wine was paleo - win!

But, that wasn't the end.  Next, we snuggled on the couch as we read some scripture together.  Then we started a game of  Dominion, and I was winning, so Jason called it quits before we were finished.  Just kidding, we had to pause the game in order to make it to a movie at the Pickford (we saved the game for the next day and I won).  We don't often see movies, so it was quite a treat to go see The Imitation Game.  If you haven't heard of it, check it out.  If you like math, definitely check it out.  The film is based on a team of mathematicians who were working to decrypt Nazi code during WW2.  We enjoyed it.

Lastly, like a true gentleman, Jason took me home. 

Dinner cost: approx. $25.00 (scallops cost $11!)

Movie: $21.00

-Kim

Just a Boring Introduction

Welcome to our blog!

Thanks for joining us and checking out this new adventure.

If you thought the title was meant to be misleading, it wasn't.  This really is going to be a boring first post. So, let's get right to it.

This week we started a challenge.  We started this challenge to do several things...which we won't bore you with right now.  You can check out the rules and some other basic info here.  So let's move ahead even further.   On New Years Eve we flipped a coin, and Jason will be the first to plan a date for our 52 week dating adventure.

Week one ends on Sunday, so stay tuned for our first official 'date post' soon!