A PERFECT FALL DATE NIGHT

In college, Jonathon and I committed to a weekly date night. Even with the craziness of completing our majors, work, maintaining friendships, and the several thousand "to-do's" that magically popped up out of nowhere, we always had at least one night out of the week that we could have a special date. Quality time is very important to us and, I am happy to say, our date night habit carried over into our marriage. Every Wednesday is "Jon and Savannah Date Night" and believe me, we very much look forward to this day.

Most of the time, it consists of us cuddling up in our pj's, watching our newest fad show (which is currently Fringe, by the way.) Sometimes, if we don't feel like cooking, we will order pizza (that is, of course, if I have a coupon.) Sometimes, we get creative with our date nights and over the five and a half years of dating and five months of marriage, we have cherished and loved our special nights together.

Since we wanted this to be something we wholly committed to every week and did not easily compromise on, we set out to help ourselves by doing the following things:

1. Communicate: We made our family and friends aware of our date night so they would not try to plan anything with us on our Wednesday nights. This was very helpful because there was a general understanding among loved ones about our date night which also helped us keep accountable.

2. Budget: Along with our monthly budgeting, Jonathon and I set aside a small amount to go toward "date night" every month. This gives us the freedom to plan something special if we would like and also does not make us feel like we are cutting into other, set-aside budgets. Usually, we end up splurging a little more every other week by going out somewhere and on the alternate weeks, we will stay around our home.

3. Be Creative: It is really, really easy to get stuck in the same date over and over again. We try to make a list of great date night ideas that we can turn to when we are ready to go out and try something new.

Here are some of the date night hits Jonathon and I have had over the years:

* 4-11 Drive-In Theater

* Dessert at the Sundial in Atlanta

* Putt-Putt

* Scott Pilgrim at a historic theater

* Pumpkin carving at home

* Kite Flying

* Game Ranch

* Bodies Exhibit in Atlantic Station

* Fox Theater - "Annie"

* The Shakespeare Tavern - "Romeo and Juliet" (Valentine's Date)

Our most recent favorite was our trip to the Cagle's Family Farm in Canton, GA last week. We explored around a corn maze, ate dinner, went on a hayride, roasted marshmallows at a bonfire, and picked out our first pumpkins for our little home. Here is a peek at our night!

We had a wonderful time and loved being able to go at our own pace -- not to mention a great selection of pumpkins! Jon and I ended up getting three pumpkins: one for him (largest), one for me (medium) and one for our little green-eyed kitten, Kaito (tiny). And now, the grand task of carving!

Happy date night-ing!