Saturday Night Date Night

This past Saturday night Dave and I went on an impromptu date night. You know, one of those "Did you pull anything out for dinner?" "No, you?" "Nope, let's have a date night!". 

Our evening began at a local restaurant/buffet. Dave and I live near Amish country, which means delicious comfort food. I love comfort food, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. We both chose the buffet and stuffed our faces. The special for the night was prime rib, which meant if I wasn't already on cloud nine for being on a date with my husband, that would have done the trick.

Duh? Haha

Then we headed to a local mini-golf course and played a round of mini-golf.

The place we went to had two separate courses that weaved in and out of a wooded area, all of which was beautifully landscaped. The course we were on had waterfalls everywhere (a video of which you can find on my Instagram), and it sounded heavenly. It was so nice and relaxing!

Walking to the 1st hole

As for the actual game play? I just whack the ball, because isn't that how everyone plays? 

As you can tell by the look on Dave's face, he was much more serious about the game. Which meant, of course, he won in a landslide victory. 

But that's okay, I had a great night and completed another item on the checklist! If you care enough to keep track, that means that I only have two things left to check off (drive in theater and taking pictures)!

End of the Week Roundup

I feel like I blinked and I missed summer. I know its not over yet, but there's only two more weeks before I head back to school. I think it helped that I've been busier this summer than I've ever been--in a good way. Here is the round up for the week:

1. Sunday I went tubing again, this time with Dave and our friends, Melissa and Dan.I avoided the whole sunburn problem that I had last time by spraying every inch of my body twice over and had a really great time. It was relaxing and we just chilled, floated and chatted. I would love to be able to do it at least one more time before the summer is over.

2. Tuesday night I met up with my friend Melissa who I haven't seen in at least 5 years. She and I met at my first "real job" when I was 18 and we stayed friends since. She moved down to Florida a few years ago so needless to say our reunion on Tuesday night was a much needed catch up. She is the epitome of a great friend. We don't talk often but when we do, it's like we never lost any time. I love her dearly. 

3. I decided to try the 30 squat challenge with my co-worker Sheena. It all started because I shared my fear of getting cubicle butt, which was becoming a quick reality, and then it turned into us being like "yeah we got this!". I'm on day two and cubicle butt is already feeling more appealing right now. I kid, I kid!

4. I went to a local farmers market this past week. I saw a picture they posted on their facebook page about spinach and feta bread. It looked heavenly. It looked like I needed to leave work early and get down there NOW for this bread. But the market opened at 3 and I only worked until 4. I figured I'd have plenty of time to get down there and get some bread. I mean I'd only be there about an hour and fifteen minutes after they started selling it, so I'd be good right? WRONG. Apparently I wasn't the only one enticed by this delicious looking bread. They did, however, have spinach and feta croissants, so I snagged one of those and tried my best to enjoy it without inhaling it. It was tough guys. 

5. This is what the start of most of my weekday mornings look like. Squish or Nibbler (in this case Squish) lying on my lap, not budging. This, folks, is why I give myself maybe 10 minutes to get out the door, which is why most days you can tell I'm phoning it in, looks-wise. But wouldn't you do the same? 

That's it for this week! Have a good weekend!

Linking up with Lauren!

"Marry Me?" Ribs

I call these ribs the "Marry Me" Ribs because they are so good, whoever you make them for will fall in love with you. And the best part? They are incredibly simple to make. 

Dave always asks for these when a special occasion arises, like his birthday. When I make them I normally will share a few with my neighbors so that the next time I absentmindedly ignore their greetings on my way into my house, they'll still like me. Because I do that often, not because I don't like my neighbors. I just don't pay attention to my surroundings. At all. 

Anyway, here is what you need:

-1 onion (the kind doesn't matter, whatever you prefer, I use a sweet vidalia) 

- 1 pack of ribs, cut down to one to three ribs per section (to fit into the crockpot)

-1 bottle (16 oz or larger) barbecue sauce

- salt and pepper

-Crock pot

-Broiler Pan

Here is what you do:

1. Arrange the rib pieces on a broiler pan, salt and pepper on both sides and broil on high for 15 minutes, until they are slightly browned.

2. Slice up your onion and arrange it in the bottom of the crock pot

3. Place browned up rib sections into the crock pot and cover with barbecue sauce 

4. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours

Hope you enjoy!

Water Balloon Fight

At my dad's surprise 50th party, I finally got a chance to partake in a water balloon fight, which was on my summer bucket list. This was entirely made possible because of my mom, who not only bought the balloons needed for the fight but also let it happen at my dad's party.  

Let me tell you, these filling little balloons took forever. They were tiny so you couldn't attach it to a faucet or the hose outside. Pretty much just the pump it came with could fill them up. I tasked Dave with helping me and he tried to figure out a bunch of things to try to fill them faster but nothing worked out. Then he disappeared and I was a bit irked with him. All I had was this ridiculous little pump and a really nice kid helping me tie the balloons. I couldn't understand, Dave never just up and leaves a situation. He's my problem solver.

A hour and many murderous thoughts later Dave reappeared with 3 buckets full of balloons. I felt like a jerk, I should have known better, Dave would never leave me high and dry. Haha, get it, high and dry, in a water fight post? I'm sorry, that was corny. Please don't leave. 

Yes, out of six buckets, Dave filled three and I filled two and maybe a third. But he had a wet bar sink to work with and I had a pump and a nozzle. Once we were set to go, the fight was on. What took us an hour to fill up, lasted maybe a minute. 

Pre-soak 

Look at the balloon bursting on his shoulder, it's such an awesome shot!

Post fight

It was such a great time, I'm super grateful to my mom for orchestrating all of it and making it happen but next time? Someone else is filling up those darn balloons. 

Photos courtesy of Ali

Linking up with Funday Monday!

End of the Week Round Up

1. This week I checked off some items from my summer checklist. The first task completed was that I finished "The Ocean at the End of the Lane". It was definitely a book like no other. It's a short read, and I've heard many people refer to it as an adult fairy tale. If you are looking for a quick, engaging read, I highly recommend it. And for any of you checking, yes I did read at least half the book outside, so bonus for me! I've already started reading another book "Ready Player One". I've had this sudden rash of needing and wanting to read A LOT, which I'm totally loving right now.

2. Sunday nights we have a ritual. Our washer and dryer is in our basement so we have to carry our clothes up to the second floor where our bedroom is. Nibs and Squish take advantage of this every weekend and get a ride up to the bedroom on top of warm, washed clothes. I'm not sure how this tradition started but it's been this way since they were kittens. This past Sunday I decided to capture our weekly ritual on camera:

Nibs at the top, Squish is the bottom photo

Notice how Nibbler looks none to pleased to have his picture taken, while Squishee poses for the camera, this is how it always is. Nibbler hates having his picture taken, while Squish will do anything to get in front of the camera. 

3. Friday night Dave and I had dinner at our neighbor's house. It was a good time, so relaxing and fun. We enjoyed dinner out on their back deck and then went inside and played Dance Party 3 on their kinect...further proving I have no legit coordination. Plus, my neighbor made brownies for me, but purposely waited until we were ready to have dessert to bake them so they were warm. She served them with ice cream, if I didn't already love this chick, this well thought out dessert would have sealed the deal. 

4. Saturday my mom held a surprise 50th party for my stepdad, Brian. His birthday isn't until September, but she really wanted to make sure it was a surprise. A ton of people showed up. It was nice sitting back and looking around at all the faces, some familiar, some not, all there to celebrate my dad.

 He's such a good person and a great dad, he deserved it. While at the party, I finally got to use the balloons my mom got for the water balloon fight (check another off the list!). Stop by next week for the post regarding that, the pictures turned out great!

5. Wednesday night was a nice warm summer evening so Dave and I spent some time just chilling on our back deck. Of course, Nibs and Squish were having none of this "Mom and Papa outside, we're stuck inside" shtick so we brought them out and I captured this sweet moment between Nibbler and Dave:

Moments like this never get old. Ever. I could look at pictures of times like this over and over again and still feel like I was right there living the moment all over again. 

That's the roundup for the week. Enjoy your weekend! Linking up with Lauren!