Project 52 Date Nights: The End

It is hard to believe that we have made it through a year of intentional dating. I am a firm believer that doing anything intentionally adds value to your life and in this case to our relationship.

I have discovered that Daniel and I date quite a bit. We have gone on far more dates than I have taken the time to write about. I am so thankful to have a husband who still loves to hang out with me after 10 years together.

This final date was not anything special. We spent part of Christmas Eve making scarves together for Daniel's sisters. Then we wrapped all of the goodies that we had made or bought.

The last 10 days have been full of various visiting with both of our families. We have seen grandparents and parents and siblings and cousins and our niece. We enjoyed a white Christmas {a rarity in the south}. We have been very blessed this year and we are looking forward to next year and all the dates that we will continue to make time for.

Project 52 Date Nights: 8th Anniversary

On Thursday night – our actual anniversary – we celebrated Christmas with several of Daniel's co-workers by eating at the local Mexican restaurant {one of a handful of places we frequent in Scottsboro}.

For our actual celebration we headed to Chattanooga on Friday where we saw a matinee of RED at the dollar theater and then stopped a J Alexanders for dinner.

Daniel had trout and I tried the fish tacos. Both were amazing. We used to stop at the J Alexanders in Germantown {Memphis} whenever we were passing through. We really love their salads. The atmosphere was perfect for reminiscing about the past and dreaming about the future.

Thankfully we aren't too far from the city and it is easy to make a quick day trip. It is hard to believe that it has been 8 years since we were married.

Project 52 Date Nights: All Work and No Play

Last week we didn't have time for an actual date. Friday we ran errands in Chattanooga. 

I ordered 11 pairs of tennis shoes from Zappos 

{yay for free shipping for delivery AND returns}.

One of our errands included going to UPS to ship back

the 10 pairs of shoes that didn't fit.

Saturday we hung peg board in the garage so that Daniel can finally finish unpacking all of his tools. And so that we can start using the garage to park in!

 Putting my carpentry skills to use.

Then Sunday we turned the power off for 5 hours {on our first snow day this winter} in order for Daniel to work on a project. Unfortunately the temp in the house dropped to 55 before we could turn the power back on. I read a book by candle light when Daniel didn't need my help. 

Daniel cutting one {of several} holes in the wall.

Even though, we didn't have a typical date, we did spend lots of time together.

Project 52 Date Nights: Can't Get Enough

Coming off of the Thanksgiving holiday we have been eating a lot of leftovers. We have also had intermittent company which meant I didn't have a chance to get to the grocery store until Wednesday of last week. By Monday, we were both getting tired of turkey... though I did use some of it to make a pretty good Turkey and Dumpling Stew {incorporating leftover stuffing for the dumplings}.

 {via}

On Monday night we opted to go out for a post-racquetball meal at Buenavista Mexican Restaurant with one of Daniel's co-workers. Daniel and I split the Mex Tex Fajitas {one of our faves}.

Then Tuesday came and we found ourselves headed back to town and into the parking lot of our favorite Mexican restaurant {I guess that we were really sick of turkey}. I had a Shrimp Chimichanga and Daniel tried a Chicken Nacho dish. I'm just thankful that we have at least one restaurant that we truly love in our little town. We just need to make sure we don't wear it out.

Which we may be on the road to doing since we went BACK to Buenavista on Saturday when friends from Murfreesboro came for a visit! Third time's a charm?!?

Project 52 Date Nights: Unfinished Basement and Catfish

After all of our Thanksgiving company left, Daniel and I got focused on projects. Namely trying to decide whether or not to start our newest project: We are going to convert our unfinished basement into a furnished apartment to rent out.

You might be wondering who would rent an apartment in rural Alabama. We are betting on other TVA employees. This benefits us with potential renters who 1) we know have stable jobs and 2) who have already passed a myriad of background checks in order to qualify to work at a nuclear facility.

So that is our plan. Ideally we need to get insulation installed and an HVAC system in before the end of the year in order to qualify for a tax credit. So after much discussion, we decided to get a start on the project on Sunday and drove up to Guntersville to attend church and go by Lowes for some needed supplies.

For lunch, we stopped at the Top O' The River Restaurant for some catfish. We settled into a window booth with a view of the lake. I am learning that when you go to a catfish place with a view of the water, you almost always get a great view. The food is generally OK {my mom makes better}. I guess the view makes up for the food. 

{via}

Around these parts, we are also adapting to a not-so-anonymous lifestyle. If you go to Guntersville, you might run into someone you know. If you stop at Home Depot on the way home, you might run into someone else. Such is life in a small town.

Project 52 Date Nights: Thanksgiving Preparation

We are hosting the Moore Thanksgiving this year. So we created a long list of things to do before company arrives. Last weekend was supposed to be the final push. Get it all done, so we don't have to worry. Friday we went strong. Saturday Daniel got fixated on getting our new internet TV to properly connect to the internet and I didn't feel so great. 

So instead of working all day, we took it easy. Daniel got the TV and internet working together and we opted to watch an instant Netflix movie instead of working. Laying on the couch together {vegging out} was just what we needed.

Sunday we were back at it and managed to accomplish just about all of our projects {including my shopping for Thanksgiving day and other planned meals for the long weekend with company}. 

We have a few things left to do, but even if we don't have our house in perfect order, it is OK. The beautiful thing about Thanksgiving is that it is a time to be together and to be thankful {it has nothing to do with finishing all of your little projects, though sometimes that is nice too}.

Project 52 Date Nights: Getting To Know You

{via}

 

One of the unexpected things about moving to rural Alabama has been making new friends. We have been getting together fairly regularly with one of Daniel's co-workers and his wife. Last Tuesday we had them over for a Chili and Game night. We played Things – a favorite of my family's. 

To play Things, a moderator reads a card, for example:  

Things you shouldn't say to your boss. 

Everyone writes down their answer and the moderator reads the responses and you take turns guessing who wrote what. This can be a very hilarious game and a great way to get to know people.

It was fun but I think this is a game that is best played with a group of 8+ people. We are enjoying getting to know Daniel's co-workers better.

Project 52 Date Nights: It's My Party

Last Thursday was my birthday. My 30th birthday to be exact. We normally alternate years and plan a birthday weekend getaway to celebrate our births {we do this in lieu of presents}. This year we agreed to birthday getaways for both of us because we both turned 30 and it felt like a bigger deal. Lucky for Daniel, my sister and brother came to town and he got to delay weekend plans. This, however, does not let him off the hook... he still owes me.

Anyways, he came home from work on Thursday with flowers – orange lily's. And then we got in the car and drove to Huntsville. 

I jokingly asked him if he was taking me to the Space Center to celebrate. Nope.

How about Chik-Fil-A? {We don't have one in Scottsboro}

Chinese? {He HATES Asian food}

I proceeded to list any restaurant we passed that was not in Scottsboro, just to be annoying :)

I also asked if we had reservations somewhere and he said, "Nope. It's a Thursday night, we should be fine."

After one wrong turn, we found our way to Connors Steak and Seafood Restaurant. When we pulled into the parking, I got nervous – was I dressed appropriately? {Jeans and a flannel shirt and sweater thrown on}. Daniel said I was fine.

{via} 

After circling every row in the parking lot, we finally found a spot. We walked to the restaurant and found out that there was a 40 minute wait {so much for it being a Thursday night}. They took our cell phone number and we wondered out into the open air mall, hoping to find our way to the Barnes&Noble we had seen earlier. It actually worked out perfectly – we had time to walk, browse books and I even got a latte at the Starbucks. My parents called and sang Happy Birthday to me {they do this every year and I love it}. Then we received a call saying our table was available and we walked back. Perfect.

We ordered fried mushrooms and Daniel got a steak and I got fish and chips. We went half and half. The steak may have been the best steak I have ever tried. I would definitely recommend it. After dinner we were too stuffed for dessert and too tired to stay for a movie. So we drove home. 

It was a really sweet night.

Project 52 Date Nights: The Simple Things

Since we moved into our new house last Tuesday, we have been without TV. Like none. Nada. It's actually a little weird not to have something to wind down to at the end of the day. Together.

The reason we don't have TV is that we can only get satellite in the country and we don't want to pay for it. Besides that, our current TV is way too old to try to pick up HDTV channels through an antenna.

All of this to say, it's been a bit different and we are trying to adapt. Most nights, this has meant I sit on the couch with a laptop or a book and Daniel sits in the oversized armchair with the other laptop. The weirdest thing for me is that it is so quiet. We sometimes have Pandora streaming music, but mostly it is really quiet.

Last night Daniel came home from playing racquetball and asked if I wanted to do something. I wasn't sure what he was getting at because we are in the country and there isn't much to do {maybe drive to Walmart to walk around???}. Turns out he wanted to go lay in the hammock outside. It was nice. Much better than sitting in silence in front of our separate gray boxes.

Back to the TV thing, we decided to order a flat screen television that will {hopefully} pick up some free HDTV channels. It will be here tomorrow – yay for Amazon.com and FedEx delivering to the country!

Project 52 Date Nights: Movie on a Week Night

I was too busy moving to write this post on Tuesday, but we did have a date last week. 

Early last week, Daniel and I went to eat at Sugar's Ribs in downtown Chattanooga. The food was great, but the music and decor made it feel like we were at a disco instead of a ribs joint. 

Before dinner, we had briefly contemplated skipping dinner altogether and going to the movies and splitting nachos instead. The movie we wanted to see didn't start until after 8, so we decided to forego that option. 

When we left Sugar's, Daniel asked me if I was still interested in going to the movies. This was a bit surprising since it would mean getting home late and he would still have to get up early to drive to work the next day. After a bit of discussion, we decided to go.

We normally only go to cheap theaters and this year has been too busy for movie going. The Majestic 12 in downtown Chattanooga was a treat. The seats were the most comfortable theater seats we have sat in. Ever. For $9 per person, this theater is definitely worth a visit. We watched Life As We Know It and managed to make it home by 11 {Daniel normally tries to go to bed by 9:30 so he was dragging on Wednesday}. It was a nice spontaneous date in the midst of a very chaotic time.

{via}

Project 52 Date Nights: On The Border

Thanks to hotel reward points, we were able to go to Atlanta this past weekend and stay in

a hotel for free. 

Instead of eating at Atlanta-specific restaurants, we chose to eat at On The Border our first night – mostly because there isn't one in Chattanooga {or Nashville for that matter} and I have been craving OTB. 

We drove all over Atlanta hauling a small trailer {that we brought to haul furniture home}. It was interesting going into crowded shopping areas and trying to find parking. Somehow we managed.

We got to OTB rather late, so we thought we would have fast service. We were seated immediately and then ignored by every server/person/manager in the restaurant for the next 10+ minutes. This was probably due to the fact that a huge party was seated next to us {20+ people for a b-day celebration}. 

I finally made eye contact with a manager and he came by and offered to get us drinks and I mentioned that we had been seated for a while and could he please send our waiter over. He immediately took our order. Then proceeded to bring us cheese dip on the house. The rest of the night, the server was fantastic {it was probably the fault of the guy who sat us, but someone should have acknowledged we were there AND it probably didn't help that we were both STARVING}.

{via}

Anyways, OTB ended up being great after such a slow start.

The rest of the weekend involved trips to REI, IKEA and Sam's Club. Daniel thought it was very "American" of us to drive two hours to a big city for the sole purpose of shopping {we don't generally shop a lot and the items we wanted were not in Chattanooga or Nashville}.

We had a great weekend. We did find some hole-in-the-wall places to eat {including an Italian place where we tried lasagna pizza and a Chinese restaurant}. We tried to go to the movies, but that was a bit of a flop.

Overall good weekend, good date.

Project 52 Date Nights: Bob Bald

 

 Shakedown at the camper.

How has it been a year and a half since our last backpacking trip? As soon as we get moved into our new home, we plan to remedy this and make an attempt to go at least once a month {there was a time when we went EVERY WEEK}.

Road "not suitable for passenger cars."

For our initiation back into the world of backpacking, we decided to do a short overnight to Bob Bald in the Joyce Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness Area. We cheated and drove up to the Wolf Laurel Trail to start {almost at the top of the mountain} and hiked 3-ish miles across Stratton Bald to our campsite on top of Bob Bald. 

 Pre-hike picture.

We arrived just in time for sunset and were thankful to see that we had the bald to ourselves. This was a good thing since when we stopped I stripped down because my skin started itching terribly. We changed into dry clothes, set up camp and started cooking dinner. Just in time for a father/daughter and their dog to come up on the bald. We told them they were welcome to pitch their tent at our site, but they said they didn't want to invade our privacy.

Sunset at our campsite.

So in the end, we had the bald to ourselves. The stars were AMAZING. We even saw some shooting stars. The temperature was PERFECT – cool and comfortable {not freezing}. Sophie did really well {she only freaked out when the people walked up to our camp site in the dark, but who can blame her since we really couldn't see them}.

View from our campsite in the morning.

We are really looking forward to more camping trips. Next time we will be sure to go to Naked Ground and The Hangover {get your mind out of the gutter – these are real trails that branch off of Stratton Bald}.

View from the Cherohala Skyway.

Project 52 Date Nights: Three Sisters

{via}

Last Friday we met friends at The Terminal Brewhouse for dinner. Afterward we headed downtown to meet more friends for the Three Sisters Festival – a FREE live bluegrass concert. We saw Sierra Hull, Chatham County Line and Ricky Skaggs play. It was a fun concert with perfect weather, not too overcrowded and we even managed to score FREE parking {after I drove over a curb to get to it}.

Daniel created a sling to carry our chairs with out of webbing that was in the trunk of our car.

Sierra Hull playing. It was too dark to photograph Chatham County Line and Ricky Scaggs.

Daniel and I enjoying the music.

Thumbs up for date night: we had the winning combination of good food, good music and time spent with good friends.

Project 52 Date Nights: Downtown Nashville

We went to Nashville for the weekend to take care of some maintenance on our car {Daniel is currently using his dad's garage until we have our own} and to help his dad pick out new mattresses and to visit with family.

Saturday night we met up with my sister, her husband, our niece {Izzy} and my brother in order to take a look at their new house in Hermitage {they close on Oct 8}. After viewing the house, we decided to go downtown to grab dinner. We were all able to find free parking downtown {kuddos to my brother for knowing where to park}. We originally planned on The Old Spaghetti Factory, but decided that waiting on a table wasn't a good fit for a toddler. 

Instead we went to The Pita Pit where we secured a table next to the window and enjoyed watching people as they walked by. After Izzy finished eating, she decided to crawl up onto a counter that was in the window behind us. She sat on the counter and watched people. It was really funny to see people's reactions as they passed us. They would be deep in conversation and all of a sudden notice that a baby was sitting in the window and their faces would light up. 

The best part was when two big, burly guys walked by. Their expressions were priceless. It is amazing how much joy a smiley happy baby can bring. 

Project 52 Date Nights: Dinner and a House Hunt

This is the week that we {hopefully} make an offer on a house. With that in mind, date night took the shape of meeting our realtor, Amber, on Monday night for the first time. She is the type of person that I immediately felt like I could be friends with {a good trait for a real estate agent}. 

She did a good job of making the idea of moving to a small town bearable. Which is a good thing since Daniel and I have been a bit apprehensive of our pending move to Alabama... it is just so darn rural.

After viewing four houses and asking a moderate amount of questions, Amber dropped us off and we headed to dinner where we proceeded to discuss the houses over nachos and fajita quesadillas.

The first house we flat out disliked – mostly because it needed a lot of work {after spending the last 5 years of our lives renovating a house, we are ready for a break}.

The second house was well decorated, but not to our tastes. It had a nice screened-in porch and a deck, but the bedrooms and closets were small. 

The third house was really cute, but smaller than our last house in Charlotte. It did have a great fenced back yard, but no trees. *No image of the front of the house because it is not actually on the market yet.

The fourth house had a lot that appealed to us – large lot, large covered porches, large everything. The biggest negative was that it is a lot bigger than what we had initially planned on purchasing.

Tonight we went back to house #4 a second time. Afterwards we went to Ruby Tuesdays to try to make up our minds about what we want.

Daniel has been making excel sheets that provide different scenarios of our budget and home costs and what the house is worth. Tomorrow I will have the update on what we officially decide.

Looking for houses is a nice way to date – it gives us opportunities to dream about the future.

Project 52 Date Nights: Chiggers

Since Daniel and I don't have kiddos, we date pretty consistently. This weekend we managed to take a hike, see a double feature at the drive in, window shop at the mall, go to the bookstore, eat out, share a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks and go for another hike. All in the name of spending time together. And we like it.

Since embracing the living-in-a-camper lifestyle we have had issues with various bugs. I am not sure if we would be dealing with this stuff because we live in a campground or if we are just more blessed with critters because we live in Tennessee.

The first week or two {in the camper} Sophie was experiencing a full-on attack by tics. I found those suckers on her everyday. And then to top things off she managed to get into seed tics {the worst by far because there were so many of those things}.

Next up was me experiencing flea bites {not fun}. I think that I can thank the stray cats of the campground for this little present. 

Then last night Daniel discovered that he had chiggers on him. He has bites all over his stomach and legs. We are fairly certain he picked up these little guys on our Sunday afternoon hike. The interesting thing is he was wearing hiking boots with wool socks and pants with a belt and a t-shirt. His goal had been to avoid poison ivy. I, on the other hand, had on chaco sandals, shorts and a t-shirt and I came back unscathed. I feel pretty bad for Daniel, I used tweezers to pull off any remaining bugs last night and he was pretty miserable. He woke up at 4AM this morning and took a Benadryl {no biking today} and used some hydrocortizone cream to combat the itchiness. 

We are looking forward to the cooler temps and less bugs to irritate us.

Project 52 Date Nights: Dairy Queen

Labor Day weekend did not find us laboring, but we did manage to squeeze in some mountain biking, lots of visiting with family and the purchase of a new laptop for my freelance business {I think Daniel consented to this purchase so he can stream movies in high-def from the camper}. 

It was a lovely weekend. I especially enjoyed time spent with my niece. 

Sunday night after dinner, my whole family piled into my sister and brother-in-law's new 4-door pickup truck and we rode to the local Dairy Queen for ice cream. Daniel and I enjoyed some down time together on the ride because we opted to sit in the bed of the truck so that Sophie could tag along.

At DQ Daniel and I split a blizzard and we all got to watch Izzy try her first dipped ice cream cone – I think my sister ended up messier than my niece did.

The whole weekend was a lot of fun. It is nice to have quiet moments with your spouse {even if it means riding in the back of a pickup truck}.

Project 52 Date Nights: House Hunting

We didn't have a "real" date this week, per se. But if you count spending time together {just the two of us}, then I would have to say this week was the first of many House Hunting dates.

We just began our fourth week of living in a 170-sf camper. We chose to live in a camper while we waited for TVA to make a decision on funding for the Bellefonte plant {where Daniel works}. August 20 was the decision day and we found out that instead of fully-funding the project at this time, they are going to fund it for a year. They will reevaluate the decision in June of 2011.

This was not an unexpected decision, but it is not a particularly helpful one. We are ready to live in a house again, but are unsure of where we should buy. We could buy in Chattanooga and Daniel can commute {1 hour each way to Bellefonte} OR we could buy closer to the plant {but if they pull funding next year, we will own property that may be difficult to sell if we end up having to move}. 

And then there is decision of whether to buy 1) our dream house; 2) a smaller property to use as rental property in the future; or 3) land on which to build a house. 

Monday night we decided to drive by a couple of properties on Lookout Mountain and grab dinner at Guthries while we were there. We are also considering downtown Chattanooga, Signal Mountain, areas around Nickajack Lake as well as land in Alabama. 

Cute house. On the upper end of our budget. 

Yard would need to be fenced for Sophie.

{via}

The main things we cannot live without is a garage {for Daniel}, a dishwasher {for me} and a fenced yard {for Sophie}. Beyond those things, we can renovate or build to our heart's content. It will be interesting to see what we end up with...

Great price for Lookout Mountain. Great winter views.

No yard and an HOA is a negative.

{via}

Project 52 Date Nights: Double Feature

Daniel and I haven't been to the movies very many times this year {possibly ZERO}. We are too cheap to go regularly and were lucky enough to live close to a dollar theater in Charlotte. Unfortunately, living in two different states and trying to sell your house did not make it conducive to going to the movies together in the last six months.

Now we live in the same place again but we don't have a dollar theater. 

Out of curiosity, I googled theaters in Chattanooga. I wanted to see what was playing and maybe, just maybe, I could convince Daniel that we could spend $20+ to go see a movie.

Lucky for me, I discovered the Wilderness Outdoor Theater, located in Trenton, GA, 11 miles from our campground. They claim to have the largest screen in the world {100x50 feet} and offer double features for five bucks! They have two screens AND you can bring your dog! The only bad thing is that the movies didn't start until 9:15 PM {you have to wait until it gets dark to view a movie outdoors}. This meant that we didn't get home until close to 2AM.

Largest movie screen in the world. 

{via}

We will definitely be going back to this theater. You can't beat $5 for two movies {or one movie, if you choose to leave early}. We saw The Other Guys and Salt. It was a nice treat for Sophie to get to come with us - when we paid for admission, they even gave us a doggy treat. 

This was our first drive-in movie experience {that we actually recall... we were both informed by our parents that we had been to drive-ins when we were little.} 

Thumbs up for discovering an outdoor movie theater within 15 minutes of downtown Chattanooga. We will definitely be going back.

Project 52 Date Nights: Discovery

One of the best things about living in a new city is that there is so much to discover. We get to search for our new favorite Mexican restaurant and decide who serves the best barbecue or desserts and where the best coffee house is. We get to explore and try out new eateries and find new haunts. 

Monday night I had a headache and did not feel up to the task of cooking in our itty bitty kitchen, so we opted to go out for dinner. Since we live at the Lookout Mountain exit, we chose to look for a restaurant on the mountain {with the back up plan to go down to St. Elmo's}. 

I googled "best places to eat on Lookout Mountain" and Cafe on the Corner and Guthries Chicken popped up. Guthries looked like a local version of Zaxby's so we decided to go with Cafe on the Corner. This was a good decision since Guthries closed at 8PM.

Cafe on the Corner was quaint. We wanted to sit outside and the early evening temps were conducive to that. We decided to get the Grouper sandwich with homemade chips and a Black-and-Bleu Burger with fries {we like to share so that we can try new things}. The food was delicious. 

I can't tell you how nice it is to go out on a week night together. Five months of separation during the week really robbed us of simple pleasures like getting to eat meals together and sharing how our days went.