A Year Filled with Love Your guide to planning a year of dates By Chellee Unruh
W
e often hear that to make a relationship last it is important to create date nights, put your phone on silent and engage in conversations that take you on a detour from the daily stressors of your routine. While this is important, there is one simple truth we must address: people change. Just because you love someone doesn’t mean that the relationship will stand the trials and tribulations of life. Being in a relationship with someone is something that you choose. To make your relationship last, you must make the active choice to remain present in that relationship. When we decide to love something, we need to take care of it even when it gets tough to do so. This is where dating your partner becomes important. Not only are you building intimacy and connection, dating your partner allows you to continue to get to know them as they change and grow as a person. Some believe that once you have reached the committed stage of life, the hard work is over. The reality is this is when the real work begins. If you don’t invest time in your spouse, you might miss the person they become. The thought of planning one date night can be a struggle for some but the thought of a year’s worth of dates seems like a daunting task. To alleviate the stress of planning your date nights, we have created a guide that will help you plan it out a year in advance. This would be a great gift idea for Valentine’s Day or just a special surprise for your spouse. TIPS TO BUILDING A YEAR’S WORTH OF DATES: Get an Early Start! If it is going to be a gift for a special occasion, you will want to give yourself at least a month or two to plan and pull everything together. Will you commit to a full year or a smaller version? Depending on what you have going on, it may not be possible to put together 12 dates. Maybe it is a financial issue or there are other known events happening that may affect your plans. If you are not ready to commit to a full year, it is perfectly acceptable to start planning 3 -6 months’ worth of dates. Decide what works best for you and then solidify your plan.
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SiouxFallsWoman.net | February/March 2022
Set a Budget: Be realistic about what you can afford and plan accordingly. Don’t pressure yourself to have to spend a lot of money if you can’t afford something extravagant. There are plenty of budget-friendly date options that are fun, interesting and exciting. If you do plan on spending some money, make sure that you budget for it ahead of time, like purchasing tickets to some event or making reservations. Write Out a Formal Plan: Create a planning sheet that lists the month, the date idea, the budget for that date, and what you need to do/acquire to make that date happen. Writing it all out will help you achieve what you are thinking of in your head into a formal plan on paper. Start with Big Ticket Events: Try (if you can) to plan one big event per year. This may be going to a Broadway play or the concert of your favorite artist, a sporting event, or a weekend getaway. We recommend starting with the big-ticket items because they require more planning and budgeting than the other dates on the agenda. Fill in the Spaces: Now that the big events are planned and out of the way, you can plan the less expensive simpler dates. If you are looking for some ideas, check out past issues of Sioux Falls Woman magazine or just google it! You will find a ton of great inexpensive or free date ideas! Plan for the Seasons: Date options vary with the seasons, so think of fun and new things to try that coordinate best with spring, summer fall, or winter. You could also plan dates associated with holidays - like dressing up for a couple’s costume contest for Halloween. When in Doubt...Repeat! Do you have something that you know you both will love? Then why not plan it for a couple of times a year? There is nothing wrong with a repeat date! Now that you are equipped to plan a year filled with love, enjoy yourself and each other! n
