Date Night Friday: Geocaching

I love geocaching.  If you have no idea what geocaching is well then let me give you a little lesson.

Geocaching is the real-world treasure hunt that's happening right now, all around you. There are 2,295,229 active geocaches and over 6 million geocachers worldwide. -geocaching.com

You find the "x marks the spot" location by using coordinates you can find on the official geocaching website, geocaching.com.  Then plug them into your phone or gps and go.  I highly recommend creating a profile on the geocaching website.  When you find a geocache you can then return and report your findings on the website.  Here is our profile.

We use a free ap that helped with our geocache.  I downloaded the free geocaching intro ap.  With this ap you simply enter your location and it tells you the top 5 geocaches that are located around you.  No plugging in coordinates, just your location and go.  We used this for all of our hunts.  It also signals when you are getting close, provides you with hints, and rewards you when you find a cache!  

Now if you want to take this date to the next level (aka cash level) you can download the complete geocache ap for $9.99.  As my brother says, its an investment that you will have your entire lifetime so go for it.  

A couple things to pack if you are going geocaching.  
* A Pencil:  Often when you find a geocache there will be a "log book" of sorts to record who was last there and when.
* Trinkets and Toys: Some caches are actually treasure hunts.  When you find the cache there will often be goodies inside.  If you find such a cache and want to take a treasure, be sure you have another item to replace it with.  Some people even leave a signature item.  Today Dane and I left owl stickers.  Owls...are you surprised really?  
* A camera, because you are going to want to document this business.  

And how was our experience?  We found three caches, all of which had treasures in them!  We brought home a little army man, a red car and a silver Christmas bulb.  One of my favourite parts of geocaching is the bits of history and stories you learn about each area you visit.  One of our spots had a ghost story attached to it, another told the story of a shotgun wedding.  It also takes you to parts of the community you might not often visit.  We ended up on some country roads that Dane said he had never traveled before and he grew up in this community.  

And there you have it.  Our geocache adventure.  We really can't wait to go again, maybe take one of you along with us?  If you have questions about geocaching please leave a comment or shoot me an email and I will try my best to answer them, although I am quite the rookie myself.  And if you decide to go geocaching we would love to see pictures and hear all about it!  Happy treasure hunting!  ♥ D+C

Weekends Are For...Wandering

Over the weekend my parents and I went on a little country cruise and ended up at one of my uncle's properties for some exploration.  The snow made a picturesque landscape and we had a great time searching for treasures in the old house.

The snow began to melt which created quite the adventure in getting there.  I had never been mudding before and I don't think the intension was to give me my first experience, but I got it!  And this is what my window looked like after driving down some of the roads.

Overall it was a great Sunday.  This spot we explored was actually near and dear to my heart.  I remember coming here several Saturdays of my childhood and helping tear down the barn.  My family used the wood to build an addition onto our house, so it was fun to revisit and relive a few memories.

Date Night Friday: The Road Trip Date

Dane and I have been talking a lot about what we would like 2014 to look like for us and one of our goals is to be more intentional about spending quality time together.  Emphasis on the word quality.  So we decided to try our best to have a weekly date night.  Since we are on a very small budget, just like most newly married couples, we will keep these date nights as low cost as possible.  What goes along with low cost....creativity!

This week our date night was more like a date day.  Dane and I love taking road trips together, and lately we are traveling around meeting with pastors and seeking jobs.  All those miles have provided us with great opportunities to talk because there is no distractions.   Topics as of lately have been hopes and dreams, what we look forward to in 2014, and a massive brain storm session of more date nights!

So what makes a good road trip?    The ABC game which I am sure many of you are familiar with.  We love making lists while we drive.  Good list topics are top 10 places to travel, top 10 places to eat at, and our topic this trip was top 10 road trip albums.  And our latest road trip entertainment, reading books to one another.  We've read the Hunger Games, marriage books, and our current read is Tina Fey's autobiography Bossy Pants.

Don't forget the road trip food.  We always have some sort of cinnamon candy in the car with us, usually hot tamales but lately we are in love with cinnamon jelly hearts...thank you Valentines Day candy section at Walmart.  Dane loves gushers and I love M&M's (any flavour).

Our road trip this week took us to Wichita, KS and Kansas City, KS.  While there we caught up with friends and family, had conversations with pastors in the area, drank some coffee at cafes, and visited Hat Man Jacks!

Hope you'll join us again next week for Date Night Friday.  We would love to hear what some of your favourite affordable date nights are, so leave us a comment.  Maybe some week we will feature your affordable date night here!    D+C

Happy New Year Love.

Happy New Years Eve everyone!  Saw this quote the other day and found it to be a good challenge, possibly the best new years resolution one could make.  In 2014, resolve to write the best story you can write.

What makes a good story:  love when it is not easy, have courage when all you want to do is run, show compassion,  make someone's day, laugh often but allow yourself to cry when needed, do something that scares you every now and then, and take time to enjoy the details.

May 2014 be your best year yet!

Much Love, D+C

Merry Christmas!

Photo by Brittany Cunningham...legend!

Today we celebrate!  We celebrate love.  We celebrate joy.  We celebrate peace.  We celebrate hope.  We celebrate light in darkness.  And we celebrate the one who brought all of this into our lives, Jesus.  Dane and I want to wish you want to wish you a Merry Christmas!  We love you all!  Love, Dane + Christy