Dating your spouse

Yesterday I linked up with a blog to do a "Happy Homemaker Monday". On those I just fill out some questions about my day. Sounds very bland, I know. But, it's a fun little thing I look forward to - and, I enjoy reading the other ladies days, as well.

Anyway, one of the "topics" was "something fun" and mine was a quick blurb of how my husband and I are having an at home date night every Thursday. This struck a note with some of you and I'm honored to have been a help :) I always feel like I'm the one sucking ideas away from other blogs... feels good to give back. If you missed what I'm talking about here's a recap.

Every Thursday night after our children are in bed we sit down on the couch and watch our two favorite shows on tv. Pretty casual. Once the shows are over we brew a pot of coffee and bust out our book, "The meaning of marriage" by Timothy and Kathy Keller. After a few minutes of prep and review we dive into some good discussion. We go over things we underlined and highlighted, challenging thoughts, provoking insights, etc. Brad had this book idea a few months ago and we just started up... it takes us time. :) I love it. And, it's free!

My goal now is to SPICE up those evenings. Some of ideas are: saving for a new special blanket for our special tv time together, new and interesting snacks or drinks, maybe even saving our meal for that time and doing some fun, etc. It's a small thing and an easy goal. I really hope we can keep doing this as a tradition for a long, long, time. I love getting to know my husband in this new way.

To reach my goal {and take the pressure off of Brad} I have put out a "date night" jar on my counter. Each time I come across spare change or whatnot... it gets put in the jar. My own little love fund :) It's not much, or, anything fancy - but, I'm hoping to use it to bless my husband and our time together.

What do you do to bless and encourage your spouse? How do you go about Date Nights?