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Date your husband! 4 ideas for fun low-cost dates

Hi all! Today I’m excited to share a guest post from my good friend, Debbie Sutherland. My husband and I have known her and her family for quite some time, and always enjoy getting to see their lovely family when we visit New England. Debbie runs a blog on fun and frugal living, and today’s post that she is sharing with us is all about frugal nature-themed date ideas. Love it. I’m married to my guy, but I still want to date him! Thanks for the ideas, Debbie!
-April

Going out on a date with a loved one does not have to cost a lot of money. As a matter of fact, some of the best memories I have of my husband and I are outings that cost us very little to no money at all. Going on a FUN DATE should be just that, FUN and exciting not full of worries as to how to pay for it. – OR the regrets of money spent once the outing is over.

Get creative and use nature as your spring board when you plan your outings. Nature has so much to offer with its awesomeness and beauty of each season.

Here is the first part, of many, on how my husband and I spend our summer days, all while staying on a budget- and “HAVING FUN”!

Watching The Sun Set

As simple as this may seem, it is my favorite thing to do with my husband. There is something about choosing that special spot to watch the sun set with the one you love, that simply never grows old. My husband and I love to go down to the ocean and pick a nice quiet spot to have a picnic dinner to watch the sun set. It is just so peaceful with no distractions. It is a time that we can connect and enjoy each other without the business of life.

Nature Walks

Another really simple but wonderful way to spend time with someone you love to be with is to go on a Nature Walk. This is such a peaceful time. Bring the binoculars to spot that unique bird or the deer in the woods. Take time to take in the beautiful nature that is all around you. Enjoy taking pictures of flowers and unique bridges and more. I took the picture above, last year, while walking with my husband. I just love the way the bridge was reflecting on the water to make a complete “Eye Into Nature”. The walks can be brief or take several hours, either way, it is just so peaceful and relaxing.

Kayaking

Kayaking is another wonderful time spent with a loved one. Once you own a kayak, we bought ours from Craigslist, it costs nothing. Kayaking puts you up close and personal with nature. My husband and I own a tandem kayak allowing us to visit the whole time. We bring snacks and drinks in the kayak, and go on some great outings. We like to choose the end of the day or first thing in the morning when the animals are very active.

Here is a photo I shot while kayaking of a swan. Look how beautiful his reflection is. This is one of many photos I have of beautiful creatures we see along our kayaking adventures. We see turtles, deer, birds, frogs, rabbits, and more almost every time we go. I have albums filled with beautiful shots like the one above. Just another fun way to spend time with your loved one without the distractions all around you. Time to “just be”.

Finding New Bike Paths

Another one of our favorite things to do is to find a new bike path. Each path has new beauty to it, one more beautiful than the next. We love finding new bike paths and taking on the challenge of riding them. Biking is a wonderful way to enjoy exercise and time together while enjoying the breath taking beauty. Here is a picture I shot of the Bristol Bike Path (Bristol, RI) that we love to ride. At the end of this path is a State Park that runs along the Atlantic Ocean. We often find ourselves at this bike path on a nice warm summer evening ending it with a picnic dinner watching the waves and the sun set.

-Debbie Sutherland

All great ideas! Be sure to check out Debbie’s blog, Frugal Living and Having Fun, for other budget friendly posts, coupons and ideas. :)
-April

Went exploring – and found some beautiful inspiration!

A little spot I found – doesn’t this look like the perfect place to read a book?

I *love* to go exploring. Just finding what my local area has to offer – beautiful spaces to wander in, unique mom and pop businesses, interesting niches to discover. Of course, you already know this about me since I’ve talked about it before.  But we went exploring in a small nearby town this week and I came across this great idea I just HAD to share with you!

So, Maryville is a small town just a few miles south of us, and I definitely demonstrate that I am not native to this area by pronouncing it “Maryville” instead of “Mahr-vul”.  But its a charming little town, which I had never been to until my awesome husband Tim scouted out the historic little downtown for our last anniversary and took me to a gorgeous old art-deco style theatre turned coffee house there. Aaaaaah, SO fun! Yep, he knows just what I like.

The little area we explored – Maryville’s Bicentenial Park

We decided to go exploring there the other day and scout out an area we had stopped by briefly the day we went to the coffee shop.  The library is located in a picturesque area called “Bicentenial Park”, with a small river, lovely bridges, and walking trails. My favorite find, though, which I thinks is SUCH a great idea and really wanted to tell you about was actually connected to the library: A Shakespeare inspired garden.

Now what is a Shakespeare garden you ask?  The plants in the little garden were actually all mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays! Small signs told the plant names and in which play they were mentioned. Loving books as I do, I was in LOVE with this idea!

My mind started whirring – what other kinds of themed gardens could you do? You could choose another author or literary theme … or you could think broader.  What about a musical garden? Plants with music names (like trumpet flowers) … or plants mentioned in music!  A Coldplay garden occurred to me … I know of songs like “Violet Hill” and “Strawberry Swing”. You could do all sorts of themes!

Some more photos from wandering around this little area….

I love the old repurposed railroad salvaged materials here!

 

Fountains and the under side of bridges: LOVE!

Have you been wandering or exploring lately? Have you founds any inspiration?
If you were going to do a themed garden, what kind of theme would you do?
Tell me your thoughts in the comments!!

Get Inspired: Look Through the Eyes of a Child

A Quarter to Fly by sunshineartdesign

 
Remember when you were a kid, and dandelions were begging to be blown, butterflies were fairies, and backyards were secret gardens? We were driving home today through a small stretch of road with tangled trees and underbrush, and my three year old exclaimed, “This is a jungle!”

Everything is amazing when you’re a kid.

Wonder Embroidery Art by Merriweather Council

And really, I think its good to not lose that sense of wonder.  We live in an increasingly apathetic society where people are unimpressed and bored. No thank you!

Wonderland by Raceytay

Go for a walk.  Try to see things in the same way you would have when you were small.

We live in a city, and our neighborhood probably doesn’t look very inspiring.  However, my daughter and I went for a “nature exploration walk” the other day just around our neighborhood, and even the smallest things impressed her. We had fun exploring, and when we came home, we brought home a collection of all sorts of natural found objects. And then we had fun photographing them together! The results:

Don’t lose your sense of wonder! We live in a beautiful Creation, and I am thankful to God for it!
Go outside and look around the way a child would.
Lose yourself in a book the way a child would.
Care. Give someone you love a bear hug.
Catch a firefly, let it go. 
Draw a picture without worrying if its perfect
Play with your food, run in the rain, blow some bubbles, pick some wild flowers.
Have some wholesome wonderful fun! Remember what it was like to be a kid and you will be inspired!

Little Miss Mia Journal by Mayi Carles

What are some things you remember being amazed by as a kid?
Do they still amaze you?
Tell me what you think in the comments!

Get the creative gears turning- Be a local explorer!

Are you a local explorer? You’d love it!! Few things inspire me creatively more than this.
Not sure? Ok, I’ll give you some reasons – and then some helpful tips and tricks. :)

All of the photos in this post are from my local explorations here in Knoxville!

I’ve lived in several awesome places in the past — places that other people take trips to go visit. (Prague/Czech Republic, Gettysburg/PA, Tampa/FL..) But one thing that completely took me aback was how people who had lived there their whole lives had never taken the opportunity to go see the sights!

I mean, c’mon –  someone else pays a lot of money to travel here, but you don’t ever take an afternoon to go check out your own backyard? It’s available right there, all the time!
(Actually, that’s one of the reasons why people don’t: its always there. You can do it next weekend, or next month. Maybe next year. But in the end, you never get around to it.)

It’s easy to get the point if its somewhere famous. But taking the time to play explorer in your own town, where ever it is, can really be a great way to get your creative gears turning. Consider…

1 – It gives your brain the chance to unwind.
You know the feeling: You’re trying really REALLY hard to remember the name of Rupert’s-great-grandmother’s-cat, but you just just can’t think of it. So you stop thinking about it — and a minute after you stop trying to remember it suddenly pops out – “OHHH! Mr. Mittens!!!” It can be the same way with your creative focus. If you’re thinking TOO hard about it all the time, give your brain some “time off”, and you’ll probably be surprised to find a little while later the ideas come spilling out.

2 – It’ll introduce you to new experiences and new inspirations.
If you’re stuck in a rut, stop and consider when was the last time you did something new? Introduced yourself to new tastes, new sights, new experiences – or even looked at something familiar with a whole new perspective? I like to imagine I have little creative monsters running around in my head, always giving me new and awesome ideas. But sometimes they get hungry for new materials. Give them something to play with!

An everyday sight, from a different perspective.

3 – It’s just plain fun.
Take your family. Take your friends. Have some fun. I mean, why not?!

4 – It’s free!
Going on vacation is fun, but can be expensive — and complicated. Arranging schedules, finding a place to stay, packing, etc, etc. Having a day trip in your own town avoids all this – its like a getaway without the stress.

Ok, ok, but I hear the gentle murmur of concern coming from you through my computer screen: “Sure, if you live in a vacation destination, that’s works. Here in Bland-ville there’s not much to do!”

So sure are you? I currently live in Knoxville. Have you ever gone to Knoxville on vacation? I kind of doubt it. When I first moved here I asked my husband if we could go exploring. He, having already lived here a couple years before we got married, seemed confused and said, “Well, there’s not really much to do!” And I’ve heard that from someone or other pretty much every where I lived: “Well, there’s not much to do here.” I took him exploring, and now he thinks very differently – and even takes other people exploring!

From a photo my husband’s sister took while visiting us and doing some local exploring! Her photography site

And really, when I’m talking about exploring, I’m not talking about amusement parks, resorts, or tourist traps. I’m talking about finding a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that makes THE best hot and sour soup. I’m talking about discovering that little shop run by an old man who has all kinds of experiences to tell you about from WWII. I’m talking about visiting your local farmer’s market, riding the trolley, driving down a road you’ve never driven down before, taking a tour of a local farm, hiking in the state park, listening to a local band play at the park! Where ever you live, there are things to do, places to explore!

So here are some tips and tricks to find out about awesome things to do where you are, whether where you live, or somewhere very nearby:

1 – Google “the-name-of-your-town visitor’s information”
There’s a lot of info out there. Check out your city’s .gov website, look for a schedule of events, look at the list of attractions, historic sites, museums, etc. Find out if there are fairs, farmers markets, concerts, free events. For instance, the Tennessee Theater, an opulent art nouveau theater downtown, offers free “Mighty Musical Mondays” – you bring a sack lunch and listen to a free concert from local talent in gorgeous surroundings. And where do they put the information for this? Online! Find out what’s offered near you.

2 – Visit your local Visitor’s Center.
They’ll have information on all kinds of things going on. Talk to the people there – let them know what kinds of things you’re looking for. Find out if they host any events at the vistors center! Here in Knoxville the local bluegrass station, WDVX, hosts the “Blueplate Special” each day at noon – you can come to a live concert they are broadcasting onto the air! Go. Ask. Find out.

3 – Request a information pack from your state.
This is something people do when they’re planning to visit other states – why not find out what your own state has to offer? There are various places you can find this – here is one site that lists the information by state.

4 – Ask local friends for recommendations
… and don’t get discouraged if they say “There’s nothing to do”. Keep asking (and ask specific questions like, “what’s the best local restaurant?” or “when people come to town, what do you take them to go see?”, etc.) and you’ll find some good ideas. Then go back and take those people who thought “there’s nothing to do” exploring with you!!

5 – Follow local newspapers/radio stations/visitors centers/etc on Twitter.
I’ve found out about various awesome events in Knoxville from tweets!

6 – Find out if local businesses give tours.
I’ve seen how an antique letter press works, eaten potato chips while they’re still hot, found out the back story on a local seller’s coin collection, seen the amazing machinery in the back of a capitol’s post office – all from “tours” of businesses. Some in scheduled group tours, some just the owner showing you around. I LOVE IT!

7 – Just go do it!
Park the car somewhere, and get out and walk. See what you can find!!!

8 – Take your camera and sketchbook when you explore.
Snap a lot of pictures. Jot down places you want to remember, ideas you have, or events you hear about for later. Or sketch the sights you see! When you get back home, look though your photos, notes and ideas. What drew your eye? What did you end up taking lots of pictures of? (I’ve been amazed at how many of my pictures are of building/architecture/arched windows) What flavors made an impression on you? What do you want to find out more about? Let the ideas start flowing!

Are you a local explorer?
Do new experiences inspire you creatively?
What gets you out of a creative rut?
Tell me about it in the comments!

The story behind it…

People often ask how I got started/what my inspirations are with my Etsy shops, so here you go!

The story behind FlourishandDebonair:
I used to sell antiques with my Dad, and we would go hunting to auctions, old barns and abandoned buildings (always with permission of course) discovering old treasures to be given new life.

vintage records in flourish and debonair

vintage earrings in flourish and debonair
One day I bought a box of vintage jewelry and found in it a unique necklace I liked so much, I kept it for myself and wore it often. The beads were unusual and I eventually realized they were made of paper!

handmade paper beads in flourish and debonair
I dove into making paper bead jewelry myself, and now I collect old encyclopedia sets to turn into wearable art. So my vintage selling and my jewelry making are really very closely intertwined!

vintage creamer in flourish cafe
The story behind FlourishCafe:
Growing up, dinner time was always an important time of day- a time to laugh, share the day’s stories, pray together and, of course, enjoy my Mom’s delicious home cooking! I want to create that same experience for my family each day as well, so I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen, creating delicious meals to enjoy while we spend time together around the table.

tomato cream sauce recipe in flourish cafe
I thrive in a kitchen filled with spices, where I can come up with my own recipes, and think of my kitchen as my own cafe. My little daughter requested curry and naan for her 3rd birthday and she can consume hummus at an incredible speed. That gives you a little idea of the bold flavors I like to put on the table! My FlourishCafe shop is all about turning your kitchen’s atmosphere into your own flourishing cafe, a gathering place for the people you really want to be with – your family!

salt and pepper love in flourish cafe
So there’s my backstory :) What’s yours?