{12 Dates of Christmas}

I have mentioned before that I am not the best gift-giver. I try really hard to think of something meaningful and oh-so-perfect for the person I want to celebrate. But it usually ends in 1 of 3 ways:

1. Super lame (our first Christmas together, he bought me an engagement ring; I bought him the diamond anniversary edition of Scrabble)
2. Super cheesy (remember Valentine's Day?)
3. Not super lame or super cheesy, but somewhat "eh." (I mean, he asked for that new Bible...)

And so my sweet (and wonderfully-thoughtful) gift-giver of a husband is doomed to a life of uneven gift giving. Sorry Babe. Not sure how you would categorize this one...I was going for creative and meaningful, but it might just border cheesy ;) 

I really wanted to do some fun holiday activities together, so I devised the {12 Dates of Christmas}.

I let him know ahead of time what the next few weeks will look like. Most of the dates are flexible, so we can pick and choose the best time for our dates. But some activities have a specific unmovable date, so I made sure he put those on his calendar. Each date comes with its own card explaining what he is in for :)

We're on a budget, so I had to get creative with these dates. With a little extra planning and hunting for deals, I didn't spend a penny over $100. For 12 dates, I'm pretty proud of myself about that :) And I'm sure there could have been other ways for me to save. You just have to get creative!

I will link each of our dates back at this post. So stay tuned for our fun Christmas dates...the first one is tonight! ;)

Date #1 :: A Dickens of a Christmas
Date #2 :: Deck the Halls
Date #3 :: A Fireside Date
Date #4 :: Some Rink Time
Date #5 :: Christmas Movie
Date #6 :: Stratego Game Night
Date #7 :: Starbucks & Christmas Lights
Date #8 :: Movie Night Out

**Dates 9-12 were put on hold, but here are the ideas I had planned for them!**

Date # 9 :: Engagement Anniversary
Christmas is always a reminder of our engagement, so the date was to watch our engagement video and play a round of Scrabble Diamond Anniversary Edition (we joke about how we both got each other diamonds that year)  :)

Date # 10 :: Sweet Treat Date
Christmas cookie baking together for the neighbors

Date #11 :: ICE! Tickets at the Gaylord Texan
We had to give these tickets away, which was really sad. But I hope the sweet couple who received them enjoyed them! 

Date #12 :: Fire Pit & S'mores
The plan was to sit out by the fire pit, roast some s'mores, and let Mike smoke his pipe without complaints! :)