Dating Again

Sometimes I have to remind myself to DATE Joel. No I don't mean going on dates with him. I mean treating him like my boyfriend. Treating our relationship with that care and quality. Remembering what it was like to just be dating. No pressures of work, commitments, money or time. Just being together, needing to be home by 12, and soaking up every single second until then. The other night while driving home I asked Joel if we could go to a park and just... hang out. We somehow ended up at a park at the end of almost every date we ever went on before we were married. How refreshing it was to climb to the top of the playground, cozy up in a corner, and just BE. Talk, laugh, be still. Sure we do this at home but there's something about being somewhere with no distractions, no laundry or work to do or television to watch.

We used to go all week (or all month) just waiting to have that time together, seeking it out, not being able to stand waiting for it. And somehow within our marriages we get to the place of just settling for a few minutes here or there at the end of every day. I think it's about creating the time, reminding ourselves that we have to want it badly enough to just say "Hey, pull over, let's hang out."