I had lunch with a friend recently and the conversation of date nights came up. How it is easy to just go to dinner with your spouse and not count it as a date night. To simply declare it a “date night” gives it a sense of purpose and makes it more intentional. Yes, putting a night on the calendar is good so that you both can be prepared to set aside distractions to focus on each other, but sometimes a date night isn’t in the cards for the foreseeable future. Being intentional about spending time together doesn’t always come easy, but when you do make the time it is always worth whatever the sacrifice, even if it is just an hour of alone time.Love this moment where we found ourselves with coupons to Chick-fil-A so we walked up to the one near our house to pick up some ice cream cones and sit on the curb chatting. We could have easily sunk into the couch for the evening and buried our faces into our cellphones but instead took the time to put on tennis shoes and get a little quality time in sans cell phones (okay except for the selfie snapping, duh).

As for other ways to fit in a date, think about a “day date”. Conner and I recently took advantage of a free weekend day to do just that! We went and saw a movie, did a little shopping, and ate lunch on an outdoor patio. It was a nice change of pace from the typical “must do dinner and an activity” type of dates we go on. What are your suggestions for “quick” dates when you only have an hour or the timing is a little unconventional?