{d8 night}

d8 Night stands for Dinner at 8:00. Steven and I try to get out when we can for a date night and once in a while we do an at home date night. (Picture children in bed and sushi on the table.) But d8 Night is something different. Let me start by telling you that it is not my original idea; I merely tweaked the name. A dear friend shared a blog with me by another mom who started this. I was so inspired that I made it my 10 year wedding anniversary gift to my husband (which seemed dull in comparison to the unbelievable vintage-inspired designer necklace he chose for me.) So first let me give some props to the originator of this. You can find her blog here.

d8 Night for us is going to look like this: it's a once a month night where I create a themed dinner at 8:00 in the evening when all the kiddos are (at least supposed to be) down for the night. Steven has no idea about any of the themes until they happen. I'm hoping it's a special time for us and one small way to show him that in the midst of all the things vying for attention in my life, he's still the most important thing next to my Savior.

I'm hoping to do posts about each of our d8 Nights. Why am I blogging this?

Here's NOT why I am blogging this:

• This in no way an attempt to draw attention to our "perfect" marriage. Our marriage, while a huge blessing, is most definitely not perfect and takes lots of hard work. If you know us well, you can vouch for the truth of this.
• This is also not to draw attention to what a great wife I am. Quite the opposite. I was convicted when I read the blog I mentioned before because I knew I need to put more effort and attention into making special memories with Steven. 

Here's why I am blogging this:

• I want a way to record these special times for Steven and I to look back on.
• I was inspired and grateful someone took the time to share this idea. I hope this can be inspiration to other wives. Not necessarily to do the exact same thing, but to get your creative juices flowing so that you can look for ways to make memories with your husbands and let them know that your marriage is worthy of your time and attention.

In the end, I'm a mom of four who's praying for 12 evenings this year that will make my husband feel loved.
........

Alright, enough of the intro. A few days before each d8 Night, I plan to give Steven a word or two that are a clue to what we might be doing. This month's clue was "time travel." 

We've talked before about what we'd do if we were handed a time machine...what historical time period or heroes we would use it to meet. And we both agreed that on our top ten list of places to go would be our wedding day. If you asked either one of us we would tell you it was the best day of our lives and the #1 day we would want to relive. So the theme this month's date night was this. And for the first time since my wedding day, I even squeezed back into my wedding dress. Painful honesty: it didn't quite zip up all the way. But as the processional music came through the speakers and I walked down the stairs in that dress, I got to watch my husband tear up again. Absolutely priceless. 

After a dance to our first song and a change back into clothes I wouldn't cry if I stained, we dined on the same chicken stir-fry that was served at our wedding. As we listened to the CD that contained the background music from our reception, we went through our guest book and cut our mini cake. It was lovely.