Brighter Than Sunshine

If there were ever a song to describe the Boyfriend and me it is definitely Aqualung's Brighter Than Sunshine. Everything about the song just screams us. Our relationship started rather unexpected during a time where neither of us were looking to be involved with someone. Then, one day, everything changed. It's like we saw each other differently. Things bloomed and everything seemed perfect for a long time until the inevitable problems set in. Things got so bad to the point where I thought we would go nowhere. I had given up all hope, but lo and behold, here we are now, stronger and happier than ever. It's just like the song says, "Let the rain fall, I don't care. I'm yours and suddenly you're mine, and it's brighter than sunshine." So this is for my sunshine, the man who always makes me smile be there rain or shine.

Date Nights

I love date nights with the Boyfriend. They are one of my favorite things in the world. But because of our chaotic schedules (I work all day, he works all night), they tend to be quite sparse. That's why when we are able to have them we make sure to make the most of them regardless of our finances. Sometimes we're able to splurge and can go out to a nice restaurant but most of the time we have to keep a tight budget in mind. That's when we have to get creative and figure out how to do a lot with just a little. Our usual date night budget is 20 dollars. It doesn't seem like much but we've found that sometimes a little can actually go a long way. Of course, we sometimes have the usual pizza and Netflix night at home, but we like to try different things so we don't fall into a rut. Besides, half the fun is in the challenge!

Here are some of the things we've been able to do with our limited budget while still having a blast:

• Movie and Frozen Yogurt Night. We try to go to the first showing since the tickets are cheaper and then go to a frozen yogurt shop and share one. Since you get to make your own it's kinda fun trying to figure out what to pick.Then we just sit back and chat.

• Arcade Night. We love going to this little arcade and playing all the games we played when we were kids. We then pig out on arcade food like pizza, nachos, popcorn, or cotton candy. Being able to act like little kids once in a while is a nice change from the usual adult life.

• Museum and Coffee Shop Afternoon. I love art, and our local museum is always bringing new and interesting exhibits. The entrance fee is only 6 dollars per person and we have 8 dollars left over to spend at their little coffee shop. We walk around, see some interesting artwork, talk and then it's off to the coffee shop. The Boyfriend usually gets the coffee and I just pig out on pastries. :)

• Music Night. On the rare occasions that the Boyfriend is not playing on the weekends,  we like to go out and see other musicians play. There's just something about live music that soothes both our souls. So, on those nights, we bar hop until we find something we like and then just kick back, share a couple of drinks and enjoy the music.

• Sandwich Night. This one started out one night when the Boyfriend was craving a sandwich. It was past midnight so our options were somewhat limited, still, we knew of a few after hour places that could be open . We rushed to the first place, but got there too late. The same thing happened at the second place, and then the third. We kept going from place to place but every time we got there, they had just closed. I mean, literally. One place even closed it's door right in our face. Needless to say, we didn't get our sandwiches that night, but racing against time was more than enough fun. Now, whenever we get a craving for a sandwich, we like to go to the places we weren't able to try that night.

 How about you? What do you usually do on date nights? Do you ever feel limited by your budget? Share your thoughts in the comments!