Happy Valentines Day!

Guess it's time for my intro. I'm Janet Lee Barton and I'll be posting on the second Thursday of the month. I'm a wife, mother, grandmother and author, and I feel blessed with all the Lord has given me. I write Christian Romance, both contemporary and historical, so contributing to a Romance Blog seemed a good thing to do.  You can find out more about my writing by visiting my web site .

I'm married to a wonderful man who is also my hero--most of the time, anyway. :) I think I'm the only blogger on Romance Your Spouse who is living with adult children and grandchildren. That's right. Two years ago my husband and I bought a house with our daughter and her husband. What were we thinking you ask? Well, to tell the truth, we all asked ourselves that question several times that first year. But things have smoothed out and it is working out great. Thankfully, we have a big house with plenty of room for everyone and our granddaughters especially love it. It works great for my writing life too, because I get to witness life at all ages and stages each and every day. :)

As you might imagine, getting time just for each other can present challenges for both Dan and I and for our daughter and her husband. It does take some thought and planning but it's always well worth it. With Valentine's Day almost upon us, I'm still not sure what we'll do yet. But I have been thinking back on some of the romantic times we've had and found that some of the most memorable ones were when we drove across town, or to a nearby town to have dinner. The drive there and back in the car seemed to lend itself to more conversation than when we normally 'go out to eat.' The drive gave us enough time to talk about the things that I'd think "Oh, I need to tell, Dan..." or he'd think, "I need to tell Janet..." during the day, but that was often forgotten during the busyness of each day. The drive over, the dinner, and the drive back gave us time to concentrate on each other and reconnect. We never minded the wait at the restaurant because it gave us more time together as did the ride home.  It wasn't so much about the meal or where we went, but that time together that seemed to make the next day, the next week, a little more special for us.

In today's world it seems so hard for couples to have time for that special time together, but whether it is a drive across town or even to another town, a long walk together or just an evening alone at home to give each other your undivided attention...it is something we all should strive to make time for. Hmm...maybe we'll try that this year!

Have a Happy Valentines Day!

Our Valentine's Day Plan

So, Valentine’s Day is approaching. Having been married for ten years, my feelings about this day of love and affection are mixed.

As a young married couple, Hubby and I relished the time alone to enjoy a delicious meal, exchange our tokens of love, and express our physical affection behind the closed bedroom door.

Money didn’t matter . . . we could live on love . . . blah, blah, blah.

Now Valentine’s Day is creeping in again, and we are facing a new set of challenges. We have young, rambunctious children (a polite way to say wild heathens), and dear Hubby was laid off last week.

All our babysitting options are busy this year with plans of their own, and we are in a financially difficult position that makes even the tiniest extras harder to justify. So what have Hubby and I decided to do?

We are having a late night picnic in our living room.

I’ll lay out the game plan for you today, and tell you next week if it was successfully executed.

Our children are still young enough to have an early bedtime (8:00pm), and if we wear them out during the day they’ll fall asleep even earlier. We plan to make sure they eat their dinner early, and then we can dine in private later.

We have a special, but affordable, meal planned for the evening, and while one of us gets the kids ready for bed, the other will get the picnic preparations underway.

After the children are down for the night, we will finish laying out the food and any other mood enhancers: candles (placed away from anything flammable, and believe me, I’m capable of forgetting and setting the curtains on fire), flowers, music, etc., and enjoy the night with quiet conversation where we are actually able to hear each other speak.

Then we have the rest of the night to ourselves for . . . whatever.

For us, this option makes the most sense fiscally and logistically. And if it works out, we might be able to have even more quiet and romantic evenings without breaking the bank or imposing on family for babysitting favors.

I’ll update everyone on our success next week.

Later.

Announcing a Valentine's Day giveaway!

To celebrate the GRAND OPENING of the ROMANCE YOUR SPOUSE blog, we've decided to do a special giveaway for you, our readers. And just in time for Valentine's Day, too!

What better way to celebrate the day than with a special date night with your spouse?

The Prize:

Restaurant gift certificate - your choice as long as it is a national chain (i.e. Chili's, Red Lobster, TGI Friday's, etc.).

How to Enter:

Post a comment on any blog post between now and midnight (central time) on February 9. We'll mail out the gift certificate on February 10, so hopefully you'll get it just in time for Valentine's Day.

The giveaway winner will be contacted by one of the RYS contributors to obtain your mailing address - please don't post it on your comment for privacy reasons.

Good luck and happy commenting!

The RYS Contributors