Adult Time

I've heard so many older women say that life never slows down, that we never get less busy.  At least not while we are raising our families, and I'm not sure that that job ever really ends.  And I'm finding that it's absolutely true.  The further we get into adulthood, the more time directions we are pulled.  We spend all of our time working, serving, and, once in a while, having fun.

It's always so lovely and refreshing to spend time together as sweethearts.  Jason loves not having to make small talk, like he does for most of his business meetings, and I love that when we are together, I can truly relax and enjoy myself.  (No cutting meat into tiny bites required.)

And even though the kids resist our leaving (kind of... actually, not really, they love their baby-sitter nights), we know that they love knowing that their parents are in love.  As quick as they are to tell us to stop kissing because it's gross, they are always suppressing a smile when they say it.  And we love that too.

But like all of the best things, it takes work to make our love lasting and to keep it working.  So we plan on date nights as often as we can.  Sometimes we go out to eat.  Sometimes we run errands that would be torture to take the kids with us, and sometimes we just sit at a park and share a dessert and catch up on all of the things that we don't get a chance to say during the daily grind.  But once in a while we go on really awesome dates!

We really wanted to go stand-up paddleboarding while we were in Puerto Rico in January.  But the wind was strong and the waves were high that day, so we decided to put it on our 2015 Iowa Bucket List.   

It was one of the few things we could do in Puerto Rico and Iowa.  And we did it!  And had a blast!  We are fortunate to know an older couple from our church who are really into SUP-ing, and they were kind enough to take us out on a nearby lake for a date night.  I was a little terrified, but Jason was a pro once he figured out the turning and steering combo.  I just didn't want to fall into the water, and I didn't!  It was a nice arm workout and a great chance to talk with each other and our friends.

It was so thought-provoking to talk with them and hear their story of transitioning into empty-nesting.  They weren't used to being together so much, they wanted to find something that they could enjoy doing together, and this became their new passion.  Now they're traveling around the country, trying to paddleboard in all 50 states together.

We are deep in the season of "Mom and Dad".  The idea of traveling alone together, or even sleeping through the night alone together, is completely foreign to us right now.  But it won't always be that way.  Someday we'll go back to just the two of us- alone together again.  And it's fun to know that when that day comes, in another season of life, we will have our own adventures like stand-up paddleboarding our way across the country to look forward to!