Date: Husband got a make-over. We reserved a room at a hotel downtown. We went to the Port-land Art Museum, got coffee then did a little shopping. After walking around we had a romantic dinner and went back to the room. Saturday we had a fancy romantic dinner at home with the family.

Impact: We realized again how much we feel art is like jazz (we don’t get it)! But it was just nice to go out without kids in a new environment and be able to relax and reconnect and just be together. No inter-ruptions and not worrying about staying out too late or having to take a babysitter home.

Date: Made him his favorite dinner and exchanged cards. Real exciting I know, but we were tired. We spent the evening with our favorite people, our kids.

Impact: We did acknowledge the day and were little more attentive and touching each other throughout the day.

Date: Romantic dinner at Macaroni Grill. Got a babysitter for the kids. Had the waitress deliver Blazer (vs Spurs game) tickets to my hubby with the dinner bill. He was surprised – great to see his reaction of unbelief.

Impact: Deepening our relationship with each other. Time to relax and have fun without the kids!

Date: We had our grandchildren overnight to give their parents chance for a romantic night away. The kids had fun making Valentine cupcakes – some to eat after dinner and some to take home the next day.

Impact: After the children left on February 15th, we had our own belated Valentine’s date; our favorite foods for a candlelight dinner with soft background music, followed by a cuddle in front of

the fireplace. We are blessed to know our marriage has resulted in wonderful kids and grandkids – and blessed to be able to support them in a romantic marriage – blessing weekends away.

Date: J says, “I surprised Y by staying downtown at the Embassy Suites and a dinner at Port-land’s City Grill. The next day we went to the Pearl district and had a nice lunch and shopped at Powell’s Books. We met a nice couple at the City Grill and had a nice time getting to know them.” Y says, I surprised J with a beautiful card when he sat down to eat breakfast. It was on his plate. It was one of our most romantic dates.

Impact: J says, “Y was surprised. She was very happy, we felt much closer.” Y says, “J made me feel very special! He went out of his way to make sure everything was perfect. I married a man who loves me very much and that was just one more reminder.”

Date: We started the day with breakfast at Rose’s then we traveled through the snow covered mountains to the coast. We decided to visit Astoria. We went to the Flavel Mansion which was beautiful and drove around to see them many Victorian homes. We also went to the Maritime Museum and learned about the history of the area where the Columbia meets the Pacific. We also walked along the shops and shared a donut and coffee. Then we drove along the Columbia

River to experience different road. For dinner I made his favorite. Hamburgers!

PS: The day before my husband sent two dozen roses to my work. I was able to share that “he is the most wonderful man I have ever known” with my co-workers.

Impact: Every day is a joy to us because we have so much fun together, even doing simple things. We just love spending time together.

Our Dates on Valentine’s Day 2009

Date: We took our beautiful daughters out to a restaurant and had a great time. E wanted it to be special for all of us.

Impact: To us, our commitment in marriage is never more evident to us than in our girls. Our celebration commitment would not have been complete without all three of my Valentine’s pre-sent. It was wonderful.

Date: We locked the door, watched old black & white movies, made chocolate covered strawber-ries and did a lot of hugging.

Impact: It made it stronger. Every day our relationship gets stronger. This get together really adds to our marriage.

Date: My wife and I had someone come over to watch the kids. We had dinner plans and a movie. I got suddenly sick early in the day so we had to change our plans. My wife took care of me all night. The following day we splurged on ½ priced chocolates and flowers at Fred Meyer and laughed at all the Valentine’s toys still left in the aisles.

Impact: We embrace our belief that we must always be flexible and find little ways to express our love.

Date: We went up to Mt. Hood. We tried cross-country skiing for the first time. Afterwards, we had lunch at Timberline Lodge.

Impact: Primarily, in light of the 10 Great Dates book, this date was just to have fun together. But also it gave us an opportunity to tackle a new challenge together. Neither of us had ever gone cross-country skiing before. Our challenge was a little more than we expected when we

took a wrong turn and went two miles out of our way. M trusted M to get them back even though he wanted to keep going the wrong way (which he did)! M showed love by walking with M when she got tired.

Date: Work. Got E fruit

Impact: Would like to not work.

Date: We had a delicious lunch at the Woodstove Steakhouse, the day after Valentine’s Day. We reminisced, talked about the kids, our relationship and plans for the future. Then we took a long, leisurely stroll around the Clackamas Community College campus (beautiful day). We also went down to the Antique mall and browsed around.

Impact: It reminded us of the importance of taking time out to spend with just each other. It also helped us re-focus on our relationship as a husband and wife, rather than just parents of the same children.

Date: My husband presented a card and hand-made pop-up book which laid out his plans for the day, starting with breakfast of pancakes in bed and ending with dinner at the Cheesecake Fac-tory.

Impact: His thoughtfulness and time he spent in creating this amazing book and plans for the day made me feel so loved. He made me feel special and it has brought us closer.

Date: We spent our Valentine’s date at home. We had a nice candle light dinner.

Impact: Typically the responsibility for planning and execution of Valentine’s Day is mine (husband). This year we were feeling the economic pinch so I picked up some nice steaks and fixings, lit the BBQ and cooked it all up. A nice bottle of wine and dessert. Then we rented a

chick-film and watched it while holding hands and snuggling on the sofa. C said it was the best Valentine’s Day ever. I kind of liked it too. It was a nice time to be close with no one besides ourselves.

Date: Valentine’s Day was on Saturday and I, had to go to a National Umpire School for the weekend – so we celebrated on Friday night. I took S to a romantic dinner at Weatherford’s in Oregon City. While at dinner we exchanged cards and I got S a beautiful black and white dia-mond cross. On Valentine’s S surprised me with Neco’s Candy Hearts in my bag. A nice touch of love.

Impact: I wouldn’t say there was a great impact. We strive to love each other every day and cherish every moment. The cross cost a bit, but for S, jewelry makes her feel special and she is. Just having S in my life makes every day special.

Date: After breakfast burritos at the Happy Rock McDonalds we proceeded in a snow storm eastbound through the snow capped hills of the Columbia Gorge to our rendezvous at the his-toric town of Hood River. After a brief store window tour of the downtown we settled in for a fabu-lous luncheon at the Cornerstone Bistro in the Historic Hood River Hotel. The seafood entrees were awesome. Lunch past, we again toured the local shops/boutiques acquainting ourselves with such items as an $18 pair of Alpaca socks and a $3000 Trek lady’s bicycle. We settled for

two dessert bars. The adventure continued with a two-mile hike on the Mosier Twin Tunnels trail just east of Hood River. This is a restored portion of the old Columbia River Highway. Nightfall set upon us and we re-turned to the City for dinner at the Spicy Pepper Cantina. Alas, we climbed back into the rented Ford F150 4x4 pickup for our return home and the end of a most enjoyable and unique Valentine’s Day.

Impact: This event impacted our relationship in several ways. First, was not having the pressure of purchas-ing gifts for each other and just having a fun day of eating out, sightseeing and recreation. Second, we real-ized that events involving personal activities such as this or biking, walking, grocery shopping, driving tours, etc. allows us to enjoy each other’s company. It balances the romantic desires of a relationship and we also learned to know each other’s personalities, history and interests.

PS: This was compiled by the two of us, in partnership, sitting in front of the fireplace at the Market Street Café at the Oregon City Haggens. No applications have been filed for copyrights or patents so you are free to use this as you desire.