Living on Love...Literally

As most of you know, I am a teacher and Chris is in physical therapy school. I like to think we'll look back on this time of our life and remember that it made us stronger. But right now, it's not a lot of fun. We can't afford luxurious vacations or fancy dinners. Not that we have time to go anywhere anyway...we don't have a single day off together until Christmas. (Not including weekends.) So we've learned to be creative about spending time together. I thought I would share some of the ideas we've come up with in case you find yourself in a similar situation, or are just looking to save money.

1. Cooking together. Chris and I like to make this a game. We call it "See how many spices Chris can throw in the pot before Laura catches him." It's fun.
2. Redbox. $1 for a relatively new movie. It's worth waiting a few months to save $20 on a movie.
3. Heart to Heart. MY FAVORITE! We talk about real things in our head, heart, and life. The only rule is the person who suggests Heart-to-Heart night has to provide the topic.
4. Grocery shopping. We also make this a game called "See how many items Chris can throw in the cart before Laura catches him." But seriously, I love that Chris is willing to shop for groceries with me, ensuring we both get meals we want for dinner and we make less trips up to our third floor apartment with armfuls of bags.
5. TV marathons. Lately, it's been Friends on DVD, but in the past we have done marathons of Modern Family, River Monsters, Scrubs, How I Met Your Mother, and The Muppet Show.
6. Playing with the dog. Because Itchy's just the darn cutest thing we've ever seen. He's also recently moved from watching objects hit him between the eyes to attempting to catch them.

I would have included "Working Out Together" because we've tried that 3 times. However, the workout room at our apartment complex was locked every time we went, so we gave up. Let this be a lesson to all of you. You burn us 3 times, and we will quit you forever. We quit the gym.

So there ya go. Love doesn't have to be expensive...but we sure are looking forward to a cruise in 2014.