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Now that we are a married couple we are boring. Just kidding! We have always been boring. No, I'm really just kidding. We aren't boring at all we are just simple and laid back and we like to stay in and relax most nights.   That doesn't mean it's boring because trust me we definitely have fun.  So today I figured I'd put together a post on how to have a perfectly simple night in and really enjoy it.

Choose An Activity
You may not have a ton of choices but I normally choose between a game night or a movie.  Pick your activity and clear your schedules. Let friends know that you aren't available that night!

Limit Phone Usage
If you really want to enjoy a night in, get rid of distractions! That means put away your laptop and tablet and mute your phones!  I actually put mine in the bedroom on the charger so I can't even check it.

Get Your Drink of Choice
Whether it's beer, mocktails, or wine, make sure you stock up on whatever you'd like to indulge in. For me, it's a simple glass of wine and for James it's a simple bottle or 2 of beer. 

Choose Delicious Foods
So this is my favorite part of the night. You can indulge in whatever you like but I love making my own little cheese and cracked board!

This part is so easy because really all you need are some good cheese and cracker options.

My favorite crackers these days are Jarlsberg Cheese Crisps! I like to make little cheese and cracker sandwiches but these are also so delicious to have on their own.  In fact they come in different delicious flavors. 

As for cheese, I love the Jarlsberg Cheese Snacks and the cheese block.   It has a nice nutty flavor and their cheeses are naturally lactose and gluten free which means James can definitely enjoy them!

And the best part is you can munch away without any judgement because it's you and your house.  And if your spouse is there they can do the same.

This is the perfect idea for staying in on super chilly nights or even once the winter hits and it snows.   

And if you are like me and you have 4 dogs - you want them out of your hair so make sure you keep them entertained. I always toss them a treat or two. Purina Pro Plan Tender Strips from Chewy  are perfect because they have a soft texture so it's easy on the tiny teeth my dogs have and they love the lamb flavor! When I want to give them a smaller amount I just tear the treat into bits but honestly, they will take their time consuming this if I give them the whole thing so it keeps them out of my hair! They are really easy for them to digest as well so I can enjoy my night in without having to worry about upset dog tummies!

How do you spend your evenings in?

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Scenes from Our Wedding

So as you all know, we got married on October 12th and had a reception on October 14th.   It was amazing.  I wanted to share some photos with you guys and I am also excited to post next month about how I managed to get married for under $2,500.

So for the ceremony these are just a few of many more photos to come.   It was an amazing time. The whole ceremony took not even 10 minutes, the judge was hilarious and awesome, and our parents were so glad to be there.   My dad even got to walk me down the aisle!

Now the reception was A LOT of work.  I did pretty much all of it by crafting stuff or shopping for great deals.  It took about 9 hours to set up and decorate the day before.

I can't wait to share with you how I did it all within my budget in a couple of weeks. So keep checking back!

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Our Simple Fall Porch Decor + A Giveaway!

So unlike a lot of bloggers, I don't have a big front porch that's covered up from the elements and has tons of space to display decor. Of course I wasn't going to let that stop me from decorating for Fall. So here's a look at what I did this year.

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My First Post As A Married Woman

I'm back and I'm married!

As you know, last Thursday was our ceremony and over the weekend was our reception party.   The official photos aren't ready yet but I wanted to share some unofficial ones with you since I'm sure you're all excited to see.

Everything went great and I am so glad we chose to do things the way we did!  We saved money, stress, and time.  In the end, we have no regrets and it was a perfect day which is how it's supposed to be.

If you want to take a look back at my wedding planning journey go here.

I hope to have some of the official photos by next week.  Stay tuned!

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We Are Getting Married This Week!

So obviously if you've been following along you know that our wedding is this week. Actually, our ceremony is tomorrow and our reception party is on Saturday. 

I can not wait!!! Tomorrow we will be at the judge's office by 10 am and then we're going to lunch afterwards with our parents.   Then I think we'll just relax the rest of the day because Friday will be nuts. 

The rental chairs and tables are being delivered Friday and that's the day for me to make all final arrangements.  Setting things up, moving stuff out of the garage into the basement, and cleaning the house and garage from top to bottom.  

I can not wait to share photos with you guys and I have a post coming up next month about how I got married on a budget and I'll break down the cost for every little detail. Let me just say, I didn't want to go over $2,500 and we stayed under that so YAY!!!!

This will be the last post until after the wedding. Thanks for following along and supporting me on my journey to do things different. 

Follow along on social media if you wanna see some pics and videos over the next few days!  I'm on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (EllenR886).

Signing off from my last blog post as an unmarried gal!

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Date Night Idea: Crated With Love

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You probably are used to seeing my monthly date night pictures on social media by now, so you know that my relationship is very important to me.  I always say, make sure that no matter how busy you are, you still schedule time for you and your partner.   It doesn't matter if it's going out for dinner or staying in and watching a movie - time together is important.   Today though, I want to show you how date night just got more fun!

I am such a homebody so staying home for date night wouldn't bother me at all.  If you are the same way then you really need to try Crated with Love. Crated with Love is actually a monthly subscription service that sends you a date night box each month. It's just $19.99 a month which is a great deal! And shipping in the US is free.   That's for the basic membership.  You can also sign up for the Diamond Membership where you will get some free swag along with the activities and games, and you'll get access to bonus date content. You can even gift it to someone (hello Christmas, Weddings, etc.) where for $59.99 you can send two date boxes to a couple of your choice and even customize a note and the ship date.

So what's inside a Crated with Love box? Well it comes with 4 games or activities that focus on having fun while spending quality time with your significant other. It's everything you need to play the games and solve the puzzles and it's very interactive.   So let me show you what came in my Crated with Love Date Night box.

Each box comes with a booklet that explains how to do each activity and what order to do them in. The first activity was making up a story by inserting words that we get from the other person. You fill in the blanks and then read the story. It was super fun and we even got silly with it!

The second challenge was really fun.  We had a little stop watch timer and the challenge was to finish each other sentences.  It was one of those things where each person says a word to keep the story going. It was getting harder and harder by the end but we did really good and our stories were hilarious! We couldn't stop laughing!

Next up was a really fun game where we each got 5 cards and then we'd pull one main card from the deck. Whatever the main word is, you have to put one of your cards down next to it, making a perfect pair.   The pairs will grow from there.

So I put down cats, because cats are weird, like Johnny Depp lol.  Then James put down dogs because obviously cats and dogs are a good match. It was really fun and it was a good brain exercise.

Last up was a puzzle that had word games on it. It was actually double the fun because you have to put each part of the puzzle together first in order to see each word game.

The finished puzzle was really pretty too.  Overall, this was an excellent way to spend time together and it was very fun. We didn't have time to be on our phones and we didn't care to because we wanted to solve the riddles and puzzles before us. The night was filled with lots of laughs and that's exactly what we all need sometimes. 

If I were you, I would put Crated with Love on your Christmas List this year! Trust me, you won't regret it!

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