$10 Great Dates - By: Larson and Arp

I recently received a complimentary copy of $10 Great Dates: Connecting Love, Marriage, and Fun on a Budget written by Peter & Heather Larson and David & Claudia Arp from Bethany House. This book is a great resource to have. It was slow to read, because I wasn't planning a date at the exact moment I was reading this book, but I know it will come in handy for the future. 

The book is separated out by categories of dates, such as: At-Home, Great Outdoors, Romantic dates, etc. Every category has several date ideas planned out for you to follow. They are broken down by an idea, how to plan for the date, talking points while on the date, and something to take away from each date. Although I hate the idea of having set "talking points" for each date, I can understand why they're there. We have a 9 month old baby, so sometimes most times our conversations revolve around him, or work (which we all know is mostly un-fun). Since our baby is often up in the middle of the night, it's also likely both of our brains will be fried from lack of sleep, so talking points can be helpful, but as I previously said, I hate them, because conversation should flow freely from a married couple in love.

I do think the title of this book can be a little confusing, because I don't think all of these dates would fit within the $10 limit set by the title. If you have children and have to pay for child care, forget it. You can't even pay a babysitter for $10 (and if you are, I might be checking them out VERY closely). We are blessed in the fact that we have family and church family around us that are willing to donate their time into watching our precious little man for us, so that we can go on dates. The authors have included a list of cheap child care options at the end of the book to help guide you in this area, so that's a big help.

I will be keeping this book on hand for help planning future dates, and I would recommend it, if you're looking for help planning "date night".