Date Night

Derek and I enjoyed a wonderful date night tonight! It was more than just alone time away from the kiddos—it’s was about time together, period! All week long we’ve just been in and out in opposite directions! It was wonderful.

We went to the Plaza—my favorite place in Kansas City. I just love it. I love the atmosphere, being surrounded by lots of people. All sorts of shopping and eating! Of course, there’s always the sentiment of being the place where Derek proposed! And, they have the cheapest movie tickets around. Two tickets for $12. Heck yes.

We went to Jack Stack Barbeque for dinner. Yum! We’ve tried many different KC BBQ places, but had yet to try this one before tonight. I’m a fan. It wasn’t even too expensive. We shared an entrée and got an extra salad for me and we were both plenty full! Plus, we didn’t have to carry around a box of leftovers.

Derek was gracious enough to walk through a couple of stores as we walked to the movie theater. {That’s another thing I love about the Plaza—walking! I’m just a wanna-be city girl stuck in the suburbs}. Maybe one of these days when were not paying an arm and a leg for grad school, we can afford some of those designer jeans I was drooling over.

The movie of the night: Hunger Games, of course. It’s been YEARS since I’ve seen a movie on opening night/weekend. We used to go to midnight showings all the time pre-kids. So I’m feeling pretty cool, young, and hip! I’m sure mentioning those things disqualifies them all…
Here are my thoughts:

• I enjoyed the *this* book-turned-movie much more than others and I think it helped just knowing that the author helped write the screenplay as well. Like, even though minor things were changed/left out, it’s okay because I know she had a say in what the movie was about.
• I’m still recovering from a near heart attack from a certain part of the movie. Seriously, I’ve never jumped so much in my life. Derek laughed. So did lots of others. Kind of embarrassing. But seriously, I don’t do well with jumping out things.
• I enjoyed that a lot of the greatness of the movie comes not from what is say, but by actions and implications. The dialogue is minimalistic, but it’s speaks monuments.
• Overall, the whole Hunger Games series kind of stresses me out. The whole plot is a bit troublesome. I loved the books and I really enjoyed the movie. But like my professors at the Focus on the Family Institute always said, “A movie is never just a movie.” There are presuppositions and agendas. And while was aware while reading the book/watching the movie that this is fictional stuff, how far from reality is it? Is it fiction at all? But it’s also the thing about it I love the most. A movie with depth.

After the movie, we headed over to Yogurtini for a nightcap. Mine consisted of chocolate and birthday cake frozen yogurt with oreos, strawberries, chocolate syrup and strawberry puree. Derek has mint fro-yo with cinnamon toast crunch, fruity pebbles, cookie dough bites, Reese's pieces, and sprinkles.

And if you’re wondering if this date was so wonderful—why did I come home only to get on my computer to blog about it. Well, he’s reading the second book in the series. He’s addicted now too. Oh, I forgot to mention that he downloaded the ebook yesterday just to surprise me by reading it! I had mentioned to him that I hoped it would work out for him to read it before we saw the movie, but I didn’t think too much about it! It just made me feel so special that he rushed to read it just for me! We spent most of dinner talking about the book—and I love talking about books! Boy does he know me!