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KAYSVILLE — Electric scooters on the Salt Flats. Watching a movie in a cave. Glacier sliding on garbage bags.
While typical date ideas revolve around dinner and bowling or mini golf and milkshakes, Britton and Sarandon Rasmussen plan differently.
Twenty-four-year-old Britton Rasmussen said he grew up doing creative things with his friends and when he and Sarandon, 23, started dating, he didn't plan to stop the fun.
"We just tried to do unique adventures as a couple, and that really helped us create a unique, deeper connection," Britton Rasmussen said.
The couple has been married a year and a half, and became parents three months ago. They said pregnancy and having a baby put a stop to their weekly Wednesday night date adventures, and left them resorting to staying in and watching movies on the couch.
"You don't really connect, you don't really create memories watching a movie," Britton Rasmussen said.
After a recent discussion, the couple decided to get back into their out-there dates, looking to break the monotony of daily tasks and routines — and they're hoping to encourage other couples to make more adventures, as well — creating a Christmas-themed treasure hunt so anyone can participate. To opt into the Utah Couples Christmas Treasure Hunt, visit christmaschase.com. The dating fun begins statewide on Dec. 1.
While being creative with dates can be more difficult, Britton Rasmussen said there is a basic formula to amping up the fun: take an average activity, and do it somewhere unique.
"A movie is a pretty ordinary thing, but a cave is a non-ordinary place — so a movie in a cave creates a really unique experience," he said. Plus, connection happens while traveling to said cave.
The Rasmussens acknowledge many couples don't have the time or energy to go out every week for big adventures, and that's OK. Britton Rasmussen said the formula applies to those couples, too: take a low-energy activity, like watching a movie, and take it somewhere out of the ordinary without too much strain, like a hammock at the local park.
He also recommended simple, at-home activities like playing a card game and betting chores — cleaning the kitchen or walking the dog.
Having a baby also makes going out difficult sometimes, especially if resources for babysitting aren't available, but the Rasmussens said there is always a way to do something at home, even during nap time.
"(We) went and did (a) date night where it was build your own DIY golf course — so we just took cups, putters and golf balls and set up a little golf course around our house," Sarandon Rasmussen said.
The Rasmussens have big dreams of helping couples get out for adventures, hoping to one day do a nationwide million-dollar treasure hunt.
"We just have this mission: let's go help couples experience life!" Britton Rasmussen said.
