About Us

How Did this Happen?

Darcy Dishes is our site about stuff we enjoy doing. We don’t claim to live fabulous lives full of excitement, glamor, and adventure. But we do intentionally plan some of those things in measured doses.

When we first met, money was in short supply. Fancy, expensive dates were not an option. To be honest, I had grown sick of that kind of dating. It’s impossible to really get to know someone in a loud, crowded restaurant, and there can be unreasonable expectations. We were both up front about finances, which opened us up to find creative, low-key ways to get to know each other.

Sharing our interests was a great way for each of us to bring who we were to the table and enhance each other’s life. Andy is into hiking and photography. Cooking and wine tasting are a few of my passions.

Hiking provided a quiet one-on-one space where two people could actually talk. Andy stopped often to take photos. So I could catch my breath, go at my pace, and experience nature, something I had not done in a long time. My cooking and packing creative picnic lunches was my contribution to our dates.

We found other inexpensive ways to spend time together. I invited Andy along on my favorite weekend activities like farmers markets, u-pick farm stands, and events at a couple of affordable wine clubs. We also attended church together, studying bible lessons occasionally.

These low-budget first dates gave us the opportunity to know one another on a deeper level and opened both of our lives up to new experiences and perspectives. This set the foundation for our marriage and life together.

Great food, adventure, fun, and bonding can be done on an affordable budget.

Why Darcy Dishes

If you’ve read our site for long, you’re aware we don’t always paint a pretty picture. We’re sure to include the imperfect as well, whether that’s our less-than-glamorous “Relocation Reality Show,” totaling our car on our First Anniversary, Farnsworth’s backseat barfing, or Marla’s ice cream sandwich. It’s just our nature to talk about and laugh-off the rough stuff!

And that’s our goal with Darcy Dishes. We write with a tone intended to bring you along for the fun! Sure, you can live vicariously through our exploits. But we want to encourage you to look for simple ways to enhance your own life, and to share those ideas in our comments. We envision a community of people pooling ideas, encouraging each other, and sharing tips.

Who Are You?

We picture people like us: empty nesters on the (shorter-than-we-think) path to becoming Senior Citizens. Minor aches and pains, medical challenges, financial issues, divorce, grown children making questionable choices, parent problems… these can be troublesome aspects of this time of life. Our lives are messy. So is yours.

Life is marbled with joy and pain. We don’t mean to minimize the sorrow, but to celebrate the peaks. This isn’t Pollyanna. But it turns out you can intentionally raise your sights.

That’s the Spirit!

Our Christian faith is our foundation. Our faith gives us a measure of peace in the midst of life’s storms. It draws us closer to God and to each other.

We want Darcy Dishes to inspire, but also to be real. We’ll share the pitfalls, bumps, and bruises along the way.