Our Traditional Anniversary

Isn't she gorgeous?!
Today is our 11th wedding anniversary.  (If you put it together with Elijah's 7th birthday yesterday, you'll realize that we exchanged gifts on our 4th anniversary in St. Francis Women's and Family Hospital.)  Between Joanna's birthday, our anniversary, our two sons' birthdays, and Christmas all within thirty days, we have to be intentional, strategic, and creative with how we spend time and how we exchange gifts this time of the year.

Even in the first year of our marriage, knowing that I would have 3 occasions (birthday, anniversary, Christmas) to buy Joanna gifts in such a short period of time, I knew that I would need help coming up with ideas.  So, from the start, we decided to go with traditional anniversary gifts.  It's worked out great, because it gives us ideas for gifts, and it forces us to be a little creative.  (And it should be noted that we are not going with "modern" gifts -- which seems to involve jewelry and such waaaay too often.)  For example, here have been some of our gifts:
  • 1st (paper):  I bought us opera tickets (first and last time we did that); Joanna bought us Monopoly (we still have it, and our kids love to play it).
  • 2nd (cotton):  I bought her and Hannah (3 months old then) matching hooded sweatshirts; she bought be a new and much-needed pair of pants from oobe.
  • 6th (iron):  I booked us for a 2-night stay in Charleston (hotels are made with iron, right?); Joanna set up a time for us at a driving range (we borrowed a friend's clubs, including the irons).
  • 8th (bronze or pottery):  I got her some jewelry from Kenya (which was neither bronze nor pottery, so I broke the rules); she hand-painted a glazed mug for me.

This year (#11, steel), I had booked a plane ticket for her to go to New York City last week, with a couple of friends (similar to #6, I figure airplanes have some steel in them).  And as for what she got me, . . . well, I'm not sure yet.

I will have to say, though, that I'm already looking forward to #12 (silk) and #13 (lace).

Happy anniversary to the most beautiful and patient wife in the world!


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on 12/11/2010
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3 comments :

  1. CristinMicDecember 11, 2010 at 8:52 AM

    Happy Anniversary!

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  2. AnonymousDecember 11, 2010 at 1:11 PM

    Kate was born ON our second anniversary. We exchanged presents in between contractions in the kitchen of our apartment.

    She gave me a hiking stick I had wanted for quite a while... and what did I at the wise age of 23 give my bride who was in the midst of delivering my first child, you ask? A sleeping bag of course... we were going to be doing a lot of camping and very soon!

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  3. Joey EspinosaDecember 11, 2010 at 3:09 PM

    For the record, the 11th can also be "tin" anniversary. Joanna just gave me (at 3PM, our wedding time) a tin of hot chocolate, which I drink just about every night.

    Ryan -- that's pretty good thinking there. The only way that you could redeem that would be if the sleeping bag was made out of cotton.

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