The Gift of Marriage

As we celebrate 9 years of marriage, I reflect on the many homes and places we've been in on this exact day each year. I was going to steal my friend Andrea's idea and list all the places we've gone to celebrate our anniversary, but I honestly can't remember them all! Another thing Dave and I do to make our anniversary fun and thoughtful is follow the traditional gift guidelines. Since some creativity and consideration goes into this, I DO remember and will share that instead.

Year 1, Paper
For Dave: Two books about sermon writing for his library (so romantic, right?)
For Jen: Stationary and a gift card to Borders

Year 2, Cotton or Straw
For Dave: Boxer shorts and shoes he wanted/needed
For Jen: Straw summer shoes, a straw beach hat, twisty straws!

Year 3, Leather
For Dave: Accessories and tools for our new grill, including a leather hot mitt
For Jen: Comfy Birkenstock shoes for walking Disney World

Year 4, Fruit, Books or Appliances
For Dave: Fancy new coffee maker and fruity flavored coffees
For Jen: Fondue cookbook, fruit to use for making fondue and new Tupperware containers to store it

Year 5, Wood
For Dave: The game Settlers of Catan (Get it? There're "wood" cards in the game)
For Jen: Wine barrel planters

Year 6, Sweets or Iron
For Dave: Board books about daddies to read to our on-the-way baby (aw, sweet...) and a gift certificate to a golf range (something to use his "irons" on)
For Jen: Season of Survivor on DVD and fun candy to eat while watching it, iron supplements!

Year 7, Copper or Brass
For Dave: Tie holder with brass hooks, a new dress shirt and tie
For Jen: Batteries (Coppertops), sunscreen (Coppertone) and the green, tiered shelf for toy storage that I wanted

Year 8, Bronze, Rubber or Linen
For Dave: Rubber-soled shoes and a bronze picture frame for his office
For Jen: New Calphalon pan, rubber utensils like spatulas and spoons and 400 thread count sheets (yeah, this was a good year for me!)

Year 9, Ceramic or Willow

For Dave: A gift certificate to Color Me Mine-- Ella is really excited to go on a date with Dave to "paint a big plate for Daddy's grill."

For Jen: The Willow Tree "Promise" figurine, SO perfect since our first dance at our wedding was to Tracy Chapman's The Promise and the figurine is of a couple dancing! (Big points for Dave!)

So looking back, I see that we like to give each other shoes! While Dave is funny at picking out some wacky, yet practical (iron supplements, batteries?!) gift to meet the requirements, my method is to find a gift I wanted to give Dave anyway and work the requirement in as a little extra.

Of course, it goes without saying that each year my best gift remains my wonderful husband. He takes care of us, fathers actively and creatively, and shows me he loves me in many different ways each day!