This last year really flew by for James and I. We had a lot of ups (A LOT OF UPS <3), and some challenges. Nothing we couldn’t tackle together. I won’t bore you with details – I don’t want to sound like those annoying women who gush about how great her husband is so much that it makes it seem actually unreal – but he is one of those husbands that you gush about because you can’t believe he’s real. He has only gotten to be more amazing with every year we’ve been together. He went from going back to school while working at the mall with me in Exton, quitting smoking, graduating, he worked his way up the hotel industry, and found a passion through his career (not something most people can say). I honestly think these last five years have just been preparing him for what he is most destined to be: a Dad.
I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who is so perfect for fatherhood. He’s been working his butt off to better himself and work his way up to ultimately become a hotel GM of a great hotel. While doing this, he’s learned how to lead and teach and is so passionate about helping people that it’s almost too good to be true. This has to be preparing him for fatherhood. I mean, he’s also really great with kids.
Anyway…for being such an amazing husband, I wanted to make sure I got him something that would remind him of that special day and how much we have to look forward to. I knew he would probably not stay traditional, but I wanted to at least attempt to incorporate the traditional anniversary gift themes. The first year theme is paper for the most traditional. There’s also clocks for the more modern couple, but I had already gotten him a watch for our wedding as well as Christmas and his birthday at some point in our relationship. So paper it was! When I walked down the aisle, the song “Say You Won’t Let Go” played. We love this song so much, and it still makes us tear-y when we listen to it. I mean…both of us at that time of the wedding couldn’t hold it together.
So I thought of getting the sheet music of the song and enlarging it so we could hang it in our new apartment. It’s a little hard to find, and I didn’t want to DIY it since it was so important. I went on Etsy and found this great canvas of music that I knew James would love. It includes the first 4 bars of sheet music that they find themselves, and the title of the song on the bottom corner. This was perfect for us, and if you’re looking for an easy holiday gift you can customize, this was what we ordered. If you wanted something else on the canvas, CanvasVows also put your vows, soundwaves, star maps, nursery décor, and more.
For my gift, James didn’t disappoint. For those who don’t know, when James proposed he sent me on a scavenger hunt with my mom, my sister, and my cousin to all the places that were significant in our relationship. It started at Starbucks with coffee on him, to my old job where he won me over with a cat joke and a date proposal, to where we had our first date among many other places. It ended in my parents back yard with our families surrounding us and him on one knee to the sweet sounds of John Legend. [BRB crying]. That day, all the clues were given to me on a typed piece of paper with little hearts at the bottom of the page. For our anniversary, James got me an antique mirror mimicking the ones we used for our seating charts, and wrote out each of the clues on each frame. We hung it right in front of our front door so that we can look at it everyday and remember that day.
Year one has been great. Year two will be even better, but if anyone has any ideas for a cotton themed anniversary gift…please DM me because I have no idea what that entails.
Ekstraordinaere 