Rick & I have always done traditional anniversary gifts. It's been fun because it requires that we think outside the box and plus it helps us remember what we've done each year and makes the gifts more special. Here's what we've come up with over the years:
Year 1: Paper. I got him Astros tickets and he had our wedding vows framed. He totally took the cake on this one, obviously.
Year 2: Cotton. I special ordered an heirloom blanket with one of our wedding pictures on it and he got me a hammock. I looove my hammock.
Year 3: Leather. I got him a monogrammed valet tray for him to dump his watch, wallet, keys, etc. into when he gets home and he made me a leather photo memo board for the baby's room. He had a little plate engraved at the bottom that said "Baby Boyd" since we didn't yet know the sex or name. AND, he also got me a Coach purse. It seems like I got him something else as well but it's not coming to mind. Clearly he did better than me this year, too! **updated to add that I just remembered his other gift. I also got him a Nolan Ryan autographed baseball! Nolan is to Rick as Kenny is to me so I retract my previous statement of him winning this year. Not that it's a competition or anything :)
Year 4: Flowers/Fruit. This year we decided on a joint gift. My mom babysat and we spent the day at the nursery picking out a flowering tree and then planting it in our yard, right outside our breakfast room window. We exchanged other small gifts as well. I got him some Fruit-of-the-Loom undies and he made me a toxic picture frame...I blogged about it
here if you care to read how Rick endangered all of our lives. :)
Year 5: Wood. I ordered Rick a wooden sign for our front porch. It says "The Boyds, est. June 6, 2006." He got me a small wooden jewelry box with an emerald ring inside of it (Harper's birthstone).
And that brings us to Year 6: Iron. THIS is what
we (I) REEEEALLY wanted for a joint gift:
 |
| Meet Claudia, she's from Pottery Barn |
But since my car was in the shop for 3 days and it cost $900 to get it fixed, we instead got each other this:
 |
| An exhaust manifold. Pretty romantic and exciting, right? Hey, at least it's iron. (actually, I have no idea what it is. But to me, metal is metal. And this totally annoys Rick, btw. Ha!) |
At the last minute I scrambled to come up with something meaningful and...what's the word for it? Cheap. Yes, cheap. I came up with the idea to use an iron 6 since 6 represents our wedding date
and it was our 6th anniversary. And then my mom had the brilliant idea to frame it. We set off to Home Depot and then Hobby Lobby and then I went to work. Here is the finished product:
That night we had a date (alone!!!!) which included an hour at the dealership picking up my car, some yummy mexican food (of course!), and then some laser tag. Neither one of us had ever played laser tag and I gotta say I had my reservations. But it was SO fun! I thought I was kicking some butt until the end when they announced the scores. I got 9th place out of 9 (go me!) and Rick got 2nd. He was very proud of himself, I assure you. I had to keep his ego in check, though, so I dominated him at air hockey and then again at basketball (which he actually accused me of cheating even though it is impossible to cheat at arcade basketball). I think
somebody might be a sore loser....
 |
| He was about to get his second round of defeat right here. Muhahaha! |
 |
| What's that, Honey? Congratulations? Why, thank you! |
 |
| We stopped shoveling in chips and queso just long enough to pose for a picture. |
We had a great time acting like kids and being silly. Lately I've kind of lost sight of that part of my personality other than playing with the kiddos and it was really refreshing to date and be playful with my hubby again. We are definitely going to have to start going on dates more regularly!
Something else refreshing? Our first childless night in over 2 1/2 years! About six months ago Rick asked me if I would like to take a weekend trip to Dallas to see a certain little someone I have a long history with. It would be my first time leaving Harper for longer than 3 or 4 hours and at the time my heart was nowhere near ready for that, but my husband is a smart man and had some powerful leverage. He totally played the Kenny card. Oh yes he did. And it totally worked. I told myself Harper would be over a year and weaned by the time June rolled around and it would be much easier on me to leave her overnight. And then once June got here I started having a little anxiety and if the tickets had not already been purchased and the hotel booked I just may have tried to back out...did I mention my hubby is a smart man? :) But I'm happy to report that everything went really well with the kids at my parents' house and they didn't seem to even notice we were gone. And it goes without saying that we enjoyed our weekend as well...a weekend full of time with the hubby sans the kids, fun with friends, and a night filled with great music and did I mention KENNY...what more could a girl ask for?
 |
| Slumber party at Beda & Pappy's! |
 |
| We dropped the entire family off (well, except for the cat) |
 |
| View of Six Flags from our hotel room |
 |
| And Rangers Stadium to the right |
 |
| Right before we left for the concert |
 |
| The new Cowboys Stadium |
 |
| Tim McGraw on the world's largest TV screen...I looked it up and this bad boy is 60 yards wide. Insane. |
 |
| ::swoon:: |
 |
| My friend (and hair stylist) Amy. Love her! |
 |
| And the only picture I managed to get of Steven. Ha! But so appropriate because he is constantly shoveling food into his mouth. |
 |
| My cousin Steph. She was there with friends so I tracked her down and spied on her before making her give me a hug ;) |
A week after Rick bought the tickets they announced that they were adding Houston to their tour. He was kind of annoyed. I was not at all. I think it might be a sign that I'm supposed to see him twice in one year. Yes, yes. Clearly meant to be...
Comments