Taken by my computer on the one day this quarter I actually got all the way ready. Go me. Now I have until June before I have to do it again (haha).
For those who may have forgotten who I am since last time, here are a few more quirks about me so we can get better “acquainted” if you will. There are few “serious” pictures of myself I actually like, I think I look fake in most of them (hence the photo above). My favorite color is rainbow – how can you pick just one color? I like chocolate, but am not a chocoholic (really good chocolate milk is an entirely different story).
I often crave food textures “I need something crunchy, creamy” etc. I have jumped off a moving train almost to certain death in a foreign country – I have the scar on my knee to prove it. I desire to learn Italian, but am not motivated enough to fully invest myself. I lived in a mortuary as a small child – weird?, maybe a little. I’m also a photographer.
shameless plug…shameless plug…shameless plug
I find the greatest happiness in my work when I can fully compose what I have in my head into a photograph using both my camera and Photoshop. My greatest reward comes when I am able to cause my viewers to feel the emotions of that moment. So now that some of the formalities are out of the way let’s move ahead!
Traditions. We mostly talk about traditions when it comes to established holidays: Christmas, Easter, the Fourth of July, National Pancake Day (I tease, I tease).
But what traditions outside of these things do you have that makes your family unique? Do you have your own daily family traditions, maybe even your own family holidays? Let me share a few of ours to explain.
Examples of daily D. Family traditions:
Hubby D. is a student (…still…). Almost everyday he rides his bike to school and to work. We always give each other a kiss as he heads out the door, then I run to our little kitchen window that faces the direction he rides. Once we can see each other through the window he blows me a kiss and waves, and I wave back and blow kisses his way. Now that our daughter is in the picture she does this with me.
When it was just Hubby D. and I, I would blow kisses until he was out of site, trying to hit a new record number of kisses each day. Now with Little Miss D. I blow ten kisses, and then help her blow ten kisses. She is only over a year old, but already she looks forward to this tradition twice a day. In fact, if I pull the blinds up in that window any other time she will often crawl to me, say “Up!” and then start waving out the window.
I think I got this tradition from my parents. When we were young my dad worked nights. As he would be leaving for work my brother and I would run to the big front window, encouraged by our mom, to wave to him. My dad would back out the car and flash the lights three times at us for “I Love You”. Looking back I think it is because of this tradition I subconsciously started our own similar daily tradition.
Another tradition we have had since the beginning of our marriage has become a staple of our bedtime routine. Just before we go to sleep, hubby and I always say “Ti amo e buona notte”, Italian for “I love you and good night”, to each other and give one another three kisses. We will also occasionally follow up this tradition with saying “Sogni d’oro” – literally “sleep of gold”, but it means the same as “Sweet Dreams” – as we go to our sides of the bed.
This little ritual has helped us not to go to bed mad (or at least not quite so mad) on those nights when we’ve ended it in a tiff. It has also helped us to feel closer those handful of nights we have been apart in our marriage. Note: Hubby D. speaks Italian – hence my desire to learn it, hence the Italian phrases and traditions.
Now for an example or two of D. Family “Holidays”:
February 12th: Our Day of Togetherness
This was the day that the Hubster and I took our relationship to “the next level” and started holding hands (giggle) – for more details click HERE. Rather than celebrating our love on Valentine’s Day, we celebrate our relationship on the 12th. By re-enacting that night (when possible).
October 20th: Italian Night
I began this little tradition the first year we were married. Hubby had been working LONG hours building cabinets and I could tell he was losing steam. To show my appreciation for what he had been doing for our little family of two (I couldn’t find more than part-time work), and celebrate the day he returned home from living in Italy the year before I decided to plan our first ever Italian Night.
I called his boss a few days before and asked him if he could keep the hubster late that night, not something unusual, until I called and gave him the okay. He was a good sport about it and was happy to play along. I took the day off from my job and made a big delicious Italian meal – complete with appetizers and dessert.
Once I had the meal all set up in the kitchen, I got the bathroom ready for him (he’d HAVE to shower once he got home – stinky sweaty man smells – bleck). I hung up his suit on the back of the bathroom door, and put the tie & cologne I wanted him to wear on the counter, with instructions to “Get Fancy – I Love You”. Then I got ready in one of my more formal dresses. I called his boss and said I was ready for him.
When hubby arrived home he walked in the door and saw a note that said “STOP: Put on this blindfold!”. He was a little nervous about this until he heard me say “It’s just me” and that he should do it if he knew what was good for him. I then lead him through the kitchen and into the bathroom where he got ready. Once he was unstinky and stinkin’ sexy I lead him blindfolded back into the kitchen and sat him down at the table. I explained why I had done what I did, and then told him to take off the blindfold. I was lookin’ SMOKIN’ hot and got a nice modest jaw drop, and the food turned out to be amazing. It was a fabulous night to share together a little over one month after being married.
The next year I remembered how much we had enjoyed the year before and decided to cook another over the top Italian meal and get dressed up. We love spending this time together, and it has become our own family holiday – marked on our calendar each year by a little Italian flag.
There have been years where we couldn’t do as much, but we always try to do something, even if it is just spaghetti sauce out of the jar and watching a Rick Steve’s Italy Tour episode (we bought the DVD).
This guy is gooberlicious, you’ll love him. He has a show on PBS.
It’s the thought that counts – and the effort always means something. We look forward to involving our children in this tradition, should they like to participate.
We will also camp in our living room (set up our tent, pull out the sleeping bags etc.) once or twice a year, go to Art in the Park (our favorite Boise event) each fall, and do all those other real holiday things. These little traditions in combination with our “real holiday” traditions make our family one of a kind and bring us closer together. I love these little things that are uniquely us.
What are some of your special non-real holiday or daily family traditions that bring you closer to your loved ones?
– Erin D.
My husband is not much of a traditions man, so I got my son involved instead. For my son we celebrate his 1/2 birthday. Nothing too big, just a small cake and candle and maybe a present. I think it is great, because I can add more responsibilities/chores for him without having to wait an entire year for his next birthday.
We always celebrate our first date by doing the same thing we did that night each year. I make breakfast for dinner every Saturday night before “Fast Sunday” to gently remind my sweetheart that Fast Sunday is upon us. We have a contest every night after story time to see which child can look MOST reverent when Daddy arrives for family prayers (this works wonders for reverence). My hubby and I call each other Sweets & Weets. He often does a ballerina dance for me on his way to the shower. 🙂 Oh, wait, was that too much information? I always give him a kiss goodbye on his way to work and say, “See ya tonight!” in a really corny way (mimicking a car commercial we once saw). We always say, “Happy Christmas, Ron!” to each other on Christmas day (mimicking the famous nostril flaring moment for Daniel Radcliffe in the first Harry Potter movie). We give each other a “birthday week” each year. During the week before your birthday you can buy nearly anything you want and get a special surprise each day leading up to your special day. It’s lots of fun. There are many more…these are just a few of my favorites!
Super cute ideas Erin! Almost every Saturday we go out to breakfast as a family. I told my hubby this summer we are going to “camp out” in the backyard…Thanks for helping out!!
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Those are all so great! I’m going to have to “borrow” one or two of these!
Hmmm…let’s see….the hubs and I pray together every morning, love that. We also have this weird thing about whistling for each other. If we’re in separate rooms in the house, one of us will randomly whistle…and the other better whistle back. It’s a silly way of just checking in on each other and showing that we’re thinking about each other (even though we’re just a room away!) Also, we always shower together at the end of the day. It’s the best place to get away from the kids, have no distractions and just talk about the day.
Great post!
When my boyfriend and I are sleeping apart, we always text each other “sweet dreams” before we go to bed. We go to the same Mass together every Sunday morning.