Hi there! I’m Jamie, visiting from “What I Did Today.” I’m super psyched about being invited to post here as a “she.” **giggle** A little bit about myself…I’m an avid planner, but completing projects can be a challenge at times. I love to play the piano, read (currently working on “Little Women” and “Much Ado About Nothing”), take pics of my babies, go for walks around town, upcycle clothes, try out new EASY recipes, visit my mom’s house, and go on fun dates with my Mister. I’m addicted to blogging, Facebook, magazines, rain, sleepy baby faces, and my Mister. 🙂 Now – on to my reason for being here!
The Hubster and I just celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary in June. Woohoo!!!! Is it a good or a bad thing that it feels like we’ve been together so much longer? Anyways…
(The pic we included with our thank-you-for-the-wedding-present cards)
When our first anniversary was coming up I was pretty stumped. I don’t know why, but my guy is kinda hard to shop for. He’s one of those people who is pretty content as long as he’s got a happy wife (and kids), a tv to watch, and plenty of his favorite foods to eat. Whenever he wants something, he purchases it himself. My dad is the same way. Hmmm. Is this how it is with most men??
(One year later and preggo with Baby #1)
So, I was clueless as to what I should give him. And let’s face it, he needed a few pointers himself. So, being the search engine friendly girl that I am, I typed in “anniversary gifts.” I got lots of advertisements that didn’t assist me in my quest. At all. Then I came upon a list. Two lists actually. Each anniversary year, or major year, is given a corresponding item. You can choose from the traditional version or the more modern version. Check out the lists here: Anniversary Gifts by Year.
(Two years later and the new addition)
According to these lists you are supposed to get your spouse a paper gift or a clock on your first wedding anniversary. The Traditional list goes with paper while Modern says clocks. We chose to do paper since clocks are….well…boring. And, paper invites sooooo much more creativity! Yay!
(Three years later and we’ve DOUBLED the size of our family! Whoop!)
So, for our first year I got Hubby tickets for us to go to a Mariners baseball game. Not because either of us are baseball fanatics, but because that was the first outing we had together. And no, it wasn’t a date because 3 of my brothers came too. (I enjoyed getting fries, drinks, and chocolate covered strawberries more than watching the game!)
And he made up a coupon promising me two sushi dinners out, which is HUGE because he hates sushi as passionately as I love it!
For our 2nd anniversary we went with Traditional again, cotton instead of china, and I got him some much needed polos shirts from Target.
He got me a pair of pink striped pajamas bottoms. (Honk if you love Target) They are my favorite.
This year for our 3rd year celebration we went with leather (the other choice was crystal or glass). I purchased him a leather case for his ipod. He likes it, but now that I know he needs shoes…I wish I’d gone with footwear.
He got me a leather organizer monogrammed with my name and a leather magnetic bookmark monogrammed with both our names. Super sweet.
I’m going to share my ideas for the next 10 anniversaries (that would be #’s 4 thru 13). Then I’ll have something to fall back on. And if you don’t find my ideas inspiring just do a search for your anniversary number plus “anniversary gifts.” Or you can go to amazon.com or gifts.com and type in whatever your gift is supposed to be, like “leather.” 🙂 Easy-peasy.
Next year (4th anniversary) I’m thinking of switching to the modern gifts list because it’s appliances. An ice cream maker counts, right? My dad loves his and Tony (my husband) keeps saying that we need to get one.
5th year – What guy wouldn’t love a friendly game of foosball? Just make sure that you get a wood one since that’s the fifth year item. Unless you want to go with silverware. **snore**
For year #6 our choices are candy, iron, or wood (again?). Well, I’m going to go with iron. Because, my husband is borderline obsessed with dutch ovens. He seems to think that they are a necessary addition to food storage and emergency preparation. Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, he’ll love this. Another idea? A new set of IRONS for golf.
For our 7th anniversary I’m choosing copper over wool (baaaaaa) or a desk set. Though a desk set would be cool too. Actually, I probably will get him a desk set if we don’t have a house within the next 3 years. But, if we are happy home owners (or renting a house long-term) then he’s gettin’ this bad boy! Shine-AY!
The 8th year brings us four choices! But though these options may be exciting for us females, they kind of left me scratching my head when trying to apply them to my man. They are bronze, pottery, linens, and lace.
So, I thought it might by fun to try a new game. 🙂
Year 9 – Pottery, willow, leather. **sigh** Does somebody want to help me re-write the anniversary gift list? Just kidding. We think it’s kinda fun to try to figure out something that is meaningful and yet fits the designated item of the year. I’m choosing willow because I know that Tony would love a basket full of yummy meats and cheeses. These are fun to make yourself too!
For year #10 I think I’ll go with aluminum (instead of tin or diamond jewelry) so I can get Hubby this! He adores anything airplane related and it’ll look great on his desk at work.
11th anniversary – Steel. I think my husband would appreciate it over fashion jewelry. Haha! Anyways, a steel fire pit. What guy could resist one of these? This would be particularly meaningful because one of the hot dates Tony did for me involved a fire, chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers. Yum.
For year #12 I’m gonna get the Hubster some silk pajama bottoms. If you think your guy would prefer linen or pearls more, then…well…cool. I have no idea whether my husband will like silk pjs, but he doesn’t like the look of silk ties, so….. 🙂
For our 13th year anniversary I may have a difficult time choosing. The options are lace, textiles (cloth), or furs. I KNOW Tony’s gonna want to go with lace for, ahem, me. 😉 And I’m sure you all can guess what will come up if I do a search for “men’s lace.” But, I don’t reeeeeally feel comfy with posting a pic of THAT gift. **laugh** I think the best choice would be textiles. Then I can get the Mr. some more t-shirts like this one (he’s a DC brand fan).
So, there you go. It’s super fun because we don’t have to sort through a whole world of present ideas, we get to have a lot of laughs over some of the silly choices out there, and we like to tease each other by guessing what the other one is going to gift.
~ Jamie
* Need more ideas for your wedding anniversary? Check out these posts: Fun Ideas for Your Wedding Anniversary and Wedding Anniversary Fun with the Whole Family!
I’m soo glad you did this post Jamie! Great ideas!
ManOfTheHouse and I have stuck with the traditional gifts and have also had a lot of fun with it… Wool/Copper was one of the most difficult (I think I ended up buying him a copper sheep figurine… pointless, but it fit!)
the problem – we celebrated #16 recently… and most lists only have gifts listed for every five years after 15… hello! if you’ve made it that far you should totally celebrate every single step of the way!!!
One list I found did say Tungsten was the 16th… THAT was hard (pun not intended) and now I have to worry about #17… ugh.
Love this post! I have been wondering what the list is(not sure how I didn’t think to google it, but whatev) Our 5th anniversary is coming up, and I think a foosball table is perfect! Thanks!