Gift Ideas: Anniversary

Do you celebrate anniversaries with gifts? My answer of course is that every special occasion should be celebrated with gifts but of course that's just me. I love to give gifts!

Dennis and I have only been married a little more than two years, so my anniversary gift ideas today will focus on my own personal experience - 1st and 2nd anniversaries. I would like to follow those traditional charts of anniversary gifts but that isn't always the case.

Here is an example of what I am talking about:

(Image from Pinterest.)

So for a 1st anniversary, the traditional gift is paper. Last year, I ordered Dennis a small picture canvas of a wedding photo and the lyrics to our song on top of the picture. It's kind of hard to describe but I included a picture below. These are affordable gifts for any occasion because they are always on Groupon or Living Social. The picture is really simple to make as well, I just used PowerPoint.

Then I made one of those great Year in Reviews that are always popping up on Facebook. I included places we visited, restaurants we liked, etc. Then I decided to make it into a scrapbook with pictures, so that I could make a page each year.

Finally, I got 12 brown paper bags (lunch size) and put a date of a special event within our first year on the front of the bag. Inside I put a gift that represented that event. For instance, we went to some Pirate games, so I put a Pirate gift card inside. Then I had 12 gifts. Some could be very simple and cost-friendly, and others like the gift card may cost more.

This year, the traditional gift was cotton. This was a little harder. I did a lot of Pinterest searching of course. I ended up doing six different gifts that spelled out cotton and had a Post-It on each one. I also made the scrapbook page to add to the gift from the year before. So, cotton ended up being:

C: Candle (cotton smelling)

O: One pair of tickets to see Spectre

T: Toilet Paper

T: Tennis Shoes

O: One Blockbuster hit - San Andreas

N: New sheets

Well, those are two years of anniversary gifts and some ideas that could be applied tho more then the 1st and 2nd anniversaries.

Until next time, Happy Gifting!

Hey, A Girl Can Dream, Right?

Today, I'm daydreaming about my future house if I had no monetary or geographic restrictions. I'm probably in this mindset because the landlord has not cashed the January rent, I'm sick of cold showers before work and I hate white walls!

Bookshelves in EVERY Room

This might not just be my dream home but my real home one day. I want to be surrounded by books.

A Wine Dispenser 

Maybe two...one in the kitchen and one in my imaginary outdoor entertainment center. I mean who doesn't want a wine dispenser.

And a Wine Cellar to Refill My Wine Dispenser When the Bottles Are Empty

A Great Big Porch to Use Year Round

And Just for Fun...I Would Love These Too

Don't get me wrong, I love my apartment! It's a great price, in an awesome location and we have, for the most part, adequate space. But a girl can dream and I'd love this house I just created from Pinterest finds!

Some Blog Updates

I discovered last year that my blog was not really cutting it for me anymore. After much reading about blogs and thinking of different ideas, I first thought I would write a picture book blog and then maybe a gift idea blog. Both were things I liked and knew about and thought I could write an entire blog about but then I kept coming back to the idea of a lifestyle blog, which is basically what this blog is but it definitely needs some work. So moving forward, I'm just trying to do a better job with scheduling my posts.

To start, I've created post themes for each day:

Pinterest Party (Monday): Posts about different Pinterest finds, stuff I've tried, what I want to try, etc.

Tuesday (Book Review): My favorite day!

Wordless Wednesday: Photos or quotes and inspiration

Thursday: Gift Ideas

Friday: Picture Book Review My second favorite day!

Weekend: Random

We will see how this goes but it's a start in the right direction for me! I just want to write more and make posts that are worthwhile. I'll tell you right now this one isn't but I wanted to write something. Ha ha!

Until next time...

Happy New Year!

Today I'm looking forward to a fresh start in 2016. 2015 revolved around my knee surgery and recovery. Nothing much else happened, so I'm excited for more travel, time with friends and family and hopefully a house!

These are some great quotes and inspiration I found on Pinterest that I hope to live by in the New Year.

I've said this before but Pinterest is one of the best and worst things in the world. There are so many wonderful things to try, make and do but definitely not enough time. This is a round-up of  a few pins I'd love to try this year.

Reading Lists

I used this pin to make my reading list for 2016. I've already started reading. It's great to be reading again after a long absence. I know that sounds crazy but I started 2015 off reading a lot but after my surgery I kept falling asleep when I read. Then I read a lot in the summer but got really busy in the fall and during the holidays, so I'm back at it.

Organization

The paper trail in our life has gotten out of control. I need a new system. Hence why I'm pinning so many paperwork organization ideas. This is a must for 2016.

Travel

I have a conference in Denver in April, so we are making a vacation out of it. Neither Dennis or I have ever been to Denver, so I'm pretty excited to see as much as I can in a short amount of time while not in conference sessions. Pinterest is a great resource for travel suggestions.

Healthy Lifestyle

2015 was all about walking again and finding workouts that fit my knee restrictions. I'm excited to spend more time in the pool and on the spin bike. I have enough swimming workouts pinned to last me a while.

That's just a few pins I'm trying. What are you hoping to accomplish in 2016 from your Pinterest pins?