January 21, 2012

Anniversary Gift

The day after my 9th wedding anniversary I wandered through the journal/gift section of Barnes and Noble and picked out a journal similar to the one here.

Starting that very night, I started a journal for my husband.
The first page was a 10th anniversary love letter, explaining what the journal was and why I was doing it.
Then, every night of our 10th year of marriage, I wrote a journal entry. Most were short and sweet, some were long and wordy. But each one was a declaration of my love. And I always made the subject of the entry something that either he did, didn't do, said, or even something I saw/heard that reminded me of him.
The journal turned into 365 expressions of my love. Someday the only thing I could write was "The text message you sent me today made me pause for a minute in the middle of my crazy work day and remember why I work so hard when I'm away from home."
Other days, when we weren't communicating exactly as the perfect married couple should, I wrote something along the lines of "We're not happy with each other right now. In fact, I'm pretty unhappy with you. But that's why I'm writing this. No matter how frustrated I am with you, I know the feeling is this strong because I love you that much."
On our 10th anniversary, I wrapped up the journal and handed it over.
Still, almost a year later, Mr Moose will pull the journal out and read the words I wrote well over a year ago and understand the many different ways I love him and appreciate him.
Now, the trick is - at least for me - to figure out what to get him for our anniversary this year. Any suggestions?

6 comments:

  1. I love this and it made me all teary eyed. Wonderful idea...thank you for sharing!

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  2. Thanks for commenting!
    Mr Moose isn't the type to show emotion. It all just stays inside. So I'm never quite sure how to guage a gift i've given him - Especially one I spent an entire year on.
    But, to this day, he still takes the journal out and reads it. So that, to me, is a sign it'll be something he treasures for a long time to come.

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  3. This is absolutely inspired. Thank you so much for sharing the idea! I bet your marriage your 10th year was pretty great, just for the fact that you were on the look out for the things that made it beautiful.

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  4. What a great idea! I stumbled on this blog post while searching for similar ideas to give as a gift for my husband on our 3rd wedding anniversary (leather). I only wish I would've thought of this a year ago so I could've given him the book completely filled. :)

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  5. I started this 28 days ago for my hubby on the day of our wedding. I will write in it everyday for the first year of wedded bliss and give it to him on our first anniversary which is great because traditionally it's the paper anniversary. Love the idea and so far it's turning out wonderful and uplifting.

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  6. I found your blog via Pinterest and I am so in love with this idea!! What a wonderful expression of love. A number of years ago I wrote out 365 reasons why I love my husband.. next up will be this journal! Thank you for sharing this lovingly inspired idea with us. :)

    Monica

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