Why Paper?

So a couple weeks ago was the husband and I's first wedding anniversary. I tried and tried to think of something special that we could do to commemorate this lovely event in our lives. I got a few suggestions from friends and family:

You should go to the same place you went on your first date! Well, the husband and I met at a bar where we were both playing sand volleyball. Our first date was mountain biking at Theodore Wirth Park. After that we sort of starting hanging out at each other's apartments, we never really had that "sweep you off your feet" sort of relationship (which is possibly why we've lasted as long as we have...no great expectations to live up to, yeah?) As all three of my loyal readers know I am currently about 6 months pregnant so neither of these were a good option.

You should recreate your wedding meal or visit your wedding site! We got married in my home town in Montana and our wedding meal was an assembly of family recipes and a roasted pig. Great for a crowd, but not so practical to make for two people! Also, driving 920 miles one-way to visit our wedding site was out of the question. We actually were just home in June and we were able to take a ride up to visit the tiny country church we got married in so we already sort of did that.

You could give the traditional 1st wedding anniversary gift of paper. Who comes up with this stuff? Paper, really? I am not sure I've ever requested paper as a gift in my whole life. Some suggestions were plane tickets (too expensive), concert tickets (again, too expensive), a picture (thought about this, but it seemed more of a gift for me than the husband) so we settled for some movie tickets and a dinner at the Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse in downtown. It was actually really fun to be downtown on a Saturday night and Mother Nature gave us a really neat light show to watch as we meandered back to our parking space.
According to About.com the following is for the first five years of anniversaries...
1st
Traditional: Paper
Modern: Clock
I don't know too many people my age that go out and buy clocks or paper (unless it's for your printer).

2nd
Traditional: Cotton
Modern: China
How about a nice glob of cotton? I got it free out of the vitamin jar! Now that's frugal!

3rd
Traditional: Leather
Modern: Crystal
Finally, something that makes sense! Here is a good excuse to get me a nice leather jacket!

4th
Traditional: Fruit or Flowers
Modern: Appliances
I don't know too many women that would baulk at a nice bouquet of flowers so that makes sense, but appliances? Most girls don't want a vacuum or a toaster as a gift! The only exception here might be a Dyson vacuum 'cause those are more expensive than all the appliances in our kitchen combined! Then again, I would probably be pretty upset that he spent that much money on what is essentially a chore so he loses either way.

5th
Traditional: Wood
Modern: Silverware
Again, if my husband brought home a gift of silverware...he'd probably get a fork in a very uncomfortable place. I guess wood might be a good idea, depending on where your mind is (I'll let this one slide...it's a family show!)

So, whoever came up with all of these gift ideas should probably not quit their day job. I think diamonds, a nice dinner, or flowers are always a good direction to go.

This year we had the whole night kid free (except for the kicking in my belly!) and it was really nice to be able to share dinner, a movie, and my feelings and love with my husband.