On the Ninth Day of Christmas…
Not everyone feels this way, but I LOVE looking through old photo albums. It’s especially fun looking through photo albums filled with black and white pictures while listening to a grandparent or special older person talk about where the pictures were taken, who is in them, and what was going on in their lives during the time of the picture. We have so many moments on this Earth that we would love to remember, but so often we don’t think about recording them. Maybe we think we’ll remember them all forever.
One time, a friend and I made a list of over fifty places that were special to us in my home town. About ten years ago, I threw that paper away and now I have a hard time remembering even ten or twenty of those places off the top of my head. Having that list would help me recapture those places and revive my memory. Pictures of all of those places would have been even better.
Taking special pictures together is an obvious way to preserve your time together. This is one area where Eric and I have failed miserably, but it’s still a great idea – so, go do it! ~smile~ We have a few pictures of us together, but most of our pictures these days feature a fluffy, golden puppy. Someday when we have kids, they may be interested in what our life together was like before them. We need to get on the ball and get some pictures taken (and video) to show them. I know I love looking at pictures of my parents before I was born. They seemed so…young – and Dad had hair! ~smile~
When my grandparents met, Granddaddy was in World War II and they got to know each other through letters. Unfortunately, when they married she had so little room in her suitcases that she burned all the letters. Some days I wish she has saved even one of those letters. We don’t think about the future much when we are young and free (she was seventeen when she got married), but after Granddaddy died, I know she wished she still had them.
Spend some time chronicling your relationship through pictures. If you already have a lot of pictures, you can provide your sweetheart with a book of pictures, perhaps with little sayings for each picture. If you don’t, make a day of pictures. You can pair this with your eight special spots day if you’d like. You will be so glad you have these pictures to share with your children and grandchildren.
On the Tenth Day of Christmas…
When Eric turned twenty-nine, I had the idea to make him twenty-nine coupons (e.g. this is good for one free car wash, this is good for one backrub, etc.), to put them in balloons, blow them up, and then have him pop them to get his coupons. {Eric’s note: And I had to pop them in order – she put numbers on them!} He LOVED it! I realized too late that I have a weird issue with balloons and fear hearing them pop. So, I subjected myself, in the name of love, to sitting in the living room as Eric excitedly popped twenty-nine balloons. In retrospect, I may have done something different (perhaps a scavenger hunt to find the coupons), but the coupon idea was still fun. So this Christmas, give your honey some coupons!
These coupons can be for anything you are willing to do to help your sweetie. Some coupons can be for house cleaning, car cleaning, yard work, or other various chores he or she hates. Some coupons can be for a free coffee or a night out on the town (just be sure you have the money to cover those dates when the coupons are redeemed).
This is a fun, potentially inexpensive, way to give your honey a nice gift this Christmas; and, like with some of the other gifts mentioned in previous posts, a gift that keeps giving long after Christmas morning.
And have fun with this! Notice chores your sweetie doesn’t like or can’t seem to find the time to do. If you can help, make a coupon! If you know of a restaurant your sweetie can’t get enough of, then make a coupon and treat him or her. Just be sure when you make the coupons that you are willing to do what you’ve written. Don’t assume that they will never be redeemed. ~smile~
What coupon would you want to receive on Christmas morning? Are you happy with the amount of pictures you have of you and your sweetheart?