Anniversary Idea: On the Hour

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13 years ago today I married the funniest guy I could find. 
In 13 years we have had major
ups and major downs. 
He’s the only person on the planet
that can make me laugh when I am furious.
And the one that happens to be a big softy,
even though he doesn’t openly admit it. ;)
Little did we know where life would take
us all those years ago.  Sometimes it seems
like foooooorever ago. Hello oldest child that is 11
and in 6th grade. Wow. 
Other times it feels like it was just yesterday.
Saying yes. Happily. On the best day of my life.

Why yes, I was the ripe ol’ age of 20 when we got married.
And it was 1998, so go easy on my dress.

On to the good stuff: over our 13 years, we have been pretty darn creative with presents.  My very favorites weren’t the ones that cost a lot of money (though those are nice too).  The gifts that I love are the sentimental ones. For example:


Josh sent me on a candy bar treasure hunt for our 9th anniversary.
Probably $10 total- but so sweet.

I wanted to share an idea with you that I did for our 8th that he still talks about:
ON THE HOUR

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Since Josh works an office job and has a commute, if our anniversary isn’t on a weekend we usually don’t get to spend it together.  For our 8th anniversary I sent him with a bag full of gifts, one for every hour “on the :08.”  So 8:08am he opened #1, 9:08am he opened #2, etc.  That year he happened to be coaching flag football for our nephews so most of the gifts had to do with that: a coach clipboard, whistle, Gatorade holders, etc.   They don’t have to be huge presents- it’s just fun to have something little to open every hour.  He’s pretty impatient and said he was tempted to open them all at once but actually held out and waited until the 8 of every hour.

Have you done anything creative to celebrate your anniversary?
I’d love to hear about it!

I linked up to Tatertots & Jello’s Weekend Wrap Up!

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This entry was posted in Gift Idea, Tutorial and tagged by Mique. Bookmark the permalink.

About Mique

Hi- I'm Mique (as in Mickey). I started 30days as an idea file a few years ago. After three years and hundreds of ideas, I now realize that I'll never check them all off my list. When I'm not creating, I love spending time with family and friends and long drives, especially if they end at the beach.

66 thoughts on “Anniversary Idea: On the Hour”

    • Jenny- after reading your post I headed out to get 13 balloons. ;) We celebrated over the weekend but thought he would enjoy this today. I’m tying 13 of my favorite stories together. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  5. Happy Anniversary!

    We’ve been married 4 years… for the 1st we went back to the exact same hotel we stayed at on our wedding night, same room too! So fun! For the 2nd we took a little trip to explore a place we’d both never been, and then had dinner where we got engaged. For the third we planned small little dinner date, and picked out a gift we both really wanted for our home. This year, I planned a surprise anniversary date to the same restaurant where we spent our first anniversary. we’re all about traditions here!

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    • Thanks Christie- the candy bar one was fun. His little messages made me laugh so hard. And were very sweet too. It’s the little things that count, right? :)

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  10. It is our anniversary today as well, 8 years! We switch off planning our anniversary activity. Last year my husband planned a picnic breakfast and fishing. This year I planned a night out in Park City with dinner and massages. It shares the load and keeps it exciting!

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    • Happy Anniversary!! Today seems to be a popular day. We actually switch off and on who is in charge as well. The last few years we haven’t been as good about it. Your plan for today sounds fantastic- hope you two have a great one!

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  11. Happy Anniversary! I love the on the hour gift idea – saving that for future reference. Something fun I did once was 12 days of Valentine’s (instead of Christmas), with things like Day 12: 12 reasons I love you with the Riesen candies, Day 9: 9 of our inside jokes with Laffy Taffy, etc.

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  12. Happy anniversary! 13 years ago I became a mother-in-law (or some might think monster-in-law.) I love you both tons and am proud that you make it work, in the hard times as well as the good times!
    XOXO, mom

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    • Crazy that it’s been 13 yrs. Thanks for making our day amazing Mom. It really was everything I ever dreamed of- all credit to you. People still talk about it. Love you! xo

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  14. I love your blog post and just tweeted you. Re creative anniversary celebrations, without sounding like a ‘pitch,’ we’re actually getting a LOT of users using http://www.myTab.co to plan, be gifted travel cash from friends/family and save cash for their anniversary trip. Mainly for the milestone anniversaries i.e. 20, 30, 40s etc. Just a really nice way to not categorize a typical vacation but make it more meaningful since it’s anniversary related.
    As a single mother (well, I have a spaniel so that counts as a child, yes?), I love hearing anniversary tales, especially from friends I went to school with who now have grown up kids….where as I’m yet again, a mom of a dog! :)
    Brilliant blog – great fan :)

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  18. My hubby and I were 20 also – we technically couldn’t even drink the wine at the head table (but the reception hall graciously looked the other way :) )

    We’ve been married 11 years now – married in 2000 – and I always have to share that with others who married young because we all share a special set of experiences marrying at a young age :) …like being flat broke, for one! Congrats to you and have many, many more happy anniversaries together! (personally, we are hoping to be able to celebrate a 75th anniversary :D )

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    • Jenny- getting married at 20 I thought I was so mature (HA!!!!!). We don’t drink but on our cruise Josh was excited that I could get a kids drink pass (b/c I was under 21) and we didn’t have to pay for any sodas the whole trip. There have been many lessons that we’ve learned together. Here’s to hoping for the 75th anniversary. Thanks for the sweet comment! :)

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      • Yeah, we don’t really drink either (me occasionally)… its more of a celebratory glass of something-or-other from a tall, skinny bottle :)

        Yes, one advantage is learning (and maturing) together. Happy 75th anniversary a bit in advance! hehe

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        • My husband and I also married young. I was 19 and he was 18 (in his 19th year). :)
          We are now celebrating our 3 year anniversary and we have a little 5 month old boy!
          I am so happy I married young. Its precious. I’m hoping we get to celebrate our 75th anniversary too!!!! :D

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  19. These gifts make me think of a couple gifts me & my boyfriend have shared.

    For valentine’s day one year, he sent me on a scavenger hunt around town. He hid hearts of paper in places that were special to us [most of them were on our college campus where me met] with sweet messages, small gifts [or notes about corresponding gifts if he thought the gifts were too pricey to leave laying around town lol] and clues to where to find the next note. The last note led me to where he was waiting to meet me for the rest of our date.

    Another gift I gave to him, was for awhile we lived on opposite ends of the country, so I made him an advent calendar until I moved to see him. Each day he opened up a little baggie with a small present & a note.

    I agree that these type of gifts are definitely some of the best, and most memorable!!

    Linda

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  22. Happy Anniversary Mique! Your ‘on the hour’ gift idea is such a lovely idea. This year for my husband’s 30th birthday I did something similar and gave him 30 small gifts (including a few vouchers for things like sleep-ins etc – which are like gold in our house!!)

    … My favourite gifts are like yours though and are the ones we have been creative with and put a lot of thought into. Two in particular come to mind… one year my husband built me a wooden box to store all my art supplies in… it took him hours and hours to make and was such a special gift for me. The other was a year when we were particularly strapped for cash and so agreed to presents under $20… I painted the letters “I LOVE YOU” – on large pieces of paper – one letter to each piece of paper, and then I had friends take photos of me in front of places of special significance to us. I then had the photos developed and I gave them to him in a card.

    Wishing you a wonderful day. H xo

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    • Hana- I LOVE your ideas! So fun! And 30 small gifts? That’s a ton of work but I’m sure he loved every minute of it. Thanks for the comment!

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  23. My hubby’s next birthday is his 25th and I have been trying to come up with something great to do for him, this might just be it. He made my birthday this year, amazing! So, I feel a little pressure to make his good too. Thanks for the great idea!

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    • Yay Kim! That’s awesome. We have also done quite a few scavenger hunts for each other around our city. I have a friend who sends a card a day for a month until Valentine’s day to her husband at work- that might be fun too! Let me know what you end up doing. ;)

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  24. followed a link to your blog and read the post about your anniversary . My son and daughter in law also celebrated their anniversary yesterday. It was their 13th too. Love your blog and am subscribing so I can read more.

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    • LIz- it seems like our anniversary is a popular one (several people have mentioned it was their anniversary too!)- but what are the chances that it was the same day and year!? Thanks for subscribing!

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  25. I LOVE this idea! Our 8th anniversary is coming up…one week from today and I just might have to use this! What a fun and creative way to celebrate! Thank you for providing so much inspiration through your blog and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

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  27. Haven’t done anything too creative but you have inspired me to give it a try. By the way, we’ve been married 13 years as well with 2 kids and the oldest just turned 12. We started a little later than you though. I was 27 when we got married. And…there is nothing wrong with your dress. It was very pretty. Thanks for the ideas.

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    • Awww Maggie you’re so sweet. Thanks for saying the dress was pretty. I thought so at the time. ;) Glad I could inspire you to try something creative- let me know what you do!

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  28. This is SUCH a cute idea. :] I love doing gifts like this. I found this post via Tatertots and Jello, where I too posted a gift idea for my hubs. It was for his birthday but could totally work for Anniversaries as well. I did a book that included 24 reasons why I love him (he turned 24) and made it so I can add a reason every year. I’ll definitely have to steal your idea for when we celebrate future anniversaries. Thanks for sharing this cute idea. :]

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  31. That is soooooo stinkin sweet! What a thoughtful idea! I love it when married couples think of great ideas such as these for eachother instead of boring ol’ anniversary gifts. Good for you, Mique!!!

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  33. That candy bar treasure hunt is one of the most romantic things I’ve ever seen… :´) what a guy you are married to :-)
    I married my bear 1999 :-)

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  34. Pingback: Birthday parties inspiration | Fünf Gemuse.

  37. I love to do things like this and love this idea. I will be using this for him. His days are stressful and this would be fun for him.
    Great idea and keep up the good work.

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  38. We celebrated our 39th wedding aniversarey on December 20. 2011. Time just seems to fly by, it doesn’t feel like that much time has passed. Your gifts are very thoughtful. They could be done anytime during the year to spice things up. Hope you continue to have amazing anniversaries for many years to come. Love your blog.

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  39. Quite the contrary… I love your dress! There might be prettier/fancier things out there these days, but yours looks stunning!

    Maybe I should mention you also look like my 7th grade teacher :) So beautiful.

    Love these anniversary ideas. I’m single, but I love collecting a huge database of ideas for my future partner :)

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  40. I was searching for something unique for my almost 8 year olds birthday and found your presents on the 8th of the hour idea on pintrest. Clicked to get more details and saw a photo of Josh. Didn’t recognize him at first, just thought he looked ruggedly handsome and familiar somehow. Such a delightful surprise to find it is my husbands cousin! I’m Scott Beal’s wife. Great blog. So fun to stumble upon you. You will have to tell Yvonne hi for me. And Josh too!

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  41. Thanks for your idea of gifts on the hour! I am getting married in June. It’s an evening wedding, and I might try these little hourly gifts for him throughout the day. Would be so much fun!

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  42. My husband & I just celebrated out 2nd anniversary yesterday. I sent my husband on a scavenger hunt that started at the front door of our house and ended at the best hotel in our metro area. He had to follow directions exactly, which included what to wear, who to call for clues or where to find clues, where to go, what to pickup, and driving directions. He enjoyed every minute of it and was super excited when he arrived at the door of our themed hotel room, which I decorated with wickless tealight candles, rose petals, and a copy of our marriage certificate and marriage vows. It was so fun to plan and just as fun for him to participate in.

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