Gift Exchange

Our third anniversary gift exchange was postponed because we both decided we needed more time for whatever reason, Shawn needed to work on his "project" and I was waiting for mine to actually be shipped. So we decided today would be the big gift exchange. To spare the reader: Shawn had a beautiful leather scrapbook embossed with a special message and our wedding date and made a scrapbook of our first three years together - it was breathtakingly amazing! I bawled flipping through the pages, each page thoughtfully pieced together with witty sayings/messages, all in perfect order. Words don't do it justice, I'll have to post some pictures, it is truly a masterpiece. I never expected something like that from Shawn - ever. I'm usually the crafty one and he did such a good job keeping that a secret and it was so perfect in every way possible! He never ceases to amaze me! My photo album is my "brick" (in reference to the over joy he had last Christmas with our Wrigley field brick).

Our first year of marriage, the traditional gift of paper, we did a little unconventionally and got Wrigley's papers to join our family Anniversary number 2 (cotton) we decided we weren't going to give a gift since I was on rotation, money was a little tight but Shawn, being the sneaky sneaker he is bought me lovely cotton jammies that I absolutely love! I felt so terrible I didn't do anything (as we agreed).

So that brings us to this year (traditional = leather, modern = crystal). I had this amazing idea I was going to fashion some kind of bracelet for Shawn or something out of leather and either brand or emboss something meaningful on it. Sounded easy enough. Then I couldn't find a company that branded or embossed around here, but I did find a branding tool and an embossing tool so I decided I could do it myself. Next dilemma, no bracelet big enough. So I thought I would order one (at the 12 day mark at this point until A-day), but turns out the type I wanted came in a pack of three - bummer but back up in case I don't succeed with the first one (plus everything form TX comes big, right?), but to my misfortune, they're back ordered... time is ticking away. After no success with the 2 leather sores in PDX and realizing the craft store "ready make kits" are about as quality as something I could find at the 99cent store I am really feeling the time crunch. Then 5 days before the big day I find almost exactly what I want online. I couldn't settle on a design, wasn't sure exactly what I wanted and worried it wouldn't fit. All of these worries ate into my time and it wasn't ordered until 4 days before, but according to there website it would be there on the day or maybe 1 after. Well long story short, it didn't make it here, and found out Friday after work that for many reasons it wouldn't even be here for the Sat exchange. Panicked I decide to make a leather frame and decorate it with hand pieced leather flowers and Swavorski crystal. It turned out fair considering it was a last hour project. But for the first time I was topped by Shawn... and so the war begins.

And tonight, at 1130 we decided we wanted pancakes so we wouldn't have to eat and wait to digest any kind of breakfast before our run, only to realize after making the batter that we in fact don't have any syrup, so Shawn, bound and determined to have pancakes went to Wal-Mart in the pouring rain at 11:35pm.