wedding

First Anniversary Gifts for Him

October 10, 2014

My husband and I are coming up on our first anniversary gifts and I have struggled coming up with good ideas for him! The first anniversary is the “paper” anniversary, according to tradition. Now paper isn’t the most romantic material, and in this day in age, isn’t the most coveted. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any good ideas out there! I guarantee your husband will love at least one of the gift ideas below!

1. Tickets. Does your husband love sports, traveling, or maybe the theater? Get him tickets to see his favorite sports team, fly to a city he’s never been, or go see one of his favorite shows. Both my husband and got each other tickets for our anniversary: I college football tickets and he So You Think You Can Dance tour tickets. What can I say, we’re romantics. 🙂

2. Artwork. If your husband is on the artistic side, or at least has an appreciation for art, why not get him a water color or sketch by his favorite artist, of something he’s interested in, or has meaning to the two of you that he can hang in his office or in your living room. I know my husband love Banksy prints and Minted has a lot of wonderful prints from up and coming artists.

3. Books. My husband isn’t an avid reader, but if he were I would have loved to track down a limited edition or first edition version of his favorite book. Or maybe a signed copy by his favorite author. This could definitely also include comic books. If your husband loves or collect comic books, he would be so impressed if you tracked down a rare comic book.

4. Stationary. I find that good quality, personalized stationary can make an ordinary note that much more special or professional. This is a great gift for any guy who has a job were they send a lot of notes or cards out to people, or just like writing. Or if your man works for himself or has a small business you could surprise him with professionally designed business cards and letter head.

5. Boudoir Photos. This may seem like the trend for new brides to get their new husbands, but why not save these for your first anniversary. Of course, not all of us are super comfortable stripping down in front of the camera, but I bet any husband would love a photo of his beautiful wife. Especially if she’s in lingerie.

6. Journal. If your man like to write down thoughts, poems, recipes, or whatever, why not get him a really nice journal. Every time he writes in it he will think of you and the meaning behind it. And once its full, he can keep it out and display it. Or save it to look back on over the years.

7. A Love Letter. This won’t require any money, but it will require the most work. I am certainly not a super romantic person, so writing a love letter doesn’t come easy. But you can fill it with some of your best memories over the first year of marriage. Or telling him all the ways you love him. He will certainly appreciate the thought and love behind it.

What did you get your husband for your first anniversary?

Perfect

January 13, 2014

Don’t think I have completely forgotten about you. I haven’t! I have just been working. Trying to make that money to pay the bills. You know how it is. But I wanted to share our wedding video with you guys since some of you have been around since we first started planning our wedding. Even though I was there…I kind of went by in a blur, so the video has been a nice way to remember all those little details!

The whole video is 25 minutes long, so you probably don’t want to watch the whole thing. But I do have some favorite moments, which I have listed below. Also, don’t mind the excessive awkwardness. While I am typically fairly awkward on a daily basis, I feel like the pre-ceremony nerves and the post-ceremony alcohol (I gave up drinking the month of, so a little went a long way) really amplified things.

The Wedding of Lindsey & Billy from Meurer Image Photography on Vimeo.

1:09 Me thinking: “Wait, don’t grab your boobs, people are filming this.”
3:26 B’s dad showing him how to tie a tie….even thought B knows exactly what he is doing.
4:40 Our freaking adorable ring bearer who totally crushed it.
5:13 B totally not crying, because he is a man and he would never cry.
5:28 Me desperately trying not to cry…or throw up (y’all, I was freaking nervous – just ask my dad).
5:54 The sail boat going by as we prayed. My eyes were closed so I totally missed that, but it is perfectly San Diego.
9:15 B and I flubbing our ring exchange, which was then followed by our pastor saying “let me pray for you two”. We need it.
9:57 The foot pop.
12:02 Our first dance, and B cutting the tension by being silly, as usual.
Lots of dancing…..
18:18 The cake cutting.
More dancing…..
23:31 Me and my best girl friends dancing and singing at the top of our lungs to Katy Perry’s Roar….and B’s dad just also dancing and singing at the top of his lungs.
24:52 At the end of the last dance, me saying to B, “We made it.”

We made it!!

Also, just in case you are wondering, the music used in this video were all songs we used throughout the wedding day:
1. At Last by Etta James – our last dance song
2. Perfect by John McLaughlin – the song we walked back down the aisle to
3. Canon in D – the song I walked down the aisle to
4. You are the Best Thing by Ray LaMontagne – the song we played for the wedding party entrance to the reception
5. Hold You in my Arms by Ray LaMontagne – our first dance song
….then some random dancing music….

Favorite Moments from 2013

January 1, 2014

B asked me the other day what my favorite moments were of the past. Of course the wedding and honeymoon were up high on the list, but I had to think a little to come up with all 5. After some reflection, I think I came up with a pretty good list.

Starting at 5….

5. Seeing our new apartment in Charlotte for the first time. We had to sign our lease sight-unseen so we really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. After a very long day driving across half the country, we pulled into our new “home”, and to say we were relieved would be an understatement. It took us a while to really make Charlotte our home, but it has been very good to us this year.

4. Either Baylor winning the Big 12 Championship or Baylor beating OU. Basically, my 4th favorite moment was Baylor’s amazing season! I couldn’t be prouder!

3. Sitting at a winery in Fredricksberg, TX with some of my best friends in the world for my Bachelorette. There is nothing better than time with good friends who you don’t see very often. I had the best time at my bachelorette party and at our last stop we just sat around a table together drinking wine, eating cheese, and chatting. Perfection.

2. Laying on a beach in Aruba with no where else to go and nothing else to do. Our honeymoon was one of the best vacations I have ever been on. And it was exactly what we needed. A nice relaxing week on a beach, reading a good book and drinking cheap beer.

1. Standing hand-in-hand with my soon-to-be husband at the wedding alter. I was a nervous wreck before walking down the aisle, but once I got down there and was facing the beautiful San Diego Bay and standind next to B, I was at total peace and completely happy.

Happy New Year! What were your favorite moments from 2013?

One Happy Island

December 2, 2013

Aruba likes to say that they are “one happy island”, and after spending one glorious week there, both B and I can attest to that. The people are incredibly friendly, and it is impossible to be in a foul mood when the weather is constantly a pleasant 80 degrees and sunny.

B planned our entire honeymoon. I actually wanted little to do with any of it since I was in the midst of planning our wedding. All I knew is that we were going to Aruba and the days we would be there. I literally knew nothing else.

The resort that B picked was voted the #1 more romantic hotel on the island. The Bucuti Beach Resort is a small, boutique resort located in the low rise part of the island (the low-rise resorts are on one part of the island, and the high-rise resorts are on another). One of the major selling points is that is adults only, which we greatly appreciated. Being so much smaller than other resorts, the Bucuti paid a lot attention to detail. When we arrived, we received a glass of champagne and a cool, mint-scented towel. They also provided us with a bottle of champagne in our room since we were on our honeymoon.

The best thing about the honeymoon is that we had no plans what-so-ever. We didn’t feel the need to do any sight-seeing or excursions – we just sat on the beach, read our books, and drank. The water was gorgeous and always the perfect temperature – cooler than the air around you, but warm enough that it never felt cold.

One of the days we did break from routine and headed out to the other side of the island. Instead of perfect sand beaches, like the western side, the eastern side of the island is sand dunes and steep cliffs – definitely not inhabitable. But it is incredibly beautiful.

That same day we also drove down to the southern part of the island, to a small beach called Baby Beach. Name that way because of it’s shallow waters and the protection it gets from a sand bar a few yards out from the shoreline.

Overall, the food in Aruba is great. There were a lot of restaurants recommended to us, and for the most part, no one steered us wrong. My best friend recommended that we try the Flying Fishbone one night, which was probably the best recommendation. You literally sit on the beach, toes in the sand. Some tables were actually in the water. It was amazing to be sitting, eating dinner, and peer over into the water and watch fish swim and crabs crawl around.

I would highly recommend Aruba (and definitely the Bucuti) if you are looking for a beach vacation. B and I are already trying to plan a trip back!

Best Day Ever

October 14, 2013

It’s been said before, but I will say it again: Your wedding day is one of the fastest day of your life. Mine got off to a slow start. I didn’t sleep well the night before so I was up at 6:00am. I walked over to a nearby Starbucks, ran over and dropped stuff off at my moms house, and then just hung out in the hotel room waiting for the day to begin. But once it did, it was over in an instant.

I can’t wait to get more pictures back from our photographer…which I expect will take a while. Fortunately, my uncle took a lot of pictures from both the rehearsal dinner and wedding that we have been able to go through and relive our big day.

I will share some more details of the day, and the week leading up to it. But for now, I will just share some of my favorites shots from Thursday and Friday.

The view from our rehearsal dinner venue, the University Club, looking over San Diego Bay.

Mom, B, me, and my Godparents – the sponsors of our wedding at the Admiral Kidd Club (a Navy Base)

The view from the wedding ceremony looking across San Diego Bay towards Downtown.

I don’t remember why B was laughing.

At the end of the kiss, B decided to do a foot pop, which got a laugh from the crowd. I had no idea why people were laughing at us.

Me and the groomsmen.

The cake cutting. B wiped frosting on my face, so I was getting him back. I also like the pictures of his parents and my grandparents cake cutting on our right.

I could go through wedding pictures all day!