Tuesday 11 February 2014

Celebrating Love with These Moments

Circa 2009
Back when I was blonde.
Since I was such a Debbie Downer last Tuesday regarding Valentine's Day, I figured I'd brighten things up around here and tell you about the things I do like to celebrate with my other half.

Our Anniversary

On April 1, 2009, while at a party (and after having already been on a few dates), Andrew looked at me and said, "So when did we officially start dating?"

After getting all giddy that he wanted to make things 'official' I said, "How about when we had our first kiss?"

To which Andrew responded, "Today will be when first start dating. It's the first of the month. I can remember that."

(It was only after the fact that we realised our anniversary date was also April Fool's Day, which means our relationship has been a running joke.)

Since then, we've always done something special on April 1st. Our anniversary date - even though we're not married - is important to us and it's nice to remember where we started from.

His Birthday

Some people don't like celebrating birthdays. I'm not one of those people. I love birthdays! I start planning what I'm going to give Andrew months before his actual birthday. For his 24th birthday, I rented a two-floor hotel room that overlooked the Rogers Center so that all of his friends could celebrate with him (and watch the Toronto Blue Jays game)! Last year, since I couldn't throw him a surprise party, I made him a scrapbook and asked his friends to write something to him. On each page of the scrapbook, there was a picture of him with one of his friends and their message to him!

I love doing fun and exciting things for Andrew for his birthday. Unfortunately for him, I'm running out of awesome ideas. Dinner, a gift and a card are still a must though!

His Accomplishments

Just passed an exam? Got a promotion at work? Moments like these call for a celebration. It's also nice to use these moments to remind him how proud I am of him and to tell him how much I love him (not that I don't on a daily basis).

What moments do you like to celebrate with your loved one?

Linking up for Totally Posted Tuesday

18 comments:

  1. we celebrate birthdays and anniversaries as well. he just got a huge bonus at work so we'll be celebration that too. i agree -- special moments need and should be celebrated :)

    -kathy | Vodka and Soda

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  2. We used to celebrate our dating anniversary, but now we've decided to just celebrate our wedding anniversary moving forward. I also love celebrating birthdays and making them super special!! I love that story of you renting the hotel room...that is an amazing gift!! I love "experience" gifts like that. Surprises are always great too!! We also always celebrate accomplishments...usually just dinner out or something simple like that :)

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  3. celebrating birthdays is the best!! you look beautiful as a blonde! you can pull off any color! congratulations to andrew on his promotion! i hope 2014 has been treating you well, alex!! xoxox

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  4. Oh my gosh that is hilarious....and so something Mark would say about being easy to remember. I love celebrating accomplishments with a great meal and a bottle of the special wine that you store away for times like those!
    ~Amanda
    Meet @ the Barre

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  5. YES! I love this and of course I love celebrating anniversaries, birthdays and big accomplishments!! I think it's important and a great way to show your significant other that you care and that you are proud of them!! Matthew's birthday is next month and I have been planning away :)

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  6. I love that you say your relationship has been a running joke lol. Now you can never do the "we're breaking up..." April Fool's joke because that would just be WAY too mean to do on your anniversary, haha.

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  7. Okay so when I first glanced at this post I just saw the picture and I thought it was an engagement picture and my first thought was "Ahhhhh!!!!!! I must whats app her immediately!!!!" Also it's totally fine that you guys don't do Valentine's Day because you are a pretty damn good girlfriend year round and that's what's important, right? x

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  8. i'm really big on celebrating special moments with a boyfriend. his birthday? i had that gift planned MONTHS in advance.

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  9. I celebrate everything I can! Even if it is for myself! And man you are an awesome girlfriend. That hotel room thing is so sweet and thoughtful. My guy and I celebrate monthaversaries too and we have competitions on how will remember first. I always win :)

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  10. Love all of these! It is important to celebrate accomplishments just as much (if not more) than everything else!

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  11. Definitely accomplishments, first and foremost! Raises, promotions, etc. Those are always fun to celebrate! We celebrate my birthday but not his because he was raised Jehovah's Witness. Don't ask, I don't get it either :) But at least he compromises with me and celebrates mine! I appreciate he does that. Also, we don't really have an anniversary because there wasn't like a pinpointed day where we decided to be official. It just kind of happened and developed over time. However, since we know we started dating in October and were pretty serious by Christmastime, we celebrate every winter by doing a little staycation somewhere nice in the city. While it's never on the same date, it's nice to celebrate how far we've come as a couple and how happy we make each other. Also, his birthday is in December and while he doesn't believe in celebrating it, he knows when we do this it's partially for me to celebrate him being born. We call it celebrating "just because" as a code phrase for it because we both know what it's really celebrating but it's just our little secret. I give him his gifts all wrapped up in non-birthday themed paper and those are his "just because" gifts. Haha. Thank goodness for compromising!

    Obviously I am the one who makes big deals of things so while he was raised to do the complete opposite, I'm so lucky he meets me halfway. He's awesome. Sorry for the novel!

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  12. all great reasons to celebrate the love! BUUUUT i also don't think it hurts to show a little extra love on the VD too :)

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  13. Anniversaries are so important to celebrate. I was actually sad that we stopped celebrating when we first dated after we were married. The wedding date sort of takes over for the anniversary which is kind of dumb. We officially started dating on October 7, 2005. But our wedding date is July 10,2010. That's five whole years later! I want the credit for being with Rob for nine years, not just the credit for being married for three!
    It's so important to appreciate and acknowledge your significant others achievements in life. I really need to remember that.. I tend to overlook some stuff.

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  14. I look for ANY excuse to celebrate the good stuff. I think my favorite from a past relationship was when we'd carpool and leave work early - we'd stop at our favorite dive mexican bar for margaritas. True love.

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  15. Birthdays are so fun! I love your scrapbook idea!!!!

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  16. I am literally obsessed with Birthdays! (Mine and Others!) Everyone should have that one day a year where they feel special. Josh and I aren't engaged yet so we still celebrate on our dating anniversary each year. We plan a trip each year to a new city that we've never been rather than spending money on gifts!

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  17. great ways to celebrate! i like making birthdays special as well. we have been lazy about celebrating our dating anniversary so hopefully we'll be better about celebrating our wedding anniversary ha.
    -- jackie - jade and oak

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  18. We celebrate everything too! I just love celebrating, and eating.. mostly eating. Ha ha! Our "official" get together date was April 16, 2009! Just 15 days after yours!

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I love comments. Thanks for making me smile!