As I wait...

I wanted to finish a story that I started over a month ago. It was the post celebrating our 5 year anniversary. This post included how we got engaged. I started this story to show what I got my husband for our anniversary, but never got around to it.

Before I tell (or show) I want to explain a couple things. I do not consider ourselves poor. I feel like we have what we need and some extra fun things. However, over the years a lot of our income has been spent on our future children. This being said our gifts to each other have become gifts that take time and thought and not necessarily money. All in all I am actually grateful for this. The jewelry, I-pods, clothes, gift certificates, etc. are all very nice, but I have come to really appreciate and cherish those gifts that include the heart. This is probably not something I would have agreed with in my younger days.

The other thing I wanted to explain was how we always try to get each other anniversary gifts that correspond with the "recommended gift." For example, Year 1 is Paper, Year 2 is Cotton...you get the gist. Who came up with this list? Probably Hallmark, but it is fun to try to come up with something and get creative.

So about a month before our anniversary I was trying to come up with what I can get Jerry. The 5 year anniversary gift is Wood. What the heck is made of wood, that does not cost a lot, and still a good gift? I mentioned in my engagement story "our tree." This is where Jerry proposed to me. After we were married we would go out there a few times a year for a picnic or just take a walk.

Not too long ago we went for a walk and to my dismay...our tree was no longer. Our tree was now a stump. All the other trees were still standing, blooming, and I think even laughing at our poor little stump :O( I looked at Jerry and said, "I do not think that is a good sign."

As I was brainstorming what to get Jerry I thought about our poor stump. I immediately thought...hey maybe I could chop down the stump and make him something out of it. That way our tree would be with us forever! It was like a Tuesday day when I came up with this epiphany and I dragged my friend at lunch down to the park (no I did not have a chainsaw handy, I just wanted to check it out). As we walked up to the spot where our beautiful tree once stood, my heart sunk once again. The stump was gone. I sputtered something under my breath like "Lord, can I please have a good sign for once." About that time is when my friend kicked something in the ground. One lonely chunk of wood stuck out of the ground. It was not much, but it was the only thing left of our tree...and it was mine.

So after some further thought, some assistance from a handy friend of ours...I present to you Jerry's 5 year anniversary gift...

I know it may not look like much. However, down the road when our children *sigh* ask us about how we met, how we knew they were the one, how we got engaged, etc. we will have a little piece (the last piece) of that beautiful tree and that perfect memory.