As much as I would like to report that we whisked ourselves away for our first anniversary and finally took that big honeymoon we nixed due to having no moolah…the answer is sadly, no.

However, all was not lost!

We are trying really hard to save and pay down debt right now. While we didn’t want to necessarily cheap out on our anniversary, we mutually decided that we would get more creative rather than dig deeply in our wallets.

The traditional first anniversary gift is paper. The modern first anniversary gift is a clock. We decided to honor both the traditional and modern, and this is what we came up with.

I’m not a crafty girl, and given the paper theme, my instinct was, “I’m screwed.” But, instead of sit in the corner and have a panic attack, I decided to see what I could come up with given my limited skills. I read somewhere (sorry, I can’t remember where?!) about a couple who exchanges letters every year on their anniversary. They recount important events that occurred throughout the year, and compile it into one letter.

I LOVED this idea! Like really loved it. I talked about it with L, and we decided that we would write each other a letter every year. We already give each other cards several times a year (Papyrus makes a killing off of us), so this shouldn’t be too hard for us.

I bought a cheap, but beautiful album at Marshalls (for $6.99) to house all our letters. It has several pages (which I pointed out to L) which means we are stuck with each other for a loooong time 😉

The writer/romantic in me really hopes we keep up this tradition.

For dinner, L and I decided that we would cook. Or rather…HE would cook. I had ripped off this wonderful Bibimbap recipe (via Kelly at Sunset House) from my buddy, Cathleya (wifeylifey) and L decided that our anniversary night would be the perfect time to try his hand at my favorite Korean dish. It turned out really amazing! I never directly told Cathy that we had cooked it for our anniversary, so this is a very public “Thank you, C” for posting about it 🙂

{The meal turned out perfectly delicious, and I got to fawn over my husband, which, of course, he loved.}

{Sitting at our really old coffee table about to chow down. Yes, those are paper towels as place mats. We are classy.}

We agreed not to get each other personal gifts. As any spouse knows, this can sometimes be construed as code for “get my wife a gift.” This time I really didn’t want anything, but L ended up getting me a little something anyway. He surprised me with this beautiful necklace from Anna Sophia Designs. And what do you know…it’s made of Japanese PAPER. So appropriate given my heritage and that it was “paper” anniversary.

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Last but not least, we talked about splurging on a nice gift that both of us could enjoy for a long time. We decided we would pick out a beautiful clock and get a personal message engraved on it to commemorate this first year together. I wish I had picture for you, but we haven’t picked out the clock yet. I’m a terrible procrastinator, and I am having trouble deciding.