Danuary 2013

One of my favorite months is coming to a close. What’s that you ask? My favorite month? Oh… it’s DANuary! My annual month-long anniversary gift to my fantastic husband is to turn the month of January (the month following our December anniversary) into a time when he feels honored and loved. You can read about 2011 here and 2012 here.

This year, I wasn’t sure what to give him. Last year’s Night Light book reading didn’t go quite as I’d planned, and I think the Jesus Calling recordings were a little too low-tech. I pondered and prayed, and decided to work with the kids on making this year’s Danuary gift.

I figured out how to record an audio file on my laptop and then burn those files to a CD. I started searching my files for items to record. I found inspiring stories, favorite scriptures, a recording of his ultimate favorite worship moment at church, the audio from our favorite part of The Incredibles movie, and a few other surprises and started working on laying down the audio tracks. I also interviewed the kids (separately), had them perform a special “talent” (Katie played her recorder and Jackson and I told jokes to each other), and recorded Jackson singing and Katie reading a special book to him. I found an old letter Dan wrote me from our dating years, and read that for him along with a poem he wrote me back in the day. I recorded a favorite devotion for him, and even two things I wrote myself. I think my favorite of all 31 tracks is the one where Jackson sings “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” It so perfectly captures his silly personality. One day, I will be so thankful I recorded my kids’ voices when they were little.

I gave Dan the CD when we had our celebration dinner, and he listened to it each morning on his way to work. This year’s Danuary gift isn’t as extravagant as those in year’s past, but I think it helped remind Dan each day how special he is to our family. I love you, sugar!

What I Want for 2013

I stopped making New Year’s resolutions a few years ago, when I realized I kept putting the same resolution on the list (for MANY years in a row) and it never got accomplished. I felt like a failure. Who needs that?!

I am at the start of a new year, in what is also my birth month, and I am looking ahead with anticipation. After this past year, what kind of adventures does God have in store for me? I say “adventure” because it’s going to be fun and probably a little scary. But scary just makes it exciting, right? (C’mon, say yes so I am not so scared!)

I have a few goals in mind this year. NOT resolutions, just goals. In fact, maybe the word “goals” is too strong of a word. Maybe I should just call them “like-tos.” (Don’t want to pressure myself, you know.)

1. Build friendships: start new ones and strengthen old ones. 2011 was a parched and dusty friendship year for me, and I am craving soul connection with other women who understand what makes me tick – and who tick with the same rhythm. I want to connect with women who are in love with Jesus and pursue Him. I have a few women already in my life who do this, and I want to deepen my friendship with them too.
2. Read more: my own “grown up” books and books with the kids. And I am committed to finishing this one certain book that I started in the spring of 2011 and got stuck 60% of the way through. It’s a doozy and will require lots of self examination, but I know it’s crucial to my emotional health.
3. Less rituals: near the end of 2011, I found myself drained by the daily rituals I got myself wrapped inside. I had three devotions I was reading every morning, a daily diary I was trying to keep, plus my box of index cards on the kitchen table. Too much! This year, I cut out my devotions (and have been spending more time with my Bible), got rid of the daily diary (in favor of emailing a short synopsis to myself at the end of each day because I type faster than I can handwrite now), and decided to simply stop the daily index card notes. So far, I feel much less tethered than before.
4. Marriage: I want to pour into my marriage more this year. I have been texting Dan a prayer each morning, letting him know he is a priority from the moment I wake. There’s also Danuary, plus the desire that I want to be a servant to him in our marriage this year.
5. Creativity: I have a few “like-tos” I want to tackle, like growing in my photography hobby (I’d love to finally take a class to help some things make better sense!) and making some more photo art and subway art pieces.
6. Breast self exam: yep, I know this is a weird one to add to a list of “like-tos.” It was a resolution I made last year that I kept until mid-October, which I was pretty proud of. This year, I’m keeping my promise to do my monthly BSE.

So, that’s my list. What’s on yours, and how are you doing so far?

On My Mind

I sat down at least three times in the last few days, intending to write and simply catch my blog up on life in our house. For some reason, I don’t know where to start so I just don’t start at all. That’s silly, because it means I might miss the life that takes place every day. So, I’m just gonna start writing and see where it takes me. Here are the things on my mind.

First, my computer is making blogging hard for me lately. I think my memory is getting full, and the computer is slow to respond. I think it’s time for a routine checkup. Ugh.

I decided not to have a new year resolution this year. Instead, I have a goal of taking twelve photos (one a month) that will push me to try new techniques. One of the first tasks on my Photography Bucket List is to take a photo of a snowflake. I was inspired by this post on Candelions that I read last year. When it snowed here a week ago, I had my first attempt at a snowflake photo. I learned a few things and want to try again for a better photo, but so far this isn’t too bad:

These are snowflakes that fell on my car’s bumper. Next time, I have a better plan in mind.

In December each year, my cousin sends a potted amaryllis to me and my sister. It’s something our mom used to do for us, and our cousin has assumed the responsibility of doing it now. My amaryllis has bloomed twice already. I got out my new macro lens filter (isn’t it pretty?)…

…and tried some close up photos of the amaryllis. The white flower looked lovely in the afternoon light.

I also got close to a droplet I spied after watering the plant. It looked like a glass marble to me.

When I bought my first digital SLR camera, I had no idea how much photography would speak to my soul. It still makes me laugh that I can take 37 photos of the same exact water droplet, and get such joy in it.

This next photo gives me lots of joy too. I found this scrap of paper in Katie’s backpack, and it makes me laugh to read it again. It says:

The Secret Snow Day Ceremony:
1. Put your pj's on backward.
2. Put white socks on your hands.
3. Wave your socky hands up high and chant: "Snow, snow do not stop. Pretty please with whip cream on top."
4. Throw your pillow and try to catch it with your head 3 times.
5. Go to sleep upside down.

I love watching Katie’s imagination and pure innocence take shape. When I asked her about the scrap of paper, she said she read about the ceremony in a book. I haven’t caught her doing a “socky hand chant” yet, but you better believe I’m going to try and videotape it if I do!

There are a few other things rolling around in my head, but they’re going to have to wait until I can dedicate an entire blog post to them. Big changes are on the way… and they deserve a devoted post! Let’s hope I can find time to do it right. But for now, it’s late and I have a DANuary commitment to uphold. Good night!

DANuary

The month of Danuary has returned to our house! And, no, that isn’t a typo. It’s really Danuary with a “D” because it’s a month I like to devote to my husband Dan.

As best as I can recollect, this was an idea I started for our anniversary in December 2008. I have always tried to be creative with the anniversary gifts I select for Dan, but it’s hard for two reasons: 1) He’s a guy and guys don’t get typical gifts like diamond anniversary bands, and 2) Our anniversary is two days before Christmas, for Pete’s sake!

In the past, Dan has given me a one-size-fits-all anniversary gift idea. He said I should just buy some lingerie and, well… you know. (This IS a family blog, y’all!) So in 2008, my brilliant idea was to give him thirty days of, well… you know. (I’ve never discussed this on the blog, and probably never will again. But it DOES serve a purpose right now, besides embarrassing my sweet husband.)

We quickly dubbed the thirty days “Danuary,” since it would encompass the month following our anniversary. It stuck, and has become a repeat present four years in a row.

HALT! Before you go getting all “ewww” and all “THIRTY days for FOUR years in a row?!!!”, let me explain. The original Danuary was wonderful and all (that’s the only detail I will ever publish), but we learned a lesson from it the following year: sometimes spontaneous is better. Our goal for 2009 was two weeks, but it didn’t go as well as the first year.

In 2010, I changed it up a bit. I had gotten a laptop and was becoming more attached to it than I was to Dan in the evenings. I would (and often still do) stay up after he went to bed, surfing the Internets and wasting time while the man I loved went to bed alone. For a girl who once looked forward to marriage simply so I could have someone to sleep beside, this routine needed to change. So for our anniversary in December 2010, I promised to spend Danuary 2011 unplugged. That was defined as: 1) Not using the computer when Dan was home (evenings and weekends), and 2) Go to bed when Dan did. It was a hard – but wonderful! – month; hard to get my computer work done when he wasn’t home, but a wonderful way to spend Danuary and to honor our marriage with a sweet anniversary gift.

With all that explanation out of the way, I know you’re wondering what the anniversary gift was this past December. And now I’ll tell you!

Dan and I went to dinner at our new favorite restaurant (The Tavern Kitchen and Bar – if you live in St. Louis, you should GO!), and I gave him three gifts.

The first was a three ring binder, with all the ticket stubs we’ve collected over the years organized into chronological order. I love having a visual reminder of so many fun times we’ve shared. It’s also cool to see the ticket stubs where we started doing things with our kids.

The first ticket in the binder is from the second concert I ever attended: Aerosmith in 1988. Yes, I know this ticket wasn’t from an event I attended WITH Dan. But it’s still part of the fabric of our lives, so every ticket stub I found was included in the binder. (And, yes, those are the ticket stubs from when I saw Rain Man, The Land Before Time, and Dream Team. Ha!)

The second gift I gave him was a book. It’s called Night Light, and it’s a devotional for couples to read together (written by a couple too). I started reading it out loud to Dan at bedtime this week, and it’s been nice to make time for each other. Of course, this means I have to go to bed when he does, so that’s the second part of Danuary.

The last gift I gave him was one I wanted to write about in this post about voice recordings, but couldn’t spoil the surprise for Dan. Now that he’s received it, I can spill the beans! I recorded the entire month of January from Jesus Calling for him on a cassette. I recited each day’s devotion into my cheapo cassette recorder, and personalized it by adding Dan’s name to whatever Jesus is saying to him that day. This gift is a way for Dan to commune with Jesus, as well as hear my voice to encourage him each morning while he commutes to work.

You know our family is 100% invested in the Advent Conspiracy movement, but it’s so much more than a Christmas thing for me. Changing how we do Christmas (especially the gift-giving) has changed how I look at gifts the rest of the year. I want to give gifts of presenCE, even for my anniversary. I hope this inspires you to do something similar. And I hope each of you have a wonderful and blessed DANuary too!

P.S. Feel free to change it up a bit. A friend of mine, whose husband is named Larry, gave the gift of FebruLARRY one year. I’ve also heard of MARKch from another friend. Let me know if you come up with your own!