This year, on Friday the 13th, the hubs turned 30. We’re also nearing on the 6th anniversary of our first date, which is absolutely crazy to me. I cannot believe we have been together so long, with our relationship now spanning from our early 20’s and going into our 30’s. For the past several weeks, I have been searching for the perfect birthday surprise for him. I mean, you only turn 30 once! I wanted it to be the most special birthday yet. My first thought was that we should go on a trip together (mostly because that’s what I would want to do for a big birthday). I looked at going to Iceland, Hawaii, Peru, and a lot of other places, but John said that a trip just didn’t seem right. He wanted to go on a big trip at a later date, and it was too stressful to plan a vacation around the time he is applying for fellowships (more on that later!).
Then I stumbled across a few posts about getting “30 birthday presents for 30 years”, an idea that I fell in love with. John keeps telling me that I “Leslie Knope” people. If you have ever seen Parks and Recreation, you know that Leslie Knope goes above and beyond to find or create incredibly thoughtful gifts for people, making it impossible to match or surpass her level of awesomeness. He probably has a point. 30 presents seemed like a lot of presents at first, but many of them were small and under $5. A lot of them were edible, consisting of John’s favorite foods and treats. It just made me happy that he had a big overwhelming pile of 30 presents to open on his big day, and he seemed excited. John likes to live life very simply – he doesn’t want or need flashy or expensive things. He only likes to have the necessities, and it’s one of my favorite things about him. But this time, I wanted to make sure he was the center of attention, and thought he deserved to be spoiled a little bit. Here’s a list of some of the things he got to unwrap:
- Birthday card
- Gum
- Cheez-Its
- Cereal
- Gummy worms
- Gatorade
- A pillow with a pug’s face (which was more a present for me)
- I got a packet of 6 white V-neck shirts and wrapped them in 6 individual boxes
- Basic socks
- Various patterned socks (including Zelda socks)
- Underwear
- Swim trunks
- Shoe polish
- Car cleaning wipes
- Pants
- Button down shirt
- Coupon for a back rub
- Nintendo Switch Donkey Kong game
- Nintendo Switch controller
- USA Men’s soccer jersey with his name on it
- Jord watch
I asked him which present was his favorite and he said he had a hard time deciding between the Jord watch and the soccer jersey, but the watch wins. I picked out the dark sandalwood and emerald of the “Frankie” series, and it is even more gorgeous in person! I want to steal it for myself! It’s also such a special parallel because his wedding ring is wooden as well. He would have been happy getting just the watch for his birthday, but I was excited to give him 29 other surprises as well. He cannot wait to wear it!
I would highly recommend Jord if you are looking for a gift for a special someone. Click on the link below to enter a drawing to win $100 towards your very own Jord watch – winner gets $100 plus free shipping and free sizing! Or you can enter coupon code lifeoffite to receive $25 off your first order!
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