#46... 30 surprises for 30 days (Hubby's 30th Birthday!)

So I have been meaning to write this blog for a long time… loooong time. Since about May of 2012. It’s funny, I have a draft from August and I started with the words “this blog is WAAAYYY over due…”, haha that was 5 months ago. I guess it is never too late. Right!?

May of 2012 was a big month for us, Josh turned the big 3-0. I wanted it to be epic. I wanted it to be a birthday he would never forget. Josh pretty much felt the complete opposite. He was dreading turning 30 and was in no way, shape, or form excited about getting older. So me, being the optimistic person that I am, was even more determined to make it special, to make it mind blowing. 

I knew I was going to throw Josh a surprise party... I had that planned since about January. But when Josh threw me a surprise party for my 25th birthday (which was EPIC btw), I knew I had to switch it up. I had to do something else, something extra special. I actually came up with the idea at work with some help from one of my clients. Our ideas quickly grew into something that I think was borderline genius (if I do say so myself J).

Enter 30 surprises for 30 days. Not really much to explain… I gave Josh a surprise everyday for 30 days leading up to his 30^th birthday. Now that I had the plan, I had to come up with the 30 surprises. This was a little more challenging than I expected. Coming up with 20 surprises wasn’t too bad but I had to get creative with the last 10. This is how I did it.

30 surprises for 30 days:

Set a budget: Super important. My husband and I set a budget every month for every penny that we spend. So it is no different for birthdays. I got the same budget that he had for my birthday… it has been so long since I did this but I think my budget was around $400.

pick out cards: I am addicted to cards. I will stand in the card section for 45 mins and not even feel bad. My plan was to have a card set out every day on the table for Josh to open and read what his surprise would be. I found the perfect set of cards (set of 50… enough for mistakes!) at TJMaxx and I made the numbers on my computer that I glued to the front of the envelope.  

determine surprises: I didn’t have all 30 surprises picked out before the 30 day countdown began. I started planning about 2 weeks out. I printed out blank calendar pages of April and May and wrote in PENCIL what surprises I had planned for what days. I tried to plan a week at a time, which seemed to work really well. I used pencil because the surprises would change all the time. If I had something planned and it didn’t work on a certain day, I could easily change around the schedule without ruining my calendar… I hate scribbling stuff out!

write everthing down: I kept track of everything I bought and everything I had planned in one notebook. I kept a running total of where I was with the budget so I knew I wouldn’t go over. I would write down ideas I had for surprises. This helped tremendously. I would have been so lost and confused without my notebook.

 set the plan into action: Lay the first card wherever you think the person will find it. I would put it on the corner of the table everyday. The first card explained what he could expect over the next 30 days. It was so much FUN! Josh was excited to read his card everyday. I was SO excited for each and every surprise I gave him… even though some of them were small, I put a ton of thought into each and every surprise. 

A list of some of the surprises: I can’t remember all of them!

-Starbucks coffee mug

-Gatorade water bottle

-Nike dri-fit t-shirt

-Coupon book (back massage, wife cooks dinner, watch what you want on TV…)

-Night of ME playing video games with HIM (this was funny!)

-Baseball tickets to the Tides

-Avett Brothers tickets (this was my favorite!)

-Double dates with good friends

-May Day basket (South Dakota tradition)

-‘30 reasons I love you’ letter

-Best friend coming into town from NC (he helped with the surprise party)

-Surprise birthday party (thrown a week before his actual birthday)

**I will try to add more if I can remember them… my memory is TERRIBLE**

Avett Brothers Concert

Surprise Party

Some surprises were big. Some were small. Most were things he said he had wanted at some point. Ladies, when your man says he likes something, write it down and buy it for him later! It means more than you will ever know J This was so much fun and I think it will always be remembered. 

Happy 2013!

Okay... so first thing, I haven't blogged in about a million years. Been busy, been lazy, and life just gets in the way. But I was journalling (that sounds super corny but I do it b/c I have a terrible memory and when I am old and decrepit I want to be able to read things that I did in my life b/c I know I won't remember them!) and was just about to start to write what happened in the year 2012 when I realized I blogged about it last year (posted here)... better keep the tradition alive :) 

Unlike last year, I have set some 'goals' for myself. They are simple (well they SHOULD be) and most definitely attainable.

   1. Run at least 1 mile 6x week

   2. Re-read my Neuro notes after class

   3. Read my bible everyday 

There you have it... short and to the point. And if I really care about my God, myself, and my schooling they really should be SUPER easy. 

2012. Wow. It seriously flew by. I feel like a million things happened. But it was good. Big life changing events took place... that always makes things interesting :) So here is my list of what I remember (and with a lot of help from Facebook) happened in 2012. 

What this last year looked like in the Johnson household (good & bad):

· Went striper fishing for the first time on New Years day

· Tried Pho for the first time… MUCH to my dismay

· We went to our first UNC Basketball game (and they won!)

· My Mama (and Xena!) came to visit

· I got ACCEPTED into PT school… BOOM! And my mom was with my when I got the phone call J

· We ran the Shamrock ½ Marathon… my 2^nd, Josh’s 1^st

· Josh threw me an incredible surprise party for my 25^th birthday (I was so surprised I cussed!)

· Gave Josh 30 surprises for 30 days leading up to his 30^th birthday

· Saw Avett Brothers in concert (this was one of Josh’s surprises)

· Got my very own Macbook Pro (happy dance!)

· Was introduced into the realm of Kettlebell workouts… ouch!

· Passed the CSCS

· Stopped working full time at InMotion to start PT school… toughest summer of my LIFE!

· Became overly comfortable working with cadavers (EWW)

· Starting singing in our churches worship band

· Celebrated our 3^rd anniversary in Nags Head… I know what your thinking, that sounds dreamy. Oh yes… it was indeed J

· Watched my best friend marry the man of her dreams (while in SoDak… two birds, one stone)

· Met my father for the first time since I was 10 years old

· Josh’s family welcomed Layne Taylor into the world!

· Received my white coat

· Moved out of Midhurst Ct and moved to Woodstock Ct (in a way cooler house that is on water with a backyard the size of Rhode Island)

· Josh got major ankle surgery… no fun and rehab will go well into 2013

· Became Josh’s chauffer (surgery on the right foot means no driving, for a very very long time)

· Watched all 8 Harry Potter movies for the 1st time (Josh was so proud) and actually enjoyed them

· Threw our 2^nd annual Prethanksgiving Thanksgiving… and my long lost cousin Jonny was in town for it

· Tapped into my inner Marther Stewart (I knew she was there all along)

Even though 2012 was packed full of all sorts of goodness, I just have a feeling 2013 is going to be better. Yes, school will most definitely take up a majority of my time but this is the year of doing, the year of getting things done. And my list is pretty big. That new house that we moved into… huge project. But it will indeed become our home J Here is to another year. Making new memories (that I will inevitably forget and have to write down) and just making it count.

HAPPY NEW YEAR