Whitney & Ryan: Wedding Anniversary #5

Last week Ryan & I celebrateD our 5th year of marriage. I thought our 4th year of marriage saw its fair share of difficult & challenging times. Apparently I hadn't seen anything yet as year 5 proved to be even more trying and we faced the worst event of our lives to date: the loss of our baby due to miscarriage. We have always been committed to our marriage and our family so we continue to come together to get through the struggles and back to where we started.

You might recall when we celebrated our first anniversary and the gift that kept on giving all year long. We had a great time on our monthly dates and continued to enjoy our passion for exploring. For year two, I combined cotton & china into a beautiful Thanksgiving week getaway up in Mont Tremblant, Canada. In year three, a traditional leather gift came in the form of a TUMI travel wallet while the modern crystal gift included a Thanksgiving dinner at The Crystal Hotel in Portland, OR. Year four brought "tropical" fruits & flowers together with a trip to Bermuda followed by an upgraded {appliance} TV for our bedroom.

This year I wanted to *again* stick with tradition and put a spin on the modern gift. Traditionally wood is the gift of choice for year #5. Wood is thought to represent strength and a solidified relationship. Silver{ware} is the modern gift due to representing connectedness.

The Greenbrier has always been such a special place for us, and we always have a wonderful time there. So I figured it would be the perfect place for us to utilize the "woods" during Thanksgiving. They have so much to offer including hikes, archery, falconry, and even dining on top of the mountains. We are really looking forward to a week away and exploring the Greenbrier with the kids. 

For silver{ware},I found the most fitting cuff links for Ryan. They are wine corks stamped with the year 2011 (when we were married) wrapped in silver. They are such a timeless piece and represent the beginning of our life as a couple.

And because 5 years is a big milestone, I also got a little combo gift for Ryan & I. We love sushi and often made Friday nights sushi dine-in at home a regular thing. So when I saw these bamboo {wood} sushi serving sets, I grabbed two for us. Bamboo is semi in the wood family and chop sticks are a form of silverware!

I hope that we can always keep the tradition alive from year to year in celebrating our anniversary in a BIG way and cherishing the things that we love the most.