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5 Ways to Celebrate Your Anniversary When Your Spouse is Deployed

Note: I may earn money or products from the companies, products, or links mentioned in this post.

During the month of our third anniversary my husband was deployed. It was our first time being apart for an anniversary, but probably not the last. It was a hard one for me because I was away at my in-law’s house and because they were so busy no one was able to stop and help me celebrate or make me feel better. However, when I got back home several friends took  me out to “celebrate” so I didn’t feel left out and my husband and I still sent gifts to each other.

I have been wondering how other military wives celebrate when their husband is away. Do you wait until he gets back? Do you send presents even though he is far away? Do you celebrate with a friend? No matter what you do, there is no wrong way to do it!

I wanted to share some tips that I have learned along the way about ways to celebrate your anniversary. There is no need to feel alone that day, so here are some things you can do!

ways to celebrate your anniversary

Ways to Celebrate Your Anniversary:

1. Plan ahead.
Most likely you will know at least a little bit ahead of time that your spouse will be gone during your anniversary. Plan ahead for that day, by making plans with family or friends. Tell them that you will need a little cheering up that day and ask them to save the date and go out to dinner or to a movie with you.

2. Don’t Spend it Alone!
I really think this is key. Whether you wait to celebrate when your spouse gets back, or you celebrate over Skype or some other way, don’t spend that day at home alone. Get out, spend time with friends, make the most of that day. Even if you can’t be with your spouse, it can still be a good (and memorable) day!

3. Plan a Special Skype Date.
If you can, set aside a special time that you can Skype with your spouse. Whether it be on your actual anniversary or on another day it doesn’t matter, but set aside at least a little time just for the both of you. Maybe you can dress up a little or have a little surprise gift ready to show him, but no matter what you do make it fun!

4. Send Presents.
My husband and have a thing we started on our very first anniversary. We thought it would be fun to buy each other gifts from the traditional anniversary gift list. This list gives the year and what the gift ought to be made of. For example: the first anniversary is paper, the second is cotton, and the third is leather. We have had so much fun every year trying to come up with a new and unique gift to match the list!

Since our third anniversary was leather, we both decided to still go with it even though he was deployed. I was excited to see what we both would come up with and we were both able to keep it a surprise until we got our packages in the mail. I got him a beautiful leather case for headphones, and he sent me a beautiful handmade leather journal straight from Kuwait! You can see what the presents looked like here.

The point is, just because you are apart from your spouse doesn’t mean you can’t send gifts. If you want to wait to give him your main gift when he gets back fine, but still send something small or fun for him to open on that day. It will be something you both look forward to!

5. Have Your Own Candlelit Dinner!
I loves this idea from Aprille at Beautiful in His Time. This is the perfect example of someone who made the best of her anniversary and made it memorable! I hope you enjoy reading about it as much as I did! Candlelight Dinner… Why Not?

 

What about YOU? What are some unique ways you have spent an anniversary when away from your spouse? Would you do any of the above ideas?

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6 Comments

  1. This is fun! Though outside of deployment, we don’t have an option of sending mail here (if he’s on course or exercise there isn’t really a mail option outside of evergencies) so I think that might be why we gave up on the gift thing. But I’ve definately set a nice table for myself on days I’ve fet down, what a fun blog!
    I look forward to being able to Sype date one day, we didn’t have internet access during our deployments but now that it’s there for other absences I’ve gotten super into trying it! Great suggestions 🙂

    1. I also have this problem with not being able to actually send gifts… For this reason I’m doing some things for him and keeping them in a special box, so that I give all of them on the day we meet again

  2. Thanks for sharing this! I have a good friend whose husband is deployed and I am looking for ways to make their 11th anniversary special in his absence. We appreciate your family’s service!

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