Anniversary Celebrations

An anniversary is commonly associated with weddings. Married persons who regard the date of their marriage as important may mark the yearly date of their wedding in some special way.

Broader groups in society, especially the families, and even more especially the children of such a couple, may help to celebrate such occasions; this is particularly common on the 40th, 50th, and 60th annivs.

Retailers (especially jewellers), sensing a profit opportunity, have encouraged gift-giving on such special days, and may often suggest a hierarchy of types of gifts to reflect the importance of longer years of marriage (and perhaps of greater ability to purchase more expensive gifts).

Great First Anniversary Gift Ideas
From Sheri & Bob Stritof, About.com

The first anniversary of a marriage is often considered the year of adjustment. As you celebrate this special first wedding anniversary, reflect on the both the delicate and hardy aspects of your marriage and of your love for one another.

Here are some first anniversary gift ideas and symbols to help you choose paper or clock gifts associated with your first wedding anniversary.

First Anniversary Gift (Traditional): Paper. It symbolizes the strength in paper that comes from the interlaced connection of the paper's individual threads.

First Anniversary Gift (Contemporary/Modern): Clocks. Henry Van Dyke wrote, "For those who love, time is eternity."

First Anniversary Gift (Gemstone): Gold Jewelry, Pearl, or Peridot

First Anniversary Gift (Color): Gold or Yellow

First Anniversary Gift (Flower): Orange Blossom or Pansy.

The meaning of a pansy is that the recipient is being thought about. The pansy's name comes from the French word pensée which means thought or remembrance.

The meaning of an orange blossom is purity, innocence, eternal love, marriage and fruitfulness, and fertility.

Celebrating a First Anniversary Gift of Love

• Eat the top layer of your wedding cake.
• Purchase tickets for a movie, sports event, concert, theatre, etc. to attend together.
• Plan a picnic with paper plates and cups. If you saved any of these items from you wedding reception, use them!
• Have a paper treasure hunt for your spouse. Leave clues throughout the house that eventually lead to a romantic location.
• Use paper flowers for a centerpiece for your anniversary dinner. Or use the dried bouquet from your wedding.

First Anniversary Gift Suggestions

• An anniversary journal to record your memories of your anniversaries throughout your marriage. You may think that you will never forget how you celebrated your anniversaries, but chances are you will! Write down how you spent your anniversary dates together, and what wedding anniversary gifts you gave to one another.
• Purchase a framed share of stock in a major company that has meaning to the both of you.
• Stationery.
• Postcards.
• Calendar.
• Magazine subscription.
• Jigsaw puzzle.
• Paper weight.
• Book.
• Art print.
• Sheet music.
• Road map describing a trip to take together.
• Egg timer.
• Kitchen timer.
• Wrist watch.
• Outdoor sundial.

Homemade First Anniversary Gift Suggestions

• Stuff a piñata or pretty box with new paper money, confetti, love note, book on romance, magazine, love coupons, paper flower, picture of the two of you, etc.
• Love note.
• Love coupons.
• Print tickets for a movie night and watch your wedding video.

Marriage - About.com
http://marriage.about.com/od/1stweddinganniversary/p/1anniv.htm

Michigan is simultaneously known for its cities, supported by heavy industry, and its pristine wilderness, home to more than 11,000 lakes. The clang and clamor of Metro Detroit's crowded thoroughfares and busy factories stand in vivid counterpoint to the tranquility found in virtually every corner of the state.

An individual from Michigan is called a "Michiganian" or "Michigander". Also at times, but rarely, a "Michiganite". A resident of Michigan's Upper Peninsula ("the U.P.") is often called a "Yooper" . In turn, residents of the lower peninsula are referred to as "trolls" — because they "live below the Mackinac Bridge." As the Lower Peninsula is famously shaped like a mitten, residents often use their left hand or right palm as a shorthand "map" to illustrate the part of the state from which they hail, or any other location to which they may be referring. This may also be done for the Upper Peninsula by using the palm of the left hand turned on its side.

Its U.S. postal abbreviation is "MI" (traditional: "Mich."). The U.S. Navy's three ships called USS Michigan were named in honor of the state. Michigan is nicknamed the "Great Lakes State", and also the "Wolverine State", from a nickname earned during the Toledo War.

Michigan has over 130 lighthouses, the most of any U.S. state. The first lighthouses in Michigan were built between 1818 and 1822. They were built to project light at night and to serve as a landmark during the day to safely guide the passenger ships and freighters traveling the Great Lakes. See Lighthouses in the United States.

Michigan has the most registered boats (over 1 million) of any state in the Union.

Michigan is home to the Soo Locks, the world's busiest lock system, and the Mackinac and Ambassador Bridges, each formerly the world's longest suspension bridge.

Michigan's 2004 commemorative quarter featured the outline of the state and the surrounding lakes.

Michigan is home to more public golf courses than any other state.

Source: Wikipedia.org - English