Success ! Valentine Day + 1 and THANK YOU !

Thank You !
Without a doubt, yesterday was the best Valentines day I have ever had. All because everyone here was willing to help me out for the past 14 days.  Thanks to EVERYONE who helped out, either giving me ideas, forwarding my e-mails, commenting to Fawn on the last day or just reading this blog and keeping me going.  When I started I had no idea what I was getting into or how it would turn out.  But now sitting on the other side it was well worth it, and has turned around a day that I honestly dreaded each year.  Thank you for helping this crazy idea actually work !

The Final Story
Fawndear blogged about what happened yesterday on her blog, but from my side it went better than I had hoped.  Late Saturday night I finally posted the final blog after several revisions then went to bed.  She usually get’s up very early and reads some in the morning.  That is when she first read some of the early posts on Fawndear and went to my blog.  I was asleep (So I did not get any pictures) but she had NO IDEA whatsoever that I had been spending my evenings in the blog-space running this blog.  I then woke up and she (well…um…) let me know that it was a success !

Why it was a success and what I learned from this:
This was a very interesting experience for me.  I learned some things I did not expect and I wanted to write them down so that if other guys ever need an idea or a lesson they can read it here.

1. Blogs are Hard !: I had no idea how much time they took.  The blogging about the presents were as hard and time consuming as making each present.  However the collective suggestions from the blog made it worth it.
2. TAKE A RISK ! Guys, take a risk… It might turn out, or you might end up looking like a fool in public… but then again…it might turn out !
3. Nothing is the best thing ! From all the gifts this last 2 weeks the best 2 were the cheapest and the hardest to do.  These were when I had her take a morning off and offered to watch the kids during lunch on one day.  These both were suggestions on the blog, and they turned out great.  Nothing was what she really wanted !
4. Chocolate and Flowers: Are a ‘must’ but they cannot be the center (more like the side-dish)… Think of it this way, you are grilling a meal (Steak/hamburgers/hot-dogs) may be the main dish, but on the side you need chips and salsa.  The flowers and chocolate is the chips and salsa, they make it nicer but if you only show up with the chips and salsa for a grill, it is not much of a meal.
5. Finally do something different: This is hard, but I know of a great way to get new ideas for something different.

Again, thanks to everyone who help make one guy’s Valentine’s day great.  I have no idea if I will ever try something like this again, but perhaps the 12 days of Christmas would make a fun blog.

Thank You !

14dayguy !

My Valentine ! – From 14DayGuy

 

Today, for valentine’s day I have no gift to give her, other than to tell the world who she is, and why she is my Valentine.  I have spent the last 14 days running this blog (No easy task for a man I might say) and getting these little gifts about how I see her, but today, I can now spill the beans and let her know that this blog is really about HER !

Who is my Valentine? Fawndear !

http://fawndear.blogspot.com
Fawndear and I have been married for quite some time and over the past year she has told the world about the good/bad/and sometimes the ugly that goes on in our home.  So because of this I felt that for my Valentine gift I would make her this blog !

About Fawndear !

Well if you have been following this blog, you know that every day I picked a theme.  The themes were all something special about Fawndear that I wanted the world to know about.  I thought it would be fun to do some gifts around these themes.  But today there was NO theme, because today it was just about her, my valentine that I love,

I need your help ONE MORE TIME

For today I am asking everyone who reads this blog to go to http://fawndear.blogspot.com and make a comment that you found about her from 14dayguy and the blog here.  She can then come here to read this, and (I hope) make the same face that Meg Ryan makes at the end of ‘You’ve got mail’ when she realizes that Tom Hanks was really the person she was reading email’s about all the time !

Fawndear in 14 days

Day 1: Something for Nothing: Every day she runs the home. Get’s up before me, does the dishes, kids, everything.  I did it for ONE morning, I gave her it off, but let me tell you she does a LOT.  I lover her for it !

Day 2: Chocolate: She was really funny here.  She LOVES  chocolate, and I knew it.  I got her some chocolate shakes from our health store and chocolate covered (Sugar free) almonds.  I lover her for it !

Day 3:Health: This is a BIG one for her.  A couple of years ago she changed her live (Or I should say saved her life) totally with a focus on health.  See (http://fawndear.blogspot.com/2007/12/dream-come-true.html) This is a picture of us after at 10k near our home last summer !  I TOTALLY LOVE HER FOR THIS

  
I got her a water bottle that she takes to the gym. (nice and pink)

Day 4: Pampering at Home: This one fell flat.  I tried to set up a day where we would do an in-home spa.  It never really worked.  We got the bathroom clean but in the end she just enjoyed having the clean area, but to be honest she is more of the get-in-the dirt type of girl and not the spa type.  And I love her for this.

Day 5: Love in the Garden: She loves gardening.  Plain and simple.  I spent a few (say 30 min) outside the other day but no-matter what I did I could not get her to come inside.  If she had a day I am convinced it would be outside in the dirt.  And I love her for this.


Day 6: Let the games begin:  Also not one of my better days.  I got ‘Pass the Pigs’  Great game but not really a Valentine gift.  OK but she does love playing with the kids and I love her for that

Day 7: For the kids: No doupt, she is a mother.  Just read her blog and everything is about the kids.  Just check what she did for Valentine’s for the kids (http://fawndear.blogspot.com/2009/02/insufferable-contest.html And I love her for this.

Day 8: The gift of time: And she needs time.  I offered to watch the little one for one hour this week.  Wow that was hard, but I love her for what she can spend her time on.

Day 9: Flowers: She loves plants, and flowers.  I got her a small flower pot with a flower it it, but I love her for her for the flowers around our home.

Day 10: A little crafty: WOW, she has the craft gene coming out everywhere.  She started a second blog just for crafts (http://www.mommyblessings.com/) but I love her for all the little things she can do that I know I could NEVER do.
(Here are some dresses she made with her mom last summer from old T shirts…)

I got her 10$ for Michaels

Day 11: The sound of music:  Every night and every morning the family goes to sleep and will wake up to music in the home. I made her a new CD for waking up the family.  I love her for this.

Day 12: Love that can grow: I also gave her some seeds for the garden.  I wanted to help plant them (see day 5) but by the time I woke up the next day she had already planted them all.  Tomatoes, and peppers !  I love her for this, and I know I will REALLY love her when we make salsa this fall !

Day 13: Listen to your heart: Finally the last thing that I got for her was a  new phone for the home and setup Skype. (Really a guy/geeky thing) but the idea was that her heart is in our home, and I wanted to make sure that no-matter where she/or I were we could always communicate back home.  This was really my toy that she let me fiddle with and I love her for that.

Day 14: For My Valentine: And today, it is just about her, and I love her.  I loved her many years ago when we were young starting this path together, I love her now as we follow this road and all the curves that we go through each day, and I look forward to where this will lead us.

Thank You:
Thanks to everyone who helped make this blog.  Thanks for all the suggestions, and thanks for taking the time to help me make this Valentine’s day.

Day14Guy

Getting Ready !

OK; Nearly ready. I spent some time today sending out as many emails to as many people as I know telling them to get on the blog and get ready for tomorrow.

I have no idea how far it has gone out, but here is the email

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

PLEASE READ AND FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS/FAMILY AND MEMBERS

The Gig: OK here is the gig. I have setup a valentine blog http://14dayguy.blogspot.com where I have been asking suggestions for gifts for a wife. Fawn knows about this blog but she DOES NOT know that it is me that is doing it. My idea was to get a ton of great ideas, deliver them, and then have her realize on valentine day that I am the mystery blogger on 14dayguy ! (Think ‘You’ve got mail’)

How it will go down: I have already given her all the gifts but she does not know that I am 14dayguy. So tomorrow I am going to post a blog about her and (um… gosh…well…you know…gee..) how I feel about her and will then have a link to her blog. BUT THEN I NEED HELP !

I need help: I then need you and about every-other person that you know (Cousins, friends, church members, etc…) to read the blog then follow the link to her blog and make a comment. When she realizes that everyone is making a comment from the 14dayguy she is going to follow the comments back and then….Ahh… realize that the whole 14dayguy blog was for her. (Sweeeet !)

What to do: Really easy,
(1) Today forward this email to as many people that have a soft heart for mushy/corny love stories like ‘You’ve got mail’ (Heck forward it to even people who don’t.
(2) Tomorrow, read my blog at http://14dayguy.bogspot.com,
(3) Follow the link to her blog (I will link it there) and make a comment !
(4) Finally sit back and feel the warm satisfaction you get when you realize that just through you, and email, an internet connection, a blog site, and the billions of computers on the internet was just used to help a clueless man give his wife a valentine gift.

What NOT to do: DO NOT FORWARD THIS TO HER (IF YOU KNOW HER)
Please send this to as many people that you know but DO NOT forward to lists or other blogs that she might be on (like craft blogs, and MothersOnMotercycles )

Thank you to EVERYONE who has already been on the blog. This is the first time I have ever seen this done, and my hope is that this will turn out. Who knows? But either way I will blog what happens.

14dayguy !

Day 12, Day 13 and the big surprise for Valentine Day !

YEAH, YEAH, YEAH this has turned out WAY better than I thought. At this point I am completely on my own, but thanks to all the comments, I now have it completely planned out how the next day is going to go PLUS how the big day is going to happen.  THANK YOU !

 

Day 12 and 13 ( The sound of music and love that can grow)

So things got a little mixed up in the order that they are coming out but I knew that I would have to go solo for a couple of days as I worked on the other ones.  SO, I took some of the other great ideas from the comments to fill out the list.  For day 12 the theme is the “The Sound of Music’  I took an idea from health day and got her a CD of some music that she likes.  For day 13, I got some seeds that would go in the Garden.  (Again from a comment.)  So perhaps it was cheating a little but I could not let some of the good ideas go to waste and I needed a couple of solo… 

The Final List !
Anyway, here is the final list.  (Note: Listen to your heart and the big surprise !)  Those I will blog about !  (Also note that the actual day that these were given does not align with the order due to having pull this off in 14 days while keeping them a secret.  But all-in-all this is a great list !

1. Something for Nothing (Some time off)
2. Chocolate (Dark Chocolate Almonds)
3. Health: (MP3 player full of girls music)
4. Pampering at Home (A home spa with a clean bathroom + kids making bath salts + nails done)
5. Love in the Garden: (Some gardening)
6. Let the games begin. (A game for her and the kids)
7. For the kids (A little valentine for the kids)
8. The gift of time (<Solo>Watch the kids during the day)
9. Flowers (<Solo>Always a winner)
10. A little crafty: (Gift certificate to a craft store)
11. The sound of music: (<Solo> A CD of her favorite artist) 
12. Love that can grow: (<Solo> Seeds for the garden)
13. Listen to your heart: (<Solo> ???)
And 14 (THE BIG Surprise)

The BIG DAY !
OK the big day is coming up and I am going to need some final help on Saturday to pull it off.  She has no idea that I have been running this blog, (or any blog for that matter) so on Saturday I am going to post her blog location and ask that everyone post a comment on her blog pointing her here where she will see my final plan.... 

SO comment if you are in, and let others know.  I want her to be totally surprised when on Saturday she sees all these comments pointing her here !

Oh, it's going to be sweet !

Day 11 - A little crafty !

First off, the last time I asked for help I was looking for something for the kids. I really like the idea of the cupon + a little thing from the $ bin. I actually figure I will pull my wife into helping me make the cupons.

So day 8 is now taken care of.... Kids Cupon plus a little gift.

You may be wondering (YES I REALISE that today is the 10th) how am I going to get day 8 done? Well in truth, I went solo for a couple of days (see 9-10) so it will be out of order but that should be OK... (Um unless she reads this blog...) Uh... Um... Well OK then.... onto day 11 !

Day 11- A little crafty !
OK, I do not do crafts. I look at them. I can appreciate the work that it took to make them. I can enjoy watching them made. But when God put these hands of mine together he did NOT add crafts skills (or art skills) skills to the list of things these hands could do. Good news is that she does do crafts ! So, for day 11, I am looking for a craft related to Valentine's day, love, or something you know.. a crafty wife would like. Something easy that I can print out the instructions, get everything, then let her do her magic. I looked on Google for some crafts (some were OK) but I wanted to open this up in by blog for any ideas of crafts that you have seen/done/or just thought were cool.

So far every day has been fantastic, and now that I am am nearing the final day, I am soooo glad that I started this.

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS COMMENTED HERE !

Day 9 and Day 10 Going Solo !

Oh... WOW... I had to go solo for a couple of days. Fortunately I had some 'backup' ideas that I could go with. We PLUS I used a couple of extra ideas I got from the responses... so so far so good.

So here is what I ended up with going solo:

9. The gift of Time: I offered to watch the kids 'during the day' this week (She gets to pick the day and time.) (Actually came from an extra suggestion on the day of 'nothing' but I needed an extra one)

10. Flowers: I used the flower-backup idea and had to use it.

so now.... I have 4 more days !

Day 8 - For the kids...

After talking to some people at work about this, I am going to have to make this list permanate. THANKS to everyone for the input so far, and I am now on the home strech so please keep the ideas comming. Also if you know any GUYS that are now realizing that THIS IS THE WEEK, send them here ! There are more than enough ideas here, even if someone does 1 thing !

Anyway, looking at the games were fun. I think GREED is the winner (hey, nothing says adventure like dice and kids !), but the others looked fun and I am still trying to figure out what 'Pass-the-pig' is.

The current List:
1. Some time off
2. Dark Chocolate Almonds
3. Her MP3 player full of girls music
4. Home Pampering (A clean bathroom + kids making bath salts + nails done)
5. Some gardening
6. The game GREED !
7. And flowers (the old stand-by...)

Day 8 For the kids...
Um... Without saying too much about our family, let's just say that we have enough little-tikes in our family to ensure that every school in our district has a a reason to be... um... fimular with us. As such, I figured I would take one of the days and do a 'little' (emphasize little) something for the kids. I know I can do the usual, 'Boxes of Hearts' that you can only find this time of year, but that does not seem to cut it. Especially after they have figured out that Mom is getting something almost every day.

So, for today I am looking for ideas for kids that would be EASY enough for a 14dayguy, but would be a little different for the kids?

14dayguy

Day 7 - Let the Games Begin

So, I am new to blogging and I realized that if you are reading this blog for the first time it may not make sense what is going on.

What is this blog?
In short, I am trying to use the greater knowledge in the blogsphere as my own personal valentine's day counsler. Each day I have a theme of something that I want to do for Valentine's day, and on each day I ask the greater community for some ideas...

So far I have been totally floored at the response, and when this is done I will blog about how things have gone down now that that I am acutally implementing them.

WHAT? Yes that is right ! This poor guy has started implementing these and welll.... so far success... I will blog after I am done with the 14 about how things went, (And perhaps I will get her side of the story also.) but for now I am just trying to keep up with all the suggestions and the different themes.

Here is the list so far.
1. Some time off
2. Dark Chocolate Almonds
3. Her MP3 player full of girls music
4. Home Pampering (A clean bathroom + kids making bath salts + nails done)
5. Some gardening
6. Flowers (the old stand-by)

Day 7 - Let the games begin !
Whew ! Half way through it ! Time to relax. A few days ago my wife and I sat down with the kids and did something that we had not done in many months. Played a game ! It was noisy, messy, things were broken, someone lost and was sad, someone would not shut-up about winning, but it was fun. The only problem is that this was one of about 2 games we have and we have none that just the two of us can play. So day 7 will be to relax with a NEW game. For today I am just looking for reviews of games that she as a mom would like to play. One that is easy to start and not a mess to cleanup. (We already have enough of that.) Any game that you have played that you like, please tell me about it.

14DayGuy

Day 6 - Love in the Garden !

OK 5 down for my Valentine ! For, the day of pampering, I think involving the family will be the trick. So, here is where we stand:

1. Some time off (Great idea from yesterday)
2. Dark Chocolate Almonds
3. Her MP3 player full of girls music
4. Home Pampering (A clean bathroom + kids making bath salts + nails done)
5. Flowers (the old standby)

6 - Love in the Garden:
She is an outside girl, always has and I guess will always be. We have a sad garden out back that each year she tries to make something out of, so even for the most clueless of the most clueless guys out there, this one is easy. JUST DO SOMETHING IN THE GARDEN !

So, for this theme I already know that I will spend some time in the garden, (cleaning, raking, etc.) getting ready for the spring, but any ideas of something to put in the garden?

Day 5 - Pampering at Home

First, THANK YOU !

This is turning out way better than I had thought a blog would ! I now am overflowing with ideas and we are only on day 5 ! Luckly Mother's day is not far off.

So here is the current list:

1. Some time off (Great idea from yesterday)
2. Dark Chocolate Almonds
3. Her MP3 player full of girls music
4. Flowers (the old standby)

Pampering... at home?

As far as I am aware she has never gone to a spa. I am sure she would love going but it really has not been in the cards for us. A real pampering at home? Can it be done? I know I can spring for the $4.99 bath packets from Fred Myer, but somehow that does not seem to cut it...

We have several kids so I am thinking that this might need to be a family thing, and yesterday's idea of making your own soaps will be great... but then.... what?

(Soap) http://naturesbathandbeauty.com/recipes/soaps-and-baths/herbal-baths-soaps-and-baths

I NEED HELP

Day - 4 - Keep it moving

OK, I figured out the Chocolate thing. I remember seeing some sugar-free dark-chocolate covered almonds at Trader Joes.

--------------------
THE CURRENT LIST
So here is what the list currently looks like (I have 3 now)

1. Some time off (Great idea from yesterday)
2. Dark Chocolate Almonds
And 3. Flowers (the old stand-by...)
-----------------

Getting Help
Please send this blog to everyone you know. My hope is that the combined wisdom of the web can out-match the combined wisdom of well... me.

---------------
Now day 4; Keep it moving....

She is active... VERY active. First, we have 'a handfull' of kids so that keeps her moving all the time, every which way. In addition she also enjoys being active and about. So for day 4 I am trying to figure out something that would fit with someone that is active...all the time.

Day 3 - Choclate = Healthy Heart?

So I know that, somewhere, sometime, in the great cosmos someone made the rule that 'chocolate = Love'. (Or at least to my wife I know that it means that.) However the problem is that chocolate comes with some extra sides of calories and fat.



So here is the chalenge I have. I know she has been really working hard (not perfect) on trying to eat healthy, but I still want to do something with chocolate. I thought this was easy and I had it figured out, BUT as I was about to purchase the 6 pack of chocolate flavored slim-fast I thought that perhaps that might not go over as well as I had wished.



I NEED HELP, Is there any way any way that Chocolate = Healthy Heart?



I am looking for any ideas of something with chocolate that would = healthy heart.



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Also, I wanted to thank everyone who commented yesterday. I really had no idea what I was going to do for my 'Nothing day' so I loved the comments ! I will blog and let everyone know how it goes...



Perhaps I will save this and give it to my sons later on...

A little bit of nothing that can be something

Day 2; Nothing that is really something...

She was watching this movie the other day that had a whole lot of nothing. No one was killed, nothing blew up, there were no cars, the main people in the story were not all that fancy. But even with that it still had that 'something' I guess, because she was making that funny blabbering (ohh... you know the one...) when as far as I could tell nothing was happening.

I NEED HELP !

For today I am just looking for that thing that to me as a guy is 'nothing' that to her is really something.

Day 1 - Um... I NEED HELP

What have I done ? Started a blog about my marriage? Insane? Perhaps, but perhaps not. I will find out in 14 days.

So here is the deal. I am doing 14 things for my wife, one a day for 14 days leading up to the biggest day of the year that all men FEAR. Valentine's day !

A GREAT IDEA... Perhaps?

This idea came to me today when I for the first-time in my life I have thought about Valentine's day before the 13th of February. (Typically I find myself in Walmart with about 50 other guys at 9pm on the 13th looking at the few remaining toasters. I figure that nothing says love like hot toast from a new toaster.)

So this morning I woke up, and realized after being married for, say 20 years, that this year will be different.

Instead of being completely unprepared and doing something completely stupid on the 14th of Feburary, I am going to do 14 of them. I mean not stupid ones.... but well I whish I would have thought of this 2 weeks ago, but hey, I also shop on December 24th...

NEED HELP

I need help. Not the professional help, but the help that only can come from blogs. So here is my plan.

1. Start a blog with a cute PINK background.
2. Email some friends, and have them pass on my blog to the other bloggers out there.
3. Every day I will write some theme about my wife.
4. And hope to heck that someone out there has some good ideas.

RULES

1. Must be super affordable (I figure some other guys might read this and need some ideas)
2. Must be rated-G (I will most likely get my kids to help out so ALL suggestions must meet a 9 year-old rating)

My hope is that I will get TONS of responses and great ideas that will save me from the Valentine nightmare that comes every year. If not, there is always the under-the-cupboard CD players on ebay.

**** DAY 1 **** SOMETHING ITALIAN

She loves Italian. In the different countries that she has traveled she has never been able to get to Italy, but she loves Italian and loves Italian food. I know I can do garlic bread and Ceasar Salad with thoes bread squares, but um, is there an Italian burger or something?