| Last month, well before our 5-year anniversary date, Javier told me (with that “I’ve got a plan” gleam in his eye) that he had an idea for my anniversary present. For the next week or so, I wasn’t allowed to check our amazon account to see what orders had been made, and one by one packages of different sizes and weights began to arrive at our doorstep. Finally, the last item Javier needed arrived in the mail and he immediately disappeared into the depths of his basement workshop to start making whatever it was that he was planning to give me. For the following 3 (or so) hours, the basement was filled with all kinds of noises – banging, clanging, scraping, and the occasional exclamation from Javier. | El mes pasado, mucho antes de nuestro 5to aniversario de matrimonio, Javier me dijo (con cara de “tengo un plan”) que tenia una idea para mi regalo de aniversario. Las semanas despues de ese anuncio, yo no tenia permitido revisar nuestra cuenta de Amazon para asi no ver que habia pedido, y poco a poco comenzaron a llegar paquetes de diferentes tamanos y peso a nuestra casa. Finalmente, el ultimo paquete que Javier necesitaba llego, y Javier desaparecio inmediatamente en las profundidades de nuestro subterraneo para trabajar un su taller y comenzar a hacer lo que tenia planeado para mi. Las siguientes 3 horas (mas o menos) podia escuchar del subterrano diferentes sonidos que no me daban mucha informacion acerca de que estaba haciendo. |
| Javier resurfaced from the workshop with a triumphant smile on his face and announced that he had succeeded making his gift on the first try, which apparently was somewhat unexpected. I guessed about a million different things that it could be (and couldn’t have been farther from the target), and in the end we decided that he could just go ahead and give it to me early. So…he took me downstairs, made me close my eyes and hold out my hand, and then he slipped something cold around my finger. I opened my eyes, and on my finger was a beautiful ring! He had ordered two 2014 half dollars (2014 for the 5-year anniversary) and made two identical rings out of them – one for me, one for him. Javier was really surprised at how well the first one came out, and of course I was surprised he could even do something like this – he’s never worked metal before. He’s amazing! | Javier volvio a aparecer en la casa con una sonrisa triunfante que anunciaba que habia tenido exito en su primer intento de hacer el regalo, lo que aparentemente era un poco inesperado. Yo trate de adivinar que era y dije un millon de cosas (pero siempre lejos de lo era), y al final decidimos que me diera el regalo anticipadamente. Asi que me llevo al subterraneo, me hizo cerrar los ojos, y me puso algo en el dedo. Abri los ojos, y en mi dedo tenia un hermoso anillo! El habia comprador 2 monedas de medio dolar del ano 2014 (el ano de nuestro 5to aniversario) e hizo 2 anillos identicos – uno para mi y uno para el. Javier estaba sorprendido de los bien que le salieron al primer intent, y claro, yo estaba sorprendida que el pudiera hacer algo como esto – el nunca habia trabajado con metal antes. El es genial! |
| He bought all of the right tools and set them up in the basement so now he can continue making rings from all different kinds of coins. The reason we waited this long to post about it (which was a challenge for me, let me assure you) was because he decided to make 7 rings out of quarters for his family members in Chile and bring them as a surprise. He’s got it down to a science now and can make them in about an hour. He wound up buying an additional polishing tool because the heat to mold them into shape turns them black and it’s time consuming and difficult to manually wipe them clean again. After he made mine I went down and took photos of the whole process. We’ve been together 7 years now (5 years married) and he never ceases to amaze me. | Compro todas las herramientas necesarias y las puso en el subterraneo para poder continuar haciendo anillos de diferentes tipos de monedas. La razon por la cual esperamos tanto para escribir sobre estos (lo que fue dificil para mi, se los aseguro) fue que decidio hacer 7 anillos de monedas de ¼ de dolar para sus familiares en Chile y llevarselos como sorpresa. Ahora con practica puede hacer un anillo en menos de 1 hora. Termino comprando mas herraminetas para pulir los anillos, ya que hacerlo manualmente tomaba la maor parte del tiempo. Despues que me entrego el mio, saque fotos de todo el proceso. Hemos estado juntos 7 anos (5 casados) y nunca me deja de sorprender. |
| Although the 5-year anniversary is the wood anniversary (Gone Girl provided that info – though I could have lived my whole life without reading that book and been just fine, thankyouverymuch), it seems to be the anniversary of hand-made jewelry for me. On our final day in Chile (more posts about Chile to come!) Javier’s family presented me with a GORGEOUS necklace with a handmade lapis-lazuli pendant. Lapis Lazuli is the stone of Chile, and on the back the gentleman who made the pendant added a joined JL for Javier and Leslie. It’s the most beautiful necklace I’ve ever owned, and I haven’t taken it off yet. I love the family I married into – it feels like they’ve been my family my whole life and not just since Javier and I have been together. We were in Chile for Macarena and Alex’s wedding, so get ready for several posts about the whole trip! | A pesar de que el 5to aniversario es el aniversario de la madera (Gona Girl me dio esa informacion – aunque he podido vivir toda mi vida sin problemas sin leer el libro, gracias), parece que para nosotros es el aniversario de joyeria hecha a mano. En nuestro dia final en Chile (escribire mas sobre el viaje!) la familia de Javier me presento un HERMOSO collar con un pendiente de lapislazuli hecho a mano. Lapislazuli es la piedra de Chile, y en la parte de atras del pendiente, el artista agrego un diseno de una J y una L unidas que representan nuestros nombres. Es el collar mas hermoso que he tenido en mi vida, y aun no me lo saco. Amo la familia con la cual me case – siento que han sido mi familia por siempre y no solo desde que estamos juntos con Javier. Estuvimos en Chile para el matrimonio de Macarena y Alex, asi que preparense para varios posts sobre el viaje completo! |
