it's truly amazing, that spirit of christmas

nina,
i can't believe we are already spending our first christmas together. 2016 has brought a lot to my life: i was the captain of an all star team, my name was engraved on to 3 trophies at the nhl awards, i overcame a lot of emotional obstacles from last summer, but most importantly, i met you. i fell in love with you. and i proposed to you. all within the span of less than a year. some people might think it's kind of crazy, how quickly everything had fallen into place with you and i, but there has never been anything i've been more sure of than wanting to spend my life with you. i am confident that we have many, many more happy years to come in our lives, and more christmases to celebrate together. i love you, and i'm looking forward to spending the day with you and our families in chicago.

$500 gift card to molly's cupcakes (click!)
upon extensive research, i have come to learn that molly's cupcakes is hands down the best place to get cupcakes in chicago. $500 can go a long way, so whenever you're getting a craving for some sugar, you will be all set to go with only the best of the best in town.

kenya - african safari voucher
i know we have a honeymoon to plan for as well, but i think extending it over the summer to add an extra trip on to our celebrated newlywed-ness, a trip to kenya is in store. i've heard the safaris there are spectacular and there's so much wildlife to see and a lot of things to learn about. the voucher is good to be used whenever we please, so whether we want an extended honeymoon, or save it for a bye-week or any other time, we are able to!

personalized photo box
in a world where everyone only stores their photos on their phones and social media anymore, i wanted to get us a photo box. i want photos from our trips together to other states, countries, other peoples houses, anywhere...printed. some of our favorite ones. ones of us lounging on the beach. laughing. being silly. kissing. anything. i wanted them printed and put in this box. not only for us to look at whenever we feel like it, but so our future children can have tangible objects that show how much their parents love each other, how you and i have grown together, and how we bring out the best in one another. i want us and our future family to have this box as a keepsake for life.

'where we've been' world travel map
you and i have already done quite a bit of traveling together. this map is to keep track of all the places we have been together. each place we have visited, and others we will visi in the future, gets scratched off with a coin to reveal it colored in, showing it's a place that we have traveled together. something we can hang up in the condo for now but can also find a good spot in our new home once we have that as well.

i love you, and i hope you have an amazing christmas.