A Change?

I have been thinking...., while sometimes these are dangerous words, I don't think they are in this case! ;-). I want to try to "re-invent" the way my family and I live. We don't have lots of extravagant things or all the "latest" but we do have alot, more than enough. There was a blog I read and I can't seem to get it out of my head, it was about living simply; not going without but living with only want you need with a few higher priced items that fit what you like or do, for example an Apple laptop because you blog, do photography, make music, or movies therefore it would be a good investment or a more "expensive" treat, but you would use it.

I have been struggling with my children with cleaning up after ourselves, taking care of our things, and being responsible. So the blog topic keeps coming back to me and I realized we can do without some of the things we have and it would cut down on the clutter and mess; which is a great selling point for me because I hate looking at the clutter and mess and I feel overwhelmed to deal with it all, I am THE only one in my household that cares to do anything about it.

With all this in mind, my 9 year anniversary is looming around the corner along with my birthday and the holidays, so I got to thinking......, "How can I accomplish living simply and making all these dates memorable?"  I would like to start with my anniversary, but I have no idea, what kind of things we (my husband and I) can do to celebrate or what to give each other that we don't have to spend money on but can do the job of giving each other a gift that is appreciated and remembered? The best gifts are those that are homemade, come from the heart, and have more thought in it than money, right?! So, if you have any suggestions or ideas, I would appreciate the help!