My husband isn't the kind of guy who is good at surprises or keeping secrets. He's also a horrible gift giver. In the eight years we've been together he still has no idea what to buy me for birthdays or Christmas. He usually gets me to flat out say what I'd like so he doesn't have to work hard.

But Today He Finally Surprised Me!

After I woke up this morning my husband said he was taking me shopping. When I asked him where he said it was a surprise. My birthday is next week. My last several birthdays have been really sucky.....like my dad got divorced, uncle died in front of me, recovering from surgery sucky. Today my husband told me that he wanted to take me to pick out my birthday present early.

He told me that I was such a good mother and that I do so much for him and our daughter that he wanted to give me a really nice gift. My husband and I have been living the poor life of graduate students since we met but recently my husband has been working and has been setting aside money to make our house nice and to do home improvements.

He got me in the car and he started driving. When we went down some back roads and ended up here I was curious where he was taking me.

Hay For Sale? Am I Getting A Pony?

Nope, no pony....he took a wrong turn. We drove a little more and ended up here.

No More Goodwill Furniture!

My husband announced that he was buying me a couch. You see I've never had brand new furniture in my entire life. I've either been given hand me downs or cheap used furniture that wasn't nice but suited a purpose. All our furniture is mismatched and old with flaws like broken parts. This new couch is the first new piece of furniture for our home.

We currently have two couches. One came with my husband and he got it at Goodwill for $30 ten years ago. The second couch I found at the side of the road near trash day. It's frame was broken and it's ugly but it has been oh so comfy. I've had it 7 years and it's pretty horrible looking these days.

Now that we have our own home my husband wanted me to have a new couch so we can start getting rid of our Goodwill, side of the road furniture and have something nice. Him wanting to do this for me is probably the nicest gift I've ever received in my life.

The Last Warehouse Store

We spent the day going to different furniture stores looking for couches. My husband decided to buy either two couches or a set so we both could sprawl out in our own areas of the living room.

Furniture Shopping Means Free Food

Apparently, some furniture stores like to make you feel comfortable and happy by giving you free food when you enter their stores. One store gave us glass bottle cokes and popcorn. Another store gave us bottled water and cookies. I think I've found my favorite type of shopping.

My New "Friend"

In the beginning I was almost overwhelmed because I didn't know what I wanted. The idea of shopping for new things is fun but actually doing the shopping is like being a fish out of water. I really couldn't pick anything and even though I saw some couches that were nice I didn't fall in love with any...until the last store. It was a discount warehouse store and my husband was the one to spot it. It was a bluish gray color and very big. You can make a bed out of it and it has a soft fabric. My husband liked it so much he said if we were buying two couches he wanted one just like it...they had 2 in stock so we got matching couches.

We get our new couches on Friday and since we are hosting Thanksgiving Dinner this year I won't feel embarrassed by our horrible couches and mismatched furniture. I'm so thankful for my husband and him doing this. It's hard growing up poor and having to be frugal for years while you are in college. I always feel bad for spending money on non-essential items so it was really nice of my husband to want to do this for me.

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