You marked it on your calendar and it's that time of year again. You and your girlfriend are going to celebrate your happy time spent together. It has been one official year since you actually kissed and solidified your relationship.

Not that one year isn't enough, but now every following year has to be commemorated with a proper gift to represent your feelings for each other. The problem is that picking that perfect gift will require more thought than simply throwing together a bouquet of flowers. Don't brush off this major moment; take the time to prepare for it.
What Day Is It?
An important aspect of an anniversary is to remember it, and remember it right. Although this might sound like a given, it rarely is. You probably think that the anniversary falls 365 days after the two of you made love, for example, but she might consider it to be the first time you kissed her lips.

Pinpointing the proper date is probably an arduous task and luckily, it only needs to be done once a year. Imagine finding the best present ever, only to find yourself two weeks late in giving it to her. Establishing when your relationship officially began can be tricky sometimes.

An easy way to bring up the subject is to subtly ask her what made her realize that you were that special guy. This should help you find out at what point in time she began developing serious feelings for you, thereby pinpointing that specific time in history.

Let's say, however, that you actually got the date of your anniversary right; what do you do now?
What Should I Get?
So what does spending one year together mean? Does it mean that the two of you get along together? Possibly. Does it mean that you love each other? Likely. Does it mean you will have to get out some cash and "prove" your affection to her? Absolutely.

Instead of buying her a "one-year anniversary" present, why not get her a "thank you" gift for all the good times spent together? The key here is to get something meaningful to her. There is no use in investing a month's salary in her gift. But then again, if you have to make up for a recent major screw-up, that may not be such a bad idea.

You might be tempted to buy her the typical Valentine's Day gifts like flowers, chocolate, perfume, jewelry, or clothes. Although this might be an easy alternative to this time-consuming task of showing her you actually understand and care for her, I don't suggest it.

Girlfriends value the effort and thought involved in buying their gift more than the gift itself. This again proves my point that it is not compulsory to declare personal bankruptcy to please your woman; you just have to be selective about what you get her. But remember that women have this strange ability to figure out how you feel about them by analyzing the meaning of gifts.