There are places I'll remember, all my life.

(The Beatles. "In My Life". Our song.)

On June 5, 2009, we moved in together. And on June 5, 2010, we got engaged. *

We woke up on Saturday morning and went to breakfast just the two of us. It was ridiculously hot outside, but it was also the first day of sunshine that we had in New Orleans. It was incredibly nice to just walk through the city with J... honestly, it's my favorite part of any trip we take, just being together, taking in the scenery. We originally planned to go to Cafe du Monde and get some beignets, but there was a massive line around the block, so we walked through Jackson Square, past the Cathedral, and just happened on this little place in the French Quarter for breakfast.

The restaurant, on the corner of Chartres and St. Louis. It's been there since 1788.

We had coffee and split french toast and biscuits and gravy. Most of the breakfast crowd had emptied out and we were sitting along the back wall by ourselves. I was staring into space, enjoying my coffee, and grilling J on why he was acting so strangely. He pulled the ring out of his pocket and asked me if I would have coffee with him everyday for the rest of our lives. I said yes. Promptly followed by "Put it on, put it on, put it on." And then, "Holy shit." We walked around the city for an hour trying to find a ring guard for it and eventually just used band-aids to make it fit. (It's currently being sized and I feel like I'm missing a limb.)

The ring is perfect and beautiful and everything I want. And our engagement was simple but wonderful and totally fits us. And my fiancee... is everything. He is the best man that I have ever known. And he's the person that I want to wander around cities with and drink coffee with every morning and that I want next to me through everything, through my whole life and all the experiences, forever.

Riding the St. Charles Streetcar, post-engagement.

I can't wait to get married. I can't wait to add to our family. I'm so excited and happy and blessed to be a part of his family and for him to be part of mine and for us to move on to the next chapter of our amazing life together. I can't wait to see where the journey takes us. And I can't wait to share it with our amazing family and friends, who have been so good to us, and who have made us feel so loved. I couldn't be happier.

Ok, I'll be ever so slightly happier when this is back where it belongs.

* (And on October 1, 2011, we will be getting married. Pending finding a ceremony/reception site on that day, of course.)