Today—November 16, 2015—marks our two-year wedding anniversary.

Never mind that we have been together for more than seven years… This is the day when we commemorate the first day of the rest of our lives. A day that was truly the happiest, the best, and the most splenderiffic 24-hours ever.

I would gladly spend an entire day reminiscing about the perfection of our wedding, but today isn’t about dwelling in the past as much as it is reflecting on how far we’ve come and where we are now.

Believe it or not, the second anniversary is the cotton anniversary.

I believe the lore behind the cotton anniversary has something to do with flexibility and adaptability—that as our lives become increasingly intertwined like the fibers of cotton, we find that our relationship becomes more durable yet still malleable enough to bend to one another’s needs.

While this certainly rings true in many ways, to me, the cotton anniversary also represents comfort. It represents reaching that point where you have a soft place to land, a practical yet pleasant protector from life’s storms, and a source of warmth, worn just enough to ensure a perfect fit.

Sure, two years may not seem like much. But to us, it is the bee’s knees. And just like the cotton that epitomizes it, we find ourselves ever learning to adapt to one another’s faults and successes and always remembering—as much as it is easy to forget in those moments of righteous independence—that we are much stronger than we are apart.

Two years is a mark of where we’ve come and a promise of where we’re going, of our failings and our redemptions.

So to honor the joy of the past and the hope of the future, we decided to celebrate with something cotton and something Cajun.

Cotton because tradition. And Cajun because, well, food.

Cotton may not seem immediately obvious, but I think we hit the nail on the head with our humble yet significant exchange of gifts. Unfortunately, I am still in the middle of completing my end of the cotton exchange….

Insert adorable phrase about “sole” protectors for my “soul”mate here.

The Cajun portion of our anniversary presented itself as somewhat of a surprise in the form of a trip to New Orleans. New Orleans is one of our favorite cities to visit, simply because it is one of the few places in the world that rarely disappoints. It’s a destination that lives up to its hype and deserves its praise—because the chargrilled oysters really are that good, and the jazz really is spilling out onto the streets. This place has character and atmosphere seeping out of its pores, and there is plenty to go around for a couple of celebratory lovebirds like us.

So here we find ourselves, eating our way through the French Quarter, dancing in the jazz clubs of Frenchmen Street, joining in the wedding parades down Royal Street, and taking the trolley to Uptown—all for the sake of love. Love for the past, and love for what’s to come.

All the while, all we can do is marvel at this little life of ours and thank God for filling it with music, food, and one another.