After a very difficult semester, Jessica decided to have an early start to a girl’s weekend in New Orleans. So she packed up her car and headed there on the Thursday afternoon. While waiting for her girlfriend to get off of work, she met up with a another friend at a sports bar for a beer. When she walked in, her friend was with a few other guys. One of those guys just so happened to be Benny. The semester of school she had just experienced was causing her to question her calling in life. She shared her frustrations; and, Benny, being the opportunist he is, gave her his business card and said his company was hiring. Long story short - he was just looking for an excuse to give her his number. After a couple nights of spending time out with mutual friends, we began to talk all the time on the phone. We even stayed up until all hours just getting to know each other. A few days later, he invited her to an ugly Christmas sweater party at a friends house. That night he asked her to be his girlfriend and despite the fake job offer, she knew he was the one for her. She told her mom the next day that she had met the man she was going to marry some day. From there on, we’ve been inseparable.

We knew pretty early on that we were meant for each other. It was never a question of “if,” but “when?” Those who are close to us know that we are very big football fans and when some good friends of ours decided to fly into town for a Saints game we decided to spend a long weekend with them in New Orleans. One of those friends just so happens to have a photography business and Jessica thought to ask if they could take some pictures for a Christmas card. So the plan was set (or so she thought). We had taken these friends to tour all over the city and we had decided to get tickets to the World War 2 Museum on Saturday before the photoshoot. We left the museum, went back to get ready, and headed back out to the Higgins Hotel to catch the sun before it set. The rooftop bar was closed so no one was up there to get in the way. While the camera was snapping away, Benny kissed Jessica on the cheek and told her how beautiful she looked. We kissed each other and when they pulled back, Benny asked her, “Do you want to know the real reason we’re up here?” And in that moment the ugly tears started (for both of us)! He got down on his knee and asked her to marry him. And several times she screamed “Are you serious?!” Finally realizing this moment wasn’t a dream, she said yes! He got up and hugged her then pointed to the door. At that point both of our families were walking onto the rooftop and the real ugly tears came out. After the sun went down, we had a beautiful dinner with our families. It was the most special evening and something we will remember forever.