I love you so much.

Press play on the video, then scroll down and read along.

I was walking, was living,
My melody was a capella.
There's a beat I was missing,
No tune, or a scale, I could play.

No sound in the distance,
No orchestra playing together.
Like a boat out to sea,
The silence was too deafening!

So come and revive me,
I can't feel my heartbeat,
It's just me surviving alone.

Before you,
My whole life was a capella!
Now a symphony's
The only song to sing.
Before you,
My whole life was a capella!
Now a symphony's
The only song to sing.

Everything was the same.
One color was just like the others.
An assembly routine,
My memories were all black and white.

'Till I stopped over-thinking,
Decided to draw back the curtains.
And I cleared all the cobwebs
And began to let in the light.

So come and revive me,
I can't feel my heartbeat,
It's just me surviving alone.

Before you,
My whole life was a capella!
Now a symphony's
The only song to sing.
Before you,
My whole life was a capella!
Now a symphony's
The only song to sing.

You are the drum in my heart beat
Bass and guitar lead
Stuck on the notes you play
My heart that you play on
Grab like a crayon
I can't walk away.

Before you,
My whole life was a capella!
Now a symphony's
The only song to sing.
Before you,
My whole life was a capella!
Now a symphony's
The only song to sing.

Here's the original song the above was taken from. I actually like the visuals in the video. They're very much something you would like.

I do love you. So much.
Happy anniversary baby.

Myself and the Husbear out by the Mississippi.

We visited and toured several Plantations outside of New Orleans, and we spent a lot of time wandering around the French Quarter this year, taking pictures and looking at houses for sale. We also visited the Ninth Ward to see how the new construction was coming along. A lot of eco-friendly and gorgeously architectured homes are going up. But there's many, many lots that are still vacant.

One of the "Make it Right" homes.

We got to spend time with friends that we don't get to see that often. And I got to meet several tweeps, bloggers BrettCajun and Kelly, as well as several readers of my blog who came up and introduced themselves to me. I didn't get to spend much time with them because we always all seemed to be going in opposite directions. Hopefully I can fix that next time!

The Husbear, one of my blog readers, and his partner.

The Husbear and I also took the Steamboat Natchez down and up the Mississippi River on a two-hour tour. It was a relaxing way to end our stay in New Orleans. They offer a Jazz dinner tour on the boat at nights and we plan on doing that next year.

As always, there was much debauchery and decadence. Lots of hot men. And lots of beveraging. And judging by the actions and the look of a lot of people I saw, some other substances were involved as well. I guess whatever floats their boat.

The view down Bourbon Street on Sunday afternoon.

It's difficult to imagine that it'll be another 360 days before we get to be there again.

See all 566 pictures I took in my Southern Decadence 2010 flickr set.

The Husbear and I are on our way to New Orleans for Southern Decadence. Where we spend a week spending money in a city that, 5 years after Katrina, still needs assistance in many places.

We're taking the long, leisurely drive from where we live in NW Arkansas to the Big Easy, via the scenic route. We should really call it the "Back Roads and Banjo Music Tour". I will admit: the scenery off the beaten path is nice. But I wouldn't care to break down anywhere out here.

We drove about 9 hours today, which put us in Alexandria, Louisiana for the night.

Tomorrow, we'll be getting up and heading down to the Lake Charles area, where some of the Husbear's family is from, and then we'll drive across over to NOLA following the coastline as we can.

And I leave you with this picture the Husbear took of me tonight. He was attempting to be sneaky.

There are 20 days until Southern Decadence in New Orleans, depending on when you arrive that is.

I usually enjoy my time when I'm there, but this is probably the first time in many, many years I'm actually looking forward to going. I'm not sure why either. I have this thing about crowds that always seems to make me stressed before I go. So far, it hasn't started this year. I'm not decadently wired for some reason. Alcohol sometimes loosens my shell a little, but not often.

If you've never been, you should at least go to NOLA once when it's all crazy outside of Mardi Gras. Although I've been told by natives that Decadence is pretty much just as crazy. And a lot more topless. Men.

We usually stay at the Omni Royal with the Decadent Ducks, but this year the Husbear wanted to stay at a different hotel to "try something new". We will miss hanging by the pool at the Omni with the regular Ducks, but we will get to at least see them out on the streets.

I've taken a bunch of pictures at Decadence over the years that we have been there. You can check them out on flickr if you are so inclined.

Any of my readers going to be in NOLA for Decadence this year?

What we have is a beautiful partnership. We're a team, you and I.
The kind of love and friendship we share doesn't come from just wishing.
It comes from being together 365 days a year, through good times and bad and everything in between.
You are my closest friend, my partner in life... the one I can count on and who can count on me.
Today and every day, I love having you in my life and in my heart.

After all these 4,748 days, I'm still in love with you.
Happy 13th Anniversary baby.
I love you so much.

Us, Xmas 2001.