I’m convinced there are few things in the world more beautiful than the perfect diamond solitaire Danny slipped on my finger when he proposed that blustery January of 2009.

One thing that comes pretty close is the blue diamond he slipped on my finger for our first anniversary in November of 2010.A women’s photography group that I belong to — the awesome Pursuit 31 — has been swapping photos of our engagement rings the past couple of days, so I decided to take the opportunity to whip out the macro lens and fire off a few new shots of my own rings. And I have to say — my anniversary band is so very photogenic.

I’ve never been a blingy kind of girl and never wanted much in the way of jewelry — other than that all-important ring on my all-important finger. At the mall, I never lingered at jewelry counters; you’d find me scoping our purses or trying on heels or swimming through racks of dresses. At Christmas, I honestly didn’t understand when women would be all excited to have received a new diamond bracelet or heart shaped pendant. Some good books — or a new purse, or shoes, or dress — made way more sense to me. But this . . . this ring seemed to have a magnetic field pulling me right to it when Danny and I headed to the Caribbean for our first anniversary. Something about it was just perfect. Maybe the daintiness of the band, or maybe the halo of white diamonds around the center stone. Or maybe that gorgeous blue diamond itself, the exact shade of the azure waters where we had honeymooned and returned for our anniversary. We looked at hundreds of rings on that trip — but this was the only one I wanted to wear.

Whenever I look at this ring (like right now, for instance, as it glitters on my right hand while I type), I think about that anniversary cruise. This ring conjures memories of St. Thomas and the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic — tropical waterfalls and pristine white sand beaches and delicious dinners (curried breadfruit soup!) and getting caught in the rain as we ran through San Juan. It’s so much more than just a piece of jewelry Danny gave me as a gift. It’s a tangible reminder of a wonderful trip as we celebrated our first year of marriage, and a reminder that there is so much more adventure to come.

~ Laura