Two stems of lilacs plucked from an empty lot as we walked through Amsterdam West on a Saturday evening.

Last week Marcus and I announced the news of our engagement to our families and friends. Our parents knew already, but all the loving responses that flooded back to us from around the world were pretty amazing. I am still floating on the excitement from the past week and am full of anticipation to begin planning the big day. We have decided to marry in Berlin, Germany next spring and hold a party in Portland, Oregon next summer. It's crazy, five years ago I arrived in the Netherlands for a two-year master's program and, somewhere in between, met a handsome German who made me laugh. This country has changed my life more than I could have ever imagined.