Welcome to the Engaged Sista Chronicles on Cafe Belle! I created this blog on the site in an attempt to chronicle some of the thoughts  I have about being engaged, and also share some of my opinions about what it takes to land a great guy, maintain a healthy relationship, and also plan for the future with a partner. 

Here are some quick facts about me: I've been engaged for about a year now, and my partner and I have dated steadily for five years now (we've known each other for six years). We love each other, and we love having talks about what it takes to have a healthy relationship and what it will take for us to have a healthy marriage. While we are not a perfect couple (I mean, who is, right?), we have a strong friendship bond, where the strength and core of our relationship was founded. It may sound extremely sappy, but the love that we have built for each other arose out of that friendship, and we have grown to appreciate each other's weaknesses as well as each other's strengths. All in all, we are each other's complements without being dependent on each other in order to feel complete. 

Okay, enough of the sappiness, right? Eh, well you're going to get some of that when you read my blog. But I also want to get real with you about what it feels like to be engaged in a climate where people often struggle with maintaining healthy, long term relationships with their partners. I also wanted to chat about dating and hooking up today, and what it takes to maintain a great relationship. 

I strongly believe that it is through the imperfections of my relationship that I have learned quite a bit about us, as well as about myself. I really want to use this forum to share all these elements with you, as I navigate the journey of being an engaged sista, on my way to marriage.

-Written by: An Engaged Sista