Charleston Day 2-Beach Day!

     Marcus & I headed to Folly Beach on Saturday & it was nearly perfect. We had an amazing lunch, swam in the sun-warmed water, and just relaxed on the beach. I say nearly perfect because we managed to get a parking ticket…just to keep things adventurous! You might be wondering why would have parked in an undesignated area, thus resulting in a ticket, but I would have to inform you that, no, we got a $50 ticket for parking with one wheel partially on the street. Folly Beach knows how to make some money! The ticket was even given in the form of an envelope, so you could slip your money in & drop it in a nearby drop box! How convenient of them! I only snapped a couple of pictures since I mostly just wanted to play in the water, but I did document my growing belly.

  

Charleston Day One

     When Marcus & I decided to take a long weekend to Charleston for our anniversary, I was a little apprehensive since I was {am} still experiencing lingering, nagging morning sickness. I really wanted to just eat as much Charleston-deliciousness as I could and food aversions make that difficult.  So we armed ourselves with plenty of Laura-and-baby friendly foods for the drive and stay and headed down south last Thursday. It was only about a 6.5 hour drive and I tried to limit my liquid-intake to control the bathroom breaks! Marcus & I have always loved taking car trips together, even joking that the drive is our favorite part of our vacations… I guess we just like the uninterrupted {for now} chat time,  our mix CDs, and playing a plethora of Marcus’ endless & imaginative pass-the-time games. When we got to my brothers house on Thursday evening, he cooked us dinner & took us for a joyride in his antique jeep to show us around-the weather was perfect, too!

    Friday we decided to just go explore downtown, eat some delicious food & then check out the local Fire Museum. We did all that except for the delicious food part. I should probably spare you the ‘ low blood sugar meltdown in a chick-fil-a drive through-I’m a horrible mom already’ part, haha! I promise it was still a good day!!

  

Love, love, love all the colors. I decided I need to move into a yellow house.

        

Lucky for Marcus’ wallet & our budget..we don’t know the sex of our baby yet. If we had, I would have bought every little smocked dress or jonjon I laid my eyes on. What do you think friends? Boy or Girl?! {P.S Marcus thinks girl, and I have absolutely no feelings or inclinations…}

 

Then we went to the FIRE MUSEUM!!

Come back tomorrow to read about yet another food meltdown, see a preggo at the beach & other pictures!

A Year of Wedded Bliss

     Yes, it really was bliss. Even the fights, two-family holidays, work changes, morning sickness & learning to live together did nothing but add to the charm of newlywed life. In fact, during our first argument as a married couple, we only marveled at the idea..Our first married fight! How Exciting! I realize that is definitely gag-worthy. God was incredibly gentle & merciful on the Crofts as we navigated through the first year of our Vocation. The blessings overflowed. I realize all our years won’t be this easy or cute so I am storing up the memories & graces!

     I wrote about our wedding day here. And shared some pictures here, here & here.  Go crazy, folks.

     Marcus & I celebrated by going to Charleston. My brother is stationed there and he opened up his really nice home to  us for the long weekend. I was really glad we got to share our anniversary with him since he was deployed when we got married. He was the most gracious host & made sure we had a good time! I’ll share pictures soon! Charleston was our gift to each other, so we won’t be doing the traditional paper gifts for the first anniversary-unless you include the cards! We’ve also yet to thaw & eat the top tier of our wedding cake. Partially because I am afraid to see it…My mom threw it in a box for us and reminded me to to package it better before I froze it. In typical Laura fashion, I completely forgot & tossed it in the freezer. So, again..this beautiful, delicious cake is sitting in a large box without any wrapping or packaging. Go, me! Whoops! Do you think it is still safe to eat it if it is covered in ice crystals?!

     All wedding cakes aside, I am so thankful for such a wonderful year. God is a genius- Marriage is absolutely beautiful, hard work & so holy all rolled together. To have such a holy & loving husband challenging me to become a saint, to become the woman God created me to be. It is an honor to be able to do the same for him! The icing on the cake?! This sweet baby we’ve been blessed with-sure to shape & humble us and help us grow to be better Christians.

Mary & Joseph, pray for us.