Our Story: The Charleston Era

One of my favorite places in the whole world is Charleston, South Carolina.

There is just something about it--

the slow pace of life,

the bea-u-tiful beaches,

the romantic piers,

the Cathedral and its angelic (seriously) choir,

the quaint southern style,

the history,

the incredible bridges and the view as you drive over them,

the carriage rides,

the fun restaurants and pubs,

the old cobblestone streets,

the awesome weather (if you're like me and like it h.o.t.)

the market downtown

did I mention it's BEAUTIFUL?...



...and specifically for me--

Playing in the ocean with the one I love.

Making wonderful friends.

Nannying for precious babies.

Taking long beach walks.

Frequenting the Pauline Bookstore.

Boating and wakeboarding in the SC sun.

Watching Battery soccer.

Attending parties at the Weir house.

Hanging out with fellow "WAGS" when Luke traveled.

Living all by myself for the first time.

Falling in love...or perhaps, falling more deeply in love...learning what love really is and how wonderful and perfect (and even hard) that can be.

Charleston is just a neat place to be.

My hubby says everything is more enhanced when you are with the one you love--the sunsets are more beautiful, the rainbows more colorful, the lemonade sweeter--it sounds kinda sappy, but it's so true...making Charleston a very special place for us.

After meeting in Colorado in October of 2006, Luke and I only met up four more times before I moved to Charleston to be closer to him in May of 2007. How on earth God convinced me (someone with a self-professed inability to make big decisions and who had always cringed at the thought of ever living anywhere but Colorado), to move to South Carolina for a boy I had only known for eight months and had only spent a handful of days with, I don't know...but I am SO GLAD He did!

As much as I had longed, and still do long, to live near my family, those days in Charleston were priceless. Our relationship was a living example of (Matthew Kelly's notion of) "carefree timelessness." That is not to say we didn't work--we did! I was putting in 45 hour weeks as a nanny for two infants, while Luke was playing soccer everyday and coaching when he could. (I will save his off-season job descriptions for another post...) But when we weren't working, we were together.

I had never been so content and happy, despite the fact that I was not doing anything I thought I would be doing at that point in my life.

• Marry at 22? Try 25 (my four siblings got married at 20, 21, 21, and 22...making me the Old Maid)
• Attend graduate school after FOCUS? Being a nanny for two newborns is kinda like that, right??
• Buy a house in Colorado? Nah--let's rent a FROG (furnished room over garage) in South Carolina instead.

But I was right where I was meant to be...

Less than a year after making the cross country move, I was married to my best friend.

Aren't God's plans always so much better than what we come up with for ourselves??

This past weekend, Luke had a game in Charleston, and Augustine and I were able to make the trip down there, too. Here are some of the highlights:

This is the exact spot on the pier where Luke told me he loved me for the first time (almost three years ago)! Beautiful Charleston in the background.



















Augustine playing in the fountain near the pier.























Augustine is sitting on the rail of the pier...and apparently thinks it is funny!

Luke taking Augustine swimming in the ocean for the first time!

(Yes, that little black dot in the center of the photo is Luke holding Augustine).

Augustine playing with his friend, Greta.

This is (seriously) what Augustine really thinks of the beach...

He pulled his hat down over his eyes every chance he got. He does not like the bright sun...everytime I take him outside he nestles his squishy face into my shoulder and hides.

Trying to play, but Augustine is still taking cover.

At the beach with Gretchen and Greta.

There's a smile!

This is my beautiful friend, Erin, and her precious baby, James. Erin and her husband, Cody, were two of my first friends in Charleston. Just days after moving there, Luke and I were at daily Mass and saw this young couple there! We ran into them outside after Mass. "I have been praying to find friends," said Erin, who had also just moved to Charleston with Cody. "So have we!" I said. God is so good! We miss them dearly.

Erin and Cody have two boys, Sean and James. James and Augustine are only 3 1/2 months apart.

James is a lot skinnier than Augustine and has an itty bitty newborn head...but he is just as tall! (Don't let Augustine's about-to-fall-off sock fool you into thinking he is taller...it's just a ploy).

Sean LOVES babies!!!

Paul, Gretchen,and Greta (...and Baby Boy on the way) are wonderful friends! We love staying with them when we make it back to Charleston to visit.