As some of you know, Scott and I LOVE color. When we first moved into our house it was brand new and that meant a clean slate of white walls to work with. We boldly went out and purchased bright hues of yellow, sienna glaze, and a deep cobalt blue. After a week of hard, diligent work, we had a bright and cheery house that we loved! Since then our lives have certainly changed. I now am a full-time stay at home mom and a photographer. Scott is still working for the Shipyard, but his roles have advanced as well. As we have matured and our styles have adapted to our lifestyle we have been also pondering a "color change" in our life. Now, an idea like this scares my husband just a tad. In the past, when I have needed a change (meaning dumping a not-so-good boyfriend), I would re-arrange the furniture in my room, cut my hair, and maybe even ponder some new bedding or paint. Now that was WAY back then, and WAY before Scott and I ever met, but still Scott gets a little nervous when I start making changes. My mom and sisters love to tease us about my need for a "change" and as always it gets a lot of laughs.
So back to my story, I need a change. I am turning 25 Jan. 13th and needless to say, I am starting to feel old. The majority of people would say, "no way, that is just the beginning." But I take the approach of my dad who loves to say, "25 is half way to 50, and 50 is half way to dead!". (yes we have an interesting sense of humor) More and more I am re-evaluating my life. Things haven't gone the way I had planned, but rarely does life follow the plans "we" create for ourselves. Lord knows my plans have changed drastically in the past five years. When Scott and I met, I was one of those crazy people who worked full-time and was taking between 25-32 credits each semester in college. ( something I had done since the ripe old age of 17). I had big plans with early acceptance to graduate school and earning my PhD in Psychology. I would open my own private practice, set up shop, and start "living the dream". It was a great plan, and totally obtainable with my drive and ability to juggle ridiculous work loads. Everything seemed to be falling into place, or so I thought.
Little did I know that God had other plans for my life. I think it is amazing how God swoops and changes our plans. We get so frustrated instead of trusting in His will. Scott and I started dating and instantly I think we knew we were meant to be together. My whole life seemed to change in an instant. Instead of focusing on school work, all I wanted to do was spend time with Scott. We really were inseparable. I knew that he was going to change my life forever; I just didn’t realize how much. We were engaged after six months and married at 1 year of being together. Scott and I shocked our friends and family with how fast we moved and how sure we were of our relationship. My dad had always said, “ if you don’t know in the first few weeks of a relationship, then it isn’t right”. Well I definitely knew he was the one. In fact, here is a funny story of how God reveals things to us...
It was Fall of 2003, and I was was working as an executive assistant in Downtown Vancouver. The job was okay and the pay was nice. I was filling in for the receptionist, which meant, answering phones and greeting visitors. I had just picked up a call when “he” walked off the elevator. I was instantly drawn to his ice-blue gaze and his handsome face. My stomach instantly went into knots and nerves started in. He very politely smiled and asked to see “Paul”. I then escorted this gorgeous man to the proper office and hurried back to my desk for a HUGE deep breath. Just then, the receptionist walked back in from break and I blurt out. “Oh My GOSH, I just saw the man I am going to marry!” She laughed, and said “what are you talking about?”. So I tell her the whole story and we both sat there giggling, waiting for him to walk by on his way out. As he leaves, we are pondering “How old is he?” I think for sure he must be 30, and that he was way too cute to not be married, though he wore no ring. I call my mom and say, “I just saw the man I am going to marry.” She laughs into the receiver, and I tell her the story. She thinks I am just being silly as always. I didn’t see my “dream man” again until a few weeks later. He was just a gorgeous and the same feeling arose in me as before. We exchanged nothing but a few words and lots of smiles. I wanted to ask who this man was, but I was too embarrassed to ask my boss that kind of question. I ended up leaving the job a month later and figured I wouldn’t see mister Dream Boat again. But, as always, God intervenes. A year later, I was perusing Yahoo Personals (which if any of you have tried online dating you know that answering all those emails can turn into a full-time job) with my good friend Samantha. As we are looking at some of the ads, I receive an instant message from someone who looks very familiar. As I am racking my brain trying to figure out who this guy is, I get this message asking, “Did you used to work as the receptionist at Realvest?” My mouth drops open and my typing hands freeze mid-air. You could actually hear the crickets chirping...”cricket, cricket”... OMG I thought, this is the “Dream Boat”, the man I wanted to marry! We start chatting back and forth, and minutes turn to hours. We decide to meet up over the weekend for coffee. Our coffee date goes great, as we manage to stay until after closing at the local Starbucks. I think we both knew then that this was something meant to last the ages. Six months later we were buying a house together, engaged, and almost a year after we meat online again we were married.
What happened to my HUGE plans of a PhD and private practice? They were history for now. I was a serious “take one for the team” player, and stopped going to school so we could afford to pay for our new house. I always figured I would go back eventually; I was only taking a few semesters off to get us back on our feet financially. But then, weeks turned into months, and then into a year. I had a few “Female Issues” and we were advised that if we wanted to have children, we needed to start trying now. So we did, and in January 2007, our daughter Nevaeh was born. I became a stay-at-home mom and gave up my dreams of becoming a great psychologist. Of course, it was all worth it. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. As my dad says, “You’ll be shocked at where your life is and how it is changed in five years.” Boy is he right. In five years, I have bought a house, quit school, gotten married, had a baby, started a photography business, and am now planning on getting pregnant again this year. How much plans have changed! I sit and wonder, “Is this really what I want?” The answer is YES! I feel more whole and more alive then any other time in my life. God has a master plan for me and I am just along for the ride.
So, back to the paint story.... I decided to go buy paint this past week. We went with Portland Metro Paint (which is a company that recycles paint and mixes their own colors). They have a limited selection (only 15 colors to be exact), but you can’t beat the price and hey, it is recycled. So we picked of 5 gallons of Barn Red (which just is a deep, warm red) and 5 gallons of Desert Khaki (which is really a pale tan with greenish undertones). My house is already looking like a Pottery Barn Catalog, which is EXACTLY what I wanted. I am feeling more sophisticated already; a great way to ring in my 25th birthday. I have changed so much over the past 5 years, and I think this paint was exactly what I needed reflect the changes in my life.
So I toast to memories of the past and hopes for the future and to brand new wall colors! Until next time....
-Kellene
