Shock...

Today I learned that a person I went to school with was shot by the RCMP in my home town during an investigation. It is so shocking to think that you flip open your laptop and see a curious headline about your small hometown and that you actually know the person involved. I am sad that the sleepy little town of Gibsons is changing in this way. It has always been a place where people could feel as though they were nestled into the hillside of a safe, tight knit community. But it seems that things are changing and it is becoming a place where people aren't the same. I know that a shooting here or there doesn't spell the end of an era necessarily, but I find that it is a far cry from the place I went to school. I still love it there and will always consider it home in my heart... but I am saddened and shocked that this happened. I guess the adage that things never stay the same is true... even when you aren't sure you want it to be.

When Do You Know?

I've been together with Kelvin for nearly two years and I can't imagine my life without him in any way but lately we've both had these doubts floating around in our heads about when do you know that the timing is right for marriage or that you are 100% sure that this is the direction you are meant to go... Last night we openly and honestly discussed our fears and concerns (which I think was really healthy) but nothing really got resolved. I don't feel like our relationship is in jeopardy of falling apart or anything, nor am I concerned that our love is dying but I do feel some stress.
A few months ago, we were both struggling through life changes (me being here, him being there and going through his retirement, his son's graduation, his 40th b-day coming up and becoming a grandfather this summer) and I became VERY insecure in where our relationship stood. I felt sure that it was falling apart, that he wasn't interested in being with me anymore and that I had to come to terms with starting over... I really also struggled with what society tells me is the right timing in a relationship. I'd had friends and family telling me that we should be engaged or moved in together by now... that Kelvin needed to move forward, make a formal commitment etc. I bought into all that and allowed it to create additional stress in my life and I brought that to our relationship (which you can imagine caused some pressure and stress). And then I took it to God and I prayed... really and truly prayed over this relationship (something I hadn't done in a long time) and I felt a peace over me. I felt like this wasn't the time to listen to the outside world and this was a time to step back a little, to not pressure Kelvin in any way and to just relax. And that is what I have been trying to do more and more. Times are hard for my man and I love him enough to grant him the space he needs to deal with this in his time.
And now Kelvin is feeling like he isn't being fair to me by making me wait until his life is settled again. He officially retires in October and starts his second career sometime after that. He is struggling to walk away from the one thing that has been physically constant in his life for the last 21 years (his military career) and he feels like he is dragging me through all this stress and that it's unfair (I on the other hand feel like it is the most natural thing in the world to help him through this time and to put his needs first at this time... but he wants to think of my needs first). And lately, he has been feeling the same external pressures from society that I was feeling before and it is just adding to the stress that is already overwhelming him. He also is so stressed about being perfect in a future marriage with me. Kelvin has been married before and has watched that fall apart. He knows now what went wrong and how much hurt was caused by it all and he can't bear to repeat that. He also is terrified to not do this right with me since it would be a first marriage for me. He has all these expectations that he has placed on himself from past experiences and from a Biblical perspective and it stresses him out a lot (which is the last thing he needs right now... and which I think can wait until other things settle into place).
Last night we had a wonderful honest discussion about all of this for about 3 hours and it was so good. It was so good for him to release his fears and stresses and it was so good for me to be on the listening end for a change... but the question still remains: How do you know when you are ready for marriage? How do you know that time is right?

The New Place...

Okay... this is part of the living room in the new apartment. It's our little bar area. Nothing too crazy, just kind of fun.




This is the hallway leading to my roommate's bedroom.


This is from the hallway, facing into the living room. We get so much natural light. I love it!!!!


We have two entrances for our apartment. One is directly into the living room and the other is from the inside of the building into the hallway leading down into the apartment. This is the indoor entrance. We don't really use it for that so we kept it super simple with the decorations.


This is the hallway from the living room back towards that indoor entrance seen in the picture above.


This is our living room and going into the kitchen. Ignore the garbage in the kitchen, this was the first day we were finally done with the unpacking!


Okay... my favourite find for the new place? This bag caddy for the door!! This is the one in my room and my roomie has one too (Kelvin, aren't you happy that they aren't just laying all over the place? And my shoes are in neat containers under my bed)!!

This is my reading nook in my bedroom. It is very simple but I love it.



This is my bed... duh!! I made the bookshelf on the left all by myself though, pretty cool, eh?


My closet. It is a walk in and about twice what you see here. And it is almost completely full, although some of the stuff belongs to my roomie.... we share since she got the smaller room and closet.


This is the view of the tub made for giants!! I could barely reach the shower rod to hang my shower curtain. It was hilarious. I feel so little when I shower in there, and that is a very rare thing for me to feel.

The sink etc. I am pretty sure you all don't need a picture of my toilet, so I will stop the tour here. I hope you enjoyed seeing my little home... I really love being in it. It is so spacious and comfortable. I love it!!!

TKD

For those of you who don't know, TKD stands for TaeKwonDo. And today I went and tried a class here in Williamsburg. It was so different from the TKD in Korea and it was a little hard for me to adjust but thank the Lord that my body remembered some of the moves and what to do. It was one of the hardest workouts I have had in ages. I absolutely fell in love with the class, but I did not fall in love with the price. I really need to find a way to finance the class, because I love it so much. It brought back all my memories of Korea and the fun I had with my GIRLS!! J-9, Ape... sigh, I miss you all so much.