I, Marla, was 35 years old. I had completed my seminary degree in biblical counseling and was working at a group home for troubled teens. I longed to be married and to be a mom. I had lived overseas for 3 years, started doing photography and had traveled some. I had fun being single, but I was ready to settle down. I started meeting with a lady, a mom, at the group home who had brought in her adopted daughter who was struggling. Right away she started talking about this guy in her church who had recently lost his 35-year-old wife to cancer and he had 3 little girls. I was heartbroken to hear their story, but didn’t think much of it. Several months later she told me she wanted me to meet him and then later told me the first moment she met with me for counseling that she knew I was the one for Albert and the girls. I was a bit freaked out and went to talk with my pastor about it. He basically told me to chill out. A date did not mean marriage and what did I have to lose? Albert and I went on our first date in downtown Raleigh, NC to Thaiphoon on June 6, 2009 and were married October 24th of that same year! I became a wife and an instant mom of three beautiful girls. I was naive to their grief and those first few years were so good, but hard, too. More on that later! (Maybe)
My commitment to the girls during our ceremony!
Fast forward through working full time in a counseling ministry at our church, school carpools, teacher meetings, summer camps, doctors appointments, all the holidays, teenage hormones, boyfriends, etc. and here we are. The girls are now 29, 27, and 24 and thriving. We have been empty nesters for a few years now! Albert has worked in the car business as a service advisor/manager for 30+ years and is burned out! We are tired of living life to do the ‘American Dream’ and being miserable. So, we have recently put our house on the market and are selling everything and moving into an RV! We are excited about this new adventure and would love to have you follow along for the RIDE! Literally!
Our new little family!
I, Marla, am still counseling fully virtually and love it! It is my passion to walk with people and point them to Jesus. I also love to be creative. I do photography and have an Etsy shop for whatever I am currently obsessed with making!
Albert loves to cook! It is his passion. He loves to love on people through making good food for them to enjoy! We hope to include some of his recipes and tips here in the future. He is a certified professional development/life coach and would love to help you in that area, as well. If you are interested in any of these services we would love for you to check us out at our links above! If not, we welcome you here regardless!
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