Gypsy Wife, Military Husband

byGypsyEyes

218 followers

Updated 9 years ago

I love this picture because it defines my sense of style. If there wasn’t such a strong tendency in our culture to shun all things different, I’d dress like this on a regular basis.

I am very bohemian, a gypsy and a nelipot. (Well, nelipot is a fictional word describing someone who prefers to go without shoes… likes being barefoot… a pretty accurate description I must say!)
My Bohemian sense of style, my tendency to pack up and move without much warning or reason, my need to create and decorate… all of these things lend themselves to my gypsy nature. I thrive on earth tones, incense, candles and flowing comfortable clothes (often second hand, strangely colored, ornamented, and shabby chíc).
There is a high likelihood that I will start my day very slowly. I’ll eventually crawl out of bed (after tossing and turning and trying to steal 5 more minutes of sleep), wander around the kitchen to create some food items, then crawl back in bed to have some devotional time with the Lord. I have things that need to be done, but no real plan on how to do them. They will happen, they always do. I will complete my intended tasks, all in good time (a week is good time, yes?), yet with no rhyme or reason to the procedure at all. Time and it’s confining structure means nothing to me. I often have to ask people for specific and exact times they want to do something, leave for somewhere etc… for if I don’t, I’ll end up being fashionably late or way to early. Tell me something will take a “few hours”… and I see that as an almost infinite amount of time! Tell me I need to be ready in a few minutes… and I’m likely to take 20-30 but only feel that 10 have passed. Oh, and don’t tell me to go West or South…. please! Right and left work SO much better.

Google image…

He is a handsome military issue in the United States Coast Guard.
Barefoot is not something that would describe him (unless he is sleeping). After the work boots or tennis shoes come off, the flip flops or slippers go on. (You see, being consistently barefoot has a high probability of leading to health issues. You also shouldn’t ever shower in a hotel bathroom or walk on a hotel floor without some protective foot covering. You just never know what you might contract!)
There is a definite sense of structure and planned intention about his day to day existence. Things are not “willy-nilly” and “go-with-the-flow” very often.
His preferred colors are navy blue, black and green. Brand new and of the best quality, his clothes are tidy and sharp looking.
When he wakes up each morning, he immediately gets dressed, steps into his indoor footwear and goes about setting up his breakfast. (Always complete with a giant glob of peanut butter, for extra protein.) He spends time with the Lord in his morning devotions while finishing his cereal or waffles. (Why take the time to do each task separately when you can combine them together and save time?)
His days are planned and strategic. Specific tasks are chosen to be completed in the next 12-14 hour period, and in order to accomplish this goal… time management is an important tool. There is a time to sleep (22:00-05:30), a time to eat, a time to work and run errands, and a time to play or relax (I’ve come to realize that this last objective is often overlooked, lol). Being a military man gives him very little time to complete the general life tasks that need to be accomplished on his off days, but somehow he always manages to see them done!
If you were to ask him the time, he’ll give you military time. If you were to ask him the temperature, he’d tell you in celsius. If you were to ask him a measurement, he’d tell you in centimeters or kilometers. If you were to ask him for directions… well, there is a high probability you’d hear a lot of “North, East, South, West” going on.

These descriptions of our completely opposite personalities are neither positive nor negative portraits! They are just beautifully different. Different ways of looking at the world and interacting with it in day to day living.
Now, that all being said… here is the most interesting part. Many people would view a union between these two personalities as a disaster waiting to happen. A head on collision that is sure to end in a fiery blast!
Not so…
When two people of any personality type put God first… it is amazing how HE can use those different personalities to compliment and balance out each other.
Does that mean there will never be frustrations or differences in opinion? No, of course not! But it does mean that having the love of God in your heart makes it 10X easier to extend that love to the people around you, including the person you share your life with. These differences in our personalities have shown us areas that we both need work on, areas that we can assist each other in strengthening or relaxing, and most importantly, it gives us a bigger view of the kind of God we serve.

My “go-with-the-flow”/”whatever-happens-happens” outlook on life has already had plenty of opportunities to relax the driving force that pushes him to work too hard or add extra stress to his life. His “plan-ahead”/”stick-to-itiveness” has given me the extra motivation I need to be less irresponsible with my time and energy, and I’m more likely to get multiple tasks done in a day… rather then taking a week to complete my list of To-Do’s.

To me, life happens. There isn’t much you can do about it. Just accept it, be positive about it, and move on. You can make a negative experience into something easier with smiles, jokes, and a positive outlook. To him, you happen to life. What you do determines what your life will be. Plan it, execute it, and bust through the problems as they arise. There is a tendency toward stress and frustration when things don’t go according to plan or don’t work the way he thinks they should. These two aspects of our personality have also had many opportunities to help us balance out our own characters as we go through the days together. I can lighten his mood about a potentially frustrating situation (like fighting with rewiring a brake light on the camper… in the rain), and he can help me realize that just because the weather isn’t ideal for a productive day… doesn’t mean you sit on the couch and veg-out until the sun shows it’s face.

Luckily we are both introverts. He is much less ruled by this fact then I am… but it is comforting that we both enjoy quiet time spent together, rather than one of us needing to be surrounded by people or going somewhere bustling and loud in order to have fun.

We are in love. (AWWWW!!! Yeah… I know… stop it.)

I love this wedding shot of us! It really shows the difference in our personality. (Our Wedding theme was Bohemian… by the way.)

Yes, it’s bubbly and giddy and silly sounding, but it’s true! That being said though, it isn’t the kind of love that makes you stay stupid things in quiet moments. It isn’t the kind of love that makes you feel butterflies in your stomach when you are about to kiss them. It isn’t the kind of love that gives you sweaty palms and poor decision making skills when you’re sitting in a car alone together late at night. Of course we find each other attractive and have to stare a little bit. There are moments when we feel a little tingly and excessively happy just because we get to spend time together… and sometimes even have the overwhelming feeling of, “WOW… and you chose me?”…
We’ve both been in plenty of relationships in the past. Each of them failed miserably, and here we are. Those past relationships have formed parts of who we are and have even instilled some fears in us about the future of relationships in general, and it’s uncertainty.

Real love is the kind that is formed, as stated before, through God’s love living IN us. Through that kind of pure affection, we can put each other’s needs before our own. We WANT to make each other’s lives easier, even if that means going out of our way to do something we don’t particularly enjoy… just so they don’t have to. We sacrifice OUR wants so they will get what THEY want. The best part is… if they truly love you in the same way… they’ll do the same. So no matter how much you give, you are NEVER on the losing end. You never run empty…

This kind of affection leads to loving each other in spite of (and sometimes BECAUSE of) their quirks and different personality traits.