Mrs. Christenson

Well Hello There!

I'm Crystal Christenson and believe it or not I actually started a blog! 

I'm a 30 something woman who has recently gone through a HUGE life change. I grew up in the smallish town of Brush Prairie, Washington where all I can really remember focusing on was growing up and getting away to the big city. During High School the opportunity of going to a trade school during my Senior year just kinda fell in my lap. Next thing you know I am not only finishing up my last year of High School but on the fast track to getting my Cosmetology certification.  Never in a million years did I think that I would become a hair stylist because well, I was clueless about anything beauty related. Who knew women were supposed to do things like wax their eye brows, color their hair, and wear makeup to make themselves look like the most beautiful version of themselves as possible?  The whole beauty industry just came naturally to me and before I knew it I had my ticket out of that small town life I had been living. Off I headed to the outskirts of Seattle, Washington for a salon management position that was offered to me.

Next thing I know, years and years had flown by and I found myself living the life that most women in their mid to late 20's are nowhere near reaching. I had my own incredibly successful business that easily provided me with everything I could possibly want and trust me, I TOTALLY took it for granted! I mean how many 20 somethings can say they make their own work schedules, travel several months out of the year, go shopping, to happy hour, out for drinks, have not only one gym membership but at times up to 3, and really not think twice about money. I had the carefree life a young woman should experience but then something (more like someone) comes along and makes you realize it's time to settle down.

Insert Mr. Hans Christenson. He came strolling into my life through a friend at happy hour one night and WOW, what a breath of fresh air he was. He lived in the city but was a true country boy at heart. He instantly stole my heart with his tee shirt and jeans, un-manicured hands and eyebrows, beat up Ford truck,  and yellow lab Mitch. Life was all roses for a couple weeks until I heard the words "you are the type of girl I would like to marry and I'm just not ready for that." What?!?   Is that not the biggest line of crap you have ever heard? Little did I know he was serious and when our paths crossed a year later he was finally ready and he must have jumped through a million different hoops to get back in my good graces. Wow did I make that man work and he willingly did each and everything I demanded. Next thing you know we are building a house together in the city of Redmond, Washington and the day we moved in he purposed. I was going to become Mrs. Hans Christenson  and we were going to continue our crazy busy lives of work, home, and play right there in the suburbs of Seattle.

A couple months after moving into our new home our world changed forever. Hans was let go from his lucrative job as a mechanical engineer. Well shoot, what now we thought? After really sitting down and talking it through Hans and I came to the realization that there was no way he could continue the boring profession of engineering. He longed for more of a purpose and after being in the military for many years decided that he needed to do something along those lines. Well let me tell you...there was no way in hell I was going to let him join the military again so we settled on firefighting. Getting into this profession is no simple task and he made getting hired on to a department anywhere in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, or Montana his full time job. At times this was a bit stressful to be the provider but in all reality all I had to do was take my work days from 3 to 4 or 5 days a week. "Boo Hoo" right? Almost exactly a year to the day of being unemployed Hans was hired on to a fire department in his home town of Roseburg, Oregon.

Getting hired on meant we had some big changes coming our way! We needed to move from a huge metropolitan area to a tiny little town in Southern Oregon but this is easier said than done. We had a house to sell and I had to decide what was going to be done with my business. I know everyone says that a hairstylist can work anywhere and yes, this is correct however, going from working in one of the most expensive and profitable cities in the country to the middle of hick town USA was something I just could not wrap my head around. I felt like I had lost my identity and everything I had worked so hard for. I kept telling myself I really loved my lifestyle and I knew that moving away meant that would come to a screeching hault! Deep down though I knew that I never in a million years wanted to raise a family where we were and when the time came for children we wanted to be closer to family. For the time being I just couldn't get over being a complete control freak so I decided to stay up north on my own so I could get the house sold and continue to work.

Hans and I lived apart for a whole year and let me tell you, it was not easy! We both knew that our main goal was to get him past his year of probation with the department and eventually get me down here so we could have a normal marriage and start a family. Somewhere in that year though we both lost track of how important it is for a marriage to be together and we both became comfortable in our own lives.  We were fighting more and more and never really appreciated the time we spent together. After countless arguments and several come to Jesus meetings we decided we needed a plan and we needed to stick to it. We have always referred to each other as teammates and we were really needing to get back to that. ASAP!  This meant I needed to get over my control issues and be ok with the thought of a major life change.

So here we are...Finally! Well, it's been about 6 months that we have been together full time but I am just now getting around to writing. We have moved to the outskirts of Roseburg, Oregon to the little town of Umpqua. When I say little, I mean LITTLE!!! Umpqua has a population of 112 and...in just a few weeks we will be increasing that number to 113! Yep, that's right, we will be welcoming our little girl Olive Anne Christenson in mid August.

Life in this laid back sleepy little town is new to me and will be completely new to Olive but since Hans grew up here we have the most amazing teammate to teach us the in's and out's of living out on the prairie. I am excited to be able to share this new life with all of you and it may not be the glitz and glam that our life once was in the city, I think you will find it to be a whole different type of laid back beautiful and who knows, maybe some of you will bring a little bit of country living into your homes through us.

Enjoy!