Our Story

Everyone's story is unique.  Our story is not one that either of us would have imagined, but we recognize God's hand in bringing us together and are so happy that we get to share this life's adventure together.

Our story written by Scott...

At age 35, if you're single you begin to wonder a bit about God's plan for your marital status.  Maybe more than a little.  This is especially true if you aren't into the typical dating scene.  Where do you meet someone who has the same beliefs, morals, values and who holds the same things true to their hearts that you do?  A woman who is beautiful, intelligent, caring, energetic, spiritual, affectionate, sincere and sexy?  A woman who draws her strength and identity from her Heavenly Father, and who is seeking...well, ME?  (Cue the music and the actors) Well, I went to Christianmingle.com!  :) This really isn't supposed to be a commercial. But Carrie is correct, our story is unique, and it is absolutely beautiful!  God is so much bigger than you or I attempting to orchestrate every detail of our lives.  Our story is unique because He is unique and I know He is smiling as He pieces ours together...enjoy it with us!

She smiled at me first!! For anyone not familiar with how an online dating site works, you set up a profile to tell other members a bit about yourself; likes/dislikes, activities you enjoy, background and also your preferences for potential matches.  The site then pairs you up with members with similar preferences and interests.  "AKcarrie" (Carrie Renae Lambing) didn't show up as a match for me.  Not because she wasn't compatible but because she was further than the 100 mile radius from Ft Wainwright I'd set as my distance of interest!  Lucky for me Carrie was much more open minded!  I received her "smile" (a smiley emoticon delivered to my inbox...she was flirting with me!) on Nov. 20th, and thus, began OUR story.  I replied to her smile on my birthday 3 days later...happy birthday to me!!!!  And what a gift Carrie is!  We continued to email, but our first date took place a month later when she picked me up from the Anchorage airport amidst a 12-hr layover.  We talked on the phone once before seeing each other for the first time...she called to tell me she had pulled up and was waiting outside for me!  It may have only been a 20 second call but it was soooo romantic! :)  I remember thinking, "she sounds cute."  I was right!  The day was special as we spent some quality time getting to know each other, face to face.  It was on the way back from Alyeska Resort that she told me she'd given her friend, Sarah, as much information on me as she knew.  Sarah told Carrie that she would "initiate the manhunt" if Carrie hadn't called her by a certain time.  We laughed about it then, but I laugh harder now!  Sarah is a mother of four and a pastor's wife with the sweetest disposition and a heart for Jesus, who drives a minivan!

Many phone calls and approximately 1500 texts were exchanged by the next time we saw each other a month later.  Praise God for "unlimited everything mobile plans!"  At the time I'm penning our story, we've shared 4,998 texts (make that 5036...I'm revising), numerous phone calls, and we skype every night.  Since January, either she has flown (she drove twice, 6 hrs one-way!) to Fairbanks or I have flown to Wasilla, every 2-3 weeks.  That's a lot of time in between seeing each other!  Distance dating has its pros and cons and seeing each other every 2-3 weeks is definitely rough.  But at the same time we feel like we've built our relationship on a foundation of solid communication and have been forced to be more intentional with the time we do spend together.  And the fact is that we both have established lives where we are.  If we were living in close proximity to each other it would mean, quite simply, that neither one of us would get anything done :)  

The first time she came to see me in Fairbanks she was supposed to travel with some of her friends to experience Chena Hot Springs.  However, it ended up being just her and I.  We enjoyed a very chilly, beautiful and memorable Alaskan evening sharing, learning, dreaming, and marveling at how cold it was...and how the frost accumulates on your hair while in the hot springs.  A couple of weeks later I flew to Wasilla and thus began the event I affectionately call the "I'm going to introduce you to as many people as I possibly can in the span of 2 days because I know so many people and they all love me" event!  And the following visit was "ditto" #2!  Carrie seriously has been blessed with sooo many wonderful people in her life, (we both have been) and she is very proud of the community she does life with on a daily basis.  It's so much fun and I'm honored to be a part of it!  It was this weekend that we also decided we were "exclusively dating"...because I had so many awesome women competing for my heart  ;-)  It was during her visit to Fairbanks on Easter weekend that I realized I loved her and that it was as I hoped; God had indeed been working behind the scenes for the last 2 1/2 long years in Alaska.  Place yourself in my position for a moment; you're being assigned to your first duty station and find out you're going to Alaska!  I've always wanted to see Alaska, and I wanted to go Airborne so Fort Richardson was a great option.  Oh, what, I'm going to Fairbanks?!  "What's up there?"  "Nothing!!"  I'm generally a positive person so I hoped for the best, but..."nothing" was accurate.  However, God truly is bigger than what we recognize and, as it turns out, He led me to an amazingly unique and special woman, all the way up here in Fairbanks, AK...through technology which I'm not especially fond of, primarily because of its seeming hatred for me!  But I digress...a few more months would pass before we would start seriously talking about marriage.  I knew by this time that I wanted to marry Carrie, but until this point we'd casually discussed getting married after I exited the military.  Well, we compromised on some details and decided the situation was never going to be perfect as far as preparation goes, and that it didn't need to be!  After all, from the very beginning we agreed we were both interested in marrying that special someone that God had for them, not dating them forever.  

Keep in mind that at this point she hadn't met any of my family, or those who are closest to my heart!  By June, I'd told my family that she and I were planning on getting married...in September..."no, not 2014, this year!!"  HAHA, I'm literally laughing as I'm writing this.  My family is amazing and they have always loved me so well and trusted me.  I knew that they would love and accept Carrie because of who she is, and because I do!  But I also know this was a big surprise...this was happening quickly!  After all, I'm normally the one to plan out big decisions, and this is the biggest one that I'll make.  Not to mention, 7 months earlier my plan was to get out of the military, come back home, buy a house on a lake and start an auto detailing business!  Umm, what can I say, plans change!  :)  And thank God they do!  So during my block leave period in July Carrie and I went to Michigan for 11 days.  It was her turn to meet everyone, their brother, his cousin and so on!  It was a whirlwind of a trip but so much fun!  We were in 5 different states in that 11-day span, including one day where we flew out of Detroit at 7 a.m. (EDT), landed in Denver at 8 a.m. (MDT), drove to and toured the 2 venues we had in mind for the wedding and flew back to Detroit at 9 p.m.  We got home the next morning at 4!  We gathered with a large group of family and friends the first weekend we were home  and had a large family reunion the last weekend we were there.  We stayed one night in Ohio and another in Indiana, and I had the honor of introducing my Carrie to some of my most beloved people.  We had to come back to Wasilla to relax for a week! :) 

 

I've always wanted a fall wedding.  She wants to be married by 40.  So we are getting married in the fall of 2013, with the orange and yellow colored aspens of beautiful Winter Park, Colorado as our backdrop...it's going to be breathtaking!  In Carrie I have been blessed with a woman who is confident in her identity.  She's supportive, encouraging and she enjoys serving others.  She's a fun mix between an introvert and an extrovert.  Carrie Renae is affectionate, truthful, forgiving, intelligent and ambitious.  She loves me unconditionally.  We laugh often, even when I'm not tickling her.  She's feisty and able to do anything she puts her mind to, and she does it well!   She is a Proverbs 31 woman!  She's extremely creative, beautiful, cute, fun-sized, sexy and pure!  Carrie is full of compassion and kindness.  God's creation intrigues her as much as it does me.  She's not afraid of change and adjusts quickly.  Her smile is intoxicating!  She has been blessed with much wisdom and discernment.  She loves adventure and we're excited for our marriage to begin the biggest chapter yet in this adventure we call life.  I look forward to figuring out life and its challenges and its joys and its mysteries with her.  I'm better because of her, but not complete.  We both realize that our marriage is not our supreme relationship—the supreme relationship of any believer’s life is with God; our relationship with God is what makes us whole and complete.  But making each other better, bringing one another joy, supporting one another, loving one another...these special privileges are ones that I'm honored and eager to explore with Carrie Renae Samson!  Now that we're in the process of planning the most important and special event of our lives, our marriage, she continues to amaze me with her organization, her talents and how consistent she is, even in the midst of stress!  I love and appreciate you so much Carrie Renae! 

Family and friends, your support, love and prayers are appreciated more than you know.  Our story is without a doubt unique.  I'd never have guessed it would come together so quickly and in the fashion it has but it's so beautiful and we are excited to include all of you in it.  I thank God for the future He has in store for us.  And we look forward to doing life alongside you all. 

With much love,

Scott and Carrie

P.S. Her ring is in the mail!!

Ephesians 5: 28-31

Song of Songs 4: 7

Matthew 19: 5-6