Welcome voiceBoks peeps, loyal followers, friends and newcomers to At Home with Rebecka. Today’s post is all about me! Not to be self-centered or egotistical but to get “real” with you, so you’re able to know me a bit better.
As a Christ Follower, I believe that God calls us to be transparent. As frightening as that sounds, opening our hearts, and honestly sharing who we “really are”, has the power to restore our souls.
I attend a Christ centered church where the prevailing message is…”Me Too”. The concept of acceptance, forgiveness, and a “Me Too”, theology really level the playing field in our relationships with others. Boldly stepping out of our comfort zone, revealing our life story, and saying “Me Too”, lead to the clear truth…we are all in the same boat.
I’d like to share a few excerpts of my life story and a few of my… “Me Too” moments! Although, you may not share my faith I’m willing to bet you will relate, sympathies, or even go as far to empathize with my life journey. How these moments correlate to my passion for food blogging …”Eat, we love you”, the Stone’s family motto, life is always better when food is in the equation.
My name is Rebecka Evans. Since birth, my family has affectionately referred to me as Becka, Bex or Bec, but never, ever Becky! I started using my given name Rebecka, when I started food blogging, it just sounded more grown up. I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, have three older brothers. Jeff and Brad, “the twins”, eight years my senior, and John who is two years older than me. My parents, Harold and Anne still live in Colorado and continue to parent the world with their love and generosity.
Dad and Mom, introduced me to all things music at birth, which lead me to a career singing opera. I was always home on the stage, with my first big role as Judas in Jesus Christ Super Star. I was in Middle School, thirteen and playing my first ever “Pants Role“. What a blast! I went on to perform in High School musicals, talent shows, and professionally performing for over twenty years with music companies such as, the Denver Opera Company, Colorado Springs Opera Festival, several music theater companies, and the Denver Symphony Orchestra choir. My Opera Journey page is chronicle of my years performing in the industry.
I was twenty-three when I purchased my first business. The Beauty Brokers Hair and Nail Salon, was my life bread for over eighteen years; affording me the luxury to live my dream by performing, and studying music at the Colorado College. I also used my talents in the hair industry to become the Principle Wig and Hairstylist for the Colorado Opera Festival, working with world-renowned music, art directors and designers.
As with all that is good in life, also comes the bad. During many years of joy and good fortune, I also experienced great sadness and shame; two failed marriages, the anguish of infertility, and the joys and heart wrenching moments of adoption.
I adopted my Irish twins, Christopher and Shannon after almost five years of infertility and miscarriage. We experienced a few bumps as we went through the adoption process, but that’s another story for another time. My babies were nine and a half months apart; Shannon newborn, Chris nine and a half months old. Both babies, beautiful in every way while I was a sleep deprived zombie, and loving ever minute of motherhood; I finally had the family I had longed for.
Very shortly after adopting my children, pledging an oath before the court, and promising two selfless young birth mothers that I would give their babies a home with two parents, I became a single parent of two infant children. Unfortunately, the dream of living “happily ever after” was abruptly shattered by the actions of the other party. Not surprisingly, both birth mothers understood my situation completely, and both without the knowledge of the other said, “I picked you to be the mommy!”
Twice divorced and devastated, I had no time to think about my future, let alone pee without a little hand reaching under the bathroom door for reassurance from mommy. Music, and my life without a husband to share it with, moved to the back of the line. Parenthood had a new meaning; pray without ceasing, stop crying and try be the best mommy I could be, and finally, get over thinking “how could God ever love a wretch like me?” He could and does!
By the grace of God, I met and married my third husband in 2001. I not only found a loving husband, my best friend, the only person in the world allowed to call me Becky, I also became the full-time mother of three more amazing children; Zach, Dustin and Tanya. Together, we hit the ground running, with five children under the age of thirteen.
The past twelve years have been filled with a busy home life, a lot of praying, the ups and downs of parenthood as well as, managing to keep a healthy marriage in the midst of chaos. Our oldest son Zach, and his wife have blessed our family with two beautiful grand daughters, and Tanya is due to give birth to her first child, another baby girl in September. Grand parenting is a delightful experience.
At Home with Rebecka was born almost four years ago because, without food there is no life.
What began as a hobby turned into a passion, a personal outlet for new growth, discovery, adventure. Sharing my love of food, photography, recipe creation, and a few silly stories has been catharsis for my soul. Thank you for taking time to peek into a small window of my life, and allowing me to be transparent.
To read more about my food blogging journey see my About Me page.
This post is being shared with voiceBoks Bloggers Unite 2013 at the Back to School Party.