My name is Allison. I am the mother to four remarkable littles, married to my very own Prince Charming, and lover of all things nature, food, wine, and sleep. I like to think of myself as an adventure seeker and memory maker.
This all sounds very extravagant and full of glitter, of course. Most days I am just your typical wife, mother, sister, daughter, aunt, and friend, trying to juggle all of these roles in my little bubble, and always hoping to shed a little sunshine and joy amidst what we all know to be the highs and lows of this life.
My close friends joke with me about my excessive use of exclamation points in my text messages. I know I have a problem.
I am here with you, on just your average Wednesday. What’s average? It could look something like this.
You’ve got (at least) one child home sick, likely with something contagious.
You’re desperately longing for a jog, or at least something that might make you sweat, but not enough that you would have to shower afterward.
Your fridge is stocked, but not with the right ingredients to put together a thoughtful dinner tonight.
You are worrying about a sick family member, celebrating the fact that your Kindergartner actually put his socks on this morning without being reminded (AND they were clean!), and you cannot for the life you remember what day the 46 library books in your living room are due back.
You have approximately 97 unread emails in your inbox, likely with several regarding soccer practice, girl scouts, your backyard landscaping project, and the upcoming 16 birthday parties that your children would like to attend. And that’s not even counting anything work-related that requires a response.
The socks in the laundry hamper clearly just had babies, and you really, really liked the shirt that your husband was wearing this morning, but you forgot to tell him because he was wiping your potty-training toddler’s bottom before walking out the door.
I know you feel me. Because this is your life. This is my life too. I think we’ll get along just fine…
“Just Your Average Wednesday”
One person can change everything. My experience of true, romantic, lasting love has shown that this is true. I am married to the man that was also my first boyfriend. Crazy, right?!
I so badly wanted a boyfriend in High School and early College. I had plenty of great friends who were boys, and had plenty of crushes on boys, but, honestly, truthfully, none of them ever liked me back. This felt sometimes devastating as a teen.
And, then, in the Summer of 1999, I met Justin, and everything changed.
I was 19 years old, and was catching up with a High School friend who was visiting Southern California on a cross-country tour with his a capella group from our college, the University of Notre Dame. He had invited me to a concert, and afterward, to a party at his parents’ house, where he introduced me to the other members of his group, including a guy named Justin. We played a game of ping pong together that night, and, though the actual outcome of the match is contested to this day, the rest is history. We were married 6 years later.
This is not to say that our journey was easy. In the six years that we dated, we were “long-distance” for 3 of them. Our relationship managed the distances of South Bend to Denver, New York to Denver, LONDON to Denver, and finally, Los Angeles to San Francisco. During the year that I lived in New York post-college, Justin flew to visit me 27 times. 27 flights to New York City in one year!? Now that’s true love.
Let me tell you, Three years of living in different cities is no joke. During our frequent phone conversations, Justin and I would often joke that we’d know we’d really “made it” as a couple when we could spend an “average Wednesday night” together. Flying back and forth to see one another, it was not uncommon to find ourselves together on a Monday or a Friday, and most certainly on a Saturday or Sunday. But, Wednesdays? Never!
We daydreamed about what lovely monotony it would be to do some laundry together, watch a show, or cook dinner side-by-side on a Wednesday.
For many years, it felt as if this would never become our reality.
During our frequent phone conversations, Justin and I would often joke that we’d know we’d really “made it” as a couple when we could spend an “average Wednesday night” together.
Justin and I now have 13 years of Wednesdays under our belts. We were married in 2005, and live in the Bay Area with our four children.
We are working hard – really hard – every single day, to try to be good people, good parents, and good to the world around us. And it’s an often-daunting task. We know that you “feel us” on this one, and that’s why we’re here with you, on “just your average Wednesday.”
