Day One

Hello world!

Why is it so hard to write an introduction to your life? I suppose that question answers itself. Do I write an in-depth biography of my whole life up through today? Would anyone really want to read that? Probably not.

What facts about me would even interest a stranger? In the internet intrusive world we live in, would one more life laid bare really be that interesting to the world? Who knows, really. Slice of life blogs are a dime a dozen, but somehow each one has at least a few followers, because we all love the sort of legal peeping tom feeling of delving into someone else's life, even if - at the end of the day - it's only the parts of it they choose to share.

So here I am, throwing care to the wind and baring my soul to the internets. This is me, my life, my struggles and, hopefully, my greatest achievements. All of this for you to read, if you choose, because I simply want to share.



My name is Abby and I'd like to invite you to follow my adventure into motherhood. I am not pregnant, yet, but we are trying to start our family. "We" are me, naturally, and my husband Ryan. Currently our "family" consists of ourselves and our many pets. The dog: Zoso. The cats: Ed, Ford, Arthur. The snake: Raider. And the fish. We don't name the fish.

To get the details out of the way: Ryan and I met via OkCupid in January 2008. Our first date was at the Boston Museum of Science. We lay on the ground, watching the lightning show, and couldn't wait to see each other again. Within a few weeks we were spending week nights together - not just because his apartment was around the corner from my work! In August of that year, we found an apartment together in Winthrop. It was the first time I'd lived outside of my parents house (besides dorm life) and I was thrilled to have my own place. Ed had been with me a few years already and came to live with us. A month later we adopted our beagle, Zoso.

After a year in Winthrop, Ryan proposed to me. It was a hot Wednesday night and I was exhausted when I got home. I collapsed on the bed, waiting to cool off from the walk home (back when we lived in the city and took the T). Ryan knelt next to me and pulled out a small white box. "Will you marry me?" he asked as he presented me with an iPod touch. He knew me too well - I couldn't say no.

We began to look at houses - wanting to strike out on our own, away from leases and roommates. Two twenty-five year olds on a mission to find their home while all their friends were renting. People thought we were crazy, but we had enough saved for a decent down payment. After a summer of heartache involving two houses we desperately wanted to buy, we were ready to give up. It was useless. All the good houses were taken. We were, quite frankly, burnt out. One more, we said. We would look at one more house before calling it quits for the season. The air was cooling as fast as the market, and we were tired of spending every afternoon looking at wreck after wreck. The last house was in a small town we'd never heard of. Maynard is the kind of place everyone's driven through, but no one has ever heard of. The house was beautiful. Yellow paint with a shiny black door - a rustic fence across the front of the property, and of course a large, gorgeous yard. We put an offer down that day and then headed up to the White Mountains to clear our heads.

There's nothing like being 'those people' at the camp ground who are walking around, phone outstretched, searching for bars. "Can you hear me?" was the refrain of the evening. Our Realtor's crackly voice was just a whisper in the ear piece. "I'm sorry, what?" "They accepted your offer! We'll start the papers when you get home!" And just like that, we had our home.

We moved into our house in September 2009 and, just like that, we were adults. Haha, but really, there is such a definitive change when rent turns to mortgage. When you stop worrying about the neighbors upstairs and start worrying about the leaky roof. Suddenly this house was our responsibility, and will be for many years to come. We dealt with a brief haunting (it's OK, the doll is happy now) and brought home a second cat - a little grey fellow named Fry. Then, on a thundery June day in 2010, we became a married couple, surrounded by friends and family. That night we partied with dozens of friends long past sunset and sunrise. Sure, it was an unconventional wedding night, but I was happy to be surrounded by the people I love for one of the happiest days of my life.

A year later, the day after Thanksgiving, we lost our little Fry to a terrible disease. He was only a year old and was one of the most incredible and loving cats I have ever - or will ever - meet in my life. We have his portrait hanging in our dining room so he'll always be with us. After that, our home was so quiet. Zoso and Ed both seemed to be mourning in their own ways (Zoso more than Ed) and finally, that January (2011) we drove down to Hartford to pick up two little black fur-balls we've come to know as Ford and Arthur.

Things were pretty simple from then on. Ryan and I both found new jobs, made new friends, went on new adventures. Our lives were great and we loved them and each other. Then, one hot August day in 2012, we were driving to a rock-climbing gym to hang out with some friends. I said "Ryan, I've been thinking about something..." "Me, too." He surprised me. I had no idea we'd had the same thought on both our minds: baby.

Just like that, the world changed. We got our insurance straightened out and I bid farewell to a decade of birth control. And... here we are today, almost six months later, still waiting. That's the story of my little family and how, hopefully, it will be getting a bit bigger soon. I hope you enjoy my journey and share stories of your own joys and heartaches.

See you in the next update.