Week In The Life™ 2023 | Ali's Wednesday

Welcome to Wednesday in Week In The Life™ 2023. 

Today I'm going to use the story lens Some Days/Most Days/These Days. This is a great lens to telling the story of your everyday because there are always things we do most days and always things we do some days. Just this simple little guide can help bring the story of your day together. 

Here's a look at my Wednesday: 

These days the driving-kids-to-school adventure is shared between me, Aaron, and Elliott. Today was Aaron's turn. 

Most days from now through the summer I'll have lots of flowers to bring inside. These are some of the last of the daffodils that I brought in yesterday and added to my kitchen window (aren't they so cool - little minis with multiple bulbs).

These days the girls have been really into sourdough toast.

Here's a little story about this photo: it was just lucky. I had grabbed my camera without looking at the settings and took a test shot. This was it. I gasped when I looked at the back of my Canon because I loved it so much. It wasn't actually this dark in our kitchen but I love, love, love how this camera is able to do this kind of shot that essentially isolates the light. 

I took a step back, adjusted the settings just a bit and took another shot to get her whole body in there and make it just a tab lighter in order to see Betty a bit better. It's still overall dark with the lightest parts being light. 

Some days Betty has a playdate with her Mama (Cookie) + Brother (Stroop) over at our friend Kim's house. She will come home in need of a shower and will be exhausted from a full day of outside play with her family. 

Some days a kid might leave the gas tank on empty which requires driving straight to the gas station because who knows how long they have been driving it while it's said it was on empty. 

Most days you can find me here first thing. Checking in with my team. Uploading + editing + reading + planning + messaging + posting. This is a spot that I love. 

Some days I do a little art journaling as I come in and out of my office. Today I was going through and organizing the little rolling cart I got for some of my supplies. I've got my table set up for memory keeping on one side and art journaling on the other side. 

Some days when I need a little break from work I'll do an outdoor task. Today I filled up the hummingbird feeders that I had cleaned out yesterday. 

Most days I'm here with a variety of screens: computer, iPad, phone, etc. Today I was setting up the May One Little Word® prompt from Krystal and texting with our OLW team. 

Most days I eat leftovers for lunch. It makes me happy. Today I had some of the pasta we had for dinner last night. I sat outside for lunch today and it was awesome. 

Some days I do a little dinner prep at lunch. Today I chopped up some kale for a salad tonight. 

Most days in the spring + summer, I try really hard to get as much work done as I can early in the day in order to spend time outside in the afternoon. Some weeks this works and other weeks I'm still at my desk most of the day. 

Today I was dealing with my dahlia patch (one of my favorite spots in the yard). I dug up some ones that have been in the ground for awhile and plan to divide them if I can (researching that because I usually just leave them in the ground and they come back). I had some new ones I wanted to plan so I dug these up and dug a few more holes and got them in the ground. 

On the days when I pick Anna up from school I often get there a little early and read or chat with friends. Today I grabbed my mail when leaving home and had a new Better Homes + Gardens magazine. Inside I found this article + photo of a backyard that was super inspiring to me. Most days I dream of something like this in my own yard (I'm totally okay to lose some of our grass). 

Some days we make a pit stop after school. Today we headed to Barnes + Noble (Anna + her buddy Aune) between home + volleyball practice because Anna was wanting to pick up a few more books. I never say no to books and the kids know this. She picked up: It Starts With Us, The Love Hypothesis, and If He Had Been With Me. 

Most days I do not need any more books. Today I came home with two more myself: Saving Time by Jenny Odell and The Ransomeware Hunting Team by Renee Dudley + Daniel Golden (both nonfiction).

On the days when Betty has a play date with her Mom + Brother she always gets a shower when she comes back. She does pretty good just standing there (I started doing this with her when she was tiny) and then she goes bananas when she gets out and dried off. 

Some days I drive Anna + Aune to volleyball practice. Audrey gets a ride from her Mom after-school and then either us or Aune's parents bring them all home. Today we drove with the windows down. 

Some days I open the back window and let her feel the breeze as we drive along. She's going to be exhausted tonight after a full day playing. 

On rare days I open her door to see what's happening and most days it looks like this. 

Most days I look at my bedside table and laugh at my current pile. Some of these will get read and some will move to the bookshelf for a someday season. 

Some days you can find her here. I only lived her for twelve years before I got a cushion for that spot. 

Some rare days Aaron orders something new for himself. He's getting ready to take Elliott + Audrey on an adventure next week and decided it was time for some new kicks. I might have freaked out with excitement when I saw what he ordered. 

At some point in the last year we switched sides of the bed. This is his side now. 

Most days Aaron and I are trying to meet up for a Yoga With Adrienne flow in the late afternoon. We were in a great habit for awhile then got away from it and are now back into it again. The mental + physical release is so needed. 

Most days I'm cooking something for dinner (some days Aaron makes something + some days we order take out + some days we both make something). Tonight I was massaging kale for a kale salad with smoked salmon and oranges. Anna and I ate that and Aaron made some ravioli for Audrey + Elliott + his friend. 

Most days if there's a cool sunset someone around here will yell it out so we can all look outside. The girls ran out with their volleyball to hit a few more times while I was taking the photo. 

Most days I take a bath at the end of the day. It's my way to unwind and have a specific transition into the evening/bedtime. 

A couple weeks ago I posted a photo on Instagram with a caption about how I'm kinda loving getting older. Someone in the comments asked me what I liked about it and this was my response, "I love feeling more comfortable in my own skin (and really celebrating + encouraging other people to feel the same by being by the only person they can be: themselves). I love having older kids + what a different experience than when they were babies."

OTHER VOICES

Simon: 

Isaac: 

Elliott: 

Audrey: 

Anna: 

Aaron: 

And from my Mom: