Daydreaming about Happy Ever Afters was a favorite pastime for many of us growing up. Even the childhood game of M.A.S.H. sends us down the path of ideal futures: growing old with our childhood crush, living in our mansion, and working our dream job. In the game, if our future plan was not up to par with our daydreams, we would laugh and start over. Unfortunately, in real life, our daydreams are not so easily accomplished and disappointments not so easily dismissed. While we continue to celebrate with each other all of the amazing things that happen in our lives, we have found that the times when we most need our friendships is during the unexpected detours that are inevitable in life.

We have found the navigation of building healthy relationships, raising little ones, pursuing various professions, creating financial stability, and reestablishing our own identities within all of the expectations, is more challenging than we could have anticipated. In a culture that thrives off of perfection and the visual creations of the ideal life, finding ourselves on the other side of perfect was really isolating. The truth is, the isolation is a lie because the perfection is a lie. Despite what is shown on social media accounts and romance movies, we will all experience varying degrees of surprise turns and unforeseen additions in our lives that will challenge or even shatter the daydreams we previously entertained. We are often told, however subtly, that hard work, commitment, and passion will produce the desired outcomes. But, what happens when that’s not enough? The isolation will tell us that we are failures. But we are here to tell you that we are not. Sometimes, life throws out random u-turns and dead ends, and maybe we don’t find the perfect happy ever after that we daydreamed about. Instead, we find ourselves in strange, beautiful, unexpected ever afters.

We are not here to present the image of perfected bliss that is often found online. We will strive to be real, authentic, and honest about the ups and downs of everyday life. Although it’s not always easy, it’s important to acknowledge things do not always work out the way we originally anticipated and we hope to share our stories through a lens of grace and humor. We hope our candidness offers a fresh perspective as we discuss various topics, offer support and encouragement, and challenge the isolation that perfection tries to trap us in. We hope you enjoy this adventure as we continue to learn about and embrace the unexpected in our lives.

– Jessica & Wendi –