Allison & Austen In Washington

Austen and I met in 2015 while working at the same software company. Austen was a Solutions Engineer at the time, and I managed the Implementation team. While we had a great deal of professional respect for one another, as our teams worked closely, ours was not an immediate connection. Austen’s desk was behind the section where my somewhat rowdy, yet hilarious team, sat. Austen never engaged with us (his loss). In fact, he bought giant noise canceling headphones to assist in ignoring us! Then in late 2017, mutual friends and colleagues set us up at an after work happy hour and we quickly realized we had much in common.

Living in the same small town on the Olympic Peninsula, across the Puget Sound from Seattle, we had our first date the following day where we attended our town’s Christmas tree lighting and walked through the lights and other decorations done by the local marina. We talked endlessly and covered a wide range of topics, not wanting the night to end. Our local Christmas tree lighting has become something we look forward to attending every year. We dated for a few years. Austen proposed in Paris on the Eiffel Tower in December 2019. Due to COVID, we had to have a smaller but beautiful wedding in July 2020.

Austen grew up with his dad serving in the Coast Guard and later in the State Department, allowing him to live all around the world with his family (dad, mom, and two sisters, with Austen in the middle). They lived in Spain, Germany, The Ivory Coast (West Africa), and Japan. When they were stateside, they were in the Washington DC and Washington State areas. With Washington State being where the majority of his extended family lived, and they visited annually to see grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Growing up in and visiting multiple countries allowed him to experience and witness things from multiple perspectives and become the very caring and accepting individual he is today. He completed his undergraduate degree at Central Washington University, focusing on biology and chemistry. He then earned his Master’s in Cybersecurity and Leadership from the University of Washington. Austen has a love for marine biology, studying in graduate school before changing to a Master’s program in Cybersecurity. Austen spent many years as a volunteer at the Seattle Aquarium, teaching kids about ocean life and caring for the animals.

I was born and raised in Washington State growing up in Seattle and across the water on the Olympic Peninsula, with my mom and dad, older, and two younger sisters. Growing up, I loved and rode horses, riding and training show jumpers. Then I moved from Seattle to the Peninsula which allowed me to have horses live at home. Learning to care for something bigger than me helped to shape my work ethic. With a love for being on the water, I sailed and rowed as well. I eventually coached men’s, women’s and high school rowing teams.

Growing up, I was always surrounded by family and friends who became our family. I lost my mom when I was in college but have worked to maintain her traditions and embrace and embody her philosophies. She was very accepting, as was our home. She believed and taught me that there is room for everyone at the table and often entertained people from all walks of life. My mom cherished children and believed they should be seen and heard.

Since COVID both Austen and I have worked remotely, allowing us to eliminate commuting three hours a day to Seattle, giving us more free time to enjoy our dogs and interests. We have 3 wonderful dogs that we both adore, but we are outnumbered, and I joke that we live in a dog house! We enjoy walking them on the many local trail systems and taking them to the beach for a swim. We also like to attend our local weekend farmers’ markets and events and festivals, which occur often.

Travel is something that is very important to us. We’ve been lucky to travel together to Europe, Costa Rica, several Hawaiian Islands, California, Oregon, many other states, Canada, and all over our home state of WA exploring its vast landscapes and climates. Everywhere we go we are sure to visit the local aquarium. Of all the places we’ve been to, home is our favorite place to be, with our dogs, cooking, and entertaining.

Our home is situated near the water/beaches on the Olympic Peninsula in the small town of Kingston, WA.. We are close to parks, tennis and pickleball courts, restaurants, a movie theater, and of course the trails where we and our dogs love to walk. We have an excellent elementary, middle, and high school all within walking distance. Our neighborhood is vibrant, with a robust Halloween celebration attracting several hundred trick-or-treaters and festive Christmas decorations adorning most homes. There are families of all stages in our neighborhood, which makes for a unique experience. We are about an hour from major cities, which have several zoos and aquariums, amazing restaurants, and plenty of other wonderful places to take a growing child.

Our home is 2000 sq ft with three bedrooms on a large, secluded corner lot. We have a perfect room for a baby that is close to our bedroom and has a big window overlooking the backyard. We just finished a long renovation with a new kitchen, bathrooms, floors, and updated interior and freshly painted inside. In fact, the outside of the house is being painted as we write this, so we don't have any updated photos yet.

Much like the home I grew up in, ours is an inviting and accepting gathering place, with my close friends saying this is where they come to ‘come home’. We have a covered deck and grill and have fires year-round. We love sitting around the fire enjoying each other's company.

We are very close with each of our families, as well as each other's family. We both grew up with siblings, Austen is the middle child with an older and younger sister who he is very devoted to. I am the 2nd of four girls and have always taken pride in being an exceptional sister. We see our families regularly with most of our immediate families living nearby, within about 20 minutes.

Our house is very much the gathering place. We are generally the ones who host birthdays and holidays and general get togethers. Every night at dinner, we’ll ask everyone “What was the best part of your day?” keeping communication active in the family. My grandmothers and mom were incredible cooks and entertainers. One of the family favorites was cottage cheese pancakes, passed down from my great grandfather for special occasions, such as birthdays, Easter and Christmas.

Growing up, our parents instilled many family traditions for each of us that we hope to pass down. We’ve also created many of our own.

The Fourth of July is big in our town, and one of my favorite holidays. We have an hour-long parade through town that we all love watching. Friends and family will meet at our house, go to the parade, come back and grill. The menu typically includes a Santa Maria Tri Tip, my much-requested broccoli salad, and Austen’s Aunt’s Rhubarb Crisp. Then we all walk back to town to watch the fireworks over the bay at night.

We have many Christmas traditions from each of our families and some we’ve begun on our own. Our Christmas traditions include:
● Watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
● Visiting Christmas lights at our marina and Zoo Lights
● My dad reads ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ on Christmas Eve. He even did it via Zoom one Christmas when we couldn't be together.
● Watching Hallmark Christmas movies and playing Hallmark Bingo with hot chocolate
● Decorating the tree together. This is a one-week event (seriously)!
● Having baked ziti at my sister’s house on Christmas Eve
● Hiding a pickle ornament in the tree and giving an extra gift to the finder
● Enjoying roasted chestnuts, one of Austen's favorites
● Making French toast casserole for Christmas morning brunch
● Giving out Panettone and chocolate oranges, a tradition from Austen’s childhood in Europe.

We have created some new traditions for Halloween, which is Austen’s favorite. Halloween is a major event in our neighborhood, with hundreds of kids Trick or Treating. We spend hours handing out candy nonstop. Austen competes in what we like to call “Halloween Wars” where neighbors unofficially compete to have the best-decorated house. I’ll make black bean soup, corn bread, and pumpkin pie, which I always had as a child on Halloween.

We hope to continue creating new traditions and to pass on our existing, cherished traditions to our future child.

For as long as we can remember we have dreamed of becoming parents. When we married four years ago, we knew that having a family was our top priority with adoption always being a consideration. After facing infertility challenges over the past four years, we have decided that adoption is the next step in growing our family. We are eager to share our traditions and love, as we firmly believe that families are created in many different ways.