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Trae went all out when he planned this trip for us. Truly a trip of a lifetime!

In December (2024),we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. That truly doesn’t seem possible, but we did. We planned a trip, but traveling in December is just added stress with the holidays, the kids coming home, etc. So, we decided to plan a trip to Kauai in February. And Trae also thought it would be extra special to be there for Valentine’s Day and my birthday. I wasn’t completely sure how I would like that. I LOVE Valentine’s Day and I also LOVE birthdays and celebrating with friends, but WOW he was so right! It was so fun to be there for those special days as well.

We got to our room and were greeted with a surprise from our kids! Such a treat because we were hungry and tired!

I did end up getting sick a day or two before we left on Feb 12th, and was still sick the first few days we were there, but what a beautiful place to rest and get well! Trae and I absolutely love Hawaii. We have so many wonderful memories there. It was one of our first trips after we got married. We’ve taken our kids there, spent lots of time there with our families, we made new friends there a couple of years ago, and when we look back on all those times, it just makes us both smile.

One Hotel Resort was absolutely beautiful! The service was amazing. Everything there was built from recycled materials. We got real glasses and mugs, etc. There was no plastic! I love things like that, and highly recommend there.

Our beautiful room

We also used a travel agent, Lisa Tippin (Trippin with Tippin), and she did a great job planning our trip and making our flight, dinner, spa and excursion reservations. We had to make a few changes due to my getting sick, but otherwise, it was a perfect trip!

We got there on a Wednesday, and by Saturday for our first outing, I was feeling so much better. We went whale watching and the weather was perfect! We saw a few whale tales, but they never really came out of the water like we experienced in Maui several years ago. But the boat crew, the sunset and everything else was incredible! Thank you, Blue Dolphin Tours.

Whale watching tour and my favorite picture of us!

The first couple of days I spent mostly at the spa, and it was so peaceful and relaxing!

Let’s talk about the food! We had so much good food. One of our favorite things was the Kona Honey coffee for breakfast every morning, and the lemon ricotta pancakes were so good. For other meals, we had everything from tacos, to fish sandwiches, to incredible sushi! Pacos Tacos was a favorite local spot!

And the drinks….we had some delicious drinks!

And of course, the reason we love the island of Kauai so much….the views.

One fun surprise for me, and something we didnt remember seeing in past trips….THE CHICKENS. They were everywhere! And if you don’t know, I have chickens at home and I LOVE them! I probably have more pictures of chickens on this trip than anything else, so here they are….I learned that there are approximately 450,000 chickens on the island and they were brought there originally by the Polynesians.

We had the greatest time together! I am so grateful for this incredible trip we had. I’ll cherish it forever. More pics…..I can’t wait to go back!

Thanks for reading!

So, I’ll get to my empty nest story in a minute, but first I have to share this. Do you ever think to yourself, “I need to slow down”? There have been many times in my life that I’m forced to slow down. Actually, I think EVERY TIME I slow down, it’s because I’ve been forced to. I think God has to use extreme measures to remind me to rest. I mean, I have a hard time sitting still through a movie! Is that the case with you, too? He’s very creative when it comes to getting me to shut down for a bit and re-focus. Much of the time it’s my health. This time, it’s totally different. I’m currently STUCK in Austin, Texas alone. I spent two days packing up my youngest, Tyler, and loading my truck and driving to Austin for his apartment move-in day while he is working at camp. (I’m doing this now because I’ll be gone much of August so I need to get this done this week.) Well, while we thought everything was in order for me to walk in and get his keys. That was not the case. They need two more things from Tyler before they’ll give me the keys. So, I’m currently waiting to hear from him, even though he has no cell service, no internet access, a very important job he’s doing, and no way of knowing I need him to call me. I spent yesterday evening driving around aimlessly just trying to process everything, asking myself the following questions:

How can I get in touch with him? Should I drive 3 hours out to the camp? And the much bigger question, How am I gonna leave him here In just a few weeks and drive away without him?

Well, 4 years ago I did it before. We left our little girl in Nashville, and now she’s graduating. And I survived. I thought I would literally just stop breathing, and I didn’t. And now here I am again. Feeling the anxiety. Facing my fear of living without two of my three greatest dreams to ever come true. Ugh. But why am I so sad? It’s what we want for them, isn’t it? To grow up, learn to live on their own and start their own lives. When Tyler was a little boy, he used to tell me that he and his cousin were gonna live next door to me, work at Toys ‘R Us, and run with me everyday. Couldn’t that still be the plan- except maybe, the running?

I know this about myself. I don’t easily adjust to change. I’m not one of those laid back people that just easily goes with the flow. I think that’s why I like to write songs. It’s how I process a lot of things. Just sitting here, writing this, has helped me come to terms with the fact that I just have to wait. I can either wait frustrated and discouraged, or I can wait enjoying the down time I have before a very hectic month to come.

So, back to THE EMPTY NEST- Believe it or not, in the midst of my tears, I am TRULY excited for what’s to come. It’s crazy to look back and see how fast it got here, and then at the same time, it feels like a lifetime ago that my kids were babies. But, here we are. I’ve been sick for much of our marriage, and Trae and I both are ready to enjoy time together, travel, and as he would say, “give our kids a chance to miss us.” We bought an RV that I’ve been remodeling (between having Covid, and a kidney stone that had to be removed surgically) and I can’t wait for us to take our first trip. Just the two of us–well, and Gus and Otis, of course.

So, maybe you, too, are facing the empty nest. Or maybe you’re like me and just being forced to rest, to wait, to slow down and re-focus. It’s much easier for me to say to someone else, but I’m saying it and then hoping to follow through with practice…SLOW down for a minute. Take advantage of those times God provides for you to rest. Write something. Read something. Learn something new. Call someone. Sleep. Pray. Take care of yourself. My plan today-be grateful for whatever opportunities God gives me while I’m waiting.