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This week I got to spend some time in Florida with my very good friend, Nicole.  Nicole and I went to the same high school and sang in choir together.  We hadn't kept in touch after high school, but about 6 years ago, her daughter and my little guy, Isaac, were in the same preschool class.  Isaac had a speech delay, but oh, how he loved to talk about Emilie.  Whether or not Emilie liked him as much as he liked her, I'll never know, but she was so kind and polite to him.

It always surprises me how small the world really is.  That she and I would have moved to this area at the same time, and had our children enrolled in the same preschool class.  She recognized me one day after class and we have been close ever since.

Neither of us have ever done a "girls getaway" before.  Between work and kids and all kinds of responsibilities and juggling schedules, it just seemed impossible.  But finally, we sat down, compared calendars and made it happen.

 
And I'm so glad we did.  We had absolutely NO agenda.  No responsibilities.  No one to take care of but ourselves.  We got up each morning, had breakfast and then put on our suits and sat at the beach ALL afternoon.  We read, we talked, we enjoyed the view from the beach chairs.  We reapplied sunscreen, we listened to the waves crash against the rocks and we talked some more.  When we had enough, we showered and went to dinner.  After walking along the boardwalk, we went back to our room and then fell asleep so we could do it all again the next day.

There were these groups of large rocks spaced out on the shoreline - I'd say every 50 - 60 feet or so.  I'm not sure why they were there, but they were beautiful.  Couple that with the blue sky and the turquoise waters and that view from the beach chairs was breathtaking.  It's hard not to contemplate life while you are sitting on a beach with one of your very best friends with a view of the ocean and the sound of the waves.  The things that matter most to you start to really come into focus.  Thoughts about your dreams and hopes and goals roll in and out like the waves.  You start to really think about how decisions you've made along the way have shaped your life and affected those around you.  You start to forget the complexity of your troubles, and the vision for your life seems so simple, so obvious, and so achievable. 

There was no way to resist climbing on some of the rocks to take pictures.

And maybe that's what relaxing is supposed to do.  Give you time and space to recharge your batteries so you can go back to your real life and face things head on and make changes where changes need to be made.  Give you that opportunity to reflect on what's happening in your life and think about what's working and what's not.  And then give you the chance to dream those big dreams.

The waves were fairly large every day we were there.  But on the last day, the rip current was dangerous, so they put up a Danger sign.  I will admit - the tide was higher, the waves were bigger and it was windier than any of the other days we were there.  The ocean looked chaotic, tumultuous and not the pretty turquoise color we had seen yesterday and the day before.

I felt like the sign was a warning - "You're about to go back to your real life, be prepared!"  Both Nicole and I felt like we were thrust back into reality once we stepped out of the black Suburban that brought us home.  Unpacking, doing laundry, and figuring out what to make for dinner stared at us as we walked in the door.  But armed with three days of relaxing in the sunshine with palm trees, we were ready to stare right back. 


Before we left, we found a group of rocks that would be easy to climb to take a few pictures.  This was my favorite of Nicole.  

Nicole is one of those down-to-earth people that I can tell anything to and she gets it.  She is absolutely beautiful, inside and out.  It's impossible not to love her.  She genuinely cares for people.  She is easy-going and fun to be around.  It's obvious that her family is important to her; Nicole and I helped Emilie with centimeters, meters and millimeters (I think?) homework and I adored hearing her read the bedtime devotional to her kids before bed each night.

She and I are both directionally challenged so it must have been a treat for anyone watching us get off the elevator when we started to walk in the wrong direction, or tried to find our rental car in the wrong parking lot.  We laughed, we cried, we talked, we listened and we sat in silence.  We aren't afraid to ask each other the hard questions.  You know, like, "Where are we going for dinner?"

Love you, Nicole, and thanks for being by my side this week.  :)