Cheesy, yes. True, yes.

I'm a big believer in envisioning the life you want. I love vision boards -- cutting out emblematic photos or phrases that strike me then as if by pasting the photos down, they become reality. It's a fun exercise to see what you're drawn to. My themes have remained largely unchanged since I started doing these boards years ago. Family, love, babies, home, travel are always central, though the images have evolved into more babies and more intimate details of the life, that I like to believe, I have manifested.

I had a friend warn me about such exercises, and what he said has some truth. He told me to be careful when envisioning my future. He said often life is so grand you can't envision the great things that are to come. The following adventure is such an example.

I always clip out images of white sandy beaches and turquoise water longing to one day walk those shores, but what my friend was warning me against was what's not included in those images -- the people, the circumstances, the stories, the laughter. Like I said, I couldn't have fathomed five years ago a trip like this with people who I love and have watched grow into husbands and wives and parents. I wish we could have packed up all of our friends who so desperately wanted to join on us but weren't able to make it. Next year we need to rent a compound. And hire a chef. And a maid. And maybe also a nanny.

Said adventure: three babies under three commingled in a two bedroom house in southern Florida where the temperature decided to dive to the coldest recorded in years. We also camped for two nights on an island in the 10,000 Islands, which borders the Everglades National Park. Our kids were covered in sunscreen and sand the entire week despite the cooler temperatures, and they squabbled and pinched and bit just like siblings. Our husbands were depressed that very few fish were caught. Us girls lamented the fact that we didn't get out to see Fifty Shades of Grey.

Despite what did and did not happen on this trip, I left feeling buoyed by my friends' love and support. I miss them every day and the influence they have on me. I am lucky to have people who have seen me grow as a person and can celebrate where I've come from and who I am now. Cheesy, yes. True, yes.

Life is too short to spend time with people who don't feed your soul. This trip fed my soul, and I could never have envisioned that on a damn board.

Here are a few shots from the 700 I still need to edit. xoH