Aloha!!! So if it wasn’t for the date at the top of this page I would have no idea what day it is..

Isn’t Paradise great?

Diane reminded me “happiness is the absence of worry”

I have come to really cherish that phrase. Life is about being happy in the few moments that are free of the worry or the burden, for all of us.

Hawaii has been fabulous, lazy days, great laughs, sunscreen, and no guilt about the Corona that I had at 8:30 this morning to wash down the burger I had for breakfast- true story.

We went on a snorkeling tour today. Molokai is a beautiful island and a giant crater just off the coast of Maui. It was created from one of the many volcanoes that have erupted and created this entire piece of heaven. All of the islands around here are gorgeous and every thing about today was beautiful.

I am finding myself contemplating everything, and in reflecting on the creation of the Hawaiian islands I find inspiration. A place so lush and beautiful and peaceful has evolved from something so harsh and destructive as volcanic fire and lava. It is kind of like our cancer journe, beautiful things despite the ugly monster.

Logan was brave today and snorkeled with the rest of us. She gazed at the fish with such awe and excitement, her little feeding tube tucked up into the mask.

Tomorrow, I am off to the spa for a massage on the beach ( surprise from Jared) and I can’t wait to just relax and unwind completely alone before our planned trip home.

ONLY LOGAN AND I AREN’T COMING HOME- YET!!

Loggie isn’t ready. Neither am I to be honest. Home seems like too much reality at this point and we aren’t ready to face what is waiting for us when we return. Logan is doing well and I feel good here, so we decided to stay another week. I mentioned the idea to Jared, and he insisted on it. I was completely willing to keep both kids here but Jared has decided that Logan is demanding enough so he is going to take Brody home with him. My plan was to stay at a hotel and not over stay my welcome here with the Adkins but they won’t have it.

I mentioned my idea of staying longer

“Why wouldn’t you?” they said “you are already here, and Loggie is doing great. What do you have to go home to?”

That question got me…”What do I have to go home to?”

Nothing.

For the first time in three year, we don’t have any schedule, no doctors appointments, no chemotherapy, no radiation, no physio, nothing. We have nothing holding us back.

Amazing.

So we decided to stay another week.

Jared and Brody will be home tomorrow as planned but not Loggie and I- we are beach bumming it a bit longer.

I am going to admit, I kind of feel selfish. Poor Jared to having to go home to an empty house with Brody all by himself and deal with working and getting B to and from school, grocery shopping and everything else. But he insisted and I really appreciate it.

“I just really want you and Logan to relax together” he said “just a couple of days of no worry. Not  about watching Brody at the pool, or temper tantrums or having to feed anyone at a certain time. Just some down time.”

He continued ” You and Logan have been through so much back this year. This is an amazing opportunity, when will you get the chance again?”

I couldn’t answer. Logan and I have been through so much? So has he, but that is Jared, so completely selfless-

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we learned it doesn’t have to end yet.

So the plan is we fly home next week. As luck would have it we have just enough medication to get us through until the day after we arrive home.

Brody doesn’t love the idea of going home but I think he is used to his sister and I being away, and I know he will be just fine. Logan and I get to spend a lot of one on one time together but not a lot of that is carefree and fun. I plan to make these days count.

Plus, she refuses to leave this island until she becomes the sequence champion of the whole world. Reid and Diane have created a monster.
I read an article that said Maui has very spiritual and healing qualities. One of the treatments offered on the island is called Huna Reiki.

This ancient tradition believes that the key to living a fulfilled life lies in the awakening and integration of your subconscious or lower self, the conscious or middle self, and the spiritual or higher self.

It offers us a profoundly beautiful philosophy of life centered in love with the vision of humankind, nature, and the divine as harmonious parts of a cosmic community.

Huna is much more than a philosophy, it is a way of life that gives us a set of practices that are simple yet, profoundly transformational. This attunement will connect with the essence of this energy, the work is up to you.

Historically the Kahuna was the spiritual master who was the keeper of the Huna knowledge and tradition. When the English settled in the Hawaiian islands the practice of Huna was banned and the Kahuna’s went into hiding. Today these practices are emerging once again to help us heal.

No wonder Loggie loves it here, she loves receiving reiki and it sounds like it is way of life here on this island. I wish I had read about this workshop prior to coming and could have participated in it.

Another reason to come back.
Happiness is the absence of worry. We have no worry here.

 Despite what you have been told, You can run away from your problems. Maybe not forever but when you can, you should.

Vacation gives you a chance to breath- and travel allows us to escape life.

My goal- travel as much as possible- escape life, escape cancer.