about fifteen years ago at a patio table overlooking the Guadalupe River, at a little restaurant called Annie's Table, in Gruene, Texas. In those days of our marriage, we would take a yearly trip to the Fredericksburg area every April. At this point, we couldn't begin to fathom that one day a plot of land in Northeast Texas would claim our heart in such a mighty way; instead, we thought Hill Country was where we were meant to be. Thank goodness He knows best...

Anyway, that sunny, but balmy day on the patio - sharing chips and salsa - I finally shared a long time dream of mine, and was still a bit shocked when my oh-so-patient husband (once again) took it in stride when I said, "I'd like to own and run a B&B."

He just nodded and we kind of began to plan, right there at the table, drawing on a napkin. Now - mind you - I was in the last days of my college education, with a whole teaching career still looming large on the horizon, and he was still actively traveling with his busy career several days a week. Both boys were in college at this point, and we had two young grandchildren that we were super involved with. 

It's not like we needed to look for things to do!

Time moved on, and so did our family. Interestingly enough, my first teaching position was further east than we had expected. We moved to accommodate that position, renting the most darling little blue farmhouse while we searched for the perfect place to buy. Our time in that place was near perfect, filled with long, lazy weekends of driving back roads looking at properties, starlit evenings on the back deck, and the dawning realization that East Texas  - and not Hill Country - was our true North.

The kids continued to grow up and away, graduating, beginning careers, falling in love, and eventually marrying. When we found this piece of land, with only the cabin on stilts and the shell of what we now call The Bunkhouse, I laughed. Mike beamed. He had found his land. 

I thought he had lost his mind. 

The place had stood empty for two years. Grass was knee high. Bugs lay dead all throughout the two buildings. There was no running water. The well had run dry. Our AT&T cell phones had no service. Who even knew if we'd have internet?

Even then there was a greater plan in place...

So many times in this life, trust is required to get anywhere. That was definitely so in our case. I needed to trust my husband, and he was trusting God. Together, with our children and (now) three amazing grands, Wildernest Bed and Breakfast is entering its fourth year of business and has just opened its adjacent multi-purpose venue, The Hitchin' Post!

It is most definitely a family business, one that we are so very proud to share with our talented kids, their spouses, and their children. Each of them bring something to the table that we lack, and that is the beauty of a family business...it's a combined effort, a combined love, a combined reward. 

Our hope is that when our guests leave, they feel they have been a treasured honorary member of the Wildernest family, whether it was for a day, a week, for a wedding weekend, or for a special celebration! We are here to help make a moment in time matter.

Because - just like that moment at the patio table in Gruene, TX, so many years ago - moments do matter!