Heading Home

First of all, we would like to say a huge thank you to Kristen Aillet! This blog would not have been possible without her help. She is brilliant. I texted her as soon we arrived overseas and thanks to her setting up this page we will now have an irreplaceable keepsake and documentation of our amazing trip. We would also like to thank Mr. Don and Mrs. Kathleen Carmouche for giving us the absolute perfect gift, our Cannon camera, with which we were able to capture all of these amazing sites.

Writing can be so therapeutic, so enlightening and so timeless. We have been able to go back and experience each moment of this journey again and again by re-reading these posts. And as much as we created this blog to allow You, all of our loved ones, to experience this journey with us, it has been just as special for us to write about it.

Despite the bug bites, the bruises, the curling iron burns due to faulty overseas outlets, the rash developed from who knows what jungle plant and the jet lag, this trip has been absolutely AMAZING!! LOL! As romantic as you envision your honeymoon being, it is with all of the small, unexpected hiccups that comes the true meaning of the journey and creates your perfect personal story. As this once in a lifetime adventure comes to an end, we could not have asked for a more perfect honeymoon and we greatly look forward to the next chapter of our life. We are so excited to come home, married, and to make wonderful new memories with our family and friends.

From our business class airplane seats, we watched the sun go down in Asia and then flew all the way across the world to watch it go down all over again on the California coast. It was the most miraculous site! Right above the horizon is the brightest red imaginable, which gently fades into a pinkish orange, then gradually turns to yellow, finally it is layered by the same turquoise green of the ocean waters and topped with a soft blue that bleeds into cobalt. I cannot imagine anything more amazing than to be able to see the black night sky littered with stars and right underneath it a painting of the most perfect color spectrum. I have never seen colors so bright and vivid! There is so much simple beauty in Creation and we feel so blessed to be able to experience it all together, with each other!

Love you guys,

Jeanne and Jason Higgins, 2013

The Beaches of Langkawi

Sunday morning we woke up early to listen to the LSU game again. We forgot our time had jumped an hour ahead so we were actually 13 hours ahead of Central time and up at 6:45 just waiting anxiously for the game to start. Those mornings have been some of our favorite times. Sitting on the balcony of whatever country we were in, listening to the game and drinking coffee, overlooking the most amazing views. What started off as a really great listening adventure, turned in to half of day of stress. By the time we were through listening to LSU finally pull off the win against Auburn we were ready to go to the pool for our post game tailgate. We proudly represented with game day attire that day in Malaysia, half a world a way from our Tigers.

We had great dinners on the beach, experienced the most amazing sunsets, made friends with one of the local bartenders, took Malay cooking lessons, rode jet skis to explore the local islands and even had a couples' massage. I know, I know, we thought the same thing… maybe a little cheesy. But it ended up being just like a normal massage with two tables side by side in the same room. The only difference was that they sang a sweet unity blessing over us at the conclusion. It brought me back to saying our vows. Wow, has that been over two weeks already! We spent the entire time in Langkowi just relaxing by the pool in our own private cabana and enjoying such a peaceful time together.

To Jason's delight, we even saw a few monkeys playing in the trees at the spa. The resort "strongly" encouraged the guest not to feed the monkeys. However, Jason somehow managed to accidentally leave fruit outside on our porch daily and walked around with a "just in case banana" in his pocket. Lol! Unfortunately, on our "monkey hunt" the last afternoon we hiked all over the property and didn't find a single monkey. As usual, on the morning that we left no less than five employees lined the driveway and to wave goodbye to us. And amazingly just as we were about to pull off of the property the monkeys showed up! Big ones, small ones, moms carrying babies; at least 20 monkeys swung from the trees and ran along the wall that lined the driveway. Even the monkeys came to say goodbye! What an amazing send off!      

Langkawi, Maylasia

We arrived in Malaysia on the last flight of the night at one of the smallest airports I have ever been too. After two weeks we have finally managed to develop a tag team system for our luggage and were actually able to claim all of our bags and find our ride with little hassle. The ride to the resort was a different story though. As we passed through the town of Langkawi, it was obvious that we were now in a more Muslim based country. People were everywhere; on motor bikes, at the local market, in the mosques and in the street staring as we slowly passed. The 20 minute drive to the Four Seasons was probably the most uncomfortable we have felt the whole trip, but ultimately Langkawi could not have been any nicer. For the most part, there was no reason to leave the resort. So it was here, at our last stop that we truly just did nothing but hang out by the beach. Each location that we have visited has been so unique, each giving us different wonderful experiences. The Four Seasons in Malaysia was no different. The decor at this location had more of an Indian and Moroccan influence. There were a lot of open spaces, wood beams and endless sandy beaches. Our villa was ridiculous! I don't think we realized how much space we had until we woke up the next morning and could actually see it in the daylight. The wooden cathedral ceilings must have been 30 feet high, with 20 foot wall to wall windows overlooking the Andaman Sea. Jason kept teasing me because my only complaint was how long it took to get from the bed to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I thought I would get lost! LOL! In the mornings we sat on our deck that connected right to the beach and drank coffee while staring at the scattered islands and the coast of Thailand in the distance. I will never forget that amazing view and that peaceful deck.