Ellie is our aunt’s and uncle’s 15-year-old pup, and boy do I absolutely love her! She’s practically nocturnal, gets random zoomies late at night and early in the morning, and she snores so loud all day… but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love our weekends (aka: “puppy parties”) with her, and we can’t wait to get Thing 1 and Thing 2 reunited on Christmas!
Media taken Thursday, December 11 – Saturday December 13, 2025🎄
I hadn’t been to Tybee Island until the first weekend of November, and I already can’t wait to return! Alex, Linley, Courtney, Chris and I rode with Captain Seth on a charter boat through the marsh and sea of Tybee Island. It was nothing what we expected, but it was absolutely beautiful and I couldn’t be happier with the experience.
As mentioned, we first rode through the marsh in our tiny boat. Seth went fast and it was such a rush! The water was only three feet deep, and was a delta where all the rivers fed into the ocean sea. Our boat actually got stuck at one point, but Alex and I knew Seth would get us out of the mess. Afterward, he went faster again and I was smiling from ear to ear! Seth took us to a sand bar that basically felt like a private beach, and we enjoyed some stretching and running around as we watched the sun begin to set and the birds begin to flock.
Although Courtney and Chris were with us this time, and although Alex was there and we’ve been to the beach as a family before, I couldn’t help but think of all the sunrises that Linley and I experienced during our year in Chicago. I took him every single morning, and it honestly saved my life. I didn’t have many friends there, I’d lost my job and was going through a divorce at the same time. Our sunrises together taught me that I could start anew, and Linley had been my loyal sidekick through all of it. It’s always hard to look back on the past without dwelling on it, and it makes me appreciate the moments we have together now more than ever.
After our fun on the sandbar/private beach, just when I thought our experience couldn’t get any better, it did. We were going fast in the ocean when Seth decided to stop suddenly. As we came to a stop, we saw a family of dolphins approach our boat! I’ve never seen dolphins before and I couldn’t believe my eyes; I started tearing up, Alex started filming and Linley was whining away haha. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience and it took my breath away.
Being with my two favorite fellas, two of my close friends and someone who led us to that moment was truly an unforgettable experience. We watched the moon and rode fast again once the dolphins let us be.
The last part of our ride back to the dock was equally as breathtaking as I saw the most beautiful sunset, which reminded me of a safari. I’ve seen sunsets in a few different countries and continents, but there was something really special about this one.
I didn’t get a horizontal picture of the sunset or photos of the constellations in the sky at night, but I’ll never forget any of it.
Until next time. 🫶
Media taken Saturday, November 1 on Tybee Island, Georgia. 🌅
October was a month of some serious ups and a few downs, but all-in-all, November has some big shoes to fill. 😉
Linley has been my best friend for eight years, Alex’s best friend for two years, and we think he’s ~11 years old as of yesterday.
Although we couldn’t celebrate as hard as we’d like (Linley is on the tail end of kennel cough!), we had a wonderful day, made it extra special for Linley, and can’t wait to celebrate our little guy all month long!
Linley, we love you!!! 💛
Media taken on Tuesday, September 9 for Linley’s Gotcha Day!
Not everyone gets a second – and better – chance at love, and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have found my person. 💛
It’s been six months since our wedding day and I couldn’t be happier in our marriage. Alex is more than I ever could’ve dreamed of.
Cheers to six months and forever to go!
Photos taken Saturday, March 8 in Old Fourth Ward, Atlanta, GA✨
Alex and I went to a Braves game on August 24, literally as we dropped Linley off from our weekend in Blue Ridge. That made us want to take him along for a couple games this season. And although the Braves don’t do Bark in the Park the way the Detroit Tigers did, our minor league team does Wet Nose Wednesday’s!
Taking Linley to events is equally important to both Alex and me, and obviously Linley enjoys himself! We went to games on August 27 and September 3, and it means even more now as Linley is currently recovering from kennel cough. He’s doing great but makes is appreciate those moments as a family even more.
We can’t wait for more Wet Nose Wednesday’s at the Gwinnett Stripers games next season!
Media taken Sunday, August 24 at the Battery, and Wednesday, August 27 & Wednesday, September 3 at Coolray Field✨
Our second time in Blue Ridge was wonderful, adventurous and full of fun! Alex found a super cute tiny home for us with a beautiful view of the mountains, and we explored a winery and a lake as soon as we dropped everything off. We had no idea a lake was in the area, and we’ll definitely be back to check it out again.
We checked out a brewery before heading back to our place for the evening. It was rainy so we chilled inside, Alex grilled out and we listened to music that made me feel immersed in the mountains. I’ve been needing more nights like that in my life lately, and I always enjoy our “Tracey Trio” adventures!
The next morning, enjoyed the sunrise and then we walked around town and grabbed coffee (and a pup cup!), from a cute cafe called Mountain Momma’s Coffee, and enjoyed all the murals downtown. Being in Blue Ridge a second time really reminded me of northern Michigan and it was a great way to round out our summer travels.
We enjoyed breakfast back at the tiny home and were able to sit outside to enjoy the nice weather. Alex and I headed to the Tennessee boarder to go whitewater rafting in the Ocoee River, where the Atlanta Olympic trails took place! We felt bad leaving Linley at the AirBnB as we always do, but we found out that there’s whitewater rafting that’s much calmer in North Carolina and we plan on doing that with Linley in the spring. It was Alex’s first time rafting and we had a blast! The Rolling Thunder company we went with was wonderful and we’d highly recommend them; we’ll be going with our guide JP again, and he actually grew up in the same hometown as Alex! Small world…
When we got back from rafting, we hung out with Linley on the deck again for lunch. The whole day was perfect so far, but that linch was so wonderful. It was simple, beautiful and perfect in every way. I love all those little yet memorable moments with my two favorite guys!
After some burgers and more good music while we sat outside, we freshened up and headed back into town. We may have had a little too much to drink at a distillery because they were offering tastings, but all in all we had a great evening. And Linley, of course, got lots of attention!
Our next morning was chill as we packed up and grabbed breakfast in town again. I, admittedly, was quite sad to head back, but I know we’ll be back again soon!
Media taken Friday, August 22 through Sunday, August 24, 2025✨
Earlier this morning, I wrote about how I need to take myself on new adventures. One small-but-mighty goal Alex and I have this summer is to rediscover Atlanta, which also means going to places nearby that we haven’t explored yet. The rooftop bar at the hotel nearby is one of those places, and ironically, it’s where we stayed on our wedding night!
We enjoyed the stunning view of our city, some delicious cocktails, great disco-style music and even saw a couple get engaged a few tables down! You never know what you’ll find until you do some exploring in your own backyard…
Cheers to move adventures and exploring this summer!
And hey: if I need more insights, maybe I can check out this service at the hotel, too… 😅
Photos taken Friday, August 8 at FORTH’s hotel bar, “Moonlight” in Atlanta, GA✨
We “shore” had fun on our long weekend trip to Gulf Shores! It was one of my last weekends of “freedom” before starting my new position for Delta Airlines, and it was great to have some quality time with my two favorite fellas.
We drove in two Fridays ago, and immediately dropped off our things before grabbing dinner and drinks. Our AirBnB hosts had some interesting taste, that’s for sure…
We walked around a local park, where Lin immediately got attention and love from other dogs and people, before heading to a nearby brewery. We enjoyed some live music and nice conversation with a couple who lived in the area for the last decade or more. We always appreciate conversations with strangers and local recommendations! And of course, Linley got even more love and attention—not that he needed it haha.
Our dinner closer to the beach took forever because the weekend wait times were insane, but it was nice to sit down, relax and cheers to a great first evening of the trip. We met some kind wait staff and guests at the table next to us, who loved Lin and kept feeding him fries.
The next morning, we headed straight to the dog beach, which was not what we expected. But alas, we had fun before grabbing lunch at a local spot on the main beach. And although the dog beach wasn’t what we expected it to be, we had a blast watching the blue herons near us and watching Lin grab sticks from the water.
I wish we could’ve brought Lin on the main beach, because that was beautiful! I wanted to get on the water so bad, but we’ll save that for when we’re in Savannah this fall instead. Even being by that water was beautiful, and we had a blast sitting up at the beach bar. We enjoyed some mezcal drinks and delicious seafood, while, you guessed it, Linley got more love! It was cute to see him dig in the sand to cool off again, which is something I’d missed from all our Michigan beach adventures.
No Tracey vacay is complete without an afternoon nap, and that’s exactly what we did during the hottest part of the day. Once we woke up and freshened up, we all got some ice cream and walked around a cute shopping center along the pier. We got some cute dog mom, dog dad and a funny toy for Linley after we all enjoyed our desserts and a drink, and then walked along the water before heading out for dinner.
Our wait for dinner was so long, but we luckily found a great backup spot that was super dog friendly. The best part was that it was called “Cosmo’s” after the owner’s dog, and we couldn’t pass up the chance to visit. We enjoyed good seafood, live music (and the singer brought his chocolate lab, too!), kind wait staff and even a stroll through a local pet store after dinner.
My mental health hasn’t been the best with some family and friend stuff that’s come up lately, so there’s a part of me that felt really bad about bringing some of those feelings up during the trip (i.e.: I never want to ruin Alex’s time or feel like a burden). But I also know that these two make me smile more than anything in the whole wide world, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. 💛
Media taken Friday, June 6 & Saturday, June 7, 2025 in Gulf Shores, Alabama✨
Alex made my 30th so special, and it was my turn to return the favor! We went to Ellijay, Georgia for the second time as the Tracey trio, and it was so much fun!
We began our day with a morning hike, where Linley almost stepped on a two-foot-long water snake! I’m not normally afraid of snakes, but seeing and hearing Alex freak out in front of me startled me at my core. Luckily, the snake had just had something to eat and had no interest in biting Linley or any of us. But man, I was sweaty after that jump scare!
After our hike, we drove to downtown Ellijay for some rooftop fun. We enjoyed a cocktail and lunch before heading to our AirBnB, and Linley of course got all the attention!
Our AirBnB drop off was quick because we wanted to hit Roo, an amazing winery we visited with my mom in July, before it got super busy. Surprisingly, it wasn’t busy at all, but it probably helped that we were there on a Friday afternoon instead of a Saturday!
Our evening was equally as fun, as we found a spot with live music in downtown Ellijay. It was weird not to be there with my mom this time around, but it was great to be there with my with now-husband and Linley again. The restaurant was so kind to us that they even brought out a table for us outside, and really reminded us of our favorite local spot at home. We’ll definitely be back!
Until next time, Ellijay! ✌️
After Ellijay, we also went to an Atlanta United game and the bar with friends beforehand, and had a birthday brunch for Alex that Sunday.
I can only hope that I made Alex’s birthday half as special as he made mine.
Media taken Friday, May 16 & Saturday, May 17, 2025 in Ellijay, Georgia, & Sunday, May 19 in Atlanta✨
Many people ask “what was your favorite part of the trip?” or “where was the best place you visited?” Honestly, the best parts were all the moments in between: the car rides, the breakfasts in the morning, the cuddles on the couch in the evenings… and the best place was honestly being in the car on the journey!
All the laughing at Lin and saying “k bye” when he moved to the backseat, the stops at Buc-ee’s and all the goofy songs and podcasts we listened to made the trip complete. I miss those moments more than anything and can’t wait to start planning our next family roadtrips, especially our big one for 2026!
I never thought this life was possible for me, or that this level of love was attainable in this lifetime, but I’m damn glad it is!
Of course, we’ve all traveled before we became the Tracey Trio, and I had to scratch off the states we’ve all been to!
Thank y’all for joining us on our blogging journey, and a special thank you to y’all who have been following my stories for a long while. We look forward to sharing more about our adventures to come!
Cheers! 🍻
I didn’t really have any expectations for Huntsville, but I knew I wasn’t ready to head straight to Atlanta after leaving New Orleans…
Media taken Wednesday, March 26 & Thursday; March 27, 2025 in Huntsville, Alabama.
But boy, even after all the fun, did it feel good to be back home!
Traveling with the Traceys 