She mentions family visiting from out of state? What to say back

A family visit announced in advance is about logistics first. She is telling you her availability is going to change, and she is giving you the reason so you don't have to guess. That's a considerate thing to do, even if it doesn't feel like it from your side of the screen. Look at how she framed it. If she gave you the dates and said when she expects to resurface, she has done the work of making the gap predictable. If she said something vague like things are crazy this week, the gap is less defined, and you can ask one light question later to pin it down.

Pay attention to what she brings up next to the visit. If she tells you her sister is the one who is always overdoing it, or she is excited for her mom to meet the new dog, she is sharing parts of her life, which is a good sign that the conversation is still moving forward. If the visit is the only thing in her message and she doesn't ask about you at all, that is still not a rejection, but it does mean the thread has less momentum than you might want, and your reply can be short.

Your reply needs to do three things without much room to do them. First, it should show you read what she said, which means referencing the actual detail: the out-of-state part, the length of the visit, or the people involved. A generic have fun reads like you didn't take it in. Second, it should make clear that the gap is fine. You are not waiting anxiously and you are not disappointed. You can say this through tone and through what you choose to leave out. Skip any sentence that mentions how much you were hoping to hear from her. Third, it should leave a thread she can pick up when she's back, something light she can answer later without pressure, such as a hope that the visit goes well or a reference to something she mentioned earlier that she might want to tell you about.

Keep it short. A two-line reply that sounds easy is much better than a paragraph that tries to cover every base. The point is to show you are steady, not to win the week.

Send your reply in the same part of the day she messaged. If she texted at lunch, reply within a reasonable window that afternoon, not at 2am when you're bored and looking for a reaction. Late-night replies to a message about family plans can read as either needy or like you're making a point, even when you meant nothing by it.

After you reply, give it a few days before you send anything else, unless she has written again. A typical visit runs three to seven days, and people often disappear the first day or two and then resurface when things calm down. If she resurfaces at the end of the visit with an ordinary message, respond to that one normally and move on. If you haven't heard anything by the time the visit should be over, send one short message that refers to something specific, such as asking how the visit went or whether she made it through the airport chaos. If that also goes unanswered, let the thread rest. A second follow-up after silence is where people start sounding like they're chasing, and that tends to end things faster than the visit itself would have.