Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely

Best $99 ever spent.

$44 concert ticket.

$40 fill-up.

$10 Big Mac.

$5 M&M New York, New York caramel apple.

Oh, to be on the road again!

I haven’t done this in awhile. Back in my hay day, ’16 in fact, being young, wild, and free, I made spontaneous trips like this every other weekend.

Now, at the ripe age of 24, being employed and all… how do the kids find time?

I like to joke with my mom about it frequently. I really don't think I'll ever grow up.

My boss strolled in at 2:55pm this Halloween, and proclaimed aloud, “Hey, just so everyone’s on the same page… we’re closing the office at 3 today.”

Oh, baby.

The opportunities are limitless with a few extra hours!

I had looked up tickets two weeks ago. I knew they were playing Halloween night. I knew I could make it if I had a head start. I knew they would be worth the traffic that would quickly make me question why I was doing this.

THEY being…

The Backstreet Boys.

Las Vegas.

One night only.

Not really.

But the one night that worked with my schedule.

Because I work in LA, remember?

I darted over to Sean’s apartment, woke him from his mid-afternoon slumber, and told him to “pack his cute denim button down and get in the car.”

He listens well. 

There’s something about seizing the day that really gets me going.

I know come children, piling finances, and old age spur of the moment 4-(with traffic)-6-hour drives to Vegas on Halloween won’t exactly be in the cards anymore.

But I truly believe there is nothing that can deter a can-do attitude. Not even a starting salary! If there’s a will there’s a way and that will should involve a secret savings adventure fund.

Pilfer $50 a month out of your paycheck for said fund and soon enough your world will be rocked, thanks to Frontier Airlines and Hotwire.com.

For me, it’s hard to stay put. Ever since I started my “big-girl job” I’ve realized LA really is a long distance away from Nashville… and Arkansas… and New York…

I get a little sad sometimes. I love those goofballs so much (my family) (that’s where they live), but I’m the type of girl who just wouldn’t do well in a Lexington, Kentucky (they live there too).

I’m the type of girl who needs Sin City a book-on-tape away.

To watch The Backstreet Boys.

My family may be thousands of miles away, but I have been given the opportunity of a lifetime.

I get to work for one of the best bosses in the world (not saying this because I know he’s reading) (saying this because of the laundry list of jaw-dropping work perks he provides) (that I will refrain from sharing, and save for another blog).

That's him. The curly-haired magic man on the left.

I just can’t seem to pass this up for a shorter commute to mom and dad’s.

Doesn’t mean I don’t miss you, though, mom!

I do a lot. A lot more than you might think. Not in the poor, poor pitiful me sense (catch that reference?) (I work in the music business now), but in the sense that I have so much fun I can’t think of who better to share it with than my family!

Lookin' good, Auntie Linda!

There’s something about experiencing some of the most amazing things with the ones you love most that just seems to make those memories that more meaningful!

I think about having a family of my own one day, and how fun it would be to see my little kiddos grow up down the street from their aunts and uncles. How full my heart would be seeing my little dudes meet grandma and grandpa for Jersey Mike’s Philly Cheesesteak Sunday specials after mass.

But I know myself. I know my unquenchable thirst for opportunity, growth, diversity and deeper, bluer, colder, shark infested waters that seem to magically thwart my constant pangs for comfort, ease, and the Kornets.

I’m my mother’s daughter.

We love convertibles.

When the house is busy, loud, and cramped I’m happiest. I don't wanna be the family that misses out on all the action.

My boyfriend’s family is a two-hour drive away in San Diego. Sure, they may not be MY family, but they’re family nonetheless.

Of course that does not mean I am not forfeiting the value and importance of being around my own loved ones, but that’s what spontaneous trips and Red Eyes are for! I was built for this!

What I’ve learned most being lost distance for so long now is that life can take you in so many different directions whenever you least expect it.

There’s no need to wallow in loneliness when you never know how long that loneliness will last! You can’t be the creator of your own misfortune!

As soon as I graduated UCLA, I was dead set on staying in LA. But most of my best friends had graduated and moved back home, and I was about to start a brand new job in a gigantic city I had never experienced without close friends by my side each step of the way.

LA was all fun and games surrounded by a team of girls who loved me, but what was it going to look like without that team? When I no longer had that constant support system?

Well, I didn't have time to dwell in whatever that may have looked like that’s for sure! But I did have time to buckle down and dive into the next adventure that awaited me.

I feel like that’s when God smiles the biggest.

When you trust him.

100%. Wholeheartedly. As skeptical as you may be.

You never know what surprise is waiting for you around the corner.

My surprise started with S and ended with ean.

(Sean)

I remember a phone call I had with Kari. You all know Kari. No need to even mention Korver.

After I gave her the scoop on all things adulthood, she paused and said, “Nicole, I prayed for this. After I left, I prayed that someone new would come into your life and be that God-fearing, fun-spirited, person…” (that she always was for me).

She prayed, and God delivered.

Happy Halloween!

God delivered Dwight.

Instead of fearing the unknown and contemplating staying out west due to foreseen loneliness, I trusted His plan, and the dear Lord provided!

Sean and I have so much fun together.

So much fun that here I am, back at work, bright and early (9:45am) (best boss ever), from a 4am Larger Than Life stint in Vegas the night before.

He actually brought the denim!

Not as homesick, not even a little bit lonely, but instead fulfilled, inspired, and recharged, even if I am on the other side of the country and nowhere near any relative in sight.

California is my home and last-minute, spontaneous trips are my thing. Not because they're my only option, not because I don't have the vacation, but frankly, because, well… (plug your ears)

I WAAAAAAAAAAAAANT IT THAAAAAAAAAAT WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!