It's Not a Bad Month.. It is a Life Changing Month

On the eve of typically my Worst Month Ever, I decided to do a little reflection on just how scary September is for me.

Then... something happened.

As I was driving down HWY 224 heading from Montezuma to Perry, it hit me. It wasn't that September was so terrible. I mean, think about it, I survived. Yes, it altered my course of existence...

But.. that's IT!

It simply altered my course. It was God's way of shaking me to my core and having me shift directions-alter my sails-take the road less traveled - etc. 
These fundamentally core shaking experiences were just basic plate tectonics doing their thing with my soul. 

As I sit and grasp the weird nuances that always seem to happen, I have to view it as life changing. Always for the better, in one way or another. Always. 

With that being said, I'm just living my life. I promised myself that 2015 was going to be a beautiful, soul-enriching year, and I have happily stayed the course. I spent another fantastic two weekends with my S.G. soaking up nature and feeling this incredible, to-the-bone, peace. Life is good, and I am continuously collecting beautiful moments. 

Last weekend, I got to meet S.G.'s granddaughter. I held this little baby girl in my arms and sort of marveled at how tiny she was. Knowing me, I am a little unsure of myself around babies, so in about 60 seconds flat, I handed her back to her father. 

I spent a little more time with SG's middle child (biologically oldest,) at the farm. We enjoyed chatting, watching Youtube videos and picking muscadines. 

SG took me on a golf-cart ride around Preston, his home town. I snapped this shot of his home church as we were rounding the bend. Just the perfect example of a small country church in the deep South.

I came back home and got a wild hair. I needed a change - in more ways than one. I chopped 5 inches off of my hair. 

Ta - Dah!!

This past weekend I headed back down to SG's and indulged in more delicious, juicy muscadines. 

Gypsy and I spent a little time together while my guy had to go into work for a little while. Coffee and a dog.. not a bad combo. 

I spent most of the weekend working on some of my freelance writing assignments for Macon Magazine. 

Finally, I got back into Macon this morning and read this. 

I think September needs to not be so much about me, but what I can give back. If I put enough good into the world, certainly I can escape this month fairly unscathed... right?

Until next time... 

Feeling The Love

Needless to say...

My luck has turned around in 2015.

Work? Love it.
Home life? Peaceful.
Love Life? Terrific.

Gosh... it feels good to be in a good place. It has been so long, and finally I can just enjoy the ride for a little while.

As you may be aware of, I just passed another milestone. Birthday #42. 
My birthday falls just two days after Valentine's Day, which makes for interesting dilemma for the guys in my life. ;-)

My guy rose to the occasion.


I drove down on Friday afternoon and stopped by the main house at the farm. I spent about an hour chatting it up with his mother. She is a such a hoot to talk to. Very dry sense of humor. If this gives you any insight, my S.G. has her contact pic as Grumpy Cat. lol

S.G. arrived after work and we transported all of my stuff down to the pond cabin. This adorable cabin is one he and his father built together. It is located deep within the woods of the farm. As soon as I walked inside I broke out into the biggest smile. This is what I saw:

He and his daughters decorated the main room. Streamers, cut out glitter hearts, and dark chocolates were all over the place. It was the sweetest thing I had ever seen.

I was just so excited, I insisted on giving him his "man basket" I made for him. I also gave him a beautiful card with some very heartfelt sentiments written in it. After he read the card he insisted on sharing his card and gift with me. 

Well... I had a beautiful letter written by him that was hands down the most touching letter I have ever received. Yes. He said those three little words. Little did you know, we have not been moving overly fast with the sentiments, but he finally said it. He grabbed my face and said, "Nicole... I. Love. You." 

It was wonderful.

Then he whips out a small box. What he does next cracks me up.
"Now, just so we are clear, this is not a ring."

I died laughing right there. 

However, I opened and found the most beautiful necklace I have ever seen. It had belonged to his grandmother. How wonderful was that?

We ended the night by watching a mini marathon of True Blood.

On Saturday morning, I awoke to him cooking a wonderful breakfast. This man made me a recipe I had pinned on Pinterest. Yes - he picked something I wanted to try. WOW.

Then he got in the car and headed to Providence Canyon - also known as the Little grand Canyon. We were going for a Valentine's Day hike. 

After the hike - we headed over to the river for a picnic. 

Following the picnic - we headed out to Plains, Georgia and I got some delicious hot boiled peanuts.

That night for dinner, he spent four hours cooking Duck a l'orange. Seriously. 

Valentine's Day... as you can tell... was delightful!

Then that Sunday, we headed into Albany and saw the movie 50 Shades of Grey. (BTW - meh.)

Then we shot on over to his ex's house (who btw, was very gracious and kind to me) to pick up his kids and then we scooted over to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. That night we basically all crashed at the cabin.

On my birthday morning, his oldest daughter and I went out and bought sausage biscuits for everyone and just relaxed and talked. Later, the girls and I did what I call - Birthday Yoga. Everything was birthday this or birthday that. 

That afternoon the girls and I got into a hard core UNO marathon, complete with Sangria. (Just for me, of course.)

Then the surprise birthday dinner: The dining room was decorated and all of my favorites were served. Grilled beef hotdogs, a special marinated salad, s&v chips, etc. Complete with a delightful raspberry cake.

As for presents? Holy moly - I struck the mother load! 

Then of course I had to come back to reality! 

Check out my two latest articles in Macon Magazine:

And of course we had a wonderful event at the Cannonball House. My dad even taught calligraphy for the kids!

Finally, don't forget about Beards, Bourbon, & Bacon happening here on April 11th. Here is the inspiration for the event (yes.. one of our volunteers decided to pose with the book.)

Finally, I want to say...

I am happy.

Seriously.

Just happy.


The. End.