Beautifully Prickly
I don’t know about yall but most of my most anxious moments are when my husband is across the world. Not because he is away but because the universe has conspired against us so make my body feel the way it does as soon as he hops on a plane. Obviously not true but sometimes it feels that way.
We come from the GREAT state of Texas where we own a nice 4-bedroom house outside of Austin. I thought we would be there forever but God had other plans. In 2019, he had an opportunity in Los Angeles that he couldn’t pass up. It was supposed to be a 2 week project but as time progressed, it became clear to us that this was where we needed to go. We were new to what it meant to get a sub for the type of project he was on and he felt like he couldn’t take off. I understood but my anxious ass decided to pack up our entire house. I ordered a dumpster that sat in my driveway and WENT👏🏾TO👏🏾TOWN👏🏾! I threw away sooooooo much stuff. Mattresses, furniture, clothes, you name it? It was gone. If it didn’t fit in the truck, it wasn’t going to Los Angeles. I have some amazing friends who came over and helped me throw stuff away. One of those amazing friends hopped in the truck with me and drove across the country to meet my husband in our new studio apartment that I had never seen. It was quite the experience.
Fast forward to 2025, we move into a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment and I am ELATED! My own space? Hell yea! My own bathroom? YAS! Where is my husband? Italy > New York > Africa > San Fransisco > Back to LA. It’s such a hard thing to pack up and move alone but it most likely won’t be the last time. There will another time where he is across the world and I am home figuring it out. Would I have it any other way? Kinda but not really. I did NOT know what I signed up for when we got married back in 2012. If I go back and think about 16 year old Kelly, 10 year old Kelly, or even 7 year old Kelly, it makes sense for me to have this sort of lifestyle. There are days where I have to move, alone. There are lonely days. Then there are days where we get to spend the night in a tasting room at a winery alone, together. There are other times where I get to learn about a flight at 1pm that leaves at 4pm. This life is lonely and hard. But it’s also fun and exciting. I love it.
What I love most about Side Stage Tour is that there are SOOO many people out there who understand the love of this life while feeling the negative effects too. I get it. We get it. Beautifully Prickly. Even typing that feels like it almost doesn’t make sense. But if you have walked in these shoes, then maybe it does.
— Kelly
