Hello again friends.
It has been some time since I last wrote in this blog. I have been extremely busy and I have not had as much free time lately. For that I apologize, but there are definitely some exciting new changes in my life! I have been working multiple jobs since my first weekend in Tucson. Combined, I am working about 70 hours a week, which can be draining. Usually only getting about 4-5 hours of sleep per night. But in no way am I complaining! I usually get off at my first job around 11:30 or 12:00 noon. Then sometimes I have go directly to my other job right or shortly after. In the time between jobs, I have been dedicating myself to practicing guitar, at very least 1 hour per day. And even though it is slow, I am making some decent progress!
On that note, I had the coolest thing happen to me last week. I was tuning up, and was struggling to get a string in tune, when it snapped! It was the first time that had happened to me, even though I had seen it happen multiple times before, needless to say it caught me completely off guard. I ended up dropping my guitar and in the process broke the "nut" which guides the strings to the tuning pegs. I took the guitar, which was given to me by my friend and previous manager up in Oregon. (Thanks again Nick Powell, that helped me to get in the groove of playing and I am so stoked you gave me that guitar!) But I digress, I took it into the guitar shop and they said to get it fixed up nicely, I would be looking to spend around $100. Which wasn't a problem, however, they also said they just got in this radical Marquis by Harmony, a replica of a vintage guitar. This thing looked and sounded beautiful! I was in love from the first time I held it. They totally hooked me up, I got a super nice case, strap, tuner, a bag of picks, a detailing kit and the guitar for only $300! I was beyond blown away. Huge thanks to the guys down at Strings N' Sticks here in Tucson. Anyone in the area looking to get a great deal on instruments or other gear should definitely check them out! So I have new motivation for playing and practicing and am beyond stoked to see the progress I am making. Learning the guitar is something I have always wanted to do, I just never had the determination or patience to do beforehand. It feels good to have a new project to keep me busy and I can hear myself getting better every time I play. I have even written a few songs and have been trying to come up with the music for it. It's a slow process but I am loving every second of it! Especially now that my fingers have callused and it doesn't hurt quite so much to press down on the strings.
In other and probably the most exciting news, I met someone... And she is amazing! She came into the store I was working at and we struck up a conversation, I decided to slip her my number when she checked out, and a few days later we met up for coffee. After getting to know each other a little bit, she took me to a few different spots around the city. One of which was overlooking the whole city, about halfway up the drive to Mount Lemmon. We sat and stared out at the city lights and talked about life, things we have been through and what we want to do with our lives. It was awesome to meet someone who shared so many of the same beliefs and values as I did. After we had stared at the city lights for over an hour, she took me to another one of her favorite spots in the city. This place was rad, about a 1/2 mile up a path in a National Forest, we went down to this cool little spot where there was a natural waterfall! We sat around the pool at the bottom and listened as the water came down serenading us. It was like something out of a movie, the night was super clear and there were tons of stars out. We sat and talked more and it was a trip, even though it was our first night hanging out together, I felt like I had known her for a long time. We have since spent pretty much every day together. She is an incredible singer, pianist, guitarist and songwriter and is teaching me a ton about songwriting and playing in general. I posted a video of her singing one of my favorites of hers a while back, so check it out if you haven't already. You will definitely be missing out if you don't. I am able to just completely be myself around her, not once has she asked me to change anything about me, just accepted me for who I am and seems to like me anyways. She has shown me so many amazing things that this city has to offer and I am completely taken by her. It feels so good to be with someone who actually appreciates me and just likes me for who I am, not who they want me to be like so many of my prior relationships have. It's like breathing in a breath of fresh air. So to you, Shaina, thank you, so very much for everything. You have definitely opened my eyes to so many beautiful things and I will be forever grateful for that. You rock my world. ;)
That's about all the updates I have as of lately. I just wanted to fill you in on this exciting new chapter of my life. I have to say, this one is looking to be pretty incredible so far. I can't wait to see where this takes me. My spirits are definitely lifted and I am feeling more optimistic and hopeful about my future than I have in quite some time. Stay tuned, as I will try to keep the updates coming in as they develop. Also, we have been recording some amazing stuff and it is only going to get better! I will post new songs as we record them! If you are curious about the music this amazing woman is making, let me know and I would be happy to send you some stuff!
God Bless and keep sending the prayers and positive vibes my way!
-Nathan
