Nicole Carina

It’s hard to believe it’s been three months since I moved to Raleigh.

A lot has happened in the month and half since I last posted, and I’ve been getting used to my new life and to Raleigh.  I started a new job here that unfortunately hasn’t turned out to be as good as it seemed. Thankfully it turned out to be a blessing in disguise since it prompted me to take another big step; to start my own business.

I had been thinking about it for some time now but never really felt brave enough to do it. After discussing it with Tom and praying about it, I decided to take the plunge, I went downtown, registered the business name, paid for my license and I was in business!  I’m now the proud owner of Heartfelt Promotions, a social media marketing and event planning business designed to help local businesses. I use Twitter, Facebook, email, and promotional events to market local businesses, products, and brands.

Now I’m in the process of building a website, getting business cards and networking to meet new clients. I was actually fortunate enough to have 2 clients lined up before I even “officially” started and have been getting more since then. My goal is to get enough clients that I can quit my current job and work on Heartfelt Promotions full time, hopefully that will happen soon.

While this has been the biggest (and most exciting) thing to happen since my move to Raleigh I’ve got other things that I’ve been enjoying too.  I recently got to see a local production of RENT with my new friends from work, and was able to visit the coast with Tom to see our parents for the 4th of July.

We went down to Camp Lejeune to watch fireworks with Mom and Michael, who snapped this pic of us, we had a great time.

My first big business purchase, an iPad! This is the pink (of course!) case I got for it, it also props it up for easy typing and showing presentations.

I also got to see Ingrid Michaelson last month, she was a lot of fun to see live.

So overall things have really been coming together lately; I’ve met people and made friends, and Raleigh is starting to feel like “home”. I find myself using my navigation system less and less as I get more familiar with how to get around.  I’ve been pretty busy getting Heartfelt Promotions started but I still make time to sit on the balcony once in a while and enjoy a cup of coffee. Isabelle usually joins me and “people watches” while I work from my laptop.

So my life is changing again, and I’m very excited/nervous/thrilled/terrified about it. That’s a good thing though, right?

Took a quick break from packing earlier today and sat on my front porch to eat lunch and enjoy the sunshine.

I’ve been packing like crazy the last couple days, the movers are coming on Monday and I’ve still got a ton of stuff that needs to be boxed up.

boxes and more boxes

I’m going to start bloging every day again for the month of April, I’d like to chronicle my move to Raleigh.  So far I’m sick of packing, lol, but the moving pains should be over soon.

Today was my last day at Verizon Wireless…

It didn’t really sink in until today that I wouldn’t be coming back to the place where I’ve worked for the last 6 years. Every job will get on your nerves but overall VZW has been a pretty good place to work. It was this job that made me move to Wilmington, and start a very important chapter in my life. It was my first full time job, and my ticket to independence when I needed to start over and finally grow up.

I got to say goodbye to my friends which was kind of sad even though I know I can come visit whenever I want.  Everyone has been very supportive and encouraging, even the security guard I always see when I leave at night. As I left I gave him my badge and told him that today was my last day, he said he would miss me and wished me luck.

It’s going to be a little scary starting a new job after being used to doing things the same way for so long, but I’m confident that I can handle it.  VZW has served it’s purpose, but it’s time for the next part of my life to begin. As I walked out the door I took one last look at the pansies planted beside the entrance, felt the sun on my face, and the warm breeze blowing… and said goodbye to my job at Verizon Wireless.

In less than a week I’m quitting my job at Verizon Wireless and moving to Raleigh.

Tom and I started dating a couple months ago and have been dating long distance, but we knew it was just a matter time before one of us moved to be with the other.  With Tom’s business being in Raleigh it made more sense for me to move than for him to. I also love Raleigh, more than I thought I would, so the decision wasn’t that hard. So now I’ve found a new job in Raleigh that starts mid-April and my last day at Verizon will be March 31.

It may seem strange to pick up and move to be with someone you’ve only dated a short while but Tom and I have a 10 year history… We dated for 4 years then broke up, he moved to Raleigh and I moved to Wilmington. Even though we were with other people over the years we never stopped caring about each other, and remained friends. Earlier this year we were both single at the same time and realized that we wanted to be together again.  Tom and I know each other better than anyone else and we’re each other’s best friend, it just doesn’t get much better than that.  =)

Tom and I shortly after we started dating, around 2000

And a couple months ago

The greatest blessing in my life right now is being with Tom again. We’ve had a crazy journey but both feel that everything we’ve gone through has prepared us to have a future together.  I never thought we’d get back together, but here we are, happy and in love again.  The funny thing is, no one else seemed to be surprised, our family and friends have been really supportive and happy for us.

There are times in your life when the universe comes together and things just seem to magically fall into place… This is one of those times. I couldn’t be happier with the way things are happening.  I know that this is just part of the journey and there will be bumps in the road ahead, but I’m confident that Tom and I can handle anything together.

This past weekend Tom took me to Chapel Hill for the afternoon.

We had lunch at a sports bar and got there just in time to catch the Carolina game.  It was fun to be in Chapel Hill watching the game with a room full of home town fans, especially since we won.  :)

After that we walked around and took pictures for a bit.

I loved this shop display, a dress made of doilies and tissue paper, so pretty!

My souvenir of the trip, a fridge magnet (I’ve sort of been collecting them lately)

Before we left we stopped in at Sugarland to get dessert. I had a creme brule and Tom got a red velvet cupcake, they were so good! The bakery was very cute and cozy, I could have stayed there all night.

Tom hiding from the camera…  ;)

I really enjoyed myself, Franklin Street is beautiful and I’m looking forward to going back.

There’s a few more pics here at my Flickr account.

Today I didn’t get around to taking a self portrait so I decided to do a mini self portrait timeline, showing some of the ones I’ve taken over the last few years. The camera I’m holding in the older pictures was my first digital camera, a 3.0 megapixel canon.

It’s interesting to see how I’ve changed over the years, the first picture is probably from around 2002 and the last from about 2 weeks ago.

After much deliberation and fighting with codes and plugins I’ve finally made the switch to Wordpress. My old Vox Account just wasn’t cutting it anymore.  I’d much rather have everything here, on NicoleCarina.com and I’d like people who don’t have a vox to be able to comment on my posts.

So with the new year I decided to make the switch, I really feel like 2010 is going to be a great new start for me.  The gears have started turning, and I’m turning right along with them.

2009 was an interesting year for me, I had quite a few ups and downs.  Some people came into my life, and others went out. I gained experience.

I lived and I learned and I loved and I lost.

And I’m ready to do it all over again. Hello 2010, I can’t wait to see where you take me.  :)