All is Found

58

The past year has been such an insane rush of emotions. Touring all year is something that I never want to do again. After Pat finalized the plans of his move, Thea and I bought his house. Once his deal was finished Thea and I hired an architect to help us design our new home. Finalizing plans didn't take long because we had a clear vision of what we wanted. Once it was done Thea and I broke the news to Nikki.

            At first she was sad but then she understood. She also told us that after we come back from tour she was thinking about moving in with Malia anyway. So in the end it worked out. After the plans were finalized, Thea and I spent the remaining time I had at home to start moving things into storage and back into her house.

            We spent the holidays moving into her house and it was definitely strange being back here after being away for so long. I can even see Thea feel it. It didn't feel like home to her anymore. She just looked uncomfortable. We powered through the holidays though and watched as the day finally came when the construction team demolished my old house. I sat in Thea's car with tears flowing as it was reduced to rubble before us.

            Pat didn't want to see it but I did. It was the last connection I had with my family and seeing it destroyed left me feeling unsettled. I know it's for the best, but it made me sad.

            Leaving home a few days later didn't help either. A few days after New Year's, Nikki and I left for LA for the first leg of the world tour. This tour is going to be a bit different then the last one because Alyssa actually hired me a tour manager. She didn't want to be away for the whole year but is going to come with us to Europe. A.J. is my tour manager for the rest of the legs and he is a really nice guy. A bit stricter then Alyssa and he was able to keep us in line more.

            The longer tour went on, I came to really appreciate him. Going to Asia and Australia for the first time was a joy. I've never been before but once I got on stage I had the crowds screaming my songs back to me and I felt at home. It was a nice way to ease into this long stretch on the road. The first two weeks were spent in Asia. I definitely wanted to come back to really get to soak up the culture here. The last two weeks of January were spent down under in Australia.

            Luck for us it's summer in Australia when we went. It was nice on our off days to get to sit on the beach and relax. It was something I didn't realize I was looking forward to until our time winded down and we were on a plane back to the states.

            Landing in Boston to the snow was disappointing after spending the last two weeks on the beach. I came home with a tan that Thea was very jealous of. We got to have a nice two weeks together before I had to leave again. It was mostly spent picking out different things for the new house. The day after I flew home we drove past the sight and I got to see the frame of the first floor done. The second floor will be built when the weather gets a bit better.

            The day after Valentine's day I was on the move again. This time Alyssa came with us as we flew off to Europe for the second leg of the tour. I was nervous to be back here after last time but having her here helped. I also had Fletcher opening for me for the rest of the legs of the tour. It was nice to have another friend out here to make the time not spent on stage less lonely.

            This time around in Europe I was noticed more and it made sightseeing harder. With the amount of off days I had I was hoping to get to see some of the countries I was touring. But being spotted made it hard. On this leg of the tour I opened up our sound checks to fans. We capped them at 50 per show and it was nice to have a that time with fans.

            Towards the middle of April I was ready to get home. Thea and I have been talking a lot about things for the house because the construction was finally done. We made most of the decisions as to what we wanted the inside to look like but if something came up she always called and asked for my input. It was nice to have this open communication with her while I was away but I kind of felt bad leaving all this extra work for Thea to do.