We Plan, God Laughs… | What’s Next After The Bet On Myself Summer?

I left you guys on a bit of a cliffhanger in my last blog post. If you’re a returning reader then I must’ve done something right!

So before I go any further, I guess it’s time to answer the main question everyone keeps asking - what’s next after the Bet On Myself Summer is over?

I’ve booked several shows into the fall season, but I’m planning on heading back to TN for a few work trips. For now, I have no plans to get rid of my apartment in TN. Since I’ve managed to have a good bit of success financially this summer playing shows, I now have more flexibility with my schedule to live the best of both worlds for a while. That’s MAJOR! I’ve never had the opportunity to be in Nashville and focus solely on music while I’m out there and also maintain the space to come home whenever I want for however long I want.

Rainy mornings with my guitar.

One thing the Bet On Myself Summer has taught me is to not limit myself. As long as I can make it work, I’m going to try both music in North Carolina and Tennessee.

Honestly, the way life has been going lately I feel like God really did give me exactly what I needed when I needed it. The freedom to not be stuck in one place is turning out to be the biggest blessing with everything going on at home, but even though that’s the plan for now, plans can always change. That’s another lesson I’ve learned this summer.

You know that saying, we make plans and God laughs? Yeah, I felt that this week.

As we enter into the dog days of summer where the heat feels so stifling and miserable, I had a free week at home with nothing but time spent inside. Well, mostly inside.

Late August of last year, my mom wanted to do a mudroom makeover. Our blue heeler, Beau, sleeps in this entry way room that also holds our guest bathroom and laundry. Beau is notorious for hating baths and has somehow gotten away with having very few in his life - he’d rather go swimming in our pond. I personally wish I could avoid the things in life I don’t want to do in the same way Beau does, but I digress…

Since he’s always dirty and laying up against the mudroom walls, it creates a nice little dirty stain that I somehow get the joy of cleaning every time we have company over.

Before.

My mom’s solution: install shiplap and use a paint that’s a lot easier to wipe down. Plus - it looks pretty.

Here’s the problem: My dad installed the shiplap August 30th, 2025 and had a heart attack a month later, so for obvious reasons the project was put on hold. Once he recovered life got busy and we all kind of forgot about it.

Recently, we found out my dad was going to need to have surgery on one of his eyes. The anxiety I had about it was overwhelming. So I did what any person who wants to fix a situation they have absolutely no control over does — I decided to do a home project.

Last week I took one look at the mudroom and said, “no more!”

I decided it was time to fix up this room and take something off my parent’s plate. I also needed something to vlog that week so I would be killing to birds with one stone! That’s what I told myself anyway, but we all know this decision was mostly because life kept throwing a bunch of things at me that were out of my control and I wanted to do something that was in my control.

Cue God laughing.

Sanding down the shiplap.

One thing you should know about me is my ADHD brain can hyper fixate on something and then just as quickly jump around from thing to thing. I was fully prepared to focus in on sanding, cleaning, and painting the mudroom and I confidently thought I could do it all in one day. (HA!)

Except our AC went out…. and I couldn’t find our paint brushes…. and the paint that’s sat there for a year had separated a little…  and I had to build a cat house… and learn to drive a zero turn lawn mower… and play a show at the beach…

You guys see it wasn’t my fault for hopping from project to project this week, right? …. Right?!

Completed Cat House!

What should’ve been a one day project turned into three total with quite a few pauses for air condition guys working on our house, buying paint brushes when ours went missing, a girls weekend at the beach with my sister where I also played a show, and needing to take care of some outdoor chores like mowing and building the cat house. (I explain more on the cat house in my vlog!)

Mastering the zero turn lawnmower.

A week later and the mudroom makeover is officially completed and my dad’s important eye surgery went well! I’d like to say I rolled with the punches and kept very calm and composed, but there were definitely meltdown tears off camera.

I feel better ticking things off my to do list, but I definitely learned that things don’t go according to plan no matter how hard you try and control really is just an illusion.

The good news is my dad is currently recovering and doing well after his surgery and I’m recovering from my marathon of projects to keep myself busy. Oh, and Beau loves his new room!

Beau approves.

After.

Life really doesn’t stop coming at you from every angle. I’m choosing to laugh… and occasionally cry. But at least our mudroom is fabulous!

Worth it.

xx Carson

P.S. I still have shows on my calendar (I’d love to see you!) and I’m planning a work trip back to TN soon, but we all know how plans go… haha!