2013 in Review: Part 2

Missed the beginning? Part One is here.

April

The month kicked off with a nice round of pink eye, so I was forced to wear my glasses (which I never wear except at home) for nearly a month!

I enjoyed some Skyline while still home in Indiana.

I watched enough Game of Thrones with my brother that he decided our family needed its own crest (that's a bulldog and a puggle on it, for those who didn't know).

I worked at Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety's homecoming celebration at Park City Mountain Resort.

I attempted a juice cleanse (spoiler alert: it did not go well).

I celebrated closing day at Park City Mountain resort by busting out this lovely old speed suit from my speedskating days.

I had a handful of adventures with this lovely duo, Ashley and Korey...

...including an AWOLNATION concert at the University of Utah. 

I had a birthday! And my lovely parents got me a stand mixer! 

Julia took me to a French bakery so I had some macarons instead of birthday cake. 

And...a moose decided to walk through the parking lot outside my apartment. 

May

The month started with a 5k in Salt Lake City with my roommates.

I expressed my feelings towards the Romney name (because there are maybe 10 people out there in the world unaware of them).

I had a run that went so well that it inspired this selfie.

I went to the Spiral Jetty with Korey and Ashley.

 We also went to Twin Falls in Idaho.

I participated in Running with Ed, a Ragnar-like relay race that supports the Park City Education Foundation.

I kayaked the Provo River with Debbie, my wonderful former roommate.

I discovered a fantastic cupcake place in Provo, as well. It's basically the only thing I'll go to Provo for. 

June

I went hiking around Powder Mountain with Julia.

Running on the Rail Trail in Park City became a pretty regular thing for me, as I was training for a half marathon. One day, a herd of sheep decided to join me on my run.

I made s'mores cupcakes. 

I decided to get bangs again (and after reviewing these photos, I think I may have to do it again in the near future).

I relived high school and went to a Fall Out Boy concert. It was amazing. 

Ashley joined me for the concert!

I continued volunteering at Furburbia. There were a ton of kittens over the summer!

I went to a painting thing with Julia. I was pretty proud of the finished product! 

I ended the month with more running. The Willow Creek trail became my favorite weekend trail...can't you see why?!

Detox Just to Retox

Two Fridays ago, I took a little bit of a trip back to college. Fall Out Boy had a small venue show in Salt Lake City and I could not pass up attending for old time's sake! When I bought the tickets back in February (I think), the only one of their new songs out was "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light 'Em Up)," so I had no clue if I'd actually like their new songs or not. Granted, as someone who has loved all of their albums, I wasn't too worried about it.

Originally, Julia was going to come with me, but she had to go out of town for the weekend, so Ashley joined. We had a very different concert-going experience than my Fall Out Boy days of my youth. There was no waiting in line for hours to make sure I could be on the barricade. I didn't even want to mess with trying to be in the pit and leaving covered in other people's sweat. Instead, we happily waved our IDs and went up to the 21+ upstairs. We were one row of people off the front of the balcony, but they were super nice and actually let us have their spots for the encore.

It was fantastic! I love their new album and haven't seen them live since before Folie a Deux was released, so about half of the show was songs I'd never heard them play live before.

Highlights

• The encore. Oh my goodness the encore! "Thnks fr th Mmrs," "Save Rock and Roll" and, of course, "Saturday." Probably the best encore performance I've ever experienced at a concert.
• The new music. Like I wrote above, I really like the album Save Rock and Roll. All of the songs sounded fantastic live.
• The music period. Every time they launched into another song, I got that feeling you get when your favorite song comes on. Over the course of ten years, somehow all of their music has stayed relevant to me and I enjoy it just as much (and more in some cases) as I did when I was a college fangirl.
• Energy. Despite being more than five years older than the last time I saw them live, these guys have not lost an ounce of their enthusiasm for performing. Joe was still spinning all over the place, Andy was a human tornado on the drums...hell, I'd even say that Patrick has more of a stage presence now than ever before.
• The little things. Ashley and I noticed Pete waving to his little four-year-old song offstage and making funny faces at him. The lick-lick salute. The guitar spins during "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race." Knowing all the places to clap and shout the background vocals. I suppose you could say knowing all of these things is the product of ten years of going to Fall Out Boy concerts.
• The crowd. It was by no means a perfect audience (does that exist?), but everyone there knew all the words to all the songs and (at least to me) appeared to truly be there for the music. The enthusiasm for "The Disloyal Order of Water Buffalos" was just as intense as it was for their hit singles.
• Being an adult. I know that sounds strange, but I feel like I was able to enjoy myself so much more as an adult than I did as a 20-year-old because I'm more confident in who I am. I was rocking out and couldn't care less what anyone thought about it. And that lack of inhibition made the concert all the more enjoyable for me on a personal level.

What a great time! They won't be coming to Salt Lake City on their arena tour (and it would be soooo strange to see them in an arena...definitely have not had that experience before!), so I'm not sure when I'll see another of their shows, but it will hopefully be sooner rather than later. 

XO.