See? Told You I'd Devote An Entire Blog To Them

       (to understand the title of this blog, see my first blog)
       Music has saved my life. Okay, maybe not really, but changed it? Completely. Just over a year ago I went to my first rock concert, which triggered a huge chain reaction. And you know the rather ironic part? It wasn't even the main band who did it. Let me set it up for you...
       The date: May 14, 2010.
       The place: Intrust Bank Arena.
       The bands playing: Sick Puppies, Breaking Benjamin, Shinedown, and Nickelback.
       Nickelback was the one we went to go see, and my thoughts about the other bands were: "Hmmm, Sick Puppies, heard of them, never heard them, should be interesting. Breaking Benjamin: same. And Shinedown's got those awesome songs Second Chance and If You Only Knew, so that'll be cool." So yeah, it wasn't what I was expecting. We missed Sick Puppies because they played early, but I wasn't too disappointed; I'd heard they sucked anyway. Breaking Benjamin had such a distracting background and attitude (the lead singer came out on stage flipping everybody off and screamed f*** every other word) that I tuned them out. And then came Shinedown. Since then, because of that concert, they have become my favorite band. Ever. No questions asked. The acoustics in the arena were so bad you couldn't understand the lyrics, but it was still AMAZING. That's how awesome they were. They didn't even have to be fully understood, they were still mind blowing. After I was so hyped up from them I wanted to buy their T-shirt immediately, but I didn't. (blame my mother's common sense). Then came Nickelback, and they were pretty awesome. It was their shirt I bought, and do I regret it? No. Do I wish I'd gotten the Shinedown one all the same? Yes. Anyway, getting off track here...
       A few days later, I bought their latest CD, The Sound of Madness. I listened to it so many times, I must have driven my mom crazy. And that was it, I was hooked. I got to know the band, became a member of their website, found their other CDs and listened to them too, and you know what that did to me? It inspired me, it gave me a dream to go after, it made me more outgoing, more willing, more ready. Shinedown hasn't been the only one though. All kinds of things inspire me every day, and to be perfectly frank, I consider the day a waste if I haven't made at least one person smile. It's my philosophy. Off track again... I can't exactly explain what happened that night at that concert, but something just... Clicked. It all kinda fell into place, and I suddenly knew that no matter what I did or where I went or who I was with, what I did had meaning, and it's meaning was to shed some light and maybe inspire someone else to be a better person, to be so much more than we are, and to become what God meant them to be. I think that's one of the meanings of life; to find the joy and inspiration in everything, and pass it on to others, so that they might do the same.

I Love You Guys

I haven't posted for a while and I feel kinda guilty about that, so here I am typing away at 10:30 when I'm dead tired. My dear (probably imaginary) reader, you should feel very loved.This post will probably be short, but still, it eases my conscience. Weird, huh? I would like to apologize in advance, I'm not exactly sure of what I'm saying and will probably not remember half of this. At this time I would also like to apologize to all the grammar nazis out there, it's sure to be bad. And now I don't even remember what I was thinking of writing about... Random thoughts time!
My friends' creativity constantly amazes me. I am frequently teased by them (lovingly, of course) for 1) my shortness, 2) my Irishness (is that even a word?), 3) my spastic movements when people poke my sides, and 4) my very random Irish or British accent. I am affectionately referred to as "Areland" because that's how I pronounce "Ireland", and also Yentil (even though I'm not Jewish), Gretel-Smurf (not German either), the Wee Fightin' Irish, Panda-rin, and Emma. I honestly don't mind when they make fun of me, I make fun of myself. We joke that we wouldn't consider ourselves friends if we didn't constantly insult one another. We've got great relationships, huh?
Seriously, I think we do have some pretty awesome relationships between us. We joke around a lot, but at the end of the day, I'd trust any one of them to do anything for me and not drop the ball (well, maybe except for Abby...). Just kidding, I trust her too. I've some pretty great friends and I can't wait to see where we all end up and how we shape each other's lives. That's why I can honestly say: I love you guys!

Expect the Unexpected

I'm not exactly a person who tries to be like the popular crowd or fit in with anyone else. I'm my own person, and I'm okay with that. I actually try to be different from others, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I want to be heard or want to stand out. I promote uniqueness, and I frequently encourage my friends to not be afraid to put themselves out there. At the same time, there are things you should only share with certain people, or maybe no one at all. It's a delicate balance of knowing how to listen, how to share, and how to understand. When I think I've had a good conversation with someone, it's because they listened to me, gave me good advice or said the right thing, and then I in turn did the same for them. Talking to people can work so much out and bring so many realizations about your life to light. For instance, me and a friend who I wasn't that close to before ended up having what must have been at least a 7 hour conversation, all through texting. At the end of it, I felt so much better knowing that I had discovered this person who knew what I had been through, and it humbled me in some ways. Sharing what we did that night, I felt like a little pressure had been relieved, because now I had someone who I could trust to never laugh, never scoff, and never put me down. That kind of experience is awesome, and I hope I'm that kind of friend too. It taught me to expect the unexpected, because life's always surprising.