So here we go...the 1st of November and I have yet to write new goals for the month. [I'll get right on that.]
Wednesday night I attended the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis concert. First off, can I just say how awesome Macklemore is? I've been to my fair share of concerts, but there was something different about this one. Perhaps his message? Maybe it's that my sister and I are convinced that he is a long lost sibling of ours?
In all honesty, it was his presence and the connection he had with the audience. I picked up on it the second he spoke into his mic. The man has skills. He drew us in right away. He spoke of his struggles in the past and how he found a way out...
Scroll down to 'Personal Life' to get more details. I respect the guy for simply trying to better himself. I feel like a lot of today's music is lyrics bragging about how much drugs and alcohol the artist consumes. Almost making it sound like it's a way of life...for them, yeah, it is. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. Anyways, my point here is that not all musicians are out for fame. I'm certain Mr. Ben Haggerty enjoys it, but his music has a purpose. Hats off to him.
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| I am in LOVE with this picture. I think I just got lucky, but hey, I had good timing! |
The other thing I realized while at this concert is something I am thankful for...I am thankful that I live in Iowa. Don't roll your eyes. I'm serious. There were many times in my life that I wanted to live elsewhere. And I'm sure I would do well elsewhere. Every concert I've been to [including Kathy Griffin], they have always complimented Iowa(ans).
I travel often...[it seems like.] Orlando, Clearwater Beach, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Key West, Cozumel, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver/Colorado Springs...wherever I may be...If I'm sporting something from Iowa, it ALWAYS sparks a conversation with a stranger. I have yet to hear a bad response to my IOWA attire. I've been complimented time and time again...The most common compliment being that midwesterners (Iowans) are patient and kind. Well duh Mr. West Coast...you learn to have patience when you have to follow a tractor during Harvest for miles on a side road.
Take this last trip to Vegas for instance. I was wearing my U of I shirt (which one?! haha) and went on a hunt for some breakfast. I had 3 people high five me, saying something like go Hawks, ect. Even a guy wearing an ISU shirt pointed at me and said, "What's up Iowa?!" While we stood in line to go through security at the airport, my friend was wearing an IOWA sweatshirt and one of the guards asked how many people that she knew worked at John Deere. Or our day at the pool, it must've been when we showed our IDs...Iowa was a hot topic at most of the bars during our entire trip.
It's so cool to be from somewhere that we get to experience all sorts of weather. Trust me, I am a summer girl. I love hot weather, bring it on. But I would most definitely miss the snow if I lived in the South or the West coast. I like to look at it this way...Iowans (midwesterners) experience chilly weather a good chunk of the year. So we learn to appreciate a fun vaca destination like Mexico in February, Orlando in December, or we appreciate when the warm weather shows up in April.
There's another thing I've learned to appreciate being from Iowa. Color. Iowa is so colorful. Green mostly, but the transition in between seasons is incredible. Go for a walk this weekend, you'll get what I'm saying. When I was in Vegas in August of 2011, we ventured to the Hoover Dam. On the way out...everything was brown...yards, houses, where Iowa's "fields" would be...It was so dull. Of course, until the Vegas Strip's lights come on at night...it all seems really uncolorful [I might have made that up?].
Someone once stopped me in the middle of complaining about where I was from and told me to, "learn to appreciate where you are from." I did just that. I can't pin point when exactly this happened, but I know that it opened my mind to all of the great things about this place I call home instead of the things I didn't like.
Seriously...go for a walk this weekend. :)
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| The trees outside of my apartment :) |
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