Sore Fingers

I have had my guitar for a week now and all I can say is OUCH! My fingertips on my left hand are super sore. It hurts to type, it hurts to touch the screen on my iTouch, it hurts to open a can of pop, and basically it hurts to do anything that requires the use of my fingertips. I keep telling myself that the pain is worth it. Eventually it wont hurt anymore and I'll be jamming on my guitar like there's nothing to it! But for now I can play for about an hour and then I have to give my fingers a break. I make sure that I sit down everyday and practice for at least 30 minutes.
I think I've come a long way in a week. I have been working on memorizing the shapes of chords and switching between them. Some switches are easier to make than others. I have also learned a few simple songs. I know how to play Frere Jacques, The Star-Spangled Banner, Happy Birthday and I can even play the intro line to Taylor Swift's "Tear Drops on My Guitar".
Today I bought thumbpicks and a capo(that's the bar thing that goes across the strings)with my birthday money. I love my thumbpicks! They make picking so much easier. Strumming is alot easier now too because my pick feels more stable. A thumbpick wraps around your thumb and to me if feels more stable than strumming with a flat pick.
I can't wait to get sheet music and really start playing!

Happy Birthday To Me!

I turned 20 today!!! I am no longer a teenager and have now started my 20s. Wow, I thought I was going to be a teenager forever... at least it seemed that way. I'm still not sure what to think. It hasn't quite sunk in that I am 20 years old.
I had a great birthday! My parents brought home my acoustic guitar last night!

I was awestruck. I have been waiting for this for years! I broke out the lesson dvd that came with it and started with the basics. I've learned a few chords. Now, I just have to practice switching between the chords when I play. I played for a little bit this morning but I had to stop because it was getting too painful. I couldn't press the string all the way down with my index finger. I will build up calluses eventually. I just have to keep telling myself that the pain is worth it.
I stayed up until midnight, mainly because I had a feeling that people were going to text me at midnight to wish me Happy Birthday. My feeling was right :) My Aunt and two of my friends texted me. People also wished me a Happy Birthday via facebook. My phone was going off like crazy today.
Around lunch time I went over to my bff A's house and we took a walk around Grays Lake. It was nice :) We had a picnic lunch and it was nice to be able to talk, just the two of us. She goes away for school so we have to take advantage of the time we have while she is here.
My birthday with the family started around 6 pm. My dad's parents came with an ice cream cake and my grandma's amazing potato salad. We grilled hamburgers, hotdogs and brats. We just kept everything low key. My 'older sister' L came as well :) L works with my mom. She calls her "Mom" and apparently she is the number 1 daughter lol. L is about 16 months older than me so she very well could be my sister. I like that we're 'fake sisters' because then I don't have to deal with the clothes stealing, the fighting and she doesn't live in my house lol. I like L but I don't know if I could share my house with another female besides my mom.

Here's me with my guitar and my Taylor Swift shirt! I can't wait til I get better and I can start playing songs!

Guitar Frustration

I want an acoustic guitar so freakin bad! I have wanted one for at least the last five years. Guitars are expensive and I know this but yet my brother got one for Christmas one year. I have been asking for a guitar and still have yet to get my wish.

My 20th birthday is on Wednesday May 19th and the only thing I asked for is an acoustic guitar. That's the only thing I can think of that I even want.
I'm serious about teaching myself how to play. I was in band for 8 years while in school and I miss music so much. I have a clarinet that sits in my closet because who wants to play a clarinet? It's not any fun and I would have to discipline myself to learn the fingerings all over again. I know I will get frustrated because I should know them. I haven't played clarinet since my junior year of High School in Marching Band. I played the Oboe in concert band. My senior year I played the bass drum so I haven't played my clarinet in a good three and a half years. You also can't sing while playing the clarinet which is one of my objectives while teaching myself to play the guitar.



I have a musical ear but it's out of practice. By listening and tuning my guitar I hope to be able to learn to control my voice better and hear the notes that I am singing.
I have a checklist that I used to determine whether this is something that I really want to do.
1) Ability to read music - Check
2) Guitar lesson book downloaded to Adobe Acrobat from iTunes - Check
3) Guitar chords from my fave songs copy and pasted into word documents - Check
4) Accepting the fact that the fingers on my left hand are going to hate me - Check
5) Guitar app on my iTouch to practice for the real thing - Check
6) Getting frustrated that the screen on my iTouch is too small for chords - Check
7) Knowing what notes the open strings are (EADGBE) - Check
8) Listening to songs that I like and trying to memorize the rhythms - Check
9) Thinking that Taylor Swift playing a 12 string guitar is pretty BA - Check
10)Been inspired to play by Taylor Swift from the first moment I saw her - Check



Now all I need to do is go shopping for my guitar. I hope that time is VERY VERY SOON!!! I've been waiting for this for years.

How far is too far?

This group of 8 and 9 year-old girls are no doubt great dancers but the choice of revealing costumes and provocative dance moves has me questioning whether their parents saw the routine before it was presented at competition. Some of them I'm sure would not be too keen on letting their daughter participate in a dance routine that is totally inappropriate for her age group.



Sound off in the comments below. How far is too far?

A story about this dance routine was run on Entertainment Tonight. Their parents and a representative all said that the moves these girls were doing are legit dance moves. I don't doubt that but the moves featured at 1:45 all the way to the end were far too mature for this age group, in my opinion.

Relay For Life

I'm a member of Phi Theta Kappa, an honors society for two year colleges, and my college has a Relay For Life team. I am a team member and we each have a goal to raise $100 to go towards research for the American Cancer Society.

I encourage all of you donate to this wonderful cause between now and June 4th 2010. You can click on the badge at the right and it will take you to my personal page where you can donate.

Thank You!

The Phi Theta Kappa Cancer Crusaders

Taylor Swift Concert!!!

The tears at Christmas when I opened up my box with the Taylor Swift tickets were definitely worth it.

Gloriana opened the show and they were pretty good. They had alot of four part harmonies going on which was cool but made them sound really busy. There was alot going on in their set and it kind of distracted me from the music. They did play a new single and I definitely have to find that song.

Next up was Kellie Pickler. My mom is a huge Kellie fan. She jokingly said that she was ready to leave after Kellie was done singing. Her favorite song is "Red High Heels". I knew that Kellie was going to possibly sing "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You" and I tried my hardest not to cry because the lyrics are so relevant to me. I love the song but I had to take it off my playlist on my ipod because I can't listen to it anymore. One of the songs that I love of hers that I didn't expect her to play was "Things that Never Cross a Man's Mind" because it's not very popular but it's hilarious! It was so cool seeing her live. Her stage presence is just amazing.

Between acts we could text a certain number and if our message got picked it would show up on the big screens. Alot of people said how excited they were to be there. There were a couple of marriage proposals but those didn't really surprise me. What did surprise me was that one of them said "[J's nickname and last name] will you marry me?" That completely freaked me out. J's name is really common but I didn't expect to see it on the big screen at the Taylor Swift concert. Her nickname was spelled the same and everything. Talk about freaky.

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Then came Taylor Swift!!! She opened the show with "You Belong With Me". I love this song! The coolest part of the concert was seeing her face on the big scree. Taylor would look out into the crowd and she'd have a shitty grin on her face. Her facial expressions were hilarious. Seeing her dance on stage like a maniac was the most entertaining thing I have ever seen. That girl is nuts!
At one point she moved to a small stage in the back of the arena so the people back there could see her better. She played her twelve string guitar which was super cool! She knows how to get the crowd going. I know there are Taylor haters out there and all I'm going to say is "They can shut the hell up" Taylor deserves every award she has ever won. Her show was so amazing! I had to keep reminding myself that she was right there in front of me in the flesh and not just on tv anymore.
I was able to get a few pictures but we weren't close enough to get any good ones. My favorite picture is one that I took of the stage during "Picture to Burn". It turned out super cool.


I had such an amazing time! I feel like the most loved daughter in the entire world!! My mom bought me a Gloriana shirt, a Kellie Pickler shirt, a Taylor Swift shirt and a program.

My mom caught a piece of Official Taylor Swift confetti. Most of it ended up on the people sitting in the floor seats but a few pieces made it up to where we were sitting.


Here's my favorite Taylor Swift music video :)

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Glee

I freakin love Glee!!! Isn't Lea Michele amazing?