A little update on everything

Hi everyone!!! So I haven't been that great for the past year with making regular posts and it's because life got in the way, and in a very good way. Let me explain:

I'm currently finishing up this degree and I am currently taking my last course for it this summer, expected graduation date is August. So school work has been swamping my life. However, if you've been reading on and off or know me personally, you know that I'm with a lovely man named Austin.The last time I filled everyone in on him was back when I wrote the post about all those letters that he received while he was in basic training (here).

Well a lot has happened with us in the past year. Back in January we got engaged, exactly after a year we started to talk with each other as well as seeing each other exclusively. Then in March we went ahead and tied the knot (yes! we got married!!!) before he went to his first duty station. As I might have mentioned before, or neglected to mention more like, he is currently in the Air Force. Sure we've only been together for about a year and a half, but we've been through a lot and in the past year our relationship has been a long distance one. While at basic training he could only communicate with friends and family via snail mail, and then once he got to technical school we got to talk on the phone every evening and did FaceTime "dates" (if you could call them that) every Friday and Saturday. Sure I did get to see him when he visited during the holidays and whatnot, but those were visits, overall it's been long-distance.

It surprises me that are now married and everything is working out just fine. People say long distance relationships are hard, and they are, but I've learned that it depends on the couple and the situation, since every relationship starts out differently and are all unique to their situations throughout the relationship. One thing that I've learned that is very important in every relationship is communication between each other, and I mean civilized conversations, no yelling or what not, but a conversation(s) were both are listening to what your significant other has to say without interrupting them or blowing them off in what they've decided to tell you. You should feel special that they are taking the time to tell you. Well enough of me babbling about relationship stuff (People (well, friends) sometimes say I give great advice, ummm .... thank you!).

Besides that when it comes to my schooling, I am currently in my final semester this summer. Yep! Taking my last class that I need for this degree. Very excited after exactly 4 fall, 4 spring and 4 summer semesters. I still currently work at campus bookstore as a book floor lead, I have to admit that I really like working there, the people are great.

Well thats my little update on what has been going on with me, I hope everyone has been well too.

Keane Continued (and in more detail)

So as I mentioned in the previous post, I went to see my favorite band, Keane, last Monday, June 25th 2012. Now I'm going to talk about the evening in great detail.

Since this was my third time seeing Keane Live, as usual I took the entire day off. Around 4 to 5 pm after running around doing errands all day I finally got home and started to get ready to go. I kept it simple: jeans, tank top, purse, camera, phone as well as what I should have the band sign (and this time I had them sign their Book/CD/DVD). I waited for my mom to get home, since we were going together. At around 6:30pm we left the house and headed downtown to the Paramount Theatre to see my lovely Keane. After parking and getting to the theatre, I had to pick up the ticket at the will call window.

The merch that was available for purchase

After getting our tickets and getting in, we found our seats and since we had a good 45 minutes until Kiev (the supporting band) play we got into the merch line and ended up spending 100$ on two shirts (I got the yellow/white/blue one with the guys on it and my mom got the grey sun one) and two high quality Strangeland tote bags (design pictured below).

Detailed of the design on the tote.

Then we went back to our seats to settle in and prepare for the live music to begin. Kiev was great to listen to the only downside was that the quality of the sound wasn't good, it was as if all the microphones were on one level making the vocals and the instruments mesh together into a cluster of loud noise. When I got home later that evening I went and actually found their music, and it was pretty decent.

Kiev

After Kiev played there was a 20 minute break to set up the stage for Keane. This is when the theatre really started to fill with people, the seats in front of us got their occupants (mind you we where in Row G, Seats 7 & 8 as well as Orchestra Center, thats only 7 rows from the stage!!!) and pretty soon all you could hear is people talking about Keane, it was great! Then the lights got dimmed and we all stood in an uproar as Tom, Tim, Richard and Jesse ran on stage to start the show.

This is the setlist that they played for us:

1. You Are Young
2. Day Will Come
3. Nothing In My Way
4. A Snippet of Strangeland
5. On the Road
6. A Bad Dream
7. Perfect Symmetry
8. Everybody's Changing
9. My Shadow
10. Bend and Break
11. Leaving So Soon?
12. The Starting Line
13. Disconnected
14. This Is The Last Time
15. Somewhere Only We Know
16. Is It Any Winder?
17. Bedshaped
18. Sovereign Light Café
ENCORE:
19. Sea Fog
20. Silenced By The Night
21. Crystal Ball

Throughout the show I took some picture and a few videos, especially some of my favorite songs such as Disconnected, however I mainly focused on listening to them, to Tom's angelic voice, Tim's mad keyboarding/piano skill, Richard's beats and Jesse playing the bass lines as well as assisting in producing other sounds. I was surprised to hear Bedshaped not being the last song, since Keane almost always plays it last before the encore, but what was even better was the fac that they ended with one of my favorite sing from Under The Iron Sea, and it was Crystal Ball!!! Their live performance are always great and in the end was a magical experience.

The taking down of the stage begins

Me after the show in front of the Paramount

Keane - 6/25 @ The Paramount

After the show had ended, we left the theatre and started to wonder where the band would be exiting. Since every time I've seen Keane perform live I've always gotten to the chance to meet them in person and they are a band known for meeting with fans to sign and take photos after a live performance. I told my mom where I saw their buses and their equipment truck, so we made our way to the other side of the theatre by going through an ally. As we entered the ally you could see people started to gather at the backstage door and the crew was already loading the equipment truck so they could get to Salt Lake City for the next gig. We made our way over and began to wait.

We had a good hour and a half before the garage we parked in closed the gate. After about 45 minutes of waiting Tom and Tim exited and everyone was so excited, limelight was hitting them. They made their rounds in taking pictures and sign items. Then Richard came out and last but not least a tired looking Jesse followed. My mom and I got photos with all of them, except my mom didn't get a photo with Jesse. I had them sign their photos in the Strangeland Book/CD/DVD, which I bookmarked.

It was a great evening seeing my favorite band. My mom enjoyed herself as well. It's definitely a night that we won't be forgetting soon. Now all I have to do is wait for their next album so I can see them live again.