The Day I have been waiting for...

My friend Rachel and I bought tickets to see Taylor Swift in concert over a year ago. We waited 327 days for the concert to come around. We fell in love with her album 1989 and we knew we needed to see her in concert. We bought 4 tickets, so my little sister, Renae could come along and Rachel's guest didn't work out, so we ended up inviting our best friend, Lynette to come along. 

Rachel lives in Des Moines, Iowa, so this concert was our obvious choice since we were able to avoid hotel fees by staying at her parents house. It took a lot of careful planning to get to this moment, but Renae and I were finally able to see our second Taylor Swift concert (That shirt I'm wearing I got from the Fearless concert), my friend Rachel attended her fourth Taylor Swift concert (she only missed Red and her tour with Keith Urban counts), and Lynette got to experience her first Taylor Swift concert. 

If you are a Taylor Swift fan and you will be attending one of her remaining tour stops, She only has 6 US concerts left, I would suggest you stop reading the post now. If you all know Taylor Swift her concerts are some of her best kept secrets, while I for sure will not spoil the whole concert I do want to talk about my experience and of course the music is part of it. I took all the pictures used in this post, so there is no copyright infringement. 

We arrived at the concert early so we could take pictures in front of her millions of semi (no kidding, but she has at least 20). Then we went to wait in front of the door for entry. 

Of course as super fans, we had heard about the light up bracelets that were supposedly free. We thought we would get them when we came in the door, but we didn't. We went upstairs to find our seats after a quick trip to the souvenir shop, and the bathroom. We were so ecstatic to find the wristbands on our seats.

Then we began the long wait for the concert to begin. Taylor Swift as usual had videos playing before the concert, so we were entertained. We made friends with our neighbors. Way to the left we had a 5 year old, who was very cute. She says that she is the biggest Taylor Swift fan and her favorite song is Welcome to New York.

My new shirt. Taylor is a rockstar.

Vance Joy came out around 7:30 and he sang for a half an hour. I enjoyed his music, but he could have stepped up the performance. He said that Taylor Swift could have chose anybody and he was glad that it was him. Glorianna opened at the Fearless concert and I fell in love with their music. I can't say the same for Vance Joy, but I may buy a couple songs.

Taylor Swift finally came out at 8:30 and started off the concert with Welcome to New York. She sang all her songs off 1989 minus This Love. She sang 5 throwback songs, which were You Belong with Me, Love Story, I Knew you were Trouble, Enchanted (mashed with Wildest Dreams), and We are Never Ever Getting back together.

Highlights of the concert for me were seeing the wristbands light up and change colors in tune to her songs. Especially

during I Knew You were Trouble, where only special people got a red bracelet and my friend Rachel was lucky enough. The catwalk was by far the thing we talked about the most after the concert It was so cool to watch it rise up when she sang You Belong with Me and later in the show it spun around. I loved the inspirational speech she gave before she sang Clean. She said that this is the song that fans have told her over and over again how much it has helped them get through a different time. She emphasized that after you get out of a relationship that is a great time to find out what is important to you. I haven't been in a relationship, so I didn't personally relate, but I think the hardest part for me has always been putting myself out there and I think that is the most difficult part of finding a lasting relationship is having the courage to start the relationship.


Overall Taylor Swift was amazing, as always each set fit the song perfectly, and I had fun dancing and singing along to the entire show. Although Taylor Swift has changed over from country/pop to pop I am still a hug fan. I fall more in love with 1989 every day. I have listened to this album over and over again and the lyrics are still Taylor Swift even if her sound is different. Although are seats were pretty high up we were able to see the entire show and I would have liked if our section stood up, but overall we had a lot of fun. It was great to share this experience with my two friends and my sister. This might be the only time that we are all in one place and able to do something like this, so I'm glad we took the risk and decide to buy tickets, even though it wasn't in our college student budget. Life is about taking chances and their worth making.



We had a fun rest of the weekend too, which I will talk about in another post since this one is pretty long already. October 8th, 2015 will be another day I will never forget. This moment will forever be implanted in my mind and be a highlight of my life. This night is sparkling don't you let it go.

Dewey's Readathon October 2015

Even though I haven't really been blogging I couldn't miss out on my favorite semi-annual event. I have been reading #Scandal by Sarah Ockler lately and it hasn't been keeping my interested. I'm determined to finish it before Saturday comes around. I usually get through a book and a half on read-a-thon day, but my plan is to read Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah as my paperback book and Five Glass Slippers on my kindle.

I'm going to try to clear my schedule as usual, but I might hang out with my friends in the afternoon. I'm going to try to take a bath in the morning and get some reading done then. I will randomly check in here on the blog throughout the day.

Let me know if you are doing the read-a-thon!

Book Review: A Step from Heaven by An Na (no spoilers)

Book: A Step from Heaven
Author: An Na
Publication: Oct. 13th, 2003
Source: College Library
Read: Sept 8-17, 2015
Summary (from Goodreads):

When Young Ju is four years old, she learns that her family is leaving their small fishing village in Korea to live in Mi Gook. Young Ju has heard enough about Mi Gook to be sure the place they are moving to is paradise, that she and her family are going to heaven.

 After flying through the sky for a long time, Young Ju finds out that Mi Gook is actually a regular earthly place called America. And it doesn't feel at all like heaven. A STEP FROM HEAVEN follows Young's life from the age of 4 all the way up until she is ready for college, as we watch her change from a hopeful girl into a hardened young adult.

My Thoughts:

I need to read a book for my English Language Learners course that involved a child coming to America and having to learn English. I originally was going to read a different book, but couldn't find it at the library, so I chose A Step from Heaven because it was short and sounded good. I didn't plan to like this book or enjoy it, but I knew I needed to read it.

Young Ju and her family move to Mi Gook (America) with the hope of a new start in the land of dreams. The grass is not greener on the other side for Young Ju and her family. Her brother Joon is born and the family struggles to make ends meet, learn English, and fit into the culture of America.

This book follows Young Ju from when she is four until she is going to leave for college. This book is short, but covers a lot of ground. We get to watch Young Ju enter school to going to middle school and high school. I really got to watch Young Ju change in this book. She is no longer a korean girl, but not truly an american either. She became uniquely her own person.

The writing style in this book is really easy to follow along with and each chapter had a different topic that it talked about. It all flowed. This is a young adult book, but has some serious themes such as abuse. Her apa (father) gets abusive mostly when he drinks. He grows increasingly unhappy in America as the book progresses. Young Ju's Uhmma (mother) is very soft spoken and a sweet heart.

One thing my professor told me that I should get out of this novel is that as a teacher there may be things going on at home that you do not know about. Young Ju had many things going on at home that she wasn't sharing at school. It is hard to see a child suffering, but have no way to help them. Sometimes you can not even tell that they are having a difficult time, such is the case in Young Ju's situation.

I was surprised that I enjoyed this book so much that I'm trying to convince my sister to read it. It was a nice way to unwind at the end of a long day and I really connected with the characters and their transition into American society. I would be the same way if I moved to a different country. It is difficult to become apart of another culture. It really opened my eyes to what it feels like to be new to a country and learn English for the first time. I'm glad I read this book and I would totally recommend it for something outside of your comfort zone.

When Transactions Go Wrong?

Although this is a book blog I occasionally like to do life posts and that is what I have been doing a lot lately. I have been busy with school, so I'm finishing books slowly. Today I want to do a couponing post.

I went to Walgreens yesterday with a plan to get three items. One bottle of Renu contact solution and Two Dentek floss. Both of these items were on sale and I had coupons for them. The renu was giving 5,000 balance rewards points and the Dentek was giving a 2.00 register reward. Per their policy I can purchase both of these items in one transaction and as long as I don't pay with points I should get both the points and the register reward. I checked out at the beauty counter and the register reward didn't print. When I pointed this out the lady explained that the 5,000 balance rewards was the register reward. I corrected her because I knew that the points were from the Renu. Long story short the manager had to return my items and rescan them to get the register reward to print. Everything worked out.

Here's why this story is important! I'm teaching my friends how to start using coupons and I get that couponing is complicated. I'm still learning new ways to coupon and I still make mistakes. It really got me thinking about all the new couponers in the world. If I hadn't been couponing for years I probably would have walked away and lost the money they promised me. I want to give you the tools to be confident in your transactions.

1. Follow all couponing rules and policies- The #1 reason that cashiers don't like couponers is because too many couponers are not following the coupon policies and trying to cheat the system. If the coupon says that you need to buy 3 items to get a dollar off then you MUST buy 3 items. You should read the policies yourself, but there are amazing videos on youtube of people that walk you through the coupon policies. Krazy Coupon Lady and Free Stuff Finder are my favorite.

2. When the coupon beeps don't freak out- Coupons don't go through sometimes for a variety of reasons. It is hard to know why and as a new couponer you are always freaking out that you made a mistake and the coupon is not valid. If you printed it from a legit site (coupons.com, target coupons, redplum, smartsource, etc.) or got it from a newspaper then you have a legit coupon. If you followed all the rules then nicely show the cashier that you bought the item and they can manually put the coupon through. If the cashier refuses you are allowed to ask for a manager or have them take the item out of your transaction.

3. When the catalina doesn't print- This is my struggle yesterday and the reason for this post. Tell your cashier that it didn't print and they will find a solution for you. At my store apparently they are having problems with the register rewards printing at the beauty counter. If you know that a coupon should print out and it doesn't do not be shy to point that out.

4. When the cashier doesn't know the policy- Walgreens, and Target have probably some of the most complicated coupon policy out there. Walgreens has In Ad coupons, monthly coupons, manufacture's coupons, register rewards, and points. That is a lot of savings to keep track of. Target has gift cards, cartwheel, store coupons, mobile coupons, and manufacture's coupons. Its no wonder with all these ways to save that some cashiers don't understand the coupon policy. Although most stores train cashiers on coupons, some do not. If your cashier is being difficult you can ask for a manager, or void the transaction. Personally I have problems at Walgreens, but not so many problems at Target. Target understands that people want to save money.

5. Be Confident- I can't come up with all the possible scenarios that you could possibly go through. If you planned out your transaction and follow the coupon policies you should be fine. If a situation arises do not be afraid to point out the mistake and get the problem corrected. You can not afford to pay ten dollars extra then what your budget allows. Remember this when you just want to forget about the coupon. People who coupon know that every penny in life counts. Retail is not an option for me. I look for savings on everything and I want my transactions to go right so I have money left over at the end of the month.



Other Examples:
What to do when your transaction goes wrong?
Use your coupons correctly

Consumed by Homework

I have been thinking about it a lot in the past couple weeks. Did I take on too much this semester? Am I involved in too many things? Am I ever going to find free time?

In the last week or two my classes have really picked up the pace and as usual the professors got together and decided to schedule tests and quizzes at the same time. Not to mention group projects and papers that are due around the same time also. The way I describe it I have been running around with my head chopped up. I'm involved in two school of education organizations that I'm extremely passionate about. I have been involved in both the last three years. I involved in Reading Council and CEC, which is Council for Exceptional Children. Reading Council promotes literacy in my college community (I think it is pretty clear I'm obsessed with literacy. Hence the blog). Council for Exceptional Children is a special education club that advocates for special education students, but also holds a lot of great volunteer opportunities for members. I'm the treasurer for Reading Council and Vice President for CEC. This is the first year I have taken leadership positions in my entire life. In high school I never would have taken either of these positions. First of all in high school there was too much competition. I wasn't going to compete with the popular kids. I also don't have the confidence like I do here at college. College is the first time in my life I was able to join organizations that I'm actually interested in. Both of these organizations directly relate to my major. I have remained involved in these two clubs and eventually I believed that I had the power to make an even greater impact within these organizations hence the leadership positions.


The reason I have been running around with my head chopped off. I'll give you an example of my schedule

Monday
9-10 Class
1-2 Class
2-3 CEC Meeting
4-8 Two Class, but one is an hour and the other is three

Tuesday
8-12:15 Three Classes (back to back)
12:30-2 Classroom Observation
3-4 Class
4-5 School of Education Recruitment

Of course this isn't my schedule every week just this week I have a lot of stuff, but as you can see on Mondays I have quite a few breaks throughout the day. I go swimming from 11:00-12:00. Then I eat lunch and go to class. I use the rest of the breaks to work on homework. When I come back on Monday's I get out of class at 8. I'm exhausted! I usually watch an episode of netflix and I'm in bed by 9 to 9:30. This week's Tuesday was especially crazy. My first class of the day we were teaching a lesson, so I was especially nervous for that, but I think I did well. I had three classes in the morning and then we set up an observation at an elementary school for one of my classes, and then I had time to shower and eat lunch around 2. Then it was back to class and then we had a recruitment opportunity for the student organizations I'm involved in.

After I was done with my day of course I just wanted to relax, but I have homework piling up like no other despite getting a lot done the previous weekend. I ate a quick supper and then headed to the public library. I choose the public library over my campus library because there is less people, and

my sleepy self.

therefore less distractions. I love to people watch, so if there is people around me talking I will focus more on them then what I'm supposed to be doing. I stayed there until close to their closing time at 9, and then headed home. Since, I did do all my homework for tomorrow I watched an episode of Once Upon a Time, and now I'm doing some blogging before I go to bed.

The true essensence of being consumed by homework is that even the book I'm reading right now is for one of my classes. It is called A Step from Heaven by An Na, but at least I'm enjoying it and I will review this book when I'm finished. Literally when you put it in perspective my life is consumed with school from when I start classes to the book I read before I go to bed. Will it ever end?

But I do find some time for fun in my college career and I will talk about that in a post real soon. Good Night


Rachael