MAY!!

I felt like this month's recap needed a big title because it was so crazy and busy and fun and beautiful and life-changing....but I couldn't think of anything creative.

So I just went ALL CAPS.
So you know I'm serious.

- Spend time in the word and prayer more.
I kept up with #shereadstruth in May, but I definitely missed a lot of church and small group due to all the out of town trips and races. And also just being exhausted from said trips and races. I realized how important that community is to my spirit. I need to be around people who share my beliefs and remind me of the life I'm called to live- one of service and love to Jesus and my fellow people.

- Stop Overcommitting
I ordered a sweet new planner that I'm absolutely in love with. It feels good to get my calendar back in order. I'm working on being more intentional with my time, but May was NOT the month for that. There was SO MUCH crammed into a short time that I feel like I barely remember it all. Not exactly how I want my summer to go. I'm looking forward to hazy Sunday afternoon bike rides, afternoons at the beach and lots of time relishing in the sunshine with family and friends.

- Get Simple (Fashion & Spending Fast)
Even though I purchased a few things on my out of town trips, I'm going to give this goal a thumbs up. I had planned for spending money in Cincinatti and Colorado so I didn't charge a bunch of stuff. I bought 3 running items at the expo in Cinci which I traded out for old items. In CO, I bought a few brewery t-shirts- which were also exchanged in the rotation with some old concert t's. Normally on an out of town trip, I would hit up an outlet and blow too much money. I tried to be intentional about spending and even ate up all my groceries before going out of town so I wouldn't waste food. I'm not 100% on this goal yet, but I'm definitely on my way.

- Eat (mostly) vegan
The first half of the month was not that great. And I felt it. I was lethargic, tired, puffy and just blah. Before we went to CO, I ate so many dang veggies and decided to start tracking my food again to get back on track. I'm happy to say that by the end of the month, I was back to eating really good whole foods, including green juice daily.

- Give priorities priority (more family, regular volunteering, scheduled writing sessions)
I was out of town a lot in May. But when I was here, I got to spend a ton of time with my family and friends. I wasn't able to volunteer as much as I liked, but it was a busy month. I am trying to have one night a week where I spend doing blog things, but other than that- I'm writing a little every day. But as you can tell from the lack of blog posts...writing here hasn't been happening as much.

-Rest in the big picture.
I spent a LOT of time in May thinking about the big picture. And where I want my life to go. If you missed any of those philosophical ramblings...check them out here and here.

My only goal for May was to ENJOY.
I ran 3 races ( A PR AND a 2nd place group finish!) and took 2 out of town trips...one that brought me back another year older.
It was one heck of a month and I relished every. single. minute. of it.
Even though I SAID I wasn't going to hold myself to many goals...that's just not possible. ACHIEVER is number 3 on my strengthfinders people. It's like a genetic trait, I can't avoid it.

And with birthdays, I always take stock on where my life is headed. And this milestone birthday? Yeah it was definitely one that made me rethink my assumptions about the rules are about work and life. And guess what?

There aren't any.

Seize the day!

Here's a little bit of my May in pictures. Enjoy!

Remember when it snowed in May? yeah I sort of forgot too. 

I spent the night in the Chicago airport. That was fun. 

I got to hang out with my friend Kimberly in Cinci!

Where I ran my fastest 1/2 marathon yet!

We had so much fun running the Flying Pig. 

Plus the metals are pretty cool.

I ran my first relay race with my running buddies!

And...we won 2nd place in our division!! It was awesome. 

And right after the race- my family and friends surprised me with a 30th birthday party...complete with all my favorite candy from my childhood days. Candy cigs & Zotz!

My mom made this amazing montage of pictures from the last 30 years and stuff that came out the year I was born: Hooters and Reading Rainbow....Hmmm.

I got to celebrate my 30th birthday in the biggest way- seeing my favorite band at Red Rocks with my favorite guy and his brother (from another mother)!

We went on a bike and beer tour

Colorado has awesome craft brews!

Also- the mountains. So dang pretty. 

My first MLB game! Go Rockies!

Did I mention the mountains?

Running with the other Nicole in the highest elevation municipality in the US!

Sunshine. And mountains. No filter here. 

And MOUNTAINS. Sky for days. It was really just beautiful the entire time. 

Then we came back to reality. And this girl was happy. 

And I was happy to get this too. Nice kick off to 30. 

I did a 20 days of 20 minutes of yoga challenge. It was so good. 

And I got back to my beloved farmers market. Yaaa for local foods!

And of course, shenanigans with this guy always. 

Man, that was maybe my favorite month of all time.
Except maybe that one epic weekend...It's a toss up.

This is a good life. :)

What have you been up to??

A Year in Review: 2012 Summer Music

Between the months of April to September, I blogged a whopping 10 times.
I could have probably written 60 posts instead. I had that much happening.
Instead, I'm just going to give you a few recaps of my favorite things happening this year: Music, Trips, Races and Special Events.

So for Music....

April 14, 2012: Gross Domestic Product
This is a pretty big deal in Des Moines, it's a show put on by the Des Moines Music Coalition (DMMC). It highlights local and indie bands spanning all genres. It takes place in the various ballrooms of Hotel Fort Des Moines.

This was my favorite Instagram of the night- T and our friend Chad.

These were some of my favorites from the show:

Love Songs for Lonely Monsters

 

Tires

The River Monks

Mumfords

 

 

We had a blast at the show. Some of the bands I had heard of, but not seen live and it was a great way to see them up close. It was really loud since it was in a ballroom, but there were raging thunderstorms outside that night they had to drown out!

 

April 24th, 2012: Imagine Dragons

I'm going to be bold and just say- this was probably my favorite concert of 2012. It was at the Gaslamp in Des Moines- a small music venue downtown. You can get really close to the bands and it's intimate and dark and they serve strong drinks. I heart it. :)

 

First of all, Dan Reynolds is awesome.

 

He puts his whole heart into the performance.

 

And he plays this giant drum while he's up there which sort of gives it a little extra 'badass-ness'.

 

AND, they were super nice and I got to chat with them after the show. They all signed a dollar bill which is framed in my condo. I told them I was saving it since they were going to be huge. And if you've ever heard the song 'It's Time' - well you know what I'm talking about.

 

 

April 30, 2012: Green River Ordinance

I saw GRO the minute I got back into town from Nashville. I literally drove from KC right to Woolys- my favorite music venue in Des Moines. I think this might have been our first show there.

 

I've seen GRO before, but this time around they were a bit more polished.

And they came down in the crowd and played which was just awesome!

PLUS, they sang my favorite song of theirs, Endlessly.

 

May 12, 2012: Margot & the Nuclear So & So's

We went to this show with Todd's son, Cory. I wasn't that familiar with them, but I really enjoyed the show. 'Skeleton Key' is an awesome song.

 



 

 

 

May 16, 2012: Grouplove

This show was also at Woolys, the night before my birthday. It was SO FUN. All of my pictures from that show are crazy angles because it was packed, hot and lotta dancing!!

 

It was such a fun show- lot of energy! Plus- we got to hang out with Sean Gadd afterwards! He has a crazy British accent and a hair/beard that's all grown together...

 

Probably the creepiest picture ever. HA

But it was a super fun way to kick off my birthday celebration!

 

 July 6 & 7, 2012: 80/35 Music Festival

This was the HOTTEST weekend all summer. I probably lost 10 pounds in sweat at this concert but it was totally worth it. 80/35 is an annual music festival put on by the DMMC. It's always a mix of local bands, up and coming bands and a couple of big name headliners. It spans 2 days with a big show each night. The music ranges in genres and the line up this year was pretty impressive.

 

Thursday- stages being set up just by our house

Friday night I signed the art wall!

Funny enough- I totally wrote a novel this year

The show takes place in the heart of downtown, just outside the library

Friday night's headliner- The Avett Brothers. They were awesome!

It's a family affair. Coolest dad of the year award.

My city at night is the coolest

 



One of my favorite 'never heard of before bands'- Delta Rae

Every year there are a few street artists, these are my favorite. Gold mimes.

I love the little kids rocking out! I think that's awesome.

Final Headliner- Death Cab for Cutie.

As expected, they were fantastic.

 

Codes and Keys...get it?? :)

The heat wave broke a little so we watched on the grass from the back.

T and I had an amazing time that weekend. <3

 

If you are not a local and want to see the best of Des Moines, 80/35 is the time to visit. It's right around 4th of July weekend so there is a lot going on and always amazing music. DMMC will start giving 'clues' to the 2013 line-up in the spring- so check their website often!

 

July 12, 2012: Greg Laswell & Ingrid Michaelson

I LOVE Greg Laswell. Both T and I have some Greg lyrics tattooed on our bodies.

 

I put on my best summer midwestern outfit to give Greg an Iowa welcome!

Epitome of summer show- it was at Simon Estes Amphitheater, part of their Nitefall on the River Concert Series

There he is!!

And there is his lovely wife, Ingrid. I'm embarassed to say I was not that familiar with her stuff until right before this show (I did my music homework!). She is just as awesome as he is, their music style very similar. He's a little darker, but I love it.

My favorite instagram of the night- them singing an unreleased song together. <3

 

July 19, 2012: Papa Roach

So...this was sort of random. The concert was at Woolys and honestly- much better than I thought it would be. It was SUPER hot though and the opening band was a bit bizarre, but it was fun to sing along: 'Cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort...'

 

They came out in the audience and that was pretty cool- I thought this picture turned out awesome.

 

July 28, 2012: Star 102.5 All-Star Summer Concert

This was the first of it's kind for one of our local radio station. It took place at Water Works Park in a big open field. We walked, thinking it wouldn't be far from downtown, not realizing it was in the back of the park- so we got in a 4 mile walk that day...

Anyway, the line-up was interesting and Todd's daughter and friends were going so we decided to tag along. We really wanted to see GRO, Mat Kearney, Neon Trees and Adam Lambert.

Since our walk was a little longer than expected we missed GRO but were just in time for Mat Kearney. At that point, I wasn't close enough to get any pictures of him. He came out in the crowd though, which was pretty awesome! There were a lot of people, mostly sitting in chairs so this is the best picture I took of him.

 

 



He's in there somewhere...

Neon Trees was my absolute favorite- I love Tyler

He just gets down and he's so rad

We got up close for that one- great show!

Then, of course Adam. Fab-u-lous

He brought his ladies with him, it was all kinds of glam up there

The closing band was Train. Someone in their band actually got ordained so they could marry a couple on stage! It was crazy. Then, of course, they sang 'Marry Me.' Great song.

I thought it was a great show, I  hope they bring it back this year!

 

 

August 1, 2012: The Black Keys

For my friend Chad's birthday, we drove to Council-tuckey to see The Black Keys- one of his favorite bands.

I didn't really know what to expect- I hadn't seen them play before and didn't know much about them as musicians. I was familiar with their most recent albums, but not a die-hard fan.

 

I was pretty blown away.

The show was amazing.

They are so talented and their performance was top notch. I took a TON of pictures. here are some of my favorites.

We had amazing seats, so close!

They had this giant screen behind them that put up their images during the show, it was really cool.

Patrick tearing it up on the drums- he was so amazing

 

Dan on guitar

 

The giant disco ball for the end of the show was awesome

Definitely a show I'd recommend. Great music. Great performance.

 

 

September 18, 2012: Mute Math and Silversun Pickups

Two bands we really wanted to see were playing the same night at different venues. Luckily, one was sort of early and one later, so we did both!

 

Mute Math was first, they played at Woolys

 



I loved this show. It is my favorite show at Woolys ever (so far). I was even able to video them playing 'You Are Mine'- my favorite song of theirs!

 

 

We actually had to leave the show a little early to head to see Silversun Pickups at the Hoyt Sherman.

Todd really likes Silversun and the show was good. It was a lot less high energy than Mute Math, but I really liked it.

 



 

 

So there you have it- a BUSY summer for music.

I used to keep count of all the shows we went to every year, but we spontaneously see local live music that I can barely keep track anymore- HA. We saw some big name shows this year which was a ton of fun. I love that our city has such a vibrant music scene.

 

What was your favorite concert of the year?

I think Imagine Dragons or Mute Math was mine...so hard to choose! And don't even get me started on favorite albums- we'll save that for another post!