So We Finally Saw Bastille | HelloShiloh

SAY WHAT!

My best friend, Alexa, and I have been waiting since March to see this band. . .and it finally happened.

We were so excited that we decided to make a night of it. Before the concert we stopped by a restaurant called Chuy's...and it was delicious.

Afterwards we went straight to the show.

Our seats were right above the floor so we had the perfect view of the stage. 

The opening band was terrific. I loved their sound, but it was just a tad awkward because nobody who had a seat, and I literally mean no one, was standing up. (There was one guy on the floor who was going pretty hard though--props to him). 

And then after about forty more minutes of waiting, Bastille finally came on stage. 

They sound exactly the same live as they do on their album, which is always a plus for me. 

And they started out with 'Things We Lost in the Fire' which is my favorite, so. 

It was just a really good night and I don't know what else to say about it. 

Bastille is fantastic and it is always a good time to get to hang out with your best friend at concerts. 

xoxo, shi

All I Ever Needed Was Your Love

So, I just watched Grace Unplugged on Netflix and it tore me apart.

I've been wanting to see this movie since it came out, but never got the opportunity. So when I saw it on Netflix this morning (it's fall break--holla!) I knew I had to watch it. And I'm so glad that I did. I cried more times than I'd like to admit, and I don't think I can just mark it down to PMS. So.

The song that I posted above was the part where I really lost it. Just. Just. I don't know how to explain how it made me feel. Hopeful, maybe.

I know that I have been focusing a lot on things that don't really matter at all lately. I need to turn my focus back to God. He's all I need and sometimes I forget that. It's easy to forget that when you're surrounded by the world and people who want to fit into the world so bad, and I guess I sort of fell victim to that.

This movie was sort of a wake up call, I guess. All I need is Jesus. His love that never fails and never gives up, even when I screw up all the time. I'm thankful for that.

Lord, I'm sorry that I've been chasing after things the world has to offer; I know that I don't need that. I need you and your love and that is enough. Please forgive me for all of that. I'm sorry that I didn't realize it sooner. Thank you for wake up calls, and hope and forgiveness. You're all I need. Because Your love is better than life. Thank you for giving second, and third, and fourth, and infinite chances. I love you. Amen.

My Biggest Fears

Something that I've always struggled with is fear.

I'm not exactly sure why I struggle with it, and I've tried to overcome it many, many times throughout my life. I've even grown to take the word 'fearless' as my life motto. Because I want to live a fearless life.

But today, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about my biggest fears, and why I have them. They're personal and real, and it is something that I don't usually talk about.

I think it's good to talk about them, though. Because if you talk about it enough, maybe it'll become less scary. Maybe it'll become less of a threat. Here are my top 5 fears:

1. Tornadoes. This one is sort of silly and I'm not exactly sure when I became afraid of it. I remember when I was little sitting in our living room watching the news as a tornado was headed right towards our house and being petrified. Ever since then it's been bad. When there's a thunder stormy that's the first thing my mind goes to. It's even worse now, since the house we're living in doesn't have a basement. I just hate them and never want to have to experience one. Ugh.
2. Getting in a plane crash. Also irrational. I know. I've just always been afraid of this. Again, maybe it was from watching the 9/11 stuff happen on the news when I was 5. I'm not sure. I just know that whenever I get on a plane, I'm nervous.
3. Never falling in love. My dream in life has always been to fall in love, get married, have kids. So my absolute biggest fear is that it'll never happen. I know that I have to trust God with it, and I have been trying my best to, but it still terrifies me. 
4. Letting my parents down. The idea of letting anyone down is horrible to me, so letting my parents down would devastate me completely. They've done so much for me throughout my life that I can't even imagine doing something that would really hurt them. 
5. Never getting my dream job. The idea of never being able to be a stay at home mom and write books scares me. I don't want any other jobs than this. I don't know if I was cut out for anything else, so the prospect of not doing that scares me a lot. 

So, yeah. Some of those are probably pretty silly, but they really do freak me out a lot. I just hope that one day I can defeat the power that fear holds over me and laugh in its face. 

I really, really, really hate fear. 

xoxo, shi

ps. what are your biggest fears? let me know in the comments.

10 songs that i'll listen to for the rest of my life

I know, I know. ((I'm so sorry.))

School is mad. Work is mad. I'm exhausted and that's not a good excuse. 

THE GOOD NEWS is that I have blog posts planned out for the next three months, so I *hopefully* won't be getting this behind again. Yay! 

Today, I decided to post about my top 10 favorite songs of all time (that I will probably be listening to for the rest of my life). I love music almost as much as I love writing, so picking 10 songs was pretty hard, but I finally got it down to 10. Here they are:

10. all too well - taylor swift

   - I just really love this song. It's beautiful and heartbreaking and it basically will always remind me of a certain time in my life. I will listen to it to remember.

9. beside you - marinas trench

   - I don't know what it is about this song really, it's just gorgeous. I love it a lot. It's the kind of love I want with whoever I end up marrying.

8. dare to believe - colton dixon

   - This is my favorite song of Colton's. Hands down.

7. through the dark - one direction

   - Again, I just really want someone to love me as much as this song depicts. I love it. 

6. something beautiful - need to breathe

   - I just will always equate this song to my childhood and the time that I truly fell in love with Jesus. So, yeah.

5. don't let me go - harry styles

   - If you've heard this song, I'm sure you know what I  mean.

4. your love never fails - jesus culture

   - This is my favorite worship song. Ever.

3. something great - one direction

   - This is my favorite song that One Direction's ever released (so far). So what if I just want something great?

2. all of me - matt hammit

   - I want this song played at my wedding.

1. where i belong - building 429

   - I want this song played at my funeral. 

Alrighty, so there you have it. 10 songs that I'll be listening to for the rest of forever. What are your top ten songs? Let me know in the comments.

xoxo, shi