It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

By this phrase, I am referring to this past weekend. Let's start with the best. On Friday night I went to the Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband concert at the Sandy Amphitheater. I originally was introduced to this band at USU, where they performed several times, and every concert I went to was a blast. I also went to their amphitheater concert last year with my friend Rochelle, and we also had a great time. So I have fond memories of this band's concerts, and I wasn't disappointed yet again this year. It was a little chilly outside, and we had lawn seats (and forgot to get our lawn chairs out of the car, so we had to resort to blankets), but a little while into the concert the band came up into the audience to sing and we could stand and be a lot closer. It was really fun for me because I love their music and it brings back good times I had at Utah State. I also can't get over the fact that these guys are the most awesome musicians ever. They can each play several instruments like crazy and it is so fun to listen to them. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of this concert. But I do have this picture from a couple of years ago where my roommates and I got to stay after a concert and chat with the guys for a little while. My roommate's uncle did the sound-mixing for the band, so he let us hang around while they packed up all their equipment at USU:

Now I'll move on to the worst part of the weekend. My parents decided to buy a new car (and by new I mean a 1990 Honda Accord) for my brother to drive around this summer and for me to take up to school in the Fall. This car is actually 2 years older than my car that I have now, but is in WAY better shape. I never would have guessed it is as old as it is. Well, the only downfall to it is that it has a manual transmission. Which means that I have to use a stick shift, which I cannot do. The first time that I drove this car around a few days ago with my brother, I was just fine, and I could go pretty easily. Well, I don't know what has happened since then, but my skills have definitely plummeted. So on Sunday, I wanted to go out and practice again, and this time my mom decided to come with me. I pulled up to a corner in the neighborhood that had a little dip in it, and I made it a point to stop all the way so that I could have the practice to start up again. Well, for the life of me, I could not get going. I am not even kidding when I say that the car violently jerked to a stop at least 5 times! I was getting so frustrated with myself, and my mom was ready to come around and drive the car herself. And each time that I tried, I would inch my way into the other street, and there were a couple of oncoming cars that had to drive around me because I was just stranded in the middle of the street. Let's just say it was a little embarassing. Everyone says that this skill will come to me soon enough, and that eventually it is like riding a bicycle. I have a deadline, because I have to be confident in driving it by the end of the summer for school. I just hope it comes sooner than later, because I'm getting sick of trying to learn!