An Explanation

If you know me at all, you know that I'm kind of obsessed with Taylor Swift. If you follow me on Twitter, I'm sure you've seen/been annoyed at my overly enthusiastic tweets as seeing her last night in concert. I could post a review of said concert, but that would be unnecessary, since you all probably know what I think of the show {it was amazing}. I don't know that I've written an honest post yet about why I love her so much, so that's what I'm doing today.

I first heard Love Story on the radio on January 13, 2009. I thought it was a pretty song, but didn't think much of it. I heard it again later that day and it made me tear up a little, so I bought it and put it on my iPod. Now, I'm one of those people who, if I like a song, I'll listen to it over. And over. And over. So I did.

The next day, Robert proposed.

I kept listening to Love Story. It became my theme as I threw myself into our weddings plans, but it wasn't until September 1, 2009, that I bought the entire Fearless album.

That Fall was very strange for me. I got let go from my first job. I moved in with my parents. I had to stay behind while Robert left for his Senior year of college. But throughout all of this, Taylor kept me company. And even to this day, listening that album still makes me think of that year.

I also started writing my book that year. Since then, it's been molded and developed into something I'm honestly proud of, and I need to thank Taylor for a lot of that. I don't know if her words inspired me, or if I had a connection with the songs while I wrote because she was just singing what I what already thinking, but I began to identify parts of my story with her songs. White Horse when talking about my main character's painful past and her potential for the future. Fearless when talking about her joy in finding new love again.

I bought her first album later that year as well. As I listened to it, I realized that not only did her songs speak to my characters, but they spoke to my own life as well. I heard Tim McGraw for the first time (or the first time that I remembered), and I was in love. To this day, that is still my favorite song.

When Robert and I married in July of 2010, it seemed only obvious that we needed a Taylor Swift song in the wedding somehow. So our pianist, a dear family friend and our former youth minister, played Love Story as I walked down the aisle. That day was the best day of my life.

I saw Taylor perform live for the first time in August of last year at the VMAs. In October, after Speak Now came out, my friends and I got to see her perform a song on Hollywood Blvd. for a Thanksgiving special.

I loved her new album. And I listened to it non-stop. As we head into Fall of 2011, I'm brought back to last year; our first Fall as a married couple. It was filled with friends and Glee and caramel apple martinis. I used to say that I didn't have a favorite season, but I recently realized that that is just not true. Fall is absolutely my favorite season, and I can't wait for September to get here. And Taylor's albums are my anthems for this time of year.

As cliché or cheesy or ridiculous as it sounds, last night was a dream come true for me. I had bought tickets in the nosebleed section for my best friend Carrie and I. They were decent seats (we were in the front row), but when we saw that a friend of ours had forgotten that he had bought tickets last year for the show and couldn't make it, we texted him immediately, asking what he was going to do with them. He emailed them to us, and with a half hour left before she came on stage, we raced to the nearest hotel so that they could print them out for us. We made it to our suite level seats, only a few hundred feet from the stage, ten minutes before the show started.

As soon as she came on stage to sing Sparks Fly, I started crying. Last night had been two years in the making, and it was finally here. I cried when she played Love Story  and Fifteen and even Our Song. I cried every time I saw a little girl's face light up when Taylor started singing her favorite song. I cried every time I saw a father holding his daughter's hand, bringing her to her very first concert. I cried when I thought of all the fifteen year old girls in that room of 13,500, who may not understand the what the words to the song Fifteen means now, but who will when they are my age. And I cried when I thought of the day when maybe I could share an experience like this with my own daughter.

We all have the artists or bands that inspire us. We all have songs that speak to us. Taylor Swift's music is the type that I normally like, but for some reason, I have found in it something that I desperately needed. Every person in this world can find something from their life in her songs. Whether you're in an abusive relationship, a  grown woman with a broken heart, a circle of friends that have finally found success in whatthey love to do, childhood sweethearts that have grown old together, or just a fifteen year old girl, self-conscious and confused, there is something for you.

And that is what I love about Taylor Swift.