The Greatest Memories

For most people, their best memories are either experiencing their first kiss, graduating high school, getting married, or witnessing the birth of their children. We all have our own definition of "the greatest memory". So far, during my lifetime I have experienced three of the greatest moments that I'll never forget. These are the moments that just make a person feel nostalgic, but also filled with an incomprehensible amount of happiness.

Hawaii Band Trip 2006: In the Spring of 2006, the Sierra High Symphonic and Jazz Band, along with the Choir, had the privilege of flying down to Hawaii for a week. For me, the trip was absolutely unforgettable. The trip was filled with excitement and also exhaustion. We got to eat anywhere we wanted and go anywhere we desired. During our free time, we all gathered at the Waikiki beach for some ocean swimming. But when we were busy, we performed for the Hawaiian audience. We performed at the Polynesian cultural center and even at Pearl Harbor, aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. Each day, I would hang out with my friend David and Miriam. Miriam and I would text day and night, especially when we were riding in separate buses to our performance place. I felt like we were on tour. My greatest memories of the Hawaii trip were: The night we explored Honolulu and ate at Tony Roma's, the Luau at the cultural center, dinner at Planet Hollywood, and especially hanging out at the Dole pineapple plantation. The Dole pineapple plantation was absolutely my favorite day out of the entire week. Overall, this was the best trip I had ever been on. Once in a while, I'll have a flashback of the trip or I'll see something that reminds me of it.



4th of July, 2006: When ever I think about fourth of July, I always think about the movie, "The Sandlot". If you haven't seen the movie, there's a scene where the kids are playing baseball at night while the fireworks are going off in the distance. Then the characters begin to move in slow motion while Ray Charles is softly singing, "America, the Beautiful". Watching that scene always makes me go back to my 4th of July.
I woke up early that day, around 7 or so to go see the 4th of July parade with my friend, Miriam. We began the day with a waffle breakfast. We then sat and watched the parade march down Main Street. After the parade was over, I went back to Miriam's house and hung out with her and her friend, Boomer. We went for a swim in her pool to get cooled off from the scorching heat. Eventually, Boomer left and it was just me and Miriam again. We both decided to call some of our friends up and hang out with them. Me and my friends walked around the block a few times just acting like teens. After spending the entire day goofing off, we went to the high school to watch the fireworks shoot off. We all went home thinking that the night was over, but my friend Matt called. We decided to have a late night snack at Denny's diner. My friend Reggie ate someone elses food that they did not finish. It was the most hilarious thing to have witnessed.
So to make a long story short, I spent the entire day with Miriam, then hung out with my other friends, watched the fireworks, and ate at Denny's...sounds like a very fun day to me.

State Youth Conference 2006: This was the memory to top the entire year. During the end of December, 2006, me and the rest of the church youth group attended a State Youth Conference in Long Beach, CA. Before we actually reached Long Beach, we made a pit stop at a little place I'd like to call, "the happiest place on Earth". I hung out with my friends Matt, Reggie, David, Miriam, Alyssa, Aaron, and literally my oldest buddy, Dale. Although we didn't go on many rides, we still had a blast. At first me, Matt, Reggie, and Dale, got food poisoning from the Disney fried Chicken. So during the entire time at the park we all felt weird. But after that horrible experience was over everything was good again.
The next day, we headed off to Long Beach for the conference. Everyday, my friends and I would eat at this really good Mexican grill, called Sharky's. The food was cheap and very tasty. After we were done eating, we would go back to the hotel and play some Guitar Hero 2. Of course, we weren't allowed to bring any electronics such as video games, but we were very sneaky. Eventually, we would have a gathering in our room waiting to play the game. We ordered pizza and made a mess of the room. While others had "cabin leaders" me and my friend had the hotel room to ourselves. That's why we had the party's.



So that wraps up my greatest memories. All of them happened during the same year and what a great year that was. I know I'll have even more great memories down the road of life.