From the Ashes Rises the Phenoix

They say that “absence makes the heart grow fonder”. Well I know that that saying is true first hand. Ok so the young men and young women decide to go caroling the second week in December (2007). They told me it would be awesome if we had some instruments to accompany us. I told Sister Lowe that I could learn some songs on the guitar like Silent Night and Jingle Bells and she was all stoked about it. So I learn the songs while trying to regain my calluses that were nearly gone! The night comes and I am excited to actually play my guitar for people and I find out that Brother Melo wants to play with me but he doesn’t want to go all the way home and get one of his four guitars so he asks if he can just play my guitar every other song. I was a bit concerned beings that my dad gave this guitar to my sister and I and I pledged to never let anyone play it, but I knew that it would be ok in the hands of an adult who plays guitar. So I said that it would be fine. Mutual began and we practiced a couple of songs then we were on our way. We sang our hearts out and the strangers smiled back at us.
As we came to end of our route, Brother Melo asks me if he could use it one last time and I of course let him use it. As we sing the last note of Jingle Bells I get this feeling that something’s not right. Brother Melo hands me the guitar and I don’t quite get to it in time. The guitar slowly falls to the ground along with my guts. I sit there speechless while listening to the resounding crash as it reverberates in the hollow body of my best friend. Then reality sets in and I jump towards my guitar with ninja like reflexes! I pick it up the Goya and examine every centimeter hoping to find a small little paint chip or something. As my eyes grazed the guitar, I came upon a small crack on the back and in the lining. I thought it was ok and I wouldn’t have to get any work done on it. Brother Johnson (who was just called as a young men’s advisor and this was his first time meeting with the youth) came over and asked if he could take a look and see the damage, while Brother Melo apologized over and over again. He told me that it looked bad enough that it would need to be fixed and that he could take it and work on it in his basement. I was scared but then he told me that he builds guitars and his hobby is carpentry. He then told me that he could fix it in a couple weeks. I was stoked. He also said that he could fix the bridge (which was getting really bad) and Bro. Melo said that he would pay for it all. I was getting my guitar fixed for free! Yippee! So weeks passed and I still didn’t see my guitar. Christmas, New Years, my birthday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day, St. Patrick’s Day, April Fool’s Day passed without seeing my singing companion. The days grew lonely and I had to play my electric bass guitar to keep sane. Then at church on Sunday, April 20th, Bro Johnson said that it was done and he would bring it by that night. The joy was overwhelming and all night I could not concentrate on anything but that. Every sound outside made my heart skips beat and my hopes were let down every time. Then around 8:30 he called and said that as he was stringing it, the bridge popped up and he had to glue it back on. It had to dry for 24 hours and he would try to bring it on Monday. My hopes were crushed but the blow was softened by the constant knowing that I wouldn’t see my guitar that day just like all the other times he said it was done. It seems that as soon as it’s ready to “come home” something happens to prevent it. Whether it be that the bridge comes up or the last coating on the body wasn’t hard yet or yada yada yada, there was some other factor that was keeping me form seeing my baby and I was going to get to the bottom of it. The week slowly went by and the guitar was not seen. Then at 8:41, after I had just set up our Quest Broadband internet connection on Thursday night (the 24th of April), I heard a soft knock on the door. Instantly I came to the realization that it was the guitar! It was finally coming home! My sister answered the door and sure enough, Brother Johnson handed me my long lost soul mate. I ripped open the guitar bag and set eyes on my newly upholstered guitar. He explained that the bridge was too far back and it started to cause the guitar to bubble in spots. He also said he fixed the neck and replaced the tuning knobs. I just stared and took in the moment. Brother Johnson is the coolest guy ever! My mom offered to pay him something but he wouldn’t accept. We didn’t have to pay for anything. He soon left after we thanked him many times and I sat down and played the first ‘D’ chord as I felt the rightness of the strings under my fingers and the vibrations coming from the hollow body that was now rejuvenated and young. “From the ashes rises the phoenix.”

Disneyland Yo!

April 10th and 11th, 2008 we drove our way to the golden gates of Disneyland and found that dreams do come true. The first day of arrival was a chill day so Amanda, mom, and I headed over to Newport Beach and had some fun walking about the place with Uncle Jared, Austin, Ashley, and Hunter. Then we had some food from Outback Steakhouse across the street from the hotel. In the morning we jumped out of bed and tried to get ready with everyone in the room. We were sharing with Tom, Tiff, Tanner, Tyler, and Grandma. I don’t ever want to do that again. Anyway everyone came in our room for breakfast because Grandma’s in there of course and we finally drive down to the Disneyland parking lot where we met up with Julie, Russ, Allison, Christopher, Hannah, and Elyse. We headed over to California Adventure and walked straight to Hollywood Tower of Terror. That ride is insane! We went on California Screamin’ and many other great rides like Soarin’ Over California. Then we headed over to Disneyland and hit some killer rides after eating at one of the Mexican restaurants. We were on The Manner horn when we turned the corner and saw the fireworks ablaze. It was awesome. Then as the crowds thinned and the sun disappeared, we hit more rides and fast passed many rides and planned the next day in ride hour terms. We hit Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain a couple of times before going on Indiana Jones. That ride kept stopping. It was dumb. We fast passed Splash Mountain and then went on it and got soaked! It was killer. Then we walked back to the car and I passed out in the car. Not really but I could’ve. The next day was long but we were ready for it. We started out by going to The Tiki Room and chillin’. Amanda and I bought a pineapple whip with some pocket change. It was fabulous! I love pineapple. Then we headed over to The Hillbilly Show with Billy Hill and the Hillbillies over in Frontier Land. Oh my goodness! We stood in line for some good ice cream for about 30 minutes then the show started and I was laughing hard. I was surprised how hard I laughed because Disneyland is usually little kid cheesy stuff but this was really funny. They were hilarious and very musically talented. Good tunes, ice cream, and a friendly environment put us all in a good mood. After the show we got some funny pictures with the main guy and talked about the word “hunker” and how it wasn’t dirty. He said he looked it up. We also talked about jammin’ and he said his daughter plays a little guitar. Then we set off for the rides.
We hit a ton of rides. We went on the Manner Horn again but it broke down and we sat there (after the last hill) for a few minutes and they came over and had to release the brakes and push us in. It was fun. Then it was time for the Tea Cups. We spun around on those then got in line for Alice In Wonderland. As we waited and waited and waited for the gay ride, a dance company kept parading through the street next to us to Kenny Loggin’s Footloose. I heard that song so many times! I think now when I hear that song I will think of Disneyland and waiting in a long line for the dumbest ride in the park (besides It’s a Small World). After that ride the day was leaving it was time for The Grizzly Rapids and/or Soarin’ Over California. Uncle Jared, Austin, Christopher, Ashley, Hannah, Amanda, and I were the brave ones and dared to get on the Grizzly Rapids. There was a problem though. We had 7 people and only 3 fast passes for 11 am yesterday. We made a plan before we went and waited to see how it went. We walked over to the guy and Jared gave him the fast pass. The guy was like “Wait this fast pass was for yesterday at 11 am.”
Jared responded with “So what?”
The guys face had a look of contemplation as he replied with “Oh, what the heck! It’s late and you guys seem like you want to go! Give me your fast passes.”
“Ok kids, hand ‘em your tickets.” Said Jared as we ‘pretended’ to search our pockets and Christopher and I gave them to him.
“Where are your passes? Oh my… you kids lost your passes?!” said Jared.
The guy was thinking again, but then he was like “Go ahead! I don’t mind.”
We were ecstatic because we didn’t think it would work. It was legendary! Then we got in line and soon we were on the ride. We began to freak out because it wasn’t as warm as we had expected and you can’t see everything in the dark. As we were rushing down the rapids, Uncle Jared didn’t want to get his feet wet so he jumped up and threw his leg up in the air to avoid the mass of water rushing in the side of the raft. We were laughing so hard and then the lady came on the intercom and told everyone to stay seated. Uncle Jared is hilarious! Then we got to this huge hill and we were freaking out because we were going to get soaked! The lady made us wait there forever on the brink of the fall and then she let us rip down. We got a wave of water on us and we were screaming from shock. Then out of nowhere, this geyser of water shot us and scared the crap out of us. We came to the consensus that the lady saw Uncle Jared get out of his seat and she held us back at the waterfall so it was timed perfectly so the geyser got us “real good”. It was fun. We watched the electric parade for the kids and Grandma and then ripped up to the Hollywood Tower of Terror but I didn’t go on it because it makes me sick. Austin, Elyse, and I stayed out front and waited for the group. Elyse kept talking to me about my mom’s fingernails and how they feel good when she scratches her back. She also said that guys who wear their pants so low that it shows their underwear thought they were cool but they’re really not because it’s disgusting. She is 5. When the family got back we RAN to California Screamin’ and tried to get on but they wouldn’t let us cause the park was closing. We ran that whole way for nothing. We followed the crowds to Disneyland and hurried to Space Mountain to use up our fast passes. It was killer and as we were pulling in to get off the ride, our family being the crazy people, started clapping and cheering because we loved the ride. Well, the line waiting to get on the ride started going crazy and clapping with us. We caused a riot and the lady that worked there told us to calm down. It was great. I was in tears after watching Christopher’s face get red with fury and see veins bulging in his neck as he screamed in excitement at the line with his hands in fists in the air. This one kid in the line was doing the same thing right back to Christopher and they were feeding off each other’s energy till the ornery worker lady ruined the moment. After that we headed over to Indiana Jones and this time the ride was killer. Well the ride was over and we still had 20 minutes till the park was to close. Ya, we made a goal that we would leave the park that night with no fast passes even if it meant using tickets for Splash Mountain on Thunder Mountain Railroad. So again we sprinted towards Thunder to meet up with the Hulmes. As we ran passed, Julie handed us our fast passes and told us that Russ, Elyse, Allison, and Christopher just got in line and we should be able to catch up. We ran to the fast pass collector and he said there wasn’t even a line so we just got in the regular line and blew past people to the top to catch up with them. We did and since our party was 10, we had to wait to be very last. The ride was amazing and we chanted to go again but they wouldn’t let us.
“My dreams aren’t comin’ true” Allison said to the guy as he kicked us off the ride. We got off and Julie said she heard us chanting for one more ride. Then the park was closing so we got on the shuttle and got back to the hotel where we slammed our eyes shut! Good times.