Monday, March St Patricks day 2007

This last week was a roller coaster ride. We went up, down, and around; and then drove home for about 13 hours. Yup, tour was a pretty good experience this year. It was a far cry from the prestigious New York tour last year, but for what it was worth it was pretty fun.
The tour started Wednesday night at about 10. We took off to California. I finally was able to see the Borne Ultimatum on the 10 inch bus screen. The action sequences were fantastic! My testosterone ran high (and I wasn't ever sitting next to a girl). Of course, sleep and buses are like porcupines and balloons.. I only got about an hour of it. We then went to breakfast at Ihop, which tasted wonderful after 13 hours of gummy bears and chex mix, and up to take a group shot near the famous HOLLYWOOD sign on the mountain. It was a beautiful 70 degrees that day! We then went to a small school and were able to spend time with many Latino and black students and the choirs they formend at Banning High school. After that we were finally able to go to our beautiful hotel, the Radisson inn and Suites in Anaheim. Each room had 2 27 inch plasma screens, living rooms in front, couches, tables, fridges, and (in ours) a sleep number bed (my sleep number is 45 by the way. . .) After spending the night at a pirate show and dinner (not terribly exciting) I was very excited to try that bed since I had only had an hour of sleep the night before. But before that happened one of my friends slipped on the deck of the pool and hit his tailbone and head. I thought he was fine, but they called the paramedics anyway. He went to the hospital, ran some tests, and they diagnosed that he indeed was fine. So that was a pretty eventful night for him. After he was taken away, I was able to be with a select group of the finest kids in choir in our room for a memorable scripture study. It was there that I realized how much friends and associates can have such a profound influence on me, even though they might be younger, quieter, smaller, or whatever. I loved it.
Anyways, I slept really well that night. The next day contained DISNEYLAND! The first ride I went on was star tours, which I didnt enjoy much, and then I went on space mountain right after. My chest hurt after that so I took it easy. Things were kinda crazy in the morning, but after lunch I, will Jackson, Mike Card, Tyson bishop, Ben serrano, spencer kelley, and Nichelle Anderson (cute red-head girl) all spend the rest of the day together. It was way fun. I am sure all the guys had a crush on Nichelle by the end of the night ("I call I get to sit next to Nichelle this ride" "Oh man!" "I call next ride with her". . . I guess thats what happens when 6 guys spend their time with one cute girl.) It was a great day and a great place.
After going to sleep on my sleep-number bed that night, I woke up in the morning. It was the day of competition. We all got ready and went to the Fullerton City College for our choir competitions. The most eventful thing that happened that day (saturday) was finding an In-and-Out Burger, about a mile or two away from the festival place. It took forever to get there, so I was running back, in sunday shoes (ouch), to make it to our chamber performance on time. We ended up taking 2nd place out of all the Chamber Choirs, 2nd place out of all the Acapella (big) choirs, and 1st place out of all the mens choirs. It was a pretty good award set. After the excitement we were able to spend time at Disneyland again that night till 11, going on splash mountain, thunder mountain, the haunted mansion, and Mr. Toads wild ride again. It was way fun to spend time in a less-crowded park.
That night I spent time in my sleep-number bed yet again, for the last time. It was a bit late when we all got in and got packed, and a bit early when we all got up. We then departed for home. The bus ride was long, tiring, etc. and I dont think there is much to describe about it, the only thing that I enjoyed was spending a good 2 hours in the conference talks, Preach My Gospel, and scriptures while a movie was playing. I guess I was tired. We arrived at home around 2, and I slept in till 830 this morning, and now I am left with the end of term, dysmal grades, a 5-7 page college research paper, and etc.
Was it worth it? I dunno, It was nice, dont get me wrong. I had a fantastic time. But as of meaningful. . . not as much as NY. But I should not compare the two, for they dont even fall in the same category. For me, it was fun. For others, it could have been the time of their life. For the choir as a whole, I think we all grew to appreciate each others company, light, and the ability to sleep in our own beds. Without the number.