7-5 Best Events of 2009

7. Summer of Concerts

I had a great spring/summer/fall 2009 of concerts. By far the best was fun. because of meeting Nate Ruess at the show in Tempe. But I would have to say, Keith Urban and So You Think You Can Dance tour! I also went to Toby Keith and Trace Adkins, Billy Currington, and C-Bass. haha ok C-Bass is not a great concert.

Keith Urban was so awesome going with my friend Audrey and meeting up with Cami & Laura. We got to the floor for our Craigslist purchased tickets, which were cheaper than stupid Ticketmaster. Audrey and I found our seats and made some fun friends. We walked to the stage and took some pictures next to it. As we were walking back, they started playing Michael Jackson over the speakers, and it gottt crazzzyyy. I was dancing around getting the 10,000+ crowd all rocking out!

Then I didnt see this 6'2 - 260 lb guy behind with 2 beer cups and my hand knocked the beers out of his hand! YIKES! I was so scared, I really thought he was going to destroy my very existence. I walked over to Hulk Hogan and apologized saying I would buy his beers. By the time I walked over to Audrey, security had taken him away. So I didn't have to buy beers. We went to visit Cami and Laura over in there seats. After we came back down to the floor, there was a special section for wristband only people. And apparently Keith was going to play quite a few songs on this black stage in the middle where we were.

The concert started with Sara Buxton (:( NOT SUGARLAND WHO HAD CANCELLED), and she turned out to be really awesome. Outside my window was a really fun and cool song. After that we snuck into that wristband area and then he lights went LOWWWW. Keith came out with "Hit The Ground Running" which was perfect to start with. After quite a few songs, Keith walked off the stage and started playing his guitar through the crowd, and he started walking towards our area. I ran over to him and gave him a pat on the back, then ran over to the black stage. Haha I had lost Audrey somewhere, but she ended up right behind me. I was 2 people from the stage and got to see hime play some acoustic goodness.

Audrey and I ended up going up to the stage for most of the rest of the show. Then I saw this guy with a backstage pass and two people behind him start walking towards the back. I gladly rushed right next to them and walked with them backstage like I was with them. Slipping by the guards like I was going to a party at the White House, I stayed backstage for about 45 minutes, just waiting for Keith to come back. About a minute before Keith was to come backstage, the security came over and asked for my credentials. I said, "What Credentials"? haha, they said time to go son. I tried to fight and stay but they werent having it. I had done the same thing in 2006 in LA with Kenny Chesney except, I acutally got to meet Kenny. But the show was great.

Toby and Trace were awesome. But I would have to say the So You Think You Can Dance Tour 2009 with the top 12 from Season 5 was ammmmmaazzzzinngnggg. My friends Taylor and Brigitte both had an extra ticket and I just couldnt turn it down! I met them at Jobing.Com Arena and we had 3rd row seats from the stage. All the dances from the show were amazing to actually see live. Jeanine was soooooo amazing and beautiful and amazing and beautiful. Philip was sick with his waving and popping. All the dancers were great! We were dancing in our seats and alot of the top 12 had pointed to us and could feel our energy. We were going to go dancing but Tay and Brig had to drop off there 13 year old friend. I stayed and waited around for about an hour or so and then the Top 12 came out and started signing autographs. I ended up meeting all of them and getting them to sign a bag for my friend Cami! I got to meet Jeanine which was by far the best thing ever! I was hoping she'd be like I'm in town tonight want to hang out! Ummmmm yesssss. haha but she doesnt love me, she loves her career.


6. Marriages/Babues - whewww wow!

So this was the year of the marriages and the babies coming! It seems like everyone got married or who had been married had babies. My best friend David Alan Romney and his wife Jackie had there first baby boy - Owen Clyde Romney. That kid is so precious and his hair is already receding. Good job Dave! Also with babies were Cory & Malia, April & Keith, and a bunch of people who will be having babies coming near spring. Dennis & Alea, Greg & Rachel, Nate & Bianca, and I'm sure many others.

Marriages and engagements. Well my boy Zach is getting married in February to his forever lover Olivia in San Antonio, and I'm sure there are many others out there about to get married. My best friend out here in Arizona got married in December. Cami Herbert, now, McFarlane, got married to Rob in the Mesa Temple. It was beautiful to see these two people with so much love be sealed for time and all eternity. Loved the sealing and the reception was wayyy fun. Cami and I have become really great friends through laughter, happiness, pain, and sadness. So it was finally nice to see her so happy and Rob is an amazing guy for her.

Blahhhh I'm not married, but whatever! It's not like I should be in a hurry because I'm happy to date around. Although there are a few select people who I'd give anything to be with. I'm just happy to have great family and friends and to enjoy the experiences of life But then again, I'm a pretty independent person who I wish I could have the significant other next to me enjoying this life. I have a lot of things to learn about not being selfish and learning to give up my wants to serve other peoples needs. I'm kind of picky too! Sometimes, uhh I don't know.

5. Turning the page on my Rexburg experience

So in September I decided to just buy a ticket and go up to Rexburg. It had been about a year since I had been there for the events I had thrown and I needed to get some closure. Rexburg is one of those comfortable, easy places that while youre going to school there its easy to fall into the lifestyle of everything is easy. Though school, work, and dating was kind of difficult for me, I felt like I was really able to find out who I was and excel in things I'd like to accomplish. I had the best of experiences and made the best of friends from 2003-2008.

I've continued to have many friends that I've met from here and San Diego over Facebook that have become great friends and have made miss that "feeling" of knowing everyone yet opportunities to meet new people all the time. It's a bubble yes, but I would NEVER trade that experience for anything else. So you can understand somenone like me having a hard time adjusting to THE REAL WORLD, from a place where everything is set up nice and almost perfectly. How do I show the world that I can be somebody who can contribute to the world for the betterment of man? How do I take what I accomplished in Rexburg and do it in the world? That is NO easy task, right?! We all have transitions in our life in which we have to face obstacles so that we may grow and strengthen our weaknesses.

Sometimes I look back at Rexburg and wish I could change some things. One being that I was more an adventurist and had taken advantage of the outdoors. I mean i was literally in outdoor paradise with the Tetons, Grand Targhee, Yellowstone, and surrounding nature. I got to do some snow shoeing for class and with a friend, I took an outdoor biology class and learned about wildlife refuges, but I never ONCE went snowboarding in my 4 winters. Haha really.

The other thing was growing better friendships and relationships, I don't feel like I was out there enough making better friendships.

Because I had gone back a lot in 2008 as well as stay in Rexbur a few months after I graduated, I just never wanted to give up that feeling. It was a hard transition to deal with. When I moved to Utah, I hated it! Well I enjoyed my friends and good times, but there was nothing there for me. I don't like Provo at all! Really, I have a lot of good friends there but I think there are a lot of fake people. I would rather have lived in Salt Lake and hung out near the city life! Either way it was tough to leave my friends in Idaho. I really didnt have a crew of friends when I went back to California, it was a new path in life that would eventually take me to Arizona.

My September trip to Idaho was short but fun. I had met a friend of mine, Sydney, once before in person but we had talked quite a bit through Facebook. She and I had become really good friends and I was excstatic to see her. It would also have been the first time I saw my ex in about almost a year. I wasn't sure what would happen or if i would even see her. That ending up turning out fine and I was glad to get closure in that department. Seeing how much the school had changed and seeing that a lot of my friends were graduating and moving on in life, gave me a great deal of hope that my life in Rexburg was now complete. I could come back and not get that feeling like I HAD to be there. Eventhough I had people saying we miss you and want you back here, you can't hold someone like me back. The other thing is that when you miss someone, then when you always have them near you its like the same ol' thing. I just knew it was time to move on.

So thank you Rexburg, friends, and everything within that mean so much to me and helped me become who I am! But I can never relive that life or go back to it! I definitely want to do my part to provide an experience for future students and residents of the area with business ideas, but I cannot go back to that area unless the Lord needed me there. Thank you to everyone and you know who you are!