26

I turned 26 years old on the 26th of September.

Here are 26 memories I have of my life that I will never forget.

In no particular order:

1. I remember Jan 1, 1988 thinking how fast 1987 had gone by.

2. When I was 3 years old I hated a kid named Aaron that I met at church. He was the best man at my wedding.

3. I remember my dad being bigger than me. I miss that sometimes.

4. Cheating on eye exams knowing that I was incredibly blind. I had the board memorized. Until one day the "E" was a "D" and I could barely see it. I got glasses that week in the 7th grade.

5. Tearing up when Elliott Yamin was eliminated from American Idol. That was the best season ever.

6. I remember the one time that I was cut from trying out for a sports team. It was a summer league. I was so pissed.

7. The doors opening at the chapel and seeing Brittany in her wedding dress. I still can't describe what that felt like.

8. The first Gator game I remember going to. My dad took me and my neighbor Sean to see UF play South Carolina. We ate fried chicken and threw the football and my dad drank Budweiser. I dropped a pass from my friend and a SC fan said, "that's whats gonna happen today!" The Gators won by over 30 points.

9. Riding bikes to elementary school with my cousin Casey. One day on the way home I cut her off/she tried to run me over. My back tire rubbed her front one and she fell and scarred her elbow forever. I felt terrible/awesome at the same time.

10. My first cell phone. It was a sony ericsson and I believe I had around 100 minutes or so. It was for emergencies only and for my mom being able to contact me at all times I wasn't at home.

11. My first "B". I made straight A's until the 6th grade computer class when Mrs. Butts gave me a B. Now I am awesome at computer stuff and she is probably dead.

12. Having braces. Twice.

13. When my mom and stepdad told me they were getting a divorce after 15 years of being married.

14. I remember being in a church service where the music was absolutely terrible and the guy that preached was so boring, but I still felt that God was somehow trying to tell me something very important. That made me rethink a lot of things.

15. I remember standing behind the pulpit at a very conservative church because my button on my pants broke. I spoke for about 15 minutes wondering how I was going to be able to get out of there after I was done before anybody could see my undies.

16. The first R rated movie my parents let me rent was "The Fan". It had Robert Deniro and Wesley Snipes. It was about baseball and so I thought it couldn't be too bad. To this day it was one of the most vulgar movies I have ever seen.

17. Singing a song at my mom's funeral with her casket just feet in front of me. She had requested me to sing the specific song just a couple weeks earlier.

18. My dad working as a waiter at Charley's Steakhouse till 2am and then delivering Auto Trader's just a few hours later in the early morning to provide for our family. He did that for almost 2 years after 9/11 had ruined his business.

19. Sitting on our balcony on the honeymoon cruise drinking champagne with my new wife. Wondering how I got this lucky.

20. Getting my first and only referral in middle school from my bus driver Mr. Ramos. He said Aaron and me had thrown soda cans on the bus and trashed it. Our principal, who we were friends with, threw the referrals in the trash can.

21. Getting a nintendo entertainment system for a birthday having no idea that video games would be such a huge part of my life

22. Having my first drink.

23. Getting a Taylor 310ce acoustic guitar from my mom for a graduation present after my senior year of high school.

24. When getting great white shark in Shark Bites was my main concern in the day.

25. My first car was a '95 Eclipse with a turbo engine. Somehow I never got a speeding ticket in that, but when I gtot a 2000 silver Neon the cops loved to pull me over.

26. Being bigger than everyone my age in the 6th grade.