Four Wheeling (or Fourlin', If You Will)

Before Saturday, I had never been on a four wheeler before.

But, you know, I had never rolled a four wheeler either.

I was in town to be at my grandparents' homecoming from their LDS mission to Armenia. While we were there, my uncle was super stoked to take all the nieces and nephews four wheeling.

I was hooked instantly.

On my first ride, I drove with my mom. This stressed me out a bit, but once I got going I was surprised at how much I loved it. I felt so hardcore... though I was only going like 15 MPH.

Once I felt more confident, we went back to pick up some of the younger cousins. With my 9 year-old sister and 7 year-old cousin on the back of my machine, I followed my uncle for my second ride.

After a while he warned me that we were coming up to a really steep hill. He gave me some instruction and went down the hill.

At the top, I felt scared. I didn't want to do this. But that feeling of invincibility that we all get between the ages of 16 and 30 kicked in, and suddenly I was willing to try anything.

Probably shouldn't have tried this though.

Going down, I gassed it a little too hard. I hit the brake and felt the machine tip a bit. Instead of leaning, I automatically turned in the opposite direction.

That's when the four wheeler flipped.

My cousin, my sister, and I all were thrown off the machine. It rolled over us and landed at the bottom of the hill.

As soon as I could, I jumped up and checked that the girls weren't trapped under the machine. They weren't. I don't think I've ever been as appreciative of the fact that my uncle is an EMT as I was in that moment. He checked on Sara, and I checked on Bella. They were both fine, just shaken.

Once we got back to the house, my other sister and other cousin who were riding with my uncle had a total come apart. I guess watching us tumble was scarier than actually tumbling. The parents were all stressed, and so was my uncle. I was just embarrassed.

This morning I woke up bruised and beaten. I don't think there is a part of my body that doesn't feel sore.

Still- this all makes for a good story, right?

...Right?

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness

There are so, so many problems with the way BYU does student housing. For example, their policy that all students have to live in "BYU aproved housing" or the fact that they charge us by room.

But I think the worst housing policy is the cleaning checks.

Since coming to BYU in 2009, I have lived in four different apartment complexes, each with their own version of cleaning checks.

Some were great and acted more as a routine maintenance check.

Some just sucked (ahem... Bountiful Court).

This month's cleaning check at the Riviera was the most ridiculous yet. When we got back from break, we found a notice on our door saying that cleaning checks were going to be super strict from now on and "Happy New Year!"

Last week we got our cleaning check forms in the mail. We were scheduled for checks on Tuesday between 8 and 9 p.m. At 8 o'clock sharp, we were ready. The apartment was immaculate. We waited until 9 to touch anything.

We didn't eat. We didn't shower. We didn't go to sleep.

9 o'clock came... and went... so did 10... and 11.

Finally we all just called it a night and went to bed. Before I fell asleep I put my cleaning check form on my desk.

At 9 a.m. the next morning, I woke up. My first conscious thought was, "I wonder what's going to happen with cleaning checks?" Automatically, I looked over at my form.

It wasn't there.

I didn't think too much of this. Grabbing my computer, I proceeded to check my Facebook, Twitter, email, etc. That's when I saw my roommate's status:

Waking up to a strange lady in your room. Creepy! Can I say, cleaning check lady, your're almost 8 hours late!!!!! And we are all sleeping!!!!!! Gosh! I had more time to sleep! This was not ok. .... Not ok at all.

Slowly, it began to dawn on me. About two hours before I woke up there had been a complete stranger in my bedroom poking around for signs of dust and dirt.

NOT OKAY.

A few of my roommates and I went over to the office to discuss our concerns. They apologized profusely and swore it wouldn't happen again.

Still- there's got to be a better way, BYU.

A Few Post Alt Summit Thoughts

I will never not go to Alt again. Seriously. But I'll probably be more assertive next year.

No more wimping out on myself. Tomorrow it's time to get my rear in gear. The Rex Lee 10K is on March 17. I have until then to be better, stronger, and faster. Bring on the intervals!!!

I need to be writing more. Not just for the Daily Universe. I mean, I have a blog and like 4 empty journals! I need to stop being chicken. I need to just write my thoughts, and the poetry and stories I have contantly rolling around in my brain. Because I'm freaking good at it! Most of the time, anyway. And all of these potentially great writings are going to waste, lost in my mind. Not anymore.

I need to buy a car, find a new apartment, get stories for the Daily Universe, and catch up in classes. Hot mess! But I'm going to do all of that and be more positive.