My face was on fire!

Last night, I was able to do something that has been on my bucket list for a few years. I got pepper sprayed! It was part of our MTC Security training and even though we didn't HAVE to get sprayed, I of course had to try it at least once. There were only a few girls that got sprayed and I was the only girl to represent MTC security. I'm pretty proud of that fact.

I unfortunately do not have any pictures but even if I did, I don't think I would post them. I seriously looked like a scary alien. My face was so red and my eye was so little. When I got to training, the Sergeants were telling us how horrible pepper spray was and a lot of people chickened out. I had to stand my ground. When I got to the front of the line, I had to close one eye with my hand, close the other eye and have it sprayed. I then opened my eye and it took a few seconds for it to hit but when it did, it hurt SO bad!

I was rushed to the hose and used LOTS of no-tear baby shampoo to wash out my eyes. After washing it out, the best thing to give your eye is air. There were three HUGE fans set up and people were crowded around it, prying their eye open with their fingers. My burn lasted a little bit longer than everyone else and it took me about 30 minutes to just be able to open my eye a little bit. It was around 45 minutes that I could open it on my own but it hurt a lot. The Sergeants were worried about me but they said it would take about 30 minutes to wear off so I don't see why they were making a big deal about me lasting 15 minutes longer than the average person.

I had to promise them that I would have someone pick me up when I got back tot the MTC. I called my friend Caitlin, who was seriously a life saver, and she picked me up. Later that night I took a shower and had to be really careful. The Sergeants had warned us that the pepper spray in our hair might wash onto our faces and into our eyes again. I did not want to go through that pain again so I made sure to wash my hair really carefully. About half way into the shower my face started to burn and by the time the shower was over my face felt like it was on fire! I was semi-screaming/whaling and had to get an ice pack ASAP. I held it onto the left side of my face for about an hour and then went to bed. By the morning, everything was back to normal. It was like I hadn't been pepper sprayed at all.

I'm glad that I was able to try it out once and learn how it feels but I do not want to be pepper sprayed again any time soon. If you really want to be sprayed, you probably should do it but don't do it a second time. Who knows, maybe you'll be one of the people that isn't even affected by it.

I seriously cannot believe that I really thought I would be good at this whole blogging thing. It has been more than a year since I have updated my blog and now seems like a perfectly good time to start up again. So much has happened in the last year and I don't even know where to begin. My last blog showed how I dyed my hair brown. My hair has FINALLY grown out and is red again! I thought it would never return to it's natural color but after over a year, it did! I'm always trying out new things with my hair. Right now I have the underneath part bleached blonde and then a purple streak under my bangs. I really like this look so I may stick with it for awhile. I eventually want to donate my hair to locks of love so I will need to have 100% natural hair when that happens.

The last time I blogged was my sophomore year of college. My junior year of college was seriously the best year I have had. My roommates were Cristyann Valenza, Kristin Hardman, and Brooke Porter. They were the best roommates ever and I'm so thankful I felt inspired to live with them. I'm still roommates with Cristyann and Kristin this year but Brooke got married to an awesome man and we are so happy for her! Now Natalie has taken the place of Brooke.

I'm now starting my senior year. I only have these last two semesters and then I'm done with my undergraduate! I am so excited for my future but I'm not so sure what I'm doing yet...there are soooo many awesome options to choose from! Here are some of the options that I'm debating between:

1. Go on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
2. Get a masters degree in something that the FBI or CIA would like. (or maybe even the U.S. Marshall's.)
3. Move to some random city and join their local police department. 
4. Get married (not really even an option at this point).

Last summer I stayed at home and worked as a nanny. This summer I wanted to be more independent and gain more law enforcement experience. I stayed in Provo, UT for the summer and I tried really hard to get a job. During Spring term I got involved in a non-profit organization called RealVictory. I was involved in the research aspect of it while being assisted by a professor. We work with juvenile delinquents and recidivism. It was a great experience and I am still volunteering for them. Volunteering for them, babysitting my cousins and applying for a thousand jobs a week was what kept me pretty occupied the first two months of the summer. Oh! and I can't forget all the hiking! Here are a few pictures:

Hiked the Y many, many times!

 

Hiking to the hot springs in Spanish Fork

 

Hiking to Stewart Falls. It first was raining, then it hailed and then it snowed (all in June)

I looked and looked for a job but it never worked out. I really wanted a security job so that I could get some law enforcement experience. Eventually I found out that Seven Peaks Water Park was hiring for security. I applied three times before finally getting hired. Before the last time I applied, I simply told the main security officer that he wasn't hiring me because I was a girl. All the security officers there were guys. He finally decided that I was good enough to hire and he hasn't regretted it! I'm pretty much a legend there since I'm the only girl security officer. All 500 employees know me :) I even got employee of the week after working there for a month. I got a nice bonus, a plaque with my picture on it and a shirt that reminded everyone that I was the employee of the week.

That job is now ending, since it's only seasonal, and I really, really wanted another security job. I applied to every security job on BYU campus and I got hired at the MTC! I was so stoked when that happened and I am now on my second week. I love the job and I couldn't have asked for anything better! I have so much more responsibility as MTC security and I feel like I am learning so much! I work two 8 hour graveyard shifts on Tuesday and Thursday nights and a 4 hour shift on Saturday from 5:30 to 9:30. This week will be the craziest because I am working both jobs so I work 50 hours, go to 12 hours of classes, have to do all my homework and try to squeeze in sleep and eating. I'm not being too successful at the last two but next week will be better because the seven peaks job will end on Monday.

I seriously am so excited for this coming year and all the new and exciting things that will come with it!