SLEDFEST......a tradition of friends.

OK, so I don't know how I should start this blog exactly??? Should I start by talking about what sledfest is...or should I talk about how excited I got last night when I found a sled online that matched my exact design that I had planned to build.??

I guess I'll start by explaining what Sledfest is. The summer after I graduated from High School my best friend Mike passed away. He was long boarding with a couple of our close friends and accidentally started down a hill that was WAY too steep. He wasn't wearing a helmet and when he bailed off he hit is head. He was in a comma for two days and eventually passed away from the hematoma and swelling in his brain. Anyway, his last words uttered to my two friends that day before he wrecked were: "guys lets make some memories." We took it to heart and really came together and bonded as friends that summer. So, in Mikes honor, two friends and I started a tradition to bring the clan together and remember what it means to love each other and make great memories. We decided that every Christmas eve at midnight we would tear up a mountain slope somewhere and bring in the holiday. We started humbly on the mountain hill behind my moms house in Elk Ridge (payson).... and have gradually upgraded the quality of our hill ever since. Today we actually sneak on to a ski resort (dear valley), where we have a great 5 minute run that has become epic!

Along with good times, great friends and memories, Sledfest has turned into a full on competition. It is simply not good enough to JUST sled...... now it is about who can sled the fastest, or in other words arrive at the bottom first. This has spawned a whole new realm of thinking and planning. My friends and I spend months preparing for our adventure. We are always trying to construct a sled that is faster and better than everyone Else's. This year I decided to design my own ULTIMATE sled. I have had an idea in my head of a design that I feel would be the most insane sled EVER constructed. The goal here is maximum speed, maximum steering, minimal drag, and maximum durability. In my search for an already made sled to validate my design theory, I found the "Hammerhead Sled" a $300 sled that is quite literally my EXACT design.....and the sexiest thing I've ever seen. I can't remember being more excited about something in my whole life! I literally stayed up all night last night searching for schematics on how to build the thing. My version will not be quite as sexy but I'm hoping for pure functionality. I will for sure be documenting this years festivities.....hopefully we can get a couple more good storms to assure for maximum snow coverage on our little run! My friends and I sat around and discussed just HOW fun we thought Sledfest was.....we concluded that it is quite possibly the most entertaining and satisfying leisure activity in the history of mankind so with that being said we decided to create "extreme sledding" and do it not just once, but as many times as possible during the snow season. The distinction was then made; Sledfest would be the annual tradition, with only those who knew Mike in attendance, and extreme sledding would be the activity that we invited ALL who were game to participate in.

The system has some flaws.....

O.k, so I heard about this controversial video about a Utah cop who tasers a guy over a speeding ticket and I just had to check it out. This is my post on FOX13 blog so if it seems directed at stupid peoples comments that is because it is. Enjoy!:


The real problem here is the SYSTEM. People think about it, nothing would have happened here had the officer not asked the man to step out of the car. Which was obviously a "sneaky" attempt to arrest the man for refusing to sign the ticket. There has to be a better way than getting a man out of his car and arresting him? I mean you already have all of his info., you already know he is not a wanted criminal due to the check you just ran in your cop car. Am I saying let the man be stubborn and not sign something he is required by law to sign? NO, I am saying that the law should be changed to not require the man to sign it. He should receive another citation for that non compliance along with his original speeding ticket in the mail....or something, thus eliminating the potential encounter which could follow from being required to get the man out of his car, and arrest him.

ALSO, lets get this one thing straight: the officer was not obligated to arrest the man on his own with no backup! He had every right to radio in for another trooper to come to his aid. Now there might not have been any available officers nearby deeming that action impractical, but still the officer made a decision based on the information that he had regarding the perpetrator, found him to not be a threat, and proceeded alone. There might not have been injustice here, but there sure as heck was an avoidable situation EVEN BEFORE the man was asked to get out of the car. Because lets be honest here if the man was SO worried about getting a ticket (which caused him to refuse to do what he was asked) do you seriously think that he new he was going to be arrested when the officer asked him to get out of the car??!! Of course not....or he would have refused that too.

This just annoys me that this happened.

BYU BEATS UTAH AND I'M HAPPY

'NUFF SAID.

Its just two easy letters......

N.O .......But seriously I don't think I learned those two in kindergarten when we were going over the alphabet, at least not put together. (I was probably at a BYU football game or something that day) So I'm sick, not deathly ill, but sicker than I've been in a while. Any normal human being would probably not spend 5 or 6 hours swinging a shovel and a pick-ax digging out a hole, or wake up extra early on a Saturday...NOT eat breakfast, and play in a volleyball tournament for 6 hours. Long story short with the use of a simple; no thanks, or even an; "I'm not feeling so hot maybe I shouldn't" I would not feel so throttled. I guess I've always had a problem putting off the things that I want to do for the things that I should do. Now this probably wouldn't be a big deal if I wasn't so passionate about so many different things, but that's simply not the case. My other major weakness is that I am a fixer.....a serious helper kinda guy, so If I'm ever asked to help someone out.....my first instinct is to respond with.......a three letter word and not the two letter variety which in many cases is what I probably should do. Anyway, I was just thinking about this today as I sat on my parents couch; tired, hungry, sick and feeling a bit over exerted.<------I needed spell check to fix that one. =)
........Oh yeah and both the Cougars and Utes won big games today and now its FULLY on for next weekend. Wow! Gonna be good timez

It's 7am and I'm about to come alive

Yes, incredible isn't? Oh yeah AND it's seven o'clock in the morning. At the danger of publicly embarrassing myself by expressing my thoughts and feelings, which I already wear on my sleeve and throw them out there for any and all to read, I decided to start a blog. To be honest, I can't tell you why, I just woke up this morning with three thoughts; one: I want to start running again, two: the Lord loves me, and three: I should start a blog. Lol, yeah no kidding! I've been sick lately so getting outside in the cold right now is not really an option, and so here I am, with mixed emotions, typing away.

So whats the big thought for today Chris?........Hmmm, honestly, I'm not sure. Maybe the title of this blog says it all. For anybody that knows me, you also know that me and mornings are not friends.....not at all. You know that I've struggled recently with making money, and that I desperately want to save enough to get back into school in the spring to finish up my bachelors degree. I've been really trying to be a good person, above anything else, to make people feel better about themselves after they leave my presence than before. I have been feeling closer to the Lord than ever.....yet still struggle with things that seem to come easier to some. With all this to consider, I'm up, and ready to take life on another day. I will not give up, I will not believe those who may doubt me, I will simply put my faith in God and my best foot forward and move along the beaten path. I may stumble and fall at times but I will move forward and continue to be happy no matter where life leads me. Because if there is one thing I've learned in life, its that you can never tell exactly whats going to happen next. Life runs fast but I'd like to think that I can run just a little faster, with the support of my good friends and family, I'll cross that finish line.