Get Some Guns

Sistah's + Cousin Night

"Usually ladies come in here with a guy..." Skyler said, with thinly veiled surprise. (Somehow this made the experience more fulfilling.) He asked me to show him how I'd hold my gun. I did. "Perfect," he said. Then he asked my cousin Kathy and my sister VoNique:

They think they're pret-ty funny. (I do, too, actually.)


My first 3 shots with a weapon! The first was the one in the orange circle on the face. The second was the one in the orange circle on the chest. The third was the one in the light green circle on the face. You want me on your side, my friend.

VoNique's target. Don't ask her how close it was. And don't ask her if she [wo]manhandled it afterward.

Yes, this is me after having shot an M16! Holy cow that sucker packs a punch! (In many ways...$22,000 is ridiculously close to a first year teacher's salary in the state of Utah...)

Then we went to Cheesecake Factory. Love my sistah's nights! Have to say, we sure had...a blast! (That joke is attributed to Kathy. She'd get mad at me if she heard me take credit for that one again.)

My Mother

Part of an email from my brother in honour of our Mom:

Like all the women in our family, she was an honorable person and she took her role as a mother very seriously, and even understood that we would carry the torch of life, each of us pursuing personal happiness while doing what is right to better this world as she strived to do. Her influence lives on in each of us every time we reach out in love to our fellow man. In that small way, we change the world, living and loving in her memory. How grateful to have known her and to call her mother.

I wish you peace and love in honor of her today! She would want us to love each other unconditionally and I am so glad we do.

LOVE,
Brett

Flashback

Found a few sketches from high school. If there were 26 hours in a day I'd sketch more.



Since it's a rainy Memorial Day, I thought I'd try my hand at it again. The left pic is a photo of Seth Godin, marketing guru, and the right pic is my sketch of him (I elongated him. Oops.) I love rainy days.

The Best Date Ever

Damon has been drooling over the ads for the new Indiana Jones movie for over a month. I grew up on the movies (along with you!)--wanted to be a teacher and archaeologist since...forever--and love them. Mom told me of how she was in the theatre watching Indiana Jones when she was pregnant with me, and it was so intense that she almost went into labor =o) So. I had to go on opening night with Damon and Tayler!

Damon: "I'm excited for our date." (Then he handed me flowers!)
Tayler: "I am your chaperone."

"I'm tooo faat! I ate too much popcorn." (He bought the popcorn.)

The sun setting after the perfect date.
On the way home...
Damon:"When I get big, I will take you in my car."
Me: "Will you take me to the movies?"
Damon: "...Only if I can find one!"

My favorite lines from the movie (the parts when I wasn't taking someone to the bathroom... =o) ):
1) After much adventure... "You're a TEACHER?" "...Part time."
2) Harrison & Shea crash into a library on a motorcycle and a kid asks Professor Jones a question like the events preceding were a regular occurance. As they're riding back out Jones says, "If you want to be a good archaeologist, you have to get out of the library!"

Elder Kev

My exceptionally cute nephew, Kevin...obviously anxiously engaged in mission work. Gotta have a dependable car, ya know? What a great missionary. He's serving in the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission.

Invisible Children

This is a documentary called "Invisible Children". If you have not seen it...

I want to tell you that you must. But you don't have to.

You'd no doubt wonder like me...
...why American forces aren't here.
...why we haven't heard more about this in our country.
...who we need to petition to see that something gets done.
...what in heaven's name can I do? Anything--give me a job!
...why 55 minutes ago your problems seemed so big.
...how you're going to sleep tonight without doing something.

I have got to think of a job.

http://freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=114
http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5126120.stm

"Freedom is the oxygen of the soul."
~Moshe Dayan

"Despite the fact that these children live each day in a completely desperate situation, without an end to this war in sight, they somehow, someway find hope. They choose joy. And that is what Africa is about." ~Jason Russell

My Little Friends

This party made me feel like I was right back to being 8 years old again. I teach with Alicia, 3 of her sons have taken turns being the sweepers for my classroom after school (and we always chat and they catch me up on middle school, high school, and now college happenings), and I teach her sweet Elece this year. Happy Build-a-Bear birthday, Lecey! (Okay, now I see the big hype about Build-a-Bear...admittedly, I really had a blast creating my bear.)