We Got The Beat

I teach fifth grade science. We're learning about the circulatory system.

I thought, how cool to let them see a real heart.

So I called a butcher and asked if he could save me one.

I expected a clean little organ that i could just stick in a jar and let he kids look at.

When I got to the butcher's he handed me the bag he saved for me. It was reeeeal heavy.

I got home and turns out he was a way generous guy cause he gave me the ENTIRE chest cavity of a sheep, fatty heart membrane, heart, lungs, trachea, intestines... the works.

So all i have to do is take it home and extract the little heart out. I'm freaking out at the thought of it. And pretty close to abandoning my amazing 'let them see a heart' science lesson and just printing off a picture from the internet.

Lucky for my students, my mom-in- law is a surgery nurse and offered to perform the surgery on the sheep guts and get my little heart out.

I'm nominating myself for teacher of the year.

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Dear Lindsay

Just look how pretty you are. And not just that, but soooo talented. Remember when Preston asked you to paint some of his musical inspirations for him and you came back with these most incredible canvas paintings? Me too. you are AWESOME. Pleeeease can you start a blog? Cause it would be the most perfect thing ever. And I bet i'm not the only one begging.

Thank you. Love you.

RAfting

What we learned on our family white water rafting trip down the Snake River:

-Preston + Short Shorts= The best tour guide ever

-If the tour guide says it takes 3 hours to do a 26 mile stretch, he means 7 1/2 hours

-It's not necessary to prepare for the huge rapids 12 miles in advance and when i say prepare I mean wrap Kason in 5 garbage bags and not let him cut arm holes.

-The rapids are always just around the corner and they're HUGE and when you get to the corner and the water is as still as still it means rapids are just around the next corner and when they're not there either, its just the next one. And if we would have rowed for 8 hours instead of 71/2 I just know we would have hit A rapid cause i really think they were around the next bend

-Kason can walk faster than out raft rafted.

All in all it was a perfect experience. Frustrating, annoying, long, hilarious and we all learned about love and patience. We hit zero rapids and were fighting the wind to cover inches of ground. It was such a funny day. For me it was a huge wake up call about how I show up in life. I blamed my frustration on everyone else. And i thought i wasn't happy because the trip wasn't going exactly like i thought it would in my brilliant head. So I was more than bratty, mostly on the inside, but I might have let a few bad words fly out. And then i decided that maybe instead of it being everyone else, maybe the problem with my happiness was me. And i was right. I was looking and looking for it and it never came. Its because there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. If I look for it i'll never find it. Happiness is something that I bring to the table. There's no happiness to be found in doing things, I can only bring happiness to every experience. The first half of the trip I was pulling out my hair crazy annoyed at the situation, and then I just chose to BE.

And I remembered that its always a choice. And when I'm frustrated or mad or whatever, its cause I'm choosing it. And i can choose out of it just as easily. I can see it so clearly now, but you should've seen me on that raft. Can you say brat?

P.S. Preston wins for shortest shorts check out those legs for days.

Sing us a song, you're the piano man...

Went on a date with The Gillrie's. Matt got us a table at the Dueling Piano Bar in Salt Lake. The fact that all 4 of us we were unintentionally (ok so only 3 of us were and we pressured Press into complying.) color coordinated pretty much guaranteed a perfect night.

And when i say perfect night, i mean Preston dancing on top of a grand piano to Sexyback in front of a bar full of strangers. No big deal, just my life.

Dirt made my lunch

I went to Nicole's to get some fresh veggies out of her garden. I've never ever picked food from a real garden. It seriously blew my mind. Like this carrot just got made out of seed and dirt and water and how does that even work? And these corn stalks were taller than me!! And grew the biggest sweetest corn. But it all came from just dirt. And it was sort of a spiritual experience, like I loved that the earth just created all this food and if that's not a miracle, then what is? And now all i want is my own garden. So I can put a seed in dirt and get a giant zucchini out of it.