my first magazine cover!

So my awesome little nieces -- Olivia, Noelle and Monet -- made this for me. I think I look pretty good!

a day in the life of a teacher

Both of my grandparents were teachers (grandpa at BYU, grandma at Orem high), and I've always thought education would be a fun and rewarding career. One of our good friends here is a teacher, and on Friday we stopped by his classroom. We spent two periods watching him in action, and he had me talk to each group about what it takes to go to law school and become a lawyer. The kids then asked me questions, most of which centered around how much damage you could do to an attacker and still claim self-defense...

If you get punched first, are you allowed to totally beat the crap out of the other person?

If someone is sitting on top of you and punching you, are you allowed to break their arm if that's the only way you can get them off?

If someone breaks into your house, can you just shoot them?

Where can I find a list of guns that you are legally allowed to own?

Some were more general...

If you wanted to own your own shop, would it be good to take some business classes? Of course I'm thinking that by "shop" he means law practice, so I respond: "Yes. Why, do you want want open your own law office?" "No, I want to open my own tattoo shop."

How much do you make per hour?

Have you ever been arrested?

And since I told them I do tax work...

Why do you do tax law? That sounds boring.

If I make $30,000 in a year and only report $10,000, will I get in trouble?

Anyway, it was fun to get a peak at what life is like for a teacher. The classroom never lacks for excitement. My teacher friend wants the class to learn about different professions and career paths as they start to think about college. At the end of the class he told them: "You can be teachers like me, or lawyers like Tyler. You can be anything you want, but the point is to find something you love and do it."

I thought that was pretty good advice.

my brother-in-law's encounter with a mountain lion

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=8283947

We are sure glad that you are alive, Steve!