14 Things I Love

#9 Teaching
I come from a family of teachers. My grandpa was a professor, and my grandma and a couple of my aunts are teachers as well. My mom, though not an educator herself, held many jobs at the local elementary school and had friends that were teachers.
When I was little I use to line up my dolls on the couch and play school. I think most teachers will admit that they have a little bossiness in them too. We like to be in charge of people, in a good way.
My patriarchal blessing talks many times about me teaching in various capacities.
I love that I get to express my creativity through my teaching. It is very rewarding to feel like you play a part in the educational process.
I taught kindergarten for two years after college and am in my 4th year of running my own preschool. It is a lot of hard work but I really enjoy it. It is the only thing I have wanted to do (besides being a mother) and hope to be able to do it for a very long time. I am very passionate about education, and enjoy being involved in the process.
I love meeting all the wonderful children in the community and getting to know their parents. I love the conversations I have with them…everything from what they did during the weekend to what they want to be when they grow up.
I would love to post some pictures of my preschoolers but because of their will only post one of my and my FAVORITE preschooler!

14 Things I Love

#10 Friends
I have been so lucky to have had so many wonderful friend throughout my life who have truly shaped who I am today.
Some of my first friends were my cousins. My mom and her sisters are a very tight-nit bunch and so my first sleepovers, playdates, etc. were with my cousins.
Next, there were my childhood friends who made school bearable. Many of these friends I was lucky enough to attend elementary, middle, and high school with.
My High School friends were awesome. They were so much fun. There were the girls from my ward who I was lucky enough to share a tent with at young women’s camp. My teammates who were always there to support me after a tough loss and those girlfriends that made my birthday special. Finally, that crazy group of guys who let a girl tag along with them as they played Frisbee football and cruised the ‘vard making trouble.
There are no words to describe my Ricks College friends. I literally knew no one up at Ricks, but I was lucky enough to live in the Normandy where good times and good friends were in abundance. My first roommate Kari will always hold a special place in my heart. Hours after becoming her friend people would ask if we were from the same town. Jean, Janet, Jessica, Miranda, Melissa, Ranie, Heather, and Miranda all made my time at college a great experience. Beth, my friend, helped me through a tough sophomore year. She is the type of friend who will listen to you vent for hours, and take a ridiculous exercise class with you just for fun. Alice, Laura, Tasha, and Arianne…you, my faithful roommates, are also loved and missed.
Jen made the transition to USU bearable and even helped me find my future husband…now that’s friendship!
Finally, all the friends that I have made since becoming an adult have truly been a blessing. Friends from work, friends from church, friends of friends, friends who confirmed their friendship on facebook …don’t think because I haven’t named you personally that you are not on my list.
I am truly a blessed person and only hope that I can be as good a friend as others have been to me!

#11 Sports

Sorry I realized that last posting would be incomplete without a shout out to my mom, who was the greatest sports mom ever. Decorating lockers, working concessions at games, organizing team dinners, providing team snacks, and most importantly being a shoulder to cry on.

My mom attended almost every single one of my games in all my sports. Whether it was a Basketball game in Tooele, a Volleyball game at Sky View or a softball tournament in St. George, my mom was always there. I didn't get any scholarships for my play and never went on to play in college but I appreciated all the time and effort my mom put into me and the thing I enjoyed.

Oh and I thought you might like some funny pictures. These will be really bad quality because, let's face it, I haven't learned to scan pictures!






Go Jr. Jazz

Gotta Love the 80's cap and earrrings!

14 Things I Love

#11 Sports
I have been a huge sports lover ever since I was little. In elementary school I wished I could play touch football with the boys.
In middle school I played on recreation teams for softball and volleyball. Our softball team was really good and won 2 years in a row.
I learned the rules of football by asking my brothers while he was watching.

In high school I played 4 years of volleyball, 4 years of basketball, 3 years of softball, and 1 year of track. I learned to have a love/hate relationship with Sports. I loved my teammates and working hard, but the politics and the stress got a little much at times. It's weird to look back and realize that I never went home after school EVER! Volleyball conditioning started in August and then the end of a sport usually overlapped with the conditioning for the next one. Summers were pretty busy as well with camps.
I really liked Volleyball. I didn't have a lot of natural ability in Basketball but made up for it in hustle (I was a way better defensive player than offensive), and then the sport I truly felt I had natural ability in, Softball, went south my Junior year. My coach wanted me to play Varsity catcher, a position I had NEVER played, and then benched me when I didn't do as well as he wanted. So my senior year I did track and field which I loved. Less pressure. I really liked throwing the javelin.

Even now I love sports. I like to play soccer, volleyball, softball, and basketball. I love to watch sand beach volleyball and football. I don't think my husband realizes how lucky he is to have a wife that enjoys watching football and actually knows what is going on.

So this in probably one of my passions that I feel the most distant from right now. Maybe when the kids get a little older I can join a city league or something!

Any of you play?

14 Things I Love

#12 Books
I am not ashamed to admit it. I love to read. I loved reading as a young child and today wish I could find more time to read.
MY favorite childhood books are The Boxcar Children (this is the original first version not the series), The Grumpus Under the Rug, The Secret Garden.
In my middle school years I read every Jack Weyland Book (Charly and Michelle & Debra were my favorites). I also discovered I loved books about the Holocaust. I read the The Diary of Anne Frank, Number the Stars, and A series of Books by Bodies Thoene. I also love adventure, survival stories like Hatchet.
My favorite type of book is what I call Historical Fiction. I loved The Work and the Glory Series. I enjoyed reading the Twilight Series and can't wait to get my hands on some more books.

Being a preschool teacher I have a children's book fettish. I have hundreds and hundreds of them. Most are for preschool but Kylie has quite the library of her own. I love Llama Llama Red Pajama, Ping, How Do I Love You?,Parts, Piggie Pie, Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type, and MANY MANY more! If you ever have a question about a book I either own it or have heard about it.

Don't tell my husband but I have been buying and saving chapter books for me to read to Kylie when she gets older. I want her to love books too. I have the Little House on the Prairies series, all the Junie B. Jones books, The Ramona the Paest series, the Ralph S. Mouse Books, The E.B. White Books (Charlotte's web, etc.) and the Patricia MacLachlan Books (Sarah Plain and tall).

Sorry this is such a long post, even I didn't realize how paasionate I am about books, but I vividly remember books read to me like Night of the Twister, Summer of the Blackberries, Bridge to Terabithia, The Giver. They all captured my imagination. I kind of think it's a shame when they turn great books into movies because kids see the movie BEFORE they read the book and it takes all the imagination and wonder out of reading. The pictures in your head can never be captured adequately by a movie.
PLEASe share some of your favorite books (any kind) with me!

14 Things I Love

#13 Movies
I love movies. I watch quite a few movies but don't love them all. My childhood movie favorites included Pete's Dragon, Mary Poppins, Care Bear Movie, Man From Snowy River, Back to the Future, Goonies, Karate Kid, Gremlins. In College I watched Anne of Green Gables, Clueless, Pride and Prejudice, and Can't Hardly Wait. Some of my all time favorites are Life is Beautiful, Awakenings, While You Were Sleeping.
I really like movies that touch an emotional chord or ones with great plots. I love trying to figure out the story before the end.

Of course there are tons more that I enjoyed. Help me remember more great movies by sharing your favorites!

14 Things I Love

In honor of the month of LOVE, I decided to countdown 14 things I love.

#14 Chocolate
Chocolate is like laughter, I need small doses of it all the time. I'm not a big fan of dark chocolate but it will do in a pinch or sugar emergency. German or Swiss chocolate is the best but I don't have anymore family members going to mission in Europe so American Chocolate will sustain. My favorite candybars: Caramello, Toffee Symphony, Almond Joys. I especially like anything chocolate with caramel in the middle but not a huge fan of fruit in the middle. My favorite cookies are the Samoa Girl Scout Cookies but they are too expensive so I substitute Little Debbie German Chocolate Cookies.

What is your favorite chocolate?

In parting, a thought "All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!" Lucy Van Pelt (Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz)