My turn...

My beautiful sister, Krista (texasadams.blogspot.com) tagged me...here are seven random things about me. (Disclaimer: I am verbose...short and succinct are not in my vocabulary...ask anyone who talks on the phone with me)

1.1 1. I LOVE Hippos. Yes, it’s true. They just have this sweet look and demeanor that I have always found fascinating. Yes, I have heard that they are more dangerous than cheetahs and kill more people in African rivers than any other creature. Oh well, they will always be cute and cuddly in my mind. My children may have my fascination passed on to them. I have a stuffed animal net full of hippos in Carter’s room. Our front room has porcelain hippos (my fave is the 2 kissing hippos…an engagement present from Tyson). Taylee was given a ballerina hippo from my mom and I bought matching ballerina hippo curtain rods for her room. We have hippo Christmas ornaments, toys, blankets, and books.We have numerous hippo print baby clothes in both pink and blue. My favorite hippo possessions are from Tyson. Each year since we’ve been married, on Valentine’s Day, he gives me a children’s book about hippos. The first two years, he changed the wording in the book so that it read as he and I…it was the cutest thing ever. In fact, my cell phone listing for Ty still shows him as a character from that initial book. I look every year for a good hippo Halloween costume…but no such luck…yet.

2. 2. I am an HGTV (Home & Garden Television) junkie. I love to watch almost every show (not every episode, mind you…but when I have a break J). I’m not super creative when it comes to landscaping or decorating my own house, but I love to dream. I enter almost every sweepstakes they have and check all the time to see if my favorite shows are accepting applicants. I even convinced Sara to write into ColorSplash and recommend Tyson and I for a Valentines Day Room Makeover…we’re still waiting to see if we won (thanks Sara!). I have my favorite episodes (ones that showcase my “dream” room) on DVR and I watch them often. I think Candice Olsen with Divine Design is my favorite, but I also like random rooms from many of the other designers. My favorite color palette right now for rooms is chocolate and aqua.

3. 3. I have a passion for teaching reading. I wrote about this back in March of ’07 on my blog, but I’ll give a synopsis here. I’ve always loved teaching children…since I was little I just knew teaching was what I would do with my life. In March, I had an experience with a little boy in my preschool class that helped me put into words why it is such a passion for me. When someone can read, they can open a whole new world for themselves. When a child can read the scriptures for themselves, they can search, study, and gain a testimony and understanding all for themselves. President Monson spoke about 3 years ago at a women’s conference on the importance of literacy. He said that the exalted purpose of the Relief Society is to help spread literacy. I remember being so moved by this comment. How are children of God able to develop and gain a testimony of their own if they are not able to study it out on their own? It was during this moment that I became determined to spread literacy to all I could in my lifetime.

4. 4. I teach a preschool from home. I graduated from BYU in elementary education and earned my teaching license, but have always felt like it was right for me to stay home with my kids. After having Carter, I really started to miss teaching. I decided to open up my little Wymount apartment to some neighborhood kids and started developing a curriculum. The lowest grade level I had taught was first grade, so it took some tweaking for me to get my curriculum figured out. After a lot of research and teaching, I think I’m finally happy with the way I’ve set my curriculum up. I focus heavily on early reading, but believe in using a combination of approaches. I’ve learned to incorporate many other subjects and skills into a 2 hour block class and I truly love working with kids again. Carter has always been my test subject and it has been so rewarding to see his growth. Everywhere we’ve lived, I look for a target audience that could most benefit, and I try to meet a need. Teaching kids has really helped keep me grounded, see my weaknesses, and helped me to realize my worth as a daughter of God. I truly feel joy through serving my family and others through teaching little ones.

5. 5. Two of my favorite shows are SuperWhy and Word World on PBS. After reading about my passion for reading, it’s probably no surprise. These shows are fascinating. I am just as excited as Carter when I see that a new one will be on. These two shows use so many approaches to teaching reading in just short half hour time slots. They introduce phonics with letter sounds and blends. In Word World, words truly come alive for kids as the animals and objects are the actual word in 3D. They give kids power to create words on their own from letters and sounds. Definitely a great beginning reader. SuperWhy goes even further. It covers beginning phonics, but also go into whole language. Kids learn the classic fairy tales and stories…while learning that as readers, they have the power to change meanings and words. The main character is a superhero because he can read and learn. What better lesson for your kids to learn? If you haven’t seen these shows yet, check out when they air on your local PBS station. You can also read about them on pbskids.org. I also have every episode of both shows taped on DVR, so if you’re interested in checking it out, just let me know :)

6. 6. I have a major sweet tooth. I think it’s become a serious addiction. Sometimes I’ll scour the house looking for anything that will work to quench my craving. I don’t really like candy, its more cookies and cakes. We were introduced to Albertsons bakery cookies in the purple bag a few months ago by Jamin. Big mistake. I will buy a bag in the morning, let it sit on the counter during the day, and by the time Tyson comes back from work, they’re gone. How? I NEVER remember eating that many…but I think my hips are proof that I did in fact consume every last cookie. I thought that maybe if I stopped buying them and had to make them on my own, I wouldn’t eat so many…WRONG. I catch myself sneaking into the kitchen for more. I would rather eat a meal of cookies than meat, pastas, cheeses, whatever. Cookies are my weakness. And after reading this I realize I really to develop some self-control.

7. 7. I’m kind of a soapbox person. With a different personality, I probably would have been a lawyer. I like to get involved and passionate about issues. I like to speak my mind about them too, but I have this sensitive personality and sometimes my passion turns into crying…it’s embarrassing when you’re trying to make a big statement. Nonetheless, Tyson and my kids (and family and good friends) are good sports to put up with my ranting on a myriad of topics.

I think I'm one of the last people in the blogging world to complete a tag...so I'm not sure who to tag. I'm going to use the honor system here. If you haven't completed a tag...YOU'RE IT!