Thanks to Heidi at The Maxwell’s Madness for declaring me a Beautiful blogger! She said “And the award goes to…Amber at Because Babies Grow Up because she posts cool ideas of things to do with your kiddos.” I love Heidi’s chain letter perspective on the whole blog award phenomenon. Bu I agree, it is still cool.

Here are the rules to claim the award:

1. Thank, then link to the person that gave you the award.
2. Pass this award on to how ever many bloggers you want to that you’ve recently (or not so recently) discovered and who you think are fantastic.
3. Contact said bloggers to let them know they’ve won.
4. State 7 Things about yourself!

Here are my picks for Beautiful Bloggers…

Janna at The Adventure of Motherhood because she is as passionate about books as I am and I love her Feed Me Books Friday meme.

Beth at In Good Cents because she talks about being frugal in a way that I can relate to.

Jennifer at Refrigerator Artist because she’s helping parents celebrate kids’ artwork.

Maryanne at Mama Smiles because her daughter reminds me so much of my own Sammi and I just love the way Maryanne blogs about her life with her little ones.

Amy at Literacy Launchpad because she has the career I didn’t know existed but now suddenly want (and her educational background!) as an early literacy specialist.

Seven Things About Myself

1. I am a terrible housekeeper/home organizer. I need professional help in this area! Seriously.
2. I love to spend time with my children, especially reading together and digging into the dress-up box.
3. When I first had a crush on my husband, I didn’t like his sister because I thought they were dating (I didn’t know they were related!) I kept thinking, if they break up, I’ll ask him out. Yeah, they never stopped hanging out. But he somehow managed to get his own little crush on me and asked me out first. Won. my. heart.
4. We recently moved from Utah to Tennessee, but unfortunately for the locals, brought our snowy winters with us. I just couldn’t imagine winter without oodles and oodles of snow!
5. I love to sew, quilt and embroider. I am not very good at any of them and wish I had so much more time to devote to these arts. I’m terrible at following patterns so I usually just make up my own. Here are the dresses I made the girls for Easter last year. By the way, Sammi still fits in her dress. She wore it this morning.
6. I have a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics a.k.a. teaching English as a second language and have taught at a few colleges/universities. I miss it, but child care was a headache and that was with just one child.
7. My life goals include getting a Ph.D., building a children’s museum in an under-served community, making a keepsake blanket for each child and grandchild in my family, becoming a sought-after speaker and traveling the world with my wonderful husband Brent. My short-term goal is to survive medical school!

Now that I’ve shared my soul with you, I’d love to know something special, unique or obscure about you! Don’t be shy; we’re all friends here!