You've been able to briefly hear about our jobs and our hobbies. They are both such big parts of our lives I felt the need to share more about how the have affected us.
Music
Doug was raised in a family full of musicians. He began playing the violin when he was 4 or 5 and decided to stick with it. He loves playing and chose to teach others to play as well. I begged my parents to let me take piano lessons when I was 8. I also played violin and trumpet while I was in school but it was always the piano that had captured my heart. I chose to major in piano and teach it in my home so that I would be able to stay at home with my children.
Our home is filled with music! When I'm not teaching piano, Doug is practicing his violin or I am playing the piano for fun. We have both been blessed with a great love for music. It can have such a powerful influence not only on our lives but on others. The moments we have felt closest to our Heavenly Father have often been accompanied with music.
We love to bring our relationship closer together through singing and playing music together. We have a great desire for our children to share our love of music. We hope to encourage them to choose an instrument at a young age and take lessons. By surrounding our home and children with good music, I know we will be closer to the Lord.
Teaching
I suppose my husband and I have a few things in common ; ). We both love to teach too! It is a very satisfying thing to share knowledge with children and watch them learn, grow and discover. It's even more satisfying to watch them have fun doing it!
As music teachers, we are able to watch our students develop a new talent and ability. We hope to help them discover their own passion for music. But even more than that, we hope to help them develop a desire to learn, self-discipline, self-confidence, determination and many other attributes that come through learning music. We have come to love our students very much, which I think is essential to becoming a good teacher. And we come away from our jobs with a desire to be better teachers and people.
Nature
Though it seems we are always on a hike or outside, we aren't really nature nuts. Truthfully I miss my bed when we are camping, after 3 days of freeze dried backpacking food I want some steak and potatoes, and we could probably use more exercise than the little we squeeze into our lives. We just really love to see the beauty of God's creations. We would rather be outside hiking through a beautiful forest or climbing a mountain than sitting inside on a beautiful summer day. We also love water skiing, boating, rock climbing, and gardening.
Since we love to be outside and active Doug has really enjoyed having the summers off (he's a school teacher). We are able to do a lot of activities together. We want to expose our children to the beauty of the world and the joy you can get from it. The summers are a time we look forward to sharing with them.
