My Personal History

            I would like to start my personal life history with a brief overview of my family.  I was born Taylor Nicole Arnold, to my parents Mark and Kimberly Arnold.  I have two sisters and one brother.  My older sister’s name is Jessica Arnold, now Jessica Nash because she got married.  My younger sister’s name is Megan Arnold. Last is my younger brother David Arnold.  I love them! I could not have asked for a better family to grow up with!  Jessica, Megan and I all played softball when we were younger, I then moved to colorguard.  Jessica moved to drama and choir, she has a beautiful voice!  Megan stayed with softball she now plays for BYU, and she is amazing.  David tried all different sports, but never found one he really loved.  He started to really like football, but then he crushed two disks in his back so, he had to stop playing.  We have two family dogs, as of now, Abby and Ziva, they are both King Charles Cavalier Spaniels. 

            My parents were high school sweethearts.  They started dating when they were sophomore’s in high school and have been together every since.  My mother is a convert and my dad’s family was not active when they started dating and when they got married.  My dad went to a construction trade school and started his own businesses.  My mom went to ASU for a couple semesters and then worked for my dad for a while.  Once she had children she became a stay at home mom.  I loved that growing up and hope to emulate that in my future life.  My mom was super hands on when I was growing up.  She was always helping in my classrooms and offering to be team mom.

            I am married to the most wonderful man Andrew Kay Barney, but everyone calls him Drew.  Drew moved to California when he was 10 and into my ward.  His dad became bishop, but Drew and I did not really associate while growing up.  It was not until we were both up at BYU-Idaho that our love started.  I am so lucky to have him in my life.  Here are some stories of our married life and some of the fun times we had. 

            We got married November 26, 2011 and it was the most perfect, wonderful, amazing day of my life!  The weather was BEAUTIFUL! And that was the biggest blessing because we were not prepared for rain.  We were sealed in the Newport Beach Temple! 

            Drew and I went to the beautiful island Oahu for our honeymoon!!  It was perfect and so much fun!

            So this is the story of Drew and I's epically, deliciously, embarrassing night!

       Today (Feb. 20) started out relatively normal, I had a group project and Drew did a lot of homework.  When I got home around 3 we decided to go to the gym and then the grocery store.  While there I decided I needed to treat Drew to some real meat since I have only fed him, chicken and ground beef so far.  I found two little New York steaks for a reasonable price and it was just perfect!!

      So as soon as I got home I called my dad to see what he puts on steak as a dry rub, then I went to the internet to see how to cook a steak on a skillet, since I have never cooked one before! I got the meat all ready and waited for the skillet to be burning hot, since the website said that was the whole trick of cooking steak on a skillet, AND that's what started the whole night!

    The second, no joke, second, I put the steaks on the skillet the fire alarm goes off!  And it is loud!! And has the whole seizure strobe light thing going on too!! So I pull the steaks off the grill and put it outside, then open all the windows and door!  And guess what?? The fire alarms in the bedroom and office start going off! And of course not at the same time so our ears get a tiny break between piercing squeals, all three alarms going off at different times!  Yay.

   So by now we have a bunch of curious neighbors wondering who or what is on fire.  All the while Drew and I are scrambling around, me trying not to cry from embarrassment and the pain in my ears, trying to fan out what we thought was the smoke detector.  So I open our fire-safe box, lots of good it did us today and found our lease agreement with the emergency number, which of course nobody answers, and let them know our fire alarm will not go off.  Let me tell you there was no smoke in our apartment and it had been going off for about 10 minutes now.  Drew and I hear sirens on the road outside and laugh to ourselves about the ironic-ness of it.

    Finally and thankfully the fire alarms stop.  I literally collapsed on the couch with relief that it was finally over, but it wasn't.  As soon as Drew walks over to close the window, since our apartment is now 30 degrees and its snowing outside, he sees the firemen walking over to our building. Yay, again.

   Lucky us the firemen came to check on us, so nice, but just more stress for the moment, but they just came in a truck and no fire engine thankfully!  But of course they need to be certain it was our steaks that set off the fire alarm so they had to knock on all our neighbors doors, so if the ear piercing alarm didn't cue them in to our situation, the fire men did.  Finally after an official report they were on their way, just in time for the actual fire truck to roll on up, triple yay.

   Now after all the people had gone I lost it!  Just hysterically crying because I was completely and utterly embarrassed!  I know it sounds stupid now, but at the time my ears were ringing, my steaks were ruined (I thought) and I was just sad.  My sweet husband tries to console the crazy crying thing that I was at that moment and believe me it took some work on his part to get me to stop crying.  After my tears had dried I decided to look at my 'ruined' steaks, and GUESS WHAT? They were cooked perfectly on one side!!! Saving grace?? I THINK SO!!!  So I got to work finishing dinner for my now starving husband, and it was delicious, if I do say so myself!  I have never cooked a steak inside before tonight, and I do not think I will again, but the stress and embarrassment was definitely worth those steaks!! YUM!!

  Oh our lives in Idaho, crazy!!

            Drew and I had a GREAT and packed weekend!  It was just awesome!  We started the weekend as soon as Drew got home from school and the fun didn't stop till Saturday night!

On Friday it was off to Beaver Dick Park for some camping and fishing!  It is only about 5 minutes outside of Rexburg and it is right next to a fishing river!  Our friends Steve and Kelly came along and I am so glad! It was a super fun time as usual with this great couple!

            The weekend of General Conference Drew had a mission reunion.  It was with his Mission President Gardner!  It was really fun for me to be able to meet some of Drew's companions and hear their stories of Drew!  Definitely worth the trip down to Utah!

            As I have found out Pioneer Day/Week in Utah is a BIG deal!  We wanted to avoid the crowds, so a couple days before we went to Home Depot and bought a huge thing of plastic sheeting and dish soap. Then we were good to go!

            So Rexburg decided to snow like CRAZY this week!! I guess winter is here now.  This all happened over night! I woke up on Thursday morning and found my car covered!   So, since this it is Halloween weekend and there is snow everywhere, we decided to do the ONLY logical thing!  Make a SNOW MONSTER!!  It is our version of a Halloween snowman!

            Our anniversary was the Monday after Thanksgiving so we stayed in Salt Lake in the Peery Hotel.  The website described this hotel as historic and quaint, I now know that means old and bad service.  It was a great memory though!! 

            So I may be a bit naive, but when Drew and I decided to go into the wilderness and cut down our own tree, I sort of thought it would be like walking into a field or flat plain.  Oh how I was so wrong!!  I had to hike up a mountain!! I guess it makes sense, but I was not prepared for this hike up a steep snow covered mountain and then back down it with a 7-foot tree!!  It was so worth it though! I love our tree and the spirit it brings into our home 

            I went to Glenknoll Elementary School, Bernardo Yorba Middle School, and Esperanza High School.  I am now at BYU-Idaho and I will be graduating in the fall.  I cannot wait to be done with school!  My husband goes to BYU-Idaho as well. 

            Now I want to talk about my future career and profession.  I have always wanted to be a teacher.  My parents emphasized education from before I can remember and I learned at a young age that not everything comes easy. I was a good student, but did struggle in certain subjects. I think this has helped me grow to be a more patient person in all aspects of life, but especially in teaching.

            While growing up I knew that I wanted to be a teacher, however it
was not until later in life that I learned that I wanted to work with
people who have special needs. It was through a few very
extraordinary events that I made my decision. Some family friends of ours had a child with a disability, who never talked to anyone he did not know for a very long time. One day the whole family went to the beach and this young man and I went out into the water to play in the surf. We talked and I got to know him a littler better. When we came back in everyone was amazed that we had a little conversation. That was one of my first interactions with someone who had a disability. Later, I volunteered with the Special Olympics in California for a few summers and that grew my understanding of what I wanted to do with my life. I loved working with the younger ages of children who have disabilities. Watching them learn a new sport in Special Olympics warmed my heart and I knew that this was the age group I wanted to work with.

            I recently got married and it is so fun to teach my husband more about what I am doing with my education. He, like most people, did not have very many experiences with people who have special needs. I thought this was a perfect change to practice one thing that I find so important, educating people so that they are more comfortable around people with disabilities. It was a great chance for me to work with him and show him how a disability is not something to be afraid of.

            My teaching philosophy is a child and family centered one. I think that education needs to be diversified and adapted so that all children have the chance to learn. Vygotsky’s theory of the Zone of Proximal Development is key to how a child learns. If we cannot help a child by working with the level they are at, then we are not doing any good. The child needs to be in their instructional zone to be able to learn anything, especially when you are working with children who have disabilities. While working as a tutor I found that the best way to find out where a person is at is to talk to them, have them help you understand where you should start. Everyone deserves to learn at his or her own level and grow to become better.

            Students need a teacher who cares about them and about their education. I want to be a teacher who cares and is there for my students, so they can grow and succeed. Thank you so much for your time.