Tamara’s Bio

Tamara K. Anderson is an author, podcaster, professional in HOPE, and founder of Daily Hope Publishing. She is happily married and has four children who struggle with autism, ADHD, anxiety, depression and all bring her great joy.

After two of her sons were diagnosed on the autism spectrum, Tamara felt devastated, overwhelmed, discouraged and alone. Her journey moving from grief to peace and hope can be found in her book, Normal for Me. 

Tamara loves interviewing people from all walks of life on her podcast, Stories of Hope in Hard Times. She enjoys the stories each person shares about how they overcame difficult obstacles. She also identifies important lessons and tips they learned during their challenges. Tamara is a firm believer that God can help us survive and thrive in the most difficult circumstances with hope.

She received her Bachelors in Therapeutic Recreation from BYU, and then went on to get advanced degrees, including her PhD in Life, from the School of Hard Knocks.

Tamara loves reading, kitchen gadgets, power tools, puttering around in her garden, kayaking, zip-lining and hiking.

Reading

Reading is one of my “escapes” and loves. I have loved reading for as long as I can remember. When I was struggling to find friends in real life as a young teen, my friends and adventures were in books. In fact, I used to get in trouble for reading with a flashlight under my blanket until 2:00am because I just couldn’t put the book down until the climax had resolved. As a young mom and even today I find my escape in books or audiobooks.

My all-time favorite book is Edenbrooke, by Julianne Donaldson. I could read this book every month and be delighted by the humorous, strong characters, the unexpected twists and the clean romance. When life is stressful and I need a book to boost my spirits and destress, this is what I pick up time after time.

Usually I prefer to read books in the YA fantasy world. I could listen to the Jim Dale recordings of the Harry Potter series every day and never be bored. I love the way he does all the voices for the characters. And yes, the Harry Potter books are way better than the movies! But, I love the movies too. I was in heaven taking my kids to Universal Studios in California a few years ago where walking through the Harry Potter world was magical!

We even ate at The Three Broomsticks and tasted Butterbeer (which was delicious). Okay, so we’ve established I’m a Harry Potter geek…and I also love Star Wars btw.

 Other favorite book series are: The Michael Vey Series by Richard Paul Evans, and just about anything Brandon Mull has written—especially his Fablehaven and Dragonwatch series.

Food

I love eating, tasting and making good food. I even like cooking new recipes because there is nothing as fulfilling to me as making a fantastic meal. A double-bonus is if I can get my son Nathan (who has low functioning autism) to actually eat the meal and not look at it and say, “Ewwww. Yuck!”

Favorite things that I make are the world’s best mashed potatoes, according to my son Jacob. I also love grilling a good steak or making flavorful Chinese or Mexican dishes from scratch.

My favorite thing to make in the winter time is a yummy stew or chunky soups. I also make delicious pecan and pumpkin pies from scratch during the holidays—yes really, pumpkin pie from real pumpkins with homemade crusts and everything. (It really isn’t as hard as it seems).

An interesting fact about me is I am gluten intolerant, so almost everything I make is gluten-free. I usually end up modifying many recipes so I can eat them. Although I still occasionally make a gluten-full Beef Stroganoff for the kids because they love it so much.

Nature

I am a lover of nature and exploring the world. I find beauty in the desert, the mountains, the beach and the woods. I love hiking through state and national parks, and I don’t know if I could ever possibly pick a favorite national park. But I am in LOVE with the red rocks in southern Utah.

My husband and I love snorkeling together. Whenever we go snorkeling I am usually the first one in and the last one out of the water (thanks to my trusty wetsuit). The magical world underwater is so amazing. I am blown away by the colors of the fish, but love the sea turtles and dolphins and have even been able to pet a stingray in the wild.

Interesting side note: I cannot scuba dive due to a car accident early in our marriage where I punctured a lung and had a hard time getting it to stay reflated.

Two of my favorite places on earth are sitting on a porch in the White Mountains of Arizona listening to the wind blow through the majestic pine trees or standing on a beach with my feet in the sand.

Strength: Creative Problem Solving

I am a creative problem solver and I love using fabric, wood, or ideas to solve or fix problems.

One of the reasons I have both a wood and a fabric collection is because those two things speak to me. I love that anytime you pick up a piece of wood or fabric there are a million possibilities you can create with it. My favorite tool is probably my cordless drill, followed by my saw.

Weakness: Perfectionism

I am a recovering perfectionist. For a long time I used to try to have everything be perfect. In fact my husband used to tease me when we were first married by wadding up a piece of paper and tossing it in the middle of a room I had just cleaned. The stinker! Now I could care less.

My kids beat the perfectionism out of me. My house looks lived in now, and I know it isn’t going to be perfect and that is okay.

Jesus

I have always been a believer in God. He has been my supporter through thick and thin. I never would have made it through my darkest days without Him and the angels—both seen and unseen—He has sent to help me. He helped me endure minute by minute when I didn’t have the strengths to carry on.

My favorite verse of scripture can be found in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.”

I love connecting with God daily before everyone else in my home is awake. This is my time to fill my soul, study my scriptures, journal and learn new things.

My favorite topics to study include hope, light, and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus is my Savior and I know He lives.

Family

After God, family comes first for me. My husband Justin and I have been married for 24 years and I love that man! We are equally yoked and are perfect for each other.

My children are amazing and are blowing me away with how much they have grown up lately. You will hear me talk about then frequently.

Our favorite things to do as a family is to play board games. Dominoes, Uno, Settlers of Catan, Carcassone, Ticket to Ride or other card games can often be found around out kitchen table.

Crazy fact: We have an entire closet full of games.

We also love exploring together and going on adventures to state and local parks. Nathan, our son with low-functioning autism doesn’t love long hikes, so we will often do shorter hikes so we can all go together as a family.

We are not perfect, and have struggles like everyone else. But we love each other quirks and all.

Hope

I am passionate about inspiring hope. I know how awful being alone and despairing feels. I lived there for a while and have learned a lot since. I want to share what I have learned with you. That is why I write, podcast and teach to help others learn hope, grow hope and share hope.

One of my favorite quotes on hope is by Dr. Benjamin Hardy. He says, “You can’t have hope without a goal.” So many times when hope is lost it is because our goal or vision of the future has shattered.

Don’t give up! There are ways to build hope a little bit at a time. Cling to God in the hard times and trust He has that view of the future and will help you take steps into the darkness until you have caught the same hopeful vision of the future.

One of my favorite Bible verses about hope I have hanging on my wall where I see it every day. It is found in Hebrews 6:19, “Hope anchors the soul.” My soul is anchored in Jesus Christ and it is my ultimate hope to live with Him someday.

Friends

I love my friends. I have lived in the east, south and west of the United States and even in Argentina for 3 years. Because of this, I have friends all over the world.

It doesn’t matter your race, color or what language you speak, we can be friends! I figure we are all sons and daughters of God and we should love one another.

Can we be friends? Connect with me today.

Contact Tamara