“Because whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal. ”
–Kathleen Kelly (played by Meg Ryan) in Nora Ephron’s “You’ve Got Mail.”
For some reason, “You’ve Got Mail” has followed us from house to house, from state to state, and now from country to country. It’s always one of the shows that [...]

What is it about canning, anyway? When I lug out my enormous pot every fall, dig through drawers for canning accouterments, and see if I have any leftover pectin from last year, my heart leaps. I get all goosebumpy and jittery. I make up words like goosebumpy. I walk through the food storage room estimating [...]

Last June I wrote a post Celebrating the Celibate about a family friend, Christian, who is a celibate, active member of our church. My post was written shortly after an article about Christian’s lifestyle was featured in Utah County’s Daily Herald. For Segullah, Christian wrote an account of his story behind the article, and what [...]

My favorite quilt lies folded in the corner of my closet. It’s patchwork, denim alternating with calico scraps, with a houndstooth edge. My aunt made it for me when I was four years old. I took it with me to college, left it behind on a mission, and finally retired it when [...]

I need some help here.
We’ve been talking rebellion at my house all day.

As a white, upper middle class girl growing up in the West, words like ”segregation” and “hate crime” were not a part of my vocabulary.  My grandmother used to talk about living in DC, and how when she went to the movies, she sat down in front, while non-whites sat in the balcony, and talked about [...]

Not too long ago I wrote a letter.

Yesterday was my worst day yet. I was nauseated all day long and there was never a relief except falling asleep. When I found out that I was pregnant, I promised myself that I would continue to walk an hour a day no matter how bad I felt. After walking a couple paces yesterday down [...]

I grew up in”the mission field”. We lived in the deep south, the heart of the mid-west, and lastly in New England. Even as a child, there was comfort and peace in seeing that the church was the same everywhere we went. In each new branch, the sacrament, the Priesthood, the classes, all held the [...]

So I have a pile of books by my bed, on my shelf, on the computer desk; okay, that’s three piles of books.  These are books I’ve started reading or am planning to read. Raise your hand if you have a pile or two of your own?  I know I’m not alone. So when Mara [...]

Today as I write I’m fighting the urge to go get a bowl of chocolate chips and willing myself to stay here and finish this post so that I can get in some exercise before my two-year-old wakes up from his nap.  My four-month pregnant body craves what it doesn’t need and shirks what it [...]

In case you haven’t heard (where have you been?) I am with child, or pregnant.

I never can remember Pearl Harbor Day until I hear it on the news. “Today, the anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor…” and then my mind says, “OH! Yes. Pearl Harbor Day.” Only after the reminder do I spend a moment thinking about the enormous toll our country paid during Pearl Harbor and the [...]

When I was seven I wanted to be a poet. Mr. Shel Silverstein himself was the one who inspired me, and I took to allowing certain pages in my official-looking, red fake leather embossed journal for random rhyming sentences.

This is a guest post by Jill, who by posting here is fulfilling one of her mother’s dreams for her– that of being a writer. Although insistent that she didn’t listen to her mom about writing, she is the writer who blogs at Sweet Happy Life and the stay-at-home mom (”to my three lovies”) that [...]

When I taught Sunday School to the twelve and thirteen year olds, every week I would write this outline on the blackboard:

The Great Plan of Happiness
Pre-Earth Life
Spiritual Creation
Agency
Council /War in Heaven
Earth Life
Creation
Fall
Atonement
Life After Death
Spirit World
Judgment
Resurrection
The manual only said to write it out the first few lessons, but I wanted to do it every week. [...]

“I’ve never made this chili before, so I am not expecting to win.” said May the morning of the ward youth’s Chili Cook-off Contest.
I knew better.
“You’ll win just the same.” I retorted.
But I was determined to make a good showing myself, so I did some serious research which required my serious face.

A few months ago, I was sitting in the too-small chairs located in the children’s section of my local library. I was there to meet with my son’s social worker, speech therapist, and another mother whose children were also in therapy. And as if often the case when women get together, the conversation [...]