Blessings

I woke up this morning, and decided waking up was a personal miracle from the Lord. I breathed in, slowly allowing the breeze from the window to fill up my lungs. My eyes looked over the bedroom — another miracle. I could see the dim outline of the bed, the closet, the desk. Another breath [...]

What does it feel like?

Wanted: More reader submissions for Ask Nine Women. Please submit yours at askninewomenATgmailDOTcom. Today’s question for Ask Nine Women comes from Wendy, who writes the following: I need to hear some experiences or insight into the difference between the Gift of the Holy Ghost that LDS are given and the influence of the Holy Ghost. [...]

The Low-Hanging Fruit Has Been Canned

Nothing makes me wish I were a convert to the Church more than doing family history. Kacy posted a couple of weeks ago on good pioneer stock, and she asked the question, “what does it mean to come from good pioneer stock?” Sitting in front of my laptop, staring at my impossible PAF file, I’ll [...]

coulda heard a pin drop

My tween daughter Susie Q (not her real name) has a hard time breaking away from whatever she is doing to come when she is called. Although her excuses vary, there was a time when, no matter what I asked of her, her reply was always this: “One sec.” You may imagine that grew a [...]

What I know now

Today’s guest post is the conclusion of “No one told me, from Bek of Ignore the Crazy. “I appreciate all the kind words and discussion via comments and e-mail after the last post. I think it is safe to say this is a topic that engenders strong feelings. Like many aspects of mothering, we might [...]

Segullah Bloggersnacker. M&M–you’re coming. Oh yes. You are.

WHEN: Wednesday July 9th, 5-7 p.m. WHERE: Murray Park (near the playground…more details to come). 5109 Murray Park Ln. Murray, UT 84107 WHAT TO BRING: Yourselves. Your children. Your most embarrassing story. Your favorite book. Ok, bring whatever you want, I really don’t care. But, I do care about FOOD. So, bring some yummy food [...]

cream of wheat, a concert, and Cather

Have you read the latest issue of Segullah yet? If you haven’t, you’re missing out. Lori Nawn’s beautiful essay, “Cream of Wheat” caught my eye because I grew up absolutely loathing Cream of Wheat. I realize now we must have been eating (or, in my case, gagging on) the instant kind. But I absolutely love [...]

rant and rave, or, “I heart Utah” redux

Lately it seems that every time I turn around someone is saying something not very nice about the place I have lived now for the past 17 years. A place I love, though I am fully aware of its flaws. The place I am choosing to raise my family and which has given my kids [...]

Do Faith-promoting Rumors Promote Faith?

I first heard the now-debunked “Generals in the War in Heaven” story in Seminary, during high school. I quote from FAIRwiki: You were in the War in Heaven and one day when you are in the spirit world you will be enthralled with those who you are associated with. You will ask someone in which [...]

Fairest of them All

Last week a friend of mine returned to Texas from her first visit to Utah in almost twenty years. When I asked her how she liked it, her first response was, “I’ve never seen so many fake boobs in my life!”

The Best Books

In yesterday’s wonderful post by Emily, she spoke about her mother-in-law who spent her life quietly serving her family. As I read how Emily honored this woman in her life, it brought to mind the last sentence of a novel I read years ago–Middlemarch by George Eliot: .”. . . For the growing good of [...]

GUEST POST: Emily Watts–Accomplishing Something

Today’s guest post comes from Emily Watts, acclaimed author of Being the Mom. You can find more of Emily’s writings at her own blog and at Light Refreshments Served. Emily has 5 children and 2 grandchildren. Welcome to Segullah, Emily! Thanks for being here. I have heard horror stories about mothers-in-law. I have friends who [...]

No one told me

Today’s guest post is brought to us by the very brave Bek, or Rebecca, of Ignore the Crazy. Bek, whose loving and generous spirit has manifest itself in humanitarian aid clear across the globe as well as in her very own home, has agreed to take us along as she takes a hard and honest [...]

Saying Goodbye

“Too Late to Say Goodbye,” Dalene Rowley’s poignant essay about her mourning her father, has got me thinking about greetings and farewells. Dalene talks about not realizing how close her father was to dying until it was too late to say goodbye. He left without that official farewell from her, without that closure, and the [...]

Dad

Shortly after my parents brought me home from the hospital — a tiny little baby in a light pink jumper — my father attempted his first diaper changing. My mother, as the story goes, found my father and I in the nursery, me still covered in poop, and my father turned away from me puking [...]

Father’s Day overshadowed

All across the country families will recognize their fathers, grandfathers, husbands and father figures this Sunday. At our house, we’ll probably have some kind of a nice dessert, grill some steaks, and open a present or two once Eddie gets home from work. This year, Father’s Day isn’t the focus of our weekend, because our [...]

My Least Favorite Primary Song

Remember the old Primary song called, “The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden”? No? Neither do I. But several years ago my daughter loved to read the Primary Songbook before bed, so I got to be pretty familiar with all the lesser-known ditties, including that one. Right around that same time we moved into a [...]

Katarina’s Water Pitcher

This is a guest post from Rachelle, who has been writing for over 13 years (but is brand new to the blogging scene). She graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and has written for several Utah magazines, parenting websites and other odds and ends. She keeps her days busy with three kids [...]

waiting

Today’s guest poster has requested her name be withheld, in order to protect someone who is dear to her heart. “Hurry, you’ll be late,” I called down to my son who was supposed to be joining the rest of the youth for the ward temple trip. “Mom, I need to talk to you,” he replied. [...]

Article Discussion: Names

I happily took my husband’s name when we married. Well, before even. I set up my login at grad school to include the “o” as my last name well before he got down on one knee. I dreamily wrote my full name out in loopy letters in my journal, just like every happy bride is [...]

Word Challenge!

I’ll pick a word and you, in the comments, do a quick free-write of a paragraph or two with your best interpretation of the word. Today’s word is: Falling

Bring it on!

I don’t know about where you live, but where I live this week it was the first week of summer vacation but it’s been cold and rainy all week. Don’t get me wrong, I love a rainy day. But I’m ready for some summer sun and some summer fun. Maybe if we chat about summer [...]

No more pencils, no more books…

Shelah is a SAHM to four kids (ages 8 to 1) who loves reading, running and chronicling her life in the blogosphere (she also writes here and here). She joined the church as a teenager in Connecticut, and attended BYU from 1993-1997, when she graduated with a degree in English Teaching. She completed a MA [...]

Is Good Pioneer Stock Better than Other Kinds of Stock?

Today’s guest post is from the fabulous Kacy Faulconer. Kacy blogs at Every Day I Write the Book and is one of the featured bloggers at the new and delicious Light Refreshments Served. Thanks Kacy! As a member of a worldwide church with lots of converts, surely you know the answer to this. Of course [...]

Part II of Finding Faith: Raising bicultural kids

This is the final (for now) installment in last week’s guest post, “Finding Faith.” We left off at the part when our guest poster had recently married a man of another faith and had resumed attending church. During those early years, I had very sporadic visiting teachers, and I don’t think we ever saw home [...]

An American in an International Church

What is left of the steam from the potato salad rises slowly, stops just above the dish and descends. Forks are scraping plates with hungry vigor, sausages are being passed from place to place, the vegetables, freshly-bought are crisp with life. Each mouth opens and closes, eyes sometimes follow. A slow, soft sound of pleasure [...]