Segullah

Mormon women blogging about the peculiar and the treasured

Wolves, Boys, and the Whitneys

Shelah, Maralise, and I have spent the last couple of months reading and evaluating this year’s Whitney finalists. If you haven’t seen the list yet, pop over here and take a look. We’re not quite finished reading them all yet, but we thought we would talk about our early favorites to give more people a [...]

All because she asked

The other day while I was at work I received a text message from a friend of mine asking me what my day was like. I asked her what was up and this was her reply: “The kids and I are sick and have been all weekend. I want some comfort food. I can’t bear [...]

The Saturday-Sunday Phone Phobia

I can’t be the only one who fears phone calls on Saturdays and Sunday mornings. You know the feeling: it’s Saturday evening, a phone number you don’t recognize crosses your caller ID. Is it time to sub for those Sunbeams? Mentally wrestle with a bunch of teenagers? Or, horrors, will you be giving a last [...]

Pray for me; heal my heart

After the funeral, the house felt oddly clean and quiet– especially in little Robert’s room where his blue-trimmed crib lay empty. Just days before, Pam’s miracle baby had pulled himself up to standing, laughed at the sunshine and reached for her arms; but in the morning he was blue and still. Pam stepped onto her [...]

Eat Dessert

Example of my side of a conversation held many times before: “Yes, I would like the dessert menu. Yes, I know I haven’t ordered my main. I would like the dessert menu at the same time as the main menu. Really. (Muttered aside to my Mum/friend/nearby stranger – Would you mind telling the lovely waiter [...]

Parenting and Happiness

Twenty-one years ago I wrote the following in my daughter’s baby journal: “It’s a lovely morning—sunny, yet hazy in the hills with wisps of fog. The baby and I have had a pleasant morning playing downstairs. She squealed and rocked on her hands and knees as I played her Raffi tape. Then I fed her [...]

At Your Mercy

I have this memory of studying one morning as a missionary in Cuenca. I was focused on my study, and when my companion wanted to tell me something I snapped at her, because I didn’t want to be interrupted. I went along studying and going about our day until I finally clued in that I [...]

Pointers for Nana

I am expecting my first grandbaby, a girl. Her due date is April 2nd which also happens to be my daughter’s birthday. My daughter will get all sorts of tips and attention as a new mother. The baby will bask in the glow of gushing and cooing – heaven knows I’m providing my share already! [...]

The Eighties? Wicked Awesome

A few days ago, my 14-year-old son happened to see some photos from my youth. As he gazed upon his mother in all her big haired, acid washed glory, he said, “Did you guys know you looked kinda crazy back then? Or did you really think all that was totally normal?” “Not only did we [...]

Last chance!

Our Spring/Summer 2011 journal issue, “Tetherings,” is going to press this week. If you haven’t subscribed to our print edition, or if your subscription has expired, now’s the time to get on board! You  must subscribe or re-subscribe by midnight on Monday, March 21 in order to receive this issue. Subscriptions received after this date [...]

Old and creaky

I have tendonitis in my hamstring. Or that’s what the doctor thinks. I have an appointment with a physical therapist this week for a full evaluation. I’m not looking forward to it. I try to avoid medical things as much as possible, not because I distrust doctors, but because my life is full of them. [...]

What’s in a name?

I remember the first time I found out what my name means. I’m guessing the only reason I have this memory is because I was old enough to wonder and to have unknowingly formed an expectation. Without realizing it, I assumed that the meaning of my name would provide some great insight, reveal some hidden [...]

C’mon over, the show’s just starting

When Eddie and I were newlyweds, our next-door neighbors, the only other LDS family in our apartment complex, called us begging: “We have to go to this party and we can’t bring the kids. Would you mind watching them? We promise we’ll put them to bed before you get here.” When we showed up on [...]

The Great Wave

I have an entirely different post tapped out in Word, but after watching all the CNN footage of the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and the massive Tsunami that struck the coast of Japan, I don’t have eyes to look away. I don’t have the heart to write about anything else. My husband and I crowded around the [...]

Water in the Desert

Some years ago I had occasion to wander at length in the deserts and canyons of Arizona. For the better part of five years I traversed over mountains, through streams, and under whatever conditions mother nature saw fit to let fall upon me. Cooking on a primitive fire made from available resources, seeking a new [...]

Miscarriage and Miracle

The morning started innocuously enough. I’d stolen a few minutes away from the chaos of my children’s breakfast to look online at various gestational stages. Somewhere, I found links that women had posted showing their pregnancy bellies, and I remember feeling absurdly pleased that I wasn’t showing nearly as much as most of the women, [...]

The Great Escape

I find myself turning to Travelocity.com more and more at this time of year. I need an escape. Let’s spend this Saturday sharing our best-loved vacation escapes. What locale do you long for when the end of a long winter seems nowhere in sight? Is your favorite getaway experience a family affair or a honeymoon [...]

Sustaining in patience and faith

I was around age 11 when I first knew that the Church was true and that the Lord speaks to us through His prophet. It was a Sunday afternoon and I was bored—we weren’t allowed to watch TV on Sundays or play with friends and most of the family was napping or reading. I sat [...]

I’d like to bear my testimony of . . . satan

The Devil is true. This is what I have wanted to say many times in Testimony Meeting. But I’m sure before I got the sentence out of my mouth the Bishop would be dragging me away from the podium. Even though we believe in Satan, he is usually just a footnote added to most talks [...]

Life, Punctuated

The big kids are off to school for the day and I have exactly 60 minutes to write this before I take my oldest to the orthodontist. My five-year-old is by me, silly and loud and distracting playing Just Dance 2, and she calls me over and I am sorely tempted because have you played [...]

Not long on longevity

I flipped the TV on as I pulled clean sheets onto my bed. The man on the screen explained the antioxidant powers of fruits and vegetables. He demonstrated how to make this broccoli, pepper, apple, banana (with peel) juice he drank daily and swore allegiance to a diet with no saturated fat—all necessary to ensure [...]

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