Extremely cold and incredibly beautiful

I went home for Christmas, begrudgingly. I tried to talk myself out of it this year, for several reasons: plane tickets are a few hundred dollars more now that we live in Rhode Island; my husband is quite possibly going to a really expensive grad [...]

PRELUDE TO A KISS AT MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (MUSINGS ON LONGING)

I recently watched two movies (not at the same time.) One was an older film called “Prelude to a Kiss” with Meg Ryan and a young (cute!) Alec Baldwin, which involved an old man kissing a bride on her wedding day and the two exchanging souls/bodies–a sort of prelude to “Freaky Friday.” The young bride, [...]

Home Sweet Home

Every day one of my children comes rushing in the door and heads straight to the bathroom. We’ve talked repeatedly about the physical issues that can come up from holding it in all day, but she refuses to listen to reason and only uses the bathroom in public when the situation becomes absolutely unavoidable. As [...]

The Battle in our Brains

Several months ago I attended the Mormon Women Project Salon Event, at which I heard Tina Peterson speak. The title for her breakout session was, “Becoming a Deliberate Student of the Gospel.” Tina has a degree in Near Eastern Studies and has studied the Old and New Testament in their original languages from multiple sources [...]

If You Just [Insert Stupid and/or Unhelpful Here]

“Hey Kel, I know this really nice guy – “ “No thanks.” “But I haven’t said anything about him!” “You said you know a guy.” “I do!” “You said ‘nice’” “So?” “You’re trying to set me up.” “Um, yeah?” “No thanks.” I do not need a husband. I’ve had one and frankly the model I [...]

“Is Not This the Fast that I Have Chosen?”

Like most of you, I’m guessing, I haven’t always understood or relished the law of the fast. On Fast Sundays as a young girl I hated that hollow, gnawing feeling in my stomach and I passed the time in Sunday school fantasizing about my favorite treats—custard tarts, vanilla slices, lamingtons—always resolving to buy two of [...]

Bread

Last Sunday, as I was sliding into a pew in time for sacrament meeting, one of the ward leaders motioned me over. Did I have any bread at home? Well, do they say ya’ll in Texas? Of course I did, I always do. There was no bread for the sacrament, and could I run home [...]

The Art of Story

On Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 at 7:45 a.m. the eyes and ears of many in the world of children’s literature will be on Dallas. That’s where and when the Association for Library Service to Children (a division of the American Library Association) [...]

Perfect People Not Allowed

A few weeks before Christmas I drove past a cozy-looking Protestant church in my neighborhood. I noticed a colorful banner staked into the ground — “Perfect people not allowed!” it read — and I felt a yearning tug in my heart. It had been a tiring month, emotionally and physically, and the idea of walking [...]

On not being boring

An old friend joined FB this week. I’m a little bit addicted to FB, and so when I saw his name pop up on another friend’s wall, I sent him a friend request. His response was polite but the message was clear–he was glad I was doing well, but we were not going to be [...]

Speaking in Tongues

I’m in the process of trying to go back to school. One of the new (well, new since I went to college) requirements is to have intermediate proficiency in a foreign language. I enrolled in a Spanish class and went last week for the first time. It was, in a word, bewildering. I was lost–completely [...]

Turn the other cheek

Elementary school can be a tough gig. Early in September, my little Mary sobbed into my arms, “Alice told everyone not to play with me at recess. She says I’m mean.” “And what did you do?” I asked, my mother heart constricting. “I just walked away,” little Mary replied, “and found some friends who like [...]

The Turning

January is such a hard month for so many people. I wanted to find something light and entertaining to say, something else, but instead this topic tugs and nudges at me today. About suffering they were never wrong, The Old Masters; how well they understood Its human position; how it takes place While someone else [...]

On Being Ordinary

I know T.S. Eliot famously claimed that “April is the cruelest month,” but I think January could challenge April for the title. Like its Roman namesake, Janus, January is definitely two-faced. It’s a time of endings and beginnings, of looking forward and looking back. It combines the promise of a new year with the [...]

Singleminded

My oldest son loves video games. He loves them so much that he turned his sixth-grade geography project from “Japan” to “The History of Video Games in Japan.” We’ll sweep his room for his DS and iPod before he goes to bed, but often still find him in the morning with the handheld game clutched [...]

Coming of Age in a Maasai Boma

Our Dalton turned 16 last week. Like some of his former birthdays, this one could have been given short shrift, being squished, as it is, between Christmas, our wedding anniversary, and New Year’s. But this was The Big 1-6, and for months Dalton had been counting down the days. So we promised we’d really mark [...]

Acceeeeeentuate the Positive

I am absolutely, overwhelmingly enchanted and in love with ‘the world’. You know that ‘world’ that gets labeled in every Sunday School, seminary, and primary class as being the enemy? Yeah. That one. Can’t keep my hands off of it. 0

Singing My Praises

I don’t sing in the ward choir. I don’t even sing particularly loud during sacrament meeting. I was blessed with a good ear for music—I can tell when something is off-key and not right. When it’s my children playing the piano while I make dinner, I can easily call out from the kitchen and direct them [...]

Jennie, the Not-so-Powerful

I kind of don’t like the start of a New Year. It seems so open, so white, so overwhelming. I’m more of a baby step person. I like the idea of taking things a bit at a time. Which is why I dislike New Year’s resolutions. Most years I don’t even bother because I flop [...]

Putting some heart in it

I am a personal person. I REALLY like personal things. I like giving little bits of myself to other people, and I love when other people give parts of themselves to me. I love things that are homemade. This takes on a lot of forms. I have one friend who brings me after-church treats. As [...]

Sister Site: Segullah Literary Journal

Augury May 17, 2013
I peered into a puddle and saw the sky, as if I had lain on the pavement and looked up ... keep reading […]
A New Green Birth May 17, 2013
We scatter seeds in rows of statued stone marked with names and planting year. Encased in sleek shell, the earth ... keep reading […]
Blessing the Trees May 17, 2013
She bought the land for the w i d e n e s s of it, not the trees. But ... keep reading […]
A Dream and a Dirt Road Miracle May 2, 2006
February 10, 2005 TODAY WAS AS HOT AND DUSTY as the dirt road we traveled. Walking slowly just ahead of us, ... keep reading […]

Segullah

Mormon women blogging about the peculiar and the treasured