My Day on the World Stage

In 1993 the opportunity arrived for me to shut up or put up. There was a woman by the name, or rather using the name, of Deborah Laake. She’d written a book called “Secret Ceremonies: Diary of a Mormon Wife” – a work of pure and sad delusion. This poor woman, if she told the complete truth, was at the mercy of a father who took unrighteous dominion to new levels. Whatever the perceived truth, she became extremely disenchanted with the church and proceeded to betray every covenant she’d half-heartedly made with the Lord. Where do I come in? Well, … Continue reading

A Few Good Pregnancy Books

I have always been into reading, but during pregnancy I was even more so. Especially during my first pregnancy – you know, before I had a little one to take care of and had more time available for reading. I read a lot of things, and like many pregnant women, I spent a lot of time reading about pregnancy and childbirth. There are a lot of books on pregnancy and childbirth out there to choose from. If you have a lot of time on your hands, feel free to explore any and all of them. If time is at a … Continue reading

Beware the Green Eyed Monster: How Jealousy Can Impact Your Blended Family

I tiptoed up to the topic, believing that most of us are pretty sensitive about it: “Sometimes step parents feel…I don’t want to call it jealousy, but…” at which point Kelly, eight years into her step mom experience, interrupted, “Oh, you can call it jealous! I was definitely jealous!—of a six year old, no less!” We were talking about what can often become a defining dynamic between children and step parents, and consequently, a divisive issue for a biological parent and their spouse. It’s not an emotion many of us are willing to cop to, especially if the trigger is … Continue reading

Why are YOU interested in genealogy?

Something occurred to me right after I decided to become a blogger on the topic of genealogy. I realized that it has been a long, long time since I did any genealogical research. I think the last time I conducted research about my family history was in middle school when my mom helped me make a family tree as part of a school project. A lot has changed since then, and while I have not yet acquainted myself with the modern tools of genealogical research like these free web resources, I am eager to see how far back in time … Continue reading

Tips for Toning Your Tummy

Who can forget the amazing abs Mark “Marky Mark” Wahlberg flashed while baring almost all for those incredible Calvin Klein ads? Wahlberg’s ripped abdomen had thousands of wannabes trying to tone their tummies in an effort to look half as good as the singer turned actor. But, alas the majority of men (and women) who spent mornings completing countless sit ups and crunches, quickly found out that they could spend an entire day targeting their stomach muscles, but no one would ever see the results unless they ramped up their cardio workouts to melt away the fat covering those fab … Continue reading

Is One Really Enough?

I got into weightlifting when I was a freshman in college. I was dating a guy who was obsessed with bodybuilding. He was competing for Mr. Wisconsin… or was it Mr. Universe? In any event, A. couldn’t go a day without working out (or eating egg whites), so needless to say, much of the time we spent together was at the gym. And while our relationship may have failed (he loved his body way more than he loved me) I left with a great parting gift—-a toned body and tight grip on how to design a fitness routine that worked … Continue reading

Baby Blog Month in Review: August 2008

Isn’t it crazy the way babies grow so quickly? It seems that you just get used to one stage and boom they are already into another. Tonight, were busy getting the household all set for my eldest child’s first day of second grade. My two younger ones are excited and want to start school, too. It will be a busy month. Don’t worry about the missing last week of blogs. I’ve gotten quite a few questions about where I have been. The Baby Blog tends to go on hiatus the last week of the month. That may change in the … Continue reading

The Curious Case of Sister-Wives

The other night I stayed up late watching TV because I couldn’t sleep. I ended up tuning into a show called “The Secret Lives of Women.” Apparently the show’s a series and features insight into different aspects of women’s lives. The night I watched the topic was polygamy. I have to admit, other than what I’ve seen from the media, I don’t know much about polygamy. I knew the concept of multiple wives sprung from religious beliefs, but I’ve never understood why any woman would sign up for that type of marriage. (Unless if she was forced into it, like … Continue reading

Stretched Too Thin in Your Work and Business

Building a home business means increasing the number of customers we serve, finding more clients, selling more products and/or offering more services. We have to continue adding work if we are going to go from nothing to a viable business. As a small, one-person operation, however, it is possible to push ourselves too hard, too fast and end up being stretched far to thin to provide good service to anyone. This is a very pertinent topic for me and I know from talking to some other home business owners that managing work and how much time and resources we have … Continue reading

Do We Spend Too Much on the Iraq War?

No doubt, Iraq is a hot topic right now. With more than half of the country wanting us to pull out yesterday it seems, well wrong, that congress could pass a bill of that magnitude when so many voters are against the Iraq war. What the Bill Does The bill provides expanded benefits for military veterans as well as providing monies for college tuition for military veterans. It also provides $2.7 million dollars in flood relief to help victims of the recent flooding in the mid-west. The spending will bring the grand total to $650 million that the U.S. Government … Continue reading