Yellow Wallpaper

A few weeks ago I received a call asking me to substitute teach in Relief Society today. I don't think I've ever taught Relief Society before, even though I've always wanted to. The lesson was from the Gospel Principles manual and was about Eternal Marriage. As I told the sisters today, when I teach I usually just like to prepare an outline with a lot of questions, and get them to run the discussion. That's how today's lesson went and I think it went well. Afterwards several people mentioned that they liked the lesson quite a lot, and I thought it was interesting that one person specifically mentioned liking the fact that I explicitly encouraged comments because she didn't feel like she was 'interrupting me'. Some people asked me to post my lesson, and the truth is I didn't have much beyond an outline, but I will put it here. “All of us women have an image of the ideal family—a marriage in the temple to an active priesthood holder, and children wh...

The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith I picked up this book because I wanted to see what a nationally-published YA book by a Mormon author, about Mormon teens, was like. It was pretty good and I thought the religious and cultural elements were worked into the narrative quite well. I was left feeling a little unsatisfied by the fact that the plot was not very strong and there wasn't much of a resolution in the end. I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells This book left me feeling very satisfied and I thought it was a great end to the series. The author thought up some great new twists and I was hooked until the end. Part of me wishes there were more books about John Wayne Cleaver, but part of me is glad there aren't so I don't have to read about any more horrible ways for people to die. Rescue by Anita Shreve I tried this book because the plot sounded interesting. It was, but I thought all the characters were flat and stereotypical, and their motivations were not very cl...

In May I went to the dentist for the first time in about five years. Yes, I know I should have gone more regularly in the past. I have a lot of excuses, including some good ones like the moving around we have done and the occasional lack of dental insurance. I didn't think that skipping the dentist would be a big deal because I've had good teeth for most of my life. I also floss and brush every day and I don't drink soda, coffee, or tea. Well, after spending a very long time in the dentist's chair that day I learned a few things. I had several small cavities between my teeth. I also had to endure a deep cleaning of my teeth and gums to get off the stuff that had built up during my years without regular cleanings. Apparently I have been experiencing both periodontitis and gum recession . The dentist sent me away with special medicinal mouthwash and an appointment in a few weeks to fill my cavities. The appointment for my fillings was definitely the worst experience I...

We actually did all these states a while ago but for some reason I didn't actually publish the post. Oops. Delaware: We learned some interesting facts about this state and read about Native Americans and food webs . For dinner we had some really tasty chicken and dumplings . Florida: There are a lot of fun and interesting books about Florida, especially the wildlife there. We read about manatees , the Keys , and the Everglades (I didn't know it was technically a river). For dinner we had orange-glazed shrimp with black beans and rice. We also watched the movie Flipper and ate some key-lime cake for dessert. Georgia: We learned that P is for Peach (and many other facts) and colored the flag. The kids really liked this book about the Okeefenokee Swamp and we read it a number of times. For dinner I decided to have a somewhat eclectic Southern-style meal, so we had hoppin' john , roasted sweet potatoes, biscuits, coleslaw, and peaches (of course). Hawaii: We talked a...