Sunday devotional - scripture study

I started a new "thing" (as I have a tendency of doing).

I actually learned this from a favorite blogger: having a scripture journal. Ok, I'd heard of it before, but one post in particular really got me thinking about it. And then I read this recap of  a presentation about scripture study called "the battle in our brains" which essentially said that we need to create the same positive associations in our minds with the scriptures and gospel study as we have with say Facebook or anything else we do regularly -- there's nothing inherently wrong with checking email frequently, but we need to create that sort of dependency on the scriptures too.

So I thought to myself: I need to be a little more serious about this. And I started a scripture journal, and so far (day one) it's been pretty cool.

I only studied one chapter but I wrote out some thought processes, as questions came up. It was nice, and I felt very involved. I like this method.

And by the way, the sister who gave that presentation will be giving it again this Friday at the Mormon Women Project Salon, so if you're near Salt Lake you're one lucky lady! I so wish I could go :(

Otherwise, church was good today, and Andrew and I are making nice progress on a musical number for two weeks from now: I'm excited! It's such a beautiful piece. We'll record it when it's ready so our family (and friends who may be interested) can hear it too :)

Oh, and I unearthed this little gem: Guidelines for writng LDS hymns. I guess there was a big push for members to submit new hymns in the 70s, but frankly everything he says could apply to us. It's basically an exhortation to create new content -- what a cool way of being part of the process! I'm thinking Andrew and I should try our hand at it. We'll see what comes of that! And speaking of hymns, I may have sniffed out a really cool story on the origin of the "Souviens-toi" French hymn, and I'm in the process of verifying it with the woman who I believe wrote it. I'll keep you updated :)

Have a lovely Sunday evening!

Women in my family

Here's our statistic of the day: women still earn less than men for equal work at every education level in the U.S. And a recent report from the census bureau shows that while receiving advanced degrees pays off for women, it's still not as financially beneficial as it is for men. Men's overall median monthly earnings are $3,750, while women come in at $2,917. 

So next time you think (or hear): "oh, those feminists need to get over it now, women's rights are so nineteenth century"... that's flat-out not true. This number is important because so many people honest-to-goodness think the income gap is a thing of the past. It's not.

And now: the first woman - or rather women - I'd like to introduce you to are my aunts. You've already heard about them plenty, so I won't elaborate, but they've taught me a lot about being faithful. Faithful to God, faithful to your responsibilities, faithful to friends, faithful to famiglia.

They were a source of inspiration to me growing up, and I know they've been a role model for many other people; they've touched so many lives as music teachers, as participants in their community and family, as teachers and leaders in the church.

So please, check out the interview I did with them over this summer. It's a good read, and you'll see a little bit of what I mean. They're pretty cool :)

How about you? What have women in your family given or taught you? Do share, I'd love to hear your stories!

Read the interview here

Lovin' it

This semester has been good to me so far

Also, you should read the latest MWP interview - she's amazing: this woman was in her last year at the Princeton Theological Seminary, studying to become a protestant minister when she converted to the Church. What an act of faith to leave behind not only your religion but also your entire career!

MWP Videos are up!

PS: Two of the videos from the Mormon Women Project Salon are already up--check it out!

Redundant me

Way too many of my sentences start with "I read an article the other day..."

Seriously, it's pathological. But I really do read some good articles. And since everybody's stressing about finals while I chill out and enjoy my freedom (I technically have two finals left but I'm not really concerned, they're pretty straightforward exams), I've had lots of time to read interesting things. Or listen to interesting things. Have you ever heard of the Round Table, for example? It's a podcast by Mormon women and it's pretty awesome. I'm pretty sure that will be me in a few years. To be completely honest, I would love to have my own talk show and be a professional blogger. I'd go around giving speeches and write books and help people see the good in the world and think about hard things and find solutions... and learn plenty of things in the process for myself. Yup, that's what I really want to do.

Anyway, you should check it out, it's good. Another awesome place you should check out, especially if you're a mom, is http://powerofmoms.com/, founded by an LDS woman (well technically there are several women involved but I think she was one of the original developers) but intended for a general audience.

And since we're talking about interesting articles, here's one I'm reading right now, about boys becoming men (and no, it has nothing to do with boy bands).

Oh and if you really want a good read... you should read my latest interview for the Mormon Women Project! Plug! But really, you can hear (and see!) more about how this Lebanese-French artist discovered the Gospel, which influenced her so much that it quite literally colored her whole art world.

In other news, I attended my last real class of my undergraduate career last week. It feels wonderful, especially because I still have my internship to look forward to. I just found out about another possible anchoring opportunity, but I'll tell more when I actually know more for that one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though. It was kind of bittersweet anchoring my last newscast and airing my last story on Thursday.

in the voicing booth with my awesome co-anchor, Jenné

The whole Thursday crew. Aw, don't we all look so young and full of hope...

I'm also a bit nervous about the future, let's be honest. Ugh, decisions decisions. It's hard being a grown-up.
At least I've gained great experience and met awesome people. Who knows what will come of it all though... who knows.

Last Newscast

Finals. sort of

It's so close. I can't believe I'm finishing the last classes of my degree.

Oh hey, did I mention I got the internship I wanted? Woohoo! I'll be starting at KSL January 4th and I can't wait.

But in the meantime I am exhausted--I need sleep, I need mental rest, and I really need school to be done. My last story airs Thursday, so watch for that :) And Thursday is also my last day anchoring... kind of sad, I can't believe it's already almost over! Phew. Time to got to bed, I can't muster any interesting writing right now.

Oh, my next interview on the MWP is coming out tomorrow or the next day, so look out for that as well.

Mormon Women Project Salon Recap

I was a bit apprehensive at first, because I've never actually met Neylan or any of the MWP contributors. I went by myself and was worried about sitting alone, but silly me. I was underestimating how irresistibly awesome all these women are. I got there early because we had driven up to go to the zoo for my story (I was worried I would smell like monkeys, but it turned out OK) so Andrew and I walked around temple square for a little bit and then he settled down to do homework and I went to help out with check-in. I was pretty much the youngest person there, but it was awesome. It was essentially what I had always imagined Enrichment should be.

The theme of the salon was Deliberate Womanhood, the idea of crafting our lives rather than just letting them happen to us, and it was such a good topic for me to hear about right now. The first speaker was Emma Lou Thayne. She's a poet and among many other things she penned the words to the hymn "Where can I turn for peace?" Despite being in her eighties she was so full of life and I loved hearing her speak about growth, trials, and decisions. She told plenty of stories about her family, her husband, her writing, her accident (she had a near-death experience after a terrible car crash)... she was lively but also wise; she spoke with so much authority about life, as if to remind us all: "I've been where you will be, and you should hear what I have to say." (I apologize for the inordinate amount of run-on sentences and the jumble of words that is this post, but if I don't get it out now it will never happen.)

She shared a hilarious poem she wrote after having a toe amputated:

"Ditty to my missing parts"
Where are you waiting, my missing contraptions?
Parts so long in on my acts and reactions?
We’ll be re-united in that other life
But meantime I’m lacking what’s gone with the knife.


First tonsils at four, appendix at twenty,
Since, gall bladder, uterus, moles more than plenty.
An eardrum, a breast, and wisdom teeth, So
Are they consorting today with my nipped second toe?


Where are my actual left hip and right knee?
With substitute fixtures, is what’s left really me?
Does my lost stuff know physiology?
And the source of its real genealogy?


Do items out there know they’re all related?
Does time of departure say how situated?
With so much I was born with now distant collection?
Is restitution included in resurrection?


So I’ve been taught and I know that it’s true
But will they all fit and say, “Boy we missed you!”

Aside from being really funny, it really demonstrates the humor she seems to have about herself. She's had her share of hardships: a severely bipolar daughter at a time when bipolar disorder wasn't recognized, an accident that should have killed her... but she wrote beautiful poetry throughout all of these things and found ways to see the beauty and humor in life.

Next we went into breakout sessions, and it was hard to chose between them all but I felt drawn to the one on "Finding power in your personal story". Shelah Miner (She writes for Segullah, Feminist Mormon Housewives, and has written for the Exponent II and other mormon projects... all kinds of cool stuff) presented a workshop on writing about your life. It's been a loooong time since I've written in my journal, but her presentation on writing about yourself in meaningful ways really got my creative juices going. She gave a short presentation and then had us do various exercises to get us started. Some of the prompts were to write about a specific image in time (describe five senses, focus on a specific moment instead of a narrative/chronological description) and a few questions:

A moment I realized Heavenly Father loved me was when…
A hard choice I’ve made in my life was when…
A moment I realized there is power in what I do was when...

So we all got to work and wouldn't you know I just happened to sit down next to a fellow broadcaster! (Definitely not a chance encounter) Funny story though: when I first saw her and told her my name I started to panic because she said she had also studied broadcasting and suddenly I thought she looked an awful lot like KUTV's anchorwoman  and felt pathetic that I wasn't sure because I'm supposed to know these kinds of things and I was freaking out because here I was sitting next to the anchor of a station I wanted to intern at and I couldn't even remember her name... thankfully it wasn't her though so I was able to relax. Ha.

Anyway: DeAnne Flynn is a former reporter/anchor and has written several books, speaks at Time out for Women, has hosted a talk show and does all kinds of generally awesome stuff. Basically, everything I hope to be someday--seriously. She also came alone so we decided to be buddies for the rest of the evening and she dragged me to the group discussion on "becoming a deliberate mother" because hello, on top of being crazy accomplished she has seven gorgeous kids. (I wasn't complaining much about being dragged, it was great. So was the food, by the way.)

She was so nice and was genuinely interested in learning about me. And I in turn was happy as a clam to fire away asking her all about HOW she did it all. I've been so stressed lately about decisions that are looming ever nearer. Babies. Career. Family life. Personal fulfillment. Ugh. She was encouraging and reassuring. She told me I had a great future ahead of me, but she did say that I might need to be flexible with my career choices in order to do it all.* Just being around all these incredible women gave me hope though, that I can craft my life in a way that will bring me joy in all aspects. I need to focus on what I want to and need to do (well and my husband too :) and not worry so much about what I'm expected to do by my peers, professors, and the rest of the world. Phew. (That doesn't mean I don't still have panic attacks every once in a while.)

The deliberate motherhood discussion group was cool. I just shut up and listened because I'm not exactly a model of experience with motherhood, but it gave me lots of good ideas and things to think about. The woman leading the discussion blogs at http://powerofmoms.com and she talked about how mothers can define themselves rather than saying "oh, I'm just a mom" and also about finding value in what we do. Lots of  other good stuff, great discussion.

Finally we were all rounded up back to the main room for a panel discussion led by Neylan (Editor/founder of the Mormon Women Project). She asked the panelists, Valerie Hudson (distinguished BYU International Relations professor), Tiffany Gee Lewis (DesNews reporter) and Chrysula Winegar (Work-life balance advocate) various questions about womanhood, motherhood and the workplace and it was awesome. Valerie Hudson nearly got a standing ovation when she talked about the LDS doctrine of gender equality (if you haven't read this presentation she gave a while back, you need to. It changed my life. Also, I'm so sad she's leaving BYU in January--I took one class from her and desperately wanted to take her "political economy of women" class, but wasn't able to work it in. Now I never will.) and Chrysula Winegar gave me so much hope: she works hard to advocate balance between family life and work, especially for women and one of the things she said really struck me: she essentially said it was important for women's voices to be a part of the professional world and that it was possible, but women need to push back against corporations and force them to recognize that we also want and need to be mothers. One point that Dr Hudson made was that important legislation with regards to childcare, women's health, education and the family in general had come about because there were women judges, women legislators, women educators, and women activists that were active in making it happen: they understand the importance of those issues and have a unique perspective on them. They talked about so many things that I can't remember all of them, but the videos from the Salon will be on the website so I'll let you know when they're up. Oh and Chrysulla Winegar quoted Patricia Holland:

"We must have the courage to be imperfect." 

What words of wisdom. I remember at some point near the end of the Salon just sitting there, and thinking about how privileged I was to be in this assembly of brilliant people. It was humbling and inspiring at the same time, and... I can't wait for next year.

Phew, I made it through. If you're still reading, congratulations! You get to look at this really cool picture.



One last plug for the Mormon Women Project: "Far from a monochrome stereotype, the beauty and variety of our women prove that there is no one right way to 'choose the right.'" WORD


*Incidentally, here's a rocking BYU alum anchor/reporter who apparently is doing it all. HOW?! I need to write to her

MWP Salon reminder

Yes, I'm posting again about the MWP Salon. Come! It will be amazing! You can even carpool with me--it's going to be such an inspiring event, I know you won't want to miss it :)

Register here.

MWP Salon

I would like to take a minute to invite you to come to the Mormon Women Project Salon on November 5th. It's going to be absolutely amazing and you really don't want to miss such an incredible opportunity to meet LDS women from all sorts of backgrounds and hear some incredible speakers (Valerie Hudson!! Yes!!) on some great subjects. Plus you'd be supporting me in a roundabout way since the point of this is also to raise funds for the MWP and hopefully eventually be able to pay for transcription services and the such--which means more awesome interviews for me to conduct (like this one) and you to read! See, it's win-win-win. So please come, I'd love some extra company, and I know it'll be amazing. Register here.

Yay, an interview

It's up: my first interview for the Mormon Women Project.

Featuring my own aunts of course, where else to start? :) I really like how it turned out, and you can read the original version in French too. I have several more interviews in the works and I'm so glad to be participating. I love the website and you will too, I'm sure of it. It's so inspiring to read about the lives of such incredible women of the Church. I was listening to a podcast that included the founder, Neylan McBaine, and they pointed out that the MWP doesn't "prescribe" Mormon women, it "describes" them--rather than talking about the ideal woman or what a Mormon woman should be, it simply presents a multitude of examples and says: "this is what Mormon women are. Here is how we have lived our faith." I love that. (That's also what I love about the new "I'm a Mormon" media campaign.)

Hey, you can participate too! You can donate, grab a badge for your blog or become a fan on Facebook. You can also nominate someone or just contact me if you know someone who should be featured. The possibilities are endless :)