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Marvelous Mothers: Miss Ozra Kiss
I have had the privilege of knowing Miss Ozra for a little over a year now. She was Yo’s 1st-grade teacher and if I could have her teach him til he graduates high school, I totally would! She is an amazing woman, mother, and an elementary ed teacher. Did I mention she also coaches cheerleading? When I interviewed her, I wanted to know how she handles it all. Her family is perfect and her husband, Steven, is SO supportive. I just had to know her secret. Thank you so much for allowing me to interview. I absolutely adore your family. Your kiddos are SO stinkin’ cute. Tell me a little…
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Missed Spiritual Promptings
I have been obsessed with personal revelation and spiritual promptings for a few years now. I have had an overwhelming desire to grow closer to Heavenly Father and have His hand in my everyday life so I can be a spiritual light for my family. Irony is what it is called when you continually pray to be open and receptive to the Holy Ghost and His promptings, but then you miss them…completely. I guess I could say I missed these particular promptings because I’m a novice at recognizing the ever-present promptings. Or maybe my expectations of promptings are too great; assuming that every spiritual encounter is powerfully obvious. As I…
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Oct 1st: A Year Later #vegasstrong
It’s raining today…which is fitting. Rain can be a symbol of sadness, fear, but rain cleanses. Rain revitalizes plants, it resets the earth and brings new life. It washes away the dirt, grime, destruction. One year ago at around 11:30pm, I was laying in bed trying to sleep. I was pregnant, just beginning my second trimester, super uncomfortable and super sick. I was laying there, staring at the ceiling fan growing more frustrated by the minute. Mr. Man bursts in saying in a very urgent voice, “there’s a terrorist attack going on down on the Strip!” Being a military family, we dread something like this happening, but we know all…
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What If…Semicolon Movement
What if Goob wakes up and I don’t get enough sleep. What if I don’t get the boys to school on time. What if I look fat in the yoga pants I chose for the gym. What if I don’t have as good of a workout as I hope. What if I don’t have the motivation to clean the house like I planned to. What if I don’t finish my master’s degree. What if no one reads my blog. What if I never live up to the expectations of my husband. What if Mr. Man deploys soon. What if we can’t sell our house. What if I never lose the baby…
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Life of a Military Wife
Parasailing at UPT-2006 I am a military wife. I have been since January of 2006. And before that, I was a military brat from birth. When Mr. Man commissioned I thought I knew exactly what I was getting into because I grew up with a military dad; boy was I wrong. Growing up it was normal to have a dad that couldn’t always make it to my sporting events or recitals. I knew he loved me, I knew he would’ve been there if he could. I watched my mom be a super-mom because, well shiz always hit the fan whenever dad was unavailable. I distinctly remember when we lived in Spokane,…
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Trials
I have written and rewritten this post too many times to count. It has been a struggle to put my thoughts and feelings into words. This week has been one of the toughest in my life. Just like anyone else, I’ve endured many trials, nothing terribly unique. Mr. Man and I have had struggles and hardships we’ve weathered through…but this week…this week has definitely made me pull out my big girl panties. I can do hard things! I CAN do hard things! I can…but usually I don’t want to. I am a stubborn, hardheaded gal. Probably because my dad comes from a long line of Norwegians. When it comes to…
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My Road to Motherhood
Growing up I was not one of those girls who fantasized about getting married and becoming a mom. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to marry and have children; I just assumed it would happen when it happened. I grew up with an amazing mother, one who has been a wonderful example to me, which is probably partly why I just assumed I would be a mom someday. My mom would have snacks ready at the kitchen table for my siblings and I every day after school and we would sit, complete our homework, and tell her about our day. When I did think about my future and when I would…
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Battling Infertility
Rewind 15 years and you will find a very different Katie Marie. Within my first year of marriage, I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). At the time it wasn’t completely detrimental news. Mr. Man and I were still college students and weren’t looking to start a family until at least one of us had our bachelor’s degree and started a career with health benefits. Receiving the diagnosis of PCOS wasn’t something I thought about too much until a year after when we decided we wanted to begin trying to start a family. After a lot of medical testing, 2 major moves with the Air Force, and some pretty physically…
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A Solemn Assembly
In my short (although feels long) 35 years on this earth, I have lived through 6 Latter-Day Prophets service to the Church. (Kimball, Benson, Hunter, Hinkley, Monson and now Pres. Nelson.) I do not remember participating in any Solemn Assembly, except for when Pres. Thomas S. Monson was called and sustained. Taking part in the rare Solemn Assembly is a special occasion and an honor. Yesterday morning in the first session of the 188th biannual General Conference, the 15.8 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had the opportunity to participate in a Solemn Assembly and sustain Pres. Russell M. Nelson as the current Prophet and…
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Being a Courageous Mother
Several weeks ago I was listening to a Time Out For Women talk given by Timothy Ballard entitled ‘Women Who Shine a Light on Darkness.’ In it he was describing a parenting experience his wife had with one of their sons. Timothy and his wife were on a date at a movie theater and all of the sudden in the middle of the movie his wife stood up and left abruptly. After several minutes she came back, when he asked what happened she said that everything was fine. After the movie, while driving home Timothy asked his wife what happened; she then proceeded to tell him that she had…
