• Family

    How Not Live In Wedded Bliss

    This week Mr. Man and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary.  We’ve had our share of trials and successes.  We’ve been very blessed and our love…and patience for each other…has only grown.  BUT, we don’t live in wedded bliss.  In my opinion, wedded bliss ends within the first 2 years of a marriage, then the hard stuff begins.  Instead of striving for constant wedded bliss…Mr. Man and I have a joyful marriage.  I love him deeply and couldn’t see my life without him.  He is a wonderful husband and an amazing father to the amigos.  He is thoughtful and kind.  He makes me laugh at least a few times each…

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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,…

  • Family

    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…

  • Family

    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…