Segullah or A "Cherished Possession"

Guilty of neglect. I know. My poor little blog has been pushed to the bottom of my priority list in what seems like forever now. Summer is just a crazy time. And although it's technically over, all the craziness has not wound down yet. Not really. But it's been fun. Lots of things happened and are still happening. Some were fun. Some were overwhelming. Some were important. Some were obligatory tedium. Some were just the etceteras of life. To all my blogging buddies, I'm so sorry if I have not dropped by for a million years. I have not forgotten how much fun blog-hopping is/was. I have not forgotten how much I have felt attached to many of you. Still am. I'm just not a very good blogger. Not as committed as I should be to keep this little blog of mine going. I'm afraid it might be headed for retirement, maybe not... we shall find out. I do have another blog. It's the one I keep for extended family and kept separate from the blogging game, if you know what I mean. And even that one suffers from neglect...oh, well. My blogging future remains to be seen.

But for now here I am posting. The motivation for this post is Segullah.

What is Segullah? To quote from their website: "Segullah is a journal published twice annually to encourage literary talent, provoke thought and promote greater understanding and faith among Latter-day Saint women. We publish insightful writings which explore life's richness and complexity while reflecting faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our aim is to highlight a variety of women's perspectives within a framework of shared beliefs and values."

The word Segullah is Hebrew which signifies a cherished personal possession that is set apart and diligently cared for.

The Segullah website is: http://segullah.org/. I'm telling you about them because I admire and am in awe of the literary talent of their staff and contributors. But don't take my word for it. Go visit Segullah yourself. And while you are there you might stumble on part of the post that was first published on Mormon Women in their Portraits series.

In Segullah my story is titled Carried By Faith. Heres' the link: http://segullah.org/up-close/keep-believing/ .

I would like to thank my new friend and angel Michelle for giving me the opportunity to be on Segullah. What an honor it has been for me. I know I probably sound very proud. But in truth I am deeply, deeply humbled.

A Mormon Woman In Progress

Humbling. Overwhelming. Cleansing. And all other mixed emotions.

I never thought I'd ever reveal the most personal side of me, much less on the internet and on a website that I am not associated with. But I did. And I hope it is for a high purpose.

I am featured on "Portraits of Mormon Women", a weeky series on a member missionary website called mormonwoman.org. Their goal is to put accurate and uplifting information about LDS women on the Internet.

Every Wednesday they do a series called "Portraits of Mormon Women" where LDS women are highlighted. They invited me to write a self-introduction and this week it is being featured on their "Portraits" series.

I hope you'll take the time to go check them out. And I hope that as you read my self-introduction and find the side of me which I speak very little of, if at all, that you will not measure me, or judge me. Just know that we are all on the same journey, even if if we are not all on exactly the same point of the road.

You can read my Portrait HERE.

"Wicked"-ly Happy!

Nothing like happiness to make a person blog even when they're busy. In case you have not noticed I have been sporadic about my blogging with long periods of absence between each post. And I wasn't even planning to post anything for any day soon, but I feel really giddy and happy I decided to share, and brag about it on my blog.

Today I came home from a long day at work and the house was clean. (But that was not the reason I was happy). There was music when I walked into the house, because my son and a couple of friends were jammin' or rockin' it out in the living room. (But that was NOT the reason I was happy.)

Even the dog Jake was well-behaved, and was content to hang out with the boys rather than bug me to take him for a walk. (But that was not the reason I was happy.)


The reason I was happy was there on the dining table! A couple of UPS boxes that were delivered to my door today!




Well, actually, it wasn't the boxes that made me happy, but what's inside that made me so excited I was literally going to cry :-) Silly me! It was these!

Oh, yeah! The Madame Alexander "Wicked Dolls" I ordered were delivered today! I love Madame Alexander dolls and I also love the musical "Wicked". My sister -in-law Lesley and our daughters went to see it in L.A. a couple years ago. It was wonderful. Ever since I've been trying to get me the "Wicked" MA dolls. But it seems "Galinda" and "Elphaba" were never available at the same time. "Elphaba" was most especially hard to find. Stores and websites always had her on back order. And I didn't really just want "Galinda" because I didn't want her without "Elphaba". But a week ago I decided since my birthday is coming up, to check just in case...and lo, and behold! There were 2 Elphabas in stock at Amazon.com. There was no way I was waiting for my birthday to see if my husband will get them for me because "Elphaba" could be gone again by then. So I made an "executive decision" and ordered both dolls. My husband was okay with it when I told him later. He said despite the scary economy I deserved to reward myself for hard work. Plus I got me a little bonus check from work recently so it's not like I was taking food away from the table just so I could have stupid dolls :-), right?

But these stupid dolls are making me happy right now. Look at this 8 inch "Galinda". Ah, the details. So lovely! Isn't she gorgeous?


My favorite, of course, is "Elphaba" --- so spunky and "odd". So wicked in a good kind of way. So unattractive in a pretty kind of way. Such a contradiction. I definitely identify with the character.

I am enjoying my dolls! I am really just a little girl inside because I feel so happy right now for something so frivolously silly and trivial as dolls. But who cares?

I'm flying high,

Defying gravity!