Welcome from a Real Mormon Housewife

My dear Sisters…this is a blog for you. This is a place of humor, inspiration, and beautiful words. A place you can run to in between loads of laundry and carpool duty to remember why what you do really, truly does matter.

I am a graphic designer, a six foot tall woman who still loves a good set of heels, a mother of four, and I am REAL Mormon Housewife. What does it take to be a real Mormon housewife? While we come in many shapes, sizes, colors and from diverse circumstances, there are a few basic requirements. The following is an explanation of how humble little I, fit the bill:

Requirement #1: BEING MORMON I am 100% Mormon - or rather, 100% a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was born into a super-strict LDS family, and am one of seven children. We had family home evening, yawned through early morning scripture study, ate more tuna casserole than anyone should ever have to, attended seminary at 5am, volunteered for any and every assignment possible, and in general, put on a FABULOUS show of cleanliness, righteousness, humility and love to anyone that was interested in watching. But of course, as is usually the case, things weren’t quite as perfect behind closed doors.

Requirement #2: BEING A HOUSEWIFE This is the first time since I was ten years old that I haven't had a "real" job. I come from humble circumstances, and any extras including more than the 3 school outfits, and one pair of shoes that were provided to me per year, were purchased with money I earned myself. I was THRILLED to be able to start earning the big bucks as a paper-girl when I turned ten, and haven't stopped working since. I have had almost every job under the sun, from farmhand & waitress, to Marketing Department consultant. Although I worked from home, the company I was working for recently went out of business, so now I officially and solely am a stay at home mommy to four little ones, and am a REAL housewife. I cook, clean and loathe laundry daily!

Requirement #3: BEING REAL This requirement is a little less cut and dry than the others. You can be real in so many different ways...but for me, it means that I love the gospel, I have a testimony of Christ, I support the priesthood, I serve when called {I've been everything from a Primary Worker to Relief Society Pres.} but I am honest and REAL enough to admit that things aren't always what they seem. We live in a culture of what I call Sunday Faces. These beat the best poker faces any day of the week, HANDS DOWN! We are cheerful, and giving, and put together and always have a sweet answer when someone at church asks us how we're doing, when really, on the inside, we're screaming: Terrible! I'm doing terrible! My two year old pee-ed on this dress during sacrament meeting, my husband's not talking to me because there weren't any clean whites again this morning, I wrote my five year old's talk on the back of the program two minutes ago, and I just want to drop everyone off at primary, go home, eat some oreos and put my feet up!

I am finally at the point in my life where I am absolutely OK with being real, and hope my perspective of reality will bless you as well!
As a side note: I was not born in, raised in, nor do I now reside in Utah. I had the pleasure of attending school there - but left as soon as I graduated. There is just something a little un-real about living in a never ending fashion show of blonde bobs and skinny jeans. Utah takes the Sunday face to the seven-day-a-week extreme, and that's just simply too much pressure for me. So here I am, in a very religious city, surrounded by great Christians and Baptists, and a growing population of LDS members. It's fabulous, and I can close my blinds, and hide out for a day or two, and no one in my ward calls the bishop to report that they're concerned for my well-being. How great is that?