Hello!

I'm Brenna and I'm really excited to be a new author the Mommy Diaries!

I'm a 23-year-old SAHM of an 18-month-old daughter named Bridget and the hubs and I just decided to start trying for #2!

Before my baby girl came, I was in the nursing field, working in Labor & Delivery (so much fun!). But I wanted, and luckily the hubs also wanted, me to stay home. I always said that I wanted the "I Love Lucy lifestyle", but without all the crazy antics. I wanted to stay home, keep a clean house, raise happy kids, and have dinner on the table when hubby came home from work every night. Well, I have a happy kid. I try to have dinner on the table every night. It seems like I go through spurts of having a hot dinner every night then I get into a "fend for yourself" slump. As for a clean house, I really try hard to achieve that. If my house is messy, I feel really anxious and can't rest until it's clean. I love cleaning products and I like to be as resourceful as I can when it comes to cleaning. For instance, I make my own laundry soap and dryer sheets, which I'll post soon.

My wonderful husband is Mike. We have been married for 2 1/2 years. And even thought she was 5 weeks preemie, we were blessed to have our daughter born 10 days before our first anniversary because we were able to take her with us when we were sealed in the temple. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything in this world. The best day of our lives
made better by having our beautiful 12-day-old baby with us.

Mike is an HVAC technician (heating and air conditioning) and at night he picks up dead bodies. We also live next door to a mortuary. Our current goal is to get completely out of debt so working for the mortuary is a great thing for us. They give us a house to live in, and in exchange Mike picks up bodies and works at viewings in the evenings. I am blessed to have a hard working husband who is willing to do anything for his family.

I love being a wife and homemaker and everything that goes along with it. I'm the daughter of an Italian chef, so I love to cook. I also love to craft, coupon, clean and sew.

I recently got called to be 2nd counselor in the Primary Presidency. I'm terrified. I feel like I'm way too young to be in any kind of leadership position. But if that's where the Lord needs me, I'll happily obey.

So that's me.
And here's a current picture of my angel:

Hi, I'm Debra

I was introduced to Mommy Diaries by my fabulous friend, Bridget. I am grateful to be an author here and to learn from all of you!

A little about me. I am a mom to a 1-year-old girl who is the sunshine in my life. She is the world's pickiest eater (seriously she lives on vanilla wafers,) and so a lot of my exploits and recipes come from trying to get her to eat. I spend almost all of my time as a stay at home mom.

I am a professional photographer who used to support her family but now just does it as a side job to be able to stay home with her little girl. My business Joyous Moments Photography now is just a hobby that I love.

We live in very, very South Texas. My husband teaches 6th grade science at a middle school that you can see the Mexican border from. We stick out like sore thumbs down here but we love the culture and the sense of family (and the Gulf of Mexico being so close helps too.)
I am an avid blogger and I write children's books that I have always been too scared to publish for anyone other than my little girl. I have a degree in print/photo journalism from Utah State and I bleed Aggie blue.

Things I love:
Photography, Blogging, Writing, Cooking, Crafting, digital scrapbooking, Family History, The Church (I am a sunbeam teacher!), Web Design.

Things I hate:
People who think stay at home moms just sit around all day, ironing and sweeping my floors.

The New(est) Girl

Hi there! My name is Evelyn Perkins and I am excited to join The Mommy Diaries as a contributor. I have been following for awhile and love the sense of community found here. Hopefully, I can add a few new insights, ideas, and recipes.

My family is originally from the great state of Idaho, but transplanted to Arizona two years ago for my husband's job. One day we'll learn to love the real desert, but for now we miss our family, home, and potatoes.

Clayton works as an instructor for a technical institute and I stay at home with our three kiddos. He loves watching sports, eating out, and exploring back roads. I enjoy blogging (http://cedelperkins.blogspot.com), music, and paper crafts. I am trying to get to the point where I enjoy running. Haha!

Deacon just turned five and LOVES preschool, soy milk, and anything with wheels. Eliza is three and a half and rarely seen without her bear tucked under her arm. She has a thing for ponies. Lydia (18 months) is our little third-time-is-the-charm baby. She is our only blondie and the biggest cuddler.

We like to travel home as often as possible, eat, go on walks, read, and play at the park. Our life is very much in toddler/preschooler mode. Sometimes it's hard not to eagerly look forward to the days when our children will be more independent. We certainly love the moments, milestones, and miracles we get to see everyday and hope they don't pass too quickly.

I'm excited to be here and look forward to connecting with other moms out there!

Hi, I'm Danielle!

I found Mommy Diaries a few weeks ago through a friend's blog and I love it! I am so excited to be a contributor here and I hope that I can share some sort of insights every once in a while...we'll see.

So, about me. I live in Northern California, near Sacramento, with my best friend and husband, Sam, and our two kids, Hailey and Taylor. We have been married for four years this July. Hailey is 2 years and 3 months old, and Taylor is 2 months old.

My husband and I both went to BYU, him for computer science, and me for an English degree. I then went to court reporting school and so when I'm not chasing our kids around I am a stenographer for depositions about one day a week.

I love being a mom! I am still learning how to be a better mom, and how to be a mommy of 2 instead of 1, so I can't wait to learn more from the more experienced moms here.

I enjoy traveling, scrapbooking, reading, movies, playing with my cute kids, anything outdoors, and spending time with my family who live close by.

I'm excited to share my ideas and get some new ones from all of you!

Hi, I'm Staci Kramer

I was introduced to Mommy Diaries by my good friend Kiera and I was instantly hooked. Its taken me much too long to post my introduction because I just don't know what to say. There are so many things about myself that I could share but I guess the most important thing about me is that I am a mother. I love being a mother. I have two sons. Jack is 5 and Abraham is 1. I dream of having a hundred kids. I want to see how each one would look and what their little personalities would turn out like and I would want to snuggle them and kiss them all day long. For now the two keep my busy enough and with a little luck we will add a third sometime soon.

My husband is a police officer for the Town of Gilbert and he is a great hero for my boys. We have been married for 6 and a half years and been living here in Queen Creek, Arizona for the last three years. We live right next door to my sister and her family. She has four children who are basically being raised with my children as siblings. There are so many awesome advantages to having my sister so close. I never have to go to the grocery store with my kids and there is always someone around to hang out with when my husband is at work. We take turns making meals and do combined Family Home Evening etc. I don't know how anyone survives without their sister next door.

I am an aspiring writer and an avid blogger. I have written half of a novel and it is my goal to finally finish it and get it published sometime before I die. I am a pretty opinionated person when it comes to politics. I have been called a right-wing nut job and I consider that a great compliment. I love our country and the constitution I am so thankful for the freedoms we enjoy.

A few more things about me:

Thinks I like:
Shopping (my only vice)
Trivia (I'm a Jeopardy nerd)
Traveling (I don't do much anymore, but I do love it)
Church (I teach Gospel Doctrine and I love the gospel)
Makeup (I could spend two weeks in Sephora and not get bored)
Animals (We have three Chihuahuas, one parrot and 3 tortoises)

Things I hate:
Exercise (unless I can talk someone into doing it with me)
Cleaning my house (I throw parties to force a deadline upon myself)
Nuts (they have been responsible for ruining far too many chocolate chip cookies)
People who think being a mom is easy or doesn't require intelligence and skill

Above all I love to get to know new friends and I can't wait to be apart of the MD community!

Terésa signing in!

Hi everyone! I’m Terésa (pronounced Ter-a-sa with a hard ‘a’ sound- to get the accent, you can just copy and paste -- Hey my parents named me. If I had a say it would have been something like Sophia or Josephine- Oops digressing). I’m from Idaho. I haven’t gone private with my blog (yet?) so that’s as specific as I’m willing to get... o.k. Idaho, but not the Boise area :).

I’m married to the love of my life, and we have two beautiful children (I know we are all wondering who has the ugly kido's, but mine, non-the-less are beautiful) a boy 11years old, and a 2 year old PRINCESS in every sense of the word. And we were sealed for time and all eternity last May.

Hmmm... More specifics?? I have blonde hair, I home-school my son, I’m a cosmetologist on the side (mostly do it for fun. How many people can say their job is like playing... oh, and the discount on hair products.) I was raised in the church, my husband is a convert (and he’s from North Las Vegas- the ghetto part. I have to remind him all the time that he is white.) You can read more about us here.

I enjoy crafts... any that I can get my hands on, cooking, and being a mommy! I’m excited to get the chance to show some of my work here, and hopefully it helps some of you... some one... o.k. I’m not making any promises ;). And I’m excited to hear from all of you!

Hey Everyone!

My name is Kiera Ethington, I have been a member for a little over a week now and finally found some time to do my intro!

I'm so excited to be able to be a part of this mommy blog, I've been checkin' in on it every so often since day one and think it's a really fun idea!

I am Cassi's sister (how I knew about this blog), and she has given me some great recipes to try that always come from here..so I should actually say thank you for some great dinners/ desserts to all of you!

I just have one little baby boy, so I'm just new to the mommy thing! I live in Arizona and my husband helps run his father's Dairy farm, mostly raising the baby calves. hm.. maybe he should be a part of this! jk! I did a lot of sports in High School, but nothing really stuck! I sadly do not have much in the way of hobbies either :( I just love being around friends and family, love having fun and feel great when I accomplish something! I got an AA in general studies and my mom and I are actually going to school for Interior Design together!

My baby is almost 3 months and I have loved every second of his life, good the bad and the ugly, I love it! I can't wait to learn from all of you and get great advice (I get so much from Cassi already) and I hope to be able to find stuff to contribute (and apologize if it takes me awhile to get good at it, since it's all so new!) But I do love being a mommy so hopefully that's a good place to start!!

I am...

Katie. Also, I am so in love with this blog!

I've been a follower of the blog for quite a while (well, not officially, I've been more like a stalker, then the other day I became a follower) and sweet Bridget invited me to contribute, and I am so excited about it! I hope I have as many neat things to contribute as you all do.

Anyway, who I am. My name is Katie, and I live in Utah. My husband and I are both attending school ... I'm just working on general's right now, with a million ideas of what I want to major in, so basically no plan whatsoever, and my husband is a Military Science major, enrolled in the ROTC. We have two little girls, and they keep me very very busy! When I'm not being wife/mommy/student (or ... maid/chauffeur/housekeeper/court jester/doctor/cook/cheerleader, etc. etc. etc.) I love to read, sew, cook, and attempt new crafts! My favorite hobby is writing, and I love to spend time with my family and friends! I'm excited to be a contributor, and excited to learn more tips and ideas from you all!

Thanks Bridget (and the administrators who I don't really know but hope to get to know!) for letting me be part of this!

Hello, Hi. Hi, Hello. Yes... Yes... I'm New Here.

Well, I spotted this blog on my friends list and thought I'd poke in, then I realized I might be able to catch a chance at posting in a group setting. I was excited and immediately took the opportunity.

I love, love, love to write. For years I avoided it and then one day I realized that I had taken part of my soul and buried it in the ground like the parable of the talents. That's the day I started writing my first manuscript, which I kept hidden from my husband for about a year and a half. Finally he discovered it and has been encouraging me ever since. I must admit that I find many other things, as a mom, to do besides write stories and blogging has begun to fill that writing need.

So, I've got my own blog as well as this one... cannwin.blogspot.com. I am a mother of three and a half children (four in July) and my belly is already to the point where a doctor the other day said I looked like I had about two months left, I could have lunged across the room at her. In reality I guess if I sucked in it would go away, but that takes sooo much effort. :)

We currently live in spectacular South Dakota. A national secret that has yet to be discovered by those prolific Californians that everyone seems to blame rising house prices on. My husband did his undergrad in Civil Engineering at Arizona State University and then after working for a year or so realized that he wanted to do something more productive for society.

So he decided to go to Law School.

And in August of 2008 we moved here.

In the midst of all that he was also an Officer in the Army National Guard and served a tour of duty in Iraq when my oldest two were 10 months and 22 months. He was gone for 18 months and that experience has forever altered our marriage, in some ways (many ways) for the good and in others (not as many) we struggle more than we used to. Our idealistic perception of a relationship was pretty much forced from us at an early stage.

Some other oddities about my family are as follows:

1. We've been married 8 1/2 years.

2. Our two oldest children are what is known as "Irish Twins," meaning they are a year apart (actually a year and two days).

3. My husband wants very badly to name our next son Barnabas so I'm, naturally, praying for a girl.

4. My hatred of laundry is second only to my desire to avoid toilet cleaning and I have been known to pay my children to do these chores for me.

5. I'm known online as Cannwin but if you must know my name is really Charity.

I hope everyone enjoys my style and comments freely (and frequently). If you have any questions or curiosities feel free to ask I'm sure I've left something out. Have a great day.

Hi! I'm Andrea!

My name is Andrea Paulsen and I am a stay at home mom with our Daughter Mykl who will be 4 in July and we are expecting baby #2 (another little girl) the 2nd of May! My husband and I own our own Window Washing Company here in Idaho and that keeps us super busy. I also sel Mary Kay and then to top it all off, we manage rental properties! We are currently living in Shelley, Idaho but that is only for 9 more days and then we are moving to our new house in Idaho Falls!! We are super excited to have iour own place and not have people living in apts under us!!! I love to cook, scrapbook, take pictures, blog, and be a wife and a mommy! I am super excited to join this blog and share some of my thoughts and ideas as well as bask in everyone elses as well!!!

Ericka

Hi, my name is Ericka and I have been a follower of the blog for some time. I am a friend of Cassi's and her family and now have decided to join in on the fun and become part of the awesome blogger mom's.

I suppose you would all like to know a little about me. I am originally from New York and Spain but have lived in AZ for the longest amount of time in one place so I like to consider it my home. My husbands name is Tyler and we have been married for 4 years and have a little boy named Porter who was born in July of this year. We live in Queen Creek, AZ where we just bought our first home and we love it! I have a degree in Elementary Education from ASU and got to teach 4th grade for a year before getting to become a stay at home mom. My husband and I met trough mutual friends and have been best friends ever since. He is from a small town in Wyoming which we like to visit often.

There are tons of things I enjoy such as crafts, cooking, traveling, shopping, taking pictures and of course blogging! I do have a blog for those who want to know more so come check out my crazy family!

Thanks for letting join you ladies, I hope what I contribute can be of help to others!

Nikki

My name is Nikki. My husband just started residency and I stay home with our daughter, Ella. I am looking forward to all the advice and ideas as well as a chance to keep in touch with some wonderful women.

Introducing....

Hi everyone! I was invited to join this blog by Shalee. Shalee and I were companions on our missions. She was actually the companion I had the longest, we were together for
seven months, which is pretty rare. For those of you who know her, as you can imagine it
was a blast. We had a lot of fun, and I learned a lot from her.

Well, I have been blog stalking this blog for a couple months now! I have tried some of the recipes and loved them (I am a big recipe buff), read all the advice, and voted in just about every poll. I am excited to get to participate on this fun blog!
As by way of introduction my name is Rachael Bishop, and we live in Tucson Arizona. I have been married four years in May, and my husband Todd is an Electrical Engineer for a government defense contract company here in Tucson. We have lived here two years and we love it. It is hot during the summer, but the rest of the year it is wonderful to be here. Short sleeves all year round! We have two boys, Thatcher who is 3 and Taggart who is 18 months. They rull the roost, and keep me busy and happy. When I am not cleaning up toys, playing with my kids, or wiping peanut butter from goopy hands, I like to do crafts, blog, and cook. Cooking really is a hobby for me. I first started to really love to cook after I had Thatcher and would nurse him watching the Food Network. Paula, Giada, and Sandra Lee became my best friends. I love trying new recipes, and as of lately, trying and experimenting with healthy low fat/low calorie recipes. I also do like TV shows other then Diego and Dora, like American Idol, The Office, Lost, and pretty much anything on the the Travel Channel, The Food Network and HGTV, which I look forward to watching when the kids go to bed at night. I love being a wife and mother and I try to be a good homemaker. I am excited to be here and get to know you all better!

Calise Zollinger

Hello Everyone!

My name is Calise Zollinger and even though I felt it was a little strange to ask to join, I went out of my comfort zone to ask. I don't know many people who will blog with me and I loved your idea of this blog so THANK YOU!

I live in Nampa, Idaho (by Boise) but I am originally from Idaho Falls, ID. My husband and I grew up in the same town, went to rivalry high schools, and met at BYU-Idaho. We met 3 weeks after he returned from his mission in Portugal, our first date was the end of April, we were engaged in June and married in August. I love staying home with my 3 children: Patrick(4), Reed(2) and Madalyn(3mths). My husband is a financial analyst for a wood company here and we are moving to Atlanta, Georgia as soon as we can sell our house. I love to bake, and I love finding new recipies to try-especially if I can get my picky eaters to eat them! I love watching my children play together and I love teaching them the gospel. I just love being a mom! I love to scrapbook, read, and bargin shop- well I love any kind of shopping. I love dishes- finding new and unique pieces to display is such a thrill.

I am so excited to be a part of this blog and I can't wait to start sharing recipies from the western side of the U.S.!!

Letti's Intro

Thank you so much for letting me join your group. My name is Collette but most people call me Letti. I live in Southern California and I am married to a wonderful man named Darian and I have 5 children. Chase 12, Garrett 11, Chloe 6, Kaidee 5, and Cole 1. My husband works as an engineer for BNSF Railroad. He has every little boys dream job...lol I am a stay at home mom and I love what I do. We have been married for 8 years this June. Chase my oldest son is from a previous relationship and has been adopted by Darian we were also able to have him sealed to us in the Los Angeles Temple in 2001. Garrett is my stepson (Darian's son from a previous relationship) we have him in our home more than 50% of the time. Well I guess I will tell you a little bit about myself. I am the oldest of 6 children and I love sports and going to Disneyland with my family. I am a huge Angels and Laker fan. I enjoy blogging, reading, puzzles, shopping, movies, playing games, and just being with friends. I am really excited to get to know all of you and learn from you too. If their is anything you would like to ask me please feel free.

Shelly Myers--Intro

My name is Shelly Myers and this is my kid, Charlie who just turned one. (We dress alike sometimes without even planning it!) We moved from Minnesota about 7 months ago. We live in California, Maryland and my husband, Dave, works for the government as a mechanical engineer for the Naval Air Station here. I'll give you a quick tour of my life from the beginning: Born in Provo, UT October 14, 1977, moved all over the US because of job/schooling/don't know why (UT, IN, TX, ID, NJ) until I moved to Montpelier, Idaho to live in my grandmother's basement after my parents were divorced in middle school. I had to get out of that town as soon as I graduated from high school and chose to do a Rotary Exchange to Osaka, Japan for a year. It was life altering and Japan culture has become a big part of me. Back in the states, did Utah State for a bit before I was called back to Japan on a mission! Transfered to BYWooo after the mission (I drove a scooter to school everyday) and finished a B.S. in Biology. A strategic move up to Bozeman, MT to work in a lab at MSU proved promising when I met my husband-to-be and we were married in the Logan Utah Temple July 21st, 2005. I "dragged" Dave to the University of Minnesota (he had to transfer) so I could pursue an advanced degree in Molecular Biology. We met a lot of you there (hi all!) and loved it even though it was a bit chilly. I miss it because it was the first place on my own as a married person and we made such good friends that I know I will keep in contact with all my life. A PhD track turned to an MS when Charlie was born and I am LLOOVVIINNGG being at home with him! (though it is an adjustment). Tap dancing feeds my soul, I knit, can't cook worth a nut (that's were you guys come it to rescue me), dabble on the guitar and harmonica, and do the outdoors thing as often as I can. Blogging is a new hobby (read Pioneer Woman daily) and I may need to join a support group to help limit my time on the computer. I'm suppppper excited to join the Mommy group. Hopefully, I will be able to add something among all the wonderful stuff I'm gonna get! Charlie is up, gotta bolt.

Hello, hello...

Hello all! I am Jill Albano. Here's the story: My husband Tony and I are both from Sacramento CA. He is here in Minneapolis as a graduate student in Educational Psychology. I am here because he is here. We have a two year old boy, Anthony, and a six week old baby girl, Audrey. I am still adjusting to having two kids, but I love them both fiercely. I love to read, sing, and eat. And I am currently spending my days trying to fathom how much colder it can actually get here and how in the world I am going to survive! Other than that, or family is happy to be here. And I am happy to be here (on this blog...if that wasn't obvious enough). I'll try to be interesting.

howdy

I've been invited to join you guys, I'm excited. For those who don't know me, my name is Molly Archibald, and I am Christine's sister-in-law. I was in the New Brighton ward up until Sept. 2007 when we moved up to Lindstrom (blink and you'll miss it) so we're in the North Branch ward.

My husband's name is Geoff, and we have a 21 month old daughter named Quinn. She and Christine's boy Ian are best buddies, and are always a hoot to see when they are together. Currently, Quinn's chief occupations are torturing our cat Boo, naming objects in her immediate proximity at the top of her little lungs, and dropping play-dough on the floor.

I'm somewhat new to the blogosphere but we do have a family blog that we sporadically update. I'll try and contribute often here, though. Right now I'm going to hunt for this famous shredded chicken recipe my sister in law keeps telling me about! More later--Molly

Heeeere's Laura!

Okay, here's me in a nutshell. I grew up in Ohio and majored in theatre at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (focusing on stage management and theatre history, not acting). I then served my mission in Thailand and got my master's degree in theatre history at Ohio State, where Brian and I met at the singles ward there. We've been married six years. Before having our daughters, Haley (age 3 1/2) and Jessica (1 1/2), I worked for a national arts presenter based in Columbus, while Brian finished school. I was the touring coordinator (organizing national tours of plays we brought over from the UK) and then the development director for the theatre company we managed. I LOVED my job!!!! As any of my close friends will tell you, I had a very hard time transitioning to being a stay at home mom. In fact, I'll probably continue to be working on it for a very long time. However, I am grateful that I can stay with them. When Brian graduated three years ago, we moved to MN for him to work as a financial analyst at Target headquarters. He moved to Macy's in March, and we moved to this area of town in August so he could be close to both work and school (he's going back for dental pre-reqs). We absolutely love this ward--the people are amazing!

Introduction - Heathere WIlloughby

Hello everyone - This is Heathere Willoughby. I have been slow to post an intro, but I am finally doing it! I live in NE Minneapolis with my stay-at-home dad husband and my little 18 month old Lijah (rather than post pics here you can see plenty at www.flickr.com/photos/hwilloughby). We both grew up in Minnesota so we are used to the cold. One of the favorite things I love about our ward here in MN is seeing all the new student families come each year and telling them all about the winter horror stories! I'm lucky because I love the cold, and the snow - so I think I am living in the right place.

I work at Capella University as an enrollment counselor and by doing this I get free tuition. So I will continue to go to school and rack up the degrees and certificates. The price is right - so I cannot see myself not taking advantage of that! Some non-work, non-school things I enjoy are knitting, making jewelery, photography, arts & crafts, and chasing my little boy around every night when I get home from work.