I haven’t literally gone fishing in many, many years, but for a few days I will be out of commission. I’ll be back soon with many more stories, and I’m sure a few bits of history that no one’s ever heard of.
Remember my book New Parish is Coming Soon!!!!!!
Every now and then we all have to deal with storms. Whether they are internal or external – they happen. It seems there have been a lot of weather related storms lately around our country… these storms can bring challenges, stress, and even serious consequences. Our internal storms can bring much of the same things into our lives, whether we are dealing with internal storms or weather related ones – we must go through them… Sometimes in life our inner storms can be like a hurricane, with inner thunder rolling through us with a vengeance and unexpected lightning strikes that bring us to our knees. Then we reach the eye of the storm and get a short respite from it all, we might even think the storm has ended, then we get hit with the ravages of the back-end of the storm… things are never the same after one of those kinds of storms. We change, we make decisions, we sort out the aftermath… then we move forward.
Sarah faces both an inner and an external storm in my book New Parish, it’s the inner storm that changes her forever…
New Parish Coming Soon!!!!!
Excerpt from New Parish:
“Sarah pulled her sandals off and got up, she started walking down the beach trying to clear her head of the emotions she was fighting, she could feel the sand beneath her feet which was a little comforting. The wind started blowing, making her scarf float behind her like a flag of surrender. Anger began cropping up first on her emotions list, for allowing herself to get tricked into that situation, embarrassment was next for what he’d tried to do, then sadness, frustration, disappointment, and back to loneliness… Her thoughts raced through questions that she didn’t want to answer, but had been plaguing her for a while, “What do I really want? What if I can’t do plural marriage? Is this my only option? Can I really do this? Am I desperate? Am I nuts?!? What if I have to live my life alone? What if I never get to be a mom?” Sarah hugged herself trying to calm down, she’d lost all sense of peace she felt as if a storm were beginning to rage inside her… she looked up to see the stars, that always comforted her, but there were no stars tonight just dark storm clouds above her. She felt tiny drops of rain lightly touching her face, she remembered she hadn’t checked the weather forecast, she’d let herself become distracted. She knew not to be out on the beach when the rain starts up. She quickened her pace as the wind increased its speed. The rain got heavier, she ran as fast as she could, the tiny drops turned into huge drops in a torrential down pour.
Completely drenched and soaked through, she reached for the door knob to the condo. As she closed the door the thunder sounded so loud she could feel the vibration from it in her stomach. She ran to the bathroom and stepping into the bathtub quickly peeled the wet clothes from her now shaking, shivering body. She shoved her clothes to the end of the tub with her foot and turned on the hot water. It quickly heated up, the warmth of the water washed over her body and slowly stilled her shivers. She stood there in the warm water for a long time secretly wishing it could wash away the feelings that were growing inside her. She heard the thunder sound loudly again and jumped. She felt like the storm inside her was gaining strength… she turned off the water and grabbed a big fluffy towel to wrap around her. She quickly dried off and ran to the bedroom to put on her pajamas.
Looking out the window Sarah could see the wind blowing wildly as the rain pounded the windows and everything else outside. The storm outside was gaining strength…”
I’ve recently visited some places that haven’t changed in over a hundred years. They still look the way they did when the earliest pioneers came out west to settle the place. The raw rustic beauty was amazing, in some places you could see forever, in some places you were near walls of mesas that jutted up from the ground to the heights where eagles fly. These places reminded me of friendships I’ve had over the years, some friendships I know will go on forever, and some have elevated me to new heights… Each new friendship we make in our lives has the possibility to do that for us – be something that will last forever and or lift us to new heights.
In my book New Parish Sarah finds new friends that will last forever and lift her to new heights… It all begins with her new friend Mary who comes out to Atlanta to do her work study for the teaching program she’s in. Mary is from a community out west where they live differently, well… they live marriage a little differently. Mary tells Sarah about plural marriage in her community, New Parish, and about life out there. This leads Sarah into an investigation that will change her life forever and lift her to new heights…
New Parish Coming Soon!!!!
Excerpt from New Parish:
“Sarah looked in the full-length mirror to check herself out, everything was great except her hair, she frowned.
Mary noticed, “You look lovely. What’s wrong?”
“My hair,” Sarah complained grabbing a handful of her hair on each side of her head, “I’ve never really been able to tame it. I usually just pull it back into a pony tail because that’s the extent of my hair prowess, but this is an occasion I wish I had more skills with hair.”
“I’ll do it for you,” Mary cheerily volunteered, “What sort of “do” do you want?”
Sarah laughed, “I have no idea.”
“Humm, okay let’s see what you like. We can try a few different styles if that’s okay?” Mary suggested.
“It’s more than okay,” Sarah said gratefully.
Mary smiled and held up a brush in one hand and a comb in the other, and said, “Let’s do this.”
The next half hour was spent showing Sarah different styles of “up dos”. When one was finally selected Sarah looked at herself again in the mirror, holding another mirror so she could see the back of her hair too, “Wow, I didn’t know my hair could look that pretty.” They both laughed and quickly gathered their jackets to go.”
As things are moving closer to New Parish getting published, my mind reflects on the fact that the story doesn’t end there… The next book Return to New Parish continues the story with Sarah’s younger sister, Hannah, you’ll meet her in the first book, New Parish. Then the third book which I’m writing now, Home to New Parish, continues the story even further with Brenda, Sarah’s oldest sister. There’s a fourth one in the planning for the fourth sister, Beth, I’m calling it, Passion in New Parish. Each sister has a very different journey that is unique to them and their situation.
In New Parish, Sarah wants to get married and have children, she’s not willing to settle for less than a good decent man to do that with, which starts her investigation into this living differently scenario, and many sitcom moments throughout her story. Her sisters journeys have very different paths, but Sarah is the trailblazer for all of them, in that she finds a way to have her happily ever after out west in the desert living a bit differently.
Just like Sarah and her sisters our stories never really stop… when one adventure ends another is waiting just around the corner to begin.
New Parish Coming Soon!!!!
Excerpt from New Parish:
“Later that night there was a knock on Sarah’s bedroom door, “Come in,” she said, but Hannah had already opened the door and was entering the room.
“Hey,” she said tentatively.
“Hey,” Sarah replied curiously.
“So, tell me about this New Parish place and plural marriage,” Hannah said, as she plopped down and the end of Sarah’s bed and sat with her legs crossed like an Indian – just like she used to do when they were kids.
“What do you want to know?” Sarah inquired with surprise.
“You’re not the only one who’s had “dating” experiences with guys who aren’t who you want to spend your life with. If this is a good thing, I might think about considering it too,” explained Hannah.
“Oh,” Sarah said, now in complete surprise. “Okay, well, what I’ve learned is that they have the same beliefs we were taught growing up in the church, [LDS Church], except, they still have everything that was restored and didn’t give anything up, back in the day.”
“Okay, so how do they do it?” Hannah urged her sister on.
“They use an old traditional matchmaking system, but no dowries, the girls have freedom to choose and get out of the marriage if it’s not working out. Brother Michael, the church leader is so funny…”
Sarah spent over two hours explaining what she had learned to Hannah. When Hannah finally left her room, Sarah felt like she somehow understood the whole thing better. As she lay there drifting off to sleep she thought, “Maybe explaining to Hannah clarified things in my own mind.” She felt very much at peace with things, and hoped she could stay that way.”
We’ve all had times in our lives, when we’re sure someone threw a monkey wrench into what we had planned, or gotten a complete surprise that we weren’t expecting. Sometimes it’s a snow storm that keeps us from doing what we intended, or an illness, or simply being in a big hurry and forgetting something we definitely need when we were out of the house. These things happen so very often in real life that of course I have to use them in my writing… I love working with monkey wrenches! In New Parish Sarah gets hit with many monkey wrenches, some are small and trivial, some are simply annoying, but some are huge and, at times, she thinks, insurmountable.
Sarah is a high-tech modern girl with a few old fashioned values, she simply wants to get married and be that soccer mom that she’s always dreamed of being. Her huge monkey wrench is that she can’t find a fella to do that with…
New Parish Coming Soon!!!!
Excerpt from New Parish:
“Around lunch time she headed out to the children’s center. As she walked down the busy Atlanta sidewalks she looked around at the horde of people on their way to their next destination. She thought about when she’d first moved to Atlanta and how excited she’d been to be living in a big city with so much going on. She’d lost that excitement: it had turned into a tired frustration. The city hadn’t contributed to her dreams at all, her experiences there had diminished them. Her thoughts went to how much her goals and dreams had fragmented over the last few years. Her career was great, but she’d planned on being married and having at least three children by the age of twenty-seven. She sighed thinking, “I have neither a husband or children.” Her frustration on this was starting to grow beyond the normal parameters. Her thoughts turned to her job, “Right out of college, I got this great job, doing what I love, being a graphic artist for children’s books. I’ve worked hard, and now I’m the top artist in the company. I chose this career so I could be a stay at home mom. Sheesh! What’s a girl gotta do to make her dreams come true?”
Extremely loud sirens jolted Sarah out of her thoughts, she jumped and looked to see what was happening. “Oh, it’s just the cops,” she thought and walked on. No one else seemed to notice. Sighing she thought, “Growing up in Savannah didn’t really prepare me for living in the big city of Atlanta, or the daily adventure each time I leave my apartment.”
She continued down the sidewalk a few more blocks and entering the children’s center, went to the front desk to sign in. She quickly scanned the sign-in sheet to see if Mary was already there. She was.
“I can’t believe I’m actually going to ask her about this plural marriage thing,” Sarah thought to herself. “Am I really that desperate?” her thoughts were interrupted by a large group of preschoolers running up to her with giggles and open arms for needed hugs. She spent the next hour playing and reading to them. This calmed her mind, it was therapy for her – her dream of having a big family with lots of children was both eased and made more difficult by the involvement with her little friends.”
My mind has been reflecting on Christmases past. There have been wonderfully happy times that will linger in my memories throughout eternity. Watching my children reach a level of joy that could only be associated with Christmas morning, reading the story of the first Christmas to them, and of course all the covert and sneaky activities throughout the year to create the Christmas morning that will last forever.
As I reflect on those Christmases past, my thoughts drift over to the Christmases I’ve written about in New Parish. These Christmases are filled with family, large families, and Christmas traditions that have been observed in these families for generations. Sarah’s first Christmas in New Parish is as a guest in her friend Mary’s home, as she investigates maybe moving west herself – she finds a Christmas morning that will linger in her memory forever…
New Parish Coming Soon!!!
Excerpt of New Parish:
“On Christmas morning Sarah and Mary were up early because Mary said Sarah, “didn’t want to miss this!” Entering the main sitting room, it looked to Sarah like a magical place of happiness. The tree was full of colored lights and was filled to the brim with ornaments that depicted children, toys, and candy, and all sorts of Christmas happiness. The tree had been there when Sarah first arrived and she’d immediately loved it. Mary had complained that she missed the decorating and explained to Sarah that the whole family gets in on the event, they put the tree up together, place the lights together, hang the ornaments together, make homemade things like popcorn and cranberry garland together and put it on together. She’d given Sarah the whole run down on Christmas at her home.
The presents that had been added over night were covering a third of the room and there was a table with hot chocolate, marshmallows, and cool-whip. The table, with hot chocolate, made Sarah think of that “incident” she had been trying not to think of, she quickly put that out of her mind. The room looked and felt like Christmas, the best part of Christmas, you could feel it when you walked in… the kids were all filing in with excitement in their eyes and big smiles on their faces. Everyone was in their pajamas. This made Sarah think of her own childhood and the wonderful feelings she had on Christmas morning. This made her both happy and sad, as a deep longing to share this type of experience with her own children filled her heart.
Brother Michael came in last and as the kids excitedly jumped up and down pleading with him for permission to open presents he laughed and said, “Okay, have at it.” They did just that, there was a present opening frenzy the likes of which Sarah had never seen. She watched as Brother Michael slowly walked over and put his arms around two of his wives and kissed each on the cheek. Sarah smiled thinking she might like something like this, “It could really work… maybe,” she thought.”
Oh yeah, just wait till you read what happens at Christmas time in Return to New Parish… I can’t wait to share that with you too!
The winter chill has arrived early this year. Outside the wind feels like it’s coming from the polar regions, the trees have lost their leaves, and nature is going into brrrr mode. This time of the year is the perfect time for a nice cup of hot cocoa and warm visits with friends and family.
On Sarah’s journey to New Parish she finds new family and friends to share not only hot cocoa and warm visits with, but also a whole new life that’s more than she ever imagined.
New Parish Coming Soon!
Excerpt from New Parish:
“Sarah didn’t get a chance to thank the cowboy but she thought, “I do need to.”
By that evening, she felt like she could move once again without shivering. The exhaustion of the morning was prevalent throughout the night and into the next day. She and Mary skipped church and stayed home bundled in pajamas and blankets. Susan had brought them in some hot cocoa before they left for church so they spent their morning sipping the hot cocoa and clinging to their blankets.”
Brigham Tea Magazine Coming Soon!
The next section of Brigham Tea Magazine I want to share with you is, Life More Abundantly, the fiction section. The first story in this section is called “A Day in the Life of a Sister Wife”. This story is an outtake of a day in Sarah’s life after she’s found her way to her new family. This story isn’t in the book New Parish, just a day in her life to share with everyone who might be interested in how things might work in a wonderful home where there’s more than one mom.
Excerpt from A Day in the Life of a Sister Wife:
“The mug of hot chocolate warmed her as she braced for impact. She knew tomorrow would be a supreme test of her “mom” skills.
………
“Sarah looked over the now deserted kitchen, except for Parley and Annie, and saw that Leah had cleaned away the lunch mess. Her thoughts organized a to do list – first – give Charlie some Tylenol, then call Del, next clean the laundry room… Her list stopped building abruptly as she saw Annie begin to doze off while still sitting in her chair.
“Oh, baby,” Sarah said sympathetically. She quickly got a warm cloth and washed Annie’s face and hands, then gently removed her from the highchair and took her to the nursery for her nap. Sarah turned on the baby monitor before leaving and grabbed the carry along to take with her.
Returning to the kitchen Parley let her know he was not happy.
“Okay, Dude,” she soothed him as she extracted him from the seat. “Just give me a second. We have to take Charlie some medicine.”
Sarah quickly grabbed the chewable medicine, looked to see how many to give, filled a water bottle for Charlie, and headed for the family room.
“Here you go buddy,” Sarah handed the medicine to Charlie and checked the time so she’d know when he could have some more if needed. “1:20,” she thought, “remember that.”
“Here’s a water bottle,” Sarah handed the bottle to Charlie. You need to drink lots of water, okay?”
Charlie nodded his agreement and sank back down into the sofa.
“I’m going to go feed Parley, then I’ve got some cleaning to do. If you need me just give a shout. I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.”
Charlie nodded again.
Sarah went to the den to feed Parley who didn’t want to wait one second longer. Finding a comfortable seat, she sat and began nursing Parley. “Sheesh,” she thought as her body began to relax. “I knew I was tired but, wow, it feels good to sit and rest for a moment.”
Rosie and Mia came bouncing in the room full of energy and giggles, “Can we go outside and play in the garden?” Rosie asked,
“Sweetie,” Sarah began apologetically, “Maybe later we can go out. I have a lot of work to do now, and Annie’s taking a nap, and I need to keep a check on Charlie, he’s sick.”
“Oh, okay,” Rosie shrugged. “We can help,” she offered.
“Okay,” Sarah replied. “You can quietly check on Charlie for me, but, don’t get to close to him just in case his sick is catching. Okay?”
“Yes!” Rosie and Mia agreed energetically.
The girls ran out of the den and Sarah’s thoughts returned to her to do list, “Call Del,” she said aloud…”
Going home can be wonderful, difficult, complicated, or even a great adventure. This week has been a journey of going home to see family and friends… Without getting too personal, I’ll just say this has been a great adventure! Planes, trains, and automobiles…
I guess the most complicated part has been the unexpected snow… it impaired my ability to go and see someone I dearly wanted to see. Life can be that way, unexpected things happen to change our plans… We live with those things, we learn from them, and we grow…
Excerpt from New Parish:
“Sarah’s memory of last year’s arrival continued in her mind, last year when there were shouts of “Aunt Sarah,” and nieces and nephews coming out to greet her. She wondered what the greeting would be this year. She didn’t have to wait long for her answer to that uncertain quandary. The door burst open just like last year and the usual shouts of, “Aunt Sarah,” rang out.”
…………..
“The last evening with her family was spent telling old stories and sharing new ones. Sarah told about how she and Max first met, everyone laughed, Dave laughed so hard he almost fell off the sofa.
Falling asleep that night Sarah thought, “This was nice, I’ll miss them but it’ll be good to get home. Home, she thought… home.””
Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you chose to do something completely different? Sarah did…
In New Parish she finds a life that’s so different than she’d ever imagined she’d have.
Excerpt from New Parish:
“The cool air and busy sidewalks were almost enough to distract her mind from the pervading thoughts of how much this plural marriage thing could go wrong. She wanted to believe that things could be as wonderful as Mary said they were, but she knew how people could be, especially men… her thoughts went to, “Maybe I should just drop the whole thing,” then the idea of dating again entered her thoughts which almost made her nauseous. Then the thought of giving up on her dream of having kids and a family came to her mind. A tear rolled down her face, which she quickly brushed away, that thought was the saddest one she’d ever had…
Sarah looked up at the sky and saw a plane flying west, she knew she would be on one soon… flying west. She breathed out a sigh and with a new resolve walked back to her apartment.”
Brigham Tea Magazine:
The next section of Brigham Tea Magazine I want to share with you is Heroes of the Past… enjoy the slideshow.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! I’ve always found that it’s not just the turkey that got stuffed on Thanksgiving… This holiday is about families coming together and really spending time together, catching up, and finding out what’s been going one with each other. Whether they live near or far, this is the holiday that brings them together… it’s that way for Sarah and her family each year.
The next section of Brigham Tea I’m sharing with you is the Wild Desert. It’s all about the western desert, the places, plant life, and the critters. Hope you enjoy the slide show…
New Parish Coming Soon! Summer of 2018! Excerpt from New Parish:
“Everyone went into Thanksgiving mode … and food prep was the main activity consuming everyone’s time, down to the smallest three year old who was transporting fruit to the salad area. After so many years of working together on Thanksgiving dinner they all knew what to do and did it with almost perfect precision. Christmas music was playing and children were happily giggling about the mess that was all over. This was the one time everyone was happy to make a huge mess – the rewards were always worth it.
The menu included:
The largest turkey they could find
Two hams crusted over with honey, brown sugar and pineapple
Green beans with butter, sea salt, and sprinkled slightly with sugar
Candied yams with cinnamon
Potato salad
Cranberry sauce from a can
Southern dressing which was made out of biscuit bread and cornbread with sage, sweet onion, chicken broth and shredded chicken
Giblet gravy to go over the dressing made with chicken broth, cornstarch to thicken, salt, pepper, and bits of boiled egg and chicken
Corn prepared in a skillet with butter, sea salt, and pepper
Yeast rolls which they never did from scratch the frozen ones were fine
The deserts always included:
Chocolate pies
Cheesecakes
Chocolate chip cookies
Sugar cookies decorated with Christmas icing
Fruit salad which always had pineapple, cherries, bananas, grapes, nuts, cream cheese, and whipped topping
This menu took the whole family two days to prepare and everyone had leftovers to take home with them after the dinner. Because leftovers are a necessity after Thanksgiving, or at least that was their family philosophy.”
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