Heather Farrell's Blog, page 3

Too Many "Speedo-ish" Dresses Worn to Dances

I wrote this opinion piece when I was 16 years-old for my High School newspaper. It came from a talk we had one day in the journalism room with some of the Senior boys, who hated asking girls out to dances because they never knew what type of dress they'd have to dance with all night. It sort of went "viral" at my high school and was the first time I'd ever gotten attention for writing. I consider it a pretty pivotal piece in my writing "career", because it made me realize that if you said th...

What Does it Mean for a Woman to be "Unclean" in the Bible?

There is one word in the Bible that bothered me for a long time. It was the word unclean, especially when it was used in connection with menstruation, childbirth, sexual intimacy and women's bodies. For example in Leviticus 15 it says this,

"And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even. And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also...

If You Ever Wanted to Learn Ancient Greek

I've had a goal to learn ancient Greek for a long time. It first began with my high school journalism teacher who loved the language and would often write Greek words on the white board when he taught. My senior year I even convinced him to give me Greek lessons before school started, which he did for about a semester. My husband Jon even has a degree in Classical Studies (Latin and Greek) from BYU. When people ask why he studied something so obscure he replies, "To catch Heather", because I...

Learning and Choosing to Be Happy at Home

I originally wrote this post as a guest post for another blog (which doesn't exit anymore). I recently found it in my draft box and I am going to post it here so I don't loose it. This was written when I just had two little children (I can't believe how small they were!) and I think my advice is still good... in fact I probably need to listen to myself a bit more. 

When I was 17-years-old one of my best friends and I were sitting backstage at play rehearsal. I can't remember now what prom...

The Birth and Re-Birth of My Children

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spi...

A Princess Story {Guest Post by Jaci Wightman}

In President Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s popular Conference talk, “Your Happily Ever After,” he lavished young women with words that I’m sure were music to their ears:

You are truly royal spirit daughters of Almighty God. You are princesses, destined to become queens. Your own wondrous story has already begun. Your “once upon a time” is now (Ensign, May 2010).

What girl (or woman for that matter) doesn’t love being told she’s a princess? It’s the stuff dreams are made of. After all, our world today is...

Noelle's Birth Story

Dear Noelle,

It has been almost three weeks since you were born and I am just now finishing the story of your birth. I've been stealing moments, in between naps, meals, and the general chaos of five children, to write down what I felt and remembered. Somehow what I have written seems wholly inadequate, and I'm afraid my words haven't been able to capture more than a portion of the beauty and the joy of your birth. So take whatever you feel while reading this and then multiply it by 10 or even...

Greatest Hits of 2015

2015, you have been good to me this year. I'll be sad to see you go, but excited to see what 2016 will bring! My favorite {blog} tradition is sharing a review of my most popular posts of the year. So just in case you missed any of them (or want to re-read your favorites) here are my five most popular posts of 2015, in order of popularity.


#1
 Yes, Virginia, Girls have Priesthood Power too 
Last Sunday I substituted in Primary, the 6 and 7-year-old class. Our lesson was on the priestho...

The First Noelle

 
Even though it is almost a week late, I'm pleased to introduce: 
Noelle Evalynne Farrell
Born on December 19, 2015 at 11:17 AM
7lbs 15 oz and 20 3/4 inches long

 
About her name:  Noelle for being a Christmas time babyEvalynne for being born on her Grandpa Evan's birthday and Farrell... because she's one of us. 
All the Farrell kids, plus their cousin River
This might just be my new favorite picture of Jon.
All my girls. And not my most flattering picture but I'd just...

Five Things for Friday, Insomnia Edition

{1}
Technically it isn't Friday anymore but I'm having  trouble sleeping. I figured I might as well use my time well instead of laying in bed staring at the wall. I've never had pregnancy insomnia but the last few nights I've found it hard to stay asleep. Part of it might be that I am 38 weeks pregnant and there just aren't any comfortable sleeping positions when you are that big. The other part of it might be that I have been nervous all week that this baby would choose to come today, on...