I grew up in a large, traditional Mormon family. I grew up with traditional beliefs. Dad went to work, mom stayed home. The girls worked inside the house cleaning, cooking, and doing laundry. The boys worked outside chopping wood, weeding the garden and mowing the lawn. I thought when I grew up, that’s how my life would be.

I got married to a wonderful man, and we have two beautiful daughters. I stayed home with them until they were school aged, because that’s where I felt I needed to be. I loved every single minute of it and wouldn’t trade it for the world. I continued in my traditional beliefs until the day came that my husband lost his job and applied to law school. He moved away for his first year of school and I got a small taste of what it was like to be a “single” mother. I was working full time, commuting 40 minutes each way to work, and caring for my children, which made for very long days. I honestly did not know how I was going to manage. It was a long, hard year. I cried more than my share of tears because I didn’t think I could do it. Needless to say, we all survived with many lessons learned. The most important thing I learned is that I am so much more capable than I ever thought I was. I learned that I am much stronger than I ever thought I was. This has, in turn, strengthened our marriage more than I ever thought possible and made me a better mother.