Bini

I am all for a Laugh button and a Groan button. People might need to thicken up their skin for the Groan button but... all it is are anonymous people groaning over something you've posted - big whoop!

Backroads, I'm just not truly convinced that these "old toads" would know the difference between a Vera Wang and something generic brand. I can tell you that some of my designer stuff doesn't parade their brand all over the item, which is what people always think, that you'll see a tag or something embroidered across it saying: MICHAEL KORS. Now, if you're trying to pull off a diamond encrusted cocktail dress with plastic rhinestones, then yeh, obviously cheap. But a simple elegant black cocktail dress can be difficult to separate from cheap to expensive by the eye alone. Just sayin'.

PS. A part of what makes clothing look "cheap" is the style of it and how you put it together and wear it. This can make the price tag irrelevant.

Homemade loaf of bread is nice, or muffins. Those are always so good, and with the bread, there's a lot of things to become of it. I personally don't like soups because unless you know exactly what the person likes in their soup, it could be a toss out once you leave it with them.

PS. A part of what makes clothing look "cheap" is the style of it and how you put it together and wear it. This can make the price tag irrelevant.

Oh, I was just giving you a hard time, that's all.  I know you've said in the past that you like to keep your personal like separate, private, and personal.  And that's fine.  I was just teasing you a little. 
 
 
I love A Mighty Girl!  I was particularly inspired by the story they shared this week about the young girl who gave away a million books before she was 13.

That's a big part of why I didn't keep watching House of Cards.  Also the violence.  It's not a violent show, because there's no action.  But there's one episode in particular, in which Character A kills Character B in B's sleep, and it's very cold-blooded, calculated, and non-chalant.  A isn't a killer or a villain specifically, and it's really uncomfortable to watch.  He's a public figure, in fact, so the discomfort is likely deliberate, to make the audience squirm.  The combination of gratuitous HBO-style sex, and casual violence was really too much for me.  I have no problem with swearing, and action/adventure is probably my favorite genre in general, so I don't have a problem with violence or "good" killing of bad guys.  Even an intense love scene with implied nudity isn't too bad for me.  But this combination was a lot, even for me.

Oops, I never did really answer the initial post. I'm kind of with Quin. That said, alcohol was easy enough for me to ditch but coffee was really hard. My husband on the other hand, was a drinker, social and just to relax - it was hard for him to stop but he's not had a lick of it for three years. I'm so proud of him.

Not sure this makes a difference but here's a woman's perspective...
 
 
The LOC is not broken if you choose to be intimate with your spouse, regardless of if the marriage is crappy, in a state of separation, or pending divorce - you're still married - but that doesn't mean continuing intimate relations is a good idea... If there is a wedge in the marriage that has driven it to the latter two aforementioned, I would be very careful about making the decision to sleep with my estranged husband, and for several reasons. One, assuming the whole downfall of the marriage is due to broken trust, I would question whether he has remained chaste (from other women) during our separation/pending divorce. I would be concerned of contracting an STD (or worse) if he's sleeping with other women. I can't control what he does but I can control what I do with my body and I would opt to protect it. Second, emotionally and psychologically, I'm not sure how beneficial it would be to remain intimate with someone I no longer trusted. Sure, it might fulfil a physical need but that's where better judgement comes into play. Third, if there are children in the picture, I would be careful what message I'm sending to them. Marital affairs can be confusing to those outside of it, and children might have a good idea of what's going on, but in the end they're left with a lot of questions. I think having the mind set of "friends with benefits" with a spouse you are separated from or pending divorce isn't the thought process the Lord would want us to have. So for me it's either (i) work through your marriage and enjoy the benefits that come with it, or (ii) get out of your marriage and live without the benefits that came with it.

Don't have a solid opinion on the new site, yet. I appreciate the splash of colour that's been added but I agree that there's too much white space, and that can be a bit heavy on the eyes... The navigation is easy enough so far.
 
 
I have noticed that all my "friends" are now just "one friend"... Does this mean that we will have to reconnect with everyone again? I just have MormonMama now, which is cool, but I miss some of my other friends

Had such a great response and then my text editor did something screwy! Ugh.
 
 
To Dahlia... To the question of whether it's okay to make a vegetarian cook meat, I would say that I'm pretty sure participation in the TV show was optional, and not mandatory. A vegetarian/vegan would have to be naïve to believe that a cooking show wouldn't challenge their lifestyle at some point, and require them to cook and or eat meat product. As a vegetarian myself, I wouldn't opt for such a show, but I still prepare (though seldom) meat dishes for my husband and daughter.

Not sure this makes a difference but here's a woman's perspective...
 
 
The LOC is not broken if you choose to be intimate with your spouse, regardless of if the marriage is crappy, in a state of separation, or pending divorce - you're still married - but that doesn't mean continuing intimate relations is a good idea... If there is a wedge in the marriage that has driven it to the latter two aforementioned, I would be very careful about making the decision to sleep with my estranged husband, and for several reasons. One, assuming the whole downfall of the marriage is due to broken trust, I would question whether he has remained chaste (from other women) during our separation/pending divorce. I would be concerned of contracting an STD (or worse) if he's sleeping with other women. I can't control what he does but I can control what I do with my body and I would opt to protect it. Second, emotionally and psychologically, I'm not sure how beneficial it would be to remain intimate with someone I no longer trusted. Sure, it might fulfil a physical need but that's where better judgement comes into play. Third, if there are children in the picture, I would be careful what message I'm sending to them. Marital affairs can be confusing to those outside of it, and children might have a good idea of what's going on, but in the end they're left with a lot of questions. I think having the mind set of "friends with benefits" with a spouse you are separated from or pending divorce isn't the thought process the Lord would want us to have. So for me it's either (i) work through your marriage and enjoy the benefits that come with it, or (ii) get out of your marriage and live without the benefits that came with it.

Wingnut, I have seriously considered connecting with people here on FB, but after having added people in the past (from another forum I frequented for years, like, since 2003) I learned a rough lesson. So I'm just cautious about doing it now :/

I happen to share a lot of LDS gospel related things and I'm so glad I do.  It initiated a conversation with someone who now is interested in the church.
 
Not to the missionary visit stage yet but we're getting there.  I feel like you just never know how what you might share might actually influence someone's life for the good.
 
Plus something I posted once actually inspired a former co-worker of mine to go back to church.  Now he and his 4 kids are active in church again.

Uhhhh! I wonder when my husband is going to be home with the food! I AM STARVING and I'm not getting any more patient, either :) Dang rush hour traffic!

Just skimmed through a few posts and I had some thoughts on baby blessings. I think it's worth mentioning that BBs are also given to children of parents that are not active members, and it's not uncommon for the father not to have the priesthood - yet he is invited to participate by holding the mic or holding the child (if the mother isn't doing so). I have seen this done many times, and I have also seen mothers hold their children, so I'm not convinced that this is a "priesthood only" occasion. If it was, I imagine it would be addressed by leaders (to whatever degree that may be), and not a neglected issue.
 
 
For me it's pretty obvious where the priesthood lies - and that is within the circle of priesthood holders that are performing the blessing - any additional involvement (a non-priesthood holding father holding the mic, and mother holding the child, for example) are not participating as priesthood holders in any context. So, I'm not sure where the feeling of inappropriateness or even threat is coming from. This may merely be a case of Mormon culture, and for the situations where tradition is out the window, it can ruffle feathers a bit. Again, If any of this was an issue, I believe the leaders would address it (to whatever degree that may be), and not a neglected issue.

Not sure this makes a difference but here's a woman's perspective...
 
 
The LOC is not broken if you choose to be intimate with your spouse, regardless of if the marriage is crappy, in a state of separation, or pending divorce - you're still married - but that doesn't mean continuing intimate relations is a good idea... If there is a wedge in the marriage that has driven it to the latter two aforementioned, I would be very careful about making the decision to sleep with my estranged husband, and for several reasons. One, assuming the whole downfall of the marriage is due to broken trust, I would question whether he has remained chaste (from other women) during our separation/pending divorce. I would be concerned of contracting an STD (or worse) if he's sleeping with other women. I can't control what he does but I can control what I do with my body and I would opt to protect it. Second, emotionally and psychologically, I'm not sure how beneficial it would be to remain intimate with someone I no longer trusted. Sure, it might fulfil a physical need but that's where better judgement comes into play. Third, if there are children in the picture, I would be careful what message I'm sending to them. Marital affairs can be confusing to those outside of it, and children might have a good idea of what's going on, but in the end they're left with a lot of questions. I think having the mind set of "friends with benefits" with a spouse you are separated from or pending divorce isn't the thought process the Lord would want us to have. So for me it's either (i) work through your marriage and enjoy the benefits that come with it, or (ii) get out of your marriage and live without the benefits that came with it.

Just skimmed through a few posts and I had some thoughts on baby blessings. I think it's worth mentioning that BBs are also given to children of parents that are not active members, and it's not uncommon for the father not to have the priesthood - yet he is invited to participate by holding the mic or holding the child (if the mother isn't doing so). I have seen this done many times, and I have also seen mothers hold their children, so I'm not convinced that this is a "priesthood only" occasion. If it was, I imagine it would be addressed by leaders (to whatever degree that may be), and not a neglected issue.
 
 
For me it's pretty obvious where the priesthood lies - and that is within the circle of priesthood holders that are performing the blessing - any additional involvement (a non-priesthood holding father holding the mic, and mother holding the child, for example) are not participating as priesthood holders in any context. So, I'm not sure where the feeling of inappropriateness or even threat is coming from. This may merely be a case of Mormon culture, and for the situations where tradition is out the window, it can ruffle feathers a bit. Again, If any of this was an issue, I believe the leaders would address it (to whatever degree that may be), and not a neglected issue.

Just skimmed through a few posts and I had some thoughts on baby blessings. I think it's worth mentioning that BBs are also given to children of parents that are not active members, and it's not uncommon for the father not to have the priesthood - yet he is invited to participate by holding the mic or holding the child (if the mother isn't doing so). I have seen this done many times, and I have also seen mothers hold their children, so I'm not convinced that this is a "priesthood only" occasion. If it was, I imagine it would be addressed by leaders (to whatever degree that may be), and not a neglected issue.
 
 
For me it's pretty obvious where the priesthood lies - and that is within the circle of priesthood holders that are performing the blessing - any additional involvement (a non-priesthood holding father holding the mic, and mother holding the child, for example) are not participating as priesthood holders in any context. So, I'm not sure where the feeling of inappropriateness or even threat is coming from. This may merely be a case of Mormon culture, and for the situations where tradition is out the window, it can ruffle feathers a bit. Again, If any of this was an issue, I believe the leaders would address it (to whatever degree that may be), and not a neglected issue.

Some friends and I had a debate on whether or not it's acceptable for a housewife to (a) ask her husband for help with chores and (b) take hiatus from chores if she's at her wit's end and needs a break. Most of my friends are working mothers and only two of us are actual "housewives" -- me being one of them.
So, it was argued that if a husband doesn't get to have his wife show up at work to relieve him or bail him out of job duties - then a wife shouldn't expect that luxury either - and is responsible to manage the household while her husband is out being the breadwinner. It was also argued that if a husband doesn't get to stay home from work due to a "bad day", then the wife doesn't get to have "bad days" either, and should be expected to fulfil all the duties that is expected of a housewife.
Okay, what do you think? In my marriage, efforts aren't always tit for tat. There are times when I need my husband's help and he gives me everything he has (whether that's physical strength or inner strength) - and I don't have much to return in that moment. Maybe I'm missing what my friends were trying to convey to me.

I don't normally like these social experiments because I disagree with publically shaming people, regardless, if they deserved it or not. That said, it was great to see the reaction here.