Six LDS Writers and A Frog

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Five on One Hand, Half of Ten on the Other

By Sariah S. Wilson

I am succumbing to peer pressure and listing five things you may not know about me (note that I did not claim they would be interesting, only things you probably don’t know).

1. I’m the oldest of nine kids, and we all have names from the scriptures - Rachel, Jared, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Jordan, Adam, Stephen and Charity. Unfortunately for my brothers Jared and Jordan, while they were told that their names came from the brother of Jared and the River Jordan respectively, my mother revealed that she actually chose the names because they were her favorite romance hero names at the time. And that still makes me smile.

2. I skipped first grade. I guess my teacher got sick of me completing assignments before she had even finished passing them out. So when I went up to BYU, I had only been 17 for a couple of months. My parents, horror of all horrors, also allowed me to go on one or two dates before I turned 16 (since most of my friends turned 16 when I was a sophomore in high school and I didn’t turn 16 until the end of my junior year and because it would have been semi-humiliating to be nominated for Winter Formal Queen and not have a date). I also got to skip up through Young Women’s early - I became a Mia Maid at 13, but I was not allowed to be a Laurel until I was 16 (new bishop).

3. I was at the fireside where Cody Judy tried to hijack President Howard W. Hunter. A friend of mine wanted to get “good seats” so we got there early and actually sat two rows behind where Cody Judy was sitting. I noticed him because he was wearing a white suit and had a ponytail - not something you typically see at the Y. It was a terrifying experience because we didn’t know what was going on, but nobody left. I’ll never forget the power I felt when we sang those hymns, or the relief when Cody Judy was tackled. It took me over an hour to get a phone line to call my parents. On a related note - I have a distant relative in prison who was roommates with Cody Judy. Mr. Judy offered to write me a letter, explaining his actions, and while I thought that might be interesting for posterity that Grandma had corresponded with someone who said he would blow up tens of thousands of Y students, I didn’t feel comfortable giving him any identifying information.

4. I’m related to the former drummer of Good Charlotte. I found this out accidentally - turns out our moms are cousins. I’ve never met him, but apparently he goes to the family Christmas party out in Utah. None of my mom’s brothers or sisters appreciated how cool this fact was until their kids informed them of it. And if that’s not interesting enough celebrity-wise, I once received a phone call from my favorite celebrity (and it is someone who is still on TV as we speak).

5. I am having a GIRL! We are totally thrilled and excited - I started crying when the technician confirmed it at the ultrasound this last Thursday. My mom cried so much that people ran into her office to see what horrible thing had happened. LOL I’ve always wanted to have a little girl and since this will most likely be it for me, I am beyond grateful that it will be a daughter. I am prepared to go broke, dress her in nothing but pink and this child will be spoiled, just so that everyone knows.

How is everyone doing on their 21-day challenge? We’re almost to the end of it, and I’m actually pretty proud of myself on how well I’ve been doing. I’ve done it almost every day and am making good progress on my goal.


10 Comments:

At 1/20/2007 1:38 PM, Blogger Tristi Pinkston said...

Awesome list, Sariah! My husband was at the fireside too, but not sitting that close and he didn't get offered a letter of explanation. :)

And congratulations on the girl - we have one daughter, and I do enjoy putting her in pink. It makes doing the laundry really easy. You just put anything pink in her pile and you're good to go!

 
At 1/20/2007 3:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the baby girl! That's exciting!

 
At 1/20/2007 4:18 PM, Blogger Stephanie Black said...

What exciting news about your baby girl!

 
At 1/20/2007 4:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sariah, great news about the bundle of pink on her way. Daughters are a lot of fun your whole life. Come to think of it, so are boys. It's great that you'll get to experience some of each.

I'm still doing great on two of my goals, meeting and exceeding in fact, but on the third one I do all right most days, but not as well as I t hought I would on others. By the way, where is everyone? I thought there were a lot of people who accepted your twenty-one day challenge, but I didn't see many report in last week.

 
At 1/20/2007 6:12 PM, Blogger Sariah Wilson said...

Thanks, everyone!

Jennie, I am very grateful that I'll get to experience having boys and a girl. Heck, I'm just grateful that I'm able to have this baby at all - and I would have been thrilled either way. It's just fun that it will be a girl and I'll get to buy bows and ribbons and black shiny shoes and lacy socks. :)

I'm surprised too that people aren't checking in to let us know how they're doing on their challenges. Come on everyone - I'm trying to make you accountable here. Post a comment and tell us!

 
At 1/21/2007 12:16 AM, Blogger Chillygator said...

Yay!!! I'm so happy you're having a girl!! What a happy place for her to be as the youngest (o:

hmm...yeah, that challange was a little...I started out okay for...like two days...then life happened so I've been switching off days on my two goals. Which isn't quite what I was going for, but it's better than nothing.

 
At 1/21/2007 11:39 AM, Blogger Kerry Blair said...

Sariah, I'm so pleased for you! My daughter is the youngest and was the last child I was able to have. She is such a joy! (For one thing, she won't run off to join the Marine Corps.) Congratulations!

I'm doing the challenge and since I set a modest goal, I'm doing great. I read a couple of quotes this morning that made me think of your challenge.

Marva Collins wrote, "Excellence is not an act but a habit. The things you do the most are the thngs you will do best."

And from J. Willard Marriott (who should know a thing or two about success) "It's the little things that make the big things possible."
I'm hoping that applies to even the biggest things -- like exaltation!

Thanks for the challenge. You're really changing lives.

One more thing -- do you know how hyped people are already for your book? All the clerks are talking about it. I keep saying, "I know her." I'm all about name dropping, after all.

 
At 1/21/2007 10:07 PM, Blogger Anna Maria Junus said...

Congratulations on your girl.

But I have no idea who Cody Judy is.

 
At 1/22/2007 7:04 PM, Blogger Annette Lyon said...

I was at that fireside, too (so was my future husband, although we hadn't met yet). Scary moment. We sat in the nosebleed section, and I spent much of the time trying to calm down a girl we were with.

As for the girl thing--you're entitled to doll her up! With my first girl, I was so thrilled to get one that I dressed her up cute every day, complete with bows and curls in her hair. Hubby insisted she was little more than a live doll to me.

Yeah. So?

 
At 1/22/2007 9:32 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anna, to answer your question about Cody Judy. He was a mentally deranged guy who sneaked onto the stage with President Hunter and threatened to kill him during a BYU fireside. President Hunter handled it beautifully, the students for the most part held their ground and stood by their prophet. I don't remember the particulars, but I'm sure those who were there do, but the guy was arrested without any harm to President Hunter or the students in the audience.

 

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