We’re happy to introduce Rachel Whipple as our latest guest blogger.
Rachel got her bachelor’s in geology (and a husband) at BYU. She lived in San Diego and on the North Shore of Long Island before returning to Provo. Now that her husband teaches at BYU, she gets to take all the classes that she wanted to take as an undergrad, but couldn’t fit into her schedule. (So far, that’s been mostly philosophy and anthropology courses, because what could be more fun than spending a semester reading David Hume?)
She has been a stay at home mom for a decade, and she notes that “I’ve found time to explore a variety of crafts that I would never had time to consider had I continued working full time. I’ve learned to sew, weave, knit, design clothes and costumes, and reupholster furniture. I’ve learned to cook real food from scratch, bake bread, and garden. I’ve been a yoga teacher, preschool assistant, and public school volunteer, but most expertise I have, I’ve gained through the day to day work of hearth and home.”
Rachel recently began blogging at the excellent LDS Earth Stewardship blog (just trying to change how we interact with the earth, one lowly blog post at a time), where her posts cover a variety of green Mormonism topics, and her bio notes that she has not used a can of “cream of whatever” soup in over a decade.
We’re looking forward to her posts. Welcome, Rachel!
Rachel has interesting things to say on a variety of topics. I hope that she’ll post at least a little bit about her recent Sunstone presentation on stewardship:
“As our testimony of the gospel gives meaning and motivation to our relations with other people, so too our sense of divinely appointed stewardship informs all of our interactions with the material world, both manufactured and naturally created. We must strive to live as responsible stewards, making prudent use of resources, cultivating abundance in our own spheres of influence to provide for our families and to bless others. I will review the theological underpinnings of an LDS environmental ethic and discuss practical steps Mormons can take in their own homes that are consistent with both the gospel and green living.”
Rachel is a good friend and I’m looking forward to reading her posts. I tried to get Rachel into T&S way back in 2005 or something when we were neighbors and I explained I had found a great new way to spend/waste time on the internet and I knew she’d have plenty to contribute, but she was too busy weaving and getting yoga certifications and building furniture and painting watercolors of her children and such. (She’s pretty amazing.) Glad she finally saw the light.
Welcome, Rachel! I look forward to reading your thoughts!
“T&S … a great new way to spend/waste time on the internet.”
This should have been our original tagline.
Welcome Rachel. Excited to read your contributions.
And I can’t live without cream of whatever.
Was glad to hear that Rachel will be featured here as I, too, knew both Gina and Rachel in San Diego.
Thank you all. I’m excited to be here. Instead of cream of whatever, I just make a roux or white sauce. I think food is tastier that way, and it has significantly less sodium. It does take more time.
Hooray, Rachel!
so wise, t&s! i love everything rachel does!