The Basics.
Hi, I’m Esther Dee. AKA Esther Dale. I’m a wife (specifically, a military wife), mother to three small children, Mormon feminist striving for intersectionality, writer, blogger, photographer, aspiring public speaker (work in progress), Postpartum Mood and Anxiety Disorder survivor and PPMD/mental health in general advocate, and so much more. I love to read (historical fiction is my current favorite), take long drives in the country, putz around on Facebook, and snuggle with our cats. Oh, and I love watching movies and tv shows and talking about them. I also enjoy a good FanFic (GOOD being the keyword). I have recently discovered the joys of Comic Cons, after attending Wizard World San Jose, where I got to meet some cool celebs and get autographs and be sucked into the allure of cosplay. I’m very interested in genealogy and enjoy trying to find links to my past and build a more complete picture of where my family comes from. I like playing with makeup when I have a chance.
The Beginning.
I was born in Georgia and lived there with my mom, dad, and younger brother until we 
moved to Texas when I was 8. From that point forwards, I grew up in the Austin area and lived there until I married my husband and we settled down in San Antonio where he was stationed at the time. My extended family still lives back east through the Georgia-South Carolina-North Carolina area but Texas is usually my first stop when I go home to visit. There’s something special about the sky, the music, the variety in terrain, climates, etc. throughout the state, the lakes and rivers, the wildlife, the longhorns and other livestock, and of course the bluebonnets and other wildflowers.
The Beliefs.
I’m a believer in Christ. My faith is important to me. I also believe that my faith is my own 
and it’s not my place to try to force those religious beliefs onto others through legislation. My beliefs themselves are a bit of a mishmash. My family attended the Church of God until we moved to Texas, at which point we settled in at a non-denominational church. I remained non-denominational until eventually, as an adult, I made my way to the Roman Catholic Church (aka RCC) which had had my interest since I was a little girl. Later on, after getting married, I found my way to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka LDS or Mormon).
I’ve kept bits and pieces of each and I believe that there are things to be learned from all faiths and spiritualities. At this point, if 
Facebook had an option to set a relationship status with your faith/spirituality, mine would say “It’s Complicated”. Intersectional feminism is important to me and impacts my faith (I strongly believe Jesus was an intersectional feminist too), and so I have problems with some parts of the culture, doctrine, teachings, and leadership choices of the LDS Church. I’m not currently active and I don’t know if I will ever be active again or if I’ll ever be able to resolve my feminism and “Love people” centered beliefs with the LDS Church. But more on that in blog posts, probably.
The Blog.
I got my start with blogging at the end of 2009 when I started a blog about my experiences 
with Postpartum Mood and Anxiety Disorders. Since then, I’ve done thematic blogs on my jaunt into gestational surrogacy, random things my kids say and do, intersectional Mormon feminism, and my most recent project: a blog specifically for book + drink reviews. Recently, I realized that a lot of my posts on Facebook could easily be blog posts, but they don’t necessarily fit into one of my themed blogs and I didn’t want to start another themed blog, so I decided it was time to start a general blog. I *may* end up moving everything over here and have a consolidated blog (minus the book stuff, that 
will probably stay it’s own thing), but we’ll see how it goes. You’ll probably get a little bit of everything here. Serious, thoughtful musings, snark/sarcasm, straight talk with a humorous bent about parenting, info about military life, posts about makeup/Ipsy/etc., and more. You just never know, so buckle up and hang on for the ride.
I’ve probably gone on long enough for an “About” page, so I’ll let you get to exploring. Enjoy! 🙂
Me, Esther Dee. 