I Am a Mormon Monday: Meet Preethi

 

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About Me

I grew up as an Indian-Southern girl in the Heart of Dixie, Mobile, AL.  Yes, I had an accent (I often got strange looks...y'all doesn't usually correspond with dark skin), which I promptly lost after my dad's job took our family to Salt Lake City, UT when I was 16.  Of course, I had all kinds of teen angst about moving in the middle of high school ("but my friendsssss!") but ended up loving the city, my new school, and my wonderful new friends who were willing to include a newbie.

My senior year, I was an editor on our school's yearbook.  My sister went to the same school that year (so fun), so I drove her home and came back to work on a deadline.  I came back out to my car that night to find a sweet little note accompanied by a Kit-Kat bar from a new friend.  It was so thoughtful and jump started a little letter-writing friendship.

One day, as we were driving in front of the Salt Lake Mormon temple, I asked this friend about the statue on top.  He explained to me a bit about the angel Moroni and how he had delivered what would eventually be translated as the Book of Mormon to the first prophet of this dispensation, Joseph Smith.  Thus began many discussions about religion, which led to me eventually reading the Book of Mormon.  I was baptized a few months later.

Both that friend and I independently decided to attend college in Philadelphia.  I still adore that city maybe more than any other (oh, Sabrina's and Delancey Street and the Italian Market and Reading Terminal...I could go on but is it sad that 3/4 of the ones that immediately come to mind have to do with food?).  After graduating, I worked for General Mills, also in Philly.  Oh, and that one friend?  I married him. :)  We got married in the Washington DC Temple and also had an Indian ceremony as well as our reception at Mount Vernon.  The next year, after going on a 2-month traveling extravaganza to 4 continents and 14 countries, we moved to Washington, DC for my husband to start a job and for me to start a graduate program.

In my second year of school, our first baby, Nat (short for Nathanael) arrived on the scene and it was basically the best thing ever.  He's now almost 2 and is sweet, chatty, smart, and hilarious.  While hanging out (or wrangling, whatever...) at home with him, I do some very part-time marketing consulting in the field of public education, which I totally love.  Then three weeks ago, baby #2, Carina, made us a family of four.  She's an angel.

Oh, and some hobbies - I play the violin and sing, love to read, am an avid home cook (and a vegetarian), and am a pro at wasting lots of time on the Interwebs.  And, of course, I love putting together outfits!  Or at least make the effort so I don't feel like a total blob. 

What is hope and what do you hope for? 

I suppose to me, hope is a sort of desire, or something you wish will happen, but that you have a pretty good idea will if you're doing what you can.  It's not just something over which you have no control.  Which, to my semi-control-freakish self, is a relief.  I guess that's why, for me, it ties so closely to faith - it's not just an expectation of something totally off the wall or for which there's no precedent.  I have faith because I have felt and seen things that justify it.  To me, faith isn't blind - it's evidence-based, but just not the kind of evidence we're used to using in labs.  It's evidence of the heart and mind.  Hope is an extension of that and leads to expectation and desire built on faith.

The biggest thing I hope for, without question, is to always be with my family.  I was always super close to my family growing up, and, of course, that familial love is only magnified with two little kiddos now.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to make that happen.


How I live my faith

Whoo boy...that's a toughie.  Although I'm far from perfect at it, I try to live my faith through service, especially in my family.  I'm super lucky that my parents and sister both now live in the same city as we do, so that obviously presents opportunities for service (although if we're being strictly honest, they serve me far more than I do them).  But I think that as we at least open our minds to opportunities to serve, that's the best way to truly show the Savior's selfless love.


Thanks so much for having me, Kimberly!

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