Hey friends! Whether we have known one another for decades, or you just clicked on this website moments ago…Welcome!!

There is this “Welcome Home” feeling-you know the one-that feeling of peace, safety, joy, and connection-all bundled up together.

It’s the same feeling that whispers hope throughout this new book on strengthening home and family.

It’s called The Pursuit of Happi-Nest (Helping Your Family Soar, Even While Winging It).

I am the mother of eight children. This is a book on a mission to help you have less contention, and more love, at home. The special sauce is that it draws from practical principles used by Latter-day Saints worldwide to build strong families. These principles can help any family, and they have, repeatedly. They can help you, wherever you are spiritually, or if you are in a place of no particular religious interest.

It’s true that “Family life is the best method for achieving happiness in this world, and it is a clear pattern given to us from the Lord about what is to be in the next world.” —Spencer W. Kimball

You can purchase The Pursuit of Happi-Nest book by clicking the “Book” link above.

I hope you find “joie de vivre” feelings here, but mostly I hope you will experience even more “welcoming” feelings in your own home, as we grow and learn, together.

From our family to yours,

Welcome, Home!

P.S. I hope you enjoy the daisies popping up on the blog. My mom carried daisies at her wedding. I think they symbolize purity, an absence of pretension, and innocence. These were the perfect choice for my beloved mommy. Hi, mom up there in heaven! Thanks for reading this blog!

P.S.S. Here is my most recent  bio information:

MaryJo Bell is the leading voice on KSL Studio 5 TV for project Nanahood. You can find her mdia interviews under the TV/Media tab on this website.

MaryJo Bell is the author of the 2022 Costco bestseller “The Pursuit of Happi-Nest.” This book is a unique mash-up of both silly and serious, offering Latter-Day Saint strategies for raising strong families. Zero readers need to become Latter-Day Saints to enjoy and apply the methods shared in this book. The Latter-Day Saints are considered experts in the field of family raising. It’s time they got a book: D. 

“I Can Feel it in My Heart” is an even newer book written for young children. Its aim is to offer gentle guidance for little ones trying to navigate life in this demanding digital age. It helps kids know what to do, should they accidentally bump into inappropriate digital images (including pornography). 

Publishers have slated this for release in May 2023.

Publishers have also indicated that MaryJo’s third book (on Nanahood!) will be released in 2024.

MaryJo is also the host of the podcast Moms Meet World (her favorite episode is “Moms Meat World;), now playing on Buzzsprout and all other major podcast platforms. This podcast ranks in the top 10% of global podcasts, and is currently #13 on the list of “90 Mom podcasts you must listen to in 2022.” It is also all about strengthening home and family. Sometimes MaryJo’s family is interviewed on the show, along with lots of other fun guests. Once in a rare while, there is a solo cast.

MaryJo has written for The Huffington Post, LDS Living, Meridian Magazine and Thrive Global. She is a graduate of Brigham Young University, a wife of 40 years, of mother of eight, and a Nana of nine (so far:).

Along with her passion for Nanahood and all things home, family, and heaven (our future home), MaryJo enjoys studying health and nutrition and doing some of the things she reads about. She loves most of life, including reading, walking, yoga, dancing, singing, laughing, aspirational gardening (read: currently non-existent), and the possible stitching of matching granddaughter dresses. If she ever actually pulls off this last one, she will share photos:).

When I was a little girl, I used to line up all my stuffed animals, to demonstrate pretend cooking show ideas for them. Not one of them became a chef ;), and I never became one on television  (#thereisstilltimefoodnetwork). But Jennifer Garner did become a pretend cooking show gal on YouTube, so there is that…also, her show is really fun!

I love gathering for meals with family (my husband of 40 years, eight children, nine grandchildren, and any extended family or friends du jour); laughing and chatting, and taking long bike rides through the Ozarks (I made up that last one-I do like shortish bike rides in very flat places).

I am a BYU graduate. I studied Psychology, with an emphasis on Biology and an extra major skill in French. Mais oui! I went to France where nice cab drivers pretended that my French was making sense.  I love so many French things. I am part French, but also Irish, German, and British, with a dollop of Swedish. How fun is family history? Really fun. We’ll talk about that sometime…

I wrote The Pursuit of Happi-Nest and I Can Feel it in My Heart (releasing in 2023). There is another book baby in the works…stay tuned!:D There is also our serious/silly podcast, Moms Meet World, available for your listening fun. My favorite episode is Moms Meat World.  Listen to the podcast. Currently, the podcast is on hold (although past episodes are available). I am deep in the literary weeds, working on a book for grandmothers. The working title is: Nanahood: How to Make the Most of Your Second Half of Motherhood.

One more thing: I believe God exists. Heaven is going to be fun. Every storm on Earth eventually runs out of rain. Let’s not take this life too seriously. Let’s find all the silver linings from cloudy days, and wear them like ribbons, or ties. Glory is in our eyes.

MaryJo doesn’t just have a gift of making everyone feel loved and important, she really does love everyone and everyone is important to her. In The Pursuit of Happi-Nest, she tells the genuine stories of parenting in such a way as to validate mamas’ experiences, and to delightfully show the delight of being a mama.

—Jill Cleaver, Washington

“Have you ever asked yourself, “Why is it that those Latter-day Saint families seem to like each other so much? How come they seem to raise such awesome, well-adjusted children? Is there some magical key to parenting that I am missing? As a non-Latter-day Saint member, I have often thought someone should come out with an approachable, inspiring book that unlocks some of the shared, foundational principles upon which strong Latter-day Saint
families are built. MaryJo Bell’s The Pursuit of Happi-Nest is that book.

From the opening pages, MaryJo draws you in as a friend, engaging your heart with her self-deprecating vulnerability and inspirational testimony. Her forthright observations dispel “perfect family/mom stereotypes” with humor. What emerges is a candid, practical, fast read that will simultaneously keep you chuckling and leave you inspired, motivated and empowered.”

—Betsy Roeder, Maryland