Marie C. Ricks

Presenter at Brigham Young University's Education Week  in 2003-2007 under a four-day series entitled “A House of Order - The Better Way to Live”.  Four classes were given in 2003, eight classes in 2004,  nine classes in 2005, and five in 2006 and again in 2007, with an emphasis on home organization, time management, teaching children to work, kitchen organization, and food management and shopping skills. (Provo, Utah @ http://ce.byu.edu/ed/edweek.)

Guest on "Studio 5", KSL TV's daytime talk show at 11 a.m. focusing on personal and home organization, September 2006  to present. 

Radio Show Host for weekly three-hour radio show called "Keep It Simple" on Utah's first radio station for women, AM820, May 2005- March 2006.  This show focused on simple and effective ways to improve home management skills, shop smart, cook with finesse, and teach children life skills.  It also included interviews with well-known personalities to share their perspectives on living, working, and learning.

Feature writer for “Deseret Morning News”  (Provo, Utah @ http://deseretnews.com/dn/uvl) with columns regarding personal and home organization, 2004-present.  

Author of Organized For A Mission, House of Order Handbook, Organization for the Almost Organized, and Master Menu Cookbook, plus other home organizational packets entitled:  Stay-At-Home Housecleaning Plan, Working Person's Housecleaning Plan, Teaching Children to Work, Family Information Binder, Standards Cleaning Cards, and Cartooning Fun. See www.houseoforder.com/products.htm for more information.

Presenter of home organization skills at monthly Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Relief Society Enrichment Nights and other community/church groups, 1996-present.

Presenter at April 24, 2002 Utah Valley State College, Provo, Utah, Office Professionals Annual Conference.  This presentation was entitled:  “Making Life Work for You” with focus on:  A House that Runs Itself, Priority Planning, and Making Life Happen.

Teacher of eight-week courses regarding home organization skills through L.D.S. stakes in Utah and South Salt Lake County, 2006-present.

Teacher of eight-week courses regarding home organization skills at U.V.S.C. Community Education Program 1996-2006, Orem, Utah  and Southside Community Center 1988-1996, San Jose, California.

Married to James N. Ricks.  They are the parents of five sons.  Tom is professor at Louisiana State University, David is attending Ohio State University medical school, Brian is seeking an advanced computer science degree at Brigham Young University (and a new husband), Jennifer is a B.Y.U. graduate in English Literature and is our new daughter-in-law, and Tyler is applying to B.Y.U.'s animation program.  

Marie C. Ricks

 Biographical Information, 2008

          Marie has been sharing home organization skills for over 20 years now.  She began teaching bread making in 1986 at the local community education center but soon found there was a greater need for home management skills.  She developed an eight-week, sixteen-topic course including time management, food preparation, closet and cupboard organization, budgeting, teaching children to work, and shopping skills.  

          Her classes have proven popular both in San Jose, California and Utah County, where she now lives.  She frequently teaches home organization principles at L.D.S. Church Enrichment Nights and at other community gatherings.  She also does in-home consultations, i.e. she has seen a lot of dirty laundry, cluttered closets, and stacks of untidy paperwork, all of which is very exciting to her.

More recently, Marie has been a presenter at B.Y.U.’s Education Week and has authored and published several books including Organized For A Mission, Project Organization (Shadow Mountain Press through Deseret Book), and House of Order Handbook.  She has also prepared additional printed “home management” materials to help homemakers, whatever their needs may be.  She has made good use of her personal library which now totals over 300 home management books as she shares valuable and workable ideas in her classes, presentations, and columns.

   Marie was born in Vernal, Utah, a small town in eastern Utah, but was raised for most of her youth in Mapleton, Utah where her parents owned a small farm.  Her father taught civil engineering at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah and the family of eight children, of which she is the oldest, grew and preserved all of their own food, except flour, sugar, jello and a few other sundries.  It was a life of hard work, long hours, great discipline, and much love.  There were farm animals, an orchard, a berry patch, and a home built by her parents.

Marie’s parents were talented in organization and taught the children how to get alot done in a short amount of time.  Before they left for school in the morning, for instance, the indoor housework was done, the outdoor chores were finished (including milking the cows and feeding the animals), individual piano practicing was done, the family had enjoyed a hearty breakfast, and the dishes for the large family had been done.

When Marie left home to attend B.Y.U. and live on campus, she was well equipped to make her own way, working twenty hours a week and going to school full-time.  She met her husband that first year at B.Y.U. and off they went to graduate school in San Diego, California.

Marie has been happily married to Jim Ricks for 35 years and together they are the parents of five sons.  Tom is professor at Louisiana State University, David is attending Ohio State University medical school, Brian is seeking an advanced computer science degree at Brigham Young University (and a new husband), Jennifer is a B.Y.U. graduate in English Literature and is our new daughter-in-law, and Tyler is applying to B.Y.U.'s animation program.  (Evan, their youngest, passed away as a young child from leukemia.)

Marie has interests in many areas.  She loves to scrap quilt, make pressed-flower greeting cards for friends and family, write personal histories, and most recently has been a radio show host.

The most important decision Marie made and subsequent skill she learned organizationally was personal discipline.  In order to dedicate her life to her family and be of benefit to others, she needed, herself, to be balanced and full.  Early on, she decided she would follow a daily regime of exercise, prayer, scripture study, and journal writing.  In order to do this, on most days she has risen early.  Having gained many benefits from this daily personal routine, she practiced doing her housework, raising five boys, and serving others with energy and excitement.  Having started right, the rest of the day just always seemed better.  And now, of course, she enjoys sharing her feelings, experiences, and homemaking skills with others.

Marie and her family live in Highland, Utah where she and her husband grow a vegetable and fruit garden as their summer hobby and share woodworking projects together on colder days.