Personality, Kansas, Tires, Chastity, General Conference

One thing I've noticed about my progress (all the way around) is I have learned the following: 

*It's none of my business if people don't like me. It doesn't affect me nearly as much as it used to. 

*I love my role and my choice. I'm done being told that my idea of motherhood and marriage (ideas I get from God, ironically) lacks intelligence, is self-damaging, wasteful, or (and I just don't get this) anti-woman. It boggles my mind! In fact, I spend a lot less time reading anything that would tell me otherwise. I've already read it all (the ideas are never different), anyway. 

*This has made me a better mother. I don't resent my children, I don't resent the work it takes to run my household. For years I was annoyed with what I was "having" to do in my home. Feminism told me I should cut loose and run because obviously, I wasn't fulfilled. Well, I'm glad to say that I stayed and I figured out that what my problem boiled down to was my own misunderstanding about who I am, what I'm capable of, and how I'm going to see my life in 20 years. That, and satan telling me a bunch of crap. Now, I'm incredibly fulfilled! Ask me why, sometime. 

*I'm loud, I'm messy, I make a lot of mistakes, I over-share, I'm brutally honest, I adore the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I love myself for who I am. Sure, I'm on my way to becoming a better version of me (thanks to the Atonement), but that doesn't mean my unique personality is wrong. I don't apologize for being me, anymore. Not to others, not to myself. I apologize when I've hurt someone (because I rarely mean to on purpose), I apologize when I've sinned, but I don't apologize for my personality. I don't apologize for my faith. I don't apologize for my hope.  

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Today marks the third (fourth??) week Brandon has to be out of town for work. His client is in Kansas, and so it means a much longer commute time (ha!). It hasn't been too bad, but this past weekend was rough. I picked him up at the airport on Saturday afternoon, and then I drove him to the airport on Sunday afternoon. We did manage to pack in a lot of family time (thank you, General Conference!) and a short date, though. And this client is fantastic, and he's working, so, honestly? No complaining from me! 

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Yesterday evening, I ran over a large screw (bolt? Gigantic nail?) and it's stuck in the right front tire of the Prius. Luckily, I made it home without the thing going flat or exploding on me, and this morning I'm praying it will continue to be okay until I can drive into Costco to get it fixed. I'm not very excited about waiting for the tire to get fixed with two small kids, (or moving car seats from the van to the Prius so I can take them with me) but it IS Costco, and there will be plenty to distract us from the wait. Ooh! Maybe I'll time it with free samples time... 

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I'm also working on a 3 Part Series on Chastity for the website Mormon Women Stand. It's going pretty well --it's hard to write about something the world thinks is ridiculous. Even the most conservative and religious people find the idea outdated and unrealistic; how does one explain why it's one of the most crucial commandments of all time? And that if people actually obeyed it (and understood it), we'd not only save billions (trillions!) of dollars in health care, but it could eradicate almost every social problem we have in our country? In our world? It's taking me a long time to write it out so that the explanations are found in truth/scripture/prophetic warnings, as well as realistically  applicable to teenagers and young adults who are wading through the mud of immorality everywhere they go. 

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General Conference weekend was, as always, superb. Our family has chosen to watch all four sessions together every single time, and it's awesome! Sure, by the time Sunday afternoon rolls around, the little boys are just completely finished, but it's been so good for them to experience what General Conference is all about. I want them to see this weekend as a GOOD thing! As a chance to hear from living Prophets of God (how cool is that?!) and not as a weekend to take "time off" from Gospel Living --if anything, it's a time to renew our resolve to live the gospel more fully. So, I make it fun: Packets to color, special treats we only make during General Conference, lots of blankets and forts and usually I do our General Conference Wall (idea, here). The Wall didn't get done this year, but that's okay. We also had a rough Sunday morning at first (too much fighting), but we weren't going for perfection! It was just so wonderful to be together as a family (as much as we could), listening to God's servants teaching us how to come closer to Jesus Christ. 

I shared loads of memes on Instagram and FB (simply because I think those messages are so important to read and hear), but here are a few of my favorites: 

Which talks were your favorites? 

Happy Tuesday, dear reader! I hope you have a fabulous day.