Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday!

Because it is 90 degrees in Austin today, and all of the usual signs of fall are absent, I had forgotten completely that it is October and that today is General Conference.  Thus, I had scheduled all of my normal errands and had a whole day planned of what I could get done with the help of my husband.  It wasn't until we were in the car on the way to the gym that I finally had time to do some catching up---with my kids strapped into their car seats and my husband behind the wheel---I was free to review voicemail and e-mails on my phone, it is then that I saw an e-mail from my mother-in-law (she was one step ahead of me and she's not even a member) mentioning General Conference that I realized we would be missing at least the morning session.

I love General Conference and the opportunity it affords me to hear from the leaders of our church.  I always feel so uplifted when I hear the words of the prophet and am so glad for all of their teachings.  I was reinvigorated last week after Women's Conference and the fabulous talk by Elder Uchtdorf, I left certain that I would listen to church music all day everyday and spend time reading old issues of the Ensign---basically I was so filled with the spirit that I never wanted to be without that feeling of Gods love.  Elder Uchtdorf taught that often we are too hard on ourselves, and that for some reason women tend to put themselves down and find fault in much of what they do.  I took this to heart and realized that I am definitely guilty of this critical and unproductive behavior.  It is just so much easier to find fault in what we do than to see in ourselves what God sees in us.  

Unfortunately, reality set in less than 24 hours later and I was back into the noisy life of a mother of 4 young children and the idyllic harmonious life of a perfect saint seemed merely a distant delusion.  However, I am committing to myself to try and practice speaking more kindly to myself and not being so harsh and critical, whether it be about the way my jeans fit (or don't fit), the way my house looks, or how my dinner tastes, those are worries of this world and really are quite petty and fleeting concerns.  Hopefully by posting those commitments on my blog I will feel more accountable.

Anyway, I did get to enjoy the afternoon session from my living room--hallelujah--which was great since where we were in Virginia we didn't have a cable channel that carried the broadcast.  I wish that I could say it was a peaceful experience similar to that I had had at the stake center last week for Women's Conference but, as is to be expected, Angela and Jennifer are just much better behaved than Bracken and Abbie.  As we tried to listen to the speakers Justin and I spent much of the time ushering the older two out of our carpeted family room and back into the kitchen where they were free to put their Dorito hands wherever they wanted.  Also, Abbie was sure that she needed to do my hair with one of her hair bows and then have a fashion show.  I looked great.  Above are photos of the resulting hairdo (and Bracken being spooky), I am also including pictures from the morning outing at Costco because I realized that Ruby has not made it into any photos on the blog yet.

Note:  Ever concerned about my reputation Jessie recommended that I mention my fashion show photos are post-workout, hence the exercise clothes.  Moving to Austin has not caused me to abandon my LDS ways, I have not become an immodest harlot.