Imagine: GENERAL CONFERENCE

For those of you who did not grow up in Utah...that is a quote from the movie Single's Ward :)

I haven't ever blogged about General Conference. It is awful...i am sure ... but to be honest i have never listened as closely as I have this year.

This year a lot of things are different.

I am married. 

I am pregnant. 

I am starting school again...because i want to...not because i feel obligated to.

I know how I feel about the church.

I know how lucky I am to have been blessed with so much.

there is one talk I got to hear. that stood out. i am sure you saw everyone tweeting/facebooking about it. i did too. thats why i went back and listened to it online. 

Elder Neil L Andersen.

he spoke of children and families. now this is a long bit coming up...you don't need to read it if you don't want to ...my main purpose of blogging is journaling.

i grew up in one of those big families he joked about. the one where when we went somewhere (especially out of state) people would look at my mom with big eyes in a REALLY? kind of expression. 

it was crazy. it was out of control. most days it was pure INSANITY! but guess what? i am thankful i have every single one of my siblings. we may not all get along all the time. but at the end of the day...we love each other. 

through the hardest time of my life, my little sister (who was only 17 at the time...i think lol) would text me and see how i was doing. my little brother ten years my junior always asks about how my adoption stuff is going...even though i am pretty sure he doesn't quite get it. 

through the happiest time of my life, my little sister (who is 19 now...i think ;p) texts me to see how my morning sickness is coming along. my little brother (who is 6) tells me he wants to the name the baby "lips" (which i am still not quite sure where he came up with that) my sibs in colorado have drawn me pictures.

through it all my siblings are awesome. now i am married and through my husband got four more siblings. who are all awesome! (to be honest i was terrified to blend in with another family...but now i love it!) without my sister in law...i would not have any maternity clothes to speak of...or half of the amazing advice on how to deal with a baby. or my brother in law who always hangs out with Wes and I and occasionally helps him babysit the younger siblings i talked about previously. or my other brother in law who gets us internet at our first apartment or entertains us for hours on end with a laser...yes a laser (i laughed for literally HOURS) 

now i get to see my sweet baby Mina grow up with way more aunts and uncles than she count. i am so glad that my mother, my stepmother, and my mother-in-law USED the time the Lord gave them for children to raise such an awesome group of kids...(to be honest my husband is my favorite...don't tell anyone ;p) I am thankful that motherhood was important to them. and they used the spirit of discernment on how many children to have. 

Wes and I have read eachother's patriarchal blessing and in both of them it talks of "many children" when i think of many children it freaks me out. but i also know that we need to use the spirit of discernment and do what the Lord tells us. if the Lord tells us to have 6 children GREAT! if the Lord tells us to have 3 children GREAT! (i personally lean more towards three....im patient but i am not a saint.) I am just thankful the Lord is letting one child into our home. like Elder Andersen said. she may not have a fancy schmancy nursery with a designer crib (although my mom seems to have wonderful plans) but she will have the most important things:

a mom

a dad

a huge family immediate and extended

the priesthood in her home

a knowledge of the gospel

and

love

i am thankful for my Heavenly Father. i am thankful for this gospel and for the ability to have it in my life from the day i was born. i love my husband. i love this church. i can't wait to be a mommy. life is just good.