Time out for women

I love taking time out. Just a little time away from everything to help me relax, restore my thoughts and to rejuvenate myself back to where I want to be. As a mother and a woman, I need regular time out. I find it keeps me sane, it gives me something to look forward to and allows me to breathe again.

One of secrets to keeping it all together with a large family, is that once a year I take a weekend away by myself. Yes, all by myself. Matt looks after the kids and I book myself into a hotel and chill out.

Just me, just the room and just my thoughts.

I don't go to the extreme and book myself a luxury weekend away (although that would be nice), I pick a place to stay that is affordable and a place that will provide me with some quiet and a bed to relax on.

Here are the reasons why I do it:

1. Doing this once a year gives me something to look forward to and believe me, as a mother, some days you need at least one thing to look forward to! It keeps my heart and mind happy to know that I can plan and prepare for what I will do that weekend.

2. This weekend is just for me. As a mother and a woman I find that so much of my time is spent helping and caring for others that often I am left behind. This allows me to focus on what I need and what I need to do to care for myself.

3. I normally take my computer or a large journal/notepad and plan out my year of what I would love to have happen in my life and for my family. I love being able to do this without being interrupted and disturbed fifty million times an hour. Alright, I am really over exaggerating but you get the picture!

4. Having some time away and apart from my family helps me to fall in love with my family all over again. At first it is really hard to be apart from them and my heart and thoughts constantly are wondering how they are going, but once I start planning and writing, my desire to want to help them and myself progress takes over and I settle into a great weekend of loving my time out to myself.

5. A quiet hotel room, a notepad and a pen allows me to nurture myself. I sleep, I read, I think, I ponder and I remember and connect with who I am again. I am not Matt's wife and Chelsea's or Nathan mother. I am Naomi again, even just for one weekend. It is lovely to remember who I am, what I want from life and to access what I value and treasure. It makes a difference to my emotional, mental and spiritual welfare.

Now, I know not everyone is able to do this and for many years I was not able to do this myself. It does not have to be a weekend away, it can even be one night or even a couple of hours, but having some time out makes a difference and is important.

This year I am soooo looking forward to taking some time out. In fact I am going to an event called Time Our For Women in Sydney as part of my time out weekend. It is an inspirational event put on by Deseret Book (who I love to buy books from!) and this is the first year that it is coming to Australia. I have been hearing about it in America for years and am so excited that it is coming here!

It is a wonderful opportunity to connect with women from all over Australia and to get recharged through motivational messages and music. The theme for this year is: Choose to Become and believe me I am choosing to become by attending this event.

One of my favourite presenters will be Hilary Weeks. I so love her music and have a few of her CD's that I love to listen to. I also love that she is a keeping it real kind of mother and woman and she has a great sense of humour. Check out one of my favourite songs below:



Time Out for women is going to be held in Sydney on Saturday July 23rd at the Sydney Olympic Sports Centre Arena and if you are interested in reading more about it, you can check it out here.

I also love to take some time out by having a hot bubble bath, reading a book, catching a movie, going out for a hot chocolate and by reading other blogs! I hope that you have the chance to take a weekend away, to restore and to renew. I am so looking forward to July and my mind is already going crazy thinking of all the things I want to dream about on that weekend.

What do you do to take time out???