Friday, February 3, 2012

The Weekend Just for Me

"I'm here" I texted to my husband.
My hands began to shake, nerves suddenly overtaking my body. 'Just breath' I told myself, making a quick mental note of all of the times I had already been the new girl. I sent a quick note to my best friend Lourie "I am totally shaking". She assured me I would be fine.

I stepped out of the car and walked towards the house. A banner hung from the porch.

The Power of Moms
I was about to walk into my first conference, not a blogging conference that all the buzz is about lately, but something different, something amazing.

As moms we work hard, really hard. And sometimes we flounder and stumble and have no idea what we are doing. Some of us work corporate jobs and will receive special training and attend retreats- so why don't we as moms have this? We do.

That is what the Power of Moms is all about.

Friday we learned all about the M.O.M organizational system.

The Power of Moms Mind Organization Program
As April Perry said, her goal is the clear the counters of America- something that would make my husband do a happy dance. We learned not only how to deal with all of those papers, but all of our in-boxes-- even the ones in our heads so that we could organize, file, and clear enabling us to be present in the moment. To be really there- not worrying about what we need to do next, as we know we will get to it and we are organized and have it recorded so we will not forget. I already implemented the MOM system with my email and my inbox has gone from 300 emails to zero. No, I am not getting any less e-mails- but now it is organized, clean and I am taking care of it when there is time.
And we ended the evening with a wonderful dinner, lots of fun conversations and a crazy game of group charades.
Saturday we were joined by several more women, about 65 in all, to learn about taking care of ourselves, the family system, discipline, the family economy, and more. It was during this session that I had my ah-ah moment and figured out my word for the year-Present.

We broke into discussion groups and talked about real life application to the things we learned. And all weekend long it never felt clicky or inclusive. The circles were always expanding letting another mom in.

I left feeling inspired, rejuvenated and completely exhausted! But it was good.

We have already implemented our version of the Family economy that we learned about which has been a life savor this last week as Eric has been out of town and I have needed extra help. So while I still think it would be awesome to go to a blogging conference, I am so grateful I went to this retreat- as this one helped me remember what truly matters most-- and my house is a lot cleaner this week too!

If you have any questions about the Power of Moms please let me know. I had never heard of it until about a month ago- but I am a full supporter of it now as I truly believe there is something every mom could gain from it. And you don't have to go to a conference-- just check out the Power of Moms website, so so many great resources!

25 comments:

  1. Sounds just about as wonderful as anything I can think of. Glad you got to go!

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  2. sounds like you had a great time

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  3. Wow sounds like you had an amazing time and learned a lot. Hope you have a great weekend!

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  4. Explain the family economy...I'm so glad you had fun!

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  5. That sounds like a great time! And very informational.

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  6. So cool Em! Sounds really great!!

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  7. I just can't see you being shy or timid to walk into situations like that b/c you are my go-to person for things to say and do! I'm going to see if they have that in our area. It sounds like something that would help me!! Lord knows I need help.

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  8. That sounds just fantastic and so worth attending!

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  9. It was such a wonderful time and I am so happy that I got to meet you, Emily!
    I am so impressed that you have incorporated so much into your life already. Yeah, not so much going on here. I got sick right when I got home, now I have 2 little ones sick. Life goes on, right?! :)

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  10. That's awesome. I'm glad it was a good time and that you had a good experience!!

    Even though I work outside the home, I'm sure I could benefit from a retreat like that!

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  11. That sounds freaking awesome. Heaven knows I could use it. Is it geared exclusively toward SAHMs?

    Not that it matters. There's no chance in heck I'd be able to take an entire weekend for something in that vein any time soon.

    So glad you got such benefit from it, though! Yay for you!

    And Present is a great word!

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  12. Sounds like you had a great time! I would be super nervous going to something where I didn't know anyone.

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  13. I will definitely check this out. Sounds like such a great organization and I'm glad you had fun!

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  14. Dang I wish I could have gone. I signed up on the site, but so far that is all I have done. I need to go back and visit. There is a lot there. I am glad you went and had a great time.

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  15. It sounds (and looks) like you had a wonderful time! I get nervous in situations like that as well, and it usually calms down a bit as the day goes on.

    I'm looking into a conference myself with a bunch of psychologists teaching and talking about finding joy (right up my alley)! I hope it turns out as well as yours did!

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  16. I'm glad you had such a positive experience. Good for you! That's what my Women's REtreat a few weekends ago was like.

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  17. Emily, it was such a pleasure to meet you! Thanks for taking all those great photos. (Would you mind emailing me a couple of the MOM ones? I didn't get any of those.) Hope you have a wonderful week. We're so happy to have you as a part of The Power of Moms.

    Love,
    April

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  18. Ok so what's the family economy? I've never heard of this either. I'm gonna click the link and see if we have a POM's in Tulsa.

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  19. I'm glad you had such a wonderful time! Sounds like something I could really benefit from! I am definitely going to check out the link!

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  20. Sounds like an awesome learning experience & a really fun time too!

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  21. That sounds like an awesome retreat. I wish I could go to one of those! If they have one nearby sometime I will definitely go. I've been a member of Power of Moms since last summer. I'm in one of the Mothers Learning Circles with some friends from my ward and we meet once a month. I really enjoy it. I'm very interested in the MOM system you mentioned. That sounds awesome and I will have to find out more.
    Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you found it so beneficial!

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  22. It was a great weekend for sure! Fun to get to see you and glad you could come!

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  23. So glad you (bravely) made it! It looks like a great experience!

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