Time Out for Women - 2012

September 21st and 22nd I was able to attend Time Out for Women with a wonderful group of ladies! It has become a tradition of my to go each year.... I don't usually (although seems like this month was unusual!) get many nights away, but I think Time Our for Women is the perfect little event each year. It means only 1 night away from the family, a great time with other gals, and especially an awesome time learning ways to grow as a mother, wife, friend, and daughter of God. I always come away wanting to be better. Best kind of "mini-vacation" right??

This year I attended the event in Vegas, not quite the same as leaving town!! The first night we met at a yummy Mexican place in old downtown Vegas close to the event. We had a fun mix of girls, everyone knew at least one other person ( I invited a few gals after being invited by Amanda so it was kinda funny how mixed our group ended up being!), but everyone still had a great time together.
Scovia Wanyama, Becca Nelson, Amanda Finlinson, Brooke Anderson, Lizzy Lloyd, and Julie Martinue. Jessica Nye wasn't able to make it to dinner but met us at the event after, good thing too, cause it just wouldn't have been the same with out her!

The event that night was just from 6:30-9:30. It was a fun start to the weekend. Mariama Kallon spoke. She was raised in war-torn Africa and her stories never cease to amaze me. It seems unreal all that people suffer and yet it really did and does exist. I always wonder what the best thing we can do to help those who are suffering worldwide. I love being able to donate to the LDS Humanitarian fund and know that 100% of the money goes to those in need. I think another thing to do is just remember how incredibly blessed we have been and strive to be grateful for all the big and little things we have in our lives. Made me feel kinds guilty spending $9 on a shake at Max Brenner afterwards... but it was quite amazing :)  We had a fun night chatting away and enjoying our sweet and savory treats!

Jess, Scovia, and I stayed the night dowtown rather than heading back home for a few hours of sleep. The hotel was crowded at 12:30 am when we tried to check in... it ended up being a late night by the time we actually headed to bed! Here is our fun hotel room... awesome crooked picture by our bell boy :)  I love these two gals and had a great time with them!

We had to get our annual TOFW picture with the bags they gave us. They are different every year and it's always fun to see what they will be each year.

Here is a picture of us with Mariama, she was our adopted "sister"  :)


I had such a fun 24 hours... too bad it always goes by way too quick. Although even after 24 hrs I am anxious to get back to my family! Usually I take tons of notes, but this year I just enjoyed listening more. Here are a couple quotes or ideas I jotted down:

- "Before we can search for Jesus Christ, we must find time for Him in our lives and in our hearts."

- The Savoir went about doing good. If we want to be like him we need to go about doing good. We need to take the time in our busy lives to serve those around us.

- Don't wait til the end of your life to become who you want to be. Make the changes now, or you will miss so many precious moments and experiences of joy along the way.

- Our children are only little ONCE. They grow each day and we never get one day back. They will be adults in the eternities, and so this is their one childhood. Make it the best. Remember they are just children and cherish every moment.

- When we feel that we are in over our head, it's actually where we are supposed to be. That is when we are the most humble. That is when we can turn to our loving Heavenly Father in prayer and to our Savoir Jesus Christ for help through His Atonement for us. We are never alone, They are their for us, and They want to help us.


I am grateful for this uplifting weekend and hope I can remember some of what I learned! Only thing that could have made it better is if my TOFW buddies Dayna and Raquel could have attended with me for our 3rd year in a row! :) Dayna actually texted me that day and she was attending TOFW in St. Louis at the very same time.