Power of Moms Retreat

The idea of deliberate motherhood. This is something that I love. It's something I've been pursuing for a long time. As part of some life goals I wrote in the back of my journal many years ago I wrote "be a great mom." I've now realized that being a deliberate mother is what's going to allow me to achieve that goal.

In my opinion, Power of Moms is amazing. An online resource where you can read and listen to the voices of other real mothers who know just how exhausting, frustrating, fun, and beautiful motherhood is? And they're willing to share their successes for the benefit of others?? Looking at the never-ending road of motherhood ahead of me I say, "Yes, please!"

Their podcasts rekindled my motherhood flame a few months ago and have been extremely instrumental in getting me out of a rut. When I realized they had their big annual retreat coming up in Park City I knew I had to go and Jayce was totally on board with making it possible for me. I love him. I can't even tell you how giddy I was after I submitted my payment.

I wasn't born just knowing how to mother. It's something that I'm constantly learning. Jayce can't be a doctor without learning the necessary skills. I can't be a great mother without learning how to mother. I knew this retreat would add to my education.

Saren (Eyre) Loosli, Linda Eyre, and Saydi (Eyre) Shumway

I pulled this off of Saydi's blog because I was so excited I was in a picture on Saydi's blog. (!)

The way the retreat worked was we would all sit and listen to some lectures and then we would have break-away sessions in smaller groups so we could learn from all the moms present. This was the last one where we were discussing ideas on family culture.

I was really excited about taking a photo with April and I probably would have chickened out if it weren't for another cute mother from Boston who buddied up with me on being a total Power of Moms groupie. We had a nice get-to-know-you chat but really I just wanted to say, "We're best friends. We've never met, we live in different states, we are in different stages of life, and you didn't even know that a person named Sarah Katherine Porter existed until this moment, but we are." Podcasts will do that to you sometimes.

I had to do a shout out to Lindsey while I was there too. She introduced me to the podcasts and she has loved them just as much as I have, but since Florida is just so stinking far away she had to sit this one out. This one's for you Linds!

High on life after the retreat:

Then I met up with Jayce for dinner where he sat and let me jabber about 7 hours worth of notes and ideas for our family over the course of our meal. Did I mention I love that man?

I was planning on figuring out how to best put what I learned on my blog, but then I read this post by Saydi Shumway and thought, "This. This is the gist." More of what I learned will pop up here and there on my blog I'm sure, but for now, Saydi said it best!