This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of InStyle®. The opinions and text are all mine.

Life can be demanding between work, family, responsibilities, and other obligations that we forget how important it is to award ourselves with me time. Here are five of the many reasons to remember to award yourself with me time and a DIY Lavender Bath Bombs recipe, for those of you who are like me and like to award yourself with a warm bath and a good magazine, like InStyle, after everyone has gone to bed.

5 Reasons To Award Yourself with Me Time + DIY Lavender Bath Bombs

• Clear your mind after a stressful day – We have all had those days when stress levels tend to be high due to a variety of reasons, and we wish we could just crawl back into bed and start over.  These days it’s important to take a step back, take a deep breath, and spend some time alone to help let go of some of the stress. We cannot forget to give our brains the rest and recharge they need to function as well as we need them to.

• Remember YOUR goals – With the hectic days of meeting everyone else’s needs, it’s easy to forget about our goals.  Sure, as a wife you have a goal of a healthy relationship but what about your personal goals?  This gives you time to remember the importance of your own goals, and make plans to reach those goals.  Awarding yourself with me time allows you to focus on things that you want personally, rather than putting them off for later.

• To hit the recharge – It’s important to take a moment and recharge.  Life can be demanding, between responsibilities, family, friends, and other obligations, that our energy is nearly gone when the day is over.  If we continue to ignore this feeling, and don’t stop to recharge, we can reach burnout mode which can affect our attitude toward life.  Alone time can be the best way to take a step back after the day is over and just allow yourself to recharge by doing something for yourself like taking an evening walk, relaxing and enjoying a special cup of coffee after everyone has gone to bed, date night with your partner, or even taking a long warm bath and reading InStyle magazine after everyone has gone to bed.

• You can remember who you are – Most of us have had to find ourselves again at some point in our lives.  It’s been my experience that losing yourself is easy when you don’t stop to take time for yourself.  I lost myself when I forgot to award myself with me time.  Suddenly I was doing everything for everyone else and I was forgetting about my own needs and desires.  I eventually stopped thinking about myself as an individual and I wasn’t sure how to get in touch with myself again.  Spending time alone can help you keep in touch with who you are as an individual.

• Healthier marriage – My husband and I are overcoming some marital issues which are never fun, and I’m thankful we love each other and are committed to our marriage, or I’m not sure how long we would have made it. We’ve both made mistakes along the way, and it may have taken us ten years, but we finally learned one of the most important ingredients to a successful marriage – YOURSELF!  The more in touch you are with yourself the better you are for your spouse.

Yes, we often get so busy between kids, household chores, bills, work, dinner, and everything else that comes with raising a family and running a household and it’s easy to forget about your spouse and yourself. I’m not sure if everyone’s marriage works this way but my husband and I knew we had to focus on one another, which didn’t always turn out well and we couldn’t figure out why. Well, until recently that is when we both hit what I would call rock bottom. We were lost and confused, and it almost ended our marriage. He blamed me, and I hated myself for what I thought I had done to us, but that was only because I failed to see the bigger picture.

When my husband finally started hitting rock bottom, it was because I was finally doing stuff for me and of course the amazing man that he is was helping me by doing all sorts of awesome stuff for my horses and me. He put in long hours and busted his butt to see me smile until one day I said something, and he just stopped, and everything changed. It was at that moment resentment grew because he felt unappreciated, which can you blame him? I mean all he does is work and do for everyone else, and he does a lot for me more than I can put into words. Rather than realizing the problem at first, he became bitter toward me, went through the emotions and I think now is beginning to see that to have a successful marriage you must put yourself first, he’s always put everyone else before him, and I love him for that, but it’s never going to make him truly happy inside.

I said something, and he just stopped, and everything changed. It was at that moment resentment grew because he felt unappreciated, which can you blame him? I mean all he does is work and do for everyone else, and he does a lot for me more than I can put into words. Rather than realizing the problem at first, he became bitter toward me, went through the emotions and I think now is beginning to see that to have a successful marriage you must put yourself first, he’s always put everyone else before him, and I love him for that, but it’s never going to make him truly happy inside.

In my opinion, it’s all about balance, it takes time to find that balance, it took us ten years, and we are lucky because some people never find that balance. It’s a balancing act of taking care of yourself and your family. I’ve learned that it’s hard to happily take care of anyone or anything else if you are not tending to your own needs and doing things you enjoy. I think had my husband still had his racecar to fiddle with during all of this he would have felt different and when he had his race car I would have acted differently had I been tending to my own needs. By not having things we enjoy we were left feeling jealous of one another which is never healthy.

I love my husband, and I’m thankful we have made it this far together, and I think that is what marriage is about. You must be willing to stick it out and get to the bottom of things, it’s about growing together and even at times being there until your partner figures it out. Marriage is work, it’s never easy, but I think the longer you are marriage, the more committed and willing you are the healthier your marriage will be when you hit those bumps. That’s been my experience anyway, but things could change we have only been married ten years, and I’m sure we both still have a lot of growing left.

Everyone tells us that marriage can be difficult but until you’ve lived it I don’t think there is any way to understand just how hard it can be at times. Of course, the good times make it all worth it, especially once you start getting the hang of things, but I don’t think there is such thing as a perfect fairytale marriage. If you ask me they all require work, two dedicated and committed people who love one another enough to stick it out.

If I had one piece of advice, it would be to remember who you are and don’t lose touch with that. Out of all the problems we have had, I think forgetting who we are and what we enjoy doing as an individual was the hardest thing for us both to recover from, but I can promise you one, I get me time now, and I make sure my husband gets his time too.

There are so many reasons to remember the importance of awarding yourself with me time like.

My husband likes twiddling with his cars, I enjoy working with my horses, watching Walking Dead (love that show lol), a long hot bath, with InStyle magazine, is the perfect way to finish my day. There is nothing more relaxing to me than laying in the warm bath letting my body rest and taking my mind off life for a few minutes with a great magazine like InStyle magazine that I can easily purchase while doing my shopping at Albertsons.

Right now you can award yourself too with PEOPLE®, InStyle, StyleWatch®, and Real Simple® and save money on your purchase! Cool right, all you have to do is visit your local participating Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Vons,  Pavilions,Tom Thumb, Randall’s, Shaw’s, Star Market, Carr’s or Acme Market to receive $1 J4U/MyMixx offer on PEOPLE, Instyle, StyleWatch, and Real Simple.

So, whatever you do don’t forget to find time for yourself. Don’t do them for anyone else, do them because you enjoy them. I will leave you with this DIY bath bomb project, because they are something you can do for yourself, and best part is kids love them too. It doesn’t get any better than that if you ask me.

So, check out the bath bomb recipe below and grab InStyle magazine, to enjoy a relaxing bath after everyone has gone to bed.

DIY Lavender Bath Bombs

DIY Lavender Bath Bombs Recipe

• 1/2 cup powder citric acid
• 1 cup baking soda
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 Epsom salt
• Food coloring as needed
• Lavender essential oil as needed
• Olive oil just enough to dampen and make everything stick together

Directions:

• Combine all the powders in a mixing bowl and whisk together thoroughly.
• Add water a little at a time to just lightly dampen the powder mixture. The powder should only be wet enough so it’s compatible. You don’t want to use too much water because it will become fizzy and you’ll have start over.
• After adding oils add a few drops of food coloring and lavender and mix thoroughly.
• Place into molds and allow to sit overnight.

Now go enjoy some time to yourself with a lavender bath bomb and InStyle magazine and hit the reset button.