How 10 Years of Pursuing Minimalism Has Changed Me

Just over ten years ago, I published a post titled “Thoughts on Minimalism,” which was all about this new minimalism movement I’d recently discovered that I quickly became obsessed with. I talked about the modern influencers I’d found whose ideas I rapidly started devouring, and I also talked about classic examples throughout history of people …

How We’re Getting Started on Our Homestead Dream Now, In the Suburbs

It’s hard to say when my husband and I first started entertaining ourselves with the idea of owning our own homestead out in the country. Perhaps it started with an article I read years ago in the Oprah magazine about a couple who bought up hundreds of acres in a former wasteland and worked tirelessly …

My New “Absolute Daily Minimum” Chore List

About a month ago, I read a blog post that I’ve been thinking about ever since— Basically, the post was all about why you should create a list of things you will do every single day in order to bring a greater sense of purpose/peace/fulfillment/order to your life. The catch? This list has to be …

I’m All About Simple Living, But I Still Need 3 Wardrobes

One of my goals this pregnancy has been to take at least a weekly photo of myself, something I avoided as much as possible when I was pregnant with my first (or at least I did once I reached a certain point in the pregnancy). Since I haven’t been doing regular pregnancy updates here on …

Simple Living is About More Than Purging Closets

Simple Living Has to Be About More than Closets and Schedules to Be Fulfilling

Two months ago, I attended a church meeting that has had me pondering its messages ever since. A couple times a year, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints meet together for something called Stake Conference, where all the local congregations of the Church meet in two general sessions over a weekend …

My New Rules for Book Buying (+ What I’ve Bought Since Instigating Them)

About a year and some-odd months ago, I wrote a post about our (ahem, mostly my) spending habits when it came to certain discretionary spending categories (such as clothing, books, movies, etc.). In it, I shared that for several years running, I had usually spend upwards of $350-400 every year on purchasing more books (not …

Why I’m Doing a Refresh of the 50 Weeks to Organized Project

Really, I could just post these quote-unquote “Before” pictures and call it good on posting today. But I’m nothing if not a little long-winded, so we just can’t have that. A brief summary for those of you who haven’t been reading this blog since 2013: Five years ago, I decided to tackle my clutter habits …

How I Taught Myself to Be Tidy (in 3 Steps!)

Ask any person who has ever lived with me (especially my college roommates and/or my mother), and you will quickly learn that I was not exactly the cleanest person growing up (or throughout my college days). While I’ve always known HOW to tidy up and the importance of BEING tidy, I’ve just always had a …