It’s still January so I feel it’s necessary to wish everyone a happy new year! HAPPY NEW YEAR Y’ALL! 2019 is going to be our year. I can feel it! I don’t say it nearly enough but I’m so thankful for this community! Y’all are the absolute best gals around.
This year I don’t have resolutions, per se, but I do have a few areas of my life that I’d like to see some change in. In order to make room for what matters most, I need to make a few tweaks and shift my gears a bit. Motherhood has me reevaluating my priorities! Simplifying family rhythms and routines sounds so dreamy. I’m sure I’m not alone in desiring more white space on my calendar and more quality time with my squad. It’s all too easy for me to get wrapped up in work, social media or to get overwhelmed by chores and to-do’s. By simplifying a few areas of my life that are a little messy, my hope is to clear my head a bit and shift my focus to the stuff that truly matters. Jesus, family, and our community. January is a fun time to reflect on what worked and didn’t work last year. With the Simplicity Challenge going on and everyone Marie Kondo-ing (it’s a verb now) anything and everything, I wanted to share how I plan to “simplify” this year.
Social Media
A couple of years ago social media was a space for me to share my daily life, share my faith, and connect with like-minded women. It was such an inspiring platform. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy it but it’s definitely different now. Much different. I still have a lot of fun with it and it’s a great tool for business, so I’m not giving up on the ole’ gram but I am changing how I use it. A recent iPhone update (looking at you, screentime report) revealed some scary statistics about how often I’m on my phone. Simply put, it’s way too much. I’m setting boundaries this year. Two things are going to change. Number one, I’m unfollowing a TON of Instagram accounts. Everyone’s into Marie Kondo right now (myself included!) so I encourage you to scroll through your instagram account and unfollow anyone who doesn’t bring you joy! Number two, I’m putting boundaries on how much time is spent on my phone. I haven’t quite figured out how to navigate that one, but I know LESS is the answer. I’m going to start by aiming to cut my screentime report in half in hopes to be intentional with the time I spend on my phone. I can’t wait for social media to once again be a simple, easy space for me to find inspiration and connect!
Additional Resources:
Unroll.Me (related to emails, not social media but still worth sharing!)
Good Reads:
Housework
I just can’t keep up. My family thrives when our home is clean and tidy BUT in this season, it’s impossible for me to manage it all on my own. Of course Pearce is happy to help but with jobs, church, time commitments and a baby crawling around we just can’t get it all done. Here’s what we’re doing about it. Number one, We’ve budgeted to have the house cleaned twice a month this year which has already been a huge blessing! Number two, we’ve been diligent about doing a load of laundry each day and staying on top of our dishes. They say tidy people never let the sun go down on their filth! So bit by bit we’re tackling chores, instead of letting laundry and dishes pile up. Who the heck wants to spend their Saturday folding laundry?! Not us. Number three, we’re trying to be conscious about the amount of THINGS that we bring into our home. Less stuff = less mess. It’s a topic for another day but I recently watched the Minimalism documentary on Netflix and started following along with Nancy Ray’s contentment challenge as well as Meg Hall’s fewer/better FB group. I feel like there’s a cultural shift happening right now – we’re realizing that stuff isn’t the answer.
Additional Resources:
Roomba (had to throw this one in there because #lifechanging)
Care.com (a great place to hire help around the house!)
Meal Planning & Prep
This year I want more white space on my calendar and less STUFF to think about every day. In the meal prep department, FWTFL has honestly been a HUGE help because I’m not eating breakfast and most of what I eat the rest of the day is super simple. Fewer extravagant meals means less meal prep! I’m learning that I don’t have to reinvent the wheel every night for dinner.A blogger I admire, Jamie Leakey talks about this a lot! Trying out new recipes is fun and we should definitely keep doing it BUT simple weeknight dinners are just fine too. Here’s what we’re doing to change the meal planning/prep situation. We’re developing a grocery shopping routine. Right now I place an Instacart order sometime during the week when we’ve run out of food OR send Pearce to the store because we have a food emergency. Food emergencies around here mean that AG has run out of formula or mama has run out of coffee. Trust me, both are worthy of an impromptu grocery run. Anyways… this year I’m going to meal prep (big picture stuff) a month out so that I purchase essentials from Costco in bulk each month. Then I’ll place an Instacart order each Sunday before church for anything we might be missing. Such a simple solution. Like I said, we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. We’re just trying to use our resources better and develop good habits.
*I’m sure I’ll get asked why we’re no longer doing HelloFresh – while I absolutely loved the service, it took 15-30 minutes to prep the meals so even though they’re DELICIOUS, that’s not something we have time for in this season. I miss it so much though! Hopefully when AG is older and eating dinner with us we can bring it back.
Thanks for letting me share a bit of what’s on my heart lately! I’m excited to see some change in these areas and simplify our new year!
Additional Resources:
Monthly Planner Printable (used for meal planning)
Anylist App (can be shared with your spouse or roomies, super easy place to drop your grocery list!)
What areas of your life would you like to see change in?
love y’all, mckenzie
