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five life happenings

Making our house a home.

We’re still getting settled in the new house. Andrew did an awesome job designing the house layout for the remodel and we’re really loving how it came out/how the house is open and flows. I’ve been wanting nice rugs that we’ll have for the rest of our lives for awhile, but the rugs I like get so expensive so we always put it off. BUT THEN(!) I had the idea to look for slightly damaged rugs (we’ll call them character rugs) on Ebay and we came across this one that now adds life and a color other than gray or brown to our kitchen. We ended up getting it for about $200 and there was just a section of wool that was pulled out and stringy that we had to trim and now it looks great. It’s mainly coral and navy. 

Also, Andrew had the idea of getting a photo of Laguna to go above my tub and I LOVE it! We took it to Hobby Lobby this weekend to get it framed and I’m really happy with how it came out. The colors are muted and it goes nicely with our more masculine bathroom.

Satisfaction from meals + snacks

Probably the thing I most consistently do to make sure meals and snacks throughout the week are satisfying is bake something on Saturday or Sunday to have around during the week. That way if I finish a meal and it wasn’t satisfying I have something sweet to complete the meal or if I’m craving something sweet for breakfast or dessert…the baked good is ready and waiting. What is your go to method to make sure you find satisfaction from meals and snacks during the week?

And a little BTS Andrew took haha

Soft and Strong Market LAUNCH

Morgan and I started dreaming up the Soft + Strong Market a few months ago and now it’s here! We’ll be adding new products, but for this month we’re focusing on our shirts and onesies that say “Soft + Strong.” If you’d like either, we’ll be accepting preorders until Feb 28th!

Organizing + Keeping a Clean House

I listened to a Organize365 podcast episode and in it she outlined that there are 3 processes involved in the cleaning/homemaking process: decluttering (easy), organizing (hard), and decorating (fun). She gave the respective “easy”, “hard”, “fun” designations. After listening to it I realized I have never before organized. Like ever in my life. I’ve decluttered, decorated and cleaned…but never have I intentionally organized or thought about organization systems for our home. It was a big lightbulb moment for me!

I like some accounts for home organization like @WillowCrowns on Instagram and a friend mentioned @CleanMama and I’ve enjoyed following her as well. Those ladies share a lot of helpful tips and systems for organizing and cleaning that work well for them. I like following WillowCrowns because she’ll share specific products she loves and has a great Amazon Favorites page with her favorites linked. We just ordered the steam mop she recommends because I’m ready to have something better than a swifter to clean our floors with! I like following @CleanMama because she’ll post on IG each day with a prompting to clean X in your home: countertops, bathrooms, sheets/towels, vacuum, mop. And just doing one thing a day helps a TON with keeping our house looking halfway decent without me ending up overwhelmed. I never got much pleasure out of a clean home, but recently I’ve really enjoyed and found value/a sense of accomplishment with keeping the house orderly. Andrew was more of the cleaner in our marriage, so he’s appreciating the help with cleaning a ton.

We had a cleaning service coming once a month, but it led to arguments between me and Andrew when he would suggest we pick up before the maids came the next day (I realize a totally normal suggestion), but I’d be so annoyed with inner feelings of DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO?! I’d rather figure out a way to clean the entire house myself than be told when I have to clean lol. So that’s me. I don’t like being controlled. So now I’m cleaning the whole house by doing one to two cleaning tasks most days and it’s working much better for us! The house still looks like a train wreck many days, but it’s at least a much cleaner mess and I’m definitely making progress with cleaning/organizing!

IAEDP

For any eating disorder professionals attending IAEDP this week, I will be there! So if you see someone who looks like me, please say hi and see if it’s me! I’m SO looking forward to it. I don’t miss a chance to go to California haha and I really have enjoyed that conference in the past.

20 comments

  1. So many fun things going on. I LOVE that rug. I’ve been looking for something similar for our kitchen to add some personality, I will check out ebay. Also, congratulations on soft and strong. I love love the message behind this, Kylie! My daughter turns 1 in a few months so I may have to buy some for her, and I’ll be sharing these with my new momma clients.

  2. So many fun things going on!! I love the idea of having a baked good around and I usually will whip up some cookies or bars and then stick them in the freezer. Also, SO EXCITED about Soft + Strong!!!

  3. I’m all about keeping the house maintained by doing a couple things every day. We’ve lived in our house over 20 years and I have never ever had the time to clean the entire thing in one day. When my kids were growing up they knew what day they needed to leave their laundry baskets out for me and what day to strip their beds so sheets could be washed. That method of organizing chores was a big part of trying to balance the demands of raising a family. That BTS pic was the BEST. JoJo’s expression/photo bomb was adorable.

  4. Hi Kylie!
    Just wanted to say congrats on Soft and Strong. That’s so great! I saw that you were open to suggestions on more products to add, and I thought an apron would be a fantastic idea. I love to cook and bake, and that would be a perfect environment for body positive apparel :)
    Thanks for all the wonderful work you do…

  5. Just want to say you will LOVE the steam mop. I have one from the Shark brand and I have confirmed it gets up more dirt than soap and water!

    I also just adore the BTS photo with little JoJo looking up at you! :)

  6. omg i LOVE your bathtub!!

  7. Love the “behind the scenes” pic! It looks so natural and happy and real.
    And great that you are back to posting more often, by the way, do you feel more balanced in motherhood etc by now?

  8. I love so much how you share candidly and don’t polish off the scuffs(like pretending you never fight w/ your husband). It really does make people feel at ease, you know? Re the house cleaning/organizing- yessss.
    I have a 3&5 yo and man, our house…???‍♀️???‍♀️
     this year,
    I was like- I want—no, I *need* a cleaner house.
    Mess, clutter, etc just shoots my anxiety through the roof. 
    It’s always been a struggle for me, and I have learned a lot about 
    the ‘Why’ behind that(ty, therapy & recovery).
    The biggest lightbulb moment for me was—if I want that, Im an adult in my home and  I can 
    have that! I’m allowed to have a clean, orderly home. I’m allowed to make the changes necessary to enjoy that peace. It’s not just for other people.

    I’ve gotten helpful tips/routines from various internet folks(flylady, cleanmama, Marie kondo,etc) but I learned what I feel is SO key from…me! Haha. I feel like what trips me up *the most* is trying to clean, organize, and decorate like a Type A person. I’m def more of a Type B;rigid schedules and lists and timelines make me feel trapped, panicky, and unproductive. I need structure, but plenty of elasticity. Guidelines/ milemarkers instead of checklists/ detailed instructions. 
     The BEST thing I’ve done for myself and my home is to put myself in charge, but, my way. I divide my home into 4 zones- each zone gets timed at X min(usually 10-15, but depending on how I’m feeling, may add or subtract) a day, and I know that I won’t be stuck spending hrs cleaning. One day a week, I do a zone focus, which is setting a timer for Xmin(usually 60) in that zone and doing deeper cleaning/tuning up organization. There’s  a handful of every day/several times a day tasks like laundry and dishes that obvs are going all the time.
    Sometimes I’ll just take a pause and go, what area of my home is the ‘loudest’ right now? And I’ll go and kind of just make myself at home in that area(setting a timer so I don’t get ‘lost’) and enjoy seeing how a little focused attention can make things so much better. Not perfect, but, better. Now that I’m not vacillating between paralysis and spinning my wheels, I do have a cleanER, less cluttered house which now has a chance to GET decorated.
    We get to, and DO grow, change, and mature. Cheers to taking our homes along for the ride.

  9. Love the rug! Girl, I need to know how to find for this on Craig’s List/EBay- do I search for rugs with character? Lol we need a big rug for our bedroom & I would love to save a little $$ on a well loved/slightly damaged piece. Send me your search keywords! 

  10. Just wondering where you got that grey shirt? That outfit is so cute!!

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