Minimal-ish: Minimalism, Intentional Living, Motherhood

Today I'm introducing our new series that we will be focusing on for the next several weeks: Getting Intentional at Home. The goal of this series is to work towards contentment and gratitude for the home we have as we also work on one simple improvement we can make to the way we take care of our homes or use our homes. I explain of that in this episode, and I also take you through some reflection questions and mindset shifts to get us started.Links:Join the Minimal-ish collective and book clubDesirae on InstagramPodcast WebsiteMinimal-ish Ep. 176: Q&A: Why We Moved + Getting Things Done With Little OnesSponsor:Fearless Finance: Head to fearlessfinance.com and use code Minimal-ish for 50$ your first planning meeting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I'm honored to have pastor and author, Max Lucado, as my guest. We talk about his newest children's book, Just In Case You Ever Feel Alone and how we can approach the topic of loneliness with our children (and any other big feeling), help them cope, and stay connected as a family in a time where it is common to feel distracted and disconnected. I love this conversation, the encouragement it brings to parents, and the simple, practical tools that Max brings us. Links:Book: Just In Case You Ever Feel AloneMax's websiteMax on InstagramDesirae on InstagramPodcast WebsitePodcast Book ClubSponsor:Fearless Finance: Get 50$ off your first meeting with a financial advisor at fearlessfinance.com/minimalish Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's episode is a topic that I love. Though we don't often talk about it on the podcast, I believe fitness and wellness, and how we take care of ourselves in general, is a big part of intentional living. However, motherhood often does make it a little more difficult to navigate making it a part of our lives. Today I have Amy Kiefer of Expecting and Empowered on the podcast to encourage us with resources and motivation to a healthier life - from nourishing ourselves well, to simplifying fitness, to making it a part of our routine in the midst of overwhelming days as a mom. We also talk about the benefits of strength training and nourishing ourselves well. I hope you can tell through listening in that I absolutely loved this conversation and was very inspired by Amy- I know you will be, too!Links:Expecting and EmpoweredExpecting and Empowered on InstagramDesirae on InstagramMinimal-ish CollectivePodcast Website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I have Ashlee Gadd as my guest as we are talking about a "thing that matters" - creativity, or really, doing whatever it is that makes you feel more like you.We encourage our kids to be creative, yet as adults we often fully lose this part of ourselves to a busy life. We count creativity as something that we no longer have time for, that is inessential. Today's conversation challenges that and encourages you to keep creating, right in the margins of a busy life and motherhood.Ashlee s a wife, mother of three, believer, and the founder of Coffee + Crumbs. When she's not working or vacuuming Cheerios out of the carpet, she loves making friends on the Internet, eating cereal for dinner, and rearranging bookshelves. Her book, Create Anyway: the Joy of Pursuing Creativity in the Margins of Motherhood, is now available wherever books are sold.Links:Minimal-ish Collective (book club)Ashlee's BookAshlee's PodcastCoffee + CrumbsAshlee on InstagramDesirae on InstagramPodcast websiteSponsor:Hungryroot: Get 40% off your delivery and free veggies for life at Hungryroot.com/MINIMALISH Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I am honored to have Dana K White of A Slob Comes Clean as my guest! Dana is (much to her surprise) a messy person turned decluttering expert, and she brings so many actionable tips in this episode to help us see decluttering in a new way. Instead of taking everything out and making more mess in the process, what if we did things differently? This episode is full of tips for the overwhelmed, messy person who wants to declutter but doesn't have much time to be making and cleaning up more messes in the process. Listen in and then go declutter something!Join our Decluttering Challenge/ Book ClubDana's WebsitePodcast WebsiteFind Desirae on InstagramSponsor: Earth Breeze: Get 40% off your subscription at earthbreeze.com/minimalish Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are taking a break from your typical weekly minimal-ish episodes to bring you a preview of what is to come next week - our first challenge in the minimal-ish patreon community + the happy mom summit. I would love to see you in either one of these places, and hope I do! Either way, I'll talk to you next week right back here for our regularly scheduled programming.Sign up for:Happy Mom Summit (free 5 day summit with 32 speakers)Minimal-ish Collective Maintenance Decluttering Challenge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are approaching a hard topic: Grief. While it's hard to talk about, it is important. Many of us don't even want to think about what my guest, Krista, experienced through losing her husband, but for many others, it is a reality. Krista now helps other women struggling through loss, and today she shares about her story, post traumatic growth, and how stuff, clutter, and decluttering plays a role in the grieving process.Links:Minimal-ish Collective/ Minimal-ish + Coffee PodcastKrista on InstagramKrista’s WebsiteThe Widowed Mom PodcastGrief Plateau QuizDesirae on InstagramMinimalish Podcast Website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's Minimalism Stories edition of Minimal-ish, I talk with Jordan Jones, mom of three, business owner, and podcast host of the Work + Worship Podcast. I recently stumbled across Jordan's story of her cross country move TWICE in one year with three little ones, and I had to hear more about how minimalism has played a role in her family's ability to say yes to big adventures. We talk about so many different things: from minimalism before kids vs. minimalism after kids, to living in smaller spaces vs. larger spaces, to simplifying our wardrobe and Jordan's biggest advice to anyone starting out. This is such a fun conversation, and I know you'll love learning from Jordan!Links:Minimal-ish CollectiveJordan on InstagramJordan's PodcastJordan's WebsiteDesirae on InstagramPodcast WebsiteSponsor:Connect with your partner every day using Paired. Download the app athttps://www.paired.com/MINIMALISH Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today is a "declutter with me" style episode, but it's a little different than typical. Instead of focusing on one area of the home, I'm sharing 7 of my top tips for decluttering that I've learned over the years. I'm also sharing where my focus will be with decluttering this year. At the end of the episode, I announce the minimal-ish collective - a place where we can declutter and walk towards a minimal-ish life together. Head to patreon.com/minimalish to find out more about the minimal-ish collective.Links:Minimal-ish CollectiveEpisode on changing your shopping habits (this year) (last year)Free Minimal-ish Starter GuideDesirae on InstagramPodcast WebsiteSponsor:Connect with your partner every day using Paired. Download the app at https://www.paired.com/MINIMALISH Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're taking some time to pause and think about our goals again because goal setting is an important part of a minimal-ish, intentional life. We often have a push to set goals at the beginning of the year, but the real progress comes when we revisit those goals and refine them throughout the year.In this episode, we go through a series of questions to help us reflect on our progress, decide which goals still matter and which we can let go of. We also make a little plan to continue this type of reflection throughout the year.This episode is a guilt and shame free revisiting of our goals - if you haven't made any progress yet, the opportunities are endless to start when you're ready.At the end of the episode, I revisit the goals that I shared with you on the first episode of the year and do my own version of this exercise as an example and a reminder that I'm always on this journey with you!Links:Podcast WebsiteDesirae on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices