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The Minimal-ish Mama

Courses

The Minimal-ish Wardrobe

Get the four-part course to declutter your closet, keep what you love, and love the way you feel getting dressed every day! 

The Minimal-ish Home

The six-week course tackles a specific area or category of your home and corresponding physical, emotional and spiritual clutter. By the end of 30 days, you’ll have a toolbox of strategies, new habits, and systems to maintain your progress long after the class ends.

Simply Summer

How To Declutter Kid’s Toys Without Breaking Their Hearts (FREE)

Free Decluttering Guide!

Download the master checklist with 20+ pages of my best tips!

We Should Hang Out On Instagram

With the #Brca1 gene mutation increasing my cancer With the #Brca1 gene mutation increasing my cancer risk, I get mammograms every six months (to a year), and a yearly MRI. It’s such a relief that the lump I had hasn’t changed at all in a year, and is almost certainly a benign cyst! 😅 

It’s not fun, but it’s important! Don’t be suspicious friends, get your screenings! 

(Someone write that down and use it in a breast cancer screening marketing campaign!)
It’s the start of a new chapter! 📖 I started a new It’s the start of a new chapter! 📖 I started a new job as a  part-time library clerk at my local public library, @hmloneonta📚

I love this library, partly because it’s inside an old Victorian house and you KNOW how I love those! But also, when we first moved to upstate NY from AZ seven years ago, knowing no one and drowning in postpartum depression, I pushed my baby in the stroller as my toddler rode his bike beside me down to the library. The library was a safe, enriching space for my kids to play and learn, and for me to heal. 

Later, when my kids struggled at home and school, I went to the library for answers and discovered a new world - the wondrous world of neurodivergence, and the support of the homeschool group.

It continues to be my favorite place to spend an hour in peace and quiet. And now I have a great reason to add to my cardigan collection!

Enjoy the card Edison drew for me 🤣
I can’t believe it’s been a month since my complet I can’t believe it’s been a month since my complete hysterectomy - one of the longest months of my life!

Recovery was going smoothly until one week later, when an infection landed me in the hospital for four days. 

Many things about this month were painful and scary, but  I’m so grateful for all the small miracles: nurse Alex, for the best IV ever (I was more worried about the IV than sepsis, honestly), the nurse who realized on the second night in the hospital that there’d been a mistake and I hadn’t received the antibiotics I needed, the puzzle and coloring book from my sister that saved my sanity, Taylor Swift documentaries and concert films, Brian supporting me every step of the way and keeping me supplied with coffee and candy, so many encouraging texts and check ins right when I needed them. 

Even though I’m not out of the woods yet with this recovery, I feel such a relief. Ever since I found out that I have the same gene mutation as my mom, my ovaries felt like ticking time bombs. It’s such a weight lifted to have them gone!

I can’t wait until I can pick up Evangeline again 🥲But in the meantime, I’ll be hard at work resting 😌
Christmas without my mom was hard. But New Year’s Christmas without my mom was hard. But New Year’s was even harder. 

My mom started our tradition of a Christmas/New Year’s Tea - a fancy lunch at a local restaurant, complete with dressing up and wearing hats, for her daughters and granddaughters. It kills me that I never got to bring Evangeline while my mom was alive. 

But I was so happy that both of my sisters agreed to continue the tradition. Sadly, the day of our tea, Evangeline had a fever of 103 and I couldn’t bear to bring her. I definitely cried, even though I know it was the right call and there will be more teas in the years to come.

I bought a bouquet of white roses to represent mom, and at the end of our lovely lunch, I gave one rose to each of my sisters and nieces. As soon as Evangeline woke up from her nap, I gave her one too 🥰

And the next day, I placed one rose on my mom’s grave. 

As we stood there, Bennett said, “Merry Christmas!” Then turned to me. “I don’t think she can hear us.” 

“Oh, I think she can,” I whispered through tears.

I gave the remaining roses to my dad ❤️ 

He said it best; “I see her in you, Emily, and in the grand kids, and remember how she changed our world through you all.” 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ❤️
Come clean and decorate along with me, Bennett, an Come clean and decorate along with me, Bennett, and ... Mr. Korok 😂

The attic has gotten chaotic, so before we can get out the autumn decor, I need to get it back in order. 

Watch the video on YouTube 🍁
Introducing Midna 🐈‍⬛🌒✨🖤 I felt really sad one da Introducing Midna 🐈‍⬛🌒✨🖤

I felt really sad one day, so I went to the animal shelter for some cat therapy. This little black kitten who purred like a motor and immediately wanted to cuddle captured our hearts 🖤

I wanted to name her Sybil, since she was rescued from under the porch of Sybil’s yarn shop during the recent fire, plus it would keep with our Harry Potter theme. “Luna” was my second choice, but Edison has always wanted a black cat named Midnight. Bennett immediately shortened it to “Midna Twighlight Princess” (From a Zelda game).

So Midnight (Midna) Luna Sybil Conley has settled in well, although some members of the family are still struggling with the change. Hopefully old dogs can still learn new tricks - or at least peaceful cohabiting. Currently, our system of baby gates is working to keep the peace. 

And in @pacagen we trust for neutralizing cat allergens. So far, so good! 

I’m now THAT cat lady browsing for cute cat furniture and the best cat litter ☺️
I worried that they wouldn’t have a good relations I worried that they wouldn’t have a good relationship with a ten year age gap between them, but that fear was totally unfounded! Edison was the first person in our family to get Evangeline to laugh, and has cheered her on as she learned to roll, crawl, stand, climb stairs, and walk. She absolutely adores both of her big brothers 🥰
I thought my little dollhouse would collect dust f I thought my little dollhouse would collect dust for many more years, but then I found this idea! I repurposed it as a bookshelf for Evangeline’s baby books!

Think outside the box - maybe there’s a way to repurpose something that’s just gathering dust and taking up storage space!
Surprise! It’s a new YouTube video! Enjoy cleaning Surprise! It’s a new YouTube video! Enjoy cleaning and re-organizing my entire kitchen with me, even though this was recorded in March 🤣

As explained a bit in the video, life has been a lot lately. More on that in the future. 

I love my kitchen island and the extra space it provides, even if it means re-organizing everything 😊
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