• Minimal Living • Declutter in 30

It's said we spend 55 minutes a day looking for things. A DAY, PEOPLE. That's 2 weeks a year - just looking for things we cannot find! (For me, it's probably closer to a month☺) It's already November, and that means Christmas is just around the corner... and if you still haven't gotten your act together from last year and still have that hall closet jammed full of crap **slowly raises hand** then there's no better time than the present to start purging!

November is filled with many things. Cooler weather. Falling leaves. Holidays that makes your pants not fit. and 30 days. The perfect amount of time to declutter around your home - tackling one space at a time. Now is the time so you're not shoving the box of baby toys under the couch when your guests arrive.

I have spent the last couple months getting rid of quite a bit around the house and have been trying to minimize the amount of stuff we have. It's been so refreshing, and it makes tidying up the house a breeze! Who doesn't love that?

The plain is simple. Tackle one area on the sheet each day, declutter and get rid of everything you don't use, haven't used in the last 6 months, or forgot was even there. Do you need it? No - throw is out. Do you have something similar? Yes - throw it out. Is it taking up precious real estate in your home unnecessarily? Yes - Get rid of it. You can get rid of it by any means - Sell it. Donate it. Trash it. But get it out of the house the very same day, and cross out that day's box. Hooray! One are closer!

Now you don't have to use my sheet. You can make your own, pretty it up with whatever you like or that motivates you. Don't have an endless amount of baby toys laying around? Replace it with something else. Don't have a backyard that collects things like we do? Tackle the garage instead. Possibilities are endless - the point is just to get moving, before your Great Aunt Suzie arrives and starts fiddling through your drawers looking for the Ziploc bags just to find the stash of candy wrappers in the junk drawer. Happy decluttering!

WELCOME!

Hi, I'm Kaitlynn.

Many of you that have been with me for a while may be thinking "haven't we already done this whole introduction thing?" and truthfully, yes... we have. This blog and I became friends two years ago this month. I wrote, I photographed, I told, and I shared. Or at least, so you thought.

I created this blog as a way to hide from things that were happening in my life. Hard things. Tough things I didn't want to share or open up about. I lived in a place where the word enough didn't exist. Shoot... from my own fear of the outside world I hid my entire pregnancy until about a month after Alex was born. And from all of that hiding and invisibility, I didn't know what direction to take my writing in. So it stayed stagnant and stale, waiting for genuine feeling to come into play. 

I am proud to say - we are there.

Wholeheartedly. Truth. Honesty. It's all here friends. I have found my strength. I have found my family. And I can 100% say I have found myself. 

This blog will no longer be a single output. It's a lifestyle. A genuine lifestyle. My lifestyle.

So here we are... renamed. Rebranded. and recreated. 

Welcome to Life with Kait. Now let's get this intro done right.

I am a twenty-something year old woman with the ambitions of an entire Olympic athletic team. I wasn't lying before when I said I don't want to just be one thing. I want to try everything. To do everything. To be everything. My worst fear in life is sharks. Want to swim with them? I'm there. I have lived in the past with so many regrets that when I finally had the strength to let them go, I discovered the most exciting and invigorating person within myself, and I refuse to ever go back.

The best gift I have ever been given in this world is the gift of being a mother, and raising the most perfect and beautiful daughter with the most patient and kind man on this Earth. He gets me. He is the calm from the storm constantly moving through my mind. She is the breath of fresh air during those days that are tough to get through. I see their smiling faces and know I am home. They gave me meaning and hope, and God blessed me just when I needed it most.

Now, to peek inside my brain...

I'm a die-hard fangirl at heart. I will watch Harry Potter on repeat everyday, 52 weeks a year, and I will choose any Sci-Fi/Fantasy film over a Rom-Com any day of the week, and twice on Sundays. There is never enough coffee in the world and I can about a half gallon bag of sour candies in one sitting. I love photography and have been trying to teach myself to become more comfortable with, using, and in front of the camera.

If I wasn't a financial analyst by profession, or had any will whatsoever, I would spend my entire paycheck split equally between Home Goods, Target, Ulta, and the Container Store. Seriously. I love playing in makeup and organizing the house. Maybe even playing in makeup while organizing. Because, why not?!

I do find strength in being a mom, and I do feel that it's okay to sometimes want to feel sexy and bold. I think it's important to love your body, and not feel that just because you created this tiny human being, that now you're only allowed out of the house in sweatpants and turtlenecks. We are women. We are strong. We are confident. Remember that, always.

That being said, let's continue on with the honesty. Okay okay, I do mostly live in sweatpants. They're comfy alright! I do always take the time to put on a fresh face in the morning, but I rarely do my hair. Life is all about balance, right? 

I read to my daughter at least 3 stories every night before bed, make sure her and daddy are having a balanced diet, and wash the dishes that are always piling up in the sink. But I'm also that lady that's okay with having a drink when we're out at dinner, or spending my birthday with my honey tipsy wandering around every aisle at Target... just to end up testing out the throw pillows on the shelves.

And you know what the best part is? I'm okay with that.

I'm okay being the mom with tattoos, and the mom that will be angry when you break curfew, but also the mom that will check your homework each night and pack your lunch every morning.

I'm okay with being the woman that has made mistakes, but also the one who lived, learned, and gets back up again stronger than ever.  I'm okay with all of it. Because I found strength and picked what I wanted in this life. And with a little help from Fate along the way... I have paradise.

I'm me... and honestly, why would I want to be anyone else? I get to live this epic, wonderful journey of my own. And to you... if you made it this far...

Thank you for being here to share in it with me. It's nice to meet you.