Something about back to school season gives me major black trash bag energy—AKA I’m wanting to declutter and purge every area in my home! Also, with fall and winter looming, I’m wanting to cozy up our home which has been neglected in the businesses and outside-ness of summer. I’m very much needing to close the loop on a ton of different projects, many of which have been in limbo since we moved into this house (over three years ago now!)

So with that being said, I’m bringing back two older projects/challenges that I hope to focus my energy on this coming fall! Care to join me?!

Operation House to Haven

I started Operation House to Haven three houses ago, way back in 2020 when we were spending so much time at home. The idea was that I wanted our home to be a place we loved, where we wanted to spend time. A place that felt like a haven, not just like a visual to do list, with clutter and half finished projects everywhere (which is very much what our current home looks like now 😵‍💫)

Operation House to Haven is NOT about doing huge remodels or making expensive purchases, but more like tackling those nagging small projects you’ve been putting off. It’s about making your home a place you love and want to be, not somewhere you want to escape from.

Since coming up with the idea in 2020, we’ve moved two times and added two kids to the family, so this will be the third house I’ve done this project in! I will share all the versions I’ve tried and will let you decide which you have the time for in your current season of life 😉 Any printables that I mention will be linked towards the bottom of this post!

The OG Operation House to Haven was in a notebook format. I had a page for each room in our house, with areas to declutter, simplify, and “house to haven” projects that I wanted to complete. You can see a full flip through below:

Honestly, this was my favorite method, but it also takes the most time! I did create a printable version you can print out and put in a binder or on a clipboard. It is 20+ pages long, so it is one of the few I don’t give away for free. If you are interested in it, you can either purchase on Etsy here OR if you scroll to the bottom of the page I will link it for paid subscribers as a thank you for your support. The cost is the same, but if you choose to become a paid subscriber, you’ll also have access to all archived posts and printables here on Substack.

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In the next house, we had two more kids and I knew it would be a short term home, so I didn’t want to go as in depth. Instead, I made a House to Haven project board. This was perfect because it was highly visible and didn’t become “out of sight, out of mind” like so often happens.

Now, it is 2026, we live in a house we hope to be in for awhile, and our three kids are at ages where I feel like I finally have some capacity to really focus on our home this year. I also am in a season where I really want to focus on our home. I want to be able to quickly and easily host. I want to enjoy spending time at home and not always feel like I need to get out of the house because our home feels like a million unfinished projects. I want our home to have some character and feel like it belongs to our family.

So that is why we are starting round three (or maybe four? Looking back through Instagram it looks like I attempted a round three when we first moved in, but like I said, I’m in a better season for a project like this now 😉 ) Here’s my approach this time around:

First, I did a quick version of my notebook process. I made a page for the rooms most driving me nuts and then wrote down everything I wanted to do in the tiniest steps possible. The tiny steps are key for me, because it allows me to feel like I’m actually making progress. For example, instead of just writing “primary bedroom” as a task, I broke it down into many small ones:

This notebook will act as a place to keep and organize ALL of my ideas, it basically acts as a big master list or brain dump— but it 100% can feel overwhelming! If you’re anything like me, you have a lot you want to accomplish. To help with this feeling of overwhelm, I made the printable below. There are spaces to write down 26 small tasks. I’m going to challenge myself to do all 26 in 2026, but you can definitely complete them on your own timeline. As you complete the tasks, you can color that house in! (If coloring isn’t your jam, there is a similar bingo option too!)

Now, this printable is not going to hold every single task I want to get done in my home, but instead acts as a way to prioritize what I want to focus on first. After these are complete, I can do another sheet until all the tasks in my notebook get finished. And honestly, even if you only did 26 small projects in your home…that would still probably have a big impact, right?

If 26 tasks still feels overwhelming for you, you could narrow it down even more! Pick four items from your notebook, compete those, and switch out the sticky notes as needed.

Decluttering Printables

If you can’t tell, I’m a big believer in gamifying. It makes the mundane tasks of life feel more fun and thus, increases the chances of you actually doing said tasks. The last printables I wanted to share are ones that I have shared before, but that pair nicely with Operation House to Haven, and those are my decluttering printables. I have a 2026 Declutter Challenge, a 1000 Declutter Challenge (included in House to Haven printables), and a Mins Game Printable.

For the 2026 and 1000 Declutter Challenges, simply color a box for each item that you donate! This doesn’t have to be serious—don’t overthink it 😉 Whatever you want to “count”, counts. The Mins Game Printable is perfect to do at the beginning of the month. I will be starting September 1st if you want to join me! The challenge comes from The Minimalists and the premise is simple: day one, you donate one item, day two, you donate two items, etc. You can go in order or skip around, but if you complete the full month you will have 465 less items in your home!

Whatever printable you choose to use, I promise you have more clutter laying around than you think! You’ll likely be shocked when you start keeping track.

The Printables

I hope you found some ideas to inspire you and that you can pick and choose a combination of printables that feel helpful to you as we turn our houses into havens this fall!

House to Haven 26 in 2026

1.12MB ∙ PDF file

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House to Haven Bingo

27.9KB ∙ PDF file

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Mins Game

578KB ∙ PDF file

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2026 Declutter Challenge

142KB ∙ PDF file

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If you are a free subscriber, thank you so much for being here! I hope these printables are helpful for you! Below, paid subscribers will find the 29 pages of House to Haven Printables if you’d like to print and create your own binder! Thank you so much for your support! ❤️

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What is Sunday Saves?

ICYMI, Sunday Saves is a weekly habit I star…

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While I do have a handful of routines I’d like to implement this year (I’d love to get back to cooking more & be home enough to finish some house projects!) I did realize that habit wise, I’m actually doing okay! Historically, with “fresh start” seasons like these, I’m starting over. This year, I’m proud to say that I’m simply continuing the habits I’ve built. It feels good to finally be at this point after years of working towards this!

With that being said, I wanted to share the habits that have made the biggest impact on my life, inspired by a similar post that wrote earlier this year.

Make sure to check out her post, and the comments, if you also think habits are fun to read about 🤓 I’d also love if you shared a habit that has enhanced your life in the comments here. I think there is a lot of inspiration to be found in seeing other real life women’s systems and routines— not so that you can copy (although you totally can if you want!), but so that maybe you can get inspired and adjust and tweak the habits to fit into your life.

A side note: Please read this list with grace and compassion for yourself and the stage of life you’re in. Some of you may read this and already do most of these habits, while others may simply be in survival mode. I get that, and I’ve been there, especially in the thick of babies and postpartum. If this is you and you want to start establishing habits, maybe read this post for inspiration and pick one new habit to try. I didn’t go from 0-13 habits in a few months, or even a year. It has taken many years of slowly adding and tweaking habits, and failing and starting over, for any of these to stick. AND remember that while I might now be great at these specific habits…there are lots that I’m still working on (ahem, a cleaning schedule…)

While I don’t think we need to be fully optimized, perfect humans, I am a big believer in the power of habits in making our lives intentional ones that we love. I hope that you can find some inspiration below!

Flexible morning routine:

I’ve wanted to be someone who wakes up before the kids for years because I truly notice a positive impact in my day when I do this. But I wasn’t able to make it stick until recently when I let go of the rigidity of a morning routine. Now I get up and walk our dog everyday, then I come back and either do morning pages, OR read a nonfiction book, OR work on Let’s Live and Learn, OR prep for the day and listen to a podcast. Basically, I have a little menu of options which helps because my “routine” isn’t as long and because I can change it based on my mood and needs that day!

Creativity at night:

I started this habit when I began the 100 Day Challenge earlier this year. After the kids go to bed, I try to spend that time being creative in some way. It does something to my brain and I swear helps me sleep better. Plus, it’s like a little treat to look forward to at the end of the day!

Tracking what matters:

After having a very poor relationship with food for much of my adult life, I’ve found that tracking my protein and fiber intake is an easier way to make sure I’m eating in a way that supports my goals (mainly, longevity!!) without feeling like I’m losing my mind trying to hit specific macros.

Daily movement:

I know, I know, this probably seems like an obvious one, but fitness is something I struggled with doing consistently for most of my adult life until I changed two things: First, I committed to moving my body daily. This takes the question out of it— no more wondering if I should workout or not. I go unless I absolutely can’t (and honestly, that rarely happens). On my rest day, I take a walk and/or stretch.

Second, I started group fitness classes. Historically, anytime I’ve been involved in a class of some sort that I loved, are the times in my life where I’ve been the most consistent (and in the best shape, and the happiest!) Right now that looks like Burn Bootcamp, but in the past it’s been Zumba, Turbo Kick, or SLAM. Bonus that reoccurring classes are a great way to make friends! Extra bonus to find a gym that has childcare! Truly, if you struggle being consistent, find a group class that you love and go for at least a year so you can become a part of the community.

Outdoor walks:

Again, I know this is nothing revolutionary, but getting outside several times a day has been the best shift for my mental health. The things that have helped make this habit stick are participating in StepBets (a totally legit app you can download! You lose your money if you miss your step goal, which has been surprisingly motivating to me) and getting a dog. Lol whatever works, right? You’ll also see that I didn’t automatically set my goal to 10K steps. From research that I’ve done, anything above 7K is great, so I just aim for above that. It’s an improvement from the 2-3,000 I used to get!

Connection rhythm:

I started this when we moved to a new state and I didn’t know anyone and it has stuck ever since! Every two weeks I make sure to spend quality time with: my husband, my kids, my parents, my friends, and my kids with their friends. Ideally these would happen every week (and often it does!) but if not, I generally feel like I’m socially balanced if I do this over the span of a two week period.

Clean rooms before movie night:

I love this because I don’t have to worry about daily cleaning nagging with my kids, but it still gets done often enough AND there’s a fun reward afterwards! Pairing it with movie night also means that we never forget, because they never forget Friday movie night 😉

Phone limits:

If you somehow missed me talking about this 1938392 times, do yourself a favor, download the free Foqos app, and turn on a schedule. It literally is the only thing that has helped keep me off my phone.

Prep one meal a week:

I get it, I really don’t like prepping meals either. BUT I also know, if I don’t have one meal prepped for myself each week, I almost always end up eating in a way I don’t want to be eating. I think “bare minimum” when it comes to this. Last week I literally just roasted a bag of frozen potatoes that I could have with scrambled eggs, but it was something and something is better than nothing!

Grocery delivery:

Grocery shopping is one thing I swore I’d never outsource because back in the day I did enjoy it! But now I don’t love going with three kids and there are lots of other ways I’d rather spend my free time. It’s 10000% worth the $100 a year for me with the time it saves. It also reduces impulse purchases, which in my mind more than makes up for the fees.

Make extra time in the car fun:

Last year, I started keeping an analog bin in the car full of fun things that I wanted to do and could easily pick up while I was in my car waiting for a kid. This made me enjoy a time I previously resented and is an easy way to sneak in hobby time! Add up the hours you spend waiting in a car each week…you might be surprised! You could use that time scrolling, OR doing something FUN.

Read and write something everyday:

I already kind of mentioned these, but in this day and age of AI and tech optimizing everything, I just think it is important to keep these skills alive. Plus I love them—that’s important too 😉 When I’m doing both things everyday, I feel grounded and most like “me”, even if the writing is just writing a to do list. Putting pen to paper for any reason counts, IMO.

Sunday Saves:

I’ve done this on and off for years now, but it is one of my favorite habits. Each Sunday I go through my saves on social media and/or the screenshots on my phone, delete the ones I don’t need, print out the ones I want to remember, and glue them in a journal. This has improved the rate of me actually doing the things I save dramatically.

Okay, now it’s your turn! What is one habit that has improved your life? I’d love to hear below!

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Some friends were recently talking about doing the 75 Hard challenge and while it wasn’t initially on my radar to do, the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much I could use a little structure in my life, especially midsummer as I’m feeling in a slump.

SO, I decided to make a few tweaks to the “rules” of 75 Hard and make it truly my own. To me, 75 Hard is not something that would be sustainable, nor would it make me feel my best. I think I would instead feel burnt out and exhausted and honestly, the original rules and parameters didn’t feel exciting to me at all (“A tactical guide to winning the war with yourself” isn’t the vibe I’m going for lol). I also know from previous attempts at similar challenges that 75 days is a lot, and it’s hard to do anything for that long, but especially so if you’re not excited about it!

Instead of following the “one size fits all” rules, I went about making it my own. If you’re interested in customizing this challenge to fit your own needs—here is exactly what I did:

I first responded to a few journaling prompts: 1. I feel my best when_______ and 2. I want to be a person who ________. I wrote down everything that came to mind for both prompts and then used those responses to come up with the habits I want to commit to for the next 74 days. I chose habits that I saw mentioned on both pages and focused on ones that I knew would have the biggest ripple effect. For example, I know that focusing on my health (movement and nutrition) makes me feel my best, which in turn affects how I show up for my friends and family.

After I had a general idea of the habits that I wanted to track, I got specific. I wanted to make the habits slightly challenging, but also thought of them in terms of “bare minimum”. For example, what was the bare minimum amount of protein I wanted to eat? I decided on 100 g vs the 1 g per pound of bodyweight that you often see recommended (which would be….a much larger number). In this example, I’ll aim for over 100 g, but even if I only hit 100 g, then I will still know that I’m getting plenty, and certainly much more than I would if I wasn’t tracking at all! I also tried to make the focus on adding instead of restriction, because I know myself—restriction just makes it 10x harder mentally for me.

I also made up a “back up” plan for each habit. For example, what would happen to my morning routine on days when I need to go to the gym early in the morning? What happens if I get sick? etc. I think planning for these inevitable hiccups is going to help make this feel sustainable for the whole 10+ weeks.

This next step is totally optional, but I also named any additional goals that I wanted to focus on during the challenge, that might be weekly goals, rather than daily habits. These goals also came directly from the journal prompts that I shared above.

Last, I added all of these habits to the printables (which are linked below) and shared with a few friends that I was starting for some accountability. Then I chose a date (a random Thursday) and got started!

You can color the tracker however you want— but I’m extra proud of this one because it can end up looking like quilt squares, if you want! Here is an example of what it can look like when it is filled in. I included this image in the PDF file, so you can print it out as a reference, alongside your tracker.

Core 74 (2)

3.38MB ∙ PDF file

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Core 74 Weekly Tracker

64.8KB ∙ PDF file

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I’d love to hear in the comments, if you’ve done any version of 75 Hard/Soft/etc before and how you’ve tweaked it to make it work for you! And of course, if you’re joining me—please let me know! I’m only on Day 4, so we’ll have lots of overlap if you start this week! 😉

Thanks as always, so much for being here! I appreciate you 😊

Despite being back, paid subscriptions continue to …

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As May-cember begins, I wanted to share two things with you. First, as usual, habit trackers will be shared at the bottom of the post. You will notice that trackers for May, June, and July are included, which brings me to the next thing that I wanted to share…I will be pausing paid subscriptions through the end of July for a little summer break.

What this pause means for you:

For paid subscribers: First, thank you so much for your support, I truly appreciate you. Starting on May 4th (next Monday) you will not be charged for monthly or annual subscriptions AND you will continue to have all paid subscriber perks, including full access to the archive of posts. When I turn on paid subscriptions again on August 1st your subscription will resume as it is now, you will not lose any paid time. For example, if you currently have three months left of your annual subscription, you will still have those three months when paid subscriptions continue in August. Basically you’ll have a little bonus time to catch up on any posts you missed!

For free subscribers: Also, thank you so much for being here! Your subscription will remain the exact same. However, if there is anything in the archive that you’d like to access during the summer I’d recommend upgrading your subscription now so that you are able to view those posts. There will be no option to purchase paid subscriptions for the next three months. If you pay $5 now, you can access all content, all summer. If not, no worries! Your free subscription status will continue as usual.

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What this means for Let’s Live and Learn:

I’ve found myself complaining more and more about not having time to do all the things I want/need to be doing. When looking at how I spend my time, I realized that most of my free time is spent working on posts for this space. Which I love to do and plan on continuing, but the problem with the type of content that I share is that I’m not simply writing, or throwing up a bunch of links. Most of the posts I share involve printables or ideas that take a significant amount of time to create—and that’s before even writing the actual post. All this to say, when I am spending so much time working on Let’s Live and Learn, other areas of my life suffer and I find myself stressed and short with those I love.

My plan for the next three months is to really focus on catching up on all of those things I need and want to be doing. This ranges from fun things with my family, to house projects and admin tasks, to hobbies I want to try, to enjoying the summer with my kids before they’re all in school next year (how?! 🥺) I also hope to create a backlog of content to be able to share here. For example, I’ve been wanting to share updated recipe binder printables. This summer I hope to actually have the time to design, create, and test the design myself so that I can share it when I come back!

Not to mention, I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching and thinking about what I hope this next chapter to look like. Do I return to the classroom? Do I pursue Let’s Live and Learn full time? Do I do something else altogether? If so, what?! Hoping to gain some clarity with these questions during my break as well 🤞

I hope this all makes sense! Please message me, either here or on Instagram, if you have questions about anything. I may share a few sporadic posts here and there this summer, but if not, habit trackers for the next three months are available for you below:

If you are a free subscriber, please make sure that you save the habit trackers that you want to use this summer because this post will become archived in two weeks. Paid subscribers will always have access.

Simple Tracker

179KB ∙ PDF file

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Daily/weekly/monthly tracker

218KB ∙ PDF file

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Quilt Tracker (9)

138KB ∙ PDF file

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Enjoy, and I hope you have a fantastic summer! See you in August ☺️

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