I love living a simple life. It was a long process, but I love where we are now! I see it as a life long journey. I want to see others living a more simple life, so I wanted to put together some of my top suggestions on how to do so.

*** These are affiliate links but I will only put resources on here that I have personally read, used, and stand behind. I’ll also give some reasons why each thing helped me. Check out my disclosures page for more.

Simplicity in Marriage

When Sinners Say “I Do”gave us some amazing advice and really helped prepare us for the journey ahead. The biggest thing that stood out to me is admitting to your spouse “I’m a big fat sinner.” Nearly eight years later and we still say this to each other, especially after a big argument. It basically means realizing that you are not a perfect person, you never will be and come into the marriage totally messed up.

Simplicity in Travel

Luckies of London The United States of America Scratch Map (USLUKUS)is such a fun way for us to keep track of where we’ve traveled in the country together! One of the first things I do after we get home from a road trip is update our map!

Keep Moving: And Other Tips and Truths about Aging by Dick Van Dyke was a really fun book. It is read by the author, and in my opinion, the only way to experience this book. I laughed, I cried, and I appreciated my life so much more. He shares great stories about life, marriage, family, and his show business career. He sets a great example of how to live – no matter how old you are. This is a great listen for a road trip!

Simplicity in Photo Storage
I have had a SmugMug account since 2008. They host all of my previous client’s photos from all of our weddings and portrait sessions. I still use SmugMug to share and sell photos, as well as host my personal photos and videos. There is no limit to the number of photos or videos you can save and they offer several subscription levels. When I ran my photography business, I had the Business account. Now I use the Portfolio account. This allows me to still sell the photos I’ve taken, but doesn’t include features I don’t need anymore, like coupons or allowing clients to choose their favorites. There are so many features no matter where you find yourself in the photo saving spectrum, there is an account for you.

Simplicity in Business

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World completely changed my life. It helped me to cut the hold of social media on my life. It helped me realize areas I needed to change and have more focus. This is a bit of a heavy read, but worth every minute.

Unmistakable by Srinivas Rao. I stumbled on this book while browsing in the library. It talks about how if we can be Unmistakable, we won’t have to worry about being the best, who can compete with us? It was a great reminder that who I am is unique, and worth being. As soon as I started reading it, I knew it would make an impact, and it did.

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less totally changed my life. Even though we were already pretty simplified and minimalists, this book helped me to dig even deeper into simplicity. It helps me to say no to things that need to be said no to.

Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day was a great reminder that work isn’t just about your 9-5 but “any value we create that requires us to spend our time, focus and energy is work, humans, it seems are wired to find satisfaction by adding value through toil.”

Getting There: A Book of Mentors What I loved about this book was the varied fields and methods of work shared. It felt like I sat down with each of these successful people and learned some of their secret tips.