I am sure you’ve heard of Emily Ley by now or at least seen one of her books on a store shelf or in a social media post. If you haven’t I’m quite confident you may have been stuck under a rock for the past few months. I stumbled upon her Simplified Life book last year, I’m not even sure how I heard about it but I know when I saw it on the shelf it instantly grabbed my attention with the beautiful happy colors. I love empowering books that assist you with everyday life “things”. I was so excited to get it home and just binge read over a cup of coffee and some quite time while the boys were at school. I had it all planned out and as I’m sure you know, sometimes those peaceful relaxing plans get interrupted or just don’t go as expected. That’s ok, it happens, to everyone LOL.

You see, when I sat down to dive right in figuring it would take a day maybe two to get through it I quickly realized that was NOT Emily’s intention when writing this book. This was NOT this books purpose. Emily walks you through steps in each chapter of improving your spaces and your well being if we are being honest. Each step is not to be rushed through but strategically thought on and planned out. Once you’ve mastered each step THEN you move on to the next. It’s wonderful that she speaks to you as if she’s reading your life or situation back to you. Many times she was describing her household and I’d think, WHOA… thank God I’m n”normal”. It is such a breath of fresh air to remove clutter and unnecessary “things”. It’s immediately freeing. Not to mention how clean my house is now.

I am a checklist type person. I like things by the book and sometimes black and white. I realize and have learned in my life that can’t always be the case and not many people live by those guidelines and that’s ok. I’ve learned to adapt to different situations and people and that has helped me to grow immensely. Emily provides step by step on how to get organized and take your life and home back. She explains why each step is important, doesn’t rush you, and wants you to realize WHY it’s a benefit and not a punishment or going without. Once you’ve followed through with each step and area of organizing then you move onto the next. One step at a time. Remember Rome wasn’t built in a day. I loved how Emily touched base on things like taking stress out of meal planning, secretly she confirmed that me thinking planning dinners was stressful was in fact true and I wasn’t the only one. Creating healthy tech boundaries is a huge chapter for me because working full time and being a business owner I am constantly on my devices checking social media and emails. This has taken so much time away from my family and from myself. It was something I didn’t really pay attention to until I got to this chapter.

If I had to recommend only one chapter to you to read it would be Simplified Motherhood. WHEW! Giving yourself grace. Those words hit me HARD! I know so many mommas that carry guilt for many different things they are or aren’t doing. We as women are our own worst critics and I believe in this day and age we are the most critical on ourselves as Moms. There are so many ways of how to and how not to, lots of judgement and finger pointing in every direction. Emily reminds us that we are HUMAN, there is no one size fits all parenthood. As much as we are looked at and maybe believe we’re super heroes… at the end of the day we’re human. She shares tips on how to help with situations with your children that maybe you haven’t tried or even realized could make your household better. It is definitely worth the read.

Emily encourages us to live our best life, living abundantly in love and joy because that is what God wants for us. He has gifted us with this life and he wants us to savor and enjoy every single moment. I love that there are sections for notes and questions, making plans. It’s ok to come back to certain sections or just take your time on them until you can fully execute that plan. I did it and so can you. You’ve got this.

I plan to read Emily’s other two books: A Standard of Grace & Grace not Perfection. I’m excited to share my thoughts on those. Originally my goal was to read one book per week for a year but lets be real, what was I thinking! I’ve come back to earth to agree on one a month and I think that is more appropriate for my schedule.

I also enjoyed Like Me or Not, Girl Wash Your Face, and Dave Ramseys Total Money Makeover. These are all wonderful reads in my opinion and I HIGHLY recommend Dave Ramsey if you are looking to be rid of debt.

Thank you to my sweet and talented friend Angie with Embelished Details for the florals she gifted me and I incorporated with these photos they are beautiful and smell amazing!

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