Room for Joy -

Seven Tenets of Essentialism from Greg McKeown

Posted on October 14, 2021October 14, 2021 by Joy

When Greg McKeown’s new book, Effortless, hit the shelves, I couldn’t wait to read it. Who wouldn’t want to read a book promising to “make it easier to do what matters most”? I checked it out of my local library and spent two weeks devouring every word. Immediately, I knew I had to go back and read Essentialism again. If you aren’t familiar with Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, it is the million-copy international best seller that McKeown released in 2014. I first read it in 2018. At the time, I was decluttering my house and reading all the Read more…

Six Things Your INTJ Friends Want You to Know

Posted on March 17, 2021March 17, 2021 by Joy

A few months ago, I learned something that completely changed my perspective on my self and my relationships. I completed a Myers-Briggs personality assessment and learned that I’m an INTJ. (More on what that means in a minute.) I had taken this test many years ago, but I struggled with it at the time. I wondered, “Should my answers reflect how others see me or how I see myself?” I fumbled my way through the test, but the results didn’t really resonate with me. I chalked it up to a waste of time, and never thought much about it again. Read more…

Reading Roundup: Fiction Challenge of 2020

Posted on January 28, 2021January 29, 2021 by Joy

At the beginning of 2020, I partnered with a friend for a year-long fiction reading challenge. She and I love to read, but we tend to favor non-fiction. In an effort to broaden our reading repertoire, we committed to reading at least six novels in 2020, and we held each other accountable. (Mostly, she kept me on track because I’m a slower reader!) Here’s a recap of the books we read: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah The Great Alone is the story of Ernt Allbright, a troubled Vietnam veteran who moves to Alaska with his wife and daughter for Read more…

Six Systems for Success in the New Year

Posted on January 11, 2021January 11, 2021 by Joy

A few years ago, I stopped making New Year’s resolutions and started setting goals. Resolutions tend to be big dreams or vague ideas, whereas goals are more action-oriented. Goals require us to take practical steps in a certain direction. But here’s what I’ve noticed about goals: they can be just as elusive as dreams if we don’t develop effective systems and habits to support them. As a society, our New Year’s resolutions don’t change much from year to year. Let’s name five of the ten most popular resolutions. (We won’t even need Google. It’s easy.) Lose weight, get out of Read more…

A Christmas Visit to Savannah

Posted on December 17, 2020December 17, 2020 by Joy

Last year, we spent a few days in Savannah, Georgia, between Christmas and New Year’s Day. My husband and I had visited many years ago and loved it then, so we decided it would be fun to take the kids. Savannah is the perfect winter getaway for us because it’s an easy, two-hour drive from Charleston and doesn’t require any winter clothing! It’s a charming city with a rich history, a vibrant art scene, and a taste for deliciously innovative restaurants. Day One: Saturday When we arrived in Savannah, we began at Forsyth Park so we could check out the Read more…

raising-grateful-kids-in-an-entitled-world-cover

Ten Takeaways from Kristen Welch’s Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World

Posted on November 30, 2020November 30, 2020 by Joy

Let me start with a story about something that happened in my own life while I was reading Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World by Kristen Welch. One afternoon, I was sitting on the sofa, taking a little rest after doing my chores for the day, when I received a text from my 13-year-old son: “The bus driver missed our street AGAIN.” He had been spending an hour on the bus every afternoon because the driver consistently missed the turn on to our street, only coming back at the end of her route to drop him off last. I Read more…

Decluttering: Where To Start When You’re Overwhelmed

Posted on January 2, 2020January 2, 2020 by Joy

The question I’m most frequently asked about decluttering is “Where do I start?” I understand how easy it is to become overwhelmed by all the stuff. We want to throw our hands up and say, “It’s too much! I don’t even know where to begin.” I’ve been there. But there is a path forward, and it starts with that first step. As Dave Ramsey often says, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Here are a few ideas to help you decide where to start: Start for a reason. If you have a desire to declutter Read more…

How Small Habits Produce Big Changes

Posted on November 14, 2019November 14, 2019 by Joy

Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post explaining how I came to believe I’m capable of change. For me, it started with practicing minimalism. I didn’t make a big, sweeping change all at once, but took many tiny steps toward my goal over time. Since then, I’ve been working on developing more good habits, and I’ve done some research on how to make them stick. The more I’ve learned about the science of habits, the more I’ve become fascinated by the way our brains work. We can apply what we know about habit formation to improve our lives in Read more…

Summer Bucket List

Posted on May 23, 2019May 23, 2019 by Joy

School will be out soon and our family is looking forward to a fun and restful summer break. I made a list of 30 things to do this summer, and my kids wholeheartedly approved it, so here is our summer bucket list… Go strawberry or blueberry picking Go to a water park or pool Go bowling Build a campfire and make s’mores Go to the beach Go for a bike ride Have a picnic Go to a playground Go to a concert, play, or movie Do a science experiment Visit a library Bake cookies Make popsicles Play miniature golf Invite Read more…

Four-Day Family-Friendly Washington D.C. Itinerary

Posted on May 13, 2019May 13, 2019 by Joy

For spring break, we decided to take our kids to Washington D.C. for the first time. We stayed in an Airbnb (another first for us) in Columbia Heights and used the Metro to get around the city. We packed four days with incredible sites, fascinating museums, and plenty of delicious food! (Note: The itinerary below was our planned itinerary, but we actually swapped Day One and Day Four due to weather concerns.) Day One We began with breakfast at The Coupe in Columbia Heights. I had their Coconut French Toast with a vanilla latte and it was heavenly! Then we Read more…

How Minimalism Proves Lasting Change is Possible

Posted on April 4, 2019April 4, 2019 by Joy

Do you believe people can change? I’ve always struggled with making lasting changes in my life. Sometimes I feel like I was born with a brain that is hard-wired with traits, habits, and behaviors that can’t be re-programmed. It’s tempting to live on autopilot – doing things the way we’ve always done them. We might get inspired and change our methods for a while, but it’s easy to revert to old habits. Change can look like a mountain that just won’t move. A few years ago, I felt like I needed a major change. With my youngest son headed to Read more…

Tween Boy Bedroom Update

Posted on January 23, 2019January 24, 2019 by Joy

When you’re updating a house one room at a time, finishing a project is so satisfying! Our house has a lot of work in progress right now, but I’m happy to report that my tween son’s bedroom is finished. Fortunately, we didn’t have to do any construction in this room. It just needed some paint, furniture, and accessories. Here’s how it looked when we moved in: We started by painting the walls with Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter, which seemed appropriate since my son requested an Americana theme. Once I had a fresh “canvas” to work with, I decorated with Read more…

Decluttering Layer by Layer

Posted on January 4, 2019January 4, 2019 by Joy

If you’ve resolved to declutter your home this year, this post is for you. I’m going to share how I decluttered my home and reduced the stress that “stuff” was adding to my life. About five years ago, I began a journey into minimalism. I walked the path slowly, reducing the clutter in my home and my life gradually. I read several books about how to declutter, but none of their methods met my need to minimize in a slow, cyclical manner that would produce new habits and lasting results. To borrow some weight-loss terminology: Fad diets didn’t work for Read more…