My 32F "day in the life" as a minimalist

I've had a few requests, so here we go!<br><br>Right now, I live in a 700 square foot house in the United States. As I type this, I'm looking out of my office window at a beautiful forest of trees. It's hard to put into words, but I'm just so grateful for this life I live in. Every day, I wake up feeling so thankful for everything I have and not once has "minimalism" made me feel like I'm missing out. It just makes me feel more connected to my family and this beautiful world. <br><br>I have a 21mo daughter and a Baby boy on the way (Feb 2021). I work part-time in an office at a very chill job from home. I'm also in grad school. I volunteer on the weekends at a nursing home with my daughter.<br><br>My morning routine is pretty simple. I wake up shortly after my husband does (he's a nurse and works at 6am) and I bring him a fresh cup of coffee and a glass of water. I also pack his breakfast and sometimes lunch for him at work if he doesn't have time to make it himself. Then I go back to sleep for another hour or so until my daughter wakes up. I roll over and reach for my phone to check the time and then I reach down and give my sweet little girl a hug and we give each other lots of kisses. I whisper in her ear, "good morning! Mommy loves you so much!" And she just gives me this huge smile. I grab her out of bed and we walk out into the hallway and I sing "good morning to you", while spinning around in a circle and she just giggles. We walk to her room so she can pick out which dress she wants to wear for the day. She has three! <br><br>While she's playing in her room, I jump in the shower for maybe 10 minutes. I brush my teeth, wash my body and my hair, and I use a loofa to exfoliate my skin. I love taking showers. I can stay in there for 30 minutes if I want, but since having a baby, I like to keep it short so she doesn't get confused about what to do while I'm in the shower. I don't want to worry about her! After I'm done showering, we head downstairs and I make us each a bowl of oatmeal. I do 1:1 water/milk and 1/3 cup of oats for each bowl. I add in honey and a dash of cinnamon. My daughter doesn't really eat it, but she likes playing with it. It's okay, I get full anyway eating what she doesn't finish haha. <br><br>After breakfast, I put a wet rag on the high chair and we clean it up together. When that's all done, we get our shoes on and we head out the door. Sometimes we have errands to run or sometimes we just go for a car ride. I love driving around with her. It's fun and I feel free. Some days, we go to the park or a playground and get some fresh air. Today, we are going for a hike!<br><br>She usually falls asleep in the car on our way home. She sleeps for maybe an hour or so. Sometimes it's longer, sometimes it's shorter. While she's sleeping, that is my free time to do whatever I want. Today I'm writing this post. Sometimes I think about going for a run while she's sleeping, but I'm such a terrible runner and I hate it so much and I'm not even in very good shape. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, though, so maybe I will start trying again. As of lately, I find myself just watching TV or something while she sleeps. I don't like to do that, so maybe I'll start going for runs again. I feel really inspired to right now...<br><br>When she wakes up, we get into her room and I read to her for a bit. She likes picking out books and having me turn the pages while she hangs onto the book. I think she's really just bored of me reading, but it's such a sweet activity to do together so I do it anyway. I don't care if she pays attention or not. I like talking to her and having her sit on my lap. Sometimes I tell her stories about when I was a little girl and she just giggle at me. One day she'll understand me, right? When we're done reading, we sing a few songs together. We usually sing the ABC song, which I think is called the alphabet song. I love it. It makes me so happy to be connected with her like this. <br><br>After our reading, we go into the kitchen and we make lunch together. I wash the apples and veggies and sometimes she sees the water and she laughs as it splashes on the counter. She just thinks it's the funniest thing ever! She's just so silly. When her apples are cut up, she wants them so bad. She starts making this "hmmm" sound and it means she wants food, but I only give it to her when we sit down at the table. <br><br>We keep the TV off while we eat and it's just so nice to sit together in silence sometimes. Sometimes I talk to her a lot. She is so easy to talk to haha. When we're done eating, we charge her tablet so she can play while I do some chores. I'm usually in a hurry, so I just "blitz" clean for about 20 minutes and we head back out the door!<br><br>Some days we go to the grocery store or Target or something. Today, we're going to the library. I love the library. I love the people and the books and the movies and the audio books. I love the free resources and I love the community and I just love everything about the library. My daughter loves the play room. They have some toys and a climbing wall and a greenhouse window and it's just such a beautiful place. We'll play there for like an hour or so and I'll read to her for a bit. If there's time, I'll do some research for my classes. Sometimes I talk to the other moms there. It's always very sweet and I enjoy it. <br><br>When we're done at the library, we go home and I take a nap while she plays. She doesn't nap anymore, so I just sleep while she watches Netflix or something. I don't let her on it too long because I don't want her to develop a screen addiction. I don't want her to learn any bad habits that are hard to stop. I want her to always be connected to nature. I want her to have a healthy lifestyle. I'm not saying she can never have screens though! <br><br>While I'm sleeping, my husband is at work and he's thinking about his family. He's usually stressed about work stuff or whatever and then he just starts thinking about us and it makes him feel better. He feels so happy knowing that we're at home together. Sometimes I talk to him throughout the day while he's at work. He says he loves me a million times a day and I feel so good knowing that he loves and takes care of me so much. <br><br>After my nap, I go upstairs and get ready for work. I brush my teeth and wash my face and put on my makeup. I don't usually wear makeup unless I have to go into the office. I like feeling pretty for work, though. I don't like dressing up very much, but I want to put on a good impression at work. I'm also in law school, so I have to make a good impression haha. <br><br>I'm a secretary at a non-profit organization that helps mentally ill people get re-employed. We also help them find jobs and go back to school. We provide a lot of different resources for them and I think it's just the most beautiful thing ever. I love this job so much. I get to help people and I get to support a good cause. I would do this job for free if I could. I get paid really well, though, so that's a plus. My boss is also a really great guy and he's so down-to-earth and very inspiring. He's very passionate about his work and I admire him so much. <br><br>While I'm at work, my husband and daughter are at home. They have plans to go to a river and it's just going to be such a great day for them. My husband has been stressed for a while about work and he just needs something to do to relax a bit. He's going to play fetch with our dog and read a book under this weird-looking tree there. He's going to be sitting on a rock near the water and he's going to feel so content. Sometimes I think about work while I'm at home, but while I'm at work, I never think about home. I'm just so present in the moment and I love being there so much. But today is a little different because I know my husband and child are out having such a great time and it's making me feel really happy. <br><br>I'm so grateful for this life. I don't need anything more. I'm so happy and I feel like I'm thriving. I have such a great job and supportive coworkers, a happy healthy family, and a home filled with so much love and gratitude. <br><br>I just can't even explain in words how I feel. I'm just so humble and thankful. I feel so connected to my family and the world. I'm just so grateful for life. I love it so much.<br><br>Edit: Wow! Thank you all so much for the kind words. You're making me cry over here.