SLT002: How Routines Can Simplify Your Life, Simple Ways to Get the Most out of Search and Research

Well, we got past our first episode and in Episode 2 we discuss how using routines can help simplify your life, and some simple ways to get the most out of search and research.

Routines and Search

Routines help make things predictable, let you better plan you time, and make things more efficient. So, we’ll be sharing some tips on how to tap into that power so routines can simplify your life, too! When something is new to you or you need more information, most people turn to Google to find answers. But are you using Google as effectively as you could? We’ll share some of our tricks to help you become a wizard at search and research! Read more…

Play

SLT 001: An Introduction to the Simple Life Together Podcast

Play

An Introduction to the Simple Life Together Podcast

Be sure to subscribe in iTunes and leave a review in the iTunes store! It helps others find the show! Thank you!

Welcome!  We’ve waited a long time to get started on this and we’re so excited to finally “get it out there.”  So, in the show we give you an introduction to us, a little bit about our background, what “simple” means to us, and then we talk about our format for the show.

We shared the major “pillars” of our life plan, highlighting that our focus is on the following:

– Faith

– Family

– Friends

– Finances

– Future

Ok, so here’s how we envision the Format of the show:

Every episode, we’ll each pick topics for discussion. Vanessa’s will likely focus on organizing, the household or her business and Dan’s will likely be centered around technology, business or DIY projects. Together, we’ll also focus on family issues/kids, our relationships, future plans, designing our lifestyle, etc.  These are just some areas, but we haven’t set any boundaries because life has endless topics.

We’ll also have a segment where we each pick one thing per episode that we want to highlight…something that’s had a positive impact on us since the last show.  It could be an app, an experience we had, a conversation, a product, whatever. We tried to come up with a name for this thing, whatever it is, and in the end we just decided to call it ”The Thing.”

Our commitment for the show:

– Nearly complete candor…but some things you know you can’t just put “out there”

– Little sugar coating because life isn’t always sweet and besides, we’re low carb eaters

– Imperfection…because nobody’s perfect. Perfect is the enemy of really good.  Our goal is to produce a really good (but simple) show.

– Open to feedback and new topics!  We want you to be part of the show because that’s how we all learn

– Not too much structure…because we’ve both had jobs that pegged-out the “structure meter” and now we like our lives to be a little more “freeform.”

A little bit about us…

– We both have our own businesses, which really helps with designing our simply life together

– Dan is retired from his first career and now does  Business Development Consulting helping niche business with their branding, media presence, and strategic planning.

– Vanessa is a Professional Organizer and helps clients simplify and organize their lives, at home and at work so they have more time to focus on what’s truly important to them, too.

So that’s what we do for a living and I’m sure we’ll share more about ourselves as we go along.

What Simple Means to Us

– Actually having time to enjoy life with those we love

– Living within our means

– Not being slaves to our possessions

– Embracing the concept of “less is more”

– Living more deliberately

– Focusing on our endstate and how we want our lives to be in the long run

– Less  distress (negative stress), more eustress (positive stress)

The Thing Segment:

Vanessa:  Not compare herself to others

Dan:  Quote from Antoine de Saint Exupéry “Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

Closing Thoughts:

We hope you join us on the journey

If you like the show, please subscribe and consider giving us a good review in iTunes

If you know someone else who might enjoy the journey too, send them a link to SimpleLifeTogether.com

There are links to our Twitter and Google Plus profiles and other contact info on the left side of the website. We’d love to hear from you !

Be sure to leave comments below or send us a voicemail.  Comments, questions, thoughts, ideas, suggestions…they’re all welcome!

Links we mentioned in the show:

Tim Ferriss 4HWW Deferred Retirement Plan

Michael Hyatt’s Life Plan

 Be sure to subscribe in iTunes and leave a review in the iTunes store! It helps others find the show! Thank you! 

Roasted Chicken Dinner

You know we love simple foods! Sometimes “simple foods” means simple to prepare, other times it means “simple ingredients”…but it always means “simply delicious.”

Spiced rotisserie chicken, roasted half onion with balsamic (Italian seasoning, sea salt, fresh ground black pepper and hint of olive oil). Medley of steamed green, red, habanero, Serrano, and vinegar soaked jalapeño peppers. Vanessa also had a flaxseed wrap made following the Wheat Belly book recipe section. Yum!
BTW…This recipe was especially easy since we bought the chicken pre-cooked at the grocery store!  Honestly…it’s so darn good and the chicken falls off the bone!  When you are short on time or just too darned tired to spend an hour in the kitchen to cook, you don’t have to run to the freezer to get a hot pocket or frozen pizza.  On your way home from work or from running errands, consider picking up pre-cooked, yet healthy prepared meals that your family will love.

Tri-Tip Roast With Peppers

Some delicious wheat-free eats for us tonight! Tri-tip (marinated in apple cider vinegar, balsamic, Bragg’s Aminos, with crushed red peppers), roasted red, green, Serrano, habanero, and jalapeño peppers, and finally baby spinach with garlic and shallots.

Vanessa also had cream cheese/clam dip with raw dipping carrots. Yum! The entire diner was cooked on the Big Green Egg over oak lump coal and soaked mesquite smoking chips and lumps. Smoked at 240 degrees for 2 hours.

We also decided to roast some raw almonds coated in olive oil. We roasted them on the Big Green Egg too to give them a nice smokey flavor. They turned out great! Next we’ll try soaking in some vinegar frist before we roast ’em…then sprinkle with some sea salt.

 

Juice Fast- Wrap Up!

OK, folks…this is the last post in my juicing series. The fast went great and we continued for almost 13 days until our renovation really got in the way. To sum things up, in the year that’s passed since our fast we have continued to juice as a major part of our eating habits. Fresh juices serve as a major supplement to our diets and we still juice 3-4 times per week, typically in the morning.

I thought you might like some follow-up regarding the “equipment” and information we use for juicing that I’ve mentioned in previous posts. So a year later, here’s how things worked out:

We still LOVE our Breville Juicer. It’s proven to be tough as nails, easy to use, and a breeze to clean up. As I’ve connected with other juicers, some love the Breville and others prefer a masticating juicer and love the increased amount of juice they get from their fruits & veggies and the quiet operation of most masticating juicers.

We also still really like the Whithings wifi scale. Candidly, I don’t weigh myself very often. But when I do, it’s really nice to be able to do easy comparisons on the desktop software or the iOS app. My wife uses the scale more than I do and she also loves the automatic tracking.

I still occasionally watch Joe Cross’s movie Fat Sick and Nearly Dead for motivation…not just for juicing but motivation for life in general. As I type this, he’s in production for a follow-up movie.

I also joined a green juicing clinic and had a fantastic experience with that, as well. I’ll do a separate post explaining that entire experience and you can read all about by clicking here: Your Chance to Learn About Juicing, Juicers, and the Benefits of Juice Fasting