Soulful Living
Where the sacred meets the everyday.
This space holds reflections, rituals, recipes, recommendations and seasonal rhythms — the small choices and meaningful moments that make a life feel like your own. You’ll find stories, recommendations, and quiet invitations to live with more presence and less performance.
Nothing perfect. Just real. Offered with care.
Testing Our Drinking Water
We tested our tap water out of simple curiosity, not panic. It felt good to know what we were actually drinking. From there, deciding whether to filter it felt less like a guess and more like a choice.
Why we tested our tap and what we learned
We ordered a simple home water testing kit — not out of panic, but out of curiosity. We wanted to know what we were actually drinking and using every day, especially in a house where dishes are constantly running and a toddler’s cup is never far from the sink.
I’ll upload the full results here once I have them in front of me, but one thing became clear: our water is hard. Not dangerous, but definitely filled with minerals that are starting to wear on our dishwasher, faucets, and maybe even our skin.
It confirmed what we’d already started to suspect — that we’d benefit from a filtration system. Not because the water was unsafe, but because it just isn’t working for us as it is.
Sometimes clarity doesn’t bring urgency. It just helps you make the next right choice.
What we use
Water Test Kit
We went with Varify as it has great reviews and very affordable.
Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you choose to buy through them. It costs you nothing extra, just helps keep this little corner of the internet going.
Making Ice Cream the Slow Way
We’ve been using the KitchenAid ice cream attachment as a way to slow things down in the kitchen. It’s not instant — and that’s the point. There’s something satisfying about planning ahead, choosing your own ingredients, and waiting for it to come together. It’s a small exercise in delayed gratification, with the added bonus of fewer weird ingredients and more room for creativity.
What we’re learning from mixing it ourselves
Making ice cream has become a monthly rhythm in our home, it’s something we look forward to, plan for, and do together. We use the KitchenAid ice cream attachment, and what I love most about it isn’t the attachment itself (though it works beautifully), but the way it slows us down.
We chill the bowl overnight. We talk about flavors. We wait. Our son loves tossing in ingredients and watching the mixture thicken into something cold and creamy — he’s learning patience without knowing that’s what it is.
So far, we’ve made mazapán and sweet cream, vanilla bean, and pistachio. The pistachio has become a family favorite, especially served in tiny bowls with flaky salt and caramel on top.
There’s something grounding about knowing what’s in it. No strange aftertastes, no food coloring. Just cream, sugar, flavor, and time.
What we use
KitchenAid Mixer
We can’t live without our KitchenAid Mixer. Bread, ice cream, dicing veggies, shredding chicken. She does it all.
KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment
Probably my favorite KitchenAid attachment. It’s easy and allows you to have ice cream instantly, you just need to pre-freeze the bowl and maybe prep ingredients.
Sea Salt Flakes
We sprinkle this on EVERYTHING.
Slow Tech & Sound
In our home, music is part of the rhythm. I use slow tech to listen without reaching for a screen. Just sound, space, and presence.
How we listen without getting back on our phones
There’s music in our home most days. But we were getting tired of unlocking a phone every time we wanted to hear something. The Yoto Mini and our record player became simple ways to bring sound into the room—without pulling us out of it.
My favorite part is watching my son learn how the record player works. He’s curious, careful, and fascinated by the process. Even when it skips or scratches, he stays with it.
With the Yoto Mini, he can listen to music, hear messages from me and family, or follow along as I read a story I recorded—complete with a little chime to turn the page. It’s presence, in a small, screen-free box.
Not perfect. But useful. And a lot more peaceful.
What we use
Yoto Mini
Screen-free, customizable, and lets you record your own audio.
Yoto Cards
Yoto offers a record your own card, music cards and story cards. My son’s favorite is The Beatles 1962-1966 card.
Record Player
Bluetooth, built-in speakers, and easy enough for little hands.
Record Player Needles
Because toddlers are not gentle.
Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you choose to buy through them. It costs you nothing extra, just helps keep this little corner of the internet going.