the dream
in progress.
A living blueprint of a dream life being built in real time. Not polished. Not perfect. Just honest, intentional, and moving forward.
hi, I'm samantha.
A DINKWOD building the life she actually wants.
DINKWOD — Dual Income, No Kids, Working On Dreams. That's us. My husband Bobby and I are in the season of building: our health, our finances, our home, and the version of ourselves that the life we want actually requires.
This site is my living blueprint. Not a highlight reel. Not a finished product. It's the honest, real-time documentation of what I'm building, what I'm learning, and where I'm going. With the receipts to prove it.
I'm building a body and life that can keep up with the vision I have. Training hard, surfing, and keeping up with two dogs who think chaos is cardio. Someone who believes the dream life isn't found. It's built, one intentional decision at a time.
the life i'm building
The Dream
This isn't a fantasy. It's a blueprint. Every detail below is something I'm actively building toward — not someday, but systematically, one decision at a time.
the vision, in motion
A walkthrough of The Dream — every detail, the why behind it, and the life being built right now.
Two Dream Homes
A beach house where the back door opens straight to the sand — dogs and kids running free. A second home near our community of friends and their families. Both built with hardy board siding (IYKYK), 2–3 car garages, and that coastal warmth that makes every day feel like a vacation.
Daily Surfing
Waking up and paddling out before the world gets loud. The ocean as a daily ritual, not a weekend treat. Improving every session — reading the waves, building confidence in the water, and eventually surfing well enough to take it anywhere in the world.
Private Travel
Flying private — whether it's our own high-speed Cessna with both of us licensed, a private jet, or a canine-friendly airline where our dogs fly in-cabin. Flying my parents back and forth so they're part of our everyday life.
The Garage
A Lexus GX550 for the family adventures and a convertible for the coastal drives — top down, Summer and Penny in the back with their RexSpecs on (dog goggles — yes, that's a thing). The kind of garage that makes you smile every morning.
Family & Community
My husband pursuing his dream career with full freedom and time. A pool in the backyard where all the friends want to come over. Open-door weekends, backyard sports, kitchen baking, and easy free-flowing conversations where I can be 100% myself.
Slow Mornings
The Miracle Morning in a quiet space by myself before the day begins. Coffee, journaling, and intentional movement before the world gets loud. A morning that belongs entirely to me — no notifications, no demands, no rushing out the door. Just the ritual of showing up for myself first, every single day.
Automated Executive Life
High-level executive work with systems so dialed in they practically run themselves. Focusing primarily on family, home, and self-care. Working because I love it, not because I have to.
Clean, Intentional Living
Organic food. Toxin-free home products. A wardrobe of coastal chic — bikinis, sundresses, linen everything. Feeling confident in a bikini. Running around with my kids pain-free and strong.
"That vacation feeling of being at the beach all day, showering, and having that golden afterglow as we get ready for dinner."
"She's building it, not just dreaming it."
The DINKWOD Dream
where i am right now
The Current Status
Radical honesty is the foundation. This dashboard is a snapshot of where things actually stand — not where I wish they were. The gap between current and goal is the work.
The Snapshot
3x
Workouts / Week
45-min HIIT at Kokoro
5–10K
Daily Steps
Building to 10K+
8–10 hrs
Sleep
Prioritized & protected
Clean
Nutrition
Candida/gluten/dairy-free, meal plan
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Here's a walkthrough of The Current Status section — an honest look at where things stand today.
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Physical
Morning Person Progress
Target: wake up by 7:30 AM · No snooze allowed
0d
Current Streak
0d
Longest Streak
0%
On-Time Rate
No logs yet — start tracking!
0 days logged · 0 on time
10,000 Steps Progress
Goal: 10,000 steps daily · Tracked on Garmin · Non-negotiable
0d
Current Streak
0d
Longest Streak
0%
Goal Rate
No logs yet — start tracking!
0 days logged · 0 hit 10k
Mental
Financial
Lifestyle
Relationships
Upload a screenshot of your step count or Garmin fitness tracker
Upload a progress body image (optional — your call, your story)
what's happening right now
The Current Actions
Talk is cheap. This section is about what's actually in motion — the daily habits, systems, and choices that are closing the gap between where I am and where I'm going.
Showing Up Daily
The miracle morning. The workout. The walk. The book. The clean swap. None of it is glamorous in the moment — but all of it is building something real.
"Process over performance."
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Here's a walkthrough of The Current Actions — what a real week looks like and how these habits stack up.
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Movement & Fitness
3x per week, 45-minute HIIT functional fitness sessions at Kokoro Health and Fitness
Daily walking — 5,000 to 10,000 steps, building consistency
Physical therapy with Miksell PT to address pain and build a body that moves freely
Tracking movement with Garmin to stay accountable to daily goals
Nutrition & Body
Prioritizing 8–10 hours of sleep as a non-negotiable foundation
Transitioning toward cleaner, more organic food choices
Using Rael and Cora for clean feminine care products
Choosing Pact 100% organic cotton clothing and Gap cotton basics
Self-Development
Reading books that challenge how I think and shape the life I'm building toward
Following Dr. Natalie Underberg for TTC preparation and hormone health
Using Panda Planner for daily planning and intentional goal-tracking
Listening to podcasts and accounts that align with the dream life vision
Systems Building
Using iRobot Roomba to automate vacuuming — down from daily to 2 manual vacuums a week
Chewy delivery for dog food so it's never a task on the list
Dogo app for training Penny (puppy training made systematic)
Skylight calendar for household visibility and family coordination
Hatch for sleep optimization and morning routine consistency
Relationship Effort
Intentional investment in marriage — building the partnership that supports the dream
Nurturing community connections with like-minded women and families
Maintaining family relationships and laying the groundwork for the grandparent lifestyle
Prioritizing quality time with Bobby — date nights, shared goals, and building the life together intentionally
Home & Environment
Switched to Truly Free laundry and dishwashing detergents
Using Homecourt hand soap — clean, beautiful, intentional
Creating an airy, fresh, toxin-free home environment
Building the aesthetic and systems that reflect the dream life now
bridging the gap
The Goal Actions
This is the playbook. The specific, intentional actions that move the needle from current reality to the dream. Five pillars. Clear next steps. No fluff.
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Here's a walkthrough of The Goal Actions — the five pillars and exactly what I'm working toward in each.
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Health
Build the body that runs with the kids.
Completely cut out caffeine — breaking the dependency and resetting my baseline energy naturally, and removing it as part of TTC prep
Hit 10,000 steps daily — non-negotiable, tracked on Garmin
Become a morning person — building a healthy nighttime routine that makes waking up early feel natural, not forced, and eliminating the snooze button for good
Implement hormone-supportive nutrition following Dr. Natalie Underberg's protocols, including her Fig prenatal and Hers & Hims supplements to support fertility and hormonal health
Track cycle with Inito to optimize energy, performance, and TTC preparation
Build a pain-free, strong, active body that keeps up with the life I'm building
Wealth
Build systems that work while you sleep.
Apply the frameworks from Secrets of the Millionaire Mind and Tribe of Millionaires
Create automated income streams that reduce dependency on active work hours
Build a financial literacy practice — monthly review of investments and net worth
Grow the Etsy shop (SummerAndPennyCo) with additional digital products — shop open now
Optimize and grow within my executive career — continuing to build systems, expand my impact, and move toward the version of this role that runs with intention and leverage
Achieve financial freedom that allows my husband to pursue his dream career
Relationships
Invest in the people who make the dream worth having.
Apply Never Split the Difference principles to all high-stakes conversations
Create intentional date nights and couple rituals with my husband
Build a community of like-minded women — real friendships, not surface-level connections
Establish the open-door home culture — pool days, backyard gatherings, easy hospitality
Lay the groundwork for the grandparent lifestyle — parents flying back and forth
Prepare for TTC with full physical and relational readiness
Environment
Your environment is either working for you or against you.
Complete the transition to a fully toxin-free home (Truly Free, Homecourt, Rael)
Create a dedicated Miracle Morning space — quiet, intentional, beautiful
Build a coastal chic wardrobe that reflects who I'm becoming — bikinis, linen, sundresses
Optimize the current home for the lifestyle: flow, aesthetics, and daily systems
Upgrade the home aesthetic to reflect the dream life — not someday, but now
Identity
Become her before the circumstances arrive.
Apply the principles of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — finished the book, now living the framework one habit at a time
Apply Atomic Habits and Extreme Ownership to every area of life
Define and live by a personal mission statement
Develop the identity of a high-level executive who prioritizes family and self
Practice radical self-trust — make decisions from the woman I'm becoming
Build the confidence to show up fully as myself in every room
what i'm learning
The Knowledge Areas
Five learning pillars that form the intellectual foundation of the dream life. Each one is a deep dive, not a surface skim.
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Here's a walkthrough of The Knowledge Areas — why these five pillars and how they connect to the dream.
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Health, Hormones & Fertility
Understanding the female body at a deep level — hormones, cycle health, fertility preparation, and building a body that thrives. This is foundational to everything else.
Topics
Cycle syncing and hormone optimization
TTC preparation and fertility awareness
Functional fitness for women
Pain-free movement and physical therapy
Clean beauty and toxin-free living
Sleep and recovery science
Books
— 9 Months Is Not Enough
Accounts I Follow
— Dr. Natalie Underberg (@dr.natalieunderberg)
Tools
— Inito (hormone tracking)
— Garmin (movement)
— Hatch (sleep)
Wealth Building & Financial Literacy
Building real, lasting wealth — not just income. Understanding money psychology, investment principles, and creating systems that compound over time.
Topics
Millionaire mindset and money psychology
Income diversification and passive streams
Investment fundamentals
Digital product creation and Etsy business
Executive career development
Financial systems and automation
Books
— Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
— Tribe of Millionaires
Systems & Productivity
The architecture of a life that runs smoothly. Building systems so good that the dream life becomes the default, not the exception.
Topics
Habit stacking and behavior design
Home automation and delegation
Time blocking and deep work
The One Thing principle
Morning routine architecture
Books
— Atomic Habits
— The One Thing
— The Power of Habit
— The Miracle Morning
Accounts I Follow
— Shelby Sacco (@shelbysacco5)
Tools
— iRobot Roomba
— Skylight Calendar
— Chewy delivery
— Dogo app
Relationships & Marriage
The relationship is the foundation. Building a marriage that supports both people's dreams, communicates well under pressure, and creates a home worth coming back to.
Topics
Negotiation and communication
Marriage as a partnership and business
Building community and deep friendships
Parenting philosophy and family culture
Conflict resolution and emotional intelligence
Creating an open-door home culture
Books
— Never Split the Difference
— The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Mindset & Identity
The inner work. Becoming the woman who lives the dream life before the circumstances arrive. Identity-level shifts, not just behavior changes.
Topics
Identity-based habit formation
Self-trust and decision-making
Overcoming limiting beliefs about money, body, and worthiness
The gap between current self and future self
Vulnerability and confidence as co-existing forces
Personal mission and values clarity
Books
— Atomic Habits (identity chapter)
— Extreme Ownership
Tools
— Panda Planner
what i actually use
The Tools
No sponsored content. No affiliate fluff. Just the actual books, accounts, products, and services that are part of building this life — curated, honest, and in use.
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Here's a walkthrough of The Tools — what I'm actually using and why each one made the list.
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Books
The Power of Habit
Charles Duhigg
The science of how habits form and how to change them.
9 Months is Not Enough
Alexandria DeVito, MS, CNS
The ultimate pre-pregnancy checklist to create a baby-ready body and build generational health.
Never Split the Difference
Chris Voss
FBI negotiation tactics applied to everyday life and relationships.
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
T. Harv Eker
Rewiring your money blueprint for wealth.
Tribe of Millionaires
David Osborn & Pat Hiban
The power of community in building wealth.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Stephen Covey
Timeless principles for personal and professional effectiveness.
The One Thing
Gary Keller
Extraordinary results through focused simplicity.
Atomic Habits
James Clear
Identity-based habit formation — the definitive guide.
Extreme Ownership
Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
Total accountability as a leadership and life philosophy.
The Miracle Morning
Hal Elrod
The morning routine that transforms your entire life — SAVERS method.
Accounts I Follow
Dr. Natalie Underberg
TTC preparation, hormone health, and fertility optimization.
Follow on InstagramBrain Cell on Back Order 🐾
The official Instagram of our dogs — because they deserve their own following.
Follow the dogsProducts
Hatch
Smart alarm and sleep optimization — protecting the 8–10 hours.
Garmin
Movement tracking, step counts, and fitness data that keeps me honest.
Dogo App
Puppy training for Penny — making dog ownership systematic and fun.
Inito
At-home hormone tracking for cycle awareness and TTC preparation.
Skylight
To-do lists and daily habit check-offs — keeps me accountable to the small things every day.
iRobot Roomba
Automated vacuuming — down from manual daily to twice a week. Systems win.
Panda Planner
Daily planning with intention — goals, gratitude, and priorities.
Pact Clothing
100% organic cotton clothing — clean, comfortable, intentional.
Truly Free
Laundry and dishwashing detergent — toxin-free home, one swap at a time.
Homecourt
Hand soap that makes the kitchen feel like a boutique hotel.
Rael
Clean feminine care products — because what goes in and on your body matters.
Cora
Clean feminine care backup — available locally when needed.
Gap Cotton Basics
100% cotton undergarments — simple, clean, reliable.
Services
Kokoro Health and Fitness
Where the 3x weekly HIIT functional fitness sessions happen. Community, accountability, and results.
Follow on InstagramMiksell Physical Therapy
Addressing the pain and building a body that can run with the kids pain-free.
Follow on InstagramChewy Delivery
Dog food delivered automatically — one less thing on the list, every single time.
available in my etsy shop
Wedding Budget Spreadsheet Template
The exact spreadsheet system I used to plan our wedding — organized, comprehensive, and built to keep you on budget without the stress.
real-time reflections
Weekly Nuggets
Short, honest, high-value insights from the week. Mindset shifts, wins, failures, and tactical lessons — the raw material of a life being built in real time.
The gap isn't the problem. Ignoring the gap is.
Three workouts. Every week. For four weeks straight.
The Roomba changed my life more than I expected.
Identity first. Behavior second. Results third.
I skipped the morning routine for a full week. Here's what I learned.
Stop waiting to feel ready. Start acting like her now.
more coming weekly
New nuggets drop every week — real reflections from the process of building this life. No filter, no performance.
📝 Add your own weekly nuggets here as you go
the audio version
The Podcast
The dream life, documented in audio. Real conversations, honest reflections, and tactical lessons from the process of building it all — for the women doing the same.
Choose your podcast name
The Dream in Progress
Building the life I said I would — out loud.
DINKWOD Diaries
Dual income, no kids, working on dreams. The unfiltered version.
She's Building It
Not someday. Now. The process, the mess, and the momentum.
Coastal & Becoming
The intersection of self-development and a life that feels like a vacation.
Why I Started This: The Dream, the Gap, and the Decision to Document It
The origin story. Why I decided to stop dreaming privately and start building publicly. What the DINKWOD dream actually looks like, and why I believe documenting the process is the most powerful thing I can do.
Episode Player
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Key Takeaways
The difference between a dream and a blueprint
Why accountability through documentation works
What DINKWOD means and why it matters
The specific vision — beach house, community, freedom
The Body I'm Building: Kokoro, Miksell PT, and Why I'm Starting Here
Everything starts with the body. This episode covers my current fitness reality, why I chose Kokoro, what physical therapy with Miksell has taught me, and the connection between physical confidence and building your dream life.
Episode Player
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Key Takeaways
Why physical health is the foundation, not a side project
What HIIT functional fitness actually feels like as a beginner
The pain-free body as a non-negotiable goal
Tracking movement with Garmin — what the data shows
Systems That Run the Life: How I'm Automating the Ordinary
The Roomba. The Chewy delivery. The Skylight calendar. The Dogo app. This episode is about the unsexy systems that are quietly building the dream life — and why automation is a form of self-respect.
Episode Player
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Key Takeaways
The cognitive load cost of un-systematized life
Every tool in my current systems stack
How to identify what to automate first
The Miracle Morning as a non-negotiable system
The Money Conversation: Millionaire Mind, Digital Products, and the Wealth Gap
Honest talk about money. Where I am, where I want to be, and the specific books and frameworks I'm using to close the gap. Plus: why I created the Wedding Budget Spreadsheet and what it taught me about building digital products.
Episode Player
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Key Takeaways
The money blueprint concept from Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
How I created my first Etsy digital product
The wealth gap and how I'm thinking about it
What financial freedom actually looks like for this dream
Becoming Her Before the Circumstances Arrive
Identity work. The hardest and most important episode. This is about acting like the woman you're becoming before the external evidence exists — and why most people get this backwards.
Episode Player
🎙️ Embed your podcast player here (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.)
Key Takeaways
Identity-based habits from Atomic Habits
The 'act as if' practice and why it works
What I'm doing right now that the dream-life version of me would do
The mindset shift that changed everything
the chaos crew
Summer & Penny
Summer is a 9-year-old black mouth cur and lab mix who has seen it all and judges everything. Penny is a miniature long-haired cream dachshund who treats chaos like a full-time workout. Together, they are the unofficial mascots of this dream in progress.
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Summer at golden hour on the beach
The dynamic duo — first meeting
Penny, looking regal
Cuddled up together
Penny's big eyes say everything
Summer in full cozy mode
Summer, always watching
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Summer reporting for duty
Summer with her favorite toy
Summer on the trail with her bandana
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