Home Reno '22

 Hello People!

This year Travis and I have saved up enough to do a few projects around the house and I thought I'd share with you what our plans are!

We are finally doing our driveway, and Travis is the most excited about it. We planned on doing it last year but as I stated in a previous post, our refrigerator decided to die and we needed that more than a smooth driving surface I guess lol.

So! We currently have a partially concrete - partially gravel driveway. It was definitely all concrete at one point in time, I'm assuming sometime in the 80's maybe? The back half is all gravel which is where it pools all of the water by the garage and where the basketball hoop is. Then it kind of transitions into cracked and bumpy concrete the rest of the way to the sidewalk. It is the worst to snow blow so Travis usually ends up just shoveling because it's not worth it.

 We're planning on sticking with concrete even though it is more expensive in the beginning, it won't need much upkeep versus black top. We got an estimate about a year ago for about five thousand, which totally sucks to spend that much on something that isn't super exciting but it has to be done. Fingers crossed something else doesn't break or happen!

Another to do is installing new flooring on the main level which includes the kitchen, dining and living room. We have the flooring we're going to be installing in the half-bath and entryway already so it'll be a nice cohesive space. 

The flooring is Traffic Master hand-scraped Saratoga Hickory. It's a nice deep color that we love and goes well with nearly everything else in the house. Eventually we will also be putting it upstairs but we have big plans for that space and will have to save up quite a bit to do so.

Along with the flooring we plan to redo our stairs. We will be removing the gross shag carpet and the overly painted railing. We've already painted the stairwell and the upstairs hallway a nice gray color versus the pale shiny yellow it was when we moved in. The color we chose is Dolphin Fin (personally I would've just named it Dol-Fin, Behr really missed their opportunity). 

The stairs will have similar colored treads and I think we're keeping the risers white. I would think we might put a runner down as well because of Archie but we haven't decided on that yet. The railings we're planning on going with would be something similar to our deck railing in our back yard, you can kind of see it in the driveway photo above, simple wood railing with black cylindrical poles for the balustrade. Not sure on the baluster yet but most likely something dark wood toned that ties into our trim. 

We would also like to redo our pantry and bar area. The bar area looks perfectly fine on the surface but underneath where everything is stored is basically an unfinished hole with doors. The pantry I think was put together as an, "oh shit we need a pantry" solution. It's currently under our stairs to the second level and the shelves are way too deep to even reach everything inside. The shelves are also just OS board with shelf liners stuck on top. We are thinking about putting in drawers for the lower levels to be able to reach everything in the far back areas and do some shallower shelving for the top. There is also no light inside so that will be added as well. 

Just so dark and not great. I'm glad we have these storage areas but they're just not practical or nice to look at. So we're planning on installing lights, new shelving/drawers and stemware brackets (which I bought a long time ago anticipating this project) and new doors. 

We are also planning on finishing painting the outside window trim, I think I have about 3-4 windows left, and staining our deck and front steps. Let's hope the weather is stable enough for us to do so. 

I'll be buying our flooring soon so stay tuned!

xoxo,

Myia

2022: Be Nice to Me

 

Hi All!

Haven't had much of a drive to come on here in the past year.

Truly because not much has happened to me for me to need or want to document it but believe it or not, things have still happened lol.

I'm not sure what flipped on in my mind but I have hope for 2022 being pretty decent. 

Here's a recap of what happened in 2021:

January-March: I started taking Archie on more walks around town because I knew I needed to get him and myself into a more active routine. I tried dieting but when I didn't see much of a result I figured it didn't work and stopped caring about it. I went shopping with my friend, May, and had dinner with her and Sam. Travis and I stayed inside most of the time since it be cold and ordered from a few places in town we usually wouldn't go to. Our refrigerator went out around this time and we had finally had enough money saved to get our driveway done but we definitely needed a refrigerator more than a driveway, sadly.

April: The snow melted and I hated how our patio/deck looked so we got new furniture and lights for out there which made me love it so much and I spent A LOT of time out there the summer of '21. We had planned on staining the deck and putting up a pergola but every chance we had it rained or we couldn't decide on what to do.

May: We added a bit more curb appeal to our front walk way with some new plants and grasses. We put in a new door and window in our main floor powder room and it was an improvement we needed for sure. In late May, we went to Milwaukee for my 28th birthday and stayed at a fancy hotel and spent too much on food and drinks. We went to Ikea for Travis' first time and unfortunately didn't buy anything because we didn't have any money lol.

June-August: This summer was mostly spent at home lounging. We rode our bikes a lot more and even went to and around Lake Wazeecha, about 12 miles, which is a lot for me. I spent some much needed time with family in Big Eau Pleine again and had a nice visit from my Aunt. 

September-October: We had a picnic with Travis' family and then went on our yearly camping trip. It was later in the season so there weren't that many other campers in the park. We only stayed for a day because it was supposed to rain the morning we were leaving so we left in the middle of the night. The Sunday after we went to the Packers-Steelers game at Lambeau and had the most amazing seats ever, 35 yard line, front row, right behind the Steeler's D-Line bench! The next day, my mom and I went up north to have some fun craft time with the Timmerman ladies. We made wreaths and yarn sticks lol. Mid-October I went to my first work trip and stayed in a hotel alone for the first time which felt super weird but I spent most of the time with all of the people at the training anyway. 

November: Luckily throughout the entire year neither Travis or myself contracted Covid or if we did, we didn't notice and hopefully didn't pass it on to anyone we came in contact with. I know I hate hearing about it but my GOD I just want it to go away. We tested negative before we went to Thanksgiving at my Aunt's in Madison or as they call it, Steins-giving, since we all drink out of ornate steins they've collected over the years. My parents joined us for the first time this year.

 December: Earlier in the month we visited my brother and his family in Hudson for Christmas. We ate in a heated green house downtown which was super cool and played new board games I got for Christmas. Check out Hues and Cues, its harder than it looks! Travis' Birthday was also just a nice day at home and I got him a cake from Carlo's Bakery this year. The next weekend we were supposed to go back West to have Travis' family Christmas but it snowed so much that we didn't want to chance driving in it. The Tuesday before the holidays I stopped by my Grandparents house to give them our grandchildren gift to them and well wishes since I wasn't going to be seeing them on Christmas this year. Christmas Eve I went ice skating with my boss and her family and then we spent the evening at my parent's house (I got rollerblades!) and we said our goodbyes since they were going to be leaving the next Monday. Christmas day was spent at home just Travis and I, the way we like it. We were both spoiled rotten. Later that day my friend Van came up! She was originally supposed to come up that Wednesday but stupid Covid ruined all of our plans! New Years Eve was spent at home while Travis worked until 10; we watched a bit of the ball drop but it wasn't much to write home about, kind of a lame holiday in my opinion! 

That's all I can remember based off of pictures and Instagram posts since I stopped writing in my Journal. 

This year we're looking forward to finally doing our driveway!!! It's not the most glamorous thing to spend a ton of money on but Travis is really excited to not have to shovel/snow blow our shitty bumpy/half gravel driveway for another winter and be able to play basketball properly as well. I'm just excited to rollerblade on it lol.

We're also planning on doing a few more renovations such as the main level flooring and the stairs. I want to paint the upstairs hallway and finally hang our portraits I did a few years ago. I think we'll finally finish staining the deck and the front porch as well. 

Travis and I talk about another doggo but we'll see what this year brings on. 

April, I have plans for a girls trip to the Mall of America since we freaking love shopping and later in the month,Van might visit again too! No big birthday plans as of yet and no big travel plans either. I hope we can get to Lake Michigan this summer and I'd like to cross off carnival ride on my summer to-do list along with swim or water park.

Hopefully I take photos and actually remember to write down things that happened or things I'm doing even if they're just everyday occurrences. I'm also trying to take more photos on my Instax mini11 and so far this year I've taken one photo of Travis and I after we got home from watching Spiderman: No Way Home. Keep an eye on my Instagram since that's where I post more regularly in stories. 

Stay tuned!

xxoo,

Myia

The BEST Shrimp Tacos

Hey People!

I thought about it and I figured, okay I'll make up the birthday shrimp taco recipe. 

We made some shrimp tacos the week before my birthday when we were at Candlewood but we A) didn't have salt and B) were kind of just making it up with what we could get minimally. But they were so good I wanted to have them again as my birthday dinner.

Now, I am not a chef nor do I claim to be. This is truly just off the top of my head and measurements aren't exact. Literally do what you'd like to the flavor levels you'd like. *shrugs*

Travis wasn't happy I'm sharing this recipe since we think if we ever open a food truck or restaurant (truly not sure when that would ever happen) we'd definitely have this on the menu...but I just gave the basics.

Sadly, this was the only photo I took of the tacos...

But! Here's what I can remedy of the recipe:

Ingredients:

-Any shrimp of choice (we used extra large pre-cooked frozen shrimp), you'll need about 4pcs of shrimp per taco.

-Butter (about 2-3 tbs for the shrimp and extra for browning the tortillas

-Garlic (about 2-3 cloves, minced)

-4-6 tortillas, depending on how many people and how many tacos are being had (we had two each)

-1/2 to 1c of guacamole (I make my own, not gonna share the recipe but store bought or your own is fine)

-Half a bag of broccoli slaw

-About 1/4c of a creamy lime dressing (we used store bought)

-1-2tbs mediterranean seasoning

-1 lime

-1/4 to 1/2c Salsa verde (again, we used store bought)

-About 1/2 to 1c. Mexican cheese blend for topping (honestly use however much you'd like, I think the more the merrier)

Directions:

1) If the shrimp hasn't been thawed, do so. Peel, de-vein and remove tails.

2) Take the broccoli slaw out of the bag into medium bowl. Add cilantro lime dressing and mix. Squeeze rest of half of the juice from one half of the lime to slaw and mix.  

3) Add butter and garlic to pan and heat to just melt. Add thawed shrimp and sauté until just turn pink. Make sure to not overcook shrimp or it becomes rubbery. This should take only a few minutes on medium to medium-high heat.

4) Remove shrimp from pan and set aside, if no butter remains in pan, melt a bit more to brown tortillas. Heat/ lightly brown tortillas in pan on both sides at same temp. Once brown, set aside.

5) Assemble tacos with shrimp, slaw, guac, salsa verde, and cheese to top. Squeeze other half of lime on top of each taco for added acidity. 

6) Enjoy!

xoxo

Myia

Powder Room Remodel | Residence Robinson

Hello People!

I thought I'd share our main floor powder room remodel on here for you.

I shared previously over on my instagram back right after it was done but here is a more detailed list of where everything is from. 

So here is what we started with when we moved into the house a year ago:

It was a royal blue outdated monstrosity. The floors were the same laminate as are throughout the rest of the main floor. The toilet seat cover was a shell shape, the counter was made of this faux tile and as you can see was drug up the walls to be like a backsplash. The mirror, which was also a medicine cabinet, was above the toilet because the sink was right under a window. Overall I hated everything about it.

We changed the toilet and painted one weekend back in October of 2019 (I thought it was back in February, but much longer ago!)

In March, we decided to tackle the whole thing. 

Travis made the vanity, moved the plumbing from one corner to where it currently is next to the toilet, changed out the floor and added the wainscoting as you see below:

The finished product! Isn't it such a great change? The wainscoting really brightened up the room.

These shelves were also installed on the opposite wall of the sink.

I also made this piece to put in the frame above the toilet as the one that was in the frame the time I took the photo was from college and of someone I'd rather see less of *cry-laugh emoji*. 

Here are the links to everything:

-Wood for vanity, shelves and wainscoting all from Home Depot.

I don't have an exact amount of how much was used or what exactly

we purchased but it was mostly pine except for the particle board sheets.

-Toilet by Kohler

-Sink from Amazon

-Faucet from Amazon

-Lights from Amazon

-Mirror from Amazon

-Pop Up Drain from Amazon

-Under sink storage baskets (large)

-Soap Pump from Target

-Curtain Rod from Target

-Curtain (That I hemmed to desired length)

-Striped towels

-Other towels

-Waste basket (mine is sold out but this one is similar!)

-Similar rug

-Similar baskets on shelf

-Similar wooden storage box on shelf

-Ceramic pots/planters were from TJ Maxx (small grey and brown on bottom shelf was a cleaned out Hearth&Hand candle)

-Shelf brackets

-Flooring

-Toilet paper holder

-Towel hook

-Ceiling Light (Oil rubbed bronze)

-Stain for the vanity and shelves

-Our paint color for the walls is called "Camping Tent" by Behr

-The wainscoting is just the standard white base of the satin interior paint by Behr

The trim around the window and door were there as were the switch plates and switches.

We're also changing out the door, handles and window but more on that later!

xoxo

Myia

This is 27

Hello people,

I'm coming to you as a newly turned 27 year old woman. I'm not entirely sure what that's supposed to mean. 

This year Travis and I didn't celebrate out of the country like we have the past two years. This was more or less because last year we bought our house and we didn't want to bring on another big purchase.

Since we've last chatted, we've updated our main floor powder room, celebrated our 3 year anniversary, spent another great time at Candlewood Cabins and did quite a bit of updating outside of our house. 

I've also officially published a podcast with my friend, Mollie!

It's called BreakTime with Myia & Mollie. 

You can listen to our first episode here!

We hope you enjoy!

I'll be making a post about the podcast with further details later on, so stay tuned.

Travis has recently moved his music to Spotify and you can listen here.

Take a listen and share with friends and family!

He also has a twitter, facebook page, instagram, and tiktok so go check him out.

We have a lot of plans left for the house but are a bit slow moving as it costs money, y'know?

I'll be doing a few more posts about home updates and our plans as they come along. 

Currently most major events are cancelled or rescheduled for later this summer due to Covid, so we'll see what the rest of this year brings. 

xoxo

Myia

2020 | My Outlook

Hello All.

Long time, no?

Hope everyone had a great set of holidays and New Year's Eve/Day. 

Mine were spent with family and friends as they should be. I spent Thanksgiving with a different side of my family and it was absolutely amazing and a total soul cleanse. 

My many Christmases were spent with old friends, very close family discussing what is considered "old" music, and my love spoiling me more than usual (and no, we are not planning any big trips this year). 

New Year's Eve was spent at home, with some nice steaks and shrimp (as Uncle Jill would say, MOOMACH!) and we started a new tradition of watching 'the best' movie of that year. Since, that was  basically all on people's opinions we just watched a few we hadn't seen, including 'Book Smart', 'Jo Jo Rabbit' and then I watched 'The Aristocats' because it was my favorite when I was a kid and hadn't seen it since. 

Now we are here!

I am still enjoying my 'new' job and right now is our slower part of the year so I'm learning to get creative with my time. 

During some down time, I mentally listed my goals for this year. 

As of now, not all of them are an "absolutely must be done" type of goal because if they don't happen then I will feel like a total pile of garbage but I'm making a real effort to achieve them.

My main goal is to become financially comfortable and learn to actually budget.

I am absolutely a spender and if I know I have extra money that I can burn, I absolutely will go to Target or get those other throw pillows that caught my eye. 

I KNOW I don't need anymore throw pillows, I'm friggen set. 

I sat myself down and calculated how I would be able to pay off my credit card debt by this September and if I stick to my guns and no major issues arise, it'll be done.  

I will have the obvious student loans to keep chugging along on and my vehicle payment but with the extra credit card payments out of the way, I can double up on my payments and still be comfortable.

We're planning on doing some more updates on our house this year including the half bath on the main level and the entry/ mudroom.

We have plans to do a major remodel on our upstairs bath and guest room which includes dormers and moving walls around so that may have to be planned for 2021 or later. 

We still would like to put in new flooring everywhere and we absolutely NEED new windows, but we would like to do that as we go. The kitchen and dining area will probably be one of the last projects since it would mostly be new appliances and doesn't have to be done right away.

Some of you may know but my friend, Mollie and I have a podcast that we started back in 2018 and have recorded about 4-5 episodes. We stopped recording when she had her appendix out and I want to pick it back up as we have everything to make it happen. What is it about you ask? Basically nothing, we discuss everything and anything and don't have guidelines to follow and maybe they'll show up magically. This is the big goal that I don't have a tight grip on it but even if we get it published finally,  I'll feel like I've got it accomplished.

This past year was a lot. Travis and I bought a house, visited Scotland, I changed jobs, and we added a puppy to our family. 

All of these major highs were absolutely great, but for the majority of the year I wasn't having a great time mentally. I really fell out of love with myself and cut a few ties with people because I was absolutely sick of being the only one making an effort. 

I started to care less and less about the things I used to find joy in and basically stopped caring about my appearance. Some people saw that and would make comments and that obviously just made it worse.

There were a few moments here and there where that wasn't the case but they truly didn't last long enough to make an actual affect.

I stopped making posts here and on instagram because I truly felt like I had nothing worth sharing with anyone, and when I took a few photos to share what we've been up to, I hated everything about it and changed my mind.

This holiday season really didn't feel like a happy Christmas time for me and I know it doesn't always have to but I just wanted everything to be over. 

I guess what had to happen was a new year and a new decade to bring an idea of renewal and clear thinking. I know most people don't follow through on their resolutions and yearly goals but my absolutely main goal is to just be happier.

I don't know what will need to happen for that to be, but I'm excited for it none the less. 

I have hope for a better year and a really clear vision for my goals, I just need to suck it up and do it. 

And I will.

I'm not going to waste my time on people that don't deserve it. If you want to be in my life, make an effort. And if you know me at all, I don't require much to be my friend. 

I'm making an actual effort to get my finances in order because even as I am extremely fortunate to have what I have, finances are something that stress me out to the max even if I even come close.

And that's the real real, from me to you.

I hope all of you have had a wonderful new year and are hopeful for new beginnings and growth.

xoxo

Myia

Life Update | 2019

Hello All!

It's been a moment, to say the least. 

There's so much I have to catch you all up on.

Last time you heard from me, unless you know me in real life or follow me on social media, I was just getting back from Mykonos, Greece with Travis. 

Since then, I've had two different jobs, I bought a new (to me) vehicle, I've driven to Pittsburgh, went to my first ever Badgers football game, relaxed in a cabin for Travis' Birthday, spent a proper weekend in Milwaukee, went to Edinburgh, Scotland for my Birthday and to top it all off we bought a house!

Early last year my coworkers and I were told that the business was closing and we would no longer have jobs. I did not stick it out til the end like many of my coworkers, and I got a job at a local golf course near my house. 

As it was only a seasonal job, I found employment in Stevens Point, working with my cousin and friend from college who soon turned into one of my closest friends.

I bought a Volkswagen Tiguan for hauling and bad weather, and it's just the cutest little SUV.

Right after, Travis and I drove to Pittsburgh to see his favorite football team ever, the Steelers. I found a nice restaurant for dinner and the next morning we headed to Heinz field. It was so cool! And no knocks on Lambeau, but I think I liked it better. No bleacher seats, you could see the Lombardi trophies right there (without having to buy a ticket to see them) and everyone was so nice and helpful.
The morning before the game was the terrible terrorist attack on the synagogue in Pittsburgh and there was a moment of silence for those who lost their lives and those that were injured.
The Steelers won the game and overall, it was a great time. We drove home right after the game, and it down poured the entire time. I drove there, so that meant Travis had to drive home (sorry, but thems the rules).

I got tickets from a coworker for the first Badger football game of the season and it was so much fun! We couldn't find parking right away so we almost missed kick off, but Camp Randall is a monument in Madison and the college kids made it an event. That makes me sound 80 years old, but it is what it is.

Travis' Birthday in 2017, we booked a cabin in south western Wisconsin and it was so cozy and quaint, we've decided that was going to be our tradition for his day. For his 29th, we booked the newest cabin on the property and it wasn't as quaint as the first cabin but it had amazing views and still was relaxing. This year, we're going to be at the same place in a different cabin again!

Travis turned me into a proper Milwaukee Bucks fan and got great tickets for a game this season. We had dinner at a french restaurant called Fauntleroy. It was chic and modern and the food was fabulous! The next day we searched for breakfast places and most had an hour to two hour waiting line and Travis was not having it, so we found a cute Italian place called 'Onesto'. We had a delicious brunch with mimosas, I definitely want to go back! For a bit of culture, we made a trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum, of course. There was no featured exhibit outside of the main area this time so we went straight in. After a few hours, we made our way to Fiserv Forum and soaked in all of its beautiful glory. We went to the upper level with the balcony and had a few pre-game drinks. Our seats were 2nd row so we had amazing views (you can see us on TV too!). After a Bucks win, we headed back home.

This past May, Travis and I visited Europe for our second time and this time was to the United Kingdom. We've wanted to visit Scotland for a long time and why not do it now? Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and the city is filled with so much history and beauty. I'm not going to go into too much detail here as I'll save it for another post : )
Just know, it's so green, so cozy, and yet so vast.

Starting in January of 2019, Travis and I discussed the possibilities of buying a house. He got pre-approved, we found a few houses we liked, met our Realtor, and it was all a process from there. We saw about 8 different houses, which I know doesn't seem like a lot, but after a little while it seemed like we would never find one as all the ones we really liked, had an accepted offer put on as soon as we put one out there. There was a house that immediately caught Travis' eye and it already had an accepted offer on it. About a month later, the sale fell through and we rushed to go see it. It wasn't like we had thought so we passed and looked elsewhere. After about a week, Travis couldn't stop thinking about it and asked our Realtor if we could see it again. Our Realtor seemed a little iffy on us putting an offer on it, but we did and the offer was accepted!
I am currently writing this from the kitchen of that house. Pictures and more details to come!



So far, it has been a whirlwind of a year and it's only half over!
We're in for a lot of hard work and stress with the house, but also a lot of excitement and happiness. As I post this, I'm realizing I don't take enough photos, or edit enough photos; something to work on!

Stay tuned for what comes next!


Myia

Update | Life Started in May

Hi Everybody!

I'm not gonna lie, I started this blog post back in late July/ early August and I've been so dang busy but I keep remembering to add things to this and I just keep putting it off. How terrible of me, right? Anyway, this is what I've been up to this year since I've been MIA for over a year:

April:

I had my Senior Exhibition for my BFA show, and it went so fantastically I could cry. So many people came to support us and I sold a few pieces! My art teachers from high school and junior high school all came to support Allison and I (since we went to the same schools) and it was so amazing to see them. We talked about possible careers and what the job market in the art field looks like. A lot of smiles came from me that day.
Thank you again to everyone for coming!

Refresh...everything!

Hey Everybody,

The other day when I came home from class, my house just felt kind of drab. I'm the kind of person that needs a bit of constant change in their lives. I get bored easily with just about everything that is mundane and repetitive. New things are pretty much a necessity. Or maybe not even new things just new something. Like new placement, or new ways to view something. 

If there is something I see every single day in the same view and same way, it'll eventually escape my thoughts. 

So, while I was changing the soap out in our hall bathroom, I figured I'd change them all. 

Something so minuscule had clicked in me that I felt like I should change everything. 

I changed the tea towels.

I changed the coffee mugs on the mug tree.

I changed the throw pillows.

I moved pictures around.

I put new pictures up. 

Everything felt so new and fresh! And literally all I did was switch a couple of things around that I had sitting around the house. 

And y'know what? That's all it takes!

You don't need to go and re-paint your entire room. Or buy all new furniture.

No!

It's as simple as changing out your hand soap!

So here's my 5 things that you can do to give your home a super simple refresh for spring/summer:

1. Change out the soap in your hand soap dispensers for a new scent.

-The new scent will attract your senses so you'll notice it easier and you might even want to use it more often as a result!
-Also, foaming soap dispensers, super fun.

2. Change your tea towels/ hand towels in your kitchen

-You should always change out your hand towels for hygiene reasons, but changing out the colors/patterns/prints will give your kitchen/bathroom a new look!
-I usually have some that I put up for holidays for like a week, but for the times in-between I like bright colors to liven up the kitchen as mostly everything in there is brown, sad. 

3. Switch up your throw pillows.

-Or just re-arrange them! 

-This will definitely change up your living room, bedroom, or office.

-I made a few bright floral ones a couple years ago and love how they brighten up our neutral living room just a bit.

4. Rearrange your coffee mugs

-Or put new ones out if you keep them out on a mug tree or a rack.

-Just moving old ones forward from the back of the cupboard will bring a new world of view for you.

-You'll be more likely to use the ones in front and you won't feel as bad for having so many. 

(like I do :)
-I made a mug tree a little while back and have it next to my coffee maker. Usually I have random mugs that I like to use hanging on it, but for the summer I put a few of my glass mason jar mugs on it for cold drinks as well.

5. Change out photos in frames, or reframe them

- Changing out photos will definitely attract your attention. 

-Even changing the frames to a different color/pattern/shape will change up the way your wall art bits and bobs look. 

-Putting up new pictures/prints/photos that are brighter, or more colorful will draw your attention as if it's a whole new room!
-I framed a circus ticket that my dad received when I was born (you can see on my Instagram) and put it up in our small bath and honestly every time I go into my bathroom, it feels like a brighter place! Which is definitely needed since theres no windows in there :(

What are some other ways that you brighten up your space?

Let me know if any of these work for you, or what you do to liven up your life.

Hope you're all well!

xoxo

14 Day Simple Living Challenge

Hey Everybody!

So two weeks ago I was rifling through Pinterest and came across this Simple Living Challenge from Bright Peak Financial. 

(I am in no way affiliated with this company, this was just something I happened to stumble upon through the wonderful world of the internet)

It's a 14 day challenge to help you live more simply. 

I figured that, hey, if there was anything to help erase some of the clutter in my life, simple was the way to go. 

What you do is visit their webpage and sign up to receive the challenge through email. 

Super simple, right?

For 14 days, you do one little thing that focuses on one part of your life to make it a bit simpler.

Here's the challenge:

Day1: Designate a Donate box

-Basically find a box to put donate-able items at the end of the challenge

-Each day you are encouraged to find one item to put into the box

Day2: Practice a heart of gratitude

-Really take a step back from everything you have in your life and be thankful for what is there

-It's definitely something that I overlook and have a hard time doing on a daily basis.

Day3: Prioritize what's important

-Set aside a list of the most important things in your life that need the most focus right now.
-They provide a worksheet to fill out so it's easier for you to see exactly where you are spending most of your time, or where some areas need more time spent.

Day4: Track your spending
-They had suggested to write down everything that I spend money on, which isn't hard because y'know, receipts.
-They also suggest to try and utilize an app or service that helps with this such as Mint.

Day5: Sort and file paperwork
-This one wasn't such a challenge for me as I usually put all of our papers in our filing cabinet about once a week so it doesn't get too out of control.
-Everything is already sorted into things like Insurance (Health, Eye, Dental, Vehicle, Home), Taxes,  Employment (pay stubs, benefits, other papers), Bills (Credit cards, cable, etc.), etc. so this wasn't much more than a daily rev up for myself.

Day6: Get rid of one commitment
-This one was hard for me to accomplish because I feel like all of my commitments are valid. I have school, work, friends, and Ryan.
-I couldn't get rid of any of them, because they're all important. And to take away my time from one of these areas to focus more on myself just seemed selfish.

Day7: Start a clutter-busting routine
-This task came much easier to me than the previous day since Ryan and I pretty much have this down pat. Daily mail, we sort through as soon as we get it and then put it into necessary piles that need to be put away or taken care of.
-We have a set place for everything else, so it seemed like it was done already!

Day8: Donate at least 5 items of clothing
-Since Younkers was having the GoodWill sale, this was already taken care of for me. I had a fairly large bag of clothing to take in. And it doesn't hurt that I get coupons to use out of the deal!
-Lately I've been looking through my closet and dresser and I see so many things that I just don't like anymore, don't fit well, or are stained or ripped. So every other weekend I usually try to make a few piles and put where they would benefit the most.

Day9: Contribute to an emergency savings fund
-By this day I was already starting to feel like this wasn't much of a challenge anymore as Ryan and I already have an emergency savings fund set up!
-We both set aside $20 each week into our "kitty" and once we get to $1,000 we set it aside for a different reason. $1k will go to a personal emergency (car problem, etc.) $1k will go towards something needed for the house (we already dug into this for a new dryer),  $1k will go towards Christmas money, the rest is to spend however we like.
-It's been working really well for us.

Day10: Turn off the screens
-I don't want to say that this part was challenging but it was!
-I'm constantly on my phone (which I would love to stop) and if Ryan and I are home watching TV, he's on the computer and I'm on my phone or my laptop. So most nights we have 3 screens drawing our attention at once (it sounds really horrible when I put it that way).
-So I pulled out a book that I really wanted to finish and turned the TV off. Ryan, however, wouldn't give up his laptop.

Day11: Do a room sweep
-This was basically another way to put away anything that doesn't belong where it is.
-There was maybe or two things that were out of place and had to be put away, but other than that, not much damage.

Day12: Set your kitchen up for success
-I'm still working on this one to be honest. I have a very large drawer full of utensils that don't necessarily get used all the time and should be put somewhere else because the drawer is a friggen' mess.
-I have organized my spice cabinet better, and the refrigerator so there is more space for left overs or new items.

Day13: Know your insurance needs
-This one I needn't worry about since I am still a dependent on my parents' insurance (yay for only being 22!)
-I know that once I turn 26 or get married, I will have to look into the best insurance (if one has not been provided for me already).

Day14: Do a digital decluttering (last day!)
-This is something that definitely needed to be done especially on my phone.
- I went through all of my photos and deleted all the ones that I know I don't need, and the others were transferred to my iCloud.
-My e-mail got a good cleaning, and my hard drive got backed up :)
-My phone was telling me that I needed to make more space, so I got rid of a lot of music that I don't listen to and backed everything up to my iCloud. What a magical thing that is.


Overall, this challenge didn't seem like much of a challenge to me since most of the days, I had already done these things or constantly do them on a regular basis.
I think that this would be more of a challenge to someone who isn't a college student and has children or more commitments than I do.
Do I feel like I live a bit more simply, I guess I would have to say yes.
Once I finished the challenge, I took a step back and realized that I already live pretty simply which made me pretty happy. I definitely do not need more things filling up my life, especially when I'm trying to finish college.

Now, I challenge you to sign up with the SimpleLivingChallenge and take it!
See how simple you have been living and if you could live without a few things here and there, then go for it!
Let me know how it works out for you!

Have a great rest of your weekend and for those of you who celebrate,
Happy Easter!
Hope it's a good one!

xoxo