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

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

My Summer Project

Hey Everybody!

About a month ago I began a project that I've never done before in this big of a scale. Family friends of mine, and fellow Hodagers asked me to paint a mural for them for their new bar they're putting in their house.

I was so happy that they even thought of me to do this for them! 

They wanted a tropical beach, palm trees and all, with a couple of chairs and drinks. The rest was pretty much up to my interpretation. 

Here's how I got it done:

My Summer Reads | Summer 2016

Hey Everybody!

This summer, I made a very simple goal to myself to read at least two books. I know, not super hard, but when you're someone like me and forget about something unless it's right in front of you, it can be a bit of a difficulty.

Portfolio Update| Junior Year

Hey Everybody!

I figured since the semester has finally come to an end, I would post a cohesive gallery of everything that I had created this spring. 

So, without further a do, here's my work!

From my 3D Bronze&Glass Casting class:

 Our first assignment was to make glass "candies" from a candy box that we bought. This was to show us how the different types and colors of glass flit would show up in our castings. This was manly just an exercise so, they're not too razzle-dazzle.

For our 1st actual project, I had made 4 pinecones out of bronze. The prompt was to have an object relate to a place or a person or a memory. I used the pinecone to represent my relationship with Ryan as the pinecone came from our yard when we first moved in. There are 4 of them to represent how many years we have been together. I wanted to create a box that was similar to a house, and then have the pinecones inside. But, honestly the entire project was just thrown together because I couldn't come up with a solid idea on how to present it all. The pinecones didn't shine up like I wanted them to so they blend in with other pinecones (which is neat) but, not what I wanted. I think I definitely need a revival of this project.


The second project was some sort of contradiction or intersection as how things are not what they seem. I chose to use my face, glass, and bullets as a contradiction as to how calm my face looks compared to how chaotic the bullets look trying to get to the face. As another exercise to see how bronze castings were made I made my face out of bronze. I polished it up and flattened out any unnecessary nicks and bumps and used it for this project. I ladled molten glass into a makeshift box around my bronze face, so it would be sunk into the glass. I had also borrowed some bullet casings from my dad (thanks dad!) and while the glass was still molten I placed a couple of them in the surface. A few of them were so hot that they incinerated as soon as we put them in. I think it turned out really cool. I didn't get a whole lot of time to finish this piece as it took two weeks to anneal. So next semester I think I'll either purchase (or borrow from whomever would like to lend them to me) bullets or make some from glass or bronze and add them to it somehow.
We'll see.

Our 3rd project was about object transformation. I had planned on making a bunch, and I mean a bunch of bullets from pastel colored glass like pinks and whites to make them seem pretty, nice, and delicate.(This was my inspiration) So, they're something dangerous and a part of a controversial topic made to seem like something nice and pretty. I got a bit of a start on this project but we definitely ran out of time to finish. So, I will continue with this next semester.

Painting:

I've shown this painting here before, shortly after I had finished it (because I love it so dang much!) Definitely one of my favorites I had done this semester. It is oils on canvas And is 2'x3' in size.

 I think this one is my favorite from this semester. I was debating wether I should have the drips on there but I liked it without and I didn't want to ruin it if I ended up hating it. This one is also oils on canvas and stands at 3'x3.5'. I just love how 'pretty' it is and how feminine it is. #pastels4life

 

 This one was a bit of a let down. I was excited to get some painting done and found a black and white image online and wanted to do some sort of rendering in color. And well, the sketch was better than the painting and I just kept going back and forth with it as I pretty much hated what came out of it. In the end I think I'm going to paint over it or just forget about it all together. It's kind of a 'standard' canvas size and I felt really restricted so, I might stick to ignoring it. I also did a self portrait with this size and in this same style. It looks more like an underpainting so I would rather say it's unfinished...*le sigh

With this one, I didn't want to paint on another store bought canvas so I found some wood boards we had laying around and used them as a surface to paint on. I was looking through Instagram and oogling at all of the pretty script that people make and I wanted to do some myself. I decided to write some lyrics as the background in cursive, which is as close to fancy script as I'm going to get (for now). The lyrics are to 'The Rain Song' by Led Zeppelin and 'Nights in White Satin' by the Moody Blues Band. I felt like these songs went well with the mood I was trying to portray. Romantic, lovely, intrigue, enticing, etc. I was influenced by this photo I had found on pinterest, and this painting I saw on Fixer Upper. This one was kind of a tester project to see how I could pull off doing something different. Result: I like.


We also had to do one 'en plein air' painting. We went to Iverson Park to get some nature in us. I, myself, don't really like landscapes, but our professor loves them and so I think she was excited to just get us outside and enjoy it. And, I did enjoy that we were outside and I was doing something a bit out of my comfort zone, but I wasn't too happy with the painting once I was done and decided not to show it. I know I'll be painting over that one next semester.


And that, is everything that I had made this semester.
Happy it's over, but it went well and that is all that matters to me.
Hopefully the next year goes smoothly too.
6 years is long enough to spend on a bachelors degree.
#supersenior am I right?

BRING ON SENIOR YEAR!!!!

Hope you all have a great rest of your week!
I know I will because Saturday is MY BIRTHDAAAAAAY!!!
(yay!)

xoxo

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

Get Physical...ish

Hey Everybody!

I know what most everybody thinks about becoming physically better, they don't wanna. 

Well, they do, but it sucks.

Eating super healthy, and moving your body so much to the point that smelly salt water seeps out from your pores and you get all warm and sore? 

Yeah, no thanks. 

But, ya know what? It's gotta be done, son.

Heres what I've been using/doing to help this process of physical bettering suck less:

The myfitnesspal app. 

This is definitely not the first time I've tried this app out, I used it for a while back when I was in high school. But, it definitely got a re-vamp and it's so much easier to use! You just log in your goal weight, or if you want to stay where you are tell it that, and it gives you the amount of calories it recommends for intake daily. Also, it now logs your steps and then calculates about how many calories you've burned because of those steps! Super awesome right? Each day you log whatever you eat, and how much water you drink. It's a really great way to keep track of your calories.

I don't want to get all dramatic, but it's changed my life. 

Download it. 

Vitafusion gummies

Everybody hates taking big, chalky, vitamins. So, I want to take a moment to thank God for inspiring people to make vitamins in a fun, chewable form. 

Honestly, I would never look forward to taking multi-vitamins. 

Ever. 

And as lame as it sounds, now I actually do. 

They taste good, and they make so many different kind of vitamins in gummy form. Now, I'm not a doctor but I think everyone should be taking some sort of multi vitamin and I honestly feel like I have more energy and my skin looks much better!

New Balance 775 Running shoes

I picked these bad boys up from work (on clearance!) and they're super comfortable! I actually didn't have any athletic shoes besides some old softball cleats so, needless to say it was time for some new ones. Neat (yes, I said neat) color too :)

The XHIT YouTube channel.

This lovely lady, Rebecca-Louise Smith, recently gained a new subscriber to her channel. What drew me to this channel was her 'How to get Toned Arms' video. It's only 10 minutes and the steps are super easy. They're mostly catered towards women, but guys are super welcome to give them a shot!They have so many more easy videos on their xhit channel and the best part? They're free!
Gotta love YouTube.

Added things that have helped me in small ways are coffee (for an added boost of energy, and a bit of help in the colon region, tmi?) and being a bit busier as the semester rolls on (so less time to sit around and gob down heavily caloric foods) and spring finally being here! Always want to be outside more so I park further away from my class so I get a few more steps in everyday.

What have you been doing to get physical..ish?
Have any added pointers or things that could help a girl out? Send them my way!

Hope you are all enjoying your March and spring!

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

All Hands on Deck.

Hello Everybody!

Hope your February has been good to you all. 

I'm actually pretty happy for it to be almost over, not that it was bad or anything, just not wanting to be in another Winter month. Bring on Spring!

Spring means all the friggen' snow melts and my birthday will be coming up...yay!

So far this semester has been nothin' but smooth sailing. Honestly.

I only have 3 actual classes and they're all over before 2 o'clock everyday. 

Jelly man?

Thought so. 

Although I'm a little bummed that I don't have an actual printmaking class this semester (don't think it would've been the same without Bob anyway) I am interning for the two temporary instructors, who drive from Oshkosh everyday which seems like a total pain in the butt. So thats where us interns come in. 

Here's what I've been making so far this semester:

Close up detail of the Right hand.

Getting there

This is a bronze casting of my face!

Obviously it's a little dirty yet from the mold and what not but its so neat!

Super heavy too. 

I can't wait to show you all what it looks like when its all polished and clean.

I still have to figure out what to do with it, but when I do, I will definitely be posting more pictures. 

I'm still only a couple of weeks into the semester but there is still lots of opportunity to make a lot of great things! 

I hope.

Hope the rest of your February treats you well!

 And remember:

I also need to remember this one from time to time.

xoxo