The Real Life

It has been awhile. I will very honest. I just haven't been in the mood to blog. Since this is not my job, just a creative outlet, I just have been taking a break. Max and I have been focusing on our relationship, time with family and ourselves.

Little life update, I got a 4.0 my first semester back to school at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Not too shabby for a kid who never really focused on school until now. All this makes me very excited for my potential with web development. The web was definitely my first love and it seems I'm coming full circle to my 16 year old self and saying, "Hi, I was here all  along. If you would have just followed your instinct, you'd be way more successful already." Well 16 year old self, I guess the best thing I could say back is, "You live. You learn. You change. You grow. You thrive." Although I am backtracking in a sense, I have never been a truer version of myself then right now; focused and hardworking. I have Max to thank for a lot of that. He definitely compliments me to make me want to strive for more.

Another thing, I have actively starting volunteering for my sorority again. I have always been a more active alumna but its a little different this time. Along with being the president of our local alumnae association, I recently sponsored a woman go through the alumna initiate process. For anyone thinking it, yes, you can become a sorority woman as an adult and its a wonderful experience to share (ask me for details)! I have also been recently appointed as the chapter adviser for a local collegiate chapter of the sorority and that has definitely been a new challenge, experience and joy. I can't wait to see what the women accomplish this coming school year. And did I mention that our convention next summer is at Disney? So pumped! So look out for these ladies on the St. Norbert's campus. They will be the fierce ones in royal purple, pure gold or their LBDs.

They will take after their adviser soon enough.

Max has been getting quite into cycling as of late as his big hobby. As well as on his own, he's been going on weekly cycling club rides. He has been losing weight and I'm very proud of him.

Max and I have been reassessing things a lot as well. We have been prioritizing and doing some heaving pre-family planning. We both have decided we are ready to have kids but there are always a few things to get in order. We still are not a 100% sure yet, but we have been thinking about finishing up our updates on this house, getting the house reappraised and then putting it on the market to see if we can make a profit. The house has only two bedrooms and we want two kids. We know we could still build a third bedroom in the basement but we aren't sure we want to do that. Will this be the end of the "Parkland Project". Definitely not. No matter where we live, we will always have some projects to work on and share. We just might not live on Parkland Ave. anymore and that's okay. We have been looking at houses/jobs in different parts of Milwaukee and other cities we feel would be a good fit for how we want to raise our future kids.

So on that note, I will do my best to update you all on our projects. I have been documenting everything its just getting around to writing about them. I vow to be completely caught up on posts by fall. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, which you should because I'm awesome, you will see we've still been working on the house and still documenting but I just haven't gotten around to posting. The biggest thing we have begun has been tearing out the rest of the carpet in our home, refinishing the 60+ year old red oak hardwood floors, repairing some of the damage and installing new matching hardwood in the home's addition. Oh and some tile, did I mention that too? And some build-ins. Lordy! Max and I are busy!

So bare with me, good things are coming! Hopefully more giveaways for all of you as well. We all love free stuff!

Designing My Life

I suppose you wonder where I went after I got married. Well we didn't run off to some far away land or drop off the face of the planet. I have been doing some soul searching and really have been settling in to married life.  It's been nice being all snuggly after work with the hubby and the Turkster. It has really been a time for personal connection, family and reflection.

For the past five years, I have really been stuck professionally. After I lost my graphic design job in 2007, I bounced around with temp jobs, did the waitress/bartending thing and now have been at Goodwill of Southeast Wisconsin for the past three and half years. I really do like my current job. Do not get me wrong there. It is really opened my eyes to this whole DIY and repurposing items phenomenon that many of us have really caught on because of Pinterest. It has also gave me a rewarding job that working for a non-profit and learning so much about retail. I still work here but I want to let you know, any projects I have shown where I have used a Goodwill purchased product. I have always given you the price of the item in the total of the project. I will say, I get an employee discount. Yes, it helps overall in the cost for me. But what I do want you to know, I always give the price of the project if you did not have the discounts so they are always very inexpensive for anyone to do. Goodwill also doesn't pay me for any kickbacks or anything. I only make money because I work hard for them. No adds, no extra promos. They are just a wonderful organization. AHH, feeling better for airing my dirty laundry. Well not really, but that is my disclaimer.

So back to my point, I can admit, I have been down on my awesome self for the past few years and Max has really been a wonderful and supportive boyfriend, fiance and now husband. I had to find a way to get my mojo back. After a lot of thought of wanted out of life and what I originally wanted in a career. In college, I always wanted to be a web designer and own a design company. That is why I majored in Graphic Design. Unfortunately, after graduation, I could only get jobs in print and slowly, but surely, the resume gets farther and farther away from my dream and my skills fell away by the wayside.

I made the decision to make a change. I was sick of sitting letting my life pass me by the wayside. It was time for a change. The world of web design had changed since I left school in 2005 with the addition of mobile applications and devices. I needed to change as well.

You may have seen this Instagram photo. That was my precursor.

Without even consulting my hubby, again he really is amazing, I signed up for a year long technical diploma program of Web and Mobile Application Design from Milwaukee Area Technical College. It was on like Donkey Kong.

I'm taking as many classes as I can online or as night classes so I can still work full-time. This time next year, I hope to have a new career and feel amazing about myself again. I already feel invigorated and motivated again. I want to BE something again. Be prepared to changes to the blog as I brush up on old and learn new skills.

I also want to do more with this blog. I want you the reader to be more involved and be showcased more.

Look out world. Maureen Dolezal Anderson is back!