February Recap – Where Did the Month Go?

Ya’ll….where did this month go? I feel like I blinked and we were suddenly to the last day of the month. It has been a whirlwind.

Try Twitch Streaming

I got up to 19 subscriptions this month and am beyond thankful for the people that want to hang out with me while I do art! There have been some crazy pieces and I’m dying to get to staples to scan the bigger pieces.

I am doing a March Madness Space Jam bracket where people can vote on which Space Jam Tune Squad teammate would win a hot dog eating contest.

Pay off the next Student loan – $15,000

Welp….I only put $300 away this month because we have another goal afoot…..

WE ARE BUYING A NEW HOUSE

We want to move into a more wooded area and out of the city – this has been a crazy year and it made us realize a lot about our need for space. So I’m now starting to hoard cash for that! This will still stay as a goal as I am still going to put at least $150 away per paycheck.

Continue to #dogoodshit

I did not do a whole lot of good shit this month other than not spending money at shitty corporations. That’s Ok. We didn’t necessarily do harm at least!

January Recap – Wow, What a Month!

Try Twitch Streaming

Welp…..I’m now OBSESSED! In the first month on Twitch I streamed for 54 hours!! I have 127 followers and got 8 subscriptions to my channel! WOW, guys!! I’ve got 1,000 ideas swirling around in my head at any given minute for this stream and I’m just beyond excited that ya’ll are into it.

I’m also incredibly thankful for the new friends that I’ m making in various Twitch communities – these people are ROCK STARS. I will definitely have to write more on this but for now….just know I’m grateful.

Pay off the next Student loan – $15,000

I paid off $1,350 this month! That’s $100 more than the monthly breakdown so we’re ahead of the game. I’m trying really hard to stay ahead of it because I know that some tough months will be coming!

Continue to #dogoodshit

I celebrated MLK Day by making cards for seniors for Letters Against Isolation and donated funds to Bread & Roses Community Fund

We donated to LoveKat78′s Mothers Against Drunk Driving campaign this month – please consider checking it out: https://madd.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.personalCampaign&participantID=1920

That’s all for now – on to the next month!!

February Yoga Playlist

I need to get into yoga again so I’m trying something a little different this month – BIPOC Yoga! I’m going to only do youtube videos from people of color and try to boost their numbers rather than my usual go-to yogatubes of people that look just like me. I know it seems small but it feels like a big step in being aware of what I consume.

Here is the YouTube Playlist I made

THE YOGIS

Sovereign Hands Wellness

Jessamyn Stanley

J’nae Bless

Brightxsalted Yoga

The Mat Project

Tiffany Bush Yoga

Rashmi Ramesh

I am taking vacation through the last week of February so I only have it up until the 20th. I’ll see you guys in the mornings!

Just do one thing a day.

Hello, party people! How are you doing through the first eleven days of 2020 2: The Squeakel? It has been really mentally exhausting and disappointing to be an American this week and I’ve been throwing myself into projects to try and not doomscroll……but damn, the doomscrolling is good this week.

This was the advice that I just received in the chat while watching @SNOPEEP put together a cute paper terrarium. It was their advice on learning how to stream and I am LIVING FOR IT.

In 2020, I was officially diagnosed with ADHD (and a few other things but maybe that’s for another post) and it was kind of eye-opening to how this really has affected the way I throw myself into hobbies…..as well as what holds me back from hobbies. I definitely avoid hobbies and projects that I feel I will be “bad” at in the beginning because I can’t handle the self-rejection. I also hate to follow directions and love to just throw myself into something.

I definitely felt 2 years worth of apprehension on Twitch streaming for that very reason….what if I’m bad at it?

I’m 11 days into 2021 and definitely falling down the rabbit hole of stream setup. I’ve gone live a few times now and I’m starting to really get into it. My biggest fear for all of this has been the setup of my Twitch stream itself. For instance, I haven’t put any social media up because I need to get icons for social media. I downloaded Gimp but have not taken the time to do it. In the past, this would have been a reason not to start streaming at all because it would be imperfect.

Now? I’m just jumping in and focusing on the creative time this allots me rather than the imperfection of my stream. In, 2021 we’re living by #progressnotperfection ! And I know that all of the pieces will fall together if I just take it one day at a time. Today I just wanted to update my BRB page and finally asked my husband for a little help with the webcam settings – and with some additional feedback, ended up revamping my whole streaming page! I wrote down many things that I want to research down the road….but that’s the beauty.

I just have to one thing a day to work towards my goals. And I have quite a few goals to work on so this is very easy!

Pay off the next Student loan – $15,000

We got our $600 stimulus checks last week and before I could buy anything cool stupid with it I dumped it into the loan. I have a coloring page on my bulletin board with 100 flags that count as $150 each and I HAVE COLORED THE FIRST FOUR IN BEFORE MY FIRST PAYCHECK OF 2021! BOOM!

Continue to #dogoodshit

I have not bought anything from Amazon! I’ve supported a few artists over the last two weeks instead of buying super dumb shit! I think that’s enough for the first 11 days of the year.

First Doodle & Collage of 2021!

I’ve done two Twitch streams so far and I’m pretty excited about how it’s going so far! Of course…..we’re only 3 days into the new year so we’ll see how this is going 3 weeks from now. Please feel free to shame me if I fall off!

Here is my first doodle of 2021 from my first stream!

And here is my first collage from my second stream!!!!

2021 Goals

Pay off the next Student loan – $15,000

I have paid of two of my four student loans so far and next up – this $15,000 jerk! $1,250 per month. $625 per paycheck. $288 per week. $41.09 per day. Breaking it down to this level will definitely make me rethink the ebay/etsy habit that I have formed over the months.

Try Twitch Streaming

This one has already begun!! I did my first stream today after playing around on Streamlabs OBS for the last month. You can find me at: https://www.twitch.tv/thetealappeal We’ll see if I enjoy it but for now I’m just doing random crafts and talking. I want to make art cards and postcards and send them around and I’m excited about it!

Continue to #dogoodshit

Last year I started by donating blood and going through ACCT’s volunteer orientation and was working on setting up some fundraisers……..and then the pandemic hit. I’ve been re-channeling those efforts into try to be more mindful with my dollars and trying to shop at places other than Amazon when I can. I also donated to the Bread & Roses Community Fund a few times this year and will continue to support organizations that promote racial justice and equity!

Well…2020 Sure Was Weird.

I wrote my goals on January 1st and had no idea that by the middle of March the ENTIRE FUCKING YEAR was going to be a lil’ cray cray.

However, I still had goals in mind all year and

1. NO MORE CREDIT CARD DEBT

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! I DID NOT CARRY CREDIT CARD DEBT ALL YEAR! I did use my American Express sparingly and also used an Athleta (Gap/Old Navy) card that currently has about $120 in rewards sitting on it. I usually get my husband some clothes from Gap or Banana Republic for his birthday so that will be used in the next few months.

2. $2,000 Citi Loan

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! I took care of this in January/February and have just been throwing their offers in the trash ever since.

3. $7,000 Student Loan #2 of #4

IN PROGRESS – I have paid off a little over $2,000 of this loan this year but will be putting some of this year’s bonus towards it and maybe a bit more through year-end. I was very thankful for the 0% interest during the pandemic!

4. Get Under 40% Body Fat

Yeah, sorry…I was actually at 42% body fat. And since I had to stop training in March….so I have no idea how this is going. BUT I have not gained weight while being home so I count that as a win.

5. Get Some Education

NOPE. Not every item can be accomplished and this one went out the window as soon as pandemic hit.

6. Fill Some Sketchbooks

I have filled 1.5 sketchbooks since January! Not a whole lot but I have been doing a lot more knitting – including 3 hats just this month.

7. Do Good Shit

Before Quarantimes, I went through the Animal Care Control Team’s volunteer orientation and walked a few dogs but that went out the window quickly. However, I did switch gears and supported some organizations that promote racial justice and equity given *gestures wildly*

2020 Goals

It’s that time again! Here are my 2020 Goals:

1. NO MORE CREDIT CARD DEBT

I spent a lot of this year cleaning up my own messes and not progressing on my debt snowballs. I’ve now saved up enough cash in my bank account that I should not need credit cards. I’ve got an emergency fund and a budget! There’s no need to give American Express anymore of my dollars. Also, I have Wells Fargo and the Way2Save program takes $1 out of my checking account and puts it into savings every time I make a debit card purchase – I like to think of this as generating my own rewards which feels safer.

2. $2,000 Citi Loan

I did a balance transfer that charges me 50 cents a month interest – way better than my American Express and student loans! But according to the snowball, this has to go so I can put that monthly payment towards the next debt!

3. $7,000 Student Loan #2 of #4

I’ve decided that I am no longer going to let these bitches rack up interest while waiting for America to do something about the student loan crisis. I’m also less and less confident that I will ever get forgiveness through the IDR program. I have 3 loans left totaling $109,000 and they started at $75,000. I’m sick and tired of paying these minimums and watching the interest stack so I’m going to attack these. I already paid off a $3,500 one a few years ago and now I’m going after the $8,500 one. I put some of my bonus towards this one so we’ve only got $7.000 to go in 2020!

4. Get Under 30% Body Fat

I’m at 32% right now so this should be feasible if I actually stick to eating and fitness guidelines. I ran a 10-miler this year and then injured my hip while adjusting to orthotics so I haven’t been very active since September. I signed up for a personal trainer and plan to do more classes and shit this year.

I’m also doing FWFG Kula’s HOME – 30 Days of Yoga in January….thankfully, it starts tomorrow!

5. Get Some Education

I have talked to my supervisor about some exams I’m interested in taking at work….we’ll see what they have to say. I’m at a good point in my life where I’d like to hunker down and do something difficult that will advance my career again.

6. Fill Some Sketchbooks

I love small sketchbooks and have been journaling in them more and need to continue this trend. It’s good for me! I also love doodling and collages so this should be an easy way to handle creativity.

I can’t promise I’ll update often but I do love going back and seeing how far I’ve come.

7. Do Good Shit

I almost forgot about this one! I just want to do more good shit this year. I want to donate more blood and help dogs and just give more to my community. Always looking for more opportunities!

Oh, Hello.

It is August 13th and a whole lot of things have changed since my last blog post on February 3rd. Holy fuck, a lot has changed.

I got married!

I ran the Broad Street Run! In 2:08. I would like to do it in 2020 in under 2 hours.

I got a promotion! I don’t have a great picture for that so enjoy this one:

I’m back on my health bullshit and back on my debt payoff bullshit. So that has been 2019 so far! Let’s see what the rest brings!

A Sick Week to End January

I ended up getting so ill Tuesday night that I was up all night and stayed home Wednesday with a terrible migraine situation. I’ve been struggling for the last 2 weeks and it finally came to a head. But here we are! Sunday and ready to go!

Things I’m working on right now…

• Gritty Legwarmers for Running of the Grittys – Date TBD
• Sockhead Slough Hat – I keep this project at work mainly but brought it home to do over the Super Bowl
• Empowering the Painter – only weekly in class right now….I need to clean my creative space to do more.
• Broad Street Run training – yeah….I am going to run 10 miles in May! I can already run 4 miles in about an hour in the beginning of February and my trainer is confident I can handle it (so far…we shall continue to see how my body does!

Also…recently I got a P.O. Box! Want to send mail? E-mail me at thetealappeal@gmail.com with the subject MAIL BUDDIES!! and I will send you my P.O. Box. If you give me your address I will send you a lil’ somethin’ :)