6.30.2018

May/June 2018 Project Recap (and life as an Obliger)

Hi all! May and June were super busy months for me between my day job and my side projects. I'm finding though, that I like having lots of client projects, because if I don't have a client deadline, I'm much less likely to create art on my own. According to Gretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies quiz, that makes me an Obliger, or someone who meets outer expectations but resists inner ones. Gretchen Rubin says that the Obliger's tendency is to do things more easily for others than ourselves. Or, as she writes, Obligers "work hard not to let other people down, but they often let themselves down." Bingo! I love client projects because it forces me to do the work. I'm not sure I would paint or create as consistently without these "imposed" deadlines. That said, it's not always feasible for me to take on client work due to my regular job's workload, and I tend to have the most jobs in the spring and summer, leaving fall and winter "off" to work on my own projects.


It's definitely something I think about often in regards to writing too. I recently heard Gretchen speak on the Ask a Manager podcast about the sometimes overemphasized idea of combining your work life with your passions. I loved what Gretchen said of her vocation as a writer:  "












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First up, this floral abstract, because I needed a painting for the bedroom reading nook of the home I staged in May, and had a half done canvas in my basement.


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Seeing the picture again now I would have preferred 3 larger paintings, maybe with white matts, and two chairs instead of one, but I staged the entire house for just $500 (with almost $300 of that spent on one rug). So I'll take it!



Next up, these two paintings for the living room of the same home:


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Again the choice came down to cost - the canvases were on sale at Tuesday morning, so I got both for around $20!


Here they are in the space:


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I love how they pull out the colors of the beautiful rug (from Homegoods).


I also painted another abstract for a friend's bedroom. We took a frame off of an old painting she wasn't using anyore, and fit a new canvas within it. Here's the frame before:


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And after a coat of white chalk paint and dark glaze:


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The finished product:


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I love how it looks in her master bedroom! I also advised her to replace her current lamps with some other lamps from her guest room that have mercury glass bases and large white drum shades. And we bought nickel pulls for her dressers. I think it's really common to want everything to match, especially when it comes to metals, but I personally love mixing metal finishes and colors - it makes everything feel like it's been accumulated over time and is a much more custom look than buying everything in the same color.


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I also painted this seascape for a friend who met her husband in Florida and moved to California in June:


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I've done quite a few projects for OhmFit Activewear, a shop in our Uptown area. She asked me to paint over the base of one of her moving racks in June. It was a quick two day project (just dry time in between trips to the shop). I used my favorite Benjamin Moore ADVANCE Interior Paint for a self-leveling finish.


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For the same store, I refinished the top of the owner's cash wrap / desk. The wood was worn and scratched in places, but a new coat of Minwax Gel Stain in Mahogany.


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Another staining project I did in June was on these hand-me-down deck chairs. The wood had worn from weather, so I sanded them down and stained them with Minwax Wood Finish Dark Walnut Oil-based Interior Stain. Here's the before:


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After stain, but before polyurethane:


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And in their new home on my front porch:









Other small projects include some quick edits to this cow painting (covered the word Montana with grass, and stained the frame darker), and painting the client's wedding date on this rustic door to hang in her kitchen.


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And here's the door:


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I also painted over some stained glass for the same homeowner. It took two thin coats of primer, and three thin coats of Benjamin Moore Aura paint in Stonington Gray (HC-170), but I love how the windows now match the farmhouse feel of the whole house!


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6.24.2018

Onwards and Upwards




I'm learning to trust myself again. Do you ever feel like the older you get, the harder it is to trust yourself? I've heard that by the time you turn 40 you have loads of confidence because you just stop caring about the worries of your 20's and are free of the mothering and career building that consumes your 30's. 40 year olds, please weigh in.


I've come to a bit of a crossroads this year. I feel myself pulled towards something I'm just beginning to name:  a creative's life. Yoga and writing and art and radical hospitality.


Having long been the "responsible one," fear always stops me from fully diving in.


Maybe it's because I'm financially minded, or maybe it's because I grew up only hearing about what I should do. But that's changing now.


When I doubt myself (and I do!), I force myself to remember that I'm still me. I'm still the same girl who at 4 somehow got out of the campus housing we lived in at the time, and marched across the quad right up to the office where my mom worked, then demanded to see my mother. I'm still the 14-year-old who flew to Mexico City to immerse myself in religious iconography and to see and taste and experience alongside 20 complete strangers. I'm still the 16-year-old who walked into a local coffee shop and asked them to display my art, which they happily did without hesitation. Who knew that if you only asked, you would receive? I'm still the girl who at 20 studied abroad in the jungles of Ecuador. (Next time, I would pack differently though! I would trade my blow-dryer for water proof boots, just saying). And I'm still the 21-year-old who a few months after college graduation moved across the country for a job near the US-Mexico border.


I'm still her. She's still me. And maybe she's the only one I really need to impress.


I may be a little bruised and wind blown. I may be a little more burdened by a mortgage and meetings and taxes and adulting.


But I'm still here. I can still be brave. I can do hard things.


I can trust the tiny voice within me that whispers "write." As if it's the simplest thing in the world to carve out emotional space and time for the process of creating.


I'm finding, too, that I no longer have another choice. The "shoulds" are no longer fulfilling and the trusting is no longer an option. So write I shall.


Onwards and upwards,
Laura Jean Kathleen



6.09.2018

Talks with God

 
I talk with God a lot. Some people call it prayer or meditation but I treat it like a normal conversation.  It happens like this. I'll be doing some everyday task like washing dishes in the kitchen. I start by saying something like, "Oh hey it's me again, just popping in for some advice." And just like I would if I were chatting with an old friend over coffee I begin.

"What in the heck should I do about my job, my family, my life?" I rinse and load one dish.

"I'm here," I say back. It's me, but not really me. I hear the Spirit's voice as clear as day sometimes. But only when I'm ready to listen.

"Okay, noted. But what about the future?" I say "What should I do?" I scrub some hardened ketchup off of a plate.

"Keep writing" I hear.

"How can I make money doing what I love?" I ask. I rinse out my dish rag with warm water.

"I've given you a spirit of creativity mixed with a big dose of practicality. Use it." It says.

"Where do you want me to go from here?" I stare out the window over my sink into my backyard at dusk.

"Keep writing." It urges.

"What's next God?" I pick up a new plate.

"Keep taking one step at a time." It begs.

And then that's it. Chat time is over and I'm back to my life. The door has closed for now, the line temporarily disconnected, it's just me and my overflowing sink. That's not to say that God isn't there with me in the mundane.  God is alongside me in all things, both in and and moving through me. It's just to say that that's all the reveal I'll get for tonight. Like a movie preview for a new release still years away.

I love these verses from Ecclesiastes 3: "I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in their toil. I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him."


I doubt. I hem and I haw. I try to jump two steps ahead of the process.
But then I remember my role is simply to be present. To lean into the Spirit, to trust.

It's almost painful in its simplicity.

I want more. I want to see more, be more, to act beyond my capacity.

But then I'm reminded "I'm here. Be here now with me."

So I keep washing my dishes, and allow myself to rest, to hang up my worries and discard today's anxieties.

I have done enough for today. Tomorrow is a new day. There will be more dishes in the morning.


6.01.2018

2018 Savings Goals - (Almost) mid-year check-in!

It is hot. So very hot. Why? you may ask. Because our air conditioner is shot. Back when I wrote savings goals in January I mentioned the possibility of needing a new air conditioner since our current unit is old and uses a type of refrigerant that is no longer being manufactured. Well, that day has arrived. It's 84 degrees in our house currently. Luckily the kids have been sleeping soundly with window fans and a good breeze, but It. Is. Hot. 

I thought I'd take a look back at this year's savings goals since a). we're almost halfway through the year (how??) and b). we will be shifting around our savings priorities due to getting a new air conditioner and possibly furnace as well. #Adulting. Sigh. 

This year we wanted to:
  1. Rebuild our emergency fund (~$3K) - We would have easily hit this goal this month, but now it's going right out the window to pay for our new heating and cooling system. That said, I'm so thankful that we have the money to buy a new unit in cash! If anything, everything that's happened this year has made me realize the importance of having an emergency fund. We like to have at least 6 months worth of expenses saved (5 months in an higher interest earning account not linked to our checking). To build it back up, we will likely pause our retirement contributions until it's fully funded. While it can sometimes feel frustrating to have money sitting in an account that you "can't" touch, the relief of knowing it's there for when life happens is huge!
  2. A fence for the backyard ($2-4K) - Sadly this one will have to wait until next summer. But that's life! And the kids have been doing really well staying in the yard (though I'm still almost always outside with them). 
  3. A new air conditioner ($4K) - We actually received a quote for a few air conditioner units that range from $2900-3700; however, upon further investigation, I realized that it probably doesn't make sense for us to install a new energy star rated air-conditioner, only to pair it with a 15 year old heater / blower. (I'm using such technical language, aren't I?) Also, if we were to purchase a new furnace at the same time as we purchase an air conditioner, they would have the same energy rating which ups their overall efficiency. And, on top of that, buying both at the same time would allow us to cash in on some rebates from our electricity and gas companies, plus Lennox, the maker of the new HVAC system. Overall, I'm leaning towards buying both now, vs. replacing the heater in 3-5 years for an additional cost. But, that makes our original $4,000 estimate more like $5400. 
  4. Vacations / Trips ($1500) - We are doing well on our goal of taking more trips! In May we took a kid-free weekend trip to Chicago for our anniversary, then took the kids to St. Louis over Memorial Day weekend ($550 for both trips). Next up is a week-long Door Country trip over Fourth of July, which usually costs us about $500 with eating out and gas (we stay with Mike's family in their beautiful farmhouse). 
  5. Gardening / Landscaping ($1000?) - We got a quote last month to rip out all of our front bushes (they are so large that the removal process is closer to that of a tree than a bush); however, we decided to push back that project until we knew more about our air conditioner situation. And knowing what we know now, well, the bushes will have to wait!
  6. Finish Mike's tattoo sleeve ($1500) - Sigh, this one has been put on the back burner again!
  7. Pay for sinus surgery ($1500?) - I'm so, so glad I got sinus surgery! I haven't had a sinus infection since before the surgery in February (knock on wood) and I can breathe through my nose every. single. day. Worth the close to ~$2500 (?) we paid out of pocket for the procedure.
It's turning out to be a great year! One of life's normal ups and downs but with careful cash flow planning, we've managed to stay out of debt, despite a medical procedure, taking fun family trips and now a new HVAC system!

Next up, a recap of my May painting projects! xo