MayeCreate Design: What We’re Into —“Here Comes Summer” Edition

May 31, 2019

MayeCreate Design: What We’re Into —“Here Comes Summer” Edition
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Getting our fit on, performing in all kinds of ways, plus Smash Brothers and hanging from trees. More like — What isn’t MayeCreate into now?

Monica

Running Too Much

I asked one of my college girlfriends, Laura, if she wanted to get together sometime this summer. We haven’t set aside the time to really hang out since I had Aveleen almost 5 years ago!  She responded with, “do you want to run the Go Girl half marathon?”

And I thought, “I only run like 9 miles TOTAL a week…I haven’t run a half marathon since just before I had Ellis 9 years ago. My body may literally break out from underneath me. ”

To stay safe, I offered to run the 10K.  

The next day I brought up the idea of running the Go Girl with my running partner, Carrie, and she exclaimed (she’s always full of excitement, even at 5 am, I’m honestly now sure how she does it), “I was totally going to ask you if you wanted to run the half-marathon!”

At this point I’ve now been challenged by two of my favorite women to run a half marathon again. So I made a deal with both of them: if I could work my way up to a nine mile run without my legs feeling like they were going to crumble beneath me I would finish training and run the Go Girl.

Last week was “The Nine Mile Run” and honestly, I’m super surprised at how well my body is adjusting and allowing me to run these extra miles. But even more amazing is that I had forgotten the magic of the long run. When my body is compelled to sustain long mileage it forces my mind to rest. That rest creates space allowing me to process and solve problems and come up with new ideas. A space I haven’t been afforded since having children because I’m asked to be present at nearly every moment. So the extra miles, are better than “not that bad” they’re actually pretty darn awesome.   

The run is June 1st, wish me luck!

Katie

Jane Doe Revue - Columbia, MO - June 15, 2019

Jane Doe Revue is back! 🎤

Last year, I was invited by my sister to sing “Goodbye Earl” by Dixie Chicks and Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” with my twin, Kylie, on stage at the annual Jane Doe Revue benefit show.

I’m going to pause here and say, sometimes it’s good to toot your own horn… which is what I’m ‘bout to do a li’l bit. 💁‍♀️

This year, I was invited back by none other than Violet Vonder Haar, lead vocalist of Violet and the Undercurrents (*ahem* who will be performing at Roots n Blues this year! *ahem*), to sing “Rumour Has It” by Adele and “Independence Day” by Martina McBride. Kylie and I will also return for “Sweet Dreams”! I’M STOKED to again be a part of this incredible event honoring the women of rock and supporting women in need. 😌

Still on the yoga kick. 🧘‍♀️

Not much to say here other than I’m still going to yoga 2-3 times a week at Sumits and reaping all the benefits. A lot of what I’m working on in yoga will actually help me prepare for Jane Doe Revue. Win win.

The End of Dance Season 👯‍♀️

The three-night-a-week and crazy rehearsal/recital dance schedule ends June 8! Which means my husband and I get THREE nights a week off from hauling both kids to and from classes. It’s Ava’s 8th year as a dancer, and it shows… so impressed with her abilities. I’m still wondering, though, when the parents get complimentary recital outfits in their size. I’d play dress up ALL THE TIME.

The girl has three more outfits. I can hardly keep track of them all. Don’t even get me started on the wild experience that was picture night for her class — three words: three outfit changes — *shudder*.

Clearly there’s a theme here of threes…

When’s it go’n be my time? (Katie finds more self-care through TV.) 📺

After having lived for several years without television, we decided to make the transition back into having a centralized location for watching movies as a family. We’ve had a smart TV now for about a year, and I’ve found it oddly difficult to get back into finding shows I want to watch and then finding the time to actually watch them (especially for those TV-MA shows like Dead to Me and Handmaid’s Tale. Or even TV-14 shows like Stranger Things. I got a 4-year-old, y’all!). My husband and I watch movies together, which is fun (we’re currently going through all of the Marvel movies in suggested timeline order), but I’ve been more adamant lately about carving out some time for myself so I can dive into feeling all the feels these shows, along with This is Us, can bring (it’s important to balance the crazy/scary out with something more lovey-dovey stuff, ya know?). Needless to say, I’m psyched for the new Handmaid’s Tale and Stranger Things seasons!

Living and Learning (About Hair) 💁‍♀️

Thanks, Creative Photo, for capturing our best sides!

For the last couple of months, I’ve been doing anything in my power to achieve some kind of fun quirkiness with my hair color. Now that all is (for the most part) said and done, I discovered the DIY approach to lightening and using bold colors in your hair typically doesn’t end with the desired results, as well as it’s imperative to

  • MOISTURIZE, MOISTURIZE, MOISTURIZE.
  • A litttle blue-black hair color and 20 developer mixed with shampoo is PERFECT for removing brassiness.
  • Blue is a real pain in the arse to get out of hair. And ya know what blue fades to? Green. Way too much to manage! (But teal actually works quite well for Easter photos…)
  • REPAIR, REPAIR, REPAIR.

And then, when all was said and done, I went back to a natural brown and chopped half of it off…. Oh well, ya live and learn, right?

(More) Monica

Dictating in Lieu of Typing

I’m trying to type as little as possible. And it’s not because I’m tired from all that running! As a business owner, I always need to find new ways to make things go faster. And I had an aha moment while running – typing takes time. One Tuesday I went on a hunt to find the perfect dictation app for Google Chrome in the hope that I could use it to voice type revisions into our project management software. And now I’m hooked. Dictating everything like some crazy Tzar of dictation. As a matter of fact I’m actually dictating this article right now. I can happily report it saves me a ton of time and my written communications are far more in depth.

I wrote a post about the apps I found during my hunt and which one I like the best so you can check it out in our blog! I haven’t found a perfect Chrome app yet.  I’m currently using Voice In Voice Typing. It uses Google’s speech recognition engine which is just OK. I definitely have to read and edit after, which is best practice anyway. My favorite and most reliable dictation application by far is Otter Voice Notes.  It even adds punctuation correctly, but it doesn’t have a Chrome app so I have to dictate, then export, which takes more time. If you know of an awesome dictation solution please pass it along, I would love to test it out.

Tyler

Competitions and Training

That’s basically my life right now. As I’ve written in previous posts, this year is full of new experiences and traveling. At the beginning of the year my wife and I competed in our first powerlifting meet, and just recently at the beginning of April, I competed in my first strongman meet. I ended up placing 3rd, deadlifted a car 4 times, and I’m hooked. I will compete in my next two meets in September and November. So, this summer will pretty much be dedicated to training for those.

Gonna pull a truck this time!

The meet in November specifically is interesting for me. I got to integrate my two worlds together and design the t-shirt for the event! So not only do I get to compete, I get to see a whole group of competitors wear my design, which is always a cool experience.

I still plan on competing in another powerlifting style of meet, but that probably won’t be until the beginning of next year. So more on that in the future.

Video Games

Besides training and picking up heavy stuff, I’ve been playing a ridiculous amount of Super Smash Brother Ultimate. I’ve been playing the smash brothers game series since the first one came out on the N64 in 1999, and have been a huge fan since. I took a small break from playing the latest game but Nintendo released the first DLC character, Joker from Persona 5, and I was instantly hooked again.

No pun intended for the Joker fans out there, if they happen to be reading this 😛

It’s amazing the difference 20 years makes.

(Even More) Monica

Hanging from Trees

Elis hanging from a tree. Monica hanging from a tree.

If you take a look at my goal board for 2019 you’ll see, “aerial performance” on the list right next to “Sunday walks” and “remembering names” (I’ve got to keep working on that…) I’ve been taking aerial classes for just under a year and a half now. I LOVE IT. It is such a great stress reliever, flexibility and strength builder not to mention a practice in mindfulness.  If you’re not present in aerial class you’re gonna drop yourself on your head.

That’s pretty motivating.

I watch aerialists perform, it’s beautiful, elegant and athletic all at the same time — and I want to do it. So, of course when my aerial teacher, Haley, asked if I wanted to compete in St. Louis at the Aerialympics I was all in.

Since that decision I now see every tree differently. I know. I know. It’s not safe to hang an aerial hammock from a tree and dangle beneath the branches.  My mom told me so. Haley told me so. But I promise, I’m picking safe trees only. I swear I do not have a death wish. I just can’t stop thinking about how to transition to the next move. I know all these tricks but I don’t know how to move gracefully between them. I was a gymnast, not a performer! That’s why I recruited Rebecca. Who has all this experience dancing, constructing routines and performing. Hopefully, together all this hanging from trees will result in an awesome performance in August.

Rebecca

Hoo boy is it gonna be a fun summer.

What MayeCreate is Into - May 2019

Personal Health & Fitness

Monica has mentioned it, but I’m in charge of hanging her from trees by pretty pieces of fabric, and getting her to move gracefully while doing so. I also hang from the trees, but I’m a long way off from being at Monica’s level. I’m flexible — but not yet all that strong.

You’re an elegant yo-yo.

My goal is to get there though. I want to learn how to drop from thirty feet in the air and twirl my way down like an elegant yo-yo.

I’m also switching up my personal diet and seeing how I benefit from less gluten. Which is going to be iff-y because I adore Italian food, but gluten-free pasta actually tastes ok, so I think I’ll manage.

Nerding-Out

E3 is in June and I cannot wait.

I need that release date for Animal Crossing, and any potential DLC (downloadable content) for the Kingdom Hearts III game. (Which was amazing btw. But broke my hecking heart. Nomura, why you gotta be that way?) Also watching for info on the upcoming Dragon Age 4 release, which I am worried about because the production company has had some issues, but I still have hope.

Fence is also supposed to have a release soon for their continuation in graphic novel media and I gotta say, I missed those dumb boys. I need to know if Jesse ever realizes he has a brother, or if Robert Coste even knows he has another son. And what about Seiji?

What about Seiji?!?

A Fun Summer Indeed

What are you looking forward to this summer? Indoor hobbies, outdoor recreation — or finding new ways to be more productive at work? There are (clearly) no wrong answers, but one thing is certain — it’s going to be an eventful and exciting summer at MayeCreate Design.

Who Manifested This Madness?

Monica Maye Pitts

This fabulous human, that's who.

Monica Maye Pitts

Monica is the creative force and founder of MayeCreate. She has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with an emphasis in Economics, Education and Plant Science from the University of Missouri. Monica possesses a rare combination of design savvy and technological know-how. Her clients know this quite well. Her passion for making friends and helping businesses grow gives her the skills she needs to make sure that each client, or friend, gets the attention and service he or she deserves.

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