apartment tour.

day 3 // sun jan 14th

A day of rest and playing a bit of catch up on tasks. I finally finished unpacking, then got caught up on email and school things. Now to enjoy some time of rest before adventuring out for dinner.

Here’s a little apartment tour. We are on the 5th floor of the AIB building. It’s got great views out of literally every window, and more than enough space for the two of us. Not to mention my legs are gonna be looking good by the time I climb those 5 floors multiple times a day!

Wade and I had a date night and found a local Asian restaurant called GinYuu. It had good reviews and looked like a fun joint. I ordered pad thai and Wade had a curry rice dish! The restaurant was a few stops away by train, so not a bad journey. We also both decided we needed more scarves and hats - ha!

orientation & city tour.

day 1 // friday jan. 12

Wade and I slept a full 10 hours the first night. We woke up still pretty tired but an AIB orientation all morning, then lunch at the outdoor market in one of the many town squares. We split currywurst and pommes before taking a walking tour around the area.

Europe in general is so rich culturally and visually. I love to see all of the old mixed with the new. Plus, the textures and colors make this designer gal very happy.

day 2 // saturday jan 13th

Jet lag, it's a real thing. I had no trouble going to sleep, but then woke at 3:30am was ready to go. Finally forced myself to go back to sleep after a few episodes of The Crown.

We had a scheduled AIB excursion today with all 4 programs (including students from LMU, Penn State and bio science students from A&M, too). We did a scavenger hunt of sorts along the river at Rheinaue Park. It was a cool (and cold!) way for the group to see more of the city and learn more about the history. After an afternoon exploring we had a dinner back at school for all students and host families

Also, don't forget for a more real-time look into our trip follow my instagram and be sure to check out the stories!

Follow here!

guten morgen!

day 0 // thursday jan 11th

We made it to Germany! Day zero was a success. We flew out of Houston at 7PM CST on Wednesday January 10th and landed at 11:40AM (german time) on January 11th. Which means 4:40AM CST.

Successfully loaded 31 Texas A&M students onto the flight. The total flight time was 9 hrs and 40 mins—not too bad. I knew from my last study abroad that jet lag was going to be a real issue, so I forced myself to sleep a tiny bit on the flight. We landed and loaded a bus in Frankfurt to take the group to Bonn.

Wade and I got settled into our apartment (I will post pictures soon) and then got treated to dinner with AIB (our school) at a local restaurant & brewery, Brauhaus Bönnsch. I had flammkuchen (German translation is flaming pizza) with bacon, egg, potato and creme fresh). Wade had meatloaf with fried potatoes and peppers. Very tasty!

That's all for now. Here are a few of my tips for traveling for an extended stay, specifically during the colder months:

Outdoor Apparel - It will be cold and potentially snowing the first month of our stay in Germany. So we were sure to pack warm jackets, comfortable AND warm walking shoes, socks, hats, gloves, etc. Also, if you wear your biggest coat on the plane you can store it in the overhead bin once comfortably your seat AND it saves precious suitcase space for more shoes!
Layerable Clothing - Our trip will be cold, but the seasons will also change (unlike Texas). It is a good idea to bring layers. Under shirts, tights, etc. It is currently winter, but by the time we return it will be nice spring weather. Be sure to pack items that can be layered for warmth, then be worn separately later in the year.
Backpack - I would recommend a good (comfortable) secure backpack that you can travel with. Secure meaning a lot of zippers and inside pockets for valuables.
Copies of Passport - It is good idea is to bring a few notarized copies of your passport in case something happens to your original passport. You can make color photocopies (of the full spread including the signature page of your passport) and have them notarized (most banks have a notary). It is a good idea to put them in different places. i.e. hidden in your backpack, suitcase, and then keep one secure with your family back in the states. I would also recommend storing them in dry place like a ziploc bag.
Reusable Water Bottle - Europe is great about recycling plus buying water can be very expensive! Bring a water bottle you can easily attach to your backpack or suitcase when traveling.
Money & Fees - Talk with your banks. Be sure to let them know you are traveling abroad and discuss the ATM and withdrawal fees. Fees can add up really quickly, so using a debit card will be option B for us. Whereas our credit card has no transaction fees or extra hidden charges.
Converters & Adaptors - Do your research on your electronics and buy appropriate converters or adaptors. Most electronics now days have built in converters, so you only really need an adaptor.

Hope that was helpful! Excited for more adventure... and sleep!

2017: a year in review.

2017 was pretty stellar I'd say. It held our first year of marriage, owning a home, and getting our sweet tillie baby (our cat). Instagram said the pictures below were my top nine and I would have to mostly agree. Sometimes we forget to pause and reflect on all of the dang good things in our lives.

Here's a month-by-month of a few of the Honeycutt highlights.

January - I started my 2nd semester teaching at A&M. Wade & I celebrated our engagement-versary.

February - Spent Valentine's day with my love. Did some shopping at First Monday in Canton.

March - Did spring break right with a trip to Vegas. Also, the largest Taco Bell ever.

April - Celebrated my 28th birthday. Rissa made a trip to College Station to visit.

May - Painted the exterior of our house—talk about hard work!

June - Celebrated Wade's birthday! Taught a summer session. Spent the long weekend in Galveston with the fam. Met my niece Naomi for the first time.

July - Went to my brother's surprise nerdy thirty in New Braunfels with some of our best friends. Made a trip to Lubbock to see family. Got our sweet Tillie baby!

August - The littlest Bragdon graduated from A&M. Wade and I built cedar shutters for our house—also very hard work. Decided to go back to graduate school for my MFA.

September - Took a group of students to Circles Conference in Grapevine, TX. Also took my grandpa and Barbara to a Fightin' Texas Aggie Football game.

October - Celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary and ate year-old cake. It was surprisingly good.

November - I went to Louisiana with my fam for Thanksgiving, Wade had to work (boo!)

December - Went to several holiday parties for work. It SNOWED in College Station, TX. Completed another semester teaching and my first semester as a grad student.

Bring it on, 2018! I can't wait to see what you have in store.

germany!

Sometimes I have to pinch myself. Like, really. It amazes me at the doors God has opened for Wade and I in our relationship so far. Wade wanted to go back to school? Boom—teaching job, bought a house, working remotely, etc. It has all fallen into place so smoothly that I have no doubt that God's hand was weaving it all together.

All of that to say, WE ARE GOING TO GERMANY.

Only for the spring semester, don’t worry, we aren’t moving away for good. Although after a semester in Europe we might not want to come back. If any of you have been following me for awhile (by that I mean like my mom and a handful of my mom’s friends), you saw the ridiculous videos Marissa and I posted while studying abroad back in 2010. If you are new around here, I studied with the same Germany-based program while attending Texas A&M in the spring of 2010. I traveled Europe with one of my best friends, Marissa. We made videos literally every step of the journey, we ate lots of Burger King, and we stuffed our backpacks full of sample Nutella packets from McDonalds. Sometimes I go back and watch the videos just to laugh at how dumb we were (also how young I look). You can watch our very first video here if it interests you, just know that you have been warned. Now, I get to do the same thing but with my HUSBAND—so crazy. Also, Ris is also going to make a guest appearance, so watch out.

I will be teaching motion design at the AIB in Bonn where Wade will be attending classes. We will be living in an apartment in the city of Bonn. Our hope is to explore and travel as much as we can with our school and work loads!

A little more about the city of Bonn, Germany.

The charming city of Bonn with its baroque buildings and century-old history is a modern and dynamic city with an exceptional international and diverse community. The richness of music, culture, science, business and nature, as well as its location at the Rhine River, make Bonn a hidden gem in the heart of Europe.

Since it is located in the heart of Europe, it is easy to reach many of our top travel destinations. From Bonn, it is only a three hour train ride to Amsterdam and a four hour ride to Paris. Many European cities such as London are also only a one hour plane ride away.

We depart on January 10th (WHICH IS 12 DAYS AWAY!!) and arrive back stateside on May 2nd. Follow along for travel posts, design inspiration and even (maybe) some European fashion tips. I will also be using Instagram story to document a lot of the highlights, so be sure to follow me on instagram. Feel free to join the email list too so you don't miss a thing.

That's all for now, I've got a lot of packing to do! tschüss!

merry december!

I can't believe it's December 1st. crazy how time flies! Today was a good day. My husband woke up and came into the office promptly telling me to get dressed. He said we're going to pick out a Christmas tree. weee! Obviously had to make a pit-stop for donuts first.

If there's one thing I'm good at it's saving money and being crafty about it. I guess that's two things. oh well.

Here are some quick tips if you're buying your tree from a retailer (like lowe's, home depot, or walmart)

Tip #1 - save the 1" round portion that they cut off the bottom of your tree to make an ornament! I have one from our first Christmas as a married couple, and now our second. Just drill a hole in the top, tie some burlap through and ta-da! All I need to do is write on it with my gold sharpie.

Tip #2 - shop/steal from the the scrap barrel. At Lowe's and Home Depot they put all of the branches that have fallen off and/or been cut off into a huge bin. These make great additions to your mantel or an already purchased wreath. See my examples below, plus they smell amazing!

Tip #3 - Always have your husband inspect the tree thoroughly, then have him take photos of you with your perfect tree.

Now time to get decorating!

#ootd

My sweater was a black Friday buy that I knew I could dress or up dress down for the winter. It actually has a removable collar which I thought was pretty nifty! The back is also super cute. Jeans are my fav Levi's 711 Skinny jeans in "damage is done." Booties are Steve Madden Kolina's that I bought in the summer on super sale. Very comfy, low heel so great for standing on my feet teaching all day! Also, rocking a top knot because washing your hair is the worst.

sweater: Bealls • jeans: Levi's • booties: Steve Madden • watch: fossil

full & thankful.

Thanksgiving is always a fun holiday for me. Even if I view it as the start of Christmas season. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful and blessed beyong measure, but Thanksgiving doesn't always get full credit, ya know?

Growing up we always drove to Bienville, Louisiana to my great-grandmother's house. My grandfather is one of a bajillion kids so there was always so many people that wanted to get together. We would get up early and drive to this tiny little house in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere. The house is probably just like you're imagining it—old, totally leaning and full of love. There is this cane patch behind the house that I remember thinking was the coolest thing growing up. We would cut down sticks and then my grandpa would sharpen the end (super duper safe).

This year we loaded up and made the trek to LA like the good 'ole days. I am grateful to still have this time with my grandpa. I'm also thankful for a family that still likes being together. Also thankful for pecan pie, and lots of it.

#ootd

Currently really loving all things velvet and Levi's. The 700 collection from Levi's is my favorite. The 711 Skinny and 721 High-Rise Skinny jeans fit like a glove. Jean color is a great dark color with a little texture called "cast shadows." I am usually a fan of basic pieces from Old Navy. Sizing can be weird at Old Navy, but I've learned to size down! Sadly, my necklace isn't being sold anymore, but the one linked is rad!

jacket: Levi's • jeans: Macy's • velvet top: Old Navy • necklace: Sam Moon

Welcome.

Hi Friends!

Welcome to my corner of the internet. I can't tell you how many times i've 'started a blog,' then stopped writing. Or how many times I've thought about actually documenting some of the cool (or so i think) projects or furniture re-dos I've done.

Now is as good of time as any, right? I hope to write semi-consistently about fun things like marriage, owning a home, craigslisting, and just general design-y things I enjoy!

Follow along, it's bound to be entertaining.

*Real life example of starting + stopping blogging going on 4 years now. Excerpt from 2014:

"Resistance cannot be seen, touched, heard, or smelled. But it can be felt. We experience it as an energy field radiating from a work-in-potential. It's a repelling force. It's negative. Its aim is to shove us away, distract us, prevent us from doing our work."

"The war of art - break through the blocks and win your inner creative battles" by Steven Pressfield

That is how I feel about a lot of things in my life. For example, I've worked and reworked my website ten thousand times and it never seems just right. I know what I want it to look like and what I want it to accomplish, but that resistance kills me every stinkin' time. I struggle with thoughts of insecurity that my blog won't be as cool as some bloggers out there.

Sometimes I let my insecurities completely paralyze me. I subconsciously think if I don't do anything at all it is better than trying and failing. I read blog after blog about how to blog and how to make your presence on the web a good one, etc. but when is enough enough? When is it time to just do it? (Also, isn't it crazy that reading a blog about blogging is even a thing?)

That time is now. right now. This is the real deal. I've promised myself not to sugarcoat things or stage thoughts/places/feelings that aren't real. If my desk looks like WWII, well that is what I will show you. I'm like every other creative out there, I have my ups and my downs. I have days that I simply don't want to freelance and stare at my screen at all, then I have days I power through hours of design time. The struggle is real, y'all and we are all in this together, right?

student debt, be gone!

This is a post I originally wrote in June of 2015. I just felt like I should add to it + republish as it is still relevant today!

My husband Wade is back in school, but we are trying extremely hard not to take any student loans out. As I sat and typed the words below I felt so proud (and still do). Living debt free is something I take very seriously. Being a semi-control freak, the thought of owing someone thousands of dollars gives me major anxiety. I also feel like living within your means is so important. It's something that our society doesn't talk much about. It's all about what life you are portraying and let's be real, the living off one salary, husband in school, driving the same car since you were 16 life isn't all that grand.

orginial post from June of 2015:

I feel like I need to document this time in my life before it slips through my fingers and it's only a fleeting memory. A few weeks ago I paid all of my student debt. I know to some people that's no big deal, but to me, it's a huge deal. A weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I'm not going to sugar coat it - it was tough. Here is what my experience with student debt looked like.

I graduated from Texas A&M University in December of 2011. In June of 2012 I was required to start paying back my debt. I consolidated all my loans and had a total of $36,000. This quickly grew within the first few months because of consolidated interest (whatever that is). I was rapidly up to the 40k mark. I was living at home with my rents at the time with a random handful of jobs. No really, I was a sub at the school I grew up in, I designed wedding stationery for brides, worked at a wedding venue coordinating events, you name it I probably did it. It's safe to say I was not, by any means, making good money. They originally told me my monthly pay was going to be around $450. I almost fell over. There was no way I could be living on my own paying that, so I guess it was a good thing I had decided to stay with my parents for a while. Then I decided I should do a graduated payment plan and got the payments down to $235 dollars a month - much more reasonable for a freelancer with hardly any steady income.

A bit later that year I took my first salaried job and moved to Dallas. I knew that I would eventually have to start making more than the minimum payment or I would never get those suckers down. Whenever I would look at my monthly bill I would get so depressed because I was literally only paying on the interest. The numbers were not shrinking. I decided then and there I was going to have to get serious about it.

"Last month, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that student loan balances rose to $1.16 trillion and that 11.3 percent of that is in delinquency – that is, not being paid back. The New York Fed is worried that this debt is preventing students from becoming self-sufficient adults who can live on their own." - usnews.com

After a job change I was making a decent paycheck each month and starting saving a good amount of money to put towards my loans. I had consolidated 11 loans total in the beginning and my plan was to knock them out individually (even though they were consolidated). I would save up enough money until i could pay off a loan in it's entirety. I had loans ranging from anywhere from 6k to 2k (they were always in flex due to interest). I slowly but surely started knocking them out - targeted the ones with the higher interest rates first. I would say on average I was putting aside at least $1,500 a month to my loans. It seems like a lot, but it was worth it. I ended up paying my loans off May 18, 2015. After doing the math I figured I paid a little over $40,000 in the span of just over two years. That is crazy to think about.

I know this isn't possible for everyone - like I said, I was blessed with a decent paying job, no car payment, and relatively low living expenses.

It is such a good feeling. I sit here writing 100% debt free. woo-hoo.

what's your jam?

Everyone has those albums that just get them motivated, like put your head down and work for hours, motivated. Here are a few of my all time favorite jams to work to. *Warning: a lot of these (actually all of them) are high school jams and I just can't seem to cut the cord.

I'm pretty well known as one of those "song-skippers." I can't usually listen to an entire song, much less an entire album. Not with these guys, though. They are the tried & true. All of them bring back all of the high school feelings. I love it.

I'd love to hear what music really gets you pumped. Share your working jams with me!

I cried over where to eat lunch.

Sometimes life is overwhelming. Sometimes I cry when I don't know what else to do. It was a rainy day and my fella and I were headed to eat lunch before he left to go home. Lately I've been much better about keeping my anxiety in check, but it was rearing it's ugly head this particular day and there wasn't much I could do about it.

We drove around for a bit and I was getting so irritated over nothing. Literally nothing. He was trying to be sweet and let me have a say in where we ate lunch, but for some reason this particular decision was exhausting me.

After a bit of driving around, we pulled into a shopping center. He dropped me off at this new place we had been wanting to try. I stood there for a few minutes and watched as everyone watched me. No one came up to greet me. After a few minutes I waltzed myself over to table and grabbed a menu to check out. My poor fella joined me and still no one came up to greet us. That was that - we were definitely not eating there.

I walked out of the restaurant and started crying. Really though, I stood there crying in the rain over where to eat lunch.

All of that to say, life is hard sometimes. Just remember no one is perfect (even if their instagram looks like it). Life will be okay, even if it's not at that exact moment. It will be, He told me so. After all, It's only lunch.

transitions + circles co.

There's a lot of transitioning happening in my life right now. I left my nice marketing job and I feel semi-guilty about it. It was all packaged so nicely, tied with ribbons of health insurance and a 401k plan, but I just wasn't creatively fulfilled. I didn't wake up each morning chomping at the bit to get to work. Don't get me wrong, the people are great, such an amazing group of architects, but that alone cannot fill one's creative soul.

Something needed to change. I needed the change, desperately.

As of today, I am working with Circles Co. full-time and pursuing my career as a freelance designer. I have toyed with both of these ideas for quite some time now. It's a scary, yet totally satisfying, transition.

Here's to new & exciting things!

the war of art.

"Resistance cannot be seen, touched, heard, or smelled. But it can be felt. We experience it as an energy field radiating from a work-in-potential. It's a repelling force. It's negative. Its aim is to shove us away, distract us, prevent us from doing our work."

"The war of art - break through the blocks and win your inner creative battles" by Steven Pressfield

That is how I feel about a lot of things in my life. For example, I've worked and reworked my website ten thousand times and it never seems just right. I know what I want it to look like and what I want it to accomplish, but that resistance kills me every stinkin' time. I struggle with thoughts of insecurity that my blog won't be as cool as some of my favorite bloggers out there. (like this one, this one, or this one)

So, I went online and bought this Emily McDowell print because, well, that is what I do. Plus, it describes my thoughts for the last few months.

Sometimes I let my insecurities completely paralyze me. I subconsciously think if I don't do anything at all it is better than trying and failing. I read blog after blog about how to blog and how to make your presence on the web a good one, etc. but when is enough enough? When is it time to just do it? (Also, isn't it crazy that reading a blog about blogging is even a thing?)

That time is now. right now. This is the real deal. I've promised myself not to sugarcoat things or stage thoughts/places/feelings that aren't real. If my desk looks like WWII, well that is what I will show you. I'm like every other creative out there, I have my ups and my downs. I have days that I simply don't want to freelance and stare at my screen at all, then I have days I power through hours of design time. The struggle is real, y'all and we are all in this together, right?