Nerdy Mug Blog

6/25/2025: Long Time, No See - Lots Happened Oops

Why hello there. Fancy meeting you here after all this time. It's been over two months since we last had a little chat, and I'm so sorry for that. Well actually, I'm not too sorry cause I was on a rollercoaster of happenings. Firstly, I finally took my honeymoon after 3 years of being married! This was back in May and we went up to Oregon to enjoy the state parks and see the mountains. We stayed at Knollhaven Cabin in McKenzie Oregon (thank you Randy you are the best) which was right on the McKenzie River. Will Insert a photo or two. There was just so much that went on and Maybe one day I will retroactively post about the entire trip. For now I hope these pictures give off the good time we had.

That was early in May, and then everything started getting crazy when we got back. My husband had just started a new job, and we were house hunting (rent wise) which was stressful to say the least. Luckily we found our current home and had to start packing up our lives. We had lived in our apartment for about 3 and a half years at this point, and packing it all up to move was exhausting. It was just me as my husband was working out of the house (I work from home so I could pack easily.). Also moving over utilities, and cancelling services with the city was a huge pain in the ass. We still are waiting to do the final walk through at our old apartment, and hopefully we get our deposit back. So right now we still aren't even fully out of the woods with that.

So that's why I have been gone for a hot minute. I'm still enjoying my tea time and cuddling my two boys. (They had a rough few days at the new house, but have since taken it over.) I'm hoping to maybe talk more about tea, or even art. My art has also been neglected in this time. I closed my etsy shop for the time being, and my instagram... Let's not even talk about that. My Insta has been dormant for months. If I do post any new art it will probably just be on this page as I don't want the AI overlords to take everything. (Or atleast have a hard time finding it to steal.)

I hope your spring and summer has been lovely. I need to do an update on my goals and intentions for the year. Those have also been a wild ride. Some things I have completed and others I have thrown to the wayside. That's for another time though. Thank you for reading this rant, and I will see you next time!

Peace and Love, NerdyMug

4/24/2024: Tea Ramblings and Teapets

I enjoy my tea sessions much more in the Springtime. Tea is more enjoyable when you are able to look out at a beautiful sunny day. The trees rustling in the wind and soft white clouds rolling through the sky. It makes the tea experience more joyful, in my opinion.

I say all this when today was full of stormy skies and rumbling thunder. Springtime here is full of showers and humidity. Tomorrow, I am sure my husband will be foraging for mushrooms again. Just as he does every time it rains. Speaking of my husband, yesterday was our 3rd Wedding Anniversary. A gift a got for myself was a Tiger Tea Pet to go along with my Rabbit teapet, as you can see. These two animals are my husband and I's zodiac animals. I was born the Year of the Tiger, and he born the Year of the Rabbit. Now, when I have tea I can have them sitting side by side, representing me and my husband. They make me smile .

If you are a tea lover you know it's rough right now with the Tariffs to be apart of this hobby. This may sound silly that I am worrying about tea, of all things, when the tariffs affect so much more. However, I think even my silly hobby being affected shows it's importance. To think that in this day and age I am able to enjoy tea harvested and made by Chinese Tea farmers all the way here in my small Texas apartment. We have come so far as a society and yet we are stepping back.I don't want to bum anyone out, and currently we don't know what will happen, truly, in the coming weeks. It's best to enjoy what we do have at the moment.

For those who are curious I was drinking White2Teas Bloodmoon from 2022 which is a new find for me. Sadly I am unable to order from White2Tea directly at this time, but thankfully I was able to find a local shop I could order 15 minis from. The smell of this tea steeped is heavenly. White tea is my favorite type, however, this tea is a hybrid of white/black tea. I'm not sure what the process they use to make that so, but you can tell within the steeps. The earlier steeps are light, floral, and a tad fruity. A classic white tea. However, as you keep steeping a toasty smell and flavor starts to come out. That warm hug that you get from black tea. Whenever I get the chance I would love to try a "fresh" Bloodmoon. These minis are 3 years old so I want to know if there has been any big flavor/aroma changes.

I hope my ramblings are entertaining. It's nice just typing out my thoughts for the first time in a long time. I'm not really wanting to journal here, I save that for writing and scrapbooking. However, my random thoughts I don't mind showing y'all.

Peace and Love, NerdyMug

4/1/2025: Springtime Azaleas

Posting this a few weeks later on April 16th, but these beautiful Azaleas were full in bloom April 1st. I live in an area that is covered in Azaleas, and they are my first indicator that Spring is officially here. By now the blooms have all but shriveled away and the bushes are back to being inconspicuous foliage that hide away throughout my town. I absolutely love the Azaleas and getting to see bursts of pink, magenta, and pearly white pop around my town is a wonderful way to usher in the season.

Peace and Love, NerdyMug

3/2/2025: Phone Theme/Icon Pack Update

Well it's been longer than I expected (and I'm not really "done"), but I wanted to update the blog with the current status of my drawn icons. Basically I have drawn all of my regularly used apps, besides the Pokemon Pocket App. I still want to draw some small and medium size widgets pieces of art that go along with the Theme. I'm thinking of making it packs of crayons with the color pallette I have going.

I don't know when I will be putting the Theme Pack on Etsy or Ko-Fi. I still want to finish those widgets and several more base app icons for it to feel worth posting. I don't wanna just keep updating it piece by piece, I just wanna post the whole thing at one time.

If you want to know about the widgets, I use "Color Widgets" for both the Calendar and the Smaller Pic widget. I set my iPhone App customization to Large Icons to get rid of the labels underneath.

Peace and Love, NerdyMug

2/5/2025: My Next Project - Phone Theme/Icon Pack

After spending a good 5 days on the entire site revamp I am in the mood to update some more of my tech around me. The one piece of tech I alwayd have on me is my phone, and theme packs from Etsy are one of my favorite seasonal splurges. It gives me creative freedom (as much as you can with Apple.) to make my phone into any cute theme I wish for. And right now I am an a rainbow rampage (if you couldn't tell by looking around.). So I was looking for a bright pastel theme set, and I was coming up empty. There were muted pastels, but I want those in your face Easter Dress colors. So I have decided to go ahesad and create my own Phone Theme pack that I will hopefully have on my own Etsy or Ko-Fi when it is all said and done.

These 8 icons are what I have completed so far. I took time this morning and went to my favorite coffee shop to sit and draw these while sipping a iced coffee. (Texas is back to being it's good ole humid self.) It's been a bit of a creative struggle as I keep drawing icons I don't really like, and deleting them just to start all over again. Sometimes it just clicks right away though. Thinking about it, this is really good artistic practice as you are trying to stick within a color pallete, limit the colors of each icon, and illustrate it in a way that is easy to interpret. And at the end you just to use them all the time!

I'll be posting another blog post when I complete these. I'll link to wherever I will be selling them at incase anyone wants my silly little icons. At the very least I hope this may inspire other artists to make their own icons for themselves.

Peace and Love, NerdyMug

12/28/2024: Intentions and Goals for 2025

Hello There,

It's been a while since I have written to you. I hope you are doing well and that the Holidays have treated you well. We are still celebrating Christmas in our home until January. However, I wanted to write about some of my intentions and goals for the coming year, so maybe the internet can keep me accountable (lol). First, I wanted to explain why it is Intentions and Goals and not just "My New Year's Resolutions", mainly because Resolutions never work for me. Intentions I can keep reminding myself of, and concrete goals are easier to visualize and make steps toward. So that is why I am picking intentions and goals.

Intentions confetti

Focusing on my Heirarchy of Needs
Building stronger relationships (familial and friends)

Goals

Quitting Soda
Paying off my Credit Card Debt
Quitting my Brith Control (and not imploding)

I have chosen to have only a few Goals and Intentions to not overwhelm myself. For Intentions, I have put focusing on my needs and building stronger relationships. For the "heirarchy of needs" I am trying to follow Maslow's Pyramid to slowly build a better life for myself. Of course, I do not expect perfection, I just want to do better for myself. If you are unfamiliar with Maslow's I will link information Here, but the basic premise is I am going to be working from the base up to help better my life. The first being the "Physiological Needs"; things like keeping myself fed and hydrated, keeping a clean environment, and my biggest one, getting good sleep. Slowly working on these needs until I feel comfortable to move on to the next layer on the pyramid.

For building my relationships I am going to try and reach out more and not wait for others to reach out to me. Currently, I am collecting all my friends birthdays so I can make sure and do something for them on the day. Also remembering important days for them like a death anniversary that they may need more support on.

My goals are much more straight forward, and easy to explain. I want to Quit my Dr. Pepper addiction (yes addiction) becayse it is physically causing me issues. Increasing anxiety, destroying my already weak teeth, and causing me sleep issues. For me it's not about the Caffeine it's about the entire soda. Then Paying iof my Credit Card Debt is self explainatory I got debt from stupid purchases and I wanna get debt free. Finally, the "Getting off brith control" isn't for kids or anything, but to see how my health will be affected after quitting it. My family has a history of hormone issues, and with my fatigue problems this year I am just trying some things out to see what is best for myself. I am terrified that my acne will return with a vengeance though, because I had the painful cystic kind. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen, but I really wanna see if my health increases or not.

So, I may update on my progress once every quarter to keep myself accountable. Nothing too detailed, just keeping regular updates. If you have any goals or intentions for the new year I would love to hear them! You can drop them in the comment box or email me at nerdymug@gmail.com .

Peace and Love, Nerdymug

9/8/2024: Saying Goodbye to Summer

The last two days here in my part of TX have had beautiful temperatures and cool breezes. The leaves are starting to lose their deep hues and lightening to a pale yellow green. Truly, fall is upon us and it makes me think about the wonderful summer I got to experience.

This summer my husband was working at Martin Creek Lake State Park here in the East Texas Area. Working as a "Park Interpreter" which focused on programs and outreach. I got to spend many days helping with programs and being apart of the action. Being a former education major helps when it comes to children's programs. Many weekend lunches were spent my the lake there, basking in the sunshine and chowing down on pb&j sandwhiches.

Obviously, my favorite programs to be apart of were the astronomy programs. Stargazing in this park was incredible compared to where I live (city with lots of light pollution). I would say that this park is about a 4 on the Bortle Scale which let us have some great viewings of different objects. The very last one we had I was able to see Saturns rings, M13, and the binary star system Alberio. Which I find impressive to see with my beginner scope.

Like I had said in my "Fall 2024 Bucket List" post, I really want to get my first Milky Way picture this Fall. This summer was acutally the first time I got to talk to other amatuer astronomers and astrophotographers; who were able to help me immensely in my starter kit. All I need now is a good tripod, and a clear, no moon, night.

My husband is also working on his own photography skills to add to his Parks and Wildlife Resume. Above are some of the nature photos he took while he was working this summer. I just wanted to show them off because not only am I proud, but also it's a cute pink dragonfly and a treefrog. I will have to ask him what exact names they have.

I'm definitely sad to see this wonderful summer is over. There is so much more I didn't get to mention (as it would make this post waaaay too long) that made this summer so heart fulfilling. There is so much awe and majesty walking through the trails and forests, especially when you are alone on a dewy morning. That feeling of being so small in such a big world, and yet feeling so connected to all of it. I loved touching the tree bark and leaves and feeling the ground underneath me. Growing up I had so much of it, and I took it for granted. Now, living in a city with nothing but concrete, I finally realize how much we need that feeling of awe with nature. It's apart of why I started training to become a Texas Master Naturalist. I want to be apart of something bigger in preserving that beauty. Not only for me but for so many who need to feel that they are surrounded by awesome wonders.

I hope you too are able to go out and feel the breeze on your skin. To listen to leaves rustling and the birds chirping, and maybe even begin to learn those calls. Which birds come in and out every season, and what friends will be calling out to you today?

Peace and love, Nerdymug small dandelion

9/4/2024: Fall 2024 Bucket List

Howdy everyone!

Here in the US, fall is right around the corner. I live in Texas so I really don't get "Fall" till mid November at best. However, Fall time is one of my favorites due to the cozy atmostphere and the amount of reading and crocheting I get to do! And to get myself into this transition of Summer -> Fall I made myself a Fall Bucket List.

Some things I am really excited for is taking my first Milky Way long exposure photo. I have been a big Astronomy lover for a long time and finally joined a local Astronomy Group two months back. One of the guys there gave me tips on how to start and I searched online for a second hand DSLR Camera and Wide Angle lens (Mercari was my friend for this one). And now I just need to take an evening when the night is clear and go out to the darkest sky spot in my area.

After, that I am really excited for a Soup Party with my friends. All of friends live about 2 hours away from me so we have to plan when I can come out top see them. A Soup Party is just the thing to get us all together. I have a friend who started going vegetarian so I also get to try my hand at perfecting my favorite Vegetarian soup "White Bean Pasta Fagioli"; which is a hearty bean soup. I add a bit for pasta than it states cause if not I feel it is TOO beany.

I love making these bucket lists becuase I have been making them since I was 13-14 yo. It helps me separate the seasons and gives me something to look forward to all year round; as well as it gives me goals to strive for. Some easy things, and some I need to plan and put in extra effort. I'm in my mid 20's now, so I don't get school breaks, but something like this keep me hyped for each chapter I am in. I highly suggest making one if you are feeling life is all the same.

I'll definitely be blogging about most of these and make sure to link back and get to "crossoff" the actions from my list. Here's to our slowly approching cozy weather!

Peace and Love, NerdyMug