noun
noun: compound; plural noun: compounds
ˈkämˌpound/
1.
a thing that is composed of two or more separate elements; a mixture.
This is our story. A married couple, their two kids and two dogs, and a single mom, her daughter, and two dogs all working together to RAISE THE COMPOUND!
We have spent the last several Saturdays looking at tons of houses. We have put offers in on a few... our house is STILL on the market.
After weeks and weeks of house hunting, we have finally settled on a house and our offer has been accepted. It's somewhat of a fixer-upper, but lots of potential in a nice older neighborhood (lots of awesome trees and a huge yard!!!)
We actually put an offer in on this house a while back but it was about $30k below their asking price so they rejected it....they had another person go under contract and didn't complete it. So we offered again at our original offer price and they accepted!!! It pays to be patient. We knew the house needed a lot of work so we were unwilling to pay close to market value since we wanted to have the extra money for repairs and updates. Our idols are Young House Love... we want to be like them when we grow up!!! We will be flipping this into our dream home just like they do on their blog!
Any who-
Be looking for lots of posts and updates to come as we Raise our compound!!!!
We will officially be opening the compound as soon as we move in (hopefully by the end of the month!) Stay tuned for our move date!
Also, our dogs have been introduced to each other. Now we have to introduce them to you!
Next post: Meet the McMay pooches.... I promise you won't be disappointed by their cuteness!
<h1>Hello World</h1>. I'm Mr. McMay. I am a Father, IT guy, Video Game Enthusiast, Avid Sky Diver, Gymnastics Coach, Pilot, Photographer, Handy Man, Working out, Runner and I love to cook. There are 6 true, 3 false, and 2 half-true statements in that last sentence. I'll let you decide which ones are which. So I guess this is where I'm supposed to talk about me. 9 times out of 10 I am the person behind the scenes making everything work. This is in complete opposite to either of the other McMays (Luca is TBD on his camera personalities).
History:
I grew up in Peoria, IL. Undergrad and grad both at Eastern Illinois University (where Romo went to college). While I was doing my graduate work, Michala decided that I shouldn't be a jobless bum any more and got me a job with an IT Firm out of the town we were living. After a few years of shenanigans in that town, we decided that we should move our household to a nice, small, traffic-less town called Houston. Ha.
My credentials (I was told to format this as close to the others as possible):
I have a bachelors in History and a masters in College Student Affairs. Well...wait...that has nothing to do with IT work...ya...Apparently, I am decent at doing IT work. I picked that up fairly quickly and here I am server administrator for a university. Also, I work as the voice of reason to all of Michala's projects...well and now a certain extent Sheri's. Outside of my professional life, I am a gymnastics coach. I have been coaching for 8 years now between Women's Artistic and Tumbling and Trampoline. Whenever I am not doing any of those above things, I am playing video games. I play a mixed bag of everything between mmorpg's to throwback 2d games (never got much into the text based games...turn right -> enter -> [monster approaches] how do I swing my weapon -> character dies).
How did I get here? ---Good question. Normally, I would go in to the...well one night daddy and mommy really loved each other, but I'll revert from that joke at the moment. It has more been a fly by the seat of your pants than a well thought out plan that was executed step by step.
Overall, you can tell I'm a really big "sharer". I do much better in a Q&A section.
Welcome to day 3 of meeting the McMay’s. Now that Mrs. McMay
(Michala) has cleared up some scuttle-butt and introduced herself, it’s time
for me to introduce myself. I am Ms. Sheri May, single mother (yet again) to an
amazing 9-year old, sassy pants, girly-girl, Auryana. I'm a ♓️Pisces/Aquarius♒️ (no I don't follow that stuff but it def helps explain my personality(ies)).
ME (can i get a selfie?):
My History: I grew up in Arlington,
Texas. I was home-schooled k-4 and then went to a private school 3-9 then a public school 10-11, then moved to Houston for my senior year (worse time of my life). Then I moved back to Arlington for college, then moved
to Austin for college and that's where my daughter was born, then I moved back to Houston, and here I am today landed in Katy. Yup I'm like the traveling Texan. Moved a million times but never left my home state. My Credentials:I have my bachelor degree from UHD in Business Administration-
Accounting (which only took me 10 years), and am currently working as a proposal manager for an environmental
construction company. I also have my certificate of Entrepreneurship (whaaat?) seems like I should be doing something with that! 🤔 I
How did I get here: Earlier this year, my best friend/soulmate/partner in life (and crime) passed away in a tragic
motorcycle accident (I will share that aspect of my life at a later date). Needless to say, that flipped our lives over and changed our path forever.
Since then, my goals have been completely different. I realize my daughter needs
me more than ever right now and we just need to not be stressed. I always have too many irons in the fire. I love staying busy and
being involved, but over the last couple of years I learned to say no a lot
more. So now I’m saying no to stress and yes to new adventures!
How this crazy conglomerate got started:
One day while Michala and I were chatting it dawned on us that we both had similar goals and that we are quite the power couple (no homo) when we put our heads together.
We decided, WHY should we both struggle to be the women/mothers,etc. we want to be, when we could combine our powers and actually accomplish everything we want and more!?!
(Reason #1 for raising the compound- moments like these)
Evan aka Mr. McMay usually just sits back and watches us in amusement. What can I say? We are two crazy hot messes. We have all
kinds of ideas and we plan on implementing many very soon! So, stay tuned for a slew of our shenanigans!
Most Importantly About Me:
I LOVE dogs! I am
super obsessed with my little obnoxious furbabies! Hunter (16 lbs) is the little black weird one (I think he could have his own blog). He is seriously the sweetest most chill dog I've ever met. Our first year with him we were convinced he was NOT form the K-9 family, he's just very different, I truly believe if he were a humane he would be my sweet and smiling little Downsyndrome baby :-) He's the best! Tinkerbelle (7 lbs) is my little tri-colored firecracker of a chihuahua. She's the boss, just ask her.
(left) Tinkerbelle aka Tink and
(right) Hunter aka HuntyBear
Additional useless information: Some things you will learn about me here is that I have a
huge heart and I’m too nice, but I also don’t take anyone’s bad behavior and I
give ZERO >cares< about what people think about me (trying to tame my potty mouth). That’s why I am
totally open to sharing my crazy life right here for the whole world to see.
On another note, contrary to Mrs. McMay, I LOATHE grocery shopping. It literally gives me anxiety. I will, however, bake cookies, all day every day, but not a fan of cooking meals! I’ve never wanted to be a
stay-at-home anything, I’m a career woman, in the man’s world, kicking butt and taking names! (just kidding)
Side note-#HASHTAGS# (no actually they are pound signs people, come on people):
I often "hashtag" badmoms because, well the movie was hilarious, but also because I don't think being in someone else's box for my life makes sense. I don't care what is socially acceptable or expected, I'm not a square so I don't play by other people's rules. And after all I'm from Texas, so what did you expect? Since stereotypes don't effect my life, I hashtag badmoms and let you think what you want about my crazy social media posts because I do what I want! SO, as you follow us on social media, you can expect to see some of these # often:
#badmoms
#raisingthecompound
#sisterwives
#whoshitintheden
Until we blog again... I send you off with this overly appropriate song
We are back with another installment of #RaisingtheCompound! ARE YOU READY?
DISCLAIMER******* I feel that I need to clear something up. A question was raised about the three adults' relationship.... (HOW do I put emojis in a blog? This is where I would insert the cry laughing one!) With all the controversy in previous years surrounding compounds....We knew this question would come up so here's the answer:
Evan and Michala are married and Sheri is just their best friend. There is no funny business going on there! You can all relax now! :)
Yesterday we introduced you to the idea of the McMay family....today, we will start introducing you to each member! We'll start with the boss lady since, you know, she owns this blog and all! ;) (She's really not the boss....she just likes to think she is....) Why am I talking in third person? Haha....that was weird.
Anyway, on to the important stuff:
In the McMay family:
Evan- Mr. McMay
Michala- Mrs. McMay
Sheri- Ms. McMay
Auryana- Miss. McMay
Matius- Midget McMay EDITED TO SAY Mischief Maker McMay....also known as Triple M....
Luca- Mini McMay
On today's agenda- meet Mrs. McMay.
Here I am! Michala! Christian. Lover of Life. Wife to Evan. Mama to Matius and Luca. Quasi mama to Auryana. BFF to Sheri. Serial entrepreneur. Aspiring blogger. DIY junky. Pinterest ADDICT. Sewer (is that a word?). Vinyl lover. Teacher. LuLaRoe obsessed. Chef Extraordinaire! Stella and Dot guru. Handywoman. Steering committee for my Mom's group. Family C.F.O. 1/3 of the decision making team for this family.
Whew. That's a lot of titles for one person.
To say that I have my hand in pretty much everything may be a complete understatement. I tend to over-commit myself to too many things.
CURRENTLY:
I work full time as a business teacher in Katy ISD (suburb of Houston)
I own a LuLaRoe business that is booming! LOVE IT
Full time mama to two beautiful boys.
Trying to maintain SOMEWHAT of a clean house... (I am horrible at laundry...it's my weakness)
I love grocery shopping...it's like necessary retail therapy! I'm buying things we "need" ha.
And I LOVE cooking but just don't usually have time for it....
I am a Midwestern girl (Originally from Champaign/Urbana area) raising my kids to be southern gentlemen. I'm still learning the culture and ways of the Texas life but am adapting pretty quickly. I simply love Texas. I've always felt like Houston was my home....I felt called to come here (watch for another post on this at a later date!) I went to Eastern Illinois University for my Undergrad (Business Education) and Greenville College for my Master's (Education- English as a Second Language)
My motivation for starting this blog:
I have always loved blogging. I have another blog- McThrifter.blogspot.com where I occasionally blog about thrifty projects and DIYs I have done. I have blogged about a few LuLaRoe things there as well. But really, I've always thought it would be fun to just share life.
I'm a full and firm believer that you should do what works for you and not what everyone THINKS should work for you. I don't read parenting books. I don't read in to things too much. I take all advice with a grain of salt. In a nutshell, I do what works for me and my family first and foremost and then worry about everything else. If it isn't easy and natural, IT'S GOT TO GO! :) Breastfeeding, cloth diapering, baby wearing, etc. works for me. It is NOT for everyone though and I respect and understand that.
Without giving away too much of her story...back in April, after Daniel passed away, Sheri and I started thinking of ways she could make money to pay off her debt. As time went on and she started spending more time at our house the idea of a blog was thrown out there to chronicle the days in the life of us. We eventually talked about the idea of moving in together to help each other out. My LuLaRoe T.E.A.M. stands for Together Everyone Achieves More. This is truth. It takes a village to raise kids. The idea just kind of bloomed from that and here we are.
I hope that this blog can be and inspiration for some....or even just some entertainment! We have big plans that we can't wait to share with everyone.
Some of you may have seen this post Sheri put on Facebook recently. This is her daughter, Auryana and my son, Matius. They are BFFs. :) The idea for this blog started long before this picture but this last week, Sheri and I (we're the brains of this operation) have really been discussing and working towards a reality that we want to make happen SOON.
So here we are! Welcome to our slice of the internet. Here, we will chronicle our life for your enjoyment. Everyone says we need a reality TV show....well, here is the next best thing until TLC decides to pick us up! ;)
You will see all sorts of funny out takes, stories, etc from our day to day lives...here's the most recent....HAHA
We're still working on the details but those of you who know me (Michala) know that I am a very open, real life person which is what we are planning for this blog. I mean, seriously. 3 adults, 3 kids, 4 dogs, balancing life, work, a home business...You don't want to miss this! This will be 100% real life.
So what is up at the McMay's house? (HAHA, get it?? McWhirter and May, McMay)
Basically, here's what's up:
How did the idea for the blog come about? Sheri and Auryana are ALWAYS at our house. Essentially....one day during dinner we realized someone pooped in the living room. Literally. Poop ON THE FLOOR. The joke became "ok guys, who pooped in the den!?" And that's when we decided that our life is too fun to not share with y'all.
Why are we one big family? To make a long story short for the time being-Sheri's hubby passed away in April leaving her and her daughter, Auryana. More on this story later but in order for us all to get in a better place, we're all hoping to move in together. We are currently in the market for a house (we will blog about this too....) that we can all live in and make our own (again, more blog posts...) This is where the hashtags #sisterwives comes from. We always joke that Evan is Sheri's other husband because he's always questioning her financial purchases (usually involving LuLaRoe)
Who's in the family? Evan and Michala and their two kids Matius and Luca plus their two dogs Riley and Cooper. Sheri and her daughter Auryana and their two dogs Tinkerbelle and Hunter.
What do you do for a living? Well, currently, Evan works in IT, Michala is a teacher, Sheri is a proposal manager, the kids are....kids, and the dogs are DEMONS. I mean that in the sweetest sense....oh....and we sell LuLaRoe. It's pretty much great.
That's mostly it in a nutshell....
We plan to blog about our lives, our adventures, our shenanigans....Raising kids in an unconventional household (or is it really that unconventional? Because, let's be real, there is no such thing as a "NORMAL" household.), etc.
