My baby boys favorite snack!

 

My youngest kiddo’s favorite snack?  Well, when we went to Korea, as a family, in 2013 an ajumma fed him some anchovies.  They were dried and we were all kinda….well not feeling it like he was. Ever since then he’s asked for them but we live in small town with an Asian market about 40 minutes away. But I look every time I go. In 10 years I’ve never found them until this weekend. They had dried, seasoned anchovies and he was in Heaven. He had them opened so fast I didn’t have my camera out because I was still putting the other items away. All I hard was the crack of the container and then a low, “mmmmm”. He finished them the same day.  They smelled so bad to me but he LOVES them. 

True Korean kid. He loves his gojuchang spice and anchovies. 

Rock this and paper towel holder

He wanted paper towels handy when we eat out by the pool, which is often.  So I found this holder for $10 and you can either stick it or screw it.  Our bar slats weren’t very thick and the screws that came with it were too long and would have gone through. I have quite the collection of screws if the sticky tape doesn’t hold so I’m not too worried just trying this first.  Sticky tape it is….for now. 

It’s now been up for several days and it’s been hot and humid   The tape hasn’t let go AND the paper towels haven’t unrolled  love this!

See link  below 👇🏼👇🏼 

Paper Towel Holder Under Cabinet, Single Hand Operable Wall Mount Paper Towel Holder with Damping Effect, Self-Adhesive or Drilled Paper Roll Holders for Kitchen, Bathroom, RV(2 Towel Robe Hooks) https://a.co/d/2q5xYBo

#affiliate #amazonfinds #papertowelholder #nomess #makelifeeasier #outdoorpatioaccessories

You rock Drew!

 

Such an example for mid aged women everywhere. It’s kind of impossible to live up to the Barbie images most models and celebs portray.  So hearing one say hey I’m just going to embrace my grey and whatever else comes is so welcomed to this almost 50 year old woman.  She’s not saying to hell with yourself, let it all go. She’s saying you don’t have to do Botox and have lifts and other surgeries to look younger.  Try to eat well, throw in some exercise but if things aren’t perfect embrace them,  

Thanks Drew!

Best ambience decor

 

I still love these Amazon purchases so much. From my plug in candles to my fairy lights that go at the base of my faux palm and into my little sea shell lantern. They both are on timer but they’re so pretty at night.  

Plug in candles

Warm fairy lights

#ambience #affiliate #amazonfinds #creative decor

So much accomplished on a hot Saturday

 I got my new Kasa motion switch installed for my pantry closet so we can see inside the pantry.  And then off to Lowe’s to get a garden box and some soil to transplant the tomatoes and peppers. For whatever reason they’ve not been happy in our raised bed so I had heard good things about this and had to try.  We’ll see how it goes.  The husband wants to put strawberries in the old raised bed next year so we will give it a try before leveling it.  I like the idea of how the garden box works. We shall see. 

After planting we jumped in for a swim and had friends over  some stayed to watch another Cardinals game  

I LOVE productive yet relaxing days  

I’ll post more on the garden box at a later date. 

Your chance to get that switch!

 

Kasa smart motion switch here!

These are some of those Kasa switches that I’m always talking about.  Extremely awesome price today. Likely won’t return. Can’t wait to install mine in the pantry!

Real record player for my daughter….score Amazon lightening deal

 

I just scored this record player for my daughters birthday.  She’ll be 18 soon and mentioned asking for one for Christmas because our budget is too low for a birthday.  But at just under $40 I could sneak it in. She will be so surprised and excited!

If you see this during Prime Deals 2023 get it while you can. Link below 

Lightening deal record player

High deductible health plans and your adult children on your insurance (you need to know)

 What you don’t know could get you audited.

Luckily I had came upon this a few years ago when my oldest went out on his own. But I was disappointed to find that our congress and most HR staff didn’t know that when congress allowed parents to keep their children on their health insurance until age 26 and high deductible health plans (HDHP) came along they didn’t fix tax code to match up to the change and make it make sense.

So yep you can keep them on there but you cannot pay their medical bills with your HSA (health savings account) finds unless you are able to legally claim as a dependent. That’s really only possible with student adult or disabled children. Publication 969 explains all of this.

When I tell HR this they say well just have said child open their own HSA? That does work if your child also has their own employer sponsored HDHP. If not, the employer won’t set up an HSA so the child would have to get their own through a bank and most local banks will charge fees AND they’re no longer getting the tax savings of having it deducted from their paycheck. You’re better off putting it anywhere else at that point.

In my middle sons case, he got a job with the same large organization I happen to work for, so they don’t allow him to have his own and be on mine. So he’s only going to be on mine so at least he gets the benefit of meeting the family deductible until later, when he turns 26. And if he decides to return to grad school this will be better in the long run.  In my middle sons case, he got a job with the same large organization I happen to work for, so they don’t allow him to have his own and be on mine. So he’s only going to be on mine so at least he gets the benefit of meeting the family deductible until later, when he turns 26. And if he decides to return to grad school this will be better in the long run.

Fortune, when they turn 18 in my house I made them open a Roth IRA. They all work at age 16, so they all can legally contribute. They just open it with $2k to start and that starts the clock ticking on the 5 year rule.

That’s another topic for another day!  #healthinsurance #healthinsuranceadultchildren #adultchildinsurance #claimingdependents

Sweet little kitten

 

We love our sweet little kitten so much. He’s not such a kitten anymore. He’s  over a year. His sleeping positions, in the summer heat, crack us up. He lies on the floor, in various chairs and hangs off the zero gravity lounger.  He always makes us laugh and is so sweet. 

Our sweet Loki is growing up. 

We waited….I waited…a long time

 

I have wanted a pool since I was a kid. I LOVE the water. I was born to be near the water. When the older kids were little we had a couple of framed pools for several years. $100 was all we could afford but they had fun in it. It was worth it. I still wanted a pool I could float in but couldn’t make sense of the expense.  

THEN…. The mortgage rates dropped and the interest we saved refinancing down to 2.375 and 15 years was about $100k in interest. We cashed the house some money (while keeping in range by plenty so as not to pay PMI) and found someone to put in a pool. This is of course, more  than 10 years after all those small pools but it was worth the wait. It was never for them. It was for us to enjoy. We will be here even after they fly. And we use it almost every day. And the biggest reward is having friends and family over to enjoy with us AND the pool completely eliminates my husbands nerve pain from his spinal cord injury. Wait for what you really want. 

Keep dreaming and keep trying and working. 

#waitfordreams #patience #nervepainrelief #refinanceforpool #worthit