All posts by Anne Younger

Anne is a 30-something full-time SAHM mom of 5 ranging from 3 to 17 and grandma of 1 who resides in Ashwaubenon (Green Bay) Wisconsin. She started blogging in 2008 as a way to regain her sanity. She enjoys coffee, chocolate, cheeseburgers and vodka along with spending time with her husband and kids.

Take Advantage of the Mopar Express Lane

When it comes to servicing my vehicle, I will admit, I usually make someone else take it in. For me, I just have too much going on to make an appointment, take my car to the dealership, and sit there and wait, for what seems like an eternity, for them to be done with it.

I’m just not a fan of scheduling appointments and waiting.

Mopar Express Lane

No Appointment Needed

At Speedway Auto Group, they know that your time is important and that is why they have set up their facilities to provide quick, convenient service for changing your oil, checking your vehicle and getting you back on the road quickly and securely.

Done Fast! Done Right!

  • Oil and Filter Change
  • Chassis Lube
  • Tire Rotation with Brake Inspection
  • Tire Wear and Pressure Check
  • Battery Test and Replacement*
  • Multi-point Checkup
  • Air Filter Replacement
  • Wiper Blades Replacement
  • Coolant and Fluid Level Checks and Top Offs
  • Replace Exterior Bulbs**

    MOPAR® EXPRESS LANE SERVICE AVAILABLE FOR MOST MAKES AND MODELS

    *For non-warranty replacements **Headlamps may be excluded

Keeping Mice at Bay: Preventing Bedroom Infestations

Image Source: Unsplash

Midnight Snacks

As there are more and more people across the United States today that like to have a TV in every room of their home, it is not surprising that snacking in the bedroom is on the increase. However, if we are to significantly decrease the chances of a mouse infestation in our bedroom, we should try to refrain from eating whilst watching one of our favourite TV series whilst in bed. Of course, apart from the danger of having an army of hungry ants taking over our sleeping quarters due to devouring midnight snacks when binging on our latest TV drama, we could end up inadvertently inviting unscrupulous rodents to take up residence in our home. Having said that, folks who choose to look on the internet for blogs about how to prevent mice or rat infestations should be more than aware of what they need to do if they are going to stay rodent-free.

There are articles you can find from websites that should turn out to be very useful sources of information for people determined to prevent their home from becoming a popular place for rodents such as mice. Indeed, if we are serious about being able to stop mice or rats from entering our place of residence, we will need to roll up our sleeves and get stuck into a bit of online research.

Pet Food

Image Source: Unsplash

Although most people who have a dog or cat will keep their pet’s food in the kitchen or pantry, some U.S. homeowners will have a bowl of food for their canine companion or feline friend in their bedroom. Of course, if we do let our pet sleep in our bedroom and therefore feel obliged to supply food in case they get hungry, we should be aware that we could be encouraging rodents such as mice to come into the bedroom.

Smart people who are aware of the fact that Pest Free USA offers Plug In Pest Repeller should already be clued in to the fact that they have a tried and tested solution at hand with regards to preventing home infestations of mice. Indeed, it goes without saying that it is best to think of ways of actually stopping any interest from rodents regarding getting comfortable in the place we call home.

Apart from it being really important to keep all pet food properly sealed in suitable containers in order to prevent the attention from mice, it is best not to leave any kind of food out – not only in the bedroom, but anywhere in the house.

Space Invaders

Most people who have their own computer and access to the internet will be aware of how easy it is to source almost any kind of information that they may need on a daily basis or when they have an emergency. Of course, U.S. folks who are trying to prevent another mice infestation after recently overcoming their last rodent invasion may want to consider some of the points set out by experts in how to prevent mice infestation in the home including:

Image Source: Unsplash

  1. Block all holes that could allow entry to mice
  2. Take out garbage on a regular basis
  3. Avoid eating late-night snacks in the bedroom
  4. Take in a young and lively cat
  5. Keep all rooms clean at all times

Homeowners that happen to have a very alert and quite scary looking cat who sleeps in their bedroom could be able to keep out mice just by the presence of their intimidating feline friend.

Studying Law While Being a Mother

Being a mom and a law student can be a hard task if not the hardest. Trying to fit the whole constitution in your brain and still take care of your kid’s (or kids’) wellbeing is quite a challenge. If you make any slight mistake, you could end up losing the ability to balance both. As much as this seems to be difficult, it is not impossible. To start off, it is advised to work with an LSAT tutor when applying to law school, so you can make yourself look competitive on applications. Work with a tutor to both help you do well on the LSAT, but then also, to plant patterns of task management, effective studying, and balancing this with your busy lives. After all, women have been built to survive and overcome hardship, why not this.

 

 

 

Develop a Positive Attitude.

It all starts with the mind. As Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” The first step to succeeding is setting your mind to achieving something, and organizing a plan to carry out your goals. If a mom is passionate about pursuing a law degree and believes that having a kid is not going to stand on her way, trust me it won’t. That passion will definitely propel her to overcome any obstacles and end up balancing her pre-law studies, law studies, and then onto her bar exam.

 

Manage Your Time.

After you have made up your mind to move forward in your academic pursuit, figure out how best you will manage your time in order to handle your studies and your family efficiently. I know a mom who does this very well, she is always making time for her studies and her kids. She even makes time for her friends. What I noticed is that she has a strict timetable that is well balanced. I am sure you can come up with one and make it work. This is one of the best ways to handle your schedule.

 

Be Proactive.

Even if you have the best, most granular time schedule, if you are not proactive and cannot commit 100% to the process of becoming a competitive law school applicant, your LSAT tutor will just tell you to stop wasting your time. You need to be involved and engaged in the process. While at home, forget all about school and focus on your family 100%. While at school, be attentive and apply a laser focus on the material. You might never have the ideal amount of time to study, so try to make every waking moment as productive and efficient as possible.

 

Being a mom and a law student doesn’t have to be as hard as some people describe it. Once you come up with the tricks and strategy to balance your obligations, you’ll be ahead of the pack. The above recommendations can help you juggle between the two.

Streamlining the Process: 12 Tips That Will Get You Moving to a New Home in No Time

The process of moving to your new house can be extremely stressful. Maybe your lifestyle has changed. Or you’ve been transferred to a new place to work. Whatever the reason, you’re moving to a new place. Think about the process of packing, loading, unloading, and unpacking. These processes will probably make you curse the day. But with the right tips, the process will be a lot less arduous. Here are 12 tips that will get you moving to your new home in no time. Please read on.

 

  1. Start Early

Many people tend to pack and sort their things during the last minute. And this is where every stress of moving starts. When you realize that you have a lot of things than you thought. That you don’t have enough boxes to put your things. And the money you set aside for the process is not enough. Then you start panicking. Yet you could avoid all this by planning everything much earlier. So, avoid all these surprises and start planning and packing earlier.

 

  1. Budget

Do you have enough money to cover all the important costs? Perhaps knowing how much it will cost you to move out will help you budget for it. You may use a moving cost calculator prior to moving to find an estimated cost for your moving. This will save you all the financial hassles you’d more likely encounter during the big day.

  1. Clean Your New Home Prior to Moving

You wouldn’t want to be busy wiping off the stains and dust in your new home during the big day and at the same time guiding the movers on where to put your things. And, perhaps, you’ll be tired after moving. So, for less stress and ease of moving, clean your new home and some of your things prior to your moving.

  1. Have Enough Moving Boxes

You’re going to need a lot of moving boxes to put your things. And it’s not a must that you buy them. You can reuse some of the packing boxes. Ask friends and relatives who recently moved if they can give you some boxes to use. You’ll also find useful boxes in your workplace and at the nearest electrical stores. Get the boxes and start packing as soon as possible.  

 

  1. Sort Your Things by Category

You need to sort your things by type like the mom’s clothes, kids’ clothes or dad’s clothes. You may think of sorting things according to respective rooms but this can cause some inconvenience. Put common things together in one place to reduce the number of boxes and, perhaps, save you time and money.
 

  1. Label The Boxes Clearly

Proper labeling of the boxes is very important. This will make your moving and unpacking easier. And by labeling of the boxes, how well should you ensure you labeled properly? Well, ensure you label the top, bottom, and sides so that you can easily identify the box you’re looking for especially if they’re irregularly stacked.

  1. Hire A Professional Moving Company

Professional movers will save you both time and energy. The moving companies provide storage and packing services and normally have pre-move visits to plan on the necessities during the big day. Remember, you will be placing all of your property in the hands of the movers and you wouldn’t want to risk having the unskilled and inexperienced staff to handle your things. There’re several moving companies available such as the Piano Movers that you can hire for professional moving services. You can visit www.pianomoversoftexas.com for more information.

  1. Move On the Right Day

Moving can take 5 hours or 20 hours depending on several factors such as the distance to your new home, amount of things to move, and the size of the transporting truck. You need to look for a day that you’ll be free. The moving company shouldn’t be booked on this day also. You may opt to move on a weekday as most movers are busy during the weekends.

  1. Consider Giving to Charity

When you start packing your things ready to move out, there’s a high probability that you’ll have some items that you’ll not be needing anymore – but still in good condition, of course. You may consider dropping these items to the nearest charity shop around you. And you’ll have saved on space and time of moving and unpacking.

  • Find Out the Easiest Route to Your New Home

Regardless of the distance to your new home, you wouldn’t want to waste time getting stuck in traffic. There’s a possibility that you may also get lost if you haven’t mastered the road well. “But I trust my google map.” Well, yes it helps, a lot. But it’s not a guarantee that you’ll never get lost if you use it. Figure out which route will get you to your destination as fast as possible and with less traffic and unnecessary stops.

  • Use The Right Tape

You won’t want to be packing and repacking your things in the moving boxes just because the tape you used couldn’t sustain the weight. But if you use the heavy duty packing tape when packing, you won’t have to worry about the safety of your things and the need to repack in case the box suddenly opens.

  • Load Boxes by Category

This will make the process of unpacking very easy. Having the kitchen stuff together and bedroom stuff in another place will let you unload them at the same time to the respective rooms. And you’ll be done within the shortest time possible. This is what you’d want, right? And, perhaps, this is what you’re going to do when you’ll be moving.

Conclusion

You need to have “fun” moving to your new place. This means not encountering the common stress involved during the process. These tips will help make your moving easier and faster. Perhaps hiring a professional moving company will save you a lot of problems but you also need to play a part in the process. Look out for relevant themed blogs for more valuable information about your moving. Good luck!

 

6 Quick Ways to Help Maintain Your Home

Photo Source

Home maintenance is essential to ensure you and your family are living in a safe and healthy environment. The condition of your home can deteriorate over time. As a result, many problems that will both harm the dwellers inside and make the house inhabitable will likely crop up. These problems can be anything, from minor leaky plumbing pipes and molding to major pest infestation and gas leaks. That’s why it’s vital to follow a home maintenance checklist regularly.

Inspect Your House

In many cases, you won’t notice something is wrong unless you look for it. Work, family, social life, and other obligations can keep you busy and cause you to neglect your home. By the time you notice something is wrong, the situation may be too dire for you to handle.

To prevent a disaster from happening, it’s better to schedule an inspection routine every month. Look out for damages on your siding; cracks or erosion on your masonry stoop, steps, walls, and foundation; and/or signs of wear on your windows, doors, sill, and caps. Check your flooring for softness or instability, especially near exterior doors, in the bathroom, and in the kitchen.

Watch out for water that has collected over time in places where it’s not supposed to, like in your gutter and walls. Inspect your basement, crawl space, and ductwork for anything out of place. Finally, check the condition of the interior and exterior paint of the house.

You don’t need an expert eye to notice all these problems. All you have to do are to thoroughly examine every part of your house and to learn what to look out for. By inspecting your house regularly, you can be aware of and deal with certain problems before they get worse.

Repair or Replace When Necessary

After thoroughly inspecting your house, you’ve likely noticed some of the problems mentioned earlier. Whether it’s a damaged siding or a fading paint, fix the problem immediately to prevent it from snowballing.

Loose or cracked siding can cause water and pests to get into your walls, as well as encourage the development of mildew, fungus, and mold. This can damage your walls in the long run, costing you hundreds to thousands on renovation fees.

The same goes for leaking fixtures and malfunctioning electronics. Dripping faucets and phantom flushing toilets can waste a lot of water and add to your water bills, while damaged electronics can cause dangerous fires or blackouts.

You can prevent certain problems from arising by installing measures in your home. For example, insulating your attic can seal up cracks, preventing moisture and pests from coming in, and help keep the house warm, which saves energy from heating.

Installing an all-purpose grinding pump helps manage the wastewater flowing from all your bathroom fixtures (e.g., bathtub, toilet, sink, washing machine, etc.) to your sewage system or septic tank.

Preventing damages and problems is always better and more cost-effective than fixing them.

Change Air Filter

Keep the indoor air quality clean by regularly checking your air filters and changing them when necessary. Ventilators suck in dust and other particles to keep you from breathing them in, and most of these pollutants stick to your air filter.

A dirty air filter prevents not just your ventilator but also your whole HVAC system from working properly. It allows more pollutants to suffuse the air indoors, which can result in sudden bouts of illnesses in the family. It can also damage your HVAC system when left unchanged for too long.

Make sure to change your air filter regularly. If you’re using the cheap fiberglass kind, it’s usually recommended to change it every 30 days. High-end pleated filters can last longer for up to 6 months, but if there are children, elderly, and/or allergic, asthmatic, or sick patients at home, the filter should be changed every 6 weeks or so.

Insulate Plumbing Pipes

People love to use warm water to take a shower or bath, wash their hands, and do their laundry. Warm water is accessible in most homes, courtesy of water heaters.

From the heater, warm water travels through plumbing pipes before it reaches your faucet and your shower. As it travels, it can lose its heat because of the cold temperature of the pipes. Sometimes, the water also takes longer to flow.

Insulating your plumbing pipes can prevent this from happening. You can use insulating foam to cover your plumbing pipes so warm water can travel faster from the heater to the fixture while it maintains its temperature. Pipe insulation also prevents leaks from happening, so you get two benefits in one.

Keep Moisture and Mold under Control

Moisture, coupled with humidity, is a huge problem for homeowners. For one, exposure to damp environments can have a negative impact on your health, including respiratory problems, respiratory infections, allergies, asthma, and certain skin conditions. Babies, children, elderly people, sick patients, and immunocompromised persons are particularly vulnerable to these harmful effects.

Dampness can also bring about molding, which can also have its own adverse effects to you and your family’s health. As such, make sure to check for molding using a mold detection kit to properly diagnose and resolve the problem.

Solve the root cause of the problem by preventing moisture and humidity from building up inside. Fix leaky pipes and fixtures immediately, and seal any cracks in your home. Ventilate your bathroom and kitchen during and after use. Waterproof and insulate your home.

Clean Your House Regularly

Regular cleaning is the easiest way you can maintain your house. Vacuum your floor and carpets at least twice a week to get rid of dust and air pollutants that may cause you to get sick. Wipe and disinfect surfaces (e.g., tables, counters, vanities, sinks, etc.) for the same reason, as well as for maintaining the appearance and condition.

Wash your curtains, covers, runners, etc. to prevent the growth of germs. Maintain the cleanliness of your home in order to create a safe and healthy environment for you and your family.

Final Word

If you want to live in a clean environment and extend the life span of your current home, follow a home maintenance checklist regularly. Time, usage, and other factors can gradually cause a decline in your home’s condition, but maintenance can lessen the impact and restore its condition. Whether it’s cleaning regularly or inspecting your home, it’s your responsibility as the dweller to maintain your home.