Thursday, September 13, 2012

Reputable Insurance Agent

I mentioned in my last post that we were going through an agent in making all these changes with our health and dental insurance. I've been talking to Alex Bessinger from Utah Insurance Group and he's been more than helpful in helping us along in this process. I've called him more times than I can count about questions, concerns, thoughts, etc and he's been extremely patient and informative.

I thought I'd share his company's website so that any others who are looking for help with their health, dental and life insurance needs would be able to have the best agent available to them too. :) We're actually changing our Whole Life Insurance policies we've had for the last 15 years over to Term Life Insurance. We'll get over three times the coverage for half the cost of what we're paying through work. Granted, it's term and won't accrue any cash value, but from all of the research I've done and the people I've called to talk to about it, Whole Life Insurance just doesn't make much sense when it comes to people like my husband and me.

So if you're in the insurance market, go ahead and check out Utah Insurance Group. I know it was definitely worthwhile for us!
Utah Insurance Group
Available when you are: 7AM-9PM Mon-Fri
Phone: 801.336.4295 Fax: 801.951.4974 
Mailing Address: 1241 S 4350 W Syracuse, UT 84075

Monday, September 10, 2012

Health Insurance--A Necessary Evil?

Well, I believe I mentioned last week about how much our health insurance went up. This, of course happened at the same time as several other trials (can stuff just stop breaking? Nah! That'd mean you wouldn't need to buy new stuff and companies can't have that hurting their bottom lines!).

Anyway, I'll admit we seriously considered just going without health insurance period. I know some people are paying more than we are, but our share (with my hubby's employer paying half) is a little over $606 a month. The prescription benefits are crappy, our individual deductible is $1,000, the family deductible is $3,000 and honestly we just try not to use it unless it's for preventative because co-pays have gone up to $30 for a regular doctor and $50 for specialists. Our daughter's dislocated elbow that took 3 seconds to fix in the ER cost us $250. Yeah....not pretty.

We did try to qualify for UPP, but they've made it so difficult. Even though we met all the main criteria, we didn't qualify simply because we've already had the employer's insurance, so even if it was a new enrollment period and they had moved to a new plan (at a much higher rate) they said we'd have to not be on the employer's insurance before new enrollment starts and apply again during the next enrollment, period. Of all the stupid stipulations I've heard! Seriously?

But when it came down to it, we just couldn't make the jump to no insurance. Still, we can't afford to keep our current insurance. So we did some research down different avenues and ultimately decided to go out on our own with a high deductible plan with a Health Savings Account. We found a good agent who's helped us figure out the pros and cons of each plan and guided us in the right direction.

Our kids will be going on CHIP (something we'd never have even considered before the economy tanked). It'll take 90 days before they can go on it after our insurance is cancelled, which does make us a little nervous. We prefer the IHC facilities though and they have a financial assistance program for those who need it, so if an emergency occurs, we'll have to take advantage of that.

I haven't heard good things about State dental insurance, so we'll be getting our own plan for that too, for the whole family. Overall, this route is going to save us almost $400/month. That's nothing to sneeze at, for sure. We'll be able to find a use for that money easily!

I'll be honest that it's a little embarrassing to share some of these hardships with everyone here. There's always the chance that we'll be judged and found lacking. Oh well. I can't let my pride stop me from helping others out there who might need this information for their own families. We never asked for these things to happen. Five years ago we were living well and doing fine financially. Things changed--for a lot of people. We just have to make the best of it and survive how we can, I guess.

I am thankful though that my husband has been able to keep his job, even if his hours have significantly decreased. I know that there are those who have flat-out lost their jobs and their homes. We've managed, through the grace of God, to retain both. It's a miracle that with Bank of America's track record at the time of only 3% of people applying for the the government loan modifications receiving them, that we got a successful modification (not that I didn't fight tooth and nail for it~ Hah!).

So this will be a new experience for us. We prayed a lot before deciding on this course and I feel like we're making the right decision. Time will tell where it will go.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Tip of the day: Husking made easier!

We've gotten a great crop of sweet corn this year, and I've been husking it with the kids like crazy in the last few weeks--either for dinner, or to preserve it in the freezer. The one thing that makes me crazy about corn is all that hair! It's a pain to get off the ears and then it gets everywhere else when you're done. You'd think it shouldn't be that hard to clean up, but it's just sticky enough to prove you wrong.

Norwex has come through again and made my life easier. I learned that the polishing side of the Veggie and Fruit Scrub Cloth is excellent for getting off those little hairs on the corn. Then, by chance I figured out that the Rubber Brush sweeps it all into a neat pile for easy clean-up. I decided to try the rubber brush trick after finding out how effective it was at removing the pet hair from the floor of our minivan.

So while I wouldn't go so far as to say that husking corn is now the highlight of my day, I would say it's not the chore it was before.


There's always something to be thankful for.....right?

I have this plaque in my kitchen that I bought to remind myself that despite the trials in my life, I always have something for which I can be thankful. We've had a lot of trials in the last month that have had me repeating that mantra over and over again. Some days I sound more convincing than others.

I know everyone has their own difficulties going on in their lives, and that I'm certainly not being picked on (even though I might claim I feel that way on those truly awful days. Haha!) I decided I needed to call myself to task about this when I found myself talking to a very good friend about why I've been so anti-social lately. I told her I didn't want to make anyone else feel miserable by being around me during this very trying time. I'd rather just stay home, be with my family and stick my nose in a book that I know ends with a happily ever after! She had some encouraging things to say, but I was being bull-headed and didn't listen the way I should've. Thinking back over it though, I realized I need to pay more attention to those blessings in my life.

So despite the fact that our tank went out on our filtration system, and the sprayer is leaking on our drip line in the garden (again) and the recirculating pump broke on our water lines,  my CPU went out on my laptop, our Health insurance went up nearly $100 a month (while the coverage went down) and our AC went out during the peak temperatures of summer--I need to remind myself how fortunate we are.

For one, I'm married to a plumber, so we only have to pay for parts on those plumbing issues. Two, we have wonderful friends who have helped us with our AC issues multiple times and only charged us for parts and donated their time. That's no small thing. Three, I have a home to live in. Four, I have a beautiful family. Having come from a....dysfunctional background, I know this is among the best of my blessings. Without my family I would be lost. And then, I have a Heavenly Father who loves me. Yes, I know He loves me. It might be something I struggle to remember when I'm in the middle of a rather nasty trial, but ultimately, I know it's true.

There are many other blessings I haven't mentioned here, but I know they exist. I just need to put them at the forefront of my mind and not let myself be trampled down during these trials that I know are meant to strengthen me. And maybe, some day, I'll be strong enough that I won't need any more trials! Yeah, yeah, I won't hold my breath! ;)

Saturday, August 25, 2012

So how's the Norwex? And how about that writing?

I know it's been a long time since I talked about what I've been doing with Norwex. I started selling in February of this year, and yes I'm still doing it. I've hesitated talking much about it, since I really wanted this site to remain personal, and not too sales-pitchy. That's just me :)

Anyway, I started out strong and had a great couple of months of lining up parties, making sales and have had some decent commissions come in. I also had some dud parties that cost me more than I made, but thankfully those were few and far between. I learned some lessons fast the hard way and I came to the conclusion that I'm a terrible sales person! Haha. 

I still LOVE Norwex, and I believe in it 100%. I use it everywhere in my home and find it superior to anything else I've tried that's similar. That said, I just am not motivated enough to talk people into throwing parties for me. I can do it. I have done it. I just psych myself out that my friends, family and their friends and family are going to start screening their calls and avoiding me! Haha. Why do I fear that? Because I over-analyze EVERYTHING. And yes, I do mean everything.

Anyway, when I've put myself out there, I've done pretty well. I find that the more motivated I am, the better I explain things and the better my hostesses do. There is the occasional exception to this, but for the most part that's held true. I think I'll continue to do it, but to what degree, I'm not sure. I could see myself being successful with it and doing quite well financially, but that does have some drawbacks for me. The first drawback is that I'm definitely out of my comfort zone! Another is that I am less available to the kids and they hate that. It doesn't kill them though, much as they think so. And then there is that fact that I'm worried about the other dream I have going unfulfilled. Not that I've done much with that anyway. Okay, I'll admit it now, I'm a coward and have done little to nothing with that dream.

I'm filled constantly with all of these story ideas. They even keep me awake at times as I plot them out in my head. I should be running downstairs when that happens and start pounding away at the keys here. But I don't. Usually I'll just go take a Benedryl to knock myself out so I can sleep (hah!). It took me a while to admit why. I've said in the past that it's because don't have enough free time and I get cranky when I'm interrupted while writing (and that's certainly true), but I could still do it and just try harder to be patient to overcome those things. I've come to accept, as I've made myself think about it, that what the real issue here is that I'm afraid to fail. What if I'm not as good as I think I am? Or rather, as good as others have told me I am (and I so want to believe them)? 

If I take the time to write those stories, and flesh them out into novels and nothing happens, then I feel like I've taken that time away from my family for nothing. I hate that idea. And I so don't want to let anyone down either. But then I keep telling myself that I'm letting them down by not following through with my dream. If you don't try, you already failed, right?

So now comes the question of which road to focus on, and how much time should be dedicated to each pursuit? Is it possible to balance family, writing and sales? Or does one of those things have to go? Obviously the family part is non-negotiable and I wouldn't want to lose that part of my life anyway (it's the best part!). For me, this isn't an easy decision. Any thoughts, ideas or motivating phrases for me? I can certainly use all I can get right now!

Summer, Where Did You Go?

I can't believe how fast this summer has gone by! My kids start back in school in just over a week and I'm sure I'm among the minority when I say, "I'm NOT ready!"

It doesn't really feel like we even had a break with all the different activities we had going on. I can't even remember June, it's such a blur. We camped a lot in July, took the kids to the water park to use our Pass of All Passes when we got the chance, went to several parades since my son is in marching band, and so on. And now, here we are, nearly fall and I'm thinking I must be getting old because time is just flying by way too fast!

I remember when I was a kid and everything took FOREVER, especially when my mom would say, "just a minute." Haha! Back then I thought Christmas took ages to come back around again, that it was taking way too long for me to become a grown up (still not sure I'm there mentally) and that day at school felt like it lasted a lifetime. 

And now, there's never enough time in the day! Christmas decorations are already out at Sam's Club (I noticed this yesterday. Really?!) and my babies aren't babies anymore! How did that happen? My oldest is turning fifteen in a month! My oldest girl is starting junior high, and that baby I brought home from the hospital is 2 and into everything! Yikes! Did I just age myself more? ;)

Anyway, the summer is coming to a close and I'm wishing we had more time to relax before jumping back to the daily grind of homework, games, parades, competitions, practices, etc. I think we tend to fill our days up with so much stuff, that it's nice to be able to wake up and say, "Hmmmm, I don't have to go anywhere today!" 

Most of my friends on facebook are counting down the days til their kids are back in school and it makes me wonder if I'm just not as good at juggling all this stuff as they are. What about you? How do you feel about the impending school year? Got any tips on how to make it less stressful?

Saturday, May 5, 2012

What is Success? My Definition Keeps Changing....

What would you define as success? Is it following your dreams? Sticking to your plan? Accepting the changes life brings you whole-heartedly and changing your life map to make the most of what you have? I've found my definition has changed over the years.

Life is certainly a road that isn't without its bumps, forks in the road and sudden turns you didn't see coming. It certainly complicates things when you're not sure where your focus should lie. Much of the last 15 years my attention has been split between raising my family (whom I'm so blessed to have!) and writing. Most of the time (let's say 99%), family wins. It wasn't always that way, but it was a choice I made several years ago when I decided what was most important to me right now. I always tell myself that writing can come later. I'm just not a fun person when I get interrupted while deeply engrossed in creating my characters. Let's just leave it at that. Hah!

So I tell myself that when my youngest is in school, I'll have all the time I need to finish that book I started too long ago. Most days I'm okay with that. But I try to make up for it by coming here, or to HubPages, and doing articles. It's not as engrossing, and I can be interrupted without turning into a troll (that may be a little extreme, but you get the picture).

To scratch the itch I have of getting lost in a world of fiction, I lose myself in others' creations when I can (whether that be a TV show, movie or book). It's funny that I prefer to write real life things, but my reading preference is Fantasy. Maybe it's because I write what I know (and to exorcise a few demons from the past), so I prefer to be entertained by something less real....Anyway.....

Then there are days like today. I have this book (don't most of us wannabe writers?) I've been working on it for years. Okay, I'll be honest, the last few years I haven't touched it--only thought about it in frustration now and then. I have most of it plotted out in my mind. I know how I want most of it to go, but it just wasn't working for me. I couldn't figure it out. The idea came to me in a dream, but the resolution just wouldn't come that easily. I would sit in front of the computer and go back over it and over it. Some things were obvious and were cut the more experience I got (gotta love writing groups!). But the main character just didn't feel right to me. Then the demands of life and family became stronger and I just set it aside, not wanting to give up, but realizing I just couldn't do it right now.

This morning, after a late night up, I woke up bright and early this morning. I was trying to figure out why I wasn't still lost in the land of dreams when I realized I was thinking about my book. I started thinking of the main character and why she wasn't working and it came to me. Just like that. Sudden inspriration flooded my mind and I wanted to rush downstairs and start making changes that would help me run with this story. Then it hit me, my daughter has piano this morning, my other daughter has soccer right after lunch, my husband and son are out camping--and that leaves me in charge of the running.......You can see my dilema.

I'll just have to take some notes, I suppose. The day will come when I'll miss these days with my children. I know that. There are times I feel it already as the older ones become more independent, and I see them preparing to become the adults they'll soon be.

Until then, I'll try not to feel like I'm failing to use my talent; my gift. There are days when I get to dust it off and help the kids with a fiction project for English. I just have to remember during those times that it's their story, not mine!  ;)

I guess my point is, I've had to change my definition for success. I haven't yet accomplished all I set out to do. But then I hadn't ever dared to hope I'd have all that I have now. I'm still young...ish--it's never too late to do those things I initially set out to do. But until then, I can't discount all I've done up to now. My life is full and so is my heart.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Blah Days

microsoft office clip art
I'm more than ready for spring time. I find that when the sky is overcast, the weather is cold and I hide indoors from the gloom that my mood is just.....BLAH! It's those days I feel moody, contrary and don't seem to accomplish even half of my to-do list. Sometimes playing upbeat tunes on the radio works wonders, but I haven't attempted that lately because my one year old has decided that it's fun to turn the stereo off every time I turn it on. If only I could find an out of reach place to move it! Haha!

Anyway, I think once I can get outside and do some yard work in the sunshine, I'll feel ever so much better! I can't wait to start working in my garden again. We're going to attempt some new things this year, so I'm excited to see how it will all turn out.

Also, hubby is wanting to get more chicks. Now that it's so cold outside, and they've started molting (losing feathers before regrowing new ones), we aren't getting near as many eggs. In the summer time we had so many, we were selling quite a few. Now there are some days where we get two or three, or even none. We'll see though, I'm not sure about raising more chicks right now, since I've got my hands extra full at the moment with life, kids and Norwex.

I did have one hiccup come up in that I accidently scheduled a party during my son's band concert. I can't believe I did that! I've been so good about writing things down, but somehow I missed that one! Thankfully I've got someone to tape it for me so I can watch it later. I don't want to miss that.

Anyway, I know I've got lots to be thankful for, even on the "blah" days. I wouldn't trade the blessings in my life for anything!

Monday, March 5, 2012

Does Parenting Get Any Easier?

Well, I've been a parent for over 14 years now. My kids are still functional, so I guess I haven't been a complete failure, right? I like to think I'm a pretty good mom. I have good relationships with each of my kids and they come to me to talk about things that bother them, or even if they're just curious about something. I've tried to be more parent than friend--though I do laugh, joke around and enjoy hanging out with my children.

Still, there are times when I want to pull my hair out in frustration in those hard parenting moments. You know the ones I'm talking about? The times when your kids decide to test those boundaries and you have to be the bad guy. Or the other times when you're trying to guide them down the right path and it's a lot harder than you or they thought it was going to be.

Lately I've been feeling like the bad guy quite a bit. My teenager hasn't had much time for fun lately with all the work he's been doing to try and keep his grades up. He's a great kid. I know I can trust him (though that doesn't stop me from checking up on him now and then, just to make sure he's still doing okay). Anyway, this weekend has got me thinking and wondering if I'm doing right by him when I'm pushing him to get his reading done, to get that extra credit in, study, get is music practice in, do the corrections in the classes that will let him fix his work to get a better score and so on.....

He came home on Friday and did his chores (That's the day we have the kids do the majority of the house cleaning so that it doesn't interfere much with homework) and then went to his friend's house to work on a science project. Four hours after going to his friend's he still wasn't done and wanted to know if he could go back another day to work on it. I told him he had a pretty full week with his band concert, homework and catching up on his book-pages for English, so that probably wasn't possible. He ended up staying at his friend's house and working on the project all night. They got about 3 hours of sleep, I found out later when I went to go see the progress they made on the project the next day. I felt bad for telling him he needed to get it done that day when I saw how elaborate the project they were doing was. It looked awesome!

Anyway, he made plans to go straight from doing that project to going to another friend's house to do a history extra credit assigment. They worked on that for a few hours and then he read about 100 pages of his book pages, making it so he was only 500 behind instead of 600 (they have to read 1,000 pages per term and he fell behind due to his struggles in the geometry chapter of his Pre-Algebra class). He asked if he could go do something fun for a while and I thought of those 500 pages that still needed to get done in less than two weeks and hesitated. I did end up giving him the go-ahead though. He came back that night saying he didn't feel very good, but rather than going to bed and getting a good night's sleep, he stayed up another hour until midnight playing Xbox with his dad (the first time he'd been able in several days).

He woke up yesterday really sick and congested. He had to use both of his inhalers for the first time in a long time so he could breath (he has asthma). I told him to stay home from church and rest. I felt really guilty. I want him to have a good work ethic and learn that working hard will pay off, but I also want him to have time to be a kid, because that's what he is. It's so hard to find the balance there and with my 11 year old turning 12 in a few months and heading for junior high in the fall, I'm wondering if I'll ever find that right balance.

I want my kids to have time for fun, but I also want them to know that they need to be able to work hard to get to where they want to be in life. The competition for colleges and jobs is so much more fierce than it was when I was their age. I just want them to be prepared. I don't know.....hopefully one day I'll figure it all out, hopefully sooner than later! I don't want anyone working themselves sick.

What about you other parents out there? Have you got it figured out yet? I'd love to hear from you!

I'm "Norwexing" Everywhere!

So since I became an independent consultant for Norwex, I decided I needed to really get to know all of their products better. I'm not going to tell someone something is great and that it works unless I have reliable testimonials about it first--and what better testimonial is there than one's own?

It's been a productive time for me over the last few weeks, and the Norwex products I got have been put to the test over and over again. So far they're coming out way ahead. Yay! With all the cleaning up (damage control?) I've been doing, you'd think that my hands would be trashed (or you would if you knew my issue with "housewife's eczema" after a day of heavy-duty cleaning). But my hands have never been better, especially for it being the dry, cold months here--I'm not missing those chemicals at all!

Anyway, I've gotten purple sharpie (permanent marker for those who don't already know) out of my cream sofa, cleaned up my 4 year old's "art" off my kitchen hutch, gotten the rust and other build-up off the shower that wouldn't come off with the other cleaners I'd tried, cleaned my friend's son's "art" off her cabinets and sofa and the scuff marks off her door. I did it all while laughing about how easy it was coming off. Usually after incidents like this, I'd be as horrified as the next parent over our kiddies' art projects around the house, but this gave me lots of before and after pictures. My only regret is that I didn't think to take pictures until after the first few tests. I think I'm going to need a camera with me at all times now. Haha!

 I cleaned this door off using the micro hand pads. It's like a magic eraser, only it doesn't dull your paint finish, doesn't cause burns on the skin and it didn't crumble at all while I was using it.

 This sofa took only a minute to clean off using a damp envirocloth. That's also what I used to clean off the purple sharpie on my sofa (I soooooo wish I'd thought to take pictures of that one too!).

 My 4 year old claims my one year old drew this....hmmmmmmm......not buying it! In any case, it took literally seconds to clean it off with the micro hand pad :)

 Yeah, I'm not proud of the way this shower looks. I'd tried other products like scrubbing bubbles, Clorox and things of that nature.
 I'm so embarrassed! At least I can say it was great for a before picture, right?
 I used the Norwex bathroom scrub mitt, cleaning paste and some descaler. The cleaning paste took off most of it, but the descaler took off the little bit that was left behind. It was awesome to see that rust disappear!

There are other products I've fallen in love with, but I'll talk about those later. You can find out more about these environmentally friendly products on my website here. I'm no where near done testing all the products out though. I'm actually looking forward to doing more of these tests. For once, cleaning has been almost fun! ;-)