SHE: Shares Some Tips

Hey Y'all,

Today I am sharing a quick post on purchasing.   If you have followed us very long, you may recall that I am a "couponer" .  Nothing too extreme but I try and knowing some of the rules makes it easier to play and of course WIN at the game.  

Many of you may realize that stores have an 8 week cycle on items. So if something is on sale today, it will not be back on sale for about 8 weeks. This is a great time to stock up~ buy whatever you would use over the next 8 weeks.  The idea is to purchase items at their lowest price so you never have to pay full price. Does that make sense? 

Well, this is true of almost anything you might want to purchase.  Need a new coat? Buy it in February. Need a new TV? March is the time to buy. 

Here is a quick list of items and the ideal time to purchase.  Now, I would also recommend you research earlier. Know what you want to purchase and when the sale begins, you are ready.

I hope this guide is helpful to you.  Have a great week friends!!

xoxo,

Amy

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SHE Has A Tree Fall!

Happy FriYAY!  I hope everyone has had a great week! 

I'm not gonna lie, mine started out ROUGH (which is what inspired this post). We had a great weekend hanging out with our friends and playing games. Then all day on Sunday hubs and I sat on the couch binge watching a new show (any Outlander fans out there?). 

Sunday night a storm blew through town, lots of rain and heavy winds. Around 10:30 that night, the massive tree in our front yard came crashing down. I'm not going to lie, it was absolutely terrifying. Hearing the cracking and the fall, the power going out, followed by hubs yelling "oh my God..... the tree fell" not knowing what you were going to come out of the bedroom to find. That is something I never want to go through again. 

Thankfully we are lucky and #blessed. The tree missed the house, the neighbors house, and everything else important. We lost power for an hour, cable and internet for a couple of days, and half a gutter. If the tree had fallen any other way it could have taken our entire house out.

But the point of this post is to talk about a little bit of safety if something like this should ever happen to you.

I'm sure you can figure out the basics of who to call - the power company, the city of there is a mess in the road, the cable company, etc. 

When our tree fell it ripped our power line from the house and it was hanging in the road. This is what I want to talk about. Did you know that just because a power line is hanging, or even laying on the ground, that it isn't necessarily dead?

I've worked in the electric utility industry for almost six years now. I've heard far too many stories of people dying from power lines.

If a tree falls, it a car wrecks, or anything else that causes a power line to fall - STAY AWAY!! Do not touch it. Do not walk close to it. Do not get in (or out) of your car if it is touching your car. If there are water puddles be careful where you're stepping. 

Our line turned out to be dead. The only reason I know this is because our neighbor picked it up before I got outside to tell him no. 

Be smart people. Call your power company and let the lineman take care of it. They are trained and have the proper safety equipment to handle live or dead lines. 

If you are unsure of what the safest move it, ask the power company while you're on the phone with them. They can help you know if you should move or stay put. 

I hope you never have a tree fall near your house!! 

Has anything like this ever happened to you? Tell me about it!

xo Courtney 

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SHE : Cooks (part 2)

Hey Y'all,

Ok, so you might remember that last week I shared some tips for freezer meal prep and how great I thought it would be to make up a few for weeknight dinners. My hope was that if I had a few quick dinners ready to make, we would be more likely to eat better.  Sounds reasonable doesn't it?

As I began planning, I ran into a few snags, but nothing too bad. One obstacle is that my hubby doesn't like chicken. It is my favorite (and clearly a hit with all the freezer meal recipes), but not him. And we are both pretty picky eaters. So you can see my struggle. 

But I was determined! So I kept searching and found a few I thought would work for us. Since there are 2 of us I needed to make some smaller portioned recipes.  

I made my grocery list and brought all my pretty fresh veggies and jumbo packets of meat home.
Here is what I got: hamburger meat, chicken tenders, pork loin roast and cube steak, fresh
veggies and some seasonings. 
I had my veggies washed, peeled and chopped. Aren't they pretty? 

Then, I was ready to get started with the assembly and realized I missed a few ingredients (thought they were in my pantry, but they weren't). That meant 2 recipes I had to skip so I decided
to tweak my plans.

I used my ground beef for 8 hamburger patties (my hubby could truly eat one every day). Wrapped
them in wax paper and placed in a gallon Ziploc bag.  I browned the remaining ground beef and have
it in quart Ziploc bags to use for Taco Chili, Spaghetti or tacos. 

I boiled my chicken tenders in chicken broth and made a batch of my Chicken Salad.  I chopped the remaining chicken to use in a chicken and rice dish.

                                                                                                                                                                               

 Pork roasts are large... they do not fit in a gallon size bag. So we had a yummy pork roast yesterday, cooked it overnight in the crockpot with apples, cinnamon and honey.

Not a complete fail though, I shredded the remainder of the roast and coated it with 1

cup of bar-b-que sauce and tossed into the freezer for another meal.

We really like roasted veggies. So I decided to package the veggies in a big bag and we can

pour out what we need, toss with a balsamic vinegar and some course salt and roast.  I made a separate bag with only carrots and potatoes to use with a roast.

Although these aren't exactly freezer meals I guess it was more of a meal prep session.  But anytime you can take some of the work out of making dinner, it's a win in my book. I will be
sharing how they turn out as I use them.  What about you? Do you meal prep or make freezer meals?  Would love for you to share your tips!

 Xoxo,

Amy

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SHE: Cooks

Hey Y'all,

The cool winter temperatures really make me want to stay in, snuggle up and enjoy a relaxing weekend.  When we get to actually do this, I love to have a one dish dinner cooking in the crockpot ~ simmering all day and filling the house with the yummy smells. It is just cozy to me. 

My lazy days often give me plenty of time to peruse Pinterest looking for new recipes.  This tomato and basil soup looks and sounds delish to me! How about you?  Served with some crusty bread or hot from the iron skillet corn bread is a favorite, but grilled cheese dippers? Who knew that you could do that? Will definitely be trying these.

I couldn't help but notice that "Freezer Meals" seem to be all the rage right now.  I have never frozen "meals" but I am anxious to try it out. The recipes seem pretty straightforward.  Although not required, this food sealer would definitely make the job a little easier and ensure that your meals don't suffer any freezer burn.  That would be terrible to go to all the effort. 

This week I will be selecting 5 freezer meals to prepare. I think this will be a good start for me.  I am sure I will love the convenience.  Since there are only the 2 of us, I think I will split my recipes into 2 portions.  (My hubby is not a big fan of leftovers...).  Wish me luck!   

                                                                                           xoxo,  Amy

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SHE Shares Social Media Etiquette

Hey y’all! Our goal here at SHE Degree is to help make each and every one of you the best SHE (or HE) that you can be. We mix it up with some fun posts, but love when we get to share good information with y’all.

Today I want to talk about etiquette, but more specifically – Social Media Etiquette.  I’m not going to go too in depth here, but instead give you a few things to think on.

Social media hit our world by storm! And why wouldn’t it? It is such an incredible tool to keep friends and family connected no matter where they are. I love posting exciting news on Facebook knowing that my aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. who I don’t see often or who live out of town will see it. And let’s be honest here – who doesn’t love racking up those likes?! But with everything great thing comes a set of rules. Let’s cover a few…

Engagements – do not post a single thing on social media until the happy couple has. This is their news, not yours, and you don’t want to spoil it for them. I don’t care if it takes them three weeks to share the news because they wanted to tell Great Aunt Sally in person – you can wait.

Babies – again, not your news!! Do not even think about posting about the pregnancy, the fact that they are in labor, or that the baby is here until one of the parents do. The mother of that sweet baby has just spent nine months growing a human, then however many hours in labor – she deserves to get to announce that news herself. I know babies are exciting, but you’ll have plenty of time to post after she has her moment. Besides, the last thing you want is the wrath of a hormonal, sleep deprived, new momma coming down on you! Babies are in my future one day and I already get mad thinking about the possibility of someone sharing my news before me. My baby, my news!!

Death – this one follows the others. A trend with social media is posting a tribute to the deceased. I get it, I’ve done it. But you’ve got to be careful with this one. Allow the family to post first. This helps you know that it is okay. If they are posting, it means that they’ve made all the calls needed. If you’re in the immediate family, make sure you’ve called all the important people before you post on social media. Yes, Facebook is a great way to spread news quick to the entire extended family and friends. But some people deserve a call over a notification on Facebook. A few months ago my sister lost her best friend. As I was sitting with her that night we watch Facebook get flooded with posts when we knew people were still being called and the family had not publically acknowledged it yet. Someone’s death is not a race to have the first post and the most likes. Keep calm and wait.

Anything else important – I think you’re sensing my trend here. If it isn’t your news then you need to wait. It’s just a common courtesy. Example – a month and a half ago or so my husband started a new job. I wanted to publically give him a thumbs up and congratulate him. Before I posted though I asked him if it was okay because he hadn’t said anything about it himself yet. This is normal for him (not a huge social media person), but I still asked. This news affected me personally and yet it still wasn’t mine to share. That is what I want to make sure people understand!

Always think first about what you’re posting. Make sure you aren’t spoiling someone’s news!

Do you have any other social media etiquette tips? What about a story of someone spoiling your news? I’d love for you to share!

xo Courtney 

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SHE: Tries to Stay Warm

Hey Y'all,

We got snow!! I love snow don't you?  (ok, we got a very light dusting, it could certainly have been a bigger snow). But we did get a lot of COLD! Oh my stars, it is so cold here! But it's January, right? And now with cold weather that means we have to dress warmly. I am definitely not a fan of coats. I like a jacket/ sweater but coats are constraining and bulky and too warm as soon
as you get into your building. But we are supposed to wear them to stay warm and not get sick. Fortunately, scarves are a popular fashion accessory that I can wear without too much added bulk on those in between days when a light jacket or sweater are almost enough. 

This creates my next dilemma, scarves come in all different shapes and lengths - how do I wear each different style?  Here are some examples that will have you tying the perfect scarf in no time.

I have a blanket scarf that I wear, well, like a blanket.  I am claustrophobic so I don't like things too closely around my neck. The blanket scarf is easy to throw on and head out the door.  And it can be worn so many different ways.   

There are also some very classic wrap around ways to wear your scarf too, that look so pretty and give you the added warmth you need.  So what is you go to use for a scarf and staying warm? 

Once you learn to tie them, these same styles can be used with thinner weight scarves for Spring and Summer.  Whatever the occasion, if you need a scarf to complete your OOTD, I am sure you can find a style here.

Bundle up and stay warm friends!! 

                                                            xoxo,

Amy

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New Year Goals

Welcome to the new year y'all! 

I don't know about you, but I'm glad it's here. I love the feeling of a fresh start. A new week and a new month is great, but nothing compares to a new year.  

I talked last year about how I don't like to set resolutions, but to set goals instead. Today I want to share a couple of things I like to consider when I'm setting my yearly goals. 

I like goals that I can break down into small bites. When you're setting your goals think about how you can break it down and judge your progress, whether its monthly or quarterly. An example is that I love to read, but I hardly make the time to sit down and pick up a book. I can't very well set a goal of "read more" but instead I set the goal of read six books this year. That's one every other month. Easy to keep checking up on myself. 

Be realistic about your goals. If you're wanting to save money but are living paycheck to paycheck without a lot leftover, don't set of goal of $5,000+. Be more realistic and set a goal of $1,000 or 2.  A lot more attainable and then if you exceed it you get to pat yourself on the back!

I went a little crazy with my goals this year and set a list longer than usual. But they're all realistic and able to break down and I'm so excited! I've got a good feeling some great things are going to happen this year and I can't wait. 

What are your goals this year? I'd love to see if I should add any to my list ;)

xo Courtney 

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