Practical insurance advice you can use

As the days heat up you will want to enjoy a guilt-free cool treat!

Ingredients

• 1 quart fresh strawberries
• 1 pkg. (1.4 oz) strawberry gelatin
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• Whole strawberries and whipped cream for garnish

Directions

1. Wash strawberries, cut in half, and puree in a blender until smooth. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl pour boiling water over gelatin and sugar. Stir until dissolved.
3. Pour pureed strawberries into gelatin and stir until combined. The mixture should be at room temperature.
4. Whip cream until stiff and fold into gelatin and strawberry mixture until well blended.
5. Refrigerate for 2 hours until set. Then serve.

Enjoy

When you travel alone—for work or on vacation—you must be extra careful about your personal safety.

Here’s some advice to keep in mind when you’re traveling solo:

• Study unfamiliar locales ahead of time. If you’re traveling outside the United States, learn about your destination’s political and cultural scene to figure out how the locals treat people of your gender, race, or age. 

• Research your destination’s transportation system. Learn the main types of public travel—buses, subways, etc.—and determine the safest way to go. 

• Pack light. Don’t bring more suitcases than you can easily carry by yourself. You won’t be relying on a companion to keep watch over luggage when you need to ask a quick question or use the bathroom. 

• Nap wisely. If you get sleepy on your flight, or on the bus, make sure your belongings are secure before you doze. Use your purse or backpack as your pillow, and tuck larger bags away in positions that would cause you to wake up if anyone were to move them.

Think for a minute about the last time you were really tired and driving somewhere. Even though you have been driving for years you still weren’t at your best. Driving tired is as real a danger as driving drunk!

Driving when you are tired can be extremely dangerous. You can fall asleep at the wheel and have slower reaction times when you’re tired.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that there are about 100,000 crashes a year resulting in nearly 800 fatalities due to drowsy driving. These crashes usually occur between 1pm – 4 pm and 2 am – 6 am.

The National Sleep Foundation reports that 50% of adults said they’ve driven drowsy and an astounding 20% report falling asleep at the wheel.

If you start showing warning signs of fatigued driving find a safe place to pull over and rest or call someone to come get you. You can always pick up the car later. Better safe than sorry!

Here are some warning signs you should be aware of:

• Yawning
• Inability to keep your eyes open and head up
• Not remembering the last few miles you traveled
• Drifting in and out of your lane
• Hitting rumble strips
• Distraction

Don’t let anyone drive if you can tell that they are tired and starting to show warning signs! If they have to be somewhere, such as work or an appointment, tell them you will drive them there and pick them up afterward.

If you have any questions about the coverage on your policy, and how you are covered in the case of an accident, please don’t hesitate to call our office today!

Are you ready to hear a scary statistic? Children spend roughly 6.5 hours per day watching television. It seems that they would rather play video games than ride a bike. Even scarier, this number extends to adults as well. We’re on the computer or watching television and we don’t get outdoors nearly as much as we should.

June is Great Outdoors Month and the plan is to change those statistics. We all need to embrace our parks, forests, refuges, and other public lands and waters. There is so much to do outdoors and it doesn’t cost much if anything at all!

Not only is outdoor recreation enjoyable, but it also provides mental, physical, economic, and social benefits. Recreation outdoors can be anything from watching wildlife to participating in extreme sports. June is an especially active time for outdoor recreation in America, with millions of us starting our usual summertime activities.

Try activities such as camping, swimming, hiking, and barbecuing. These activities are low or no cost. Take these as opportunities to create memories that will last much longer than Monday night’s sitcom or a high score on the latest video game!

Kids should have no problem getting excited about Great Outdoors Month. Make summer more fun for your child by planning activities that you know he or she enjoys as well as some that he or she has never done before.

Recreation can be fun and educational. Try to expose your child to new experiences in an exciting way! Not only will they be having a good time, he or she will also be exercising.

Here are some great outdoor activities you can try!

• • Biking
• • Fishing
• • Walking and playing with pets
• • Playing Sports
• • Tossing the Frisbee
• • Picnics
• • Miniature golf
• • Visit a local zoo
• • Plant and maintain a garden
• • Blueberry picking

Use some of the above ideas to get active and get outside this month! While out and about, stop by or call the agency to make sure all your summer fun is covered and protected.

It is that time of year again – Graduation Season. Between May and June, almost everyone knows someone who is either graduating or has a child graduating from Preschool, Kindergarten, Middle School, High School or College.

To celebrate Graduation Season, here are a few fun facts that you may or may not have known:

• A graduation ceremony is a cultural tradition termed as a rite of passage.
• Commencement is when graduates are handed their diplomas and walk across the stage and flip the tassels on their hats to the opposite side.
• The valedictorian always gives a speech with a hopeful insight for the future.
• The first class ring was developed in 1835 for West Point US Academy.
• Original diplomas were made of sheepskin, handwritten, rolled and tied with a ribbon until 100 years ago.
• “Pomp and Circumstance” was composed by Sir Edward Elgar and first performed on October 19, 1901, in Liverpool, England.
• For over 40 years graduation gown color was gray. Gowns didn’t change to the school colors until the 50s.
• The tradition of cap-tossing originated in 1912 at the U.S. Naval Academy’s Graduation.

From our agency family to you, congratulations to everyone that graduated/graduates this year!

Memorial Day is just around the corner (Monday the 30th) and many will be grilling out, having friends and family over, and more.

One of my favorite snacks for get-togethers is Barbecue Cocktail Wieners aka “Lil Smokies”. This is a super easy recipe with only 2 ingredients. You can make a fancy tray of them with toothpicks or serve them straight out of the slow cooker. Either way, they never disappoint.

My family loves it, and I hope yours will too! Let me know what you think!

Ingredients

1 Package cocktail-size wieners or smoked sausages
1 bottle of your choice barbecue sauce

Directions

Put the entire package of smoked sausages in a slow cooker and turn it on high.
Cover sausages fully with barbecue sauce and stir.
Place lid on the slow cooker and leave for approximately 2 hours.
Serve while warm.

Enjoy!

I hope that you and your family have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend! I have always enjoyed the unofficial start of summer and what it represents to me and to this country. Thank you to all those who have served and are serving our country now to protect what we hold dear. Words cannot express how much your sacrifice means.

Now that summer is (unofficially) here, my family plans to bring the grill back out and keep it fired up for most of the next few months. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean. 🙂

I just love this time of year and always look forward to spending more time outdoors with my family and enjoying the nice weather.

In my house, grilling is a big part of summer, so I wanted to share with you some grilling safety tips. (What kind of Insurance Agent would I be if I didn’t keep safety first!?) 🙂

Fire in the grill, cooking delicious burger patties and franks, is wonderful, but fire outside the grill… not so much.

The only urgent call I want from you this summer is the one telling me there’s an emergency pool party and to get everybody there now, not one saying you’ve had a grill fire and need to file a claim.

Keep yourself and your family safe while grilling by following the tips below:

1. Only grill outdoors. Never attempt to use a propane or charcoal grill indoors or underneath a low-hanging ceiling.
2. Keep the grill a safe distance from the home, far enough that it is out of the way of the home, a deck or porch, overhangs, as well as any landscaping or trees.
3. Always keep children and pets away from the grill and surrounding area.
4. Clean your grill regularly and do not allow grease or fat to build up in it as it is a fire risk. Allow it to instead collect in a grill tray below the grill and dispose of it safely.
5. Never leave your grill unattended.
6. If using a propane grill, check the major connection points between the tank and hose before each use. Tighten if loose and inspect the cord for any holes. Do not use it if you smell gas or suspect the cord is damaged. Turn off the gas and do not attempt to move the grill or propane tank. Contact someone qualified to properly service the grill or call the fire department.
7. If you are using a charcoal grill, use caution when igniting and handling coals. When you are finished grilling, let the coals completely cool before disposing in a metal container.

Use these tips (and your head!) while enjoying the great things summer has to offer. Feel free to share these with your friends and family so they can stay safe too.

Get more tips for staying safe while grilling online by visiting the National Fire Prevention Association’s website – https://www.nfpa.org/

Along with flowers and warmer weather, spring can bring something that’s not so pleasant—the threat of severe weather.

I wanted to make sure that you and your family were aware of some important preventative tips to keep in mind if severe storms come your way this season.

• It’s best to always keep a battery-powered radio in your home so that you can tune to radio stations if you lose electricity. Don’t forget to check or change the batteries every so often.
• Keep a flashlight in an easily accessible spot on every floor of your home. Check the batteries monthly, and replace them as needed.
• As a safety precaution before leaving the house on vacation, unplug all electrical appliances except for lights connected to automatic timers.
• If you live in a storm-prone area, nail down roof shingles or use adequate adhesive to keep them from blowing off in a violent wind. For roofs with shingles that are not the seal-down type, applying a little dab of roofing cement under each tab will do the trick.
• A lightning-protection system should offer an easy, direct path for the bolt to follow into the ground and thus prevent injury or damage. Grounding rods (at least two for a house) should be placed at opposite corners of the house.
• Don’t go out during a tornado or hurricane. If there’s the possibility of flooding, get to higher ground.
• When a major storm is on its way, close shutters, board windows, or tape the inside of larger panes with an “X” along the full length of their diagonals. Even a light material like masking tape may give the glass enough extra strength it needs to resist cracking.

On top of the safety of your family, the safety of your house and property are important, too. In the case that anything in your house is damaged, you must take steps to keep those items safe. If you have to make a claim, you will need to have:

• Pictures or videos of items of value
• Receipts for large purchases (television or computer, for example)
• Serial numbers for the items that require them

You will want to make sure to keep all records in a safe place – like a fire safe lockbox or a safety deposit box.


May is the peak season for allergy and asthma sufferers which makes it the perfect time to educate people about these two diseases.

Asthma is a disease of the lungs that occurs when airways become blocked or narrowed making it difficult to breathe. While asthma affects about 25 million Americans, each case is unique. Some people are born with it although it sometimes doesn’t show up until later in life.

If you have asthma, it is important to make sure you have your asthma under control. The most common preventative measure is the prescription of an inhaler. Once starting with this preventative measure, you should have fewer asthma attacks and be able to better maintain a normal, healthy lifestyle.

It is important to understand what triggers your asthma attacks; sometimes these triggers are more of aftershocks that don’t appear until after the attack has already happened. You may find that you are your own physical detective. This will help you attempt to cut down on the number of your asthma attacks.

Every year in the U.S. Asthma leads to:

• 2 million Emergency Room visits
• 1/2 million hospitalizations
• 14 million doctor visits
• 14 million missed school days
• 3,400—3,600 deaths

Allergies are a disease of the immune system that causes an overreaction to substances. You may experience allergies from external or internal influences. Allergies are grouped by kinds of triggers, such as time of year, food, medicine, pollutants in the air, etc.

You may want to schedule an allergy test with a specialist to find out what you are allergic to…some triggers you may not have realized on your own.

For more information and tips check out aafa.org.

My family has made many memories with this classic recipe. I hope you and your family enjoy these cookies as much as you enjoy spending time together making them.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!