Practical insurance advice you can use

February is American Heart month and that means it’s a good time to think about being heart healthy.

Heart Disease kills over 650,000 Americans each year. It is the leading killer among both men and women being 1 in 4 deaths.

According to the Center for Disease Control, making these healthy lifestyle choices can help:

• Choose lean meats and poultry without skin.
• Select fat-free, 1% fat, or low-fat dairy products.
• Cut back on foods with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
• Cut back on foods high in dietary cholesterol.
• Cut back on beverages and foods with added sugars.
• Select and purchase foods lower in salt/sodium.
• If you drink alcohol, drink in moderation.
• Keep an eye on your portion sizes.

It’s also important to know the signs of an impending heart attack because they can start slowly, and symptoms may seem mild. According to the National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute, these are the signs that may mean that a heart attack is in progress:

• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain.
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach.
• Shortness of breath, with or without chest discomfort.

If you start feeling these symptoms, call 911!

To Your Heart Health!

Every year we celebrate Groundhog Day on February 2nd. Here are a few fun facts about the cute little furry animal.

• The average groundhog is 20 inches long and 12-15 pounds.
• Groundhogs are covered with coarse grayish fur tipped with brown or dull red.
• They have short ears, short legs, and a short tail.
• Groundhogs eat green veggies, fruit, and need very little water due to their diet.
• Groundhogs whistle when they are alarmed or courting.
• Groundhogs are one of the few animals that hibernate.
• Groundhog babies are born mid-April to early May and go out on their own by July.
• Groundhog litters are usually 4-9 babies called pups, cubs, and kits.
• A groundhog’s lifespan is usually 6-8 years.
• It is believed that if a groundhog sees his shadow and retreats to his den, there will be 6 more weeks of winter.

Happy Groundhogs Day!

Here’s a classic tasty recipe for Ham & Potato soup that is very easy to make. Not only is it yummy, but it will also keep you warm during the cool winter months! Plus, you can add your own twist to it by adding some of your favorite ingredients.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups peeled & diced potatoes
• 1/3 cup diced celery
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 3/4 cup diced cooked ham
• 3 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk

Directions

1. Combine potatoes, celery, onion, ham, and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt, and pepper.
2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stir constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot and cook soup until fully heated.

Serve.

Enjoy!

Frozen pipes can be a huge inconvenience and a mess to clean up if they burst. Before it’s too late, now is a good time to learn how to protect your home from costly repairs.

Having the pipes in your home freeze can be easily prevented if you know what to do. Here are a few tips to help prevent frozen pipes and keep you safe from risk this season:

• Leave your water dripping overnight. Running water through the pipe – even at a trickle – helps prevent pipes from freezing. If you’re worried about the water bill, once you get the repair bill, you’ll regret worrying about the water bill.
• Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals up out of the reach of children.
• Keep the thermostat set to the same temperature both during the day and at night. By suspending the use of lower nighttime temperatures, you may incur a higher heating bill, but you can prevent a much more costly repair job if pipes freeze and burst.
• Disconnect your garden hose from the faucet outside and cover the faucet to prevent it from freezing.

Use these tips to help prevent frozen pipes this winter. In the event, you need to file a claim, call us immediately!

For more info about preventing frozen pipes, and for tips on how to thaw pipes that are already frozen, visit the Red Cross’ tips website at www.redcross.org.

Stay warm this winter!

To kick off January and the new year, here are a few lesser-known fun facts:

• Apart from leap years, January always begins on the same day as October. In leap years, January always begins on the same day as April and July.
• January is the only month when the North Pole is on average colder than the South Pole.
• January’s birthstone is the garnet which represents consistency.
• January is National Blood Donor Month, National Braille Literacy Month, National Hobby Month, National Soup Month, and National Staying Healthy Month among many others.
• January is, on average, the coldest month in the Northern hemisphere and the warmest month in the Southern hemisphere.
• The first Super Bowl was held on January 15, 1967, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in L.A., California between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs.
• The 1st of January was a highly significant day in medieval superstitions regarding prosperity, or lack of it, in the year ahead. A flat cake was put on one of the horns of a cow in every farmyard. The farmer and his workers would then sing a song and dance around the cow until the cake was thrown to the ground. If it fell in front of the cow that signified good luck; to fall behind indicated the opposite.

Another great way to kick off the year is by calling the agency now to schedule your insurance coverage review. When you call ask to review your policy and all insurance coverage to make sure you are fully prepared for anything 2022 throws your way!

Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to start focusing on our goals for the upcoming year.

Don’t let yourself make one of the most common mistakes made each New Year—waiting too late to start planning. If you have goals, whether you have goals you want to meet in your personal or business life, in your relationships, or anything else, the successful way to plan is to start early.

I have been moving my planning forward, starting earlier and earlier each year, and have found that having a head start is beneficial. It’s especially helpful to know that you’ve got a solid plan for moving forward in the new year.

4 Tips for Setting Goals for This Year & More Importantly, Achieving Them:

1. Write Your Goals Down — Get your goals on paper and put it somewhere where you will constantly be reminded of them. This will help you keep on track and remind you to focus on your goals. The best place I have found to post my goals is on/next to the bathroom mirror to be easily reviewed every morning.

2. Prioritize — If you have five goals you really want to accomplish over the year, prioritize them. You may also want to set mini goals for yourself that will serve as milestones to your eventual larger goal. Setting mini-goals along the way will also keep you motivated as you get a little taste of accomplishment each time you meet a mini-goal.

3. Make an Action Plan — How are you going to achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself? Decide how you’re going to do things and get started!

4. Track Your Progress — So that you don’t lose sight of your goals, track your progress toward them to help yourself stay on task.

Two great goals I suggest are to fully complete/update your home inventory and schedule a full policy and insurance coverage review. In worst-case scenarios of fire or burglary, it is crucial to have a full up-to-date list of your home’s contents and be fully prepared for the unexpected.

There are several apps available through the Google Play Store and Apple App Store to digitize your home inventory. Many allow you to easily enter all needed information (item description, make, model, serial number, value, purchase date) and save pictures.

May you have a Happy and Great 2022!

It’s getting toward the end of the year now, and that means we are looking forward to the next. Christmas and New Year are always some of my favorite times of the year because they signify new opportunities around every corner. No matter what happened over the past twelve months, we have a chance now to set new goals and make the next year whatever we want it to be.

New Year’s Eve has always been a time for reflection, and more importantly, looking forward to the coming year. It’s a time to reflect on the changes we want or need to make and resolve to follow through on those changes.

Did you set a New Year’s Resolution for 2021? If you did, I hope you stuck to them and achieved everything that you set out to do.

The biggest reason why many people fail to meet their personal goals is that they are not specific enough when setting them.

Can you guess what the top 10 most common New Year’s Resolutions are? Does yours make the list?

1. Get Organized
2. Help Others
3. Learn Something New
4. Get Out of Debt
5. Quit Drinking
6. Enjoy Life More
7. Quit Smoking
8. Lose Weight
9. Get Fit
10. Spend More Time with Family

No matter what your goals are for 2022, I hope you are able to achieve all of them. Try setting smaller goals for yourself along the way to help you get there.

We hope that you have a very Happy New Year and may all your resolution efforts succeed!

If the hustle and bustle of the holidays has you feeling more frantic than festive, consider starting a new family tradition this year. My family loves having holiday traditions and looks forward to them each year. Having something to look forward to can help you feel more grounded during this busy time of year–plus, the whole family can get involved.

Here are some ideas for new family holiday traditions: no matter if you choose one tradition to implement or them all, you will be creating family memories that will last a lifetime.

• Open One Gift Early — While opening gifts is generally saved for Christmas morning, if you celebrate Christmas, consider starting a family tradition of opening one gift the night before. It doesn’t have to be a large present–perhaps just a stocking stuffer–but it helps to get everyone into the festive spirit ahead of the big day.
• Matching Pajamas — Holiday decorations make great backdrops for family photos — take a family portrait that you’ll enjoy looking at all year in matching holiday pajamas. These pajamas come in a variety of styles and colors: some even have feet! Most matching sets even have an option for babies and dogs.
• Give Back — In the true spirit of the holiday season, consider giving back. Spend a few hours this holiday season volunteering at the local soup kitchen. Alternatively, cut back on one holiday gift per family member — have everyone pick out something they would like to have, and then donate it to a family in need.

We hope that you have very Happy Holidays!

Santa is coming early this year! Here’s an early present — a simple, tasty recipe for peppermint fudge that can’t be beat! It’s the perfect treat for the holidays!

Ingredients

• 2 (10 ounce) packages of vanilla baking chips
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1 1/2 cups crushed candy canes
• 1 dash red or green food coloring

Directions

1. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, and grease the foil. Combine vanilla chips and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently until almost melted, remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth.
2. When fully melted, stir in the peppermint extract, food coloring, and candy canes. Spread evenly in the bottom of the pan.
3. Chill for 2 hours, then cut into squares and serve.

Enjoy!

As we hear the song saying “it’s the most wonderful time of the year”, remember that it is also the most vulnerable time of the year.

The holiday season is the peak time for ID theft and burglary.

To help you stay protected, here are a few holiday shopping safety tips:

• Try to shop during daylight hours and always be aware of your surroundings.
• Secure your home. Set the alarm and lock your doors and windows while you are out shopping.
• Leave a list of all credit cards at home, just in case they are lost or stolen.
• Lock your “Sleigh” and do not leave valuables in sight!
• Pay attention to how you carry your wallet or purse to prevent theft.
• Be careful with social media. Checking in at different stores lets potential criminals know you are not at home.

It seems at times that stress and the holiday season go hand-in-hand. Although stress cannot always be avoided, some relief can be achieved.

• Allow enough time to shop rather than waiting till the last-minute rush.
• Only plan to do a reasonable number of errands.
• When shopping, make several trips out to the car to drop off packages rather than trying to carry too many items.
• Take time out for yourself. Relax, read, or enjoy your favorite hobby at your own pace.

Here’s to a Happy and Safe Holiday Season!