Jessica Azar's Blog, page 5

Helpful Tips to Save Money on Gas, NOW!

Tweet We can ALL use tips on ways to trim the excess from our budgets. It’s that time of year again where gas prices rise in anticipation of all those trips everyone will be taking, so strategies to save money on gas are especially helpful for drivers. My family always sees an increase in our fuel budget in the Spring and Summer. It’s bad enough that I’m buying new warm-weather clothes for my entire household and paying school registration stuff for next fall already, so I’m always looking for ways to keep costs elsewhere on our financial spreadsheet at bay. Check out these tips I’ve compiled and evaluated for you: How to Save Money on Gas Be sure to follow my Herd Management Travel Board on Pinterest for even more articles on making your vacations the best ever! Tweet

Keep Going

The post Helpful Tips to Save Money on Gas, NOW! appeared first on Herd Management.

Starting a Garden: The Raised Beds are Installed and the Mega Cabbage is Here

Tweet Starting a garden has been something I’ve been wanting to do do for years and now we have the space to truly enjoy one. I’ve been meaning to do this post for awhile, but things like kids, school, feeding people, writing and sleeping have gotten in the way. Last month I pleaded begged nagged asked my husband to build my raised beds so that we could get ready to plant our garden in them, and he finally did! We decided on Concrete Block Raised beds after considering the different types of raised beds available to us for several reasons. Wooden beds were out this time because my husband doesn’t like to build things and I don’t know how to use a saw (yet!) and we wanted to make sure that our current garden location would be the most favorable one before investing time, energy, and money into building something more permanent. Before placing the concrete blocks we laid out a plastic tarp on the ground under where the garden will go to keep critters from tunneling in and weeds from growing up through the underside of the crops. We laid out the concrete blocks in the formation we decided…

Keep Going

The post Starting a Garden: The Raised Beds are Installed and the Mega Cabbage is Here appeared first on Herd Management.

“What Does Mash Mean?” on Talk Southern to Me

Tweet Ever heard a Southerner say “mash that button… no THAT one… MASH IT HARDER!” or something along those lines? If you’re not from Here, you probably screwed up your face in confusion. I can promise you that you’re not the only one who’s wondered! Mash is used around here so frequently and totally that it’s one of those words that’s Southern-specific. So what DOES mash mean!? For the most part if you Of course, being that Moonshine is made with serious passion in the South, and mash is a term for the mixture of ingredients combined to make Moonshine through fermentation, understanding the meaning of the word “mash” is totally based on the context of the conversation. Now you could mash up the ingredients used to make mash…. but let’s not get carried away. If you can’t get ahold of REAL, homemade White Lightening I highly suggest you check out the Ole Smoky Mountain Distillery Moonshine selection! It’s good stuff, and I’m not being paid to say that. Try the Apple Pie variety and thank me later. Use Mash in a sentence this week and feel the satisfaction of feeling the visceral description of the action it describes. Join…

Keep Going

The post “What Does Mash Mean?” on Talk Southern to Me appeared first on Herd Management.

You Can’t Put a Price on Small Town Living

Tweet You know, as much as I love living out on our acreage out in the country there are times I wonder if kicking the convenience of being in-town to the curb was the right thing to do. There are times I gripe about having to drive for 30 minutes to get to town, even though I know people commute MUCH longer distances and chunks of time than that, Then things like this afternoon happen. After hauling all of the kids to two separate birthday parties (it’s raining invitations, y’all) that were about 45 minutes away from each other and dragging all of them through Target to get the birthday presents, I was exhausted. Between trying to keep my bigger kids from smushing smaller kids in the bouncy-houses and keeping one of them from acting like Slimer of Ghostbusters at the party food tables, I was seriously ready to go home when the second party was over. After extracting my kids from various corners of the party, demanding they out on their shoes, and so on, we walked out to the car to find…. my keys locked in the godforsaken car. Let me begin by saying that I have NEVER…

Keep Going

The post You Can’t Put a Price on Small Town Living appeared first on Herd Management.

What is a Jon Jon ? Talk Southern to Me

Tweet If you’ve ever heard Southern women talking about children’s clothing and you’re not from Here, you may have heard foreign-sounding terms, like Bishop (a style of little girl’s dress that flows like a clergy cassock), smocking (a type of decorative stitching/embroidery that fancies up children’s clothing) bubble suit (not like the Michelin Tire Man), or Jon Jon. Jon Jons (or John Johns, depending on who’s spelling it) are outfits for little boys that are kind of like overalls but are made of one cotton print fabric. They are usually shorts, but can also be made with long legs for cold weather. Sometimes there is smocking on the chest/bib area, and other times you will see an applique or no embellishment of any kind. They can be fancy for special occasions/holidays/church or very simple, to be worn while the little boy is outside playing. Southern Moms like them because they’re comfortable for the little boy, versatile, and look more “polished” than a t-shirt and shorts for a playdate. You’ll see them worn with and without shirts under the outfit. Now that you know WHAT they are, you’re probably wondering where on Earth the name “Jon Jon” came from. Remember little…

Keep Going

The post What is a Jon Jon ? Talk Southern to Me appeared first on Herd Management.

Healthy Ways to Treat Yourself

Tweet In the midst of the craziness of our daily lives we often forget to take care of ourselves. If you’re like me, you sometimes choose vices rather than finding healthy ways to treat yourself. For many of us, dulling the pain of a stressful day includes cocktails, chocolate, or retail therapy, which satisfies an immediate need but winds up biting us in the rear! By thoughtfully planning out ways to indulge ourselves and finding stress-relieving outlets that are constructive, we can prevent the pitfalls of impulse-soothing and curb the self-loathing regret of bad decisions! Here are a few of the strategies I’m employing for myself, and I urge you to try them, too! Healthy Ways to Treat Yourself 1) Music Therapy- Create an uplifting playlist on your phone, and then make a wish list of happy, upbeat songs that you don’t currently own. Whenever you want to reward yourself for accomplishing a goal, buy and download one of those songs and add it to your Get Happy (don’t judge, that’s what mine’s called) playlist! Whenever you listen to this playlist, you’ll be reminded of the great feelings you felt on the occasions that you rewarded yourself with those songs,…

Keep Going

The post Healthy Ways to Treat Yourself appeared first on Herd Management.

How to Rent the Perfect Tux

Tweet As we barrel head-first into prom season, ladies are looking for the perfect dress online and in every boutique they pass. So much planning goes into every part of their ensemble for the big event! Entire industries focus on ladies’ formal attire needs, but too often men’s options for formal wear are neglected in special occasion planning. We immediately think of the basic black tuxedo, complete with the standard black bow tie and cummerbund when someone mentions men’s formal wear, and while that’s a great option, many men want options to show their individual tastes when it comes to dressing to impress. Many are left wondering how to rent the perfect tux and where they can find the place that will best help them look like a million bucks. Here are some tips on accomplishing this sometimes daunting feat: 1) Decide Whether to Rent or Buy-- Is this a tuxedo you will want to wear again? Will you need to wear a tuxedo multiple times over the next few years? If so, buying could be the right decision for you, but if not, then renting is suggested. Plus, it renting gives you the option to grow and change your…

Keep Going

The post How to Rent the Perfect Tux appeared first on Herd Management.

How to Keep Toddlers Busy on a Car Trip

Tweet If you’ve ever taken a long car trip, or even a shorter one, with a child who is still too small to “entertain” himself by reading or playing games independently on an iPad, then you know how frustrating it can be for everyone involved. I’m here to help you with tips on how to keep toddlers busy on a car trip and keep your sanity! Building a special kit just for them with age-appropriate activities could be the ticket to your survival when you’re stranded in a car (whether it be a commute or a drive to Disney) for any length of time. Snag these items when you’re out and about and put them in a fun, brightly colored bag, and only allow your toddler to use these special items while on the car trip! The novelty of new items is part of the distraction strategy. Toddler Activity Kit For a Car Trip After you read this let me know if you would add anything to the list of kit items over on the Herd Management Facebook Page! Tweet

Keep Going

The post How to Keep Toddlers Busy on a Car Trip appeared first on Herd Management.

Gluten-Free Sausage Balls Recipe

Tweet Face it… sometimes we just want something warm, savory, and satisfying for a snack. Sometimes we want to make something that even the men will love if they’re forced to attend a baby shower, or a quick and easy appetizer to bring to a tailgate or family get-together. A Southern staple at so many of these gatherings include “sausage balls”, which (for the uninitiated) is a small, spherical biscuit with cheese and ground sausage baked into it, and they are absolute heaven. I’ve seen them at Christmas brunches, bridal showers, tailgates, card nights, and just about any other event I can think of here in the South, and I’ve also been known to bake a surplus of these bad boys to freeze for breakfasts on crazy mornings before school. One BIG problem I ran into is that Bisquick, a central ingredient in Sausage Balls, contains Gluten, and I realized that Gluten and I didn’t get along about five years ago that I was also giving up Sausage Balls among other things. I was walking through Target awhile back and I miraculously saw GLUTEN-FREE BISQUICK sitting on the shelf with baking goods and I realized that not only could I…

Keep Going

The post Gluten-Free Sausage Balls Recipe appeared first on Herd Management.

Kids and Gun Safety on Marie Claire

Tweet Marie Claire just published a piece about Kids and Gun Safety I was initially hesitant to write, fearing social media fallout from those who disagree with my position. I’m very glad that I wrote it though, because very few articles are published in mainstream magazines that align with my beliefs on gun ownership and usage. The title that the editors assigned my piece, “Why I’m Glad My Kids Shoot Guns… For Their Sake and Everyone Else’s”, smacks of clickbait and sensationalism, but I understand the necessity of using clikable headlines for traffic. As part of a series that Marie Claire is running, called Women and Guns, my piece discussing the benefits of kids learning gun safety and handling sits in contrast to the more plentiful anti-gun ownership essays, and I’m fine with that. We are all entitled to our opinions but can remain respectful in discussing them, and I feel like I have done that here. Give Kids and Gun Safety a read and let me know your thoughts over at the Herd Management Facebook page. If you hunt how are you introducing your children to guns? If you’re anti-gun ownership, what methods are you using to prepare your…

Keep Going

The post Kids and Gun Safety on Marie Claire appeared first on Herd Management.