by Alison Moore Smith | Jun 22, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Decorating an entire home from the ground up is quite a challenge. There are thousands of parts and pieces that make up a custom home. It can be overwhelming. In the last house, my breaking point was the day the builder asked what kind of thresholds we wanted. This...
by Alison Moore Smith | Jun 21, 2010 | for Money
If you're looking for real discounts on services, products, and events in your community, I've found them. A friend just posted this site on an email list, so I clicked over to check it out. It's free to sign up and you'll get a daily alert, informing you of an...
by Alison Moore Smith | Jun 21, 2010 | for Home
According to the US Census Bureau's Survey of Market Absorption of Apartments (leave it to the feds to complicate every possible title to make it nearly impossible to understand), the median rental price for an unfurnished rental apartment in the US (as of 2008) was...
by Alison Moore Smith | Jun 17, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
The water in Lindon, Utah, has about 15 grains per gallon, making it considered “very hard water.” Hard water is the bane of my existence. It leaves spots, ruins pipes, shortens the lives of appliances, and makes bathrooms and kitchens look terrible—on the...
by Alison Moore Smith | Jun 17, 2010 | for Home, for Money
We have two great cars that we love. Mostly we love that we own them free and clear. I never want to have an auto loan again. But as they get older, we are facing the reality that we have auto repairs in our future. Maybe the near future. Sam's 1992 Hyundai Santa Fe...
by Alison Moore Smith | Jun 16, 2010 | for Body
With my fourth daughter just about to officially enter her teen years, I've seen my share of teenage boys trying to impress teenage girls. And boys deal with the same issues girls do. Whenever I see a teen boy with serious acne, scares, or a birthmark, I feel for him....
by Alison Moore Smith | Jun 16, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Selecting and purchasing the lighting for an entire home is a major undertaking. There are tens of thousands of styles, dozens of finishes, myriad brands, and more varieties of bulbs than I can count. Wading through them all to find the ones that you want to live with...
by Alison Moore Smith | Jun 16, 2010 | for Fun
If you've read much of my writing, you know I'm much more into practicality and function than luxury and appearance. Substance over style, I always say. But since I'm writing this from the balcony of a gorgeous mountain resort, I admit that fine amenities are not...
by Alison Moore Smith | Jun 15, 2010 | for Mind, for Money
“Oh, I'd love to homeschool, but how could I possibly run my home-based business and homeschool, too? I simply won't have the time!” Well, you're right. And you're wrong. In 1995, only six months after jumping into the homeschooling arena, I began my...
by Alison Moore Smith | Jun 15, 2010 | for Fun, for Love
Every year our insurance agent sends Sam and me a thoughtful birthday gift—a gift card for a free car wash. The only problem is that the designated car wash provider is 23 miles away from our home, in a city we have no other reason to go to. It's convenient to our...
