No.765: Five Good Things // Vol.18

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

1 // A FUN “BOOKTUBE” CHANNEL

I recently stumbled upon a new-to-me Youtube channel called Mitzi Reads and Writes.  I love her reading taste, her love of vintage books and her sweet Southern accent.  She’s a joy to watch.

2 // A SIMPLE WAY TO BOOST MY IMMUNE SYSTEM BEFORE WINTER

My elderberries have been prolific this year and I’ve been working hard to preserve all of the fruit.  I’ve already made some elderberry syrup and have frozen the rest for future use.  According to WebMD (and plenty of homesteaders and elders too), “the berries and flowers of elderberry are packed with antioxidants and vitamins that may boost your immune system. They could help tame inflammation, lessen stress, and help protect your heart, too.”  I’ll take it!  Anyway, I purchased some cool pop-out ice trays from Marshalls (these look similar) and froze the syrup into individual cubes.  Each morning, I pop an elderberry cube into my water and I’m good to go for the day.

3 // THIS QUOTE

These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God today.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Like my favorite priest always says, “We should focus on becoming a saint today.”  I often get distracted by the past or the future instead of doing my very best with the time God has given me today.

4 // A LITTLE TIP FOR SAVING EVEN MORE MONEY ON PRE-LOVED CLOTHES

I recently purchased a few things from ThredUp and unintentionally found a way to save even more money.  At checkout, ThredUp provides an option to bundle, which basically means that you get an entire week to shop and then they’ll ship everything to you all at once.  So here’s what I did:

1. I browsed the website and “favorited” a bunch of items I liked.
2. ThredUp always has some sort of sale going on (sometimes a new one daily!), so I took advantage of the best deal.  (For example, three items were 40% off with a certain coupon code.)
3. I picked the bundle option, which delayed shipment for one week.
4. Throughout the rest of the week, I would check in and see if some of my favorites were now on sale.  You could use the coupon code of the day and it would still be added to the overall bundle.  Another way to save is that I could purchase some non-sale items with my rewards points.  As long as it was added to the bundle, shipping was still free!

I made that sound incredibly confusing, but I promise it’s not.  With a little patience, I was able to purchase a few more pieces for my family at even better prices.  In these inflationary times, that means a lot!  (P.S. If you’ve never shopped at ThredUp before, you can use my code for 45% off plus free shipping on your first order.  I hope you love it as much as I do.)

5 // A BETTER BOOK FOR OLDER, STRUGGLING READERS

If you have a struggling reader who isn’t into those “baby readers” that most Kindergartners use, Yak Pack Comics might be a solution for you.  We are using Book 1 for my dyslexic reader and it’s just what we needed: easy enough to gain some confidence, but definitely not babyish.  He really likes the way the story is presented in comic form.