Blog
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Start Your Money Journey By Calculating Net Worth
Whether you’re rolling in ‘the legos’ or facing debt, it’s important to get a snapshot of your whole financial health by calculating your net worth.
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Cincinnati Trail Running: Easy Hikes 3 to 6 Miles Long
Start your trail running journey here! This post is a table of contents, listing 10 different 3-5 mile trail runs in Cincinnati. From here, click on links to read in-depth about each trail or race.
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Savings that makes you money: High Yield Savings Account (HYSA)
For those of you researching high yield savings accounts, I thought I’d pass along my “two cents” from the little bit of research I did in 2023. Disclaimer: These are the BASICS. I didn’t know all this myself a few years ago and wished someone would have told me…! What’s a HYSA? High Yield Savings…
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Miami Whitewater Forest: 4.5 Mile Trail Run
A large forest and lake with boating activities, camping, paved bike paths, dog park and hiking trails. In fact, it’s the largest park in the Great Parks of Hamilton County! Location: Cleves, OH near Harrison. Map Directions: Meet at the parking lot at the trailheads: 39°15’02.3″N 84°44’52.3″W Trailheads are located at Timberlakes Dr. [Link to…
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How to Find Pawpaw Fruit in Ohio
Even though pawpaws are locally grown in Ohio, they are surprisingly difficult to come by! If you’re a non-local like me, you might be wondering, if pawpaws are native to the region, why can’t you just buy one in a grocery store? This is because the fruit must ripen on the tree, and once the…
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Shawnee Lookout: 3 Mile Trail Run
This park and 5 mile archeological district is known locally for its scenic river views, ancient burial mounds, and being a good spot to find pawpaws (if you’re lucky enough to happen upon one at the right time of year when they’re ripe!). The area also has a mix of history to explore. While you’re…
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Caesar’s Creek Horseshoe Falls and Swinging Bridge Trail: 4.4 Mile Trail Run
An Ohio state park and lake approximately 50 minutes from Cincinnati with mountain bike trails, waterfalls, and a swinging rope bridge. It even has a dog friendly beach. (See also https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/ohio/6-swinging-bridge-trails-in-ohio-that-offer-the-perfect-amount-of-adventure/ for more rope bridge excursion ideas in Ohio) Location: Waynesville, Ohio The Flat Fork Ridge Recreation Area is where you’ll find the trailhead. This…
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East Fork Lake: 5.6 Mile Backpack Trail Run
Some say the area reminds them of the Appalachian Trail. While this route is surrounded by water, the trail is just far enough away from the lake and rivers that you only see water at the beach. I personally reveled in seeing natural ferns throughout the woods.
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How to Find an Affordable and Trustworthy Financial Planner
Flying blind and wondering if you’re getting taken advantage of with an expensive advisor? Concerned they’re not out for your best interest? This post helps you find ​advice-only financial advisors.
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Senior Discounts For Over 55
Still hanging on to your youth?! Do you know one of the best parts about getting older? Access to a plethora of discounts!
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Salt Lake City Creek Park: 3-4 Mile Trail Run
Visiting Salt Lake City and want to hike or run? This route is perfect if you’re staying in the heart of the city as there’s no driving involved to get there! Location: Salt Lake City, City Creek Park This run assumes you are staying at a hotel in downtown Salt Lake City or visiting the…
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Trail Race Running 101: A Fleet Feet Dirt Days Review
The race was conveniently located in Mt. Airy Forest, a location we run regularly, and right at the usual 8:30 AM time! A nice crew of the Brink Trail runners signed up to join in the fun.
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Easy Rest Stops Along I-70 for Kids and Dogs
Close stops along the highway between Kansas City and Cincinnati… worth stopping for!
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Sharon Woods Gorge: 4 Mile Trail and Lake Run
A trail with beautiful overlooks, not to be confused with the Sharon Woods near Columbus, OH!
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Grammy’s ‘Waldorf Icing’: The Best Red Velvet Cake Icing
Grammy’s icing is a light yet creamy texture with a distinctive and subtle sweet flavor. It’s an icing that pairs perfect with red velvet cake without overpowering it, but can be used for other cakes, too. The icing can be adjusted to a chocolate, lemon, or strawberry flavor, and best of all, can be made…
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Should You Give Kids An Allowance? A Review Of Options…
We can all agree that teaching kids how to be financially literate and responsible is an important life skill. But how do we teach it? Do you give them money? Do you have them work to earn it?
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Grammy’s Secret Family Recipe: How To Cook A Turkey With Tomato Juice
I grew up thinking orange gravy was the norm! The blend of homemade broth created from veggies and giblets as well as tomato juice like V8 provide that umami flavor that you want to pour over your whole plate.​
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How To Clean a Gourd
First and foremost, there are a couple important realizations about gourds I learned that are helpful to know if your starting out on your gourd growing journey: The time involved in growing and harvesting is lengthy. You can eat a gourd but only when young. There’s mold involved, but it’s okay. So why go through…
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Easy and Versatile Aioli Recipe: ‘Marie’s Joy Mayo’… Homemade in a Blender!
This tasty creation is used for a variety of purposes: dipping veggies, fries, or meats; as an aioli substitute; made into a salad dressing; added into a pasta salad; and the list goes on!
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Highfield Discovery Children’s Garden: An Enormous Playscape Playground at Glenwood Gardens in Cincinnati
Perhaps you ran across this article from my post on recommending the trails at Glenwood for running, or you’re just looking for an engaging magical space to take kids to explore and play. Glenwood Gardens is a great destination for the whole family.
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Popular Podcasts on Personal Finance & Planning
Build that knowledge one snowball at a time! I’m a big fan of listening to resources for learning, and podcasts are a fun and engaging way to do so while making you feel part of a larger community.
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Glenwood Gardens Bike Trail and Children’s Discovery Garden: 3-6 Mile Trail Run
The trails are easy to navigate, and doable with an all terrain stroller! You can tailor your route as long or short as you’re feeling that day with little risk of getting lost, and there’s a clean bathroom even when the center is closed. This trail is a perfect fit for trail running newbies who…
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Gifts To Buy a 3 to 4-Year-Old Boy
Wondering what kids are into these days? Perhaps searching for ideas for a nephew? Here’s insight into a real Dear Santa List…
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FREE or Low Cost Personal Finance Programs That Teach Money Management, Budgeting and Investing
Need help navigating the maze of personal finance? Try out a structured free course taught by university professors and more!
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Cincinnati Nature Center: 4-Mile Trail Run
There’s definitely more to the park than trails. Be sure to check out the children’s playscape and events such as their plant sales!
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Devou Park: 3-4 Mile Bike Trail
This park is known for it’s beautiful overlook views. There’s also a historic museum on site with a children’s nature playscape (Natureplay@BCM).
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Mt. Airy Forest: Stone Steps 5-Mile Loop
Fairly technical but beautiful trails. The big loop goes UP two of Cincy’s most famous spots: the Stone Steps and Gummy Bear Hill.
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Mitchell Memorial Forest: Two 4-Mile Mountain Bike Trail Loops
The forest is high tree canopy that was planted in the 1930’s, but feels much older. This is a group of two 4-mile multi-use trails. Choose either loop for a 4 mile run, or do both for a total of 8 miles.
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Straight Street Hill Climb: 0.36 Mile Race
For those who like pain, this is a deceptively easy run that pushes the limits of your body. Run, bike, ruck, or crawl; there are multiple choices of how to travel up the hill with varying levels of difficulty. The official race is scheduled annually, the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
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Mariemont South 80 Trails: 3 to 4 miles
Mariemont Village is a National Historic Landmark District known for its 1920’s English Tudor revival architecture. I go there for the croissants.
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French Park Outer Loop: 2 to 4 Mile Trail Run
Lovely fall colors and deer sightings with rock jumping through a creek.
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Basic Trail Running Gear
Obsessed with running in nature like me and also need a holiday gift list to give to family? I gotcha covered.
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A Playscape Plant: Cranberry Fliederfarben Pole Bean
I started growing this variant in 2017 from just a few seeds I was given at a local Ohio seed swap from a diehard seed collector.
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WordPress Blog Categories: What are they good for?
Curious to use them on your own blog site? Here’s how I implemented the use of mine.
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‘2020 Dumpster Fire Heat’ Hot Sauce: What to do With Extra Hot Peppers
Found yourself with a surplus of hot peppers? What better way to use them than to make up a batch or two of homemade hot sauce!
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Best Books About Personal Finance to Read
Whether you listen to audiobooks or read the hard copy, I would be remiss if I didn’t encourage you to save money and check these out at your local library for FREE.
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Five Best Cincinnati Pumpkin Patches and Fall Festivals
The season is among us with so many fall farms to visit in the Cincy area. After checking out the top five reviews, be sure to check out my full list of farms at the end of the post! Perhaps, if you’re like me, after visiting more than one farm while surviving on little sleep,…
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How to Build an Easy DIY BBQ Fire Pit
There’s nothing like kicking back around the fire pit with a tasty beverage to open up conversation with those you love. Craving that intimacy, it occurred to me one day, why wait until a camping trip when I could create a cozy spot right at home? And not only that, but make it a functional…
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Do Yourself a Favor and Carpet Your Slippery Stairs
I lovingly like to remind myself how, statistically, I’m far more likely to die of falling in my house than I am of dying in a plane crash. I know this to be true, deep in my bones… from experience.
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Hello World!
This is my first post in 2023! Welcome. I look forward to our future conversations about food, art, gardening, finance, and more.