Prime Purchases - May 2022

I stumbled upon a new-to-me blog today and she is doing a Prime Purchases link-up so I thought I'd join in :). I'm not a huge online shopper but have gotten a bit more comfortable with it over the last 6 months or so.  I'd still rather go into the store for my groceries, clothes, and gifts but the selections seem to not be what they once were and sometimes, with gas prices the way they are, it just doesn't make sense to drive when you can have it delivered.  Who would have ever thought???

Anyway, here is a look back at some of my purchases this last month:

Do you use Amazon Smile?  If you currently do not, I encourage you to check it out.  Even though it's only "pennies", those pennies DO add up for your favorite school/charity/team and make a difference.  I've seen the difference it makes on our Cedar Lake Camp budget sheets.

Anyhow, here are some Prime, as well as Etsy and other purchases, this past month:

Apparently someone in our family ordered a Crimper & Stripper.  Actually, I saw these in action on Saturday as Tom replaced the radio on our new-to-us boat.  I'm always impressed, watching him work. . .especially remotely, out in the middle of the lake.  He had the new device as well as all the tools he would need to get the job done.  He takes his knowledge and abilities for granted but he really shouldn't :)

A tennis skirt I ordered from a recommendation on Alli's blog - the material is a bit heavy for the tennis court, but this will be a great all-around skirt to wear since I don't really like wearing shorts.  I took it with me on a weekend hiking trip with my sister:

I think it will get a lot of use this year!

I still have some other tennis skirts on my Amazon Wish List that I may try out as the summer moves forward.  I've started wearing these on the boat, too, since I never get in the water and my actual swimsuit is not much less then a tank and short skirt :/

I also purchased this:

but it was way too small.  I don't know if I will try a larger size or not -- I like the idea of the back closure and returns ARE easy. . .we'll see.  

Stephen was complaining about the shower head in the basement so Tom replaced it with this.  I guess it is better?  I don't know if I've asked him and/or if he's used it.  We are planning on him using the downstairs bedroom and bath this summer (1) because it's cooler and he's always HOT and (2) Erin doesn't like sharing a bathroom with him :/. To think these 4 have always shared a bathroom and now that they've gone off on their own they don't want to anymore {eye roll}.  Since we have so few overnight guests, it's not really that big of a deal anymore to spread the kiddos out.  Someday I'll get around to redoing that entire area. . .NOT a priority though.

This next purchase, although for the house, was completely for me:

I've been painting all the trim and doors around our house for several years now.  We got new knobs/locks for the outside doors late last year so we'd have matching keys for everything and now I want to change out all the rest.  I started by spray painting some but the finish was wearing off after 6 months :( 

The price was right on these so we purchased them.

Look at the difference:  

This is our master bath, currently getting a facelift.  

Here is a hallway with the new hardware (outside - the door on the right -  and interior door):

I bought this for our Easter after having played it with the family I stayed with in Florida:

So far, it is not a hit.  It's probably my teaching style. . .I didn't know the game super-well before I started showing others how to play and they already have games they love to play together.  I still stand behind the recommendation, though, and will ask to play it a few more times before giving up.  It's a deck-building game which is a new-to-me term but makes sense once you start looking for a strategy for playing.  A cross between Catan and Ticket to Ride maybe?

Erin bought a frother at Target and took it back after the first use.  I saw this one on someone's blog and she ordered it -- it's working great!

It's also graduation season and I always get lots of great gift ideas from the Big Boo Cast duo of Sophie and Melanie.  Both of the following were suggestions from them and my links are to the exact product I purchased.  I do not have affiliate contracts so any links I provide are just for your convenience.

I got a text yesterday saying that my niece's gift is on it's way.  She'll be graduating from Elon in two weeks!!

The back is engraved with her initials and year of graduation.  I feel like this is something that she can keep and wear forever.  Check out Kyle Caven -- she has some beautiful things!

My other niece is graduating from High School and heading to Liberty University in the fall.  I ordered these for her as her gift:

I always have Erin design and order gifts for Abby and she always does a great job!  

You can tell I'm fairly confident no one in my family really reads this blog, right???

Lastly, I started Hello Fresh this month.  Now, I will ask you to use my discount code if you decide to try it out -- you get free meals and I get credits toward future boxes.  Please and thank you :)

I scheduled the first shipment for the day after Easter and was really impressed with the packaging, instructions, and food enclosed.  I HATE grocery pick-up b/c I want to pick out my own stuff but this was not a bad way to do it.

These were the recipe cards that came with my first box. 

I didn't realize that I was then on an automatic weekly renewal (!!!) so the box that came the following Monday was a complete surprise.  HOWEVER, luckily, the meals were ones we probably would have chosen anyway and we ate them all.  I've decided that, for awhile anyway, I'll keep this up with a every-other-week delivery schedule.  Why, might you ask, when I am already a cook and live in a big city with lots of grocery stores?  Well, because I'm not really "into" cooking for just me. . .Tom doesn't eat dinner and Erin isn't home every night.  These are nice b/c I can invite Tom's parents down a couple nights a week, when Erin is home, and there is more than enough for the four of us.  It's healthy, I don't have to think, go anywhere, or even measure anything out!!  I've tried some combinations of flavors I might otherwise have not so, all-in-all, it's a "win" as far as purchases through the mail goes.

So, that's it for my Prime Purchases with The Other Side of the Road this month.

Please visit the hostess to read other blogs that have linked up today.

Happy shopping,

Jenni