Travel The World After LASIK Surgery

world-map

It would be nearly impossible to estimate how many people in the U.S. wear glasses or contacts with so many variables to consider. Some people only wear glasses to read, and others wear them only to drive. Many people only wear eyeglasses part of the time and contact lenses the rest of the time. But, according to the Vision Council of America, approximately 75% of adults use some sort of vision correction.

That means that 75% of adults are missing out on seeing some pretty amazing sights. Or, they are constantly having to worry about packing glasses or contacts for the trips they are taking.

Have you ever considered LASIK surgery? With LASIK surgery most patients have improved vision immediately. Having LASIK surgery will no doubt make traveling and everyday life much easier and more enjoyable.

After your LASIK surgery, with your new found vision, you will want to enjoy Mother Nature and all the little things in life you might not have been able to see before. Generally, you can travel just one week after your surgery; Most doctors will want to see you for a follow up 24-48 hours after your surgery and then you can start packing and be on your way to your dream destination. 

No more stress of packing or losing your contacts, no more accidentally breaking those glasses that just appear in your seat as you hear the crunch of them breaking beneath your weight. My husband broke his on the train this week- and of course, didn’t have a spare pair with him. With your glorious new eyesight, you can tour the sights and see everything so clearly. Even in the glowing light of a camp fire or flashlight, you will be able to enjoy all the beautiful nature around you. It’s also not the easiest thing to camp with glasses- and fishing around for them in near total darkness when you have to get up to use the bathroom is never fun. Even putting up a tent can be a pain- they love to keep sliding around while you figure out what pole goes where or into what- but you can’t take them off, since you have to see what you are doing. From the sunrises to the sunsets and everything in between, you will love your LASIK surgery and the freedom it has brought to your life.

The world is yours for the taking. You can travel to the beach and feel the warm sand between your toes – but not in your contacts. The beach is one place my husband particularly hates his glasses- between the sand, and having to take them off to head into the ocean, to not being able to see very well without them- it’s one of his personal “most annoying” places with glasses. Visit New York, and take in the sights. Or even venture outside of the U.S. and visit some amazing places like England or Puerto Rico.

No matter what your destination – LASIK surgery gives you the gift of clear vision without glasses or contacts.

Disclosure statement Disclosure- This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. For more information, please see “I Disclose”. https://havesippywilltravel.com/i-disclose

4 Questions To Ask Yourself about LASIK #VisionGoals

Disclosure- This post contains shared information on behalf of the client.  All opinions are his own and honest. For more, see “I Disclose” .

pic3

My husband has glasses, he has worn them since he was in high school.  He didn’t find out he needed them until it was time to take his driving test, if you can believe that. He’s worn them since, and the strength of the prescription has gotten higher every few years.

He sometimes loses, but more often breaks his glasses.  It’s not just costly and a nuisance, but it also impairs him. He really can’t see well without them, so it messes up his work, he can’t drive, and things like this until he gets to his backup pair (and we order another pair, as well).  It’s annoying, but also stops him from doing some normal daily activities.

What is the best money you have ever spent on yourself? Was it a vacation? An outfit or pair of shoes? Maybe it was a gadget or “toy” such as a jet ski or an ATV.  But if you ask someone who has had LASIK, they will likely tell you that having great vision — without needing to rely on glasses and contacts — is not only worth the cost of LASIK; but, the best money they’ve ever spent.  Researching LASIK lately, we came across some valuable information about it from the American Refractive Surgery Council.  Check out what they have to say;

Maybe you’ve looked into having LASIK, but the $4,000-$5,000 price tag has you wondering: Is it worth the money? Sure, there are discounts and deals to be had, but perhaps you should put the cost of LASIK into perspective.  For example, think about how much you are already spending on vision correction. LASIK starts to look like a pretty good deal once you add up a lifetime of buying glasses (over and over again) or contact lenses (plus solutions, drops, cases, etc.).  How much have you spent on something that lasts a week or two, a month or two, a year?  Even the best car you ever own likely won’t last you as long as your good vision with LASIK will. Depending on when you have LASIK, you can expect to enjoy its benefits for years – even decades.

Still wondering if the cost of LASIK is worth it?  Here are four questions to ask yourself to help put the investment into your vision correction options into perspective:

How old are you?

The younger you are, the longer you will need vision correcting glasses or contact lenses. The longer you need them, the more you will spend on them.  However, if you choose to have LASIK sooner rather than later, you can expect to have great vision without glasses and contacts for years.  However, LASIK doesn’t stop the aging process.  It can improve your current vision, but you will likely still experience age-related vision issues down the road.  This may mean you will need reading glasses at some point.

Do you have insurance?

If you do, count yourself lucky! Many vision plans help cover some of the costs of glasses and contacts, but won’t take care of all of your vision correction expenses. You also have to factor in whatever you are paying in insurance premiums into the overall cost of your vision correction. Did you know some vision policies offer discounts toward LASIK and other vision correcting procedures? Check your benefits because you just never know what might be covered.

Are you into fashionable frames and the latest lenses?

Even if your insurance covers the purchase of glasses, often the cost of the frame styles you want won’t be covered entirely. Same goes for certain protective and/or antiglare coatings or lens technologies.  There is usually a limit on the number of pairs of glasses insurance covers in a given year. So if you need prescription sunglasses, lose a pair of glasses or also need reading glasses, you should expect to pay for those on your own.

What kind of contact lenses do you wear?

Popular daily disposable contacts, on average, cost about $600 a year. So over 20 years, you will spend $12,000 — or more than twice the cost of LASIK — using the most advanced technologies available today.  You should know that, as your eyes age, your prescription is likely to become more complicated, resulting in more expensive contact lenses.  If you are using hard or soft lenses, the cost of solutions, drops and the cases required to maintain them in a sanitary fashion can quickly add up as well.

Today, there are many ways to pay for LASIK. In addition to helping you decide if vision correction surgery is right for your eyes, your surgeon may have access to financing services to help pay for your procedure. Some plans have extended periods with no interest that allow you to pay overtime without incurring additional costs.  Check out Finding Ways to Pay for LASIK to learn more ways to help make the cost of LASIK affordable.

So do the math for your own vision correction choices to see if LASIK is a smart investment for you and your vision goals. Check out Finding Ways to Pay for LASIK on the American Refractive Surgery Council blog to learn more ways to help make the cost of LASIK affordable.

How to choose a mattress topper that is best for you

If you want to add comfort or support to your mattress, or you want to help make the mattress last longer, buying a mattress topper is a good idea. They can give you that extra bit of comfort or support you need in order to get a good night’s sleep, and they can add a layer of protection which helps to give your mattress a longer life.

If you want to buy a mattress topper for your bed there are several different types of toppers and pads to choose from. They are made from different materials and tend to fall within different price ranges. We are going to take a look at three of the different mattress toppers you will find in sale and tell you what to expect.

Traditional egg create mattress topper

This is the type of mattress topper you see most commonly. It has the familiar egg crate design. The reason way this type of mattress topper is so popular is mostly because it is usually the cheapest to buy. It provides a sufficient level of comfort and some support. One of the best things about egg crate mattress toppers is that they are really easy to handle. This means that they can be rolled up and taken with you if you want to use your mattress topper at a different location.

Wool mattress toppers

If you suffer from allergies then investing in a wool mattress topper might be a good idea. This type of mattress topper is created using natural products. In addition, the use of wool in making these mattress toppers means that they are really soft. If one of these mattress toppers appeals to you then you need to check out the cleaning instructions. Quite often this type of mattress topper can only be steam cleaned or dry cleaned.

Memory foam mattress toppers

Memory foam is becoming an increasingly popular material in the creation of mattress toppers, just as it is in making of mattresses and pillows. The major selling point of memory foam is that it makes use of the heat of the body to help it mold around you when you sleep. This means that you get high quality support for your body and specifically for your pressure points. If you suffer from back or neck pain having this support can help to ease the pain you are in. Many people aim to buy a memory foam mattress but find the cost too expensive. They end up opting for the cheaper memory foam mattress topper instead. This gives them the additional support they are seeking.

Each of the mattress toppers we have described is a popular choice. People have their own reasons why they opt for a particular type; it could be a cheaper price, a softer feel or more support. Hopefully we have given you enough information to help you be able to make a decision about which mattress topper is the best choice for you.

4 Questions To Ask Yourself about LASIK #VisionGoals

Disclosure- This post contains shared information on behalf of the client. All opinions are his own and honest. For more, see “I Disclose” .

pic3

My husband has glasses, he has worn them since he was in high school. He didn’t find out he needed them until it was time to take his driving test, if you can believe that. He’s worn them since, and the strength of the prescription has gotten higher every few years.

He sometimes loses, but more often breaks his glasses. It’s not just costly and a nuisance, but it also impairs him. He really can’t see well without them, so it messes up his work, he can’t drive, and things like this until he gets to his backup pair (and we order another pair, as well). It’s annoying, but also stops him from doing some normal daily activities.

He’s often thought about LASIK, but between the cost, and wondering if it really works, and being freaked out by the surgery, he just has a lot of questions.  It is a lot of money to spend, but then again- so are all the eye appointments and glasses and replacements.

What is the best money you have ever spent on yourself? Was it a vacation? An outfit or pair of shoes? Maybe it was a gadget or “toy” such as a jet ski or an ATV. But if you ask someone who has had LASIK, they will likely tell you that having great vision — without needing to rely on glasses and contacts — is not only worth the cost of LASIK; but, the best money they’ve ever spent.

Maybe you’ve looked into having LASIK, but the $4,000-$5,000 price tag has you wondering: Is it worth the money? Sure, there are discounts and deals to be had, but perhaps you should put the cost of LASIK into perspective. For example, think about how much you are already spending on vision correction. LASIK starts to look like a pretty good deal once you add up a lifetime of buying glasses (over and over again) or contact lenses (plus solutions, drops, cases, etc.). How much have you spent on something that lasts a week or two, a month or two, a year? Even the best car you ever own likely won’t last you as long as your good vision with LASIK will. Depending on when you have LASIK, you can expect to enjoy its benefits for years – even decades.

Still wondering if the cost of LASIK is worth it? Here are four questions to ask yourself to help put the investment into your vision correction options into perspective:

How old are you?

The younger you are, the longer you will need vision correcting glasses or contact lenses. The longer you need them, the more you will spend on them. However, if you choose to have LASIK sooner rather than later, you can expect to have great vision without glasses and contacts for years. However, LASIK doesn’t stop the aging process. It can improve your current vision, but you will likely still experience age-related vision issues down the road. This may mean you will need reading glasses at some point.

Do you have insurance?

If you do, count yourself lucky! Many vision plans help cover some of the costs of glasses and contacts, but won’t take care of all of your vision correction expenses. You also have to factor in whatever you are paying in insurance premiums into the overall cost of your vision correction. Did you know some vision policies offer discounts toward LASIK and other vision correcting procedures? Check your benefits because you just never know what might be covered.

Are you into fashionable frames and the latest lenses?

Even if your insurance covers the purchase of glasses, often the cost of the frame styles you want won’t be covered entirely. Same goes for certain protective and/or antiglare coatings or lens technologies. There is usually a limit on the number of pairs of glasses insurance covers in a given year. So if you need prescription sunglasses, lose a pair of glasses or also need reading glasses, you should expect to pay for those on your own.

What kind of contact lenses do you wear?

Popular daily disposable contacts, on average, cost about $600 a year. So over 20 years, you will spend $12,000 — or more than twice the cost of LASIK — using the most advanced technologies available today. You should know that, as your eyes age, your prescription is likely to become more complicated, resulting in more expensive contact lenses. If you are using hard or soft lenses, the cost of solutions, drops and the cases required to maintain them in a sanitary fashion can quickly add up as well.

Today, there are many ways to pay for LASIK. In addition to helping you decide if vision correction surgery is right for your eyes, your surgeon may have access to financing services to help pay for your procedure. Some plans have extended periods with no interest that allow you to pay overtime without incurring additional costs. Check out Finding Ways to Pay for LASIK to learn more ways to help make the cost of LASIK affordable.

So do the math for your own vision correction choices to see if LASIK is a smart investment for you and your vision goals.

Apply These Six Secret Techniques To Improve Your Kid’s Diet

Ok, let’s be honest, Getting the kids to eat healthy can be a nightmare. Why is it they’ll ask for candy and chips, even if they haven’t tried them before, but they run a mile from a nice piece of fruit or a carrot stick? Ok, maybe not all kids are like this all the time.  But they can be picky eaters. If you are having trouble getting your kids to eat a healthy diet, why not be just a little bit sneaky?  Get them to eat some fruit and veg without them realising it and everyone’s happy.

Sneaky Veg

Luckily things have come on a bit from when your mom used to hide peas under your mashed potato and hope you wouldn’t notice them. There are lots of cool ways of getting the little ones to get more veg down them, without them being any the wiser.

First of all super veggie pizza is one of my favorites. Blend cooked carrots and peppers into the tomato sauce. This not only makes sure they are getting a triple dose of veg, but the natural sugars in it means they will end up liking this sauce better than a bottled one. In fact, anything that uses tomato sauce is a great way of sneaking in additional veggies into their diets. so you can use this method for casseroles and pasta too. Don’t forget that mushrooms, peppers, sweetcorn, and pineapple all make great pizza topping. Try to encourage them to have veg on the top of the pizza as well as in the sauce. If your little ones are gluten free, or you’d like to try and get even more veg into their diet, why not swap the bread base for a mashed cauliflower base? You boil it up, blend it in a mixer and shape into a traditional pizza base shape see here for some more info.

Another fun way of getting more veg into your kid’s diet is to introduce them to healthy tips like guacamole, hummus, salsa. Make your own hummus by blending chickpeas with a little lemon, water, olive oil and garlic.  You can flavour with smoked paprika or caramelised onions top. Your kids can then use raw vegetable crudités is to dip into the sauce, which often makes it more palatable for them to eat. A similar idea is giving the kids cauliflower or broccoli cheese. This is a tasty compromise that acts as a gateway to getting them to eat that veg again in the future.

Sneaky Fruit

Some kids are pretty good with fruit as it tends to be sweet. However, it’s always good to up their daily intake, so as well as offering them a piece of fruit, why not include a fruit puree in their breakfast? This can work well on yogurt, cereal or even on top of a fruit salad. Have a go at baking it into cookies or flapjacks as a treat.

Sneaky Swaps

Another way of getting extra fruit and veg into a picky kids diet is to help them to make a sneaky swap. If they are used to drinking a can of soda a day, why not get them to swap it for a fresh juice? If they have a bag of Lays potato chips, try making your own vegetable crisps from carrots, parsnips, and beetroots in the microwave. If they are a big fan of candy, then strawberries dipped in yogurt and frozen can provide a yummy sweet treat without all that processed rubbish.

Healthy treats

A sneaky way of getting the kids to eat better without them realizing is to present them with home baked healthy treats. Replace flour with beans, butter with avocado and used dried powdered orange peel instead of orange flavoring in baking.

While the kids scoff down your yummy treats, you’ll be safe in the knowledge that they are getting all sort of vitamins and minerals into their diets.

A bit of added motivation

There is nothing wrong with ensuring your kid’s first experience with a particular fruit or vegetable is a positive one. This can be done in a few different ways. Think about adding extra ingredients like bacon, garlic or a small sprinkle of sugar to foods that they might be struggling to try. This, in conjunction with the one bite rule, is a good way of opening your children’s minds to new food experiences. For example, while spinach might be difficult for them to eat raw when they are young. Why not cook it with a little garlic and cashew nuts and it make it a delicious side dish? Filled potato skins are also a good way of doing this. Potato skins are super good for you, read The Alternative Daily here to see why they are the healthiest vegetable peel to eat.  Sprinkle with cheese, chives and tiny pieces of bacon for a fun snack that is providing the kids with a ton of good nutrients.

Education

One of the key things to in making sure that your child has a healthy and balanced diet is to get them educate good food choices early on. The best way to do this is to allow them to come into the kitchen with you and cook.

You can get the kids involved with cooking meals and baking. It is a great way for them to see what goes into their food and get enthusiastic about the process. The fact that there is an edible reward is always a bonus. Getting your kids involved in choosing what to make helps them feel ownership of their diet. It also enables them to make better food choices both now and in the future.

Make a big deal out of them helping in the kitchen, get them a child size apron and their own cooking utensils. You can even get them involved in the entire process, by getting them to plant and tend seeds in the garden. Then they will have a full understanding of where their food comes from. The are much more likely to eat veg that they have tended themselves too!

Capturing Family Vacations

pic10

Whether you’re children are infants or they are heading off to college in just a short while, you know how precious vacations with them are. Enjoying the moment is important, but you also want to ensure that you take pictures. Years in the future, when your kids have kids of their own, you can sit back and look at all the fun you had.

Select Your Equipment

Taking pictures with your cell phone is one way to capture the moments, and you’ll probably use that method for at least some of the photos. While phone cameras do offer high quality on modern devices, you may want extra special touches for those extra special photos. For example, if you own a GoPro Camera, purchasing GoPro mounts and adding GoPro filters can help to amplify your pictures. You may want to look into selfie stickers, underwater cameras or other devices that are appropriate for your travels.

Balance Your Poses

Snapping some photos of the family perfectly posed at every single attraction probably seems tempting. However, it can also waste time, especially when you are in a line to see the exhibits. Instead of trying to overly plan out your photos and posing your family every few minutes, take some candid shots too. Those pictures are often the best at displaying how much fun your family really had on the trip.

Don’t Miss the Major Moments

While you don’t want to spend the entire vacation positioning your family members as though they are in a photo shoot for a magazine, you also don’t want to miss pictures with the biggest attractions either. Before you go to each locale, you may want to take a mental or actual note of what attractions you want family photos at. Then, you can ensure that you get a mix of posed photos and candid pictures.

Make Safety a Priority

With modern technology, you always have to make safety a priority. When you’re on vacation, you may be tempted to post a picture on social media of you and your family enjoying time at a particular attraction. However, by doing so, you are telling a large group of people that no one is home, which can lure unsavory individuals to break into your home. Save the photos for now; upload them into an album when you get back. Also, you may want to hand your camera to a stranger so that the entire family can get in. Trusting strangers with expensive items can be a risk, however.

Remember to Have Fun

As you are busy taking pictures, you might forget to have fun yourself. You aren’t going to remember the fun that you documented if you don’t have any. Put the camera away for awhile, or ask your partner to take some pictures. When you get back to the hotel, jot down some notes about your favorite parts of the outing so that you can include the ideas in a scrapbook later.

Assemble the Photos

Don’t just let the photos sit on your camera when you get home. You could order printed copies of the images and put them into a scrapbook yourself, or you could have a photo album made online. Doing so helps you to keep better track of your pictures. Furthermore, you do not have to worry that the technology will fail and delete all of your images.

Family vacations make beautiful memories for you and your loved ones, and you want to ensure that you remember these trips. Taking pictures and putting them together in a display is one way that you can preserve these memories and look back at them in later years.

Bio –

This guest post was made by MicBergsma.tv, a videography company based in Austin, Texas. MicBergsma.tv supplies up and coming photographers and videographers as well as educates the public with guides and “How to videos”.

Frustration-Free, Cost-Free Soccer Gaming

pic3

It seems that every year, our kids want the newest soccer game. To me, the new $60 FIFA title looks exactly the same as last year’s version. Even my husband, an avid football fan, often says that we don’t need to buy it. Usually we give in, shelling out too much money for what seems like the same game. This year, I might’ve found the perfect solution: a soccer video game that doesn’t cost any money!

Heads Arena: Euro Soccer is a kid-friendly, easy-to-play browser game. It works in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, etc. Because it is on Poki, there’s nothing to download—no apps, special permissions, or payment information required. All of these factors are what initially turned me on to the title. Can a free Internet game be as good as a best-selling console series? After playing, I really think so.

I must admit that I’m not a hardcore gamer. Even so, I was able to compete against the computer in Heads Arena: Euro Soccer within a minute. The menu is simple to navigate, with big buttons that let you choose between Tournament mode (more on that later), Party mode, and one- or two-player matchups. I opted for a solo game in Party mode, which is also called Normal mode. Then, it was time to choose teams and players. There are 12 teams in the game, all of which have two different athletes. The players look pretty silly, with funny expressions and exaggerated facial features. To me, each player looks like a cartoon. My husband insists that they’re based on real athletes, and I’m inclined to believe him. As the name of the game suggests, every team hails from Europe. There are pairs of caricatured superstars from Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the UK.

The controls in Heads Arena: Euro Soccer are simple enough for me, a casual adult gamer, as well as my youngest child. When playing a single-player match, the arrow keys guide your athlete left, right, and upwards. One other key is used for kicking the ball, although it’s not always necessary. In every game I played, goals were scored in all sorts of different ways. Yes, you can execute a perfectly aimed kick to score. However, many goals were actually caused by running or jumping into the ball. I experienced many goals worthy of the highlight reel, such as an accidental header from my defensive zone into the opposing team’s net.

Tournament mode offers a 3-round playoff series. This extra-competitive mode is available in solo and co-op variations, allowing you to team up with a friend. During the tournament, each round is harder than the last. You’ll have to keep improving to beat each team and eventually win the gold trophy.

Whether you’re looking for a quick sports game or want to win the World Cup, kick into Heads Arena: Euro Soccer. It’s accessible to just about everyone; young kids, teens, and adult gamers can glean great fun from my new favorite sports title.

Powerpuff Girls: Back and Better Than Ever

pic2

The cartoon world’s most fearless female superheroes are back! Bubbles, Buttercup, and Blossom need your help fighting crime and keeping the city safe. Over at Poki.com, you can play brand-new and classic games featuring the heroes of Townsville, USA. Below, I’ve highlighted the best parts of Poki’s Powerpuff Girls game collection.

Before we had our first child, my husband and I used to watch a few cartoons. It was part of our pre-parenting process—a fun way to see what we’d be getting into. The Powerpuff Girls debuted on Cartoon Network in 1998. The lively animated series inspired and entertained young ladies (and future moms like me) with 6 seasons of thrilling episodes. Despite a couple of specials, the Powerpuff Girls television series was on hiatus for over a decade. Now it’s back, and with it comes a bunch of great games.

Blossom is the strong-willed leader of the female trio. Over at Poki, you can fly through Townsville and help Blossom defeat supervillains. You might need Buttercup’s help to strike down the hilariously evil Mojo Jojo. In Trail Blazer, you’ll team up with Bubbles to save an entire city. Many of the Powerpuff Girls games on Poki require teamwork and quick thinking. These titles are entertaining and educational, teaching the value of working together to be successful.

Other action-packed Powerpuff games pit the heroes against Princess Morbucks, a greedy leader. Or, you can join the blue, pink, and green gals on a retro journey through Megaville. Zom-B-Gone sends brave players into a scary world filled with monsters. Even though these games vary in storyline, they share fast-paced gameplay for quick fun. And that’s my favorite part of this collection: hassle-free entertainment.

Every Powerpuff Girls title on Poki is 100% free. As a parent, it’s a relief to know that I don’t have to buy any mobile apps or worry about in-game purchases. On Poki, my kids can try Powerpuff Girls games for free, and keep playing for free. There’s nothing to purchase! Also, every game—from Fuzzy Lumpkins Kidnap to Pillow Fight—stays true to the cartoon series. When you play one of these games, you’ll feel like you’re in the cartoon. There are authentic graphics, sounds, and storylines from the original series and the 2016 reboot. Blossom speaks her mind, Bubbles is sweet, and Buttercup isn’t afraid to get dirty.

Overall, the selection of Powerpuff Girls games is broad enough to entertain for hours. However, one slight drawback is that not every game has the same replay value. For instance, I got tired of the repetition in one game after just a few minutes. Luckily, there were more than a dozen other games I could play instead. Another fun fact is that you can also play as characters from other series. In Snow Brawl, the Powerpuff Girls are alongside Ben 10, Dexter, and Finn. This crossover gameplay means everyone in the family can play as their favorite character. Join the Powerpuff Girls for unstoppable gaming fun!