The Purple Bug Project

Summer is all fun and games until you’re at the beach and realize you forgot to bring the sunscreen, or you get caught in a thunderstorm and have no way to dry off. It’s important to be prepared for any situation. I live in a rural area so if I want to go anywhere or do anything it’s at least a 30 minute drive, so I really rely on having everything I need in my car with me. If you can’t keep these items in your car all the time, store them in a small backpack so you can grab and go as you head out the door. 1. Sunscreen…

If you’re looking for ways to keep the family entertained on your next road trip, why not try playing some classic car games? Here are some of my family’s favorites. I grew up in central Minnesota and my grandparents lived in Michigan. So each summer we would take the 12-16 hour drive to visit them. We would take I-94 down through Wisconsin till we met up with I-90 to go through Chicago. Sometimes we would stop in Wisconsin Dells and sneak into a hotel for a quick swim. This was the late 90’s through early 2000’s. We didn’t have portable DVD players or cell phones so us kids had to…

My mom never made snickerdoodles when I was growing up. They just weren’t part of the rotation. We made a lot of chocolate chip cookies, and she loved making no-bake cookies. I’d occasionally eaten snickerdoodles, but they never really stood out to me. I’m trying to branch out more in my baking and cooking so I thought I’d give them a try. I loved making these. They were crazy easy and very delicious. This particular recipe requires Cream of Tartar which is impossible to find in grocery stores around the holiday season (probably because everyone is making cookies with it.) Obviously, you can get Cream of Tartar on Amazon it’s…

Every day it becomes more important that your information is secure on the internet. Secure passwords are pretty much the only thing protecting your personal accounts. If someone can figure out your password its that much easier for them to figure out your other passwords, or heaven forbid they get into your email where they can reset your other passwords preventing you from accessing your own accounts. Until recently I was still using the same password I came up with in middle school. That’s right, password, singular. Instead of creating new and different passwords I would just tack numbers and symbols onto the end of the one I was using…

My mom cultivated a very trusting household right from the beginning. She hardly ever lied to us and if she did I never found out about it. She was also super into celebrating holidays. This meant April Fool’s Day became kind of a big deal. The pranks were always harmless, easily reversible, and the punchline came quickly. She never dragged it out till we got upset. She also knew we would turn the prank back around on her the next year. I find the funniest pranks are the simplest ones. A quick laugh that they will think about the rest of the day. Also small enough that you might be…

I’m on the internet basically all the time. There are just so many interesting things. But sometimes the constant bombardment of information becomes too much and I need to take a time out. I’ve found that doing something else with my hands helps ease the need to reach for my phone. It’s hard to crochet and scroll Tiktok at the same time. Read a Book or a Magazine Reading is a great way to disconnect from your phone. It doesn’t have to be a long or challenging read. You can find something fun and interesting at your local library, bookstore, or second-hand store. If you don’t like it, just switch…