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$43,000 is the “average” flood insurance claim! And the most many of us would pay for flood insurance is between $271 to $450 per year. Oh….and getting a quote for your home is “FREE”. Just click the this “Learn More” linkEMERGE INSURANCE AGENCY904-677-5884

By Eileen Guo Ah, New Year’s resolutions. Love them or hate them, they’re something of a tradition for most. Still trying to figure out how you want to become a better person in 2018? We have you covered with easy-to-keep resolutions to adopt or inspire your own. To start, in 2018 it can’t hurt to prioritize your health, since it’s the foundation of everything else that makes you feel good.Healthy New Year’s resolutions don’t have to be hard.  18. Drink More WaterWhile you may not have to drink eight glasses a day, as per conventional wisdom, keeping hydrated is important not only to keep all of your organs functioning, it can also help you eat less.If you have a hard time drinking enough water, try automating it into habit. Drink a glass of water immediately upon waking up. Drink a glass of water whenever you’re hungry. And instead of reflexively reaching for a snack.17. Curb Your Soda HabitAt best, these sugary drinks are just empty calories and, at worst, popular ingredients in soda have been linked to everything from obesity, to type 2 diabetes, to dementia. And diet sodas don’t aren’t better in terms of health. Cutting down on soda might help you with your goal of drinking 8 glass of water a day. And if you really crave the fizz, try seltzer or sparkling water instead.16. Drink Less AlcoholA 2017 study found that even moderate drinking can accelerate cognitive decline.So drink less by limiting the number of drinks you have every week, or ordering a seltzer water or mocktail instead.15. Walk MoreWhether that means taking the stairs whenever you can, or taking an extra walk around the block, walking more is an easy way to increase our activity levels, even a little bit. And to motivate yourself even more, get a wearable activity tracker, step counter, or just use the step counter in your phone.14. Sleep MoreLet’s face it, you’re probably not getting the eight hours of sleep recommended by doctors. It’s hard to carve out time in our busy days, but it’s this is the kind of goal that can make you more alert and healthy in during your waking hours.13. Learn to Say NoMost adult Americans report being over-stressed. In fact, a poll conducted this year by the nonprofit Families and Work Institute found that more than half of American employees say they feel overworked or overwhelmed. While you can’t necessarily change your work hours, learning to take time for yourself and say no to things that you feel like you should do but don’t really want to is one way to cut down on stress levels. Just do it politely, maybe?Making 2018 the year of digital adulting is a great low-key New Year’s resolution. It’s a great time to learn how to keep yourself protected from a growing number of digital threats; from identity-stealing hackers, to governments and corporations after your data, to fake-news spreading bots. 12. Set up a Password ManagerChances are, you are one of the 42 percent of internet users, according to a recent Statista study, that reuses at least one of your internet passwords. This puts you at much higher risk of a hack, so instead of recycling passwords or depending on a good memory to remember a 1,000 different ones, use a password manager, which will take care of it all for you. Try LastPass, it’s free, or you can go for the premium version which is just $2 a month.11. Set up Two-Step Verification on all of Your Accounts.In addition to getting a password manager, two-step verification on internet accounts is pretty essential. A service like Twitter for example will send an additional passcode to verify your identity to your phone, e-mail, or another account, for you to enter on top of your password. It’s an easy way to protect yourself from rudimentary hacking attempts.10. Get a VPNVirtual private networks, or VPNs, make your connection invisible to digital eavesdroppers hiding your IP address. Given that President Trump repealed FCC internet privacy rules earlier in 2017, 2018 is the time to start using a VPN, if you haven’t already.9. Back up Your Computer DataWith cloud syncing as well as Apple’s Time Machine, backing up your data is easier than ever. And with more and more of our lives being lived online, taking this easy step to protect all of our files from being lost is the least that we can do.8. Stop Reflexively Sharing Internet LinksWith Russian social media bots in the news almost every day since the November 2016 elections, this past year has shown us just how much of a news problem we have. And even if the culprit of that clickbait-y headline is just a savvy digital media publication, rather than an evil democracy-destroying-bot, it’s still worth doing everything that we can to not be a part of the internet noise.Here’s one way to do your part: at the very least, read the full article before you share. Oftentimes, headlines choose the most salacious information from the article, and after reading it, you’ll find that the actual argument or information is more nuanced — or not worth the share.7. Stop Using Your Phone as an Alarm ClockNot only will this help you break your phone habit (which, let’s be real, we all have), and maybe help you sleep better, but this may also help lower your chances of phone radiation. This December, Health issued guidelines suggesting that our phones’ radio frequency emissions are linked to cancer. Sometimes it feels like we live our entire lives online these days, which makes these resolutions to improve your offline, “in real life” habits and behavior all the more important. Of course, you still employ some tech to help. 6. Change Your Sheets MoreWe spend a third of our lives in bed, and chances are, we’re probably not washing our sheets nearly enough. What’s the ideal frequency? Weekly according to New York University microbiologist Philip Tierno. Otherwise, our sheets can house allergens and even fungi, which can be just as unhealthy as it is gross sounding. 5. Stop Losing Your Keys/Phone/WalletOne easy way to do this is to always drop them off in the same location when you get home, but there are also so many tech tools — like miniature attachable sensors — to help. Really, in 2018, you have no excuse to lose anything. Try a TrackR Pixel Bluetooth Tracking Device.4. Take Time Off — and Start with a Long WeekendTime off, whether long weekends or actual vacations, are good for you, and science proves it.So don’t be like the 41 percent of Americans that don’t use all of their vacation days. We’d suggest taking starting with a long weekend.3. Record Voice NotesTexting is impersonal and prone to misunderstandings, and voice communications are so much more expressive. Still, going back to phone calls might be a little bit too much for our text-obsessed culture.So we propose recording voice notes as a happy medium: you can express more, while still allowing your recipient to respond in their own time. Voice notes are available in most messaging apps these days, and even iMessage supports it. Win-win for everyone.2. Don’t Online Shop for EverythingIt’s convenient, sure, but the ease of reflexive online shopping can make it tempting to spend more, more often. Try to limit the habit to once a month.1. Start Tracking How You SpendWe’re not going to go so far as to suggest that you cut out avocado toast, coffee, or any of your other money-guzzling habits, but a good place to start is to at least know where your money is going. Online services like Mint sync to your bank and credit card accounts, making it super easy to know where you’re money is going. EMERGE INSURANCE AGENCY​904-677-5884Source: Inverse.com

As December 25th approaches, we’ve found ourselves saying “Merry Christmas” to everyone from our grocery store cashier to our family members. But have you ever stopped to wonder where the phrase “Merry Christmas” comes from? In a world where it’s normal to say “Happy Easter” and “Happy Birthday,” the “merry” in “Merry Christmas” is unique. It has been discovered that the answer goes back to the connotation of the two words. “Happy” is an emotional condition, while “merry” is a behavior. Furthermore, happy, which came from the word “hap,” meaning luck or chance implies good-fortune. Meanwhile, “merry” implies a more active showing of happiness—which you might think of as merry-making. While both words have evolved and changed meaning over time (yes—people did once say “Happy Christmas”), people stopped using “merry” as its own individual word during the 18th and 19th centuries. It stuck around in common phrases like “the more, the merrier,” as well as in things like Christmas carols and stories, largely due to the influence of Charles Dickens. The Victorian Christmas went on to define many of today’s holiday customs. Of course, “Happy Christmas” hasn’t faded completely—it’s still widely used in England. This is believed to be because “happy” took on a higher class connotation than “merry,” which was associated with the rowdiness of the lower classes. The royal family adopted “Happy Christmas” as their preferred greeting and others took note. Meanwhile, “Merry Christmas” took on sentimental meaning in the U.S. —even hearing “merry” on its own now makes us think of December 25th. Merry Christmas EMERGE INSURANCE AGENCY904-677-5884​

“A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”Proverbs 11:25 When you share small acts of kindness, you are giving back more than you might think. You spread cheer to someone else. You elevate your own mood. You inspire more giving. Giving can have a ripple effect. The recipient of your act of kindness benefits, and so do any witnesses. Oh, and you just may enjoy the feeling of giving so much that it turns into a giving spirit that lives on well past the holidays. ​So here are some ideas:1. Call a friend you haven’t talked to all year.2. Spread good news about someone.3. Collect cans of food and donate them to a food bank.4. Gather up your old coats and donate them to Goodwill or a homeless shelter.5. Pay for someone’s groceries behind you at the register or restaurant.6. Run an errand for someone.7. Buy books for strangers. Books can change lives.8. Give an unexpected generous tip to make someone’s day.9. Buy someone in your family a journal and inscribe it your best life lesson on the first page.10. Bake some holiday cookies and share the sweet merriment with your neighbors.11. Leave a note of cheer on someone’s windshield.12. Sign up for a holiday 5K because the money goes to a good cause.13. Donate possessions you no longer need to the Salvation Army.14. Bring a box of toys to a children’s hospital.15. Have a beautiful photo framed and send it as a gift to someone special.16. Smile at a stranger.17. Give a genuine compliment every day.18. Bring treats to the office to share with coworkers.19. Donate blood and save a life.20. Bring some blankets, dog food or pet toys to the animal shelter.21. Write a note or send an email of appreciation to someone who has positively impacted your life. What are some of the special ways you give back during the holidays? Let’s add to this list. Share your act of kindness in the comments section below. Happy Holidays! EMERGE INSURANCE AGENCY904-677-588

Have you ever walked into a store the day after Halloween and felt like you flash-forwarded through time to mid-December? Ghost and skeleton decorations are instantly replaced with red and green foil, ribbons and bows, candy canes and Santa statues. Only days into November, Christmas commercials start airing on TV and some radio stations convert to all carols, all the time. But what about Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving is a time that’s rich in history and tradition and shouldn’t be forgotten or ignored. For example: Did you know?
The first American Thanksgiving Day parade was held in 1920 in Philadelphia. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York came four years later and has grown to be the largest and most popular in the nation.
The Detroit Lions hosted – and defeated – the Chicago Bears in the first NFL Thanksgiving Day game in 1934. The Lions are now one of two teams who play every Thanksgiving. (The Dallas Cowboys are the other team.)
Although it’s unlikely that turkey was served at the first Thanksgiving, it eventually became the staple for dinner and the National Turkey Federation (NTF) estimates that 46 million turkeys were eaten during Thanksgiving in 2012.
The first Tofurky®, a soy-based turkey alternative for vegetarians, was sold in 1995 as a complete holiday meal that consisted of a stuffed tofu roast, eight tempeh drummettes and yeast gravy.
 A newer tradition that’s grown in popularity is to serve a deep-fried turkey at the feast. Proponents say that it takes less cooking time and the meat is juicier (and, honestly, what doesn’t taste better deep-fried?). However, preparing a turkey this way can be a dangerous proposition since it requires vast amounts of hot oil, which can splash, spill over or combust and burst into flames. The NTF and Butterball are two resources to learn how to properly and safely deep-fry a turkey. The most important rules are to never leave the turkey unattended while cooking and to keep pets and children away from the deep-fryer. In fact, it’s a good idea not to leave any food in the oven or on the stove top over an open flame unattended while preparing Thanksgiving dinner to reduce fire risks. Cooking-related fires happen more on Thanksgiving Day than any other day of the year, contributing to 75 percent of Thanksgiving fires compared to 46 percent of fires on other days, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Let’s face it, nobody wants to eat blackened, dry and crunchy turkey, and you definitely don’t want to call the fire department or file an insurance claim when you should be enjoying quality time with family and friends. The greatest Thanksgiving tradition aside from gorging on delicious food is surrounding ourselves with the people we love and reflecting on all that we’re grateful for in our lives. Happy Thanksgiving! EMERGE INSURANCE AGENCY904-677-588