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Gardening 101: How to Start a Simple Garden This Year
My husband and I bought our first home recently, and so we are so excited to be planting our very first real garden with our family! Because of this, I’ve been doing research to help us plan ours, so if you are in the same position, or are looking for info on how to start, this is for you!
Let’s Talk About Water Storage
Do you have a plan in place for water? This week we are talking about how to prepare for an emergency that may affect the water supply!
Ways to Produce Our Own Food
Ways to Produce Our Own Food Maybe you’ve noticed the prices of groceries have gone up lately. Or perhaps you’ve noticed that the supply of
10 Items to Stock Up on in Your Home
10 Items to Stock Up on in Your Home Last week, we talked about how to stock our food storage, but as we know, it
Building Up Our Food Storage
Last week we talked about several ways to improve our self-reliance, because each of our paths are going to look different. Some of us will be guided to focus on more temporal preparation, while others may be told that they should focus on emotional or physical health goals. As we go forward, we will be sharing ideas in all of these areas!
10 Easy Steps to Improve Our Personal Self-Reliance
As we work towards self-reliance, all of us will end up taking different paths to get there. Today, we will talk about several easy steps to help us improve!
Create an Emergency Plan for Your Family
The last step I would recommend is practicing your plan! We all grew up doing fire drills at school about once a month, so that if a real one happened, we would know what to do. There is a reason we did that, so we already had the automatic response. We want to create that in our homes too.
After creating your plan, make sure that each family member knows where to go, and what to do for each type of emergency. Can everyone get out? Can everyone fit in the space selected for tornado shelter? Where would you meet if you evacuated the house? Having practices and meetings sets routines for these situations so everyone knows what to do, and helps relieve some of the anxiety that comes with them.
What is Self-Reliance?
What is Self-Reliance? In our world today, there is this increasing pressure to become reliant on something. Reliant on support from governments, financial institutions, routines,
Lessons from Dystopian Novels
Lessons from Dystopian Novels As Latter-Day Saints, and disciples of Christ, we talk a lot about building or becoming Zion. As a society, I think
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Ten Pantry-Friendly Recipes One of the biggest concerns I hear about food storage is being able to use it, so that it doesn’t go bad.
10 Tips to Stretch Your Dollars
Money is tight these days, isn’t it? I personally teach a private homeschool group, so our budget is tighter in the summer than the rest
Drops in Our Lamp | Preparing for a Recession
I remember being in high school when the last major recession started. House prices tanked, people lost jobs, and gas prices rose. There are rumors
Christmas in July
The current inflation rate in the US is just over eight percent. According to Knoema, inflation is expected to continue rising between 1.5-4.3%. Starting early can allow us to save and stretch those dollars as best we can.
Staying Warm or Keeping Cool in a Blackout
Welcome to part four of our blackout preparedness series. We’ve talked about food, lighting and protecting our homes, and now it’s time to talk about what to do about surviving the cold or the heat, depending on the time of year, and where we live.
Keeping the Lights on in the Darkness
It’s time for part three of our power outage series! This week, how to fortify our homes in the case of an extended power crisis. Our homes have so much that rely on electricity. So as we prepare, we need to think about what we need to keep our families safe and their needs met.
Feeding Your Family in a Power Outage
Hey friends! Last week I left you with a lot of questions to think about should there ever be a power grid failure, storm, or
What If I was in a Power Outage?
I think that all of us recognize that our world is reliant on technology. We need power to run our homes, vehicles, and offices. Most
Five Health Benefits of Water
Did you know that it is estimated that 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated? The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has recommended
How to Save Money on Summer Fun
We made it guys! The weather is warm, school is out, and it’s time to enjoy the sunshine! But if you are like us, you
Building Zion Now
I’ve been thinking about this for a few months now. Many of us are seeing the signs of the Second Coming, and may be even
Let’s Talk About Eggs
Many of you have probably heard about the Avian Flu outbreak that we are currently experiencing. The current death toll on our nation’s poultry industry
7 Ways to Promote Internet Safety for Your Kids
As a teacher, I saw a lot of different ways to tackle technology both in the home and the schools. Some shy completely away from using technology to preserve an “innocence bubble”, and others take a more “dive in and teach them how to swim” approach. Personally, I think the answer is somewhere in the middle, that best fits you and your family’s needs. But to find that balance, I think we need to be really aware of the good and bad that technology offers, and understand the tools and practices that will help us keep our kids safe.
Ten Items to Add to Your Home Storage
We’ve talked about how part of the reason we want our food storage is to help us maintain our regular standard of living as long as we can in an emergency. When we experience uncertain times in our lives, there is a tension that arises, and the more of our every day normal we can maintain, the more we can manage that. In addition to food, we are all accustomed to certain other things that keep our home running smoothly. As we are working to build our food storage up, we should also think about the non-food things we use everyday, so that we can lessen the interruptions to our lives even more.
Creating a Family Emergency Plan
You may have noticed that I have been missing for a few weeks! The past couple of weeks I have been working on a very special project that I am so excited to tell you about in this post, but first I want to talk about emergencies.
Life-Long Learners
Lifelong learning is essential to the vitality of the human mind, body, and soul. It enhances self-worth and self-actuation. Lifelong learning is invigorating mentally and
How Much Food Storage Do I Need?
Ok, so let’s talk about the biggest question we have when we start working on our food storage… how much do I need?
This is something I really struggled with at the beginning of building up our food storage. Storage is a bit subjective, which makes it difficult for someone write up just exactly how much food to buy. Because when I started, I really wanted to find some list somewhere that told me, “Dude, go buy 200 cans of corn, and 150 cans of black beans, etc.” But I honestly don’t like canned peaches, and maybe you hate eating green beans.
Homemade Cleaners
So it’s the year 2020 (Don’t we love how like 90% of our stories start that way now?) and all the cleaners are gone. And that’s when I thought to myself, “Dang, I don’t even know how to make this stuff on my own…”
Did you have a similar moment?
Three P’s of the Abrahamic Covenant
If you are following along with the Come Follow Me lessons, you know that over the next couple of weeks we are going to be studying the Abrahamic Covenant. We talk about this a lot, but sometimes I think that we think of the Abrahamic Covenant, as a promise God made to Abraham, but don’t really know what that means. Knowing a little more about his story helps give us some context about this Covenant
Emotional Resiliency
Personally, I struggle with feelings of anxiety and inadequacy, developed through past experiences and (if we’re being totally honest here) too many hours dedicated to magazines and the internet. But, part of preparing for the Lord’s Second Coming means preparing in all areas of life. We know that as we move closer to His return, the more difficult challenges will become. As disciples of Christ, we can prepare emotionally for the upcoming challenges by developing emotional resiliency.
5 Ways to Jump Start Debt Repayment
Isn’t debt a four-letter word? Most of us don’t want to talk about it, because in today’s society, it’s sometimes seen as impolite, and also, it can be embarrassing to discuss our individual, personal financial situation. But, most of us haven’t scored that “independently wealthy” moment, particularly as we are just starting out as adults or young families. Which means that at we have to borrow money on occasion. Especially when it comes to things like a car, school, or a house. Which means, most of us has some kind of debt, somewhere.
How I Found a Passion for Preparedness
The road to this path was not linear. In fact it was almost random at first. Like many people my age, I grew up thinking
Create Your Own Spiritual Resolutions This Year
A few years ago, when I was still single, I was having a difficult time feeling like I wasn’t progressing, or doing “meaningful” things with my life. (I had graduated from college, had a career… now what?) So I started creating “New Year’s Bucket Lists” each year. I would include some physical/health related goals, some fun activities I wanted to try, and then at least one or two spiritual goals for the year.
Resources for a Christ-Centered Christmas
The holidays are rolling in, and it’s my favorite time of year! I love the crazy bustle, and the general sense of anticipation that comes with it. I’ll be honest, I’m an early decorator, like before Thanksgiving early. (No shame) I love taking my kids to see Santa, driving around to see the lights, and making all of the special holiday treats.
But my favorite part of Christmas is being able to spend time focusing on Christ. This week, I’ve collected lots of ideas for how celebrate the birth of our Savior even more this year to help you prepare for Christmas the next couple of weeks.
How Firm a Foundation
In the loved hymn, How Firm a Foundation, the Savior says, “The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes. That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no never, forsake.” Over the years, I have had the thought, what if we switched who was speaking in this verse? What if we were in fact the ones singing this to the Lord? We are the soul that clings to the Savior for peace and safety, and no matter what the enemy sends our way, no matter how hard he tries to sway us, we become so reliable, so resilient that no matter how confusing the world gets, the Lord knows that not only will He not forsake us, but that we will never forsake Him
Quick Start Your Food Storage
If you’ve been following along the last few weeks, you were probably wondering if we were ever going to get here. Because let’s be honest, when most of us think of “emergency preparedness” we automatically think, “two year supply of food,” or “food storage.”
Expressing Gratitude
Have you ever thought of how your emotional health is related to your personal preparedness? Up until a few years ago I really hadn’t. But especially as we entered the pandemic, I realized that it really is a huge part of being prepared in an emergency.
Boost Your Budget – 10 Easy Tips
As His saints, the Lord has commanded us to become self-reliant. Getting a budget under control is a huge step to developing this. After all, it’s really hard to build up a food storage, or prepare other things if all your money is tied up in bills! So this week, I’m giving you 10 easy tips to help you boost your budget, and help you become more independent.
Personalizing Your Budget
Ok, last week we tackled what a budget is, and different methods to do so. Budgeting plans are great starting points to help build healthy financial habits. But each of us has unique experiences, and our finances are going to reflect that. I have used several variations of different budgeting methods over the years. My husband and I have found that we do best when we we take pieces of different methods to help us best fit our life and goals.
Building Your 72 Hour Kit
“Preparedness, when properly pursued, is a way of life, not a sudden, spectacular program.” Spencer W. Kimball One of the first places my husband and
Take the Leap of Faith
How do you feel about preparedness? Some of us grew up in homes where there was only the food for that week on the shelf, where others of us maybe had miniature versions of Costco in our basement. But, regardless of how you grew up, at some point, you get to be on your own, and you have to start from scratch. And that can be pretty intimidating.
Honey + Lilies
I have always been fascinated with the scriptural prophecies of the Lord’s Second Coming. As a young girl, and teenager, I would get pumped like it was a pre-game assembly. I wanted to be there, I wanted to be a part of it.
Budgeting 101 | A Beginner’s Guide
This month’s topic is a dirty word for many people, but one of the biggest factors in being temporally prepared truly is being able to maintain a budget. This month, we are focusing on how to create and manage a budget that works best for you and your family. This week, we want to focus on what a budget should look like, how it works, and some of the options you have available to you!