Today is the Great Utah ShakeOut it’s always a day I mentally mark as a day to evaluate my preparedness efforts and goals. I try to revamp my efforts and aim to get a fresh perspective.
My family has gone through several changes over the past few years, and I am amazed at what I have learned about myself in regards to my preparedness.
First and foremost, I always thought that being prepared meant having a supply of food to get my family through an emergency and knowing basic first aid. I have learned that it means SO much more than that! Although, food storage is certainly a big part of it and something that I am going to focus on a little as a start today.
First, a little background story…
We have been working on building our home for the past few years, and all of my food storage is still awaiting an organized place in my new home. I am amazed at how much I have missed having it all organized and together.
We were in house limbo for almost two years while my husband was in school. My “wet” food storage was over an hour away seeking shelter with a family member. And, my “dry” food storage was a little over a mile away in the dead center of a storage unit. I felt a little lost and sometimes I would go to my cupboard to make dinner just to find I didn’t have what I needed. You can probably guess what happened next, I ran down the street to the store to buy something for dinner.
Following that time, we lived in a 23-foot camp trailer for almost 2 years. We were in the process of building our home, and I simply didn’t have anywhere to store food in such a small space. I constantly found myself going to the store to get something to make for dinner. We spent thousands of dollars (literally) eating at a family restaurant over the span of those 2 years. When I finally had a fully functioning kitchen, I discovered that I had forgotten how to cook some of my favorite family recipes. The habit of eating out was, and still is, a hard habit to break. I love cooking for my family, but it’s really easy to let someone else do it when you have established that habit.
I realized that when I am working on my preparation, on my food storage and meal planning, and when I have my essentials on hand I feel much more organized and less stressed out. Financially I do much better as well.
I decided that now is as good a time as any to start a re-organization effort. I am setting some goals to build up a few of our favorite foods, focusing on things that we love to snack on. I’m starting to feel more at home and more at ease with regards to my preparation efforts.
I am currently working on a preparedness class, and am putting together some fun new things to help my family, and families out that that need a little boost to feel better prepared to take on tomorrow.
Stay tuned! Don’t forget to join my e-mailing list to join my preparedness journey, and watch for updates to come!
I love how even during times of struggle and change, you still keep a clear focus of your goals!
Thanks, Samantha for your kind comment! I try to stay focused, it’s not always easy, but certainly helpful during times of change.
I love your post. How wonderful that you’ve adapted over the years as you’ve moved closer and closer to what you want, preparation wise. I’ve refocused efforts on my kitchen to create food prep and storage areas that meet my needs. It makes a huge difference!
Thanks, Cindy! It does make a big difference to focus on your needs and be organized for easy preparation. I appreciate your thoughts, thanks for sharing them.