Our Day Out with an "Emergency"

Okay, so last Saturday I set the timer for 10 minutes and told the kids we had to evacuate for our mock emergency!  (I pre-warned them that I would be doing this sometime on Sat., they just didn't know when).  I told them they could bring ONE personal item, put on their socks and shoes, and meet me in the car.

In the meantime, I grabbed our emergency box and emergency backpack (I purposefully packed these so that I could carry both myself, though inside the box, each child has their individual backpack) and loaded them in the trunk with the 5-gal water barrel (I'm thinking of filling these with less water, 5 gal is really heavy!).  Since I had a few minutes to spare I decided to load some of our nicer camping equipment in the trunk too (tent, sleeping bags, camping chairs).  Even though we had everything we "needed" in the box/pack, I wanted to see what we could get in the 10 minutes.

The kids were so excited about doing this, they were already in the car with their item.  My youngest brought her favorite stuffed animal, her sister brought a picture of Jesus, my oldest brought his bow & arrow and his brother brought his scriptures (I have the cutest kids!)

We met a friend and drove up to the mountains to test out our stuff (and to use up the food that was nearing its due date).  I unloaded everything and we had a lovely picnic of freeze-dried fruit, beef jerky and water.  

On a positive note, I loved having individual water bottles for each kid, and the wet-wipes my friend brought were so convenient (definitely adding some to our supply!)  But what could I have improved on?  I have to admit that I was pretty proud of everything that was in there--we even have topo maps (we've worked on this a lot over the years).  However, I found our supply of warm clothing and other means of getting heat were suspiciously lacking.  Living in AZ we don't think much about staying warm -- yet in the desert at night, staying warm is one of the biggest concerns.  I only had sweatshirts for the kids and emergency blankets -- I need to rethink how we'd stay warm in case we have a fall/winter/spring emergency.

We also lacked clothes that FIT and (oddly enough) food that the kids LIKE.  I assumed that in an emergency they'd actually EAT what I brought, but on Sat. they wouldn't even take a bite of the beef jerky (my favorite part)!  I'm wondering if they would even touch the MRE's I have in there?  One of these days I'll have to serve those for dinner to find out!
 
I always thought that if you're hungry you'll eat anything.  Let's hope I never have to find out.

Who's Up for a CHALLENGE??

Yes, it's National Emergency Preparedness Month!  And if you've been paying attention to sites like  READY.gov, then you'll know that there's a LOT going on to help you get prepared for any disaster that comes your way!

To celebrate along with everyone else, we'll be having a 'mock' emergency run sometime this month! Yep, it's a surprise -- aren't most emergencies?  I'll give you a scenario in which you'll need to use your emergency supply kits.  You decide to what lengths you take to see if you're prepared (some people might want to take inventory of the supplies they'll need; the brave ones will take their emergency kits on an overnighter and put their supplies to the test to find out what they REALLY need!)  When it's all said and done, I'd love to hear from anyone who participated what worked and what didn't.

SO -- WHO'S WITH ME??? (yes, I'll be doing this too!)  By the way, this weekend might be a good time to take out and review what you have and what you need.

1 Year-Supply SALE

GREAT NEWS!!!  The 1-person 1-year supply of food storage is ON SALE NOW thru Oct 9th!!!

Regularly:  $945.84
SALE Price:  $756.19
(item #25342; must order through me)

CONTENTS:

Grains:

• 8 Cans of Instant White Rice (48 servings per can)
• 12 Cans of Hard White Winter Wheat (44 servings per can)
• 3 Cans of 6 Grain Pancake Mix (46 servings per can)
• 2 Cans of Elbow Macaroni (25 servings per can)

Vegetables:

• 6 Cans of Dehydrated Potato Chunks (42 servings per can)
• 1 Can of Freeze-Dried Sweet Corn (46 servings per can)
• 1 Can of Freeze-Dried Green Peas (41 servings per can)
• 1 Can of Dehydrated Chopped Onions (45 servings per can)
• 1 Can of Freeze-Dried Chopped Onions (45 servings per can)
• 1 Can of Freeze-Dried Broccoli (52 servings per can)  

Fruits:

• 2 Cans of Organic Apple Slices (48 servings per can)
• 2 Cans of Freeze-Dried Strawberries (45 servings per can)
• 1 Can of Freeze-Dried Blueberries (50 servings per can)
• 1 Can of Freeze-Dried Blackberries (49 servings per can)
• 2 Cans of Freeze-Dried Raspberries (48 servings per can)

Dairy:

• 6 Cans of Powdered Milk (43 servings per can)
• 3 Cans of Chocolate Drink Mix (48 servings per can) 

Proteins/Beans:

• 3 Cans of Bacon TVP (47 servings per can)
• 3 Cans of Beef TVP (44 servings per can)
• 3 Cans of Chicken TVP (45 servings per can)
• 2 Cans of Taco TVP (42 servings per can)
• 6 Cans of Pinto Beans (49 servings per can)
• 1 Can of Black Beans (49 servings per can)
• 2 Cans of Lima Beans (49 servings per can)
• 3 Cans of Lentils (51 servings per can)
• 6 Cans of Whole Eggs (236 servings per can) 

Cooking Basics:

• 2 Cans of White Sugar

GRAND Opening SALE!

Keep an eye out for Shelf Reliance GRAND OPENING SALE!!!  Not only will ALL the products be discounted up to 25% OFF, but they will also be announcing their new line of GLUTEN FREE products and Vitamin-fortified Fruit Drinks!   Click Here to Order

GLUTEN FREE Products Include:

• Cornmeal
• Amaranth
• Millet
• Quinoa
• Rice Flour

Vitamin-fortified, Naturally-flavored Fruit Drinks:

• Melon Berry Burst
• Orange Bliss
• Orchard Apple
• Simply Peach
• Mango Passion
• Fruit Punch

August

Getting a slow start this month with school starting up again, but we'll be focusing on emergency/survival kits over the next few weeks.  Just in time for September's National Preparedness Month when you'll get the chance to put your preparedness to the test!


I'm really excited because I just received my Goal Zero Nomad 7 solar-powered USB and 12V DC charging ports (I won't mention that I got it for FREE!)

I'm not a big proponent of bringing electronics with me out in the wild (though quite frankly, having a means of  communication can be a lifesaver).  But with all of our dependence on technology today, it seems impossible to avoid.  If you're without electricity for more than a few days though, those electronics are useless.  Enter the 13 oz foldable portable solar panels! With a USB and 12V DC charging port (includes 12V female cigarette adapter) it's perfect for charging cell phones, mp3 players, cameras, etc.  Or hook up this battery pack to charge AA & AAA batteries!   I can't wait to try mine out!

In the meantime, watch this video!  And tell me if you get excited about it too!