This Prepared Life

Women Who Prep Guest Roundtable Discussion - Ep19

• Allison Michael • Episode 19

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Today is a special guest episode to end #womenwhoprep month over on Instagram. Join today's roundtable discussion with five guests. We answered some listener questions, shared our thoughts on women who prep, and so much more!

Joining me today are:
Miranda from https://www.instagram.com/ourbusyacres/
Des from https://www.instagram.com/muthaprepper/
Kim from https://www.instagram.com/the_preppyredhead/
Morgan from https://www.youtube.com/@roguepreparedness
Adrienne from https://www.instagram.com/offgridmountainmama/

Harvest Right Freeze Dryers were mentioned, and you can find out more here: https://affiliates.harvestright.com/1335.html

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Feel free to reach out with questions. I love chatting with you.

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Contact me via my website or via mail at:
Allison TPL
P.O. Box 195
Ponderay, ID 83852

 

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SPEAKER_05

Hello and welcome to this prepared life. I'm Alison, your host, and today we have an exciting episode for you. And I am so excited for this. We have a prepper roundtable discussion with myself, Morgan from Rogue Preparedness, Miranda from Arbusy Acre, Kim, the Preppy Redhead, Adrienne, Hodoo Mountain Mama, and Des Mother Prepper. So we declared February Women Who Prep Months, and we have been in the middle of just a challenge encouraging everyone to post using the hashtag WomenWhooPrep Months. So you can go on Instagram and search that and just scroll back through an entire month of posts and topics with just hundreds of women sharing. And so to end that month, we decided it would be fun to just let's just have a conversation. So we're answering some of your reader questions and having some discussions just about topics that you know we've been thinking about. So I hope that you enjoyed today's episode. So let's go ahead and start by introducing ourselves, and we can share our name, our Instagram handle, and just you know, little short snippet, anything you want to share about yourself that people might not know. So I am Allison, this prepared life.

SPEAKER_02

Miranda. My name's Miranda, and my Instagram is RBusyAker, and I'm really excited to be here with Allison and share all about preparedness because it is Women Who Prep Month.

SPEAKER_01

Morgan. Hey everyone, my name is Morgan and I'm with uh Row Preparedness. And yeah, I'm super excited to be here too, ending the Women Who Prep Month and just talking about preparedness in general. Yay.

SPEAKER_06

Kim.

SPEAKER_04

Um hi, I'm Kim. Um my Instagram is the Preppy Redhead. And um, just like everyone else, I'm really excited to do this. Um, great way to start the day. Adrienne.

SPEAKER_00

Hi, I'm Adrian. Happy to be here. I'm Hodoo Mountain Mama on Instagram, and we are empty nesters and off-griders and enjoying life.

SPEAKER_03

Des Hey, I am Des, otherwise known as Mother Prepper on Instagram. I'm sharing my own preparedness journey in a suburban environment and trying to get this micro homestead off the ground. So I'm happy to be here and talk with you ladies.

SPEAKER_05

I am so excited to have you all here on the podcast and just doing this round table discussion. And uh we are in the middle of Women Who Prep Months, and we declared our own months, which is pretty awesome. And I have just so enjoyed all of the posts from the hundreds of women who are sharing. And I would love to hear from you guys just what have been your favorite parts about Women Who Prep Months? Miranda.

SPEAKER_02

I think one of my favorite things, um, especially yesterday, was seeing a lot of the posts that people were talking about, women who have inspired them on their prepping journey. And I loved seeing all of the women talk about their grandmothers. And I know myself personally, that has always been something that I aspire to be. I want my granddaughters to be in the kitchen with me when I'm an old woman cooking, and I think this is just a really exciting um time in history, even though it's a scary time, it's a really exciting time because we are all bringing back the things that were wonderful about our country and all the things that made women strong in the homes and in their families, and I just think it's really cool to be part of that movement that's happening right now and to see it. Um, and I love starting, you know, my morning coffee, seeing that inspiration every day.

SPEAKER_05

Um, Morgan, what do you think?

SPEAKER_01

I have been so blown away by everybody's participation in Women Who Prep Month, and just seeing what everyone has to say is amazing. Like every every one of us has some sort of unique something to say. And every account I see is just that. It's just something unique, and I'm learning from them, and we're all learning from each other, and it's just like it's really cool. And I love that we declared this the Women Who Prep Month because I think that this was really needed, to be quite honest, and I'm really thrilled to to just see everybody and and support each other as well.

SPEAKER_05

I couldn't agree more. That's that's awesome. Kim, what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_04

Um, for me, I really think that meeting so many um uh women that I didn't know before, like accounts where maybe I had seen, you know, their handle would pop up in my feed, but then I would never see them again. And just to have those conversations through DMs, I think has just been so fun this month. Like I plan on continuing that on. Like I've just made some some good friends, I think. Um, and also just the fact that I feel like this community of women is breaking the norms of what social media is. Like everyone is just so uplifting and so encouraging and so helpful and so kind and generous with their time and answering questions. And I just think that that is so far from what social media has really represented um, you know, over the last few years. So I think it's great. I just love it.

SPEAKER_02

What about you?

SPEAKER_03

You know, it's really inspiring to see how many women are taking preparedness into their own hands and and giving a glimpse into what that means for their family and their area. I'm always inspired when I see people post, you know, whatever the topic of discussion is and how they're making that their own journey for where they are. Um so it's it's really cool to see just because my my dynamic is is maybe different than the next person and it's it's quite different from you know everybody on our our podcast today. And it's just really awesome to see how people are integrating preparedness into their daily lives and just making it a habit. So it's so inspiring, it's so uplifting, just like Kim said. Um it's very different from what you'd usually see in the social media circles, is you know, it's truly a community that wants people to um to succeed and to succeed together. So I love the investment everybody's pouring into the community as you know this this whole movement continues.

SPEAKER_05

Adrian, what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_00

Um this Women Who Prep Month has been an eye-opening experience for me, and my favorite parts are the fact that we have opened up and given permission to women to create a tribe of support. Um, everyone who is following us or that we are following are following one another because generally we're like-minded, and it's much different, like the other ladies mentioned than social media, where there's a lot of people picking on one another. This environment that we've made is nothing but support, and I just love the community and um how many friends we're making.

SPEAKER_05

So, one of the things I did uh earlier this week in Instagram is I just kind of threw out a question box and I asked my followers, and I know some of you shared that as well. Um, and we had you know quite a few good responses of questions. So I wanted to just throw some of these questions out to you guys, and um let's just have some discussion about that. The first question is from Jen at Serenity Hill Farmstead, and I thought this one was kind of a fun question, and it was if you could buy or set up one thing, no price limit, what would it be? Uh Miranda, do you want to start?

SPEAKER_02

That is a very easy one for me, and that is a harvest right freeze dryer. I want one. I want one bad. It's in our plans, but hasn't happened yet, but it's going to.

SPEAKER_01

Morgan, what would yours be? I have to say the exact same thing. I will the freeze dryer, 100%. It's gonna happen one day. One day I will have you.

SPEAKER_05

Kim, what about you?

SPEAKER_04

Um, I already have a freeze dryer. So um, and that was not a dig at you, Miranda or Morgan. I saved for a long time for that. Um, and I can't wait till you get him and we can talk about it. But for me, I think it would be a massive, fully climate-controlled and irrigated greenhouse.

SPEAKER_05

Uh, Adrian, what about you?

SPEAKER_00

Um, mine would be like Kim, a greenhouse that's on our list of things. Um, money is in the way. A real solar oven. There's a few brands out there I've looked at. They are so expensive. And a solar dehydrator. But I do have plans to try to build each of these myself this summer, so we'll see.

SPEAKER_05

Des What about you?

SPEAKER_03

Well, if I can't buy a 20-acre farm from Amazon, I guess I'm gonna have to say, um I guess I'm gonna have to say the harvest right freeze dryer also. That has been I've been ever since I learned about that as an option from you ladies, I've been obsessed. And so I'm just just trying to scrape some pennies together and start a a sinking fund for a harvest right freeze dryer. So harvest right, if you're listening, we have a band of amazing ladies here that would really love one.

SPEAKER_05

That's funny. Um, I feel like you guys are all realistic. I'm like, I want a bunker.

SPEAKER_06

I just want to go into my bunker and decorate and and have lines of food and cots, and it would be so pretty. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um Do you mean like one of those bunkers that you hear like on some of those TV shows that they're showing, or they're the selling the the pods like in a community, or do you want one just your own in some unna unmarked uh part of your land?

SPEAKER_05

I I want my own bunker that no one knows is there. Yeah, no community bunker.

SPEAKER_04

Alison, I was gonna say, and then I changed my mind at the last minute, so maybe I should change it back. That I want a um uh RV that has full solar with battery backup system um and an extra trailer for storage so that I could move it anywhere. So kind of a mobile bunker.

SPEAKER_01

That's what I had for the longest time for like a couple years. RV with the solar and everything, it was amazing. I think the only thing that I would do differently with that system again and for advice is make it diesel. Make sure you have a diesel RV so that you have a lot more options with your fuel. Of course, you have the solar and everything, but if you still want to make it mobile, diesel.

SPEAKER_05

Right, Morgan, you're raising your hands. Oh, my bad. I forgot to unclick it. It's like, do you have more to say? Say it. Um you just said something about fuel, Morgan, and a lot of people ask questions of me about fuel. And I really feel like one, that's not my wheelhouse. I don't keep fuel in my kitchen. It's something Joe kind of handles, so I don't know a lot about. Um, how do you guys handle fuel?

SPEAKER_01

You don't keep fuel in your kitchen? Why not? It's like the best place for it.

SPEAKER_02

We have this is Miranda talking, but I know on our property we have a propane tank. When we moved in, it was there, and we've never used it. Um, but we just make sure that we have the um we have like extra hoses if we needed to use it. And we kind of took the plunge a couple months ago and got the um I think it's a 55 or 65 gallon fuel drum and filled that up with fuel stabilizer. And my husband welded up a cool little cart for it um to be able to move it around if we had to push it anywhere on the property to fuel anything up.

SPEAKER_03

Does yeah, uh, I live in a really suburban and urban environment. So I I'd love to say I have just drums of fuel that I can keep on my property, I but I can't. So in my situation, we are rotating uh, you know, a few of those, you know, five or seven gallon containers of fuel and storing them safely. We we bought a completely different, you know, um shed so we can move things that were taking up space where we wanted to store our our fuel and just trying to be diligent about rotating it because it's pretty much the extent of what I can do on you know where I live, but also making sure to have alternative fuel available. So aside from the gasoline that we rotate, having propane, uh multiple um uh sources of fuel just to make sure that we have options, you know, if should we need. So that's been working for us in kind of the suburban environment because we're kind of limited on space and and options sometimes.

SPEAKER_04

Kim. Um so for us, our backup uh power source right now is a whole house generator, dual fuel. And so we do keep some um gasoline, but it's much harder to store gasoline uh long term. So it also runs on propane, which is generally what we run it on. And so we have a few of the 100-pound tanks of um propane that we have stored. Um we redid our deck last year, and so we keep them, you know, underneath that deck, and and then some smaller ones for like the barbecue and stuff, but we make sure that anytime we use those, we keep those full. Um, and then I think for me, eventually um I would like to move to a solar setup um as a backup option. So solar and batteries, um, that's on the list, but it'll be a while.

SPEAKER_01

Morgan. Okay, so yeah, what you guys were saying, all fantastic, fantastic advice for the suburb. And Miranda, the uh the fuel on wheels, pretty genius. And um, when I first saw that, I was like, oh my gosh, that's so smart. And um, I think the biggest thing that people really have to think about with any of their fuel sources or energy or anything that we're thinking about is preserving it or keeping it safe and covered or whatever needs to happen. So, like with gas, gas only lasts a couple months um when it's pulled pulled from the ground. And so um when you take it, when you go to the gas station, fill up some tanks, whatever, you need to put that um the fuel extender in it, and then even then it'll last about a year. And then you will have to rotate that fuel. So use it in your generator, use it in your lawnmower, use it in, you know, whatever, and uh, you know, just kind of change it out. Um, and when like if you're using it constantly and you're just kind of putting more in, you will have to put more of that um that gas extender. I'm not thinking of the exact name right now, it's bothering me. Um it'll come to me in about a couple hours. Uh, okay, so um, and then with the propane, you really want a good propane tank. Like if your propane tank has um, you know, like if it's corroded on the outside or something, it's you know, get a nice propane tank and keep it um, yeah, stabilizer, Miranda just said. I hear her typing because she's not muted. She was vigorously typing stabilizer. She's okay, there she go. Anyway, uh, okay, so yeah, so the stabilizer in the gas. And then yeah, good propane, keeping it covered. Um, a lot of people say like they put it in the snow and stuff like that there. Um, but and which is okay, but the outside will corrode and it could affect the inside as well. So just keep those tanks in good condition. And um, oh, and the the so diesel, if you're gonna do diesel, like you have a whole house diesel or something like that, super great. But um with all these things, whether it's solar, diesel, gas, whatever, um, make sure that you have all the maintenance tools and everything to go along with it, because these things can absolutely fail, especially with solar, like we had to have extra, we had to change out our batteries, we had to, you know, like our inverters failed at some point, this, that, and the other. And you know, it's just all these things that you kind of got to keep in mind with all these running things with running parts. So, but fuel. Sorry, I'll stick with fuel. I think that was the original question. I'll stop.

SPEAKER_05

You could just talk for hours. I always feel like I learned so much when you talk, Morgan. You're just a wealth of information.

SPEAKER_01

Well, thanks. Okay, I thought I feel like I'm just rambling all the time. So yay.

SPEAKER_05

Um, here's another question. This is from Fab Mom of Five, and she says, What would your experienced prepper self say to your newbie prepper self? Does anyone want to start with that one?

SPEAKER_03

I'll start. Uh, I would just say just get started now. And it I know there's a lot of you know anxiety when when people, you know, decide to start their preparedness journey because you think of all the things you gotta buy and all the things you gotta do and and change. But it really is something that you can start today without even having to immediately go to the store or make some major changes, even just looking into your pantry and assessing what your family eats day to day, what their preferences are, what making note of you know, dietary limitations and and medical needs, and you know, making sure you're gathering people's contact information and phone numbers. I mean, I know we can go on and on about ways to start without it feeling like this mounting task, because I feel like at least for me, my preparedness journey has been this just this constant like additional layers of things that I'm building on to um my my own preparedness um kind of bubble, right? Like you can start very small and then you just add additional layers, and those layers could be new skills, it could be, you know, your food pantry, it could be you know, training yourself to be more situationally aware. There's a number of ways to constantly work on this idea of your family's preparedness, and it doesn't have to feel like this mounting uh task that just provokes a bunch of anxiety. That was what I wanted to say. Sorry.

SPEAKER_05

Adrian.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Um, if we were gonna go to the very, very beginning, very baby first step, like, oh no, they've shut us down for two weeks prepper. That would be my recommendation is to just decide, get a focus. What are you preparing for? My case this summer, I knew student teaching was coming up for two months without an income for me. So I that was my driving force all summer long, was to make sure I had a minimum of our two months of needs, bank account, et cetera, et cetera. So for me, the first thing was focus. What are you preparing for? Weather events that happen in your region, um medical problems, job loss, et cetera. That's that's just what I would say.

SPEAKER_04

Kim. Um, for me, is just don't do it from a place of fear. Um, I think when I first got started, I did what a lot of people do, and that was I ended up with, you know, 75 pounds of beans and rice, and you know. 10 cases of soup and things like that. And I'm not saying that there's not a place for beans and rice and soup because there is, but you can't survive on just beans and rice and soup and canned soup. And if you're not going to rotate through it, it's really just a waste. So I think I concur with Adrian is that you really have to have a plan and focus on skills along with what you're buying. So to learn things is free. You know, to buy things, you need to make a budget and you need to decide what's important. And then I see so many people focus on food only, right? Food or water. But like I did that in the very beginning, but it was like, okay, if there's a power outage, how do I heat my home? I don't have a way to do that. Or how do I keep that food good? So I think really having an all well-rounded plan is so important. Um, and I think it takes the desperation out of it. Like people, when they wake up and they're like, I really need to get prepared, but uh how do I do it? And then this just this from this place of fear or desperation where people start, you know, buying lots of things that maybe they're never gonna use or that really, you know, their family doesn't eat, things like that. So that would be my recommendation is just to really sit down and have a plan and decide, like, hey, I'm gonna, I'm gonna prepare for two weeks and then from there, like I'm gonna prepare for a month, and then from there, like, how does that look? And and then incorporate skills with it. That would be my suggestion.

SPEAKER_05

Um, I'm pretty similar, but a little bit different. So my answer would be to plan, but not get stuck in that planning as a type A person. I very much like to make my lists and check them off and get them done. But I think sometimes um that can freeze people and then you get stuck making the plan, but not taking any action on the plan. Um, so for me, uh looking back into the beginning, I would um, you know, like Des said, I would just start and look in my kitchen cabinets and prep those things while I am making a plan. Um, that's my answer. Morgan, what's yours?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, to go along um with what you and Des were essentially saying, it's that whole taking action, you know, um exactly like what you guys are saying, is kind of paralyzing. But you you do it at the same time, but it's like, you know, there's I I hear it every day, people saying, you know, oh, I don't know where to start, I don't know where to start, because all they're doing is watching videos or reading blogs or reading books, which is great, but there's nothing else happening. So it's just the reading, it's just the watching the videos. And so you want to do that in conjunction with going on your next grocery store visit, buying that, you know, can of whatever, or you know, doing something along with all that stuff. So yeah, that that was basically what I was gonna say too. You just really need to take action um in conjunction with learning. It has to be a at the same time thing. So Miranda.

SPEAKER_02

I think I agree with everybody's answer on this, and I honestly don't really have too much to add because I think everybody said what I was gonna say. Um, but I do have a lot of women in particular that will message me um kind of the same sentiment. I don't know where to start, I feel overwhelmed, what would be your advice for somebody just starting out, and everybody's situation is so different. So that's a really hard question to answer to people without asking a lot of questions. Um, but like several of the ladies said, what is your situation? Some of you might have newborn babies, if that was it, I would think about my children immediately. How am I going to clothe and feed them if something happens? Um, if you're empty nesters, you have an entirely different prep plan. So as everybody knows, I'm a huge fan of lists, and I think the best thing to do to get started is to really sit down and make some serious lists. Go through your cabinets, go through your medicine cabinets, go through your cleaning cabinets, go through your entire house and really assess everything. You can't start prepping unless you start assessing things first. And I think that was I don't know if it was necessarily a mistake, but something that maybe I did in times past where I would just go on a tangent where I would think, okay, I just need to stack up and I would stack up without making a plan first. And I think I would become really diligent with keeping things organized to the point where I know exactly what I'm level on and what I need to top off. So lists, organization, and really understanding what you're prepping for.

SPEAKER_05

Those are great answers. I love how um, you know, we all have our own answers and we're all so unique in them. Um, but we all just think so similarly, and I love that. Um, Kim, you brought up skills, and I think that my personal opinion, at least, you know, when you go off into the internet and you start researching prepping, skills are highly underrated. And I would love to hear what you guys think. Um, at least for you personally, what are your top skills? Miranda, are you raising your hand because you want to start? Oh, no, I didn't know my hand was raised, but I will start since it was raised.

SPEAKER_02

Um I know myself personally. I think I know my strengths and my weaknesses for sure. I'm very aware of them. And I think my strengths would definitely be um cooking and being able to. I mean, I could go out and like cook a meal out of like nuts and grass in the backyard if I had to and make it like taste good. I feel like I don't have any worries in that department, and just keeping calm and control over my home in an SHTF situation. I think that um that's something I've kind of really tried to work on and harness as a mom and a wife is just always I've said it before, but like keep the home fires burning, keep things coming always from a place of calm and preparedness. I think definitely my weak points would be, you know, actual skills like butchering a rabbit if I had to starting a fire from scratch. These are things that I do not um, I mean, I'm still working really hard to try to keep a tomato plant alive. So I know I need to work on more actual survival skills, but comfort skills would be probably my strength.

SPEAKER_01

Morgan. Yeah, so I want to piggyback off of what Miranda's saying here about personalization too. You know, when we're talking about skills, like I can rattle off all the skills that I think is super important, but maybe you're either not going to be ready for them or, you know, you just don't think they're that important. And that's fine, you know. Um, so really when it comes to your skills, like almost exactly what Miranda was saying about she knows her weaknesses, and that's something we all have to come into terms with. A long time ago, a couple years, well, it's a few years now, I realized I was very weak in um any type of medical. I mean, I just knew nothing. I mean, you know, I knew how to take out alcohol in a band-aid, and that was pretty much it. And so um I was like, well, that's just not gonna cut it. And so, you know, when we are thinking about skills that we want to learn, um, again, everybody can rattle off skills to you, but I think one of the best places to start is breaking out a piece of paper and pen and writing out skills, you know, getting true to yourself and taking an assessment of yourself. What do I already, you know, what am I really good at? You know, um, what what am I weak at? What can I learn? And so write a list of things that are really that you're really good at, build yourself up, and then write a list of things that you're not so great, and you could really use help because we all use help on something. And uh then start working on on those skills and and then keep practicing the skills that you're still good at because you don't want those to go stale either. So, but just start at the top and work at one skill at a time, spend a little bit of devoted time to it. I think that's really important too. You know, don't just one and done, spend a little bit of time on these skills, you know, either whether it's throughout a month, a year, whatever, you know, repetition is gonna be key. Kim.

SPEAKER_04

Okay, so for me, um, a little bit different. I think when I really started preparing, um, we'll just talk in the area of food. Um, I have celiac disease. So really um altering like what would I do in a situation where I couldn't easily get to the store. Um, some gluten-free flours don't last as long as regular flour. So I would say that my skill that's unique to me is really adapting to that. And what does that look like? And you know, freeze-drying corn, for instance, so that I can make cornmeal because I it does me no good to keep, you know, 50 pounds of flour. I can't eat that. So I would say that's my skill is really um adapting as someone with celiac disease to uh long-term storage. And then um, I would say my weakness is anything first aid. So I see blood and I've literally almost pass out. I'm really trying to work through that. Um my husband cut his eye open not too long ago, and um I did not pass out, but I also could not look at it. So I don't really know how to fix that. Um, but I did get the sutra kit that you practice at home. So I am gonna try and try and do that. But that really is a weak point is that if anyone required first aid and I was the one that needed to give that to them, uh, that would just be so traumatic. Um I think that's it. Did I I answered everything right? Yeah, yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_05

Adrienne, you want to go next?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I'm just trying to undo my hand. Um for me, uh, when we're talking about skills and preparedness, uh and me living up here on the mountain, when I stop and think, I want to know that I can do everything that Vern does, my husband, when he's here. Like, can I run the chainsaw if there's a tree across the road and I can't go. Can I roll the big old 500-pound hay bells if he's not here? Can I fill up our water tanks inside the house when he's not here? So I need to know that I can do those things if it's just me for whatever reason. And I would also add, um, I think all of us, especially women, I think we get in our own way. I think we need to um give ourselves grace, and then you need to be confident in your ability to learn something. Like you made it to this point in your life, right? And you're a successful adult, you're taking care of yourself. You can obviously learn things. You you're very, very capable. And I just think that's important that we need to honor mistakes. Those are always something that we learn from. We okay, so now we know what doesn't work, and so try again. And um, finally, don't be afraid to try. Like, seriously, right now, I could get you to the hospital in a stick shift, but we're gonna run some red lights, but I'll get you there. So that's something I need to work on this summer, but I gotta be okay and open-minded that I can do this. So though that's just my recommendations.

SPEAKER_05

Those are great. I think um I yeah, I disagree with everything all of you said. I think my skill weaknesses are definitely medical as well. Um, and you know, sometimes I know that, you know, I focus on food preservation and our food storage and our gardens and our livestock. And so those are very like things I'm very good at. And so I tend to just sometimes I will ignore the other things because it's it's just easier. And um, and I shouldn't, but I do. So, but I also think that you know, with skills, that is where community is also important because we can't know everything. Like I cannot know everything. I can have basic skills in some things, but I can't, you know, be the medic and the militia and the gardener and the everything in a SHTF scenario. Um, yeah. So another uh uh follower question, and I am not gonna share her name because she likes to be private, and uh she asked about time management and she works full time and um several of us work full time. So I was hoping you ladies would jump in with how you manage your job and your family and your home and prepping as part of that. All the hands raised at once. We'll start with this.

SPEAKER_03

Awesome. Uh I I also work full-time and it there's times where you know I just feel like I am run really thin and I wish I had more than 24 hours in a day. But I think with time management, you really have to look at, you know, what items you want to tackle take priority, right? Because in uh as a you know, a working mom, uh, it it definitely feels like I wish I had more time to dedicate to preparedness, being able to like test my gear and you know, make all the amazing lists and go to Costco and find the things that I need to keep my rotations going. And so it can definitely feel like you are in this uphill battle, but it has helped me quite a bit to physically write down the things that I know are on my to-do list or my task list and prioritizing them based on what I know my day is gonna look like, what I know my weekend's gonna look like. Um, you can always tell what is most important to our family by how we're planning our free time. And that's really just um a decision my husband and I made where if we know we want to definitely get something done, building in the time to see it through. So for example, right now we are getting chicks so we can have chickens and we don't have a coop yet. And so that's definitely a very urgent task that we need to get on. And so it's not something that you can just build in one day. Um, maybe if you're you know, superwoman like some of these ladies on here, you can do that one day and knock it out. But for us, because much of our day is spoken for and much of our week is spoken for, understanding where we can fit in time on our lunch hour after after work and work on it together and in the meantime making sure we have the right supply so that we're not behind schedule. So it takes a lot of proactive planning and forethought to make sure that you're getting the things done that you need to, but it can be done. And I think your your willingness to work it into your day is a reflection of how important these things are to you. So that was kind of my soapbox speech on that. Kim?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, pretty much exactly the same as what Des said. Um, although I my children are grown and don't live in the home, so my husband and I are empty nesters, but um I do uh manage a large organization, so my work week is generally 50 or 60 hours a week. Um, thankfully, um I do work from home, so that's pretty awesome. I don't know how I did it when I was commuting up to four hours a day. Um, I just don't remember. I got it done, but it's much easier now that I work from home. And just exactly like what Des said is that you have to plan it out. So my weekends are very busy. Um, they're not restful. Um, we will, you know, decide like, okay, we're gonna hit Costco in the morning and then, you know, all deer sprouts in the afternoon, and then we have to get home because we have to get, you know, garden beds built or whatever. So they're very, very planned out and very specific on what we're going to accomplish each weekend. Um, and then sometimes we don't have time, so we'll have to run out after work and go handle things in the evening. But I really think that just having a plan of what you need to accomplish that's realistic um is the easiest way to do it. And then just stick to your plan.

SPEAKER_06

Morgan.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so I'm I'm kind of the planner and I'm also very like impulsive too. So like I I've been in both situations where I've worked full-time. I worked full-time, but I did not have children. And then I have worked from home with children. And so, you know, both it doesn't, it kind of doesn't matter what else is taking up your time, it's all kind of just prioritizing, you know, um, and being flexible, I think is something that I have have to give myself grace for. So, you know, like I have a lot on my to-do plate, but you know, my kids, they they really do come first. And so, you know, sometimes throughout the day, I'm just like, I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to go bake this and cook this, and I have to, you know, go make this video and do this, blah, blah, blah. And then I'm like, you know what, that that can be pushed a little bit, you know, let's let's go to the park instead, or let's go, you know, or let's bake together, or let's do something, you know. So being flexible and changing priorities a little bit is something I've had to really come to terms with a lot. And um, but there are some things that I'm very specific about. So, like if I need to write an article, if I have to get a YouTube done or whatever, um, I have an app on my phone that's called Alarmed. You know, a lot of people just use their calendar or something like that, but I like this because it gives me notifications and it won't go away until I mark it done. And so um I have to be very, very specific and prioritize those specific things. So I say, Today I'm going to write this. Today I'm going to record this YouTube video. But I'm also kind of sporadic as well. You know, like I have food that needs to go on Mylar bags, but I don't plan when I'm gonna do it. It just kind of sits there in the abyss until I figure out some time to do it, even though it takes like five minutes, ten minutes to do it, whatever. It's like a it's not a prioritized task because I know that it can sit there for a little bit. So things that can't wait, I'll do that first. Okay, I'm done. Adrian.

SPEAKER_00

Um, I feel like my perspective might be a little bit different than most when we're talking about time management. Mostly because I think there's two categories that we get a lot of questions for. Time management as a full-time um employee somewhere or working full-time for homestead versus time management for prepping. And in our most of the ladies here, our worlds are both. And so I think that needs to be clarified a little bit. Prepping is more like, in my mind, anyway, for me personally, prepping has become more of a making sure that our physical needs are met with the food, the the medical kits, like you guys are saying, the the you know, the famous toilet paper, all that stuff. Homesteading is more self-sufficiency and it's really chore related. And so if you're working full-time, it's really beneficial to consider starting small homesteading like Des and her chickens. Um but making sure that you're planting a garden of food that you eat, and you're not wasting your valuable time on food that you guys don't like. And also planting the garden in in such a way that it's kind of self-maintaining. So there's not tons of weeding involved, there's not tons of chores related. I think it's important to really consider that your time is worth money no matter where you're spending it.

SPEAKER_05

That's great. Um, does anyone else want to weigh in on that one before I move on?

SPEAKER_02

Well, I don't work per se out of the home, but I do work in the home and I just make lists. Gotta make a list. Don't get a lot done without a list. So that's just my advice on that.

SPEAKER_05

I hear you on the lists. I have a big book and I just write my daily list in there and then go through it every now and then to look at what did not get done and add that to my new list. Lists are good. We were talking a little bit. Um, I think Des brought this topic up um before we started recording, just kind of, you know, about um the state of our country, the state of the world right now. um and doom and gloom and we use the hashtag prepared not scared um let's let's all share a little bit about um just how you keep yourself focused when um sometimes it seems like the world is falling apart around us and morgan is raising her hand so she gets to start i'm ready this is a good good question good topic and um as i'm sure we all get all day this whole thing of you know the world is coming to an end and all this inflation and just exactly what you're saying allison of the doom and gloom and all this and it's it's rough it can really take a rough toll on us mentally physically you know can uh make us feel like we just you know what's the point but that's just it like we can't control those things so I'm not going to control those things I'm gonna control what I can control which is taking care of the household taking care of my children teaching them teaching myself and um trying to help others and um you know making sure our food is being taken care of and our needs and our wants and focusing on that you know I I totally get wild sometimes and I'm like oh my gosh avocados are no longer gonna be in the store what am I gonna do and I start freaking out and I'm like I need to buy all the avocados and then I'll I'll try to mash them all up and I'll put them in the freezer I'll make some guacamole and like I get all wild and I'm like you know what if I can't do that right now it's totally fine you know I I don't want to live in a world without avocados but I will if I must but you know it's just one of those things like we kind of have to just work with what we have if we don't have a ton of money what can we do?

SPEAKER_01

Can we go to the thrift store?

SPEAKER_05

Can we um you know focus on the sales what can we do for our own personal situations in order to control what we can control yeah I totally agree with you um and you know for me and Joe I think sometimes we balance each other out and if like he is having a oh my gosh moment I can balance that out for him and vice versa um you know as an example I think it was yesterday or the day before he comes in with his phone and he's like did you see this? I'm gonna drive to Bozeman to pick up the apocalypse well pump and I'm like babe calm down just chill for a little bit um so yeah controlling what we can control and not letting like news headlines they want they want us to be crazy and scared and um putting our focus where it should be and the things that we can control is just so important.

SPEAKER_04

Kim so mine's gonna be a little bit of a different approach. I hope that it's not a secret that I'm a Christian and um the fact that the Bible is pretty clear about how it ends and that's not a secret either. And so I truly believe those things and I do believe that it's gonna get way worse um before it gets better. So for me I do tend to get like this morning you know Russia invaded Ukraine and so that immediately sets me to like start to feel stressed and what does that mean for us and what about all those poor people in the Ukraine? What's going to happen to them? And so really for me the only way that I can um not be stressed out by just the condition of this world and the things that our leaders the decisions that they're making is through prayer. And that's it.

SPEAKER_03

Descision and trying to protect both my emotional and mental health around you know things that are happening in the world really come from my my family and my and specifically my daughter right because I feel like a lot of these a lot of this desire to prep and to um you know turn on this mama bear and protector switch right really stem from from my role as a mother and being responsible um for the well being of my child and and my family. So for me I feel like very much in line with what has been said before where you want to focus on what you can control. You want to focus on uh your your family and the things that you can influence you know within your four walls. Because there's things that are happening around us at any given time where us having an opinion or us freaking out is not going to change the outcome. You know as much as I'd like to say like everybody has can influence and be the change, sometimes it's just not it's just with the outside of your scope of influence. So so kind of I think for me having that hard truth realized and understanding okay I need to do away with the things I can't control and focus on the things and pour my energy into things I can control. You know if if inflation is causing the you know shelves to not only be bare but super expensive this is my call to action to strategize how can we make our budget stretch further? How can we grow our own food? How can we preserve our food for the days to come and how can we really take responsibility of those things. So for me it a lot of the things that are happening around you can definitely weigh on you. But when I think of the impact that I'm having on my family and my children and my community and kind of speaking things into existence, meaning like the fact that I'm on this preparedness journey and having these conversations with people, neighbors, friends about the importance of preparedness and thinking forward, I feel like it's an outward ripple of thinking about the things we can control, especially on a community level where we are inspiring people to take action in their own their own homes in their own days and lives so that we don't find ourselves in an area where we're unprepared um you know for for for different things to come. So that's kind of my my mind mindless rant about it. But it really comes down to the same messaging where you know you want to focus on the things you can control and I'm not saying turn off the news and don't you know like turn it off but understand where you have influence and where you don't and really pour love and effort into the things that you can see grow and um that you have influence over.

SPEAKER_00

Adrian Yeah uh I just wanted to add something short for myself uh I listen to podcasts quite a bit on my commute to work in the morning and in the afternoons and I'll go I don't know maybe three weeks with that and then I'll hit this real low like super depressed and then I'll realize um I need a break. So turn it off take a break be intentional about it try to be aware when you are slipping into that you know the dark spot um and then when I've had my break I get back to my being proactive rather than reactive. And so you know like our most recent headlines right now the stuff that's happening in Canada I'm really hoping that that continues and I'm comfortable with it because I prepared like bring it on let's let's do this so we can make change I'm ready.

SPEAKER_05

So proactive versus reactive and taking a break when you need Kim Des you're both raising your hand do you have more to add no sorry I forgot to take it down Alison same okay I didn't want to skip over you if you had something to something more to say um we are coming up on an hour and I know we wanted to uh just kind of keep this short I know we could probably talk all day long um so let's end with um what I think is maybe a fun topic. I don't know what you guys think um so someone asked where should I buy land and that's you know not an answer we can give them but why don't we why don't you guys share a little bit about where you live I know we are across the country um why you live there and then any um things that are unique about your situation you know I mean if you're on land or in the city or just that kind of stuff. Kim you can go first.

SPEAKER_04

Okay um so I don't necessarily give my specific um city name um just something that my husband asked me not to do so I don't but I do live in a very very rural mountain community um in Southern California. So um why I live here um I was born and raised in Southern California and to me the town that I live in is as uh not California as as I've found in this state. So um very conservative leaning great people um like I said it's really small we don't have chain stores here everything is independently owned it's really a community of people that come together to help each other and I love that about here. Now we do not plan on retiring um in California so when my husband and I retire and we will follow um my grandchildren out of this state and um into Arizona. So I will be going from a high altitude mountain community that gets lots of snow and in the wintertime to a desert community where I'm going to have to relearn pretty much everything I know about gardening. We are really excited about that though. And I think that if I had a choice of like in if I could go anywhere I wanted to go and it wasn't driven by family or anything like that, I really like the South and um I've I've visited many times over the last 10 years and there's just something about being in the South that I love. I love the people so like if I could it would be probably like Louisiana or um maybe even Mississippi. So that's it. And and it's just really because I just love the people there. I love the climate I like humidity um which is crazy because I'm coming from California going to Arizona so uh where there is zero humidity. So I I know that's funny but that's kind of where I'm at.

SPEAKER_02

Miranda I am a Southern girl Kim and I think you'd do just fine in the South. You just love it. I was raised in Florida and I met my husband um he was stationed in Alabama so I lived there for a brief time with him but we live in Oklahoma and I absolutely love Oklahoma for a lot of reasons but especially in this day and age there are what I would consider the best personal freedoms in the United States homeschool freedoms medical freedoms um 2A rights it's it's a very obviously heavily conservative state um but Oklahoma's huge on personal freedoms and that was um a big draw for my husband and myself but I think the best thing I love about this area is just that we're close to a lot of things we need but we're also even though we're in the suburbs we feel like we're way out in the country and it just works really nice for us for people to have our chickens and and we're not like the weirdos in the neighborhood. Everybody's got chickens you know everybody's building greenhouses and it's a lot of like minded people our our neighbors have like deer stands in their trees and um the homeschool community here is huge and there's a lot of support and I love it. I do sometimes I miss being in the south but I feel like the Midwest is I mean I guess with like southern Midwest it's the same mentality and everybody's just super friendly and um I even though I love the South I do want to come visit all my North Idaho women at some point.

SPEAKER_04

I don't know if I can have you with you Miranda let's road trip and go visit those North Idaho women when there's not 2500 feet of snow come we will welcome you um so Joe and I live in North Idaho and um we are from Southwest Washington and we were raised there.

SPEAKER_05

We grew up there we you know raised our children in their younger years there um and we really moved for political reasons. Early 2020 we saw what we thought might be happening in Washington and we were like yeah it's time to go um and so we chose North Idaho we had always thought about living here in North Idaho but it was always well maybe after retirement and after the kids are gone and we love it here. I love um you know like all the things you were saying Miranda it's like I feel like North Idaho is very much like that. And there's a lot of preparedness minded people and homesteading is just normal like no one bats an eye when you talk about canning food or gardening or livestock. It's just what people do. So that we love North Idaho for all of those reasons and I love the snow so which is funny because I also hate the snow but I love the snow so yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Uh Adrian Yeah so um our story is a little bit different. We married very young in our teen years and for the first 25 years of our marriage we were caretakers for a millionaire and his ranch. And so we didn't have the responsibilities of land payments mortgage payments any of that and I homeschooled our kids and they grew up running out to the garden with their dad or working the cows with their dad or any of those things. And then COVID came well then um our boss our owner died and then his wife died and then it was like every lifetime story you've ever seen where the stepkids um inherit things and everything changes drastically. So we left and we rented for the first time in twenty five years. We rented for two years and then COVID hit and uh my oldest was a senior and she finished her schooling online she moved out and we were empty nesters. And my husband said it's time. We had inherited five acres so that June we moved onto the five acres in the back of a pickup truck's camper. And we lived in that camper for the whole summer while we made this five acres of land our home. And then that December 30 acres that surrounded um three boundaries of our five came up for sale. And we had the opportunity to buy it and it was definitely a God thing because it all came together and now we have 35 acres that we get to call home up here in the mountains of North Idaho where you drive along the dirt road to get here flags um you know everyone's political affiliation and it kind of makes you feel good. And everyone up here is very respectful of each other and I just like I don't want to ever leave this is home.

SPEAKER_01

This is my escape from the real world so Morgan you want to weigh in uh so I've I've been all over uh I was born and raised in Oregon and I got antsy and so I traveled a lot I've been all over the US I've been international been all over the place and um you know uh I've lived in the extreme cold for a little bit in Alaska and uh found out it was not correct for me not quite right wasn't a perfect fit but that's okay you know I think out of all of our stories and things I think one of the biggest things people have to keep in mind is it's okay to be flexible about where you live you know like and it's fine to want to live somewhere that aligns with your values and your views and even if it's your political values and your beliefs and things like that it's fine. And you know even if you go to a place and that you thought was going to be fantastic and you're like you know what this just isn't working out go and you know sell something sell your house or property or you know do whatever you have to in order to make it work for you. And so you know we've you know just always made it work for us. And so um I've lived in the city more than I've lived in the country though. I've only lived a country life in the past couple years of um rural homesteading but I'm back to urban homesteading now and I'm really excited. You know it's it's different but it's you know a lot of people always say that urban homesteaders and things just won't won't make it they won't last any of this but not all cities are equal. They're not all the same and uh the suburban areas they're not all the same like uh what Miranda was saying about her little town and thing and what everybody here has been saying about their own little specific area. They're you know you get to know your neighbors and they you know you you just want somewhere that's gonna align with you. And so that that's basically what I have to say about it. I think it's totally fine to live in an urban area you urban homestead and you make it work. That's all I had to say.

SPEAKER_02

Miranda I was just gonna chime in here because I don't know if any of you um hear this um from from followers and friends on Instagram but I've had so many people over the last year message me saying they were thinking about moving or they wanted to move but couldn't imagine doing it or you know a variety of responses. I love to tell people do it. If you are feeling a stirring inside of you do it and everything Morgan just said I I just felt that to my core and I heard a quote or I read it a long time ago and it said you're not a tree. If you don't like where you're at move and I just think right now this day and age that is so important to hear loud and clear and if you're feeling a pulling for your family or yourself to be somewhere else listen to that and act on it.

SPEAKER_03

Des did you want to answer um I live in California and I think that I think a lot of people know that it's crowded it's expensive there's not a lot of places to do all the homestead amazing things that um I envisioned but there are still places where it can work. And um I actually am kind of just listening on our our our podcast today to get ideas from you ladies because I know I've shared with with you all that is something that we're trying to figure out okay if we were to leave where we are where would where would we go? So far we've as a family we've liked the idea of you know narrowing it down to maybe eastern Oregon or Idaho um but the snow is something that I'm gonna have to come to terms with. I have never lived in an area with snow and extreme cold so the idea of four whole seasons is um is a completely different life. So so I'm really just listening along to figure out kind of and gain some insight from you ladies on that question.

SPEAKER_04

I just want to add to that as my fellow Californian it's just such a shame that the politics in the state have ruined it like we have the best right we have uh the oceans are an hour from the snow and the weather is amazing and you can go up north and the trees are amazing and there's just so much to do here outdoor hiking like all of that. It's just I don't know it always makes me a little bit sad to know that you know I've been here 50 plus years and you know really feel the stirring that it Time to go because I do love my state. Um, even though, like Des said, it's expensive and it's currently just becoming kind of a horrible place to live with all of the mandates and definitely not a place where you want to raise your children. Um, but it's a bummer.

SPEAKER_01

Morgan, you got your hand up. Yeah, I just wanted to, you know, uh Des and Kim are in California, and so many people always say, you know, get out of California. But do you have to think California is a huge, huge state, and yes, the politics really do drag down the state, and it's so sad because like what what you guys are saying, you know, it's such a beautiful state. And but not everywhere feels the same as like, you know, the big cities. And, you know, but I I'm sure that a lot of the places in California are, you know, regardless, being affected by a lot of the politics. But, you know, that's just something that, you know, a lot of people have to consider, like they think of when they think of like New York, but they're thinking about New York City, not the rural parts of New York where these kinds of things. And, you know, like they think of like Austin, you know, in Texas, where very liberal, but you know, the rest of Texas doesn't quite think a lot like Austin. And so um, you know, it's just you have to think about the most densely populated places are ruling a lot of the politics. And it could trickle into the other parts of the states, but if you like a state, um don't just think, you know, don't just look at a state and be like, oh, well, California's lost cause, you gotta get out of there, you're terrible for being there, blah, blah, blah. You gotta look at it at its entirety. You know, Kim and Des are just fine. And uh, you know, while Kim feels like she's being pulled, it's kind of one of those things of, you know, that's just where she belongs. You know, I don't want to speak for Kim, not trying to, but you know, um, you know, maybe I know this one person, I'm sorry, this is kind of going in a little rant here, but I know this one person who was just talking to, she was, she wanted to get out of Oregon, but she couldn't, and she just could not afford it. And she has she has to take care of some people, she couldn't do it. And so she was like, I'm just gonna try to look for a rural place here in Oregon because not all of Oregon is is terrible. You know, there's a lot of really good rural places still. And um, so she's like, I'm just gonna look for more rural places and invest here in Oregon, stick, stick around my family. That's something we also have to think about as well, you know, family safety, security, you know, are you near your support system, that kind of thing. So while it can be really scary to uproot into a whole new place, maybe you can make it work where you are as well, but maybe just move into a different area of that state, you know, with your family or something like that, or I don't know. Just throwing out ideas.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, I couldn't agree more, Morgan. Um, you know, it's like you think of all the different areas, and every area has its big city. You know, Idaho has Boise and Oregon has Portland and Washington has Seattle. Um, and those large populated areas really do dictate a lot just because they have that larger population, but there are great, great areas in other parts of those states. So, you know, yeah, I totally, totally agree with what you have to say. Ladies, we are now coming up on almost an hour and 15 minutes. Um, this has been amazing, and thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and this little group chat. It has been so much fun.

SPEAKER_01

I had a blast, thank you. Yeah, it's all on mute and so crazy.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, yeah, everyone all at the same time.

SPEAKER_05

Uh so thank you so much. This was fun. And listeners, I hope that you enjoyed today's conversation. And I think we may do this again. So thanks for listening. Thanks all for listening. Yeah, thank you. Thanks so much for listening today. And until next time, remember, every little thing matters, and a goal without a plan is just a wish. If you have questions, you can find me on Instagram at this prepared life. I'd love to connect with you over there. You can also find me on the internet at www.thispreparedlife.com. And if you enjoyed today's podcast, I would love it if you would leave me a review on Apple Podcasts.