A little background. I am the mom of four grown kids, four great kids-in-law and nine, almost ten...grandchildren. I was raised in New Jersey and graduated from Central College, Pella, Iowa with a degree in Home Economics Education with an emphasis in foods and nutrition. It was during that time that I became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and became passionate about food storage and all things preparedness.

I have witnessed the days of food storage being called a years' supply, a two year supply, and now a three month supply of the foods we eat with an additional nine month supply of long term, more basic food storage. I confess to having always believed in storing what you eat and eating what you store, long before it was the buzz.  Because of this belief I have never dumped food storage, we have eaten it. I have many friends who have dumped literally tons of food. What a sad waste of time and money. Never again.

Currently I write emergency preparedness articles for Meridian Magazine (ldsmag.com) and I author a blog: http://blog.TotallyReady.com. I hope you will all become regulars on the blog. Karen will be  a regular contributor there writing posts related to food storage, bread making, yummy and nutritious recipes and tips for using our food storage every day.

In fact I don't even like the phrase "food storage". On my blog we are stocking our personal General Store. Each Monday we discuss another item or two to add. As recently as a few decades ago everyone had a General Store available to them. It stocked everything you needed to care for your family. One stop shopping. When we have a General Store within the walls of our own home, and learn to incorporate what is on those shelves into our diets each day, then, we are truly self reliant and prepared for whatever life may bring.

My philosophy about self reliance is this:

1. There are many things we can, and should, be preparing for. Challenges happen, they always have and they always will.

2. The storing of food is an essential part of a self reliant lifestyle.

3. Other temporal needs are also essential to a prepared home.

4. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"

5. We are all children of a Father in Heaven who loves all of us and, as such, we need to care for each other and warn others when we have been warned.

6. Money has little to do with self reliance and preparation.

7. No matter your present circumstance you can be prepared for any challenge you will face in the future. "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

8. God has blessed all of us with the resources we need in order to prepare. Together we will listen and learn to recognize those blessings.

Check out my blog and return here often for tips and encouragement. Ask questions. There is no foolish question. If you have thought it, so has someone else. Please let me know what you would like me to address. Let me know where you are in your preparations and what you would like to be working on next. I am so excited to have been invited to share what I have learned with you. Let the adventure begin!