Two friends looking for support on their preparedness mission – that is how the preparedness blog Safely Gathered In got its start. Hannah and Abbie, both wives of medical students, began blogging to encourage themselves to learn more about food storage and emergency preparedness. It also was a way to help them be accountable to each other and their readers. With minimal time, money and space they have still managed to make emergency preparedness a priority. Their blog not only shares inpspiration, but tutorials, tips and even favorite food storage recipes.

Today, we have an interview with Hannah. She has shared a little more about the sites founding and her emergency preparedness beginnings. We’ll share the first half of her interview today and the next half – which is about gardening – next Tuesday.  Read More »

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With the major quake in Chile so quick upon the heels of Haiti’s disaster, it forces us to think more about our own preparedness and self-reliance. I love how the church’s new self-reliance web site not only shares sources for becoming physically prepared, but they share links to great talks that help us be spiritually prepared.  One of my favorite is Elder Perry’s “Becoming Self-Reliant” from a 1991 Ensign.

“The principle of self-reliance is spiritual as well as temporal. It is not a doomsday program; it is something to be practiced each and every day of our lives.”  – Elder Perry Read More »

Let me start by saying this post is for food storage beginners – however, we really want to hear from a few veterans. Don’t skip of this, but do leave a comment telling us how you began and what your biggest challenge to overcome was.

When my grandma passed away, my family went through the belongings in her house.  My jaw dropped when we came to her food storage room. I’d never seen so much canned food. However, I don’t think she had used or rotated it since 1972. Each shelf was lined with brown-filled jars.  On one hand, I was impressed with the amount of food. On the other, I thought it was a waste since it had never been cycled through and was useless now. Either way, it was also intimidating to think about ever having that much food storage of my own.

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Jodi and Julie from Food Storage Made Easy shared their “beginning food storage” story with us. As well as their favorite food storage foods, tips for not getting overwhelmed and a few of their favorite sites. Read on to learn more about this dynamic duo. You’ll feel a little more inspired to sort your pantry. Read More »

We have an exciting new series to share. LDSHelp4Hire’s blog started more than four months ago. Since then, we’ve feature subjects ranging from How to Create a Family Safety Plan to  Sharing the Gift of Music for Christmas to Finding Holiday Pet Sitters. Beginning next week, we’ll be adding a regular series featuring interviews with popular LDS bloggers or web sites. From food storage to family history to providing care and more, we’ll be sharing great ideas from all over the LDS community. Read More »

BYU TV is featuring a new reality show all about finding your family secrets. “The Generations Project” airs every Monday, Saturday and Sunday. And there is a way that you could be invovled…

My family watched an episode about a woman who’s great-grandmother was quarantined to Kalaupapa, Hawaii for leprosy. It was fascinating to watch her reactions as she learned from the family history experts about the life her ancestor led, her marriage to another leprosy patient, and the four children they had and then had to send away from Kalaupapa. Read More »

Below are a handful of activities for babysitters – beyond sitting kids in front of the t.v. or computer. We would love to hear from you. What are your ideas for babysitting activities?
Activities for a Babysitters tool-kit

Treasure Hunt – Have the children wait in a room while you hide a prize. It could be anything from stickers to candy. Write several clues and hide them as well. Each clue should lead to the next until they reach the treasure. Give them the first clue to start. Read More »