Prayers for Dallas

 

 

 

My heart aches, what an awful day in our society where someone thinks that killing those who protect us is okay. Please keep the department.. The families.. The officers.... the dispatchers...the first responders....the EMS....and the community.... in your prayers. It is so sad to think that 5 families lost a husband, a dad, a son, a part of the community. I just can't believe all the hate that is in this country, it will be our undoing.  

Emotional image from WFAA-TV's Mike Leslie: Dallas Police Department officers standing outside hospital, saluting fallen brethren.

 

 

They should not all be judged by the few bad apples, Most are very good Men and Women who just want to help people. They have families who depend on them they have friends, they support their communities. We need to keep them in our prayers at all times, that they stay strong and safe in these troubled times.

Joleen got her fire badge

 

 I am a little late in posting this. We had our fire banquet a few months ago and Joleen is officially on the Lewis-Arriola fire dept and she got her badge. She worked so hard for this and I am so proud.

 

 

 

 

She worked several years as a brush hog and when she finally got old enough she joined and did her year of rookie training.

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see she has always loved the fire dept. She even had her Prom pictures taken on the fire trucks. ( her date was on the fire dept. to)

 

 

 

 

This was after her first big brush fire. She didn't look so chipper the next day after 18 hours on the same fire. What made it even worst was we had her 20th Birthday party that evening so she had to miss her own party. We are going to try and reschedule something a little later that she can actually be there for haha.

You could see the smoke from the fire from the house.

 

Andy has 18 years in so far, think he is going to go to 20 before he retires. It will be funny when he retires to know we can actually have dinners and plan things with out him getting called out. Although now it will be Joleen who has to always miss out or that we are waiting on.

Why have a money stash.

 

First off I want to say thank you to everyone that left very encouraging comments on my frugal fatigue post. I am hoping and trying to get back into the swing of things. As I have said before the reason I started this blog was to share what little information I have with others. I have felt like this is what I have been asked to do and when I start falling down on the job I'm  not keeping up with what I have been asked to do. So hopefully I am back at it.

I received this question in one of the comments.

Could you please explain a bit more about the money stash. Food storage challenge is a brilliant help to me and have just been through them all again to see what else I may have missed. Cannot find original post about money stash though. I take it this is different to an emergency fund and rather if banks were not open or chaos prevails. Thankyou for all your ideas and help you provide here.

I thought instead of just answering her I would do a small post about this.
In all my food storage challenges I recommend putting back money every week, however much you can afford. For a few different reasons.

# 1 If the power is out for an extended time and you can't get money out of your bank, then you have some cash on hand to get by until the power comes back on.

# 2 If the banks have a bank holiday once again you have cash on hand.

# 3 If at all possible I do recommend having enough cash for 3 to 6 months of bills and living expenses. I know this is difficult for a lot of people, that is why I say to try and put back something every week, even if a very small amount, it all adds up. I would hope that we would never have bank holidays, but they have happened in other countries.

#4 And it is also nice to have if you are a little short and need a few extra dollars for what ever ( especially if you have teens) Just be sure to try and replace it.

#5 Peace of mind. Just knowing that you have that little back up helps to give a little peace of mind. Back when I was a single parent and very broke I would scrounge every where all over the house looking for change just to get something that the girls needed. I don't want to ever have to do that again, that is a feeling that I will never forget.

 Ok so you are putting money back, the next question is where do you keep it. The ideal place is a fireproof safe, but that is not an option for everyone. Before we had a safe I keep ours in the freezer. With the freezer if you have a fire it is less apt to burn. If you put it in the freezer make it look like it belongs, wrap it in freezer paper, put it in a bag that vegetables were in, or a box of frozen food just make it blend in and then put it at the very back of the freezer where you have to take out several things out to get to it.

I don't recommend burying it. My Mother in law use to do this years ago and never kept a record of where it was, I am pretty sure there is money buried in her yard that will never be found.

Have a great day.

Happy 4th

" Happy Independence Day America!"
~ God Bless America
We salute today the red, white and blue; ...
Our nation’s colors, those that have always run true.

Our country was founded over 200 years ago today;
Let us take time to thank God, and for our country do pray.
Hard times she has faced and wars she has fought to stay free;
It is the price we willing paid for our liberty.
Let us never forget the lessons our fore fathers tried to teach;
Success in this great country is always within our reach.
We became a nation of laws and doing what’s right;
Sometimes we faltered and failed to see the light.
Today should be a day of reflection and praise to be given;
If not for the brave men then free we would not be livin’.
Our flag has flown over many lands and on every sea;
Let us never forget the price many paid to be free.
Many will go to different places to celebrate with fireworks in the sky; Take time to remember and reflect on why.
Celebrate and enjoy this day with a reverence pause;
For if we forget why, we just may become but a lost cause.
We came from many countries to become one nation of the brave;
Let us also remember this day the price that was paid.
It was to God that our fore fathers did pray and give thanks above;
If we forget, then we may cease to receive His divine love.
So take a moment during all your celebrating today and say a prayer; That once again we show God how much we really care.
Put your hands together and do pray with me;
That once again God will smile down on us favorably.
Enjoy your day and have lots of fun;
But never forget that without God we would never have begun.
May God Bless America this day and always with His love;
May He once again smile upon us and bless us from above.

Poem by, Michael Gasaway

Week 26 Food Storage Challenge

8 Bars of soap/ Vinegar

8 Bars of soap, If you make your own stock up on lye (or learn to make your own) and fats ( lard, tallow , or shortening ). If you plan on making your own  learn now if you don't already know how, so you know what you are doing when you have to make it. During a crises is not the time to be trying to learn how to make and do things. If you buy your soap get the kind you like Soap will store for a very long time, it will get harder and dried out but it is still usable .

Vinegar, White for cleaning and canning. Cider vinegar for cooking. You can also make your own. Remember though you have to have at least  5% acidic for canning.

The extra item for this month is Kids clothes. If you have small kids look at second hand stores and yard sales for clothes that are larger sizes than what they are in now. If your kids are grown still get children's clothes when you find a good buy on them, this way you have some put back for grandkids. I look for baby clothes and things now even though neither  of my girls  have kids yet. I know how hard it is for young family's, so I want to be able to help them out when the time comes for that. I also put back kids clothes just to have on hand.

The Action item this month is to get all your information off the computer. If you are like me you find things on the internet then save them on your computer. It is a good idea to get in the habit of printing  or at least putting on a flash drive (if on a flash drive be sure to have a protected computer) all that information just in case your computer crashes or you have no power at least you will have all the information that you need. Get some notebooks and store the information by subject then when you need it I you will be able to find it. eg. all cooking in one note book all medical in another.

Put back some more money in your stash.

Add more water to your water storage.

Have a great week.