Thursday, April 14, 2011

Our Third Freedom Award Entry!

Husband of the Boss communique'

We now proudly present our third essay entry in the "Safecastle LLC Freedom Awards Self-sufficiency Essay and/or Video Contest" as well as an automatic entry in our "Rural Revolution Essay Contest."

Be sure to check out all the great potential prizes over at: SafeCastle LLC., and remember, even though we are only allowed to pass on one winner from here to the folks at Safe Castle for the final judging of the grand prizes, we here at Rural Revolution have ten prizes to give out to those of you who submit your original essay or video on self-sufficiency, survivalism, and prepping.


Our prize, the coveted Rural Revolution Tankard
(Will look something like this,
but will also include the words
"2011 contest winner" and your name.)

So without further ado, here is our third entry:

We are a family of 3 with #4 on the way. We are military which actually leaves very little room for self-sufficiency until we "escape", I mean... fulfill our duty of course. Being forced to live in less than ideal conditions for prepping or survival anything we do our very best to be one step ahead of the curve.  We are probably more prepared than anyone in base housing I would wager.  We are "young" in our 20-somethings, but feel very secure in our idea that we need to be prepared in case of emergencies.  Surprisingly enough we do not count on the government for much of anything (this doesn't surprise us, but other people it seems). We are forever looking for our 'way out', and counting the days until we can actually make those leaps and bounds out of here.

We are teaching our 2 year old right from the beginning to save.  Not just to save his money and things, but to give back to God what is rightfully His. We are teaching him about our faith foremost, then cooking and cleaning and all those things that Mommy does around the house all day. Of course manners and respect are big ones in our house including helping out.  We actually work very hard on keeping our shelves stocked and freezer full.

Being in military housing means we don't have to pay for utilities but we work extra hard at being "green" minded. We shut off our heater when it is nice out, we cloth diaper, make our own cleaning agents, and we do not keep excessive junk like many other military families seem to collect.  When we go to the store we make a point to buy several "bulk items" for the local food pantry at our church. We have about a months worth of food ready in our home at one time.  Although space is limited we buy things in bulk... rice for example, noodles, dry goods mostly.  We are VERY active in buying our food locally as much as possible.  We think this is very important for us and for our local economy.

We make many of our own things, can our own fresh picked fruits and veggies and have even began a small garden in our windowsill this year.  Space is at a premium, but we believe that we need to be prepared "just in case"... like the government shutting down and us not getting paid until it is figured out. Hmm, how many military families are ready for THAT?  It isn't something most families think about that is for sure.

We are hard core recyclers. Our 2 year old thinks recycling is one of the best things going and that makes us so proud.  We have removed 99% of plastics from our household, and buy everything we can in glass containers or metal cans. We have 2 dogs and buy in bulk for them too.  You've always gotta prepare for them too you know.

We just have taken a different approach to life than most "kids" our age.  What is important to us is not the norm, but from the outside looking in you wouldn't know we are inherently different.  Sure we don't party or get drunk all the time... We are the 'responsible ones' we prepare as best we can for the circumstances we are forced to live in currently.  We are also planning for our future and dreaming of it daily.  Our goals are set pretty high, but being forced to live here makes us even more determined to see our dreams become a reality for us and for our children.  Faith and family are extremely important to us... and are values we consider #1 priority.  We plan to homeschool, we see natural minded doctors even though we have government funded healthcare and pay out of pocket.

We wholeheartedly believe that your decisions in life reflect what is truly important to you.  By preparing for those "uh oh" circumstances as best we can with our current situation, to trust in God, helping others, planning for a better future and teaching our children to do the same we know that someday it will all pay off.

What is that saying? Raised awareness cannot be lowered... and that is the truth!  By making many small changes now we know it will help make those big changes that will happen (in the not too distant future) easier as we are already focused on what is truly important to us.  We don't expect an easy road in the least, but by doing what we can now and proving to ourselves that it CAN be done gives us hope and courage for our future.

-------------------------------------------

A reminder, gentle readers, to please consider sending us an essay on your plans, thoughts and experiences in self-sufficiency and prepping. Your entry can be a far reaching as TEOTWAWKI or as narrow as why brown rice is a better storable food than white rice.  I know a lot of you have skills and training on these important topics. You have a real shot at some great prizes (ours and especially theirs) by simply putting on e-paper, or video, things you've already considered and practiced that might be of great help to others just starting out.  If you're shy, we'll gladly keep your identity under wraps.

Come on and give Patrice a night off by writing something we can put in her place.



So send those essays (or even a video) to: shrewsburydon@hotmail.com

Cheers,
Don (The Husband of the Boss)

5 comments:

  1. Any young couple with 3+ children in this world today is really going to have a tough uphill climb. It will take deep faith, love, teamwork, thoughtful decisions and hard work just to endure what is headed your way. You already know these things, so you are off to a good start.

    There is one thing that troubles me about your essay, though, and that is your desire to "escape" the military. Our military is entirely voluntary so if it is not somewhere you want to be, why did your husband volunteer in the first place? Too often people join up for the benefits and then find out they might actually have to risk their lives. If that is not what you expected, then you have made a very poor choice for yourselves and your children. Decisions that are made without due diligence will almost always end up being roadblocks to preparations, instead of enabling them. Is this a lesson you have taken to heart?

    That being said, you are making the most of a cramped situation. And your efforts to teach your children to save, to be more self-reliant, and to voluntarily help others is commendable. Good luck in the contest.

    Anonymous Patriot
    USA

    ReplyDelete
  2. sorry but i disagree with your decision on who won the essay this time...this young couple have obviously decided that military life is not for them and they cannot wait to "escape". they have passed judgement on their current commmunity because they are obviously so unhappy with it. i have lived the military lifestyle all of my 58 yrs +, been all over the world and done my duty as active duty, reserve duty, and as dependent. this couple has shut themselves off fromtheir community instead of looking to it for support and to give their support. military communites/base houseing is probably gonna be the "greenest" and most efficient way of life they will ever experience in their lifetime. i think that they are in for a very "rude awakening" when they have finally served their time. anon. patriot of ms.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Husband of the BossApril 15, 2011 at 8:49 PM

    I think I'll interject here for a moment. I'm an honorably discharged veteran who did my duty and served my country. And at the end of my obligated service I was delighted to 'escape' back to civilian life. Now to be fair, in the foggy tunnel vision of remembrance of the past, I can fondly look back on my years of military service.

    But the military life wasn't for me.

    Nothing wrong with that. Not everyone is meant for that life. I still have friends who are lifers and I have more friends who fulfilled their duty after one tour. I honor them all. We should ALL honor them all.

    If the military is a calling or a career choice that you love, then remaining for the long haul is great. If it's not the place you want to be long term, then kudos for sticking it out until your term of service is ended honorably.

    Oh and by the by, just a reminder. No one has won anything yet. These are only entries so far in the contests.

    Finally. To the anonymous writer of our third submission.

    Thank you for your service to our Country. Thank you for helping to keep my children safe. God bless you for your honorable service and the faithful discharge of your duty.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well I just want to say since I am the one who wrote this article that I married my husband while he was already in the service and I struggle daily with the life we lead together. He has no problem what so ever with his call of duty, he is proud of his service and commitment, and he has done exceedingly well with it. But this article, it is written from a wife's standpoint.. my standpoint

    I long ever so much to be out of the military lifestyle so we can raise our children in a better way for there own sake. We do everything we can right now, but being in the military forces us to make the best decisions we can at the time. We do not have the luxury of a 60 acre farm, and we wont for many years since we must be relocated at the drop of every hat. We try our very best at everything we do. We are as prepared as we can be, but the fact of life is that a military family cannot truly prepare for every situation under the sun yet because the call of duty comes first and foremost over everything in our lives. So we work hard and dream about the day that we can have our own piece of dirt, grow our own crops and animals, and can live outside the city limits... but for now this is what we have and this is what we do.

    ReplyDelete
  5. To the Preparing Military Wife Author, I think that other families breaking into the preparedness mindset will gather useful ideas from your article, be they military or not, but especially if they share your circumstances.

    ReplyDelete