Meet Carolyn!

And I started Well Prepared Woman (which is still a work in progress) because women bare a huge load, if not the whole load, of keeping ourselves and our families prepared for anything from everyday mishaps to full-blown emergencies with often less time and fewer resources to do so. (Guys like to think they do but my hubby can’t find the can opener after 5 years in our “new house”)

I’d always considered myself well prepared. I’d packed one bag for four countries, done missionary work with primitive tools, gardened, and canned. In fact, I’ve been teased for my packing, my checklists, and my ability to produce snacks out of thin air. But when the pandemic hit, no one was laughing. It highlighted weaknesses and inefficiencies. WHAT IF? became a bold-lettered question! 

First, I had to pivot my current business and also find another source of income at the same time. I’d lost sixty percent of my business and like so many others, I’d put all my eggs into one basket. I invested what I had left into creating a new business and within a year it flopped. I was now even worse off than I had been. And I never want to feel that vulnerable again. 

That’s why I started preparing for what I did have control over; how I would react to future crises. Turning to survivor/prepper experts helped but I didn’t have a lot of time or resources to become what I thought was the typical doomsday prepper. I wanted to find the middle ground.

I tackle it the same way I do my lesson plans, my meal prepping, my camp packing, my strength training, and so on. Take a personal assessment, set the goal, and bridge the gap in between. 

Along the way to becoming a well-prepared woman, I’ve been building up our food and water supply, simplifying systems and routines to become more physically and financially fit, and turning my firearm into one of my favorite accessories (next to my water bottle, of course). It’s not all easy. I accidentally killed Igor, my sourdough starter (they said to name it), RIP, but then made an offspring from the discard, Georgia. She’s so cute and bubbly!

That takes you from fear and uncertainty in protecting and preparing yourself and your family for everyday and common emergencies to a well-prepared woman with fortitude in food prep, finance, fitness, firearms, and all the fun stuff in between (like making pineapple scrap foot scrub and cooking classes and camps, yum!).

A Bit More

I grew up in the midwest where we get every type of weather except hurricanes. I met my hubby and started working with kids when I was 19. Jeremiah and I will celebrate our 19th anniversary this fall with 3 wonderful kids of our own. For the last 9 years, we’ve welcomed daycare and homeschool kids into our home where we take frequent field trips with anywhere up to 12 kids into the woods and so on. And for the last 5 years, we’ve been homeschooling our youngest. It’s been an adventure so far!

My Favorite Things

• All things outdoors in my unofficial uniform of hat and sunglasses

• Reading and writing 

• Gathering with Family and Friends

• Cooking and baking