This is still in process…but our lights are flickering, so I am going to post this and release it and watch a movie with the family! It isn’t even edited properly…but time is OF the essence! Please send a link to anyone this might help! And do sign up for our free newsletter if you like this! Tomorrow, look forward to a post on ideas for keeping warm all winter in colder climates - with tons of super tips!

Hey everyone! We are getting our first REAL massive winter storm since moving to Tennessee. We have spent the day preparing for the possible storm and trying to think of anything we might need!

Our single biggest concern is electricity, since our home is 100% electric. Not comfortable with that fact, but that is what it is at this point in our lives. What would we do if we lost electricity and how can we prepare? How do we control the controllables and prepare with what we have! If you are caught in a storm, how can YOU control your controllables, and prepare!

The obvious QUICK solution is to go to a hotel and camp out there! However, in a winter storm, roads may be impassible and the whole area may be without power, so that is not necessarily an option. We live in the beautiful foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, so travel can be hazardous.

Hubby could not even make it home tonight, and his truck is stranded on the interstate! He began walking in the SNOW STORM home (8 or 9 miles) and was mercifully given rides from two generous strangers. We literally prayed him home, and the Lord was watching out for him. This is some storm, as a transplanted Southern Californian, it is all new to me! I am used to earthquakes and fires - NOT snow storms!

The best solution is how can we ALL make the best we can out of what we have at home, and prepare to cozy up, batten down the hatches and face this storm barreling down on our area.

To start with, we began washing ALL of our clothes early this morning, to make sure we would have clean clothes, no matter what happens! We made sure all of our fuzzy flannel pajamas were washed and we had plenty of ways to dress in layers if need be! Next came sheets and towels, which were on the laundry list to wash today anyway! I always feel so content when all of our clothing, sheets and towels are clean! We have plenty of extra towels and washcloths in the bathrooms, so we should be fine there.

Warmth would be our biggest concern, so we searched the garage for resources. In came the big bin of fleece fabric that we have, and we began throwing several loads of fleece, one after the other in the washer. Since fleece is the warmest “extra” fabric that we had, we chose that to wash first. Next came a few blankets that are warm, but the wrong sizes for our current beds.

How to light a dark house came next. I had my daughter get all of our candles out of the buffet, and gather the matches, putting them all into a pretty tray on the table. We already have our pretty crystal lamps on the table for Advent. Emily ran out and grabbed the extra lamp oil out of the garage, in case we need to refill everything. Flashlights were found and located near where we sit, so we can easily walk to the table and light candles if needed. Light secured!

Water is also a huge concern during a winter storm, in case you lose the ability to get clean water. We store two types, both regular water, and drinking water.

Throughout the day, we were pulling gallons of drinking water out of our reverse osmosis, filling coffee pots with water, tea pots, and making pitchers of iced tea. If we lose power, I will probably still want my iced tea! Washed the dog bowl and filled it to the brim with fresh water for ClaraBaughn! We also made sure we refilled all the water bottles we had. Yesterday, we made two huge pots of bone building broth, so we have lots of soup supplies ready.

Coming from earthquake prone California, I am fanatic about storing regular water for miscellaneous purposes. The garage has gallons and gallons of water, stored in everything from clean glass juice bottles, old soda bottles, and even old milk jugs. The point is not perfection - it is to have water to wash with IF needed. Begin building a supply!

Food is good to have on hand. Yesterday, I splurged at the grocery store and stocked up on toilet paper, tissues and lots of canned soups and foods. During the holidays there are always great buys, and we took advantage of coupons and sales.  I did go over budget on food, but I am also well prepared as we face a weather forecast of 7 or 8 days of snow, out of the next 10!

In the all electric house, we do also have an alternative cooking source, and that is our BBQ. It has the regular grill surface and we always make sure we have a separate burner on it as well. It would be a little hokey to grill out on the back porch as it snows, but it is at least an option! In our camping gear, we also have two stoves, a Civil War stove that burns wood, and we have two different cook tops that use propane. I am sorry to say, we are out of propane, that is one thing I did not think of!

Phones were also high on our priority list, we went ahead and charged all of our cell phones up, then turned them off. We are looking at a cozy weekend at home, enjoying some family time. That way, we can turn the phones on IF needed, or to check for messages, and be reassured that if it snows for three days they will keep their charge. Our end is covered, but whether or not they will WORK is another matter. My husband was stranded on the side of the road a few hours ago, and all circuits were busy and I could not get through for hours.

All of our laptops are fully charged, so whether we have electricity or not, we will all have varying times on our batteries. Not sure if we will have internet, but again, we are controlling the controllables on OUR end!

Finally, we grabbed our sleeping bags off the shelf in the garage, and put them right outside the garage door. If we lose power, the last thing we want to do is stumble through the garage, trying to figure out WHERE our sleeping bags are! We just want to grab them and go!

I am going to include some resources here, for others who might like to prepare.

OSHA on Winter Storms article can be found here, with some ideas on how to cope with storms.

Ready.gov has information on assembling a winter safety kit here.

Wondering how to keep food safe in an emergency, here are some ideas here! Specific instructions on what to do with all your different food items, with food safety ideas covering ANY problem you face! Here is the PDF of the same information. I would highly suggest printing this information and keeping it in an emergency notebook.

How to remove odors from refrigerator after losing power for long periods of time.