Christmas and 2014 wrap up!

December was fast. Todd and I switched roles for the month and I worked full time and he stayed home with the girls. We wanted to do a little experiment to see what that life would be like. So be use of that situation, we didn't get to do many of the fun things I wanted to do. Nutcracker ballet, scavenger hunt, gingerbread houses...but we celebrated Christmas together and healthy-and that's all that matters.

 

First was our small group tacky Christmas party! It was a blast.

Then we had Grandaddy as our Christmas visitor :)

We looked at Christmas lights at life college

Christmas morning exploded and it was awesome!

We played the next few days and then nana and pawpaw came to visit!

Madyson always paints pawpaws nails-can you tell he has 5 grand daughters :) 

It was a fast yet enjoyable christmas-our first in Georgia.

I can believe we have lived here a whole year and so far their are no indications that is changing. 

2014 was insane! From moving-to homeschooling-to joining a new church and making new friends-to being on a reality tv show!? To ending this blog. I can't believe it is already over. 

I know what you are thinking....what's next?!? There is one more post in the coming days (3 or4) that will share the next step :) then I will archive the blog-have it printed into books and the years of the Broadus Bunch will be done. It has been an amazing 5 year journey with each of you coming along for the ride. Thank you for being our friend.   

One year of a new life: Finale.

Wow. What An amazing weekend we have had. 

To catch you up-Friday I was on the season finale of TNT's On The Menu. A new reality show brought to you by Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Voice, The Bible..)

And....I won.

The meal that I cooked "Stampede Stew" is now on the menu at Dickeys BBQ pit across the nations. And the response has been great so far!

Here is a recap of the details of how all this happen.

In March, I was searching ads for auditions here in Atlanta for Aubrie Kate. It was my push to get her to start reading. When I stumbled upon the ad for the show. Thinking "why not"-I applied. Within 4 weeks, casting agents came to Atlanta from LA and I cooked for them and they video taped me. (I made catfish tacos) a few weeks passed and I had a ton of paper work to do. They have to know all about you, run background checks, etc. Finally, I got the call that out of 5,000 that auditioned I was one of the 40 selected to appear on the show. 

I found out a week before the show what restaurant I was cooking for. 

I prepared a lot. And I prayed even more. 

Let me be honest-I am not an "amazing chef" I am a good cook and i love cooking but I have terrible knife skills (probably because I have terrible knives) and I don't use a lot of salt (bc I don't like it)

I spent a lot of time in prayer asking God that if this was not His will for me-that I would be removed from the show for some reason. I didn't want to do anything that would hinder my witness of Him. 

Well, when they called to give me my flight schedule, I took it that I could do this-and he wanted me too.

So I got to LA and began the most insane week of my life. I had a dressing room, a lady that would bring me cokes and bananas anytime I asked, a make up artist, a quiet hotel room....it was just crazy. 

I had read Carlos Whittakers book Moment Maker on the flight. He says, "we all have limitations, we all have fears. But JESUS meets us right where we are and he guides us through the steps to overcome them." He then tells a story about when he auditioned for the role as a Disney character-and with no dance experience kept moving forward in auditions because he owned it. He did what he knew and eventually became Eyore. So in my hotel room that night, before our first day on set, I decided I was going to be Eyore. I was going to use the gifts I knew God had granted me to my advantage and If it was meant to be for something to come from this-He would guide me. 

For those of you reading this that have never met me, let me give you an insight on my personality. I am a goofball-a nut- a silly SILLY person. I am not immature-i just always try to find joy in circumstances. I love to have fun and to smile. And I am really good at talking to people. Those are my God given strengths. So that was my armour. I woke up the first day of filming-prayed-put on my armour and headed out the door. Whatever was going to happen-God already knew. I was just going to be me. And me I was...for those who haven't watched...I got bleeped for saying "holy crap" when I made it through round one...I used the line "smells like a fart..." On national television and also said "sexiest stank you have ever tasted..." (Yes, my mother was a bit mortified)

Anyway. Each round passed and finally I was in the top 2. 

In round 2, I made cornbread with my meal. In California, they use yellow cornmeal, my maw always used Martha White buttermilk cornmeal...totally different textures and flavors. 

In round 3 I had to 45 minutes to make my final dish-with the ability to change anything. Without the cornmeal I normally cook with-i chose not to make it. I didn't want to lose because of a weakness in a side dish (although it really does help the meal!) It was a hard decision but yall-that yellow cornbread I served in round two-was not good. 

I knew that my meal was perfect for Dickeys BBQ pit because of product cost, southern style and easy prep time. 

I wanted to make sure that Mr. dickey knew that too-So I kept the main meal the same and spend most of my third round cooking time preparing my pitch in my head. 

When the time came to pitch it to the judges-I was ready. I knew Dickeys facts, I knew how much it cost to make this meal and I wanted the judges to see me as a competitor not the silly homeschool mom that said fart on national TV (and did the sprinkler...it got edited out) 

I can tell you God was with me. My producer Karen had on a shirt that said "I can do all things through Christ that gives me strength" that day. When I saw her shirt through the bright gleams of the stage lights I knew...God was meeting me right there and was going to guide me through this Pitch. 

After the pitch don and I sat at the bar talking over our meals while the judges deliberated. Then it was time-and within 20 minutes...I was named the winner. When Ty Pennington called my name-I lost it. I cried and cried and cried and it took 2 takes for me to finally talk. (Yes they had to cut for a minute to get me to stop crying so I could breathe and talk) 

Yall-I am a mom from Mississippi and things like this don't just happen to people like me. I have always had a wild dream to cook for someone who knew food and could help shape my passion-but I never EVER thought it would happen. And I was okay with that. 

But when the moment came to give my HUGE dream a chance-God put me right where I needed to be. 

The prize? $25,000 dollars. I can't even fathom...and no, I haven't received it yet...they wait til after your show before you get it. Everyone has asked what I am going to do with it. And I have thought a little about what...I will pay off our debt-it's not much but it's there so it will be nice to have it wiped away-I will donate some & will save some. 

Saturday after the show, Mr. dickey came to Georgia and we rolled out the new item and met fans (that is still crazy to me) 

And people ate the stew-and shared it with me-

It was amazing! The support has been...the best part-I asked my facebook friends to send me photos if they watched....

....I have more and it's going to be a great scrapbook! 

With all the attention, I have really sat back and just absorbed what God has done the last few months-none of this would be possible without him. 

And I am so thankful for the mercy and Love of Lord to carry me through it all.

What's next? Has been the most asked questions-and the truth is-for me, I am satisfied- like I said, this was my wildest dream. I have had people ask if I am getting my own show-and as flattered as I am, I don't think there is a place on cable television for a homeschool mom who  compares the smell of her food to farts 😜. I am just going to enjoy this amazing, crazy experience and continue to be mom to 3. Wife to one. And maybe buy myself a new set of kitchen knives :).

So tonight I'm gonna be on a reality tv show.

YAll. It is here. The day has come that my appearance on TNT's On The Menu is here!

I am extremely nervous and excited at the same time. I hear this is called "nervocited" 

The love and support i have received over the last few days from family, friends, past teachers and parents of friends has been so overwhelming. No matter the outcome I am blessed with such amazing people in my life.

When I agreed to be on the show, it was after many nights of prayer. I really wanted to make sure that God was on board with this idea and not against it. I begged him that if His plan was not for me to do this that It wouldnt happen. I can't wait to share with you next week just how spiritual this experience was for me. 

So tonight 7/8central on TNT catch me compete to have my dish on the menu!

Oh. My. Gosh!

Here is a little article/interview 

http://www.eatdrinkmississippi.com/mississippi-native-to-compete-on-tnts-on-the-menu-december-5.html

Operation Christmas Child

Today for school we learned about the Samartians Purse and Operation Christmas Child. 

Our church does a campaign called Be Rich and during this campaign we all pack shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. This has been a holiday tradition of ours for years but this year we added the learning aspect to it.

We started off our lesson watching videos on the Samartians Purse site about how the boxes are distributed-success stories-and then we learned about Haiti (a country that is big on our families hearts) and the kids there. 

We discussed and made a list of items the kids and their families may need.

Things like cups, plastic utensils, ponchos, soap, tolietries, bandaids...

Then some items the girls wanted to include. 

A doll, a jump rope, note pads, candy.

And we headed or to the dollar store. 

I let the girls just start picking items. 

And they had a great time. "She will need this..." "Oh mom she needs socks!" This unknown child somewhere wasn't being thought Of as a stranger-she was a she and a friend they were shopping for. 

When we came home we got to packing...

That's what they decided! 

Items are

A book

A doll

Floss

A toothbrush and paste

A notebook

A jump rope

Poncho

Snack containers

Headbands

Soap and a wash cloth

Socks

Tissues

Bandaids

Suckers

Jolly ranchers

A small bag

Combs

Gum

We used every inch of space. The snack containers held the jolly ranchers 

The cups had the gum and plastic utensils.

And the we took the bandaids out of their box and put them into an Elsa ziploc bag and buy them in the little bag. That way each item they opened had a special something inside. 

Two full happy boxes were then prayed over and a letter and photo of us included. Letting our new friend know that we love her but most importantly JESUS loves her! 

Holidays.

So the holidays are upon us and it's going to be a different year. We will be in Georgia all holiday season. That means the first holiday ever I will have without my family. I am beyond devestated but logistically it's the best decision. 

My mom is coming for thanksgiving. But my dad is staying in Mississippi. 

Our family has always done xmas eve together-so I asked my parents to stay in MS for xmas to keep the tradition with my brother and sister in law and niece and nephews. It's hard to have a lot of kids, esp when one moves away. Because I had to move, it's not fair for my parents to have to chose. And it's not fair for my siblings to miss out on nana and pawpaw. 

My wish was to have everyone here for xmas-bc my dad is retired, my mom and sister are off for school holidays...but my brother works weird schedule. So that puts him not being able to make the trip. I had big plans for a big family Christmas with Christmas morning breakfast-(my brother is the breakfast chef) and a day in Jammies. But it's not going to happen and truthfully-it makes me really bummed. My nieces and nephews are my other kids and I have never missed a holiday with them. 

Since my holidays are missing family-I've been on a kick to get all my decor out-I thought if I could make my house merry it might fill the void of not having them here. 

So I pulled out all the decor and sure enough I'm missing some very key items. 1. Our elf on the shelf. I know I can go buy another but that's not the point. He was our little elf and he holds special memories.

2. Santa pictures for 3 years. I have 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013. I'm missing 2007, 2011, 2012. They are no where online or in any photo box. 

3. A ton of family ornaments.

4. My manger scene 

These little things hold special memories for me. They help me feel like our family is near. And I'm just really sad that I have misplaced them. 

Great kids snacks

It has been a bit since we received our great kids snack box and I wanted to share a few more things we did with our box. 

My girls have never had granola (outside of a chocolate chip bar) so when we had multiple packets of granola in our box we made yogurt sundaes and added the granola in! 

aubrie kate also decided to make a "peanut butter and granola roll up" for a snack one afternoon! She was so proud of her creation! And she ate it all!

Mommy got in on snack this day. With lentil chips paired with some hummus. I am a huge chip fan and these did not disappoint!

The great kids snack box has been a huge blessing for this momma! Knowing that the kids are exploring new flavors and healthy ones at that sure does ease my mind! 

Raising Girls: the day I lost my....

Mind. 

Saturday's I usually leave for work around 1:30-2pm and arrive home 1:00-2:00am. It's a long night and Sunday mornings come EARLY. 

We have church at 9am and then youth at 11. So I am usually running on coffee fuel on Sunday's. 

I have one rule for Saturday nights: get your sunday morning stuff together. It just makes the morning rush easier when your jacket, shoes, outfit is all ready.

Well-this particular sunday morning nothing was done. No shoes out, no jackets out. It was where is my.....I can't find my....

A battle that I am in at this phase of life is to teach the girls to be responsible for their things. I happily wash, dry, fold and put hang ups on hangers. I deliver them to their rooms and neatly put them on their bed. Their job is to put them up. That simple. Our shoes are either in our closet or in the shoe basket by the door. (Atleast that is the rule) if you take them off in the car and forget to bring them in...that's on you. 

Some people think this is asking a lot of the girls but I truly believe that kids value their stuff when they are responsible to take care of it. 

So back to Sunday morning...I went to wake the girls up and all chaous broke loose. And  as a result they went to church without their jackets because they  had forgotten where they took them off. Luckily it wasn't too cold.

Afterwards I decided that maybe a closet full of clothes is too much for them to handle. So I narrowed down their wardrobe to 10 outfits. Then their shoes to boots, church shoes and play shoes...1 pair each. And then their jackets 1 each. 14 things. That's what they have for the month of November. 

 

Raising girls is more than making sure they look cute and become good wives and moms. I want to raise good girls that care about others and that care about taking care of the blessings that they have. It's not about the "things" it's about caring for them. Being thankful for them. 

One year of a new life part 3: the village.

Life was becoming routine. We had been here a few months-had visited many churches-started having family dinner night with Todd's family. We met our neighbors (who are all great people) we had made friends in the neighborhood at the pool-life was starting to show a glimpse of normalacy...atleast I thought so. 

In the spring-the girls started a homeschool school. During their classes I would sit in the living room of the school house and talk to other moms. It was nice to just have a few hours of adult time, esp. With moms who had been homeschooling. They poured so much knowledge into me those months there. I would come home and journal everything they had told me about curriculum, getting Aubrie back on track, life skills class. It was a great start. Todd and I begin to really talk about what our role in serving at our church would look like. He has a huge desire to work with middle school/high school boys. His own experiences with not a lot of male guidance during that time really drives his desire to be a role model and mentor. I like teaching but I just wasn't feeling like that was the directions I was being pulled. I looked at other options and guest services stood out. I could still be utilized in an area that needed help. Also, the idea of leading an adult group was on my heart and I really did not want to overcommit myself right out of the gate. So Todd signed up to lead a youth class and I signed up to help with check in. 

One of the biggest lessons over this year for me is it is okay to not do everything. The girls haven't jumped into sports and extracurriculars here. Not that they haven't wanted too-I just needed some time to decompress from the go-go lifestyle of Mississippi. 

The summer was great. We ate a ton of fresh veggies from various markets, we went to the coca-cola museum, we had visitors A LOT during the summer. We swam-almost everyday-we walked everywhere. Our section of town has sidewalks and walking trails everywhere so we spent a lot of time just walking around.

I hold my "village" very close to my heart. My village is people who are in my life and who I have sincere relationships with. They know my Good and my bad. They are there for fun, silly, crazy and hard times. They help raise my kids and I do the same for them. Building a new village is intimidating. I have all these people in my life from Mississippi that I hold dearly close And they are forever in my village. But not having them daily makes me have to make room for new members. 

We decided to join a small group-which I can officially say-was a total God thing. We have 7 couples in our group and we love them all-they each bring a different dynamic to our life and I am so thankful for them.

Also, we have become great friends with a couple we serve with in Transit (youth) they are newly married and no kids but they are such a blessing to us. 

Our neighbors are huge in our village-we all take care of each other's kids. The older ladies mentor our youngins and visit with them and make sure they are wearing their helmets. Snacks our huge in a neighborhood of kiddos and everyone has them and offers them without hesitation. 

Building a village is important. In Hebrews 10:24-25 it says 

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

Moving here We had to get uncomfortable and put ourselves out there to make not only friends but to find village member. And after several long, lonely months I can say that Gods promise to restore, confirm and establish was fulfilled.

Somewhere during the summer I finally found something for "me". Most people have their thing. Some love to workout, others like spa time, me? I love to work. Like seriously love it. After lots of prayer I decided to talk to Todd about getting a job on the weekends. He knows how I love working and he agreed it would be great for me if I could find one that www just on the weekends, flexible  (bc of his work schedule) and something I was interested in. Within a week. I found it. Working for Shutterbooth Atlanta has given me a night a week to go to events, enjoy the beauty of Georgia venues, and make a little money. I have a great boss that totally gets my crazy family life and supports the job of a mom. I have amazing coworkers that make doing this fun and unique job even better. To love what you do makes work 10x better and I love that I get to be a mom and be in the event field (to a small extent). 

For the past year, we have spent our time devoting ourselves to living a life where "in Christ we find out who we are and what we are living for." The past year has made me realize how hard I was making my life when I was the one trying to plan my next big adventure and every move (friend, small plan, afterschool activity) 

I still have lots of growing and learning to do. I feel like the past year has just been a small scratch in the surface of what God has in store. 

{{there is one more part to this series. Tune in Dec. 9th for it.}}

One year of a new life part 2: the silent months

So to pick up where we left off yesterday, the first seven months here taught me so much. When we moved we decided to begin homeschooling (Something we never thought we would do because of our excellent school systems in MS) but I have learned that if I say never God usually says "watch."

So here we are in a new place, without our friends and my family. No PTOs to join, no after school activities...no Wednesday night choirs, no small group. Our calendar was completly empty-except Todd's travel schedule. 

So to say we had a lot of time on our hands is a complete understatement. I was so lonely. Going from being busy all the time-to having so much time on my hands-was very, very hard. I was angry with God that he would put us here in this place and wouldn't provide me with a friend...really aggravated me. I mean didn't he want me to be happy? 

I spent the mornings doing school-and the afternoon while the big girls played and Mia napped studying trying to figure out what God had us here for.

As time went on, I found two verses that really stuck to me. "It is in Christ we find out who we are and what we are living for." Ephesians 1:11 and "After you have suffered a while the God of all grace will himself Restore, Confirm, Strengthen and Establish you." 1 peter 5:10.

Was I searching for myself in Christ? Was I living for his purpose? Truthfully-no. He was a part of my life but my life was a lot of "keeping up" with whoever. When you live in a small town your whole life you know everyone-and your daughters are suppose to take dance here, they need to play a sport there, you need to be on PTO-don't miss church on Wednesday or sunday-there was a lot of things I was living for-God was in the mix but not the main reason.

Being alone for someone social like me is suffering. I need people, friends...I like to know about people and pray with them and have them over for dinner. I like to surround myself with people who can be apart of "my village".

When I read 1 peter and it said "after you have suffered a while..." It was on a day when I was in tears. Todd was out of town working. Homeschooling took 8 hours and it felt like no progress was being made, Mia was screaming, I was just overwhelmed and very sad. I missed my Mississippi small group. I wanted to eat their food and talk about our kids and pray with them. I didn't want to be here and be alone. But I read this verse and instantly knew that God was talking to me. He was going to give me friends, after I spent time with Him. 

I began duel reading #momentmaker by Carlos Whitaker and #thebestyes by Lysa teurkurst. Both books were about life, moments and seeking God in choices. But 2 different approaches. (I am still in the mix of this self made study) I read each one individually-then went back and started taking notes correlating how I can still be a #momentmaker without being a yes girl. I am a total yes girl. And learning about embracing the Nos...was something I needed to do. 

I needed to reevaluate me. I needed to find out who I was and what I was living for through Christ. I needed to erase all the thoughts about who I thought I was or who I use to be and really focus on if that was the person God wanted me to be...and was it the best. 

In #momentmaker carlos says "We all have limitations. We all have fears. But Jesus meets us right where we are and guides us through the steps to overcoming them." 

...come back tomorrow for part 3.  

One year of new life part 1

October 2013 (halloween week) was the week that Todd and I got serious about our life. We had been married 8 years...and had experienced more ups and downs and heart aches and pain than I think most people do...at least that I had heard of. (But I mean most people also aren't in the blogging business of discussing the pretty and the ugly..)

This week last year, we sat down and we wrote out a 5 year plan. And we began praying really hard for God to show us His direction. Neither of us had a clue what the next 7 days were going to hold.

As most of you know Todd's mom died on Halloween 2012. it being the one year anniversary I wanted to get away and surround Todd with people he loves. Todd loves his sister Casey. They are only a few months apart ( she is technically his step-sister...but to him (us)...just sister)

I knew being around Casey would make him have an easier day. So I planned for us to go to Atlanta to visit his "Momma Donna", brother and Sister. 

Todd had just started working for his dad's company this week and some of his territory was in Georgia. We got to Atlanta and it was if life just changed.

Within a matter of 36 hours-we knew what God wanted us to do. He wanted us to live here. 

So many people ask how I knew and I can tell you. I hate(d) Georgia. There was nothing about it that I liked. I even disliked visiting because it just made me a wreck. This trip I had spent the week days prior praying for God to work in my heart and show me His plan...that weekend I loved Georgia. Not fell in love...just simply loved Georgia. I saw how happy Todd was with his other family. I saw how beautiful the area was and it was if the hate in my heart was gone.

While we were in Atlanta we went with Todd's "Momma Donna" to look at some houses (she is a realtor) and we found one we loved! But it was under contract already. We went home a bit disappointed but we prayed for God to make it easy if this was what he wanted. 

Within a week-7 days of returning-we had a buyer for our house, the house in Georgia  became ours-and we were moving in the next 3 weeks. 

We literally sat and watched God do everything. We did not pursue moving-it just happened. You can't deny that is your next step when it all is worked out for you.

So, next was to announce to our friends and family we were moving. Which was the hardest part. 

We lived in the best town in Mississippi. I had lived there my whole life. I went to preschool, elementary, middle, high school there. I went to college there. I started my family there. I attended the same Southern baptist church for 25 years...I knew everyone and I was comfortable in my surroundings. Todd had lived there since we were married and he too loved it. We had the greatest school system, church, small group. Our comfort was our surroundings, our friends, our family.

Over the next 3 weeks, every person that loves us helped us clear out stuff, pack, move, load the truck, clean...it was 3 weeks of full love.

Then the time came for us to leave to Georgia and for the most difficult 2 months. The girls and I were going to stay in Mississippi until school was out in December. Todd would be living in Georgia and traveling for work. We had about 7 non-holidays to see him. We survived then-Christmas brought Disney-and then we returned, packed up what was left, and headed to Georgia to began our new lives. The first 5 months we tried making our way to Mississippi atleast once a month. But that got really hard for Aubrie (the leaving each time) and it wasn't allowing us to embrace this life. So we had to make the hard choice to stop going each month-allowing visitors to come here-and start seeing what else God had in store.

The first thing-the most random-was me auditioning for On The Menu. If we hadn't of moved to Atlanta-I wouldn't have known about the audition. (Don't forget my episode is Dec. 5)

The second is our involvement in Northpoint ministries. We loved Andy Stanley studies back in Mississippi-but to be able to attend a church he is involved in wasn't on our radar. It took a lot of praying and soul searching to move from our southern baptist teachings and way of thought-to this "new way" of thinking about church. We both had to come out and say what we wanted our church experience to be. Did we want to be happy in all aspects and comfortable in a small church? Or did we want to be used by God to be His body and reach thousands of non-believers and help them in their growing relationship with Christ? As scary as option 2 was-we went that direction. We took 7 months just attending and praying. Letting God direct what our steps here were going to be. In Mississppi we both taught Sunday life groups. Every Sunday. Sometimes even filling in the second service of someone was out. We invested in these kids and they meant the world to us. So spending 7 months without "church kids" was very, very hard.

Finally in July we decided to join an adult small group-which we now lead. We also decided to get involved in our middle school program. Todd teaches and I help with check in. We have made so many new friends this way and we are so thankful that God put them in our lives.

But during those 7 months prior-I learned what it meant to "be still" and be with God. He had pulled me out of the zone I was comfortable in and placed me in this foreign land without my people. He and I spent many of days and nights talking about what it was he wanted from me. A few months in I realized, he didn't want anything from me-he just wanted me. He knew my planner, control freak self would have a hard time surrendering myself, my thoughts, my life to Him when I was in my element. He knew in order for His plan to be worked out-I would have to be far away and super, super lonely.

I hate to say it took that extreme for me to be obedient. But it did. Tomorrow-I'll share with you just what went down during those first lonely 7 month.  

Mia grows big.

The littlest Broadus girl is growing so big. 

She is now 19 months old. It pains me to think she is almost 2 and that it has flown by. But then I step back and I am so thankful that I have been with her everyday (but 7) of her precious life. I have seen every milestone and I am the one who gets to teach her new things daily. And boy-is she a learner.

Loves:

Food: everything but favorites are peanut butter on a spoon, oatmeal pies, waffles with cookie butter, and spaghetti.

Color: Orange. She has to have the Orange plate and bowl. She will pick orange first to color with.

Toys: she loves her baby dolls.

Clothes: her Olivia tshirt

Loves going to church (finally)

Loves to color on herself. 

And anything else that sits still.

She talks when she is comfortable. Take her to a new place and she won't say a word. Her vocabulary is growing everyday and she loves to watch me say a word and then try to repeat it.

*shoes* is the cutest word she says.

Loves her sisters.

And her daddy!

And has a whole mouth full of teeth!!

And did I mention-shes a total hipster.

The girls.

One of my biggest reasons to leave this blog in a few months is the girls. Madyson and aubrie are at an age now where they understand that their lives have been recorded over the last 5 years and they don't really care to have them recorded for the next five. I understand this and I have promised, come jan. 1,2015 they will no longer be shared. But I have 3 months so let me tell you about this precious kids of mine.

A few weeks ago our neighborhood friend turned 7. We of course were pumped and attended her birthday party-then the next day she came running over and had to show the girls she got the new American Girl Isabelle for her birthday. My girls adore Isabelle. She is on both of their Christmas list. They have read the books, seen the movie and just love her story. I was so proud of them on this particular afternoon. When neighborhood friend brought over her doll-instead of jealousy(like I assumed one would have) they were both so excited for her. It was her first doll. It was Isabelle and they were so proud for their friend. And I was so proud of them. When we became a single income family and a single income commissioned family-we gave up a lot of luxuries. Eating out, shopping for fun, and the occasional spoiling of our kids. They don't get things like they use too. And one side of me aches that I can't go to the store and buy them the newest toy. And the other side makes me proud that they are learning needs over wants. It's a constant battle that I face when they get excited over handmedowns and extra snacks at the grocery. To be thankful of blessings and not have the desire to want the extras.

 

They are both turning into these amazing young women. They are compassionate and thoughtful and the best big sisters. They have big plans on curing cancer and attending art school. They are best friends and sometimes...sometimes my heart burst when I hear them sneak into one another's rooms at night to laugh and giggle. And to find them asleep in one twin bed because they like being together. 

I spend everyday with them-except 12 hours that I work at my big girl job. And I get to see their good times and their bad times. And even when one is bossy and the other dramatic. I can usually say-"treat each other how you want to be treated." And the argument is over. I love the big girls my babies are becoming. 

And I am so thankful to be their mommy. 

"Fancy chicken" a $7.00 family favorite.

Tonight is the premier of "on the menu" the girls wanted me to cook what I cooked for the show..but I can't tell them what it is...so I asked them what else they would like. And they said fancy chicken.

Here in our house we eat normal food-not fancy food-but because this is a multi step dish it gets dubbed "fancy". 

45 minutes start to finish-about $7.00 to make a family of 5 meal...

Let's do this.

First-boil your salted water and add the orzo (about a cup & 1/2) let it cook for 9 minutes. 

While this is going i boil my broccoli as well.

Take your skillet (cast iron) and heat a half a stick of butter and about 1/4 cup chopped onions.

I used 4 chicken breast-but I cut one into cubes for Mia and aubrie-they aren't huge meat lovers but so this works well for them.

Take 2 table spoons of sour cream and add 5 dashs of hot sauce. Coat the chicken in this.

Then crush up a sleeve of ritZ (I use my mixer for this!) add a table spoon of AP flour. Then toss ur chicken into the crackers.

Put it in ur skillet and lightly fry it.

Once it is cooked through (about 13 minutes) remove and set aside. Then deglaze your skillet. I do this with 1/4 cup of chicken broth and then add a tablespoon of flour to "make some greaty" as aubrie calls it. 

Add the chicken back on top-combine the orzo and broccoli (i shredded mine with the mixer) cover with foil and Pop in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

When it's done squeeze a half a lemon on it and crushed black pepper (or lemon pepper if you don't have a lemon on hand) and tada 

Fancy chicken.

Or by my name lemon pepper fried chicken and BrocOrzo :) 

Your kids will love it. Promise.

One the menu promos start!

Tomorrow is the season premier of ON THE MENU! Watch ty and emeril break the pancake stack record here! 

http://once.unicornmedia.com/now/adaptive/m3u8/98330877-5095-4ac9-9a8c-7cdcd3944274/15a750c8-e7be-4371-b5c3-dd911c0d8bb0/87adf69b-63b2-45de-a29d-91cc4b65b089/content.m3u8?visitguid=50d7b960-12d2-4a00-bfab-832c00623b2e&UMADPARAMcsid=nws_smartphone_vididx&UMADPARAMcaid=news-25914593

The end of an era...3 months and counting.

Ever since we lost thebroadusbunch.com  my heart for blogging has not been present. For over 5 years I have recorded our families good times, bad times, hard times and His times and at our highest point over thousands of people were reading along with us each step of the way. When our domain was taken-we lost all of our followers and most of our readers. And honestly, most of my spirit. So with a heavy heart I have made the decision to close our blog at the end of the year. 

The Broadus bunch has grown so much with this little space-I love being able to read back to see what the girls were like at age 3 & 4...I love seeing how God was present even in the storm of our miscarriage...I love seeing how no matter the circumstance-we are still The broadus bunch. 

The girls are getting older-and not to keen on me sharing their lives anymore. Madyson has asked that I don't post about her-and Aubrie is getting to the point where she doesn't like me sharing photos and such. I need to respect them as well. 

I am busy working on getting each year printed off and plans for the next phase of life. 

The next 3 months will be full of first memories here in Georgia-I am glad to have our first year here recorded. Plus-we have to have the finale of "so I am going to be on a reality show" :) 

Last night at a wedding I worked the grooms father said, "yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift. Open it and embrace it for what it is.." 

That's my plan, to embrace whatever Gods next step is and go from there. 

So I'm going to be on a reality show...

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook or twitter-you saw my announcement, last week, that I will be a contestant on TNT's new show "on the menu" starring Emeril & Ty Pennington. I am so excited to tell you the whole story!! But-I can't. Not until Dec 5th-after it airs but I am going to try to answer some questions I have received!

1) have you lost your mind? Probably. But  leading up to the audition and accepting the position of contestant-I spent a lot of time talking with God and with Todd. There is a lot of exposure that goes into reality tv & I wasn't 100% sure I wanted that. So I spent a lot of time praying that if this would be a hinder to my witness that I wouldn't even make the show. Then once I did make it-I spent a lot of time praying that I show Christ through my performance. 

What did you cook? I can't tell you that yet! But I will tell you I have never been SO nervous in a kitchen! 

When did you film? I auditioned in march of 2014 and filmed it in June of 2014. It airs December 5th-so almost my whole year has been consumed by this! 

How was Ty and Emeril? Amazing. Can't wait for y'all to watch! 

Did you win? My poor family (including my kids and parents) have asked me this EVERYTIME they see me. I'll tell you the same thing I told them. I had fun & I gave it all I could! 

That's my "chefs coat" I got to wear. I totally felt important in it! Ha! Sure is fancier than my aprons I normally wear! 

What was your favorite part? So much of the experience I just love! But I had makeup artist everyday that made me feel so pretty (in the midst of one of the worst breakouts I've had since hitting puberty 👎) 

I really did have fun-and once the show airs I'll share more details to it! But for now-mark your calendars for Dec. 5th at 8pm! 

Can't wait to watch with you all!!!