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!!! 

Oh captain my captain!

Robin Williams suffered from addiction and depression. He sought help-and after numerous trips to rehab-he finally gave in. And now the world is left without him. And everyone who loved Mrs. Doubtfire, the movie Hook, or was inspired by the famous "oh captain my captain!" Are left stunned and heart broken. How can someone so funny and so loved by all-kill himself? Give up? Quit? 

Life is hard. For many years I lived as a closet alcoholic. No one knew that I struggled with insecurity, depression and the desire to be better than I was. I masked it daily with alcohol. I loved who I was when I was drinking. I was happy, bubbly, and full of life. So I thought. 

I remember being in college and a professor asking me to wait after class. He looked at me and said, "I know your secret. And you have a problem." 

He was the first person that called me out. I guess my mask was more obvious than i thought. 

Depression is so serious. On the outside, I had a loving family-and friends-and people who invested in me. But on the inside I was full of sadness for no reason other than life was hard. My best friend Had died-high school was hell-I was told by people that I spent lots of time wih that "I wasn't good enough"...for a sport, for a boy, for a friendship. In college, life was a spiral. I tried to fit the mold of the good Baptist at the top-notch baptist university. But I couldn't-I couldn't fit. It was like trying to do the toddler shape sorter and I was the star trying to fit in the circle. 

Fast forward and I marry a guy I barely know and embark on a roller coaster that could make any alcoholic drink themselves under the table and into oblivion. What changed me?

Madyson. Lying on the ultrasound table hearing I was pregnant with a daughter changed me. I now had my purpose. I was going to be a mom. And I didn't want to be a drunk mom. I wanted to be an awesome mom.

Over the next 8 years-life was still hard. Truthfully-harder than before. But there was no alcohol to cover the pain. I had to deal with it. Myself. Or so I thought.

Somewhere in the middle of the craziness-I decided to turn to God. A relationship I had for years-on the back burner-I figured I would give Him one more chance. First prayer to Him after years of silence, was "why are you allowing this bad stuff to happen? Why did you take Jennifer from me? Why did you leave me?" I was angry at God. And I wanted to make sure he knew it.

Over the next few months it was if God and I were in a burning bush conversation. I could hear Him clearly and made life choices to abandon my plan for my life-for Him. And when I let go of the reins I finally felt full. I wasn't angry anymore. I wasn't scared. Life was still hard-but it was if I was standing at a fire in a full fire fighter uniform. I wasn't scared to go in-because I knew He was there. 

The more I grew my relationship with God-the more I realized how great my life was. Hard? Yes. Full? Yes! Blessed? More than you know. 

It's been years since I depended on alcohol for comfort. I have learned when it's okay for me to have a glass of wine or when I am too unstable too. On the days that I know I am unstable-I pray a lot. And drink coffee. And pray more.

I don't know what my life would look life if Madyson hadn't come along. I don't know how deep my depression would have gotten and I am thankful everyday for the chance to get myself healthy and straight.

Friends, life is hard. People die, money runs out, jobs are loss, husbands cheat, wives cheat, kids lie, parents hurt...life. Is. Hard. But know-you are not alone. And suicide is not an escape from the pain. You leave this world-yes. But your pain is transferred to your family-your friends. There is hope for you-and there is a person that loves you So much that he allowed His son to die for you and your pain. The bible never says "God won't give you more than you can handle." Someone thought that sounded good and gave Him credit. The bible does say that after you have suffered a while, the God of all grace will HIMSELF restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you. (1 peter 5:10) give God one more chance-like I did. You are worth it. 

Bars and bars. Great kids snacks day 3

Great Kids Snack Box is giving 25% off your first box! Use code GKSB25 at checkout!








Today we incorporated our great kids snack box with our math lesson. We took 4 of our snack bars that came in our box-madyson used fractions to cut them into pieces (1 whole-1half..ect. ) we tasted the bars-then the girls scored each bar on taste. 3 if it is really good-2 if it was okay-1 if it wasn't my favorite.

Then Aubrie added up the scores and together we made a bar graph of bars.

First up was the Pure Organic Cashew Coconut bar. This is a non GMO, organic, gluten free bar. 

Madyson gave it a 3-she likes the coconut flavor and the texture of the bar(it's chewy) Aubrie scored this bar at 

Next, we sampled the Santa Barbara Bar (coconut almond) again a gluten, soy, and GMO free bar. It is still chewy but has a good crunch. 

Both girls have this bar a 3. 

Our third bar was the Santa Barbara white chocolate bar. This bar also received a "perfect score" and was gobbled all up! 

Our last and final bar was Kind Healthy Grains-maple pumpkin seed with sea salt. 

This is a chewy bar with a crunch. Also gluten free and all natural nonGMO. It has 5 grains (oats, Millet, Quinoa, Amaranth, and buckwheat) this bar scored

A three. Although it was the girls least favorite bar-it was this moms most favorite bar. The flavors weren't too sweet and I liked that you can see each ingredient. 

So our bar chart showed that-

The girls are fans of the Santa Barbara bars. Both scored a 6 and the girls loved them! And asked for more! Good thing they are on sale for 15% off at the Great kids snack store!

 http://www.greatsnackbox.com/category-s/1861.htm

Just use code SBB15 at checkout. 

I am sure you are wondering where Mia was during this-she also got to taste each bar-but she decided that she would rather have Snyders mini pretzels :) 

**we were given this box of Great Kids Snacks for review! All opinions are the opinions of the broadus bunch and we were not paid for them!**

Mexican night side for less than a buck!

We love Mexican night at the broadus house. Fajitas-tacos-pico-queso! All so yum! Here is a quick and easy Mexican night side for less than a buck! 

First take a can of black beans and rinse them!

Next add them to a sauce pan with 1/4 can of water.

Once they start bubbling (i keep mine on high heat) add 1/4 of cream cheese bar and some Tonys seasoning.

Stir and as they cook-mash them with a fork!

End product. Yummy easy black refried beans. 

Total cost: beans:.69

Cream cheese: .25

Cheap and easy and super yummy! 

Great kids snacks day 2!

 

The girls woke up extra excited today! Madyson had a girl scouts outing and was planning which snack from our GREAT KIDS SNACK BOX she was going to take with her. She is a lot like her daddy and LOVES beef jerky! They eat it every time we take a trip...every time the go hunting...really anytime they can find a reason to. So it did not surprise me that she wanted to take the beef jerky stick with her. What did surprise me is what I found on the package. 100% grassfed American Beef. No Added Antibiotics, No added hormones. Blaistix is made right here in the United States of America and is the only grassfed beef stick on the market. Madyson was insanely excited about this snack. And I say that with honest truth-why? because the truth is easier to tell :) She loved the mild mannered flavor of this stick (although there are 5 flavors of Blaistix if you like a bit more punch. She came home pumped about her Blaistix because it "didn't make her mouth hot like most beef jerky. And it was really, really good." Needless to say-I have a feeling we will be ordering these :)

.

Mia Margaret had a 2 snack kind of day. I have a feeling she is going through a growth spurt because she is eating a lot more lately. First, she had a Fruit Me Up. Made in Virginia. It is a dairy-free, gluten free pouch serving of fruit. I am going with she loved it. Seeing that it was all gone in 2 minutes.

After dinner, I could tell that

she was still hungry. So I made some yogurt for her. I started looking through the GREAT KIDS SNACK BOX and found Rockin'Ola. It is "Granola that Rocks". I wanted to try it before mixing it into her yogurt so we poured it into a bowl. She loved the mini marshmallows in it and the chocolate flavor. It is a full serving of whole grain-which makes this momma happy. And added just enough crunch to little Mia's yogurt.

Seriously, though-can we talk about how awesome it is to have this variety of snacks-sent to my door?!!?!  I love a quiet grocery trip-but with all 3 girls in toe 99.9% of the day-that hardly ever happens! And to know that these snacks are super good for them? Another plus.






**we were given this box of great kids snack for review! All opinions are the opinions of the broadus bunch and we were not paid for them.*

Great kids snacks! Day 1

A few weeks ago I was searching "Healthy snack options for kids". My kids will eat just about anything but I can't always afford a variety of prepackaged healthy snacks-so I usually stick to the "go to" snacks of fresh fruit, hummus, pretzels, and applesauce.

I stumbled upon Great kids snacks on Instagram and saw where for $40 a month I can have a variety of snacks shipped to my house that are healthy for the kids and will give them plenty of options other than my "go to" list. I love this option. It allows them multiple snacks that they can try before I go to the store and purchase a box of them! (How many of us have bought the snack they wanted only to get home and find out it was for the character on the box..not the content! Raising my hand here!)

So today, the girls box arrived! Addressed to them! They were SO excited! 

When we opened it up-it was like magic!

Inside was a ton of snacks!

The Girls were so pumped! Waiting for snack time was the hardest thing they have done all day! (And we did multiplication today!!) 

Snack time finally came around and they each picked out a snack! 

Madyson selected Snapea crisps. 

Baked green pea crisp that are lightly salted and 100 calories per pack. They contain 2g of fiber and only 60mg of sodium (compared to regular potato chips) Her review? "Can we please buy more of these?" The bag was gone in a matter of minutes! She did share one with me and I can tell you they taste a lot like yummy potato chips-so it's easy to forget you are eating healthy peas! 

Aubrie Kate went with a Nature Valley fruit twist. Cherry flavored and gluten free! 

She said "this is super yummy! It's like a big fruit roll up!" Yes mam-except it 1.27oz of heathy goodness. 

Mia could barely wait! She went for the one bar mango. It's basically dried fruit in a fruit bar. It has the stickiness like the fruit twist. But the flavor is rich! (I may have snuck a bite!) it is enriched with baobab-gluten free-and also vegan. 

www.theonebar.com

Snack time was a huge success today! And I can't wait for tomorrow! Knowing that the girls are eating healthy (and yummy) snacks gives me one less worry of the day! 

**we were given this box of great kids snack for review! All opinions are the opinions of the broadus bunch and we were not paid for them.*

It's been a family filled few weeks

We have had family in town for 11 days. And it was 24 rolls of toliet paper-7 gallons of milk-too many sodas to count 11 days full of awesome fun.

First-my parents and my nieces came to visit for mine and madysons bday! We had lots of fun in Atlanta at the coke museum and just eating and celebrating birthdays-the fourth-and life.

Then my parents left and my nieces stayed. These two (15 & 10) are just plain awesome! Having 5 girls is fun! We made things-swam-and lounged.

Then-my brother and sister in law arrived with my nephew! And so began the 4 days of 10 ppl living under one roof! We started with #cowappreciationday

We did some shopping and "playing dress up shopping"

We relaxed-swam and hung out :)

We had a fun time! Now begins our few months without Mississippi family here!