Basically Brooks

Those of you who know me, or have spent at least 5 mintutes around me...know that I am one of the most frugal people on the planet. Why am I such a tightwad? Well...I think I gotta give the credit to my dad on that one. He taught me from an early age the importance of being smart with money. I saved up my birthday and Christmas money when I was very young just so that I could start my first savings account. I started babysitting at age 11 (which I cannot believe), and every bit of that went into my account. I did lots of odd jobs when I was a kid to earn and save a buck here and there, including collecting chestnuts from the giant trees in our backyard to sell at a local grocery store. (Have you ever seen where chestnuts come from?? A baseball sized ball of needles, basically.)  It was a tough job, but I was excited to be earning and saving. So that's the story of my thrifty beginnings, and it has continued to follow me into my adulthood. At this point in my life, saving money

Well, we're doing it again!  Taking chances, making changes!  Let me tell you about what is to come for the Brooks family! First of all.......I need to preface this post by saying this:  This idea is not OUR idea.  It is completely from God. Secondly.....negativity is 100% unwelcome.  I am not updating the world with our big changes to get anyone's approval.  So, if you think this is a stupid or horrible idea.....I'm gonna let you take that up with the Lord, because, again, this is not OUR plan.  It is HIS plan.  And as always, HIS plans are way better than our own plans, right?!? Here's the story of about how our life got flipped, turned upside down..... (hehehe).... For a while now, I have been really longing to return to the classroom.  I feel that God created me to be a wife and mommy, and also a teacher.  Three years ago, God told me it was time for a little break from my teaching career, and it was SO scary, but I did what He was telling me to do, and

One of my biggest faults is that I'm a people pleaser through and through. People pleasing sounds nice, doesn't it? I'm telling you....it's not! It is a curse and I think it stems from the devil! I think the root of the problem comes from pride. I wanna make sure to please people so that I look good. I wanna make sure everyone likes me and likes what I'm doing and everything is happy, happy, joy, joy. Except.....all that is work. Hard work. It is an impossible task that leaves me awake at all hours during the night wondering how I'm am being perceived by everyone around me. People pleasing takes time, yall. It robs me of my precious time. Instead of stewing on people pleasing thoughts....I could be spending that time in the Word (remember how I recently posted how I'm having difficulty finding focused and intentional time with God? If I worried less about people pleasing, I'd have more time with God!) I could be spending that "worry time" hav

Baby Girl is 13 weeks now, Ava is loving every second of Kindergarten, and Anniston is learning how to be the Big Girl of the house during the days while mommy is taking care of the baby and all our buddies.  This marks my 4th week back to work and I feel like I am still waiting for everything to start feeling normal. I've got my routine together for the daytime while I'm watching the kids and for the most part things are running smoothly....but I feel like I am being attacked by negative thoughts telling me "you are not enough..."  I know this is Satan and that he is trying to get me when I'm down, but let's just be real....it stinks!  I know that the ONLY thing that can help me overcome my feelings of being insufficient is God.  Relying on Him in all circumstances is the only thing I can do. I need Him more than anything else right now....I just gotta figure out how and when to spend time with Him.  It's difficult, if I'm being honest.....I'

I have been a little overloaded in life and let our blog go to the back burner!  But, I must write about sweet Adley's birth story just like I did with Ava and Anniston :) On June 8, after a sleepless night, Kyle and I got up and got ready to head to the hospital to meet our third precious girl.  To say I was nervous would be the biggest understatement ever.  Even though I had gone through 2 csections before, it didn't mean I wasn't scared and nervous....it's a big, scary surgery!  Mostly I was just afraid of the needle.... We arrived at the hospital, checked in, and started getting prepped for surgery.  First came the beautiful gown (I was so happy it wasn't the paper/plastic gown like I had with Anniston...I sweat to death in that gown), then came blood work and the IV, which I was not excited about....I hate needles.  And then the VERY worst part started.  Waiting.  Waiting for the magical hour of 7:30 am.  It took forever.  I was thankful to have Kyle and al

Well, many of you know about my adventures in freezer cooking. Lots of people have asked how it works, how I do it, etc.  So, I've decided to blog about it.  I will include pictures, recipes, and a shopping list.  After all that, you will be set to try it with a group of your friends!  All of this ended up costing right around $92 per family.  We did a $50 deposit up front, and then the remaining balance was split up and paid the day we cooked.  This is enough for you and 4 friends to each go home with 17 meals in this day.  First off, let me list the meals you will make: Easy Cheeseburger Casserole (each family will go home with 2 of these) Tex Mex Chicken and Rice (each family will go home with 4 of these) Baked Chicken Fajitas (each family will go home with 2 of these) BBQ Chicken (each family will go home with 2 of these) Chili  (each family will go home with 2 of these) Chicken Casserole with Doritos (each family will go home with 2 of these) Chicken Casserole with C