Allison Weeks

Hello , homemakers , and welcome to the Art of Home podcast , where we are exploring how Homemakers cultivate a place to belong . I'm your host , allison Weeks . I am a wife , a mom to four grown kids and a granny to one little boy , and I've been practicing the Art of Home for 31 years now . Well , this is season 15 , episode five , and this is our third listener episode today . We just started this season introducing you all to one another through Homemaker portraits of listeners of the Art of Home , and I've been doing several of them , recording them over the last couple of weeks , getting them ready to publish over the rest of the year , and let me tell you they are awesome . I cannot wait to share these stories with you . I know that you are going to love every single one . If you would like to be a guest on the Art of Home , good news applications are going to open again at the end of October and I will be doing interviews in December and a few in the beginning of January that will run for our first season of 2024 . I know it sounds like gosh . It's already kind of early to be thinking about what's going to run in January and February , but that's kind of the way it works . At least that's the way I like to do it , so that I don't feel like I'm scrambling at the last minute . I'm always working a couple of months ahead when it comes to recording . So keep an eye out for that . I will notify everybody on Instagram , and first before Instagram , though , I will notify the newsletter audience . So if you are not on our mailing list for a Homemaker Happy Mail , make sure that you go and do that so that you don't miss when I make the announcement that applications are open . You can go to our website to subscribe to that or click the link in the show notes . The place on the website is theartofhomepodcastcom .

Allison Weeks

On today's episode we are going to be talking to newbie homemaker Jade Brooks . You may know her from Instagram and YouTube as the modest homemaker . Jade has been keeping a home for over two years with her husband and we just get to have such a nice conversation about all the things that Jade is learning , how surprised she was at the workload and how she's had to come to terms with the fact that she doesn't know how to do it all and it's not going to be done perfectly , but she just keeps trying and she does see that she is improving and getting better in her homemaking skills . Jade has a passion for cooking and for showing love and hospitality through food . We talk about how she wants to grow and perfect her fried chicken and collard greens and yams , and though she feels like she's not quite there to the point of really perfecting that dish , she does share her yam recipe with us . That's going to be in the newsletter that's going to come out on Friday , so you want to make sure that's another reason you want to make sure you're subscribed to the newsletter .

Allison Weeks

I want to thank you for tuning in If you're new here , especially thank you for giving us a try and thank you for trusting us with some of your time today . So , whatever you apply your hand to as you're listening , I know you will enjoy Jade's story of home . All right , welcome to the art of home . I'm here with my friend , jade Brooks , and I'm

Meet Jade

Allison Weeks

so excited to meet her in person . We've been following each other on Instagram for a while now , and so it's my joy to bring her here on the show today and introduce her to all of you . So , jade , before we go back to the beginning of your homemaker story , why don't you just say hi , introduce yourself .

Jade Brooks

Tell everybody a little bit about who you are , okay so my name is Jade , I've been married for two years to my husband , alex , and I am pretty much living my homemaking dream . I've always wanted to be homemaker , so this is always my goal of always picture myself being a writer and a homemaker . So that's great to see that play out in my life . So yeah , as I said , I like to write , I do some baking on the side that I like , and I'm a Bible study teacher for the women's Bible study , and that's pretty much it .

Allison Weeks

Great , okay , so let's go back to the beginning

Beginnings & Influences

Allison Weeks

. When did you first become a homemaker ? And when you did , did you bring any skills with you ?

Jade Brooks

I first became a homemaker two years ago when we initially got married and my skills were a little shaky . I will say I didn't really know how to cook that well and I knew how to do laundry . So I can say that I brought that skill , but as far as everything else I did not have it . So I pretty much was learning on the way because , yeah , I didn't know what I was doing at all . So , yeah , well , that's good you have some laundry skills .

Allison Weeks

A lot of people , like you know well into adulthood , don't have that skill . So that's good yeah . Well , okay , what are you ? What are you ? Maybe you can talk a little bit about what you've done to sort of up your skills , because it's only been two years , so kind of , what are some of the things you've done to grow in that , in those areas , and maybe what's something right now that you're struggling with , mightily or not , that you're growing in and what are some practical things you're doing to grow ?

Jade Brooks

So how I grown is being that I'm a full-time homemaker . I don't have any job of any sort . I feel like that enabled me to spend as much time with the things I was not good at as I could . So , as far as like cooking and stuff , I had pretty much all day to make a meal , and if I mess it up and had to start over , I had time for that . It's not like I had much else to do , but to you know , try to get it right . So you know , just practice making making perfection . For me and that's what helped me out was just doing it over and over and over and over again and allow myself some grace . And having a husband like mine who knows that I didn't know how to cook or had any skills , I feel like he gave me more grace than I gave myself . So that was very helpful , to have him push me and just say you know , I'm not expecting , you know it's you to have everything together already . You're going to have to learn . So I feel like him being a coach for me and being a help for me . That helped as well .

Jade Brooks

And then , as far as the other challenges , um , I feel like I do sometimes still struggle with like inventory . Take , like , when we have to go to like the grocery store . We'll get into the store and I'll say , oh yeah , this is a list we need to set in the third . And then we'll get home and be like , oh my God , we don't have this or that . He's like I asked you what do we need ? And he's like he doesn't really do any type of inventory check because that's my thing . I'm always in the kitchen , I'm always in the laundry room or whatever , what have you . So he has no idea when we run out of certain things . So he's expecting me to keep track on that . So I try my best . And he bought me a little inventory book , so I feel like that now it's helping me a little better to take that inventory that I lacking .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , yeah . No , that's a great tool Lists , chalkboard . I put a chalkboard list on the side of the refrigerator , a chalkboard , and we make a list . I write it down because I will .

Jade Brooks

Yes .

Allison Weeks

And then if I'm headed out the store to the grocery , sometimes I can transfer that list into a piece of paper and take , but a lot of times I just take a picture with my phone of what's on that list . Okay , yeah , so I don't have to like write it all down , you know so . I'll just throughout throughout the week , I'll be making a list on the chalkboard Okay , we're out of ketchup , or we're out of this or that , and then , when I'm ready to go to the store , I just take a picture of that .

Jade Brooks

Yeah , so I don't know if that's helpful , but yeah , however , yeah however you can , you know , help yourself with those kinds of tools .

Allison Weeks

I think that's really great and I love that your husband what you said about him giving you so much more grace than you did yourself .

Jade Brooks

He really does Like . I was very , very hard on myself . I used to have little breakdowns all the time , year one it was ridiculous , it really was . But yeah , he was definitely very . He just allowed me and encouraged me to just be confident in this . You know he's not judging me for anything . I'm not gonna accept me with the mistakes and stuff .

Allison Weeks

So I just had to , I just had to calm down a little bit , that's .

Jade Brooks

that's what I needed .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , okay . Well , who , who or what has most influenced your homemaking , would you say ?

Jade Brooks

I want to say my grandmother , my maternal grandmother . She definitely inspired me . She wasn't exactly like a she was retired by the time I was able to know anything that she was doing around the home , but she had a certain way of going about things like making sure that me and my cousins or my brothers and sisters they lived in Florida for a while . They're from PA , but they lived in Florida for a while , so we would spend some summers with them , me and my brothers and sisters and cousins and just seeing the way that she would nurture us and take us in and make sure that we were having a good time , making sure that we were fed .

Jade Brooks

I always admire that and she's also a very praying woman , so that was very inspiring as well to see that in action and for her to make sure that we knew how to pray and to make sure that we had a relationship with God , for us to know how to repent . Those things were very key to her and I always admired that and I always took note of that . So I definitely would say she definitely was an inspiration for me . As far as homemaking , I love that .

Allison Weeks

I love that you had that time with your grandmother visiting , even though she was far away and not made a big impact , had a big impact on you . Yeah , I got to spend some summers with both of my grandmothers , because actually my grandparents lived right next door to one another , that's nice . Yeah , my parents were next door neighbors . That's how they met .

Allison Weeks

They're so cute Anyway it was really convenient when I went there for the summer because I could , I stayed with one grandma because she had . I have an aunt who's only two years older than me , but anyway I stayed there , but my other one was right next door . So I just go back and forth between the houses .

Jade Brooks

And it's so funny how one influenced different things .

Allison Weeks

You know one had a different kind of influence than the other . They both influenced me , but in different ways because they were very different . So I appreciate both you know both things that they brought .

Jade Brooks

Yeah .

Allison Weeks

Okay , let's talk about expectations .

Expectations

Allison Weeks

What are some things that have surprised you about homemaking ? Things , good or bad , just some of you didn't expect .

Jade Brooks

I didn't expect it to be a lot of work . I don't say that . I think that when I thought about homemaking , I thought that I was just going to wake up in the morning , you know , cook the meals , do whatever , and just you know , relax and write a book or two . I think that I had that type of vision for relaxation in the house and that just was not the case at all . So I think that once I did realize and get into the groove of my homemaking that this is really work , that I really have to plan and think about , pray about , that was a shock to me , that it's like literally a job , you know . So when people undermine the job of a homemaker is a shame , because it's like we really do work , you know . So that that was . My biggest surprise was the workload of it all .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , yeah , you said you were thinking more relaxing and writing . So , are you ? Was that hard for you ? Because you said you're a writer ? I know you have a blog . I mean , are you wanting to be able to write more and were you hoping that that would fit better with your career of homemaking ? Like those two would go a little bit better together .

Jade Brooks

Yeah , I will say so . And I feel like now I kind of just write in the margins . You know , when I don't have as much home , home things to do , I'll do it , I'll sit down , and because for me it's like as much as I do love writing , I feel like homemaking is a bigger passion and a bigger necessity really for everybody . You know not that I'm kind of just pushing that off , that I like to write , but for me I feel like the home is first , because at the end of the day , if I don't have lunch for the household , people are going to be looking at me a certain type of way . I was like well , I had to do 10 pages , guys . What was I supposed to do ?

Jade Brooks

You know they're going to be looking at me a little funny , so yeah , I just showed it to as I can and I feel like you know it's been working out pretty , pretty good .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , and I was just listening to maybe Sally Clarkson , I don't know somebody . I was just listening to a podcast this morning and they were talking about this how you don't have as much margin when you're a brand new homemaker because you have like you just said , you have so many skills to learn and that takes longer , like your learning curve is just bigger .

Allison Weeks

It just takes longer to get . But once you get more proficient in those skills you do get a little bit bigger margins and you've probably noticed that even just since we use it it doesn't take quite as long to do some of those cooking tasks or homemaking so true , so true .

Jade Brooks

And it's funny that you're saying that , because I don't think I realized , like because my time is kind of freeing up a little bit more now . So I'm glad about that , and I don't think I put my finger on why , but that makes sense . So I like to set that as probably because you know I'm getting better at the cooking and all that stuff and you know timing , so yeah , yeah , for sure , for sure .

Allison Weeks

So what's an unrealistic expectation besides that ? Is there any other thing you just had to let go of ? Like your husband's just not going to be picking his socks ?

Jade Brooks

off the floor .

Allison Weeks

It just kind of let that go . Is it anything like that ? Yeah ?

Jade Brooks

Well , I kind of alluded to it already . Like the perfection thing , I feel like that's the main thing I had to let go of is being perfect , and that every meal was not going to turn out great . Every meal you may not like . So that's the type of thing that I had to really let go of , because , like I said in the beginning , I would have literal breakdowns when something was not to my liking , where I feel like my husband maybe didn't like a certain meal that I feel like I put my all into .

Jade Brooks

You know , I really had to pray about that and get over that . And one of the key things that really helped me with that perfection thing is knowing what you're doing it for , you know , and that it's all for the glory of God at the end of the day . And if it's for somebody to say good job or for somebody to glorify you , you really have to check your heart on that . So I feel like that's something that God really had to teach me is that you're doing this for me . You know , yes , you're serving your husband , but at the end of the day , you're glorifying me in that . So that's how I really got to get over that .

Allison Weeks

That's really . That is a good word . Yes , I agree completely .

Priorities

Allison Weeks

Well , let's talk a little bit about priorities and some of the practical steps that you're taking to help you kind of set your priorities and keep things in the right order . So your time with the Lord , your time with your husband and getting your house you know , your housework done , and then then all the other things that you want to do . What are some things you do to keep those priorities in order ?

Jade Brooks

My main thing that I do is waking up early , and so I get up at five pretty much every day , unless I'm having a night where we were watching TV or such .

Jade Brooks

But other than that , I'm up at five and I try to get dinner done pretty early , try to get just any of the meals done relatively early , because I feel like that's what takes up the most time , and then I'll focus on whatever tasks . Well , actually , let me go back After dinner . I usually have like a 6 am prayer time and devotional time , so that is always the main . If I know that if I do not get up at five , it can risk me not praying at the early time that I should be praying , so I will say that that's very important that I get up for that and keep that in the morning and then do whatever tasks I have to do after . That is something that I really focus on . But then , as far as with my husband , how I prioritize time with him is we try to make sure that we have a weekly date night . So that's something that we started a couple of months back and we've been pretty consistent with that . So I feel like , yeah , that's something that we try to say , mindful of .

Allison Weeks

What's your weekly date night typically look like ? Or is it just different all the time , like are y'all going out or are you staying in ?

Jade Brooks

We try to go out . So before . I don't know if you guys have this out in Texas or it's like a worldwide thing , but you know , half off apps at Applebee's yeah .

Allison Weeks

I think I've heard of that before . Yeah , so is it like a certain hour or a certain day of the night , a night of the week ?

Jade Brooks

Yes , a certain night of the week and a certain hour . So after nine , apps are half off , so you get them really cheap . So we were doing that for a while until we realized , like I don't think it's a good idea to keep eating wings every Thursday . This is not the healthiest choice , so we kind of stop doing that . But most of the time it's usually is going out to eat , or a couple of times we did other activities , we went bowling , so for the most part I will say it's eating , but we're now starting to try to do other things . Oh , we do do . Also , there's a discount on Tuesday for movies , and this is any time of the day . So that's another thing that we were doing a lot as well . Cool , yeah that's cool .

Jade Brooks

Yeah .

Allison Weeks

So you mentioned that your early morning routine . You're up at five . You are prepping for dinner when you get up in the morning . Okay , so what are you doing , like for dinner ? Like cutting vegetables and that kind of thing ?

Jade Brooks

I usually do the whole thing . I'll make the whole , yeah , I'll make the whole whole meal , put it in the refrigerator . If it's something like pasta , I'll do that closer to dinner time . I'll like boil the noodles , put that away and like , do like the chicken prep and then do the sauce later , because if you put it in the refrigerator kind of makes it kind of you know funny . So I try to do something like that later . But most of the time , yeah , the actual meal is done in the morning . Yeah .

Allison Weeks

And that's something . Some good discipline . Yeah , I bet that made a big difference in your evening routine .

Jade Brooks

Yeah , because I don't know how . For me personally , the times where I had to make dinner closer to dinner time , I'm like I don't know how do people do this ? Like this is too much pressure , you know , because you try to keep yourself at a set dinner time and if it's not ready by that time , it's like , you know , kind of puts me in a panic personally . Yeah .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , that's good , that's a great idea , okay . Well , how do you maintain a healthy relationship with media , social media , media in general ? I mean ? I know you're , you have a presence online and that's kind of important to you to help get your message out there . So what are some ways that you keep it from taking over your time ?

Jade Brooks

So on my phone , in the , I have an iPhone , so in my settings I realize you can do these timers with your apps . So what I have learned to do and started implementing is with Twitter well , not Twitter , I don't know why I said that with Facebook , tiktok and Instagram . I try to limit myself to 30 minutes a day . That's it , and after that the thing will go great and you can either add a couple of minutes but I try to discipline myself to not add the couple of minutes or you can ignore it , but it's a way that I've tried to limit myself . But some days are not the best , but I try my best to stay off of it because it's just a distraction , honestly . And yeah , some days I just feel like I don't have that great of a healthy relationship with social media . Just because the things you see can be distracting , it can be not as encouraging as it should be . So I just know that I kind of got to keep my distance sometimes .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , yeah . How do you manage your like talk it when people message you or you know anything like that ? Do you just do it right there , or do you have a set time where you go in and interact with people ?

Jade Brooks

Yeah . So I feel like that's my problem , Like I don't like keeping people waiting in my messages . Like if I see a message , I try to respond relatively quickly . Or if I make a certain post that I feel like it's going to get a lot of responses , I'll be on social media more . You know what I mean . So that's something that I still feel like I have to manage .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , me too . Let me know if you figure that out . I will , yeah , okay , well , let's talk about

Temptations & Challenges

Allison Weeks

some other temptations and challenges for homemakers . So which of these temptations have you struggled with the most , and what is God teaching you through it ? So , a comparison to other women B I'm just a homemaker , I'm not getting paid , so this is not a real job . Or C superwoman trying to do all the things .

Jade Brooks

Definitely more so superwoman . I feel like I definitely don't feel like I try to be superwoman as much now , but definitely in the past I struggled with that and I feel like the way that I combated that struggle is just accepting help , like , for whatever reason , if we're having guests over , I would get an attitude If my husband tried to help me with , like kitchen prep or things like that , I'm like no , this is my meal , get out of the kitchen . It's just like why do that to myself and put on more pressure to have everything done for the guests ? So accepting help is what I really had to come to terms with . It's just , it's nothing wrong with it and my husband is very helpful and that wise , and he's actually the better cook of the two of us .

Jade Brooks

So every now and then yes , every now and then if I'm not feeling as confident with a certain meal that he may be , I get a little help with that . But yeah , that's something that I feel like definitely was an issue for me . As far as the other category , comparison I don't really struggle with comparison as much . I feel like recently I only have as far as like women who are like moms . I was having an issue with that because you know I'm not a natural mom , you know , yes , so I had a little issue with that .

Jade Brooks

But other than that not a big deal , not too bad .

Allison Weeks

Okay , and I already know you already answered the question about being just a homemaker , because you figured that out really quick . Yes , so absolutely not .

Jade Brooks

I will tell people yes , I'm a homemaker , that's my job . Absolutely Never , never , a big deal to me to try to add on , I love .

Allison Weeks

I love , though , that accepting help was your antidote to being super women .

Jade Brooks

That's so good . Yes , that is so wise .

Allison Weeks

So let's talk about any other special challenges that you have faced over the past couple of years in your homemaking journey , and what's God teaching you through that .

Jade Brooks

So one , we have two . I have two special challenges . Is that okay ? Yeah , so the first one was earlier this year I actually suffered a miscarriage , so that was definitely a struggle that I really didn't see coming . We were very excited to be pregnant and then , out of nowhere , without really me knowing why , the baby just didn't make it . I didn't really . I really wasn't that far along at all .

Jade Brooks

But that definitely was a struggle as to really figuring out with God like why did that have to happen to me and why did that have to be my situation , but a way that I really got over that . It's just really realizing that obviously God knows what's best right , and God knows why that baby didn't make it or why that baby couldn't be here . And I just have to come to terms with that and that it just may not have been the time . But that was something that was very hard for me and very hard for pretty much my husband and I for that season , and really just reflecting and trying to try again after that really and not having that fear and anxiety of , okay , what is going to happen this time ? Is this going to be another situation ? How long were we going to have to wait on another chance of that . So that was something that was definitely very difficult and in that time .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , yeah , yeah , I'm sorry to hear that that's really difficult . Yeah , so you said you had another one . Yeah .

Jade Brooks

And the second challenge is something that's a little bit more recent that me and my husband actually had to take on responsibility for two of his teenage boy cousins . So we have a 14 and 16 year old living in our home now . So , wow , teenagers , teenagers .

Allison Weeks

Oh my goodness . Okay , how's that going ? It's going well .

Jade Brooks

Actually , it's going really well . It's going really well . I was definitely very nervous about it because , like you said , teenagers are teenagers , that's all you have to say . Is teenagers because they come with their own set way of doing things , their own way of thinking , you know , thinking , they know what's best , thinking , they're grown and all that type of thing . So I was definitely very nervous about that . And I met their cousins , you know , in the past and but the the the past things that we've had , the time that we spent together . It didn't allow me enough time to really know who they are and to know their habits , to know their you know , those , those type of things . So I found myself like asking my husband's like you know , what is this going to be like ? Are they the type of kids that have attitudes , will they listen to me ? That type of thing ? So that definitely was a challenge . Is okay , what ?

Jade Brooks

is this going to look like in all reality .

Jade Brooks

What is this going to look like ? But , like I said , it's really been a blessing because I , we want the kids . You know , we , we . I desire to be a mom , my husband desires to be a father , so really it was a blessing in the sky to really get older kids that skip in preschool baby and jumping right into the teenage years . I feel blessed about that and I feel blessed to learn more about that age bracket . So that has been very helpful . But , yeah , it was just mainly like just the preparation of it all , like really having to pray to God . Okay , how are you going to teach us how to raise two boys ? You know , because I have no clue . I have no clue at all . But we've been leaning in on God and really trusting in him and it's been great . They're good listeners . You don't really have to ask them for much , they don't really have much expectations . So it's been , it's been really good , it's been really good so far .

Allison Weeks

Oh wow , teenagers . Okay , I mean , you know , you told me we talked about this before we started recording and we were going to talk about this subject . I was , of course , assuming they were younger . I don't know why I didn't . That's a big deal .

Jade Brooks

Okay , so I'm going to ask you .

Allison Weeks

I'm going to ask . They've been with you a few months now .

Jade Brooks

No , well , the whole situation has been going on for a month or so , but they've only been here for about like a week . In some change now . So this is brand new . Okay , brand new , brand new .

Allison Weeks

Okay , how you know , I know it's early , it's only been a little bit of time that they've been in the home with you . But what are some things you're already seeing that this is going to change your homemaking Like ? What are some things you're going to have to cook more ? I will tell you that I know . Can you get a younger sister in the morning and ?

Jade Brooks

judge what she'd been through in the morning . I don't know , I'm not sure if I've had a longer yes Already , so I know . But yes , so , like you said , definitely the cooking thing , because it's easy for me to say , oh , I don't feel like eating lunch . You know , it's easy for my husband to do that type of thing , like I don't really want lunch right now , but the kids have to eat . So that's something that I really have to think of . Like okay , like you can't really be lax as much as you could in the past , you could in the past . They have to eat .

Jade Brooks

So maintaining that , learning what they like and things of that nature , and you know , I feel like that's been the biggest thing . Like you said , laundry , that's been a new thing , and , lord , just the bigger piles , the bigger piles and things like that is something that I really had to think of , but , as of right now , it's still something that we're still trying to iron out , because they'll be going to school next week , so we're still trying to figure out what's that gonna look like . Interestingly though , I did a little thing that I called a school drill today , so I made them get up as if it was a school day , and I said boys , you have to .

Jade Brooks

So one of the boys has his school literally across the street from our house , so that's good for him . He'll be going to high school right across the street . But the other one is still in middle school , so he has to walk to a bus stop that's like 10 or 15 minutes away from the house . So the idea that I had was okay , get up , get dressed , eat breakfast as if you were going to school and walk to the bus stop , because you need to know how long it's gonna take you to get to the bus and what time do you have to leave and what have you .

Allison Weeks

So they did that today and I was like I'm not gonna wake you guys up .

Jade Brooks

So if you're late , I'm just gonna tell you at such a time , guess what ? You missed the bus , you missed your first class , as if it was really the first day of school . So they did a good job . They really shocked me . They really shocked me . So I feel like it's gonna be a good time .

Allison Weeks

Good , that's really smart .

Jade Brooks

I love that idea .

Allison Weeks

So I'm sure somebody is gonna jump on that idea and try that . I will tell you , yeah , for sure your grocery bill is gonna go up . But on that inventory thing , yeah , I would especially now that you've got the two boys living with you at home have a list somewhere that everybody can add to .

Jade Brooks

Oh , that's good , and you're gonna have to .

Allison Weeks

yeah , you'll have to train them . If you drink the last of the milk , please , please write on the list milk Got you . If you're not the one who drank the last of the milk and one of the boys did , you're not necessarily gonna think to go check and see . You know what I'm saying , Especially because you've been living which is you and your husband until this point . So you need to do that communal grocery list somewhere where everybody can see it , Got you ?

Jade Brooks

yes , I'm gonna get on that , but really quick . I did wanna say that was something you said that made me wanna go back to a challenge . I don't know , and now I kinda forgot . Yeah , as far as groceries , that has been a challenge because we've been kinda struggling on the routine because now that we have the addition of the two it's like we can't .

Jade Brooks

obviously we need more food , so we've been at the store like five times or more since they've been here , and that's not a usual thing . Me and my husband we only go like every two weeks , so it's just like oh my gosh , and I had to sit down and tell them like , look guys , dinner is not usually this late , we just gotta get back on a routine .

Jade Brooks

We have a set dinner time that we have and I really want you guys to know that this is the expectation 5.30 PM every day . That's dinner time , not 9 AM 8 AM . But it's been a struggle because we have to grocery shop more , yeah , yeah .

Allison Weeks

No , that is when all of mine were still at home , I'm sorry to say . I was at the grocery store like every other day . Oh my gosh .

Allison Weeks

I mean they knew me by name there at the grocery store . Now I do curbside cause that's pretty standard . It wasn't when they were all still at home , but anyway , yes , I know my grocery store workers very well .

Historical Homemaker Hints

Allison Weeks

We'll get back to Jade's story in just a minute . Right now it's time for historical homemaker heads . This is the part of the podcast where we highlight some of the helpful and not so helpful hints doled out to homemakers throughout history . Today's hints are once again coming from 1003 household hints and work savers from WL , moody and Co . Bankers of Galveston , texas , published in 1948 . This handy little guide has quite a lot to say about how to take good care of your kitchen appliances . If you have trouble with waffle sticking and you are sure the temperature is right , it may be that the recipe you are using doesn't call for enough fat . Try adding one or two extra tablespoons .

Allison Weeks

Well-scoured coffee pots make the best-flavored coffee . Rancid-tasting coffee is often the result of tiny particles of old coffee which cling to the inside surface . Wash thoroughly in clean hot soap suds , using a small brush to get into all crevices . Rinse thoroughly in clear hot water . Dry air between uses To minimize lime deposits in a tea kettle . Empty and dry it at the end of every day . A light coating of lime can be removed by boiling a vinegar solution in the kettle for 10 minutes , then wash , rinse and dry Repeated intervals . The same vinegar solution can be used again and again .

Allison Weeks

I've been using vinegar to descale my coffee pots for years now and I would do that once every I don't know two or three months , whenever I felt like the buildup was starting to get to be too much . I would run a Brew worth of vinegar usually half vinegar , half water through the coffee pot and if it was a curing I would just fill about half of the reservoir With a half and half vinegar water mixture and run that through . But in order to make sure that there was absolutely no vinegar left in the pot or in the brewer , I would have to run pot after pot after pot or cup after cup after cured cup Worth of just plain water to get every last residue of the vinegar out . So I did a little research on this here recently and I've been trying out Citric acid instead , because it's supposed to be just as effective , if not more effective , at Removing the scale or the , the mineral buildup inside of your machine and it does not leave that aftertaste and it's perfectly safe . It's just naturally derived from citrus and you can buy it in bulk packages off of Amazon , probably even at Walmart , and all you do is you make a solution out of these citric acid and water and you let that dissolve and then you pour that into your brewer and then you let it sit for a while so that it can dissolve those minerals and then you run it through a cycle . You still have to do it a few times to make sure you get all of the residue out that has been released by that citric acid , and then you dump it all out and you have a fresh new coffee pot or coffee brewer to work with .

Allison Weeks

You can buy ready-made descaling or Brewer cleaners . I know Keurig mates one and the Nespresso machine that we have makes one . But it's really quite simple to make your own because the main ingredient in those ready-made solutions is Citric acid . I will put a link down below in the show notes for where I got my bag of citric acid so you can try making your own solution to clean your coffee pots and your tea kettles .

Allison Weeks

And finally , unless you have money to throw away , never put electric kitchen appliances in water . Clean them with a polishing cloth or brush After pulling out the wall plug . Well , I'm glad that they mentioned that . Yes , please do not drop your kitchen appliances in water , especially if they're still plugged into the wall . Well , that's it for today's historical home making hints . As always , these hints are intended for entertainment purposes only , and we leave it up to you , the listener , to determine the safety and soundness of this advice . Now back to Jade's story .

Hospitality and Q&A

Allison Weeks

Okay , well , let's you ready to move on to hospitality ? Yes , okay . So what is a practical way that you show hospitality in your home making ?

Jade Brooks

cooking . I feel like that's that's the easiest and most fulfilling way for me to show hospitality Is I love to cook for anybody the family , my friends . If they come over people from church , I like to invite them over and just just to eat . You know , that's that's my love language is cooking for you . I can cook you a good meal , I can make you some nice bread and nice cookies and things of that nature . That's , that's my way of showing hospitality and , obviously , opening up the home and making people know that you , you can come whenever and I might not always extend like say , hey , do you want to come over ? You know I don't , I don't know why , I'm just not always Usually doing that , but I like to be for people to know you can invite yourself over and you know I don't mind . So yeah , this is an open home , it's open invitation over here .

Allison Weeks

So yeah , that's good . How do you , how do you feel like Homemaking helps to build community ?

Jade Brooks

Yeah , I would definitely say just just the invitation . Like I said , inviting people is a way that you can build community . You know , if you see that mom at the park and Know that she she may be a stay-at-home mom or stay-at-home wife you can invite her over for coffee , get to know her and Meet , meet that person and that person may not even know the Lord and maybe you can spark up a conversation that may , you know , cause that person to want to be curious . So that's a way to meet different people is actually inviting them in your home .

Allison Weeks

Mm-hmm , yeah , for sure I think . If you think about what the opposite of community is , it would be isolation .

Allison Weeks

Yes , and that's something that particularly stay-at-home wives and moms have to fight against isolation and we tend to think well , I have these friends on social media , so I'm not isolated , but that's just not quite the same thing . So being out there , being , like you said , willing to just even be hospitable when you're not at home , like being in the park and striking up a conversation , whether or not you have the opportunity to invite them into your home , just being an open person and in a welcoming person wherever you go , I think is a great way to help pull people out of isolation , which is community .

Jade Brooks

Yes .

Allison Weeks

I agree , because we need it . We all need community . We really do . Okay , let's talk about some . I'm gonna give you some rapid-fire questions here , some Q&A , and you can give me a short answer . You can tell me a story , it's up to you .

Jade Brooks

I would love to hear about your biggest homemaking fail so far so I make pancakes quite often and I found this nice little recipe on Pinterest that I have been using and I sorted into my phone and it was something that was pretty much using on repeat . For some reason , one particular time , I guess I wasn't looking closely at the ingredient and I kept putting Baking soda and the pancakes instead of baking powder . So my husband kept saying , like something about these tastes very like , it tastes like bacon's on . I'm like why can't ? I'm doing the same thing I didn't add anymore .

Jade Brooks

I didn't add any more to it and I did this like three times , three times I did it and finally I just looked at the recipe and I'm like , oh my god , it says bacon powder , not bacon soda . And I finally said when , once I realized the mistake that I kept making , I said to him I was like , yeah , babe , I realized the issue with the pancakes . I kept putting baking soda . He was like , yeah , I Something so , yeah , that definitely was a fail . That was a fail .

Allison Weeks

It's an easy mistake to make . We do want to own up to our mistakes , I guess . Okay , let's talk about a win . What's a ? What's a recent homemaking win that you're proud of ?

Jade Brooks

So this may seem a little odd or weird , but we just moved into this new home and the laundry , the Washer and dryer , is a little it's . It needs to be replaced . Let me just say that it needs to be replaced , so we haven't used it , so we've been going , like , to the laundry mat . My win is that I actually suggest successfully went to the laundry net and did it without help , and that was something I really had anxiety about , because the only time I really recall doing like Laundry out of the home was at college and it's like I just didn't remember what to do . But yeah , it was ridiculous and I'm like I am almost 30 years old and I don't even know what to do at the laundry mat . But I got it , I figured it out and it was successful , so that's my Job , that's awesome .

Allison Weeks

That's awesome . So how about a homemaking product or resource that you are loving right now ?

Jade Brooks

My griddle , my griddle . You know , that is right .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , so it's like a flat top griddle that you plug in .

Jade Brooks

Yes .

Jade Brooks

Yes , that is my go-to because , like I said , with the pancakes that I do and we make , well , I make turkey bacon for us pretty much every morning . That's like a morning staple that we gotta gotta have . So I kept working harder and Not using it for a while until I realized , like why am I not utilizing this griddle ? Because I kept Just individually putting like four pieces of bacon on the pan and instead of just putting the whole pack On the pan at once and then storing the rest of the turkey bacon later . But , yeah , I have realized that I need to use this thing . So , yeah , pretty much just stays on my counter now , because I usually pretty much every day .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , so that's a really great tool and they're not very expensive and you can get them pretty much anywhere like . Walmart , I think my grocery store even carries them , and they are great for doing like pancakes because you can do a bunch at a time . You can fit like maybe five or depending on how big you make your pancakes . Yes , on , instead of doing them Like one at a time and the skillet that takes forever .

Jade Brooks

Exactly am I tortillas . I do that on there now and it's just yeah , it's just a lifesaver , it's just like great , that's a really that's a really good product .

Allison Weeks

Thank you for sharing . Okay , give me your favorite homemaking hack or tip .

Jade Brooks

Getting dressed every day is my homemaking tip , because I feel like for women like me who are here full-time and they don't have like a part-time job or anything like that , you can easily get into the rut of not getting dressed because you feel like you don't have anywhere to go . But for me personally I feel good and I feel more accomplished if I actually Put on a nice dress or you know , and get myself my hair , do my hair and things . I feel like that can make you feel more productive for the day if you actually put in that practice . And Some women may feel like I don't want to waste you know my clothes if I know I'm not gonna go anywhere . So another tip in that is that get a couple health stresses dresses that you know you may not wear outside and just get like two or three and just wear those you know . But just try not to fall into the habit of like sweatpants and you know your pajamas all day . Just just get dressed .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , that's a really great tip . I completely agree . Put on , put on a little bit of makeup , put something decent on . What's your favorite , what's your goat ? You said you like you wear a lot of dresses , don't you ? Yes , I do . Yeah , what's your . What's your favorite resource Like where do you find your best dresses ?

Jade Brooks

my husband is going to get me for this , but I Like to shop at sheen online . He dislikes it because the cold . The clothes are cheap . I will say they're cheap but they're easy and I can rely on them . They're cute but he doesn't like them because he feels like like my zippers gonna rip for what they have in the past .

Allison Weeks

They'll rip and you know .

Jade Brooks

Just to end up , replacing them a couple weeks after I got them . But I really that's easy for me and you know , because I only wear dresses and like skirts , so it's not so many other places I can really go , and then you know , we're not always gonna go like oh , maybe . And not that I don't like them , I think they're great . But you know , it's just , it's just easier .

Allison Weeks

It's just easy , yeah , so yeah , it is hard . I think it's hard to find a good source for dress , for good dresses , for the modest dresses , and Exactly ones that fit like . I've got a much smaller upper body than a lower like my . You know I'm very pear shaped . Me too A lot of times I'll go to the store and the dresses are all like straight and I'm not gonna work for me , so when I find a good resource , I stick with it . So Anyway okay , how about your signature dish ?

Jade Brooks

Oh , you know , this is what I want to become my signature dish . I don't think that I perfect .

Allison Weeks

All of that , what are you working towards ?

Jade Brooks

working towards fried chicken , yams and collard greens . I love soul food , so I'm really , I'm really hoping for that to be my signature dish when people come over . I can make you that and you can make that the best meal you ever tasted in your life . So , but yeah , I'm still working on this good , but I don't know if I'm there yet for it to be my signature , so to speak .

Allison Weeks

Okay , so I've never been able to get fried chicken down . I just can't do it .

Allison Weeks

I don't know what it is , I don't have the gene . My mother-in-law makes amazing fried chicken . I just can't do it . I got collards down , though I can do collards and I don't know if you saw . I posted a reel a little while . Like , I always make them on New Year's Definitely , and then I make them a couple , you know , a few more times throughout the year , but I make them in the instant pot . Now , oh wow , I don't know if you , if you've , if you have one , if you've ever tried that , because I like him to be real tender . Me too , me too , you know , I don't want , because it just helps them digest easier . But Um , the but I don't want to be cooking them like forever , and so when you do them in the instant pot , they cook really fast but they're really tender . So , hmm , there's a hot tip for you , okay .

Jade Brooks

Okay , yeah .

Allison Weeks

So how do you do your yams ? What do you do with your ?

Jade Brooks

So , yeah , I'm definitely gonna have to try what you try , because I don't have an end . I don't have an instant pot , only have a what's called a crop pot . So can you do the same thing in the crop pot ?

Allison Weeks

You say I mean you could definitely cook them in your crock pot . It's just gonna take longer . That Cook them in the crock pot would be hands-off . But because the instant pot is a pressure cooker , so it's the pressure that it's it causes , it tenderizes them really fast .

Jade Brooks

Okay , yeah .

Allison Weeks

So that's why it it's so much faster and you get the same result as a real long cook on the stove . But you could do them in your crock pot if you just want to like . Start them and forget about them for sure you could do that ?

Jade Brooks

Yeah , because what ? What I do now is I will Boil them for a long time until they get nice and soft , and then I'll cut them up and then add some butter , had some sugar , add some Vanilla and cinnamon , and then put them in the oven for about 40 minutes . Oh wait , are we talking about ?

Allison Weeks

yams . We're talking about yams .

Jade Brooks

Candid yams .

Allison Weeks

That's what you do for your yams . Okay , I was still on . I was still on color green .

Jade Brooks

Oh , I was on like color green . Oh my God , okay .

Allison Weeks

Okay , we're on two different subjects . You're probably like what is she talking about ? Cooking yams ? No , I don't know .

Jade Brooks

I just , I just went for it . I was like maybe that works , I don't know .

Allison Weeks

I think well , I think actually you can't , because a yam is just it's like a sweet potato , right , yeah , yeah , and so I think you can't cook those in this , but anyway , okay . So color greens is how well . That's what I do in the Instant Pot , but your yams you're , so you're boiling them and then you cut them up , Mm-hmm .

Jade Brooks

And then what do you do ? Then I'll put them in a pan and then I'll make like a sugary buttery mixture and cinnamon and vanilla and then pour that on top and then put them in the oven for about 40 minutes .

Allison Weeks

Okay , yeah , that sounds delicious , it is . When you said vanilla , that's what I was like . Wait a minute , we're not talking about color greens , okay .

Jade Brooks

It's like vanilla .

Allison Weeks

Now my husband's grandmother would put and so I do this too she would put she did this in her cabbage and in her colored greens she would put like a little bit of molasses or cane syrup , mm-hmm , just a little , because it helps , like , cut some of the bitterness , okay , of the greens . Oh , so anyway , I do that , but that's it . You know , I'm not putting vanilla in my colored greens . Okay , oh Lord , all right .

Allison Weeks

Well , I hope that you just keep practicing and keep practicing and then you get that signature dish down Mm-hmm .

The Art of Home & Titus 2 Women

Allison Weeks

Let's talk about the art of home a little bit , mm-hmm . So how do you see homemaking as an art and where are you finding beauty in your art of homemaking ?

Jade Brooks

I feel like home , again , is an art because it looks different for everybody . And I was really . I was really even thinking that when you were talking about your two relatives that live next to each other and you saw how things were different . That's good and I love . That about homemaking is that everybody's not going to do it the same and it's not like a one size fits all type of or deal . You know , everybody has different tips , everybody has different routines and rhythms that maybe some of us can bounce off of and you know , taking some things may not work for other people , and that's just . That's what I find is just the beauty of is every home is going to look different . Yeah , so , yeah , I think that's beautiful , but what was the other part ? How do I find beauty ?

Allison Weeks

Yeah , just what's something that you maybe in one of your I think I know what you're going to say but like what it's not . Like what's your favorite homemaking tasks , but what's something that you just love about homemaking that you think is just lovely and beautiful .

Jade Brooks

Something I think , I think , I think just watching everybody in my home get to benefit from it , if that makes sense , I think .

Allison Weeks

I like that .

Jade Brooks

Yeah , I think that's always been . The beautiful part for me is like those days when you just feel like you're doing the same old thing every old day , every other day and things like that . It's just like , okay , you know when you get tired , but when you can see your family being blessed by the fact that you're home and love the fact that you're home , and they understand the blessing of you being home , I feel like that's the beauty of it for me .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , no , that's great . I love that perspective . So what's something about homemaking that you're thankful for ?

Jade Brooks

Hmm , what's something about homemaking that I'm thankful for ?

Allison Weeks

It can be something practical too , like your washing machine or something like that . Well , no , because you're having to go to the laundry mat .

Jade Brooks

The laundry mat and laws . Yes , let me see what I put down here . Something I'm definitely thankful for is the availability that I have and just in case , like I don't know if I ever mentioned this or if you ever seen it on my story , but I actually was my sister's babysitter all last year .

Allison Weeks

She uh yeah , she works . I saw the babies .

Jade Brooks

Yes , so those were nephews yeah . My nephew .

Allison Weeks

Your nephew Okay .

Jade Brooks

So my sister had the baby and I had him from four months to till he was like a year old and when we moved here . That's the only reason , pretty much , why I'm not babysitting him now I'm a little bit too far . But yeah , I feel like that was a blessing for me to have that availability , because had I not been home , she probably would have been putting him in daycare otherwise . So it's just good to be available for stuff like that and to have my family to have easy access for to me and that I'm not here , there and everywhere I'm home . So , yeah , if you need something , you know I'm here . If you need somebody to go to a kids meeting , I'm here , I can , I'm available , you know , cause my husband has more , you know , and I don't , I don't . Yeah .

Jade Brooks

I can be there for those things .

Allison Weeks

So yeah , I love that . I love that answer . That's one of my favorite things about home making that I'm so thankful for , especially , you know , now that you've got these two boys in your house and you know , lord willing , other children come into the home , it's so nice to be able to just drop what you're doing and pick up a sick kid or break , drop off . I forgot my English paper , or I forgot my lunch , or whatever .

Allison Weeks

Just to be able to , to be there for those things and to be there for friends and family too , is is really it's a really a privilege and I'm really grateful for it .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , Well , let's talk a little bit to the younger women and the older women . Well , let's see , yeah , we can talk to both , okay , so how ? Let's first let's talk to the older women . Okay , how can the older women help your generation of home makers thrive in their experience and practice of the art of home ? What do you want them to know about your experience ? How can they help you ?

Jade Brooks

I think that for me personally , with the things that my family and I currently have going on , I I think I would just like to hear , like an older woman just give her wisdom . I think that those are some of the key things . That from those older ladies is just hearing their feedback and things of that nature is just something that is always helpful is what is your advice , what is your take and what not necessarily always what would you do type of thing , but just soundness . I think that's mainly what I'm going for is the soundness . And of course , we can always talk to our friends , but sometimes it's not always the best thing because they're going through current things too . You know what I mean , and it's different when you've been there , done that , you may have other situations that can give somebody that they can allow to be poured into .

Jade Brooks

So for me personally , I just I think that I just wish that there were more older women that I could talk to . You know , I still have my maternal grandmother . She's still living , but she's not always that accessible because we're a little bit further now . But , um , yeah , I just feel like that's just something I wish I had in my life . It's just more older women to really glean from right now more godly women to Heaven is an example and that honor , that work of being home , and don't really see it as unnecessary , because I've come across that a lot is some older women who just do not get it in .

Jade Brooks

I've had an older woman even say to me before like oh , what do you do ? When I said I'm a homemaker , and well , what do you do at home ? I , you know , I cook , I clean , I organize , and they're like it takes , it takes you staying home to do All that . That's literally what a woman said to me before and I'm like , oh , I was Just like I'm fortunate that not all women get it , you know . So I think I just would want to meet all older women that can give that it that good advice and just understand this work .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , yeah , okay . What about to the younger women coming behind you ? What would you tell them ? Advise them , maybe to avoid , or just encourage them ? What would you say to encourage them ?

Jade Brooks

um , I would encourage them to . If you want to be a homemaker , because I've come across this a lot with some women like , oh , I see what you do , I really always wanted to do that . I think one important thing as a homemaker to know your why . Why are you home ? Why is it essential for you to be home ?

Jade Brooks

Because in some , some families , it may not always be Something that is needful , you know it may or even , um , feasible , but you just want to do it because you see it and it looks good . You know what I mean . So it's like , yeah , certain situations it may hurt your family to have you staying home , because you might be , it may be necessary for you to work . Maybe your income , you know , may not be , you know , enable you to do that , and you know , and we're thankful for that . But so I think that that is very important to understand your family , their needs and the why behind it . Because if it is just because it's something that may look appealing to you , you may want to really check that . But Homemaking is definitely something that is in the heart , so you really need your heart to be centered in the right place in order to do it the way God is really going to have his hand on it , for him to be glorified and for your home to have the fruit that it needs .

Allison Weeks

Mmm . Yeah , that's . I love that , that it's really coming from the heart and you need to know what where your heart is Exactly . Yeah , that's really good . Well , you are . I want to just tell people a little bit about your , where they can find you online and your Bible study ministry . So what won't you tell us a little bit about that ?

Jade Brooks

The Bible study ministry . Yeah , oh , yes . So , as I said in beginning , yes , I am a women's Bible study teacher . I lead but weekly Friday Bible studies via zoom at 7 pm . That's actually something I've been doing for three years now . It's now August and I just cannot believe it . It definitely started off a little rough , but God has had his hand on the ministry and it definitely Was not something that I ever would have saw myself doing five years before this , just not at all .

Jade Brooks

You know I I got saved in 2015 and I honestly just thought that I was gonna just be that . You know , never , never , never , saying anything much about God's word , just knowing Jesus is real and that's about it . So it's just , it's just amazing what God has done and it's definitely a blessing for the women who have come on , in , a blessing for me . So it's an open thing . So usually , when women want to get on , I usually can send them a zoom link and they can get on and If they have certain I have a girl , that's where's she from ? She's . She's not on the same timeframe as me , but it's still something that you can work around with whatever time for you .

Allison Weeks

But yeah , it's an open thing and like I said , it's open is open week to week . Can you hop on , like , can you hop on , you know , maybe one week but not the next week , or is it more like you go like 12 weeks at a time or something like that ?

Jade Brooks

Yeah , so it's open week to week . So it's like , say , say , this Friday a lady couldn't get on , that's fine , you know , she could hop on the next Friday . Or say , or I even have some women that just really just can't be that consistent . And they always let me know like , listen , I have a lot of work to do this week , I can't , can't really make it , but she , she's always available to able to come on whenever she can get on . And we have this book that we follow . It's called she Speaks , so it's just women in the Bible that we focus on and we read about and we talk about it and have that open discussion and prayer about it . So , yeah , it's not like a book where you have to read it like in chronological order . So , whatever woman a week , you know you jump in for that woman and you get the lesson so yeah , that's cool .

Allison Weeks

So is it something that that they would do the lesson ahead of time and then you'd have a discussion , or can they just is it like to ? Is there homework ? I guess that's what I'm asking .

Jade Brooks

No , so usually the the certain ladies that get on like weekly , I have like a little chat . I have a little chat where I will send them the lesson . I don't really think that anybody reads it ahead of time . I always do because I'm leading it out , but we read the actual text at the meeting . So so you wouldn't be missing anything if you didn't read it ahead of time , because we're always gonna read it on there . So even if , like say , a lady wanted I met her on IG , she wanted to get on and didn't have access to it she could read it while we're on the study that night .

Allison Weeks

Okay , that's awesome . So that's every Friday night , yes , seven o'clock , and are you East ? Are you Eastern time or central time ? Eastern , your Eastern ? Okay , all right . Well , that's cool . So where can people find you ? How can they get connected with you online ?

Jade Brooks

So I am on Instagram under the modest homemaker , I'm also on YouTube under the modest homemaker , and and my um , you might have to send , put my links in my blog down below , because it says like go daddy , and I don't . I don't even know the order of that , but yeah , I do have a blog as well that Allison can link down below .

Allison Weeks

Yes , I will do that . So , and if they want to connect with you to get in your Bible study , they should maybe message you on Instagram . Is that the best thing to do ?

Jade Brooks

Yes , yes okay .

Allison Weeks

All right , so we'll make sure we have all your links down in the description box . Well , jade , this has been so fun , thank you so much .

Jade Brooks

Yes , no problem , thank you for having me .

Allison Weeks

You're welcome . I've loved getting to hear your story . Can't wait to share it with the world . Yes , take care Bye .

Jade Brooks

Bye .

Allison Weeks

Thank you for listening to this homemaker portrait of Jade Brooks . I hope that you have been inspired and encouraged by Jade's story of home and that you found some nugget of truth or wisdom or something that you had not maybe thought about before , to mull over and to take with you from this episode and apply in your own way in your own homemaking journey . One of my top takeaways from my conversation with Jade was when I asked her what she was thankful for about homemaking and she said the availability I have to help others . My family has easy access to me . If they need something , I'm here and I can help . I just I love that we talked about that . I shared , how you know , when my kids were still at home and I had enough flexibility in my schedule that if I needed to drop everything and go Deliver something to them or go pick them up or be be there for an event at school or whatever the case , I had that flexibility . I had more flexibility than I would have had if I had been working outside the home , not to mention different ways that I'm able to serve and help my husband . I mean , there's been several times where he's had an emergency and he needed me to come pick him up and take him to the Truck dealership so his because his truck broke down or you know , he forgot his lunch and I was able to drive over and bring it to him or maybe even just meet him for lunch . It does require some planning on my part . We do have to think ahead and we have to have some sort of structure in place so that we can move things around and we don't drop too many balls by just constantly , you know , running out the door to go , be available and do something for somebody else . I feel like you actually have more availability in your schedule and more , more margin if you Manage your time well , and that's a topic that we are going to be addressing in-depth .

Allison Weeks

At the beginning of the year . I'm going to be having the deep dive on our third pillar of homemaking . Yes , I have not forgotten about the pillar of homemaking series . We're going to be talking about rhythms and routines and how we can develop healthy routines and how we can be flexible with those routines and our homemaking and how that actually frees us up to be more available for the things that God is calling us to do , whether that , you know , big scale Dreams and goals and visions , or if it's our availability , like what Jade and I talked about today . So be looking for that at the beginning of next year .

Allison Weeks

Don't forget that if you would like any of the extras that Jade and I talked about , like her favorites , her resources , her yam Recipe and then , of course , all the links to get in touch with Jade , the best place to get that information is in the weekly newsletter homemaker happy mail that will go out First thing Friday morning . So don't wait right now . Go subscribe to the newsletter . The art of home podcast comm slash subscribe so that you make sure that you get all those resources Delivered straight to your inbox . We will have links in the description box that link you directly with jade's YouTube channel and her Instagram so that you can get in touch with her if you want to sign up for her Friday Bible study .

Allison Weeks

As as always , if you have found value in today's episode , you can help to say thank you and support the show in one of the following ways . First and most importantly is to share this show with someone you know who could use some homemaking encouragement in her life . Maybe it's your mom or your sister or your next-door neighbor . Just share it and let them know that this resources out there available for them .

Allison Weeks

Number two , leave us a rating and a review on your listening app . This is so helpful because when people are doing a search For homemaking on their app and let me tell you this is by far the way that most of the women I've talked to , I've interviewed so far the listeners that's how they found it . They just went into Apple podcast or Spotify and they searched for homemaking . So when they do that , hopefully ours , this show will come up and the first thing that I personally do is I scroll down and I read the reviews to see if this is something that's going to be a good fit for me and if you've got an honest review there about how the show has impacted your homemaking and how it's encouraged you . I believe that's going to help them decide if this is a good fit for them or not . So just if you take a few minutes and do that , it will be helpful for them and I will just appreciate that so much .

Allison Weeks

And then , finally , if you are so moved , you can leave us a tip and our virtual tip jar by Mia . Coffee tips are given in five dollar increments . You can give one coffee , two , three or as many as you would like . Just go to buy me a coffee . Dot-com slash the art of home . Well , that is it for this week's episode of the art of home podcast . I will be back next Wednesday with a brand new homemaker portrait . Until then , keep practicing your art of making a home .