Trying Life

We went on a little microadventure into the mountains with our kids during the height of the fall colors here in Colorado. There was an unfortunate happenstance on the way, some complaining from the kids, but all in all, a successful day of enjoying some aspens and sister time.

We start the episode chatting about busy summers, what we've been up to, and the surprises we found at the county fair we both visited. I (Rebecca) have taken up a goal of running a half marathon, but at my own 40-something pace. Also, I am recovering from a breakthrough case of COVID, thankfully doing well now. Then we find out where we were on 9/11 20 years ago, and spend time sharing what we're thinking about and processing from that time. This is the link to the love story from 9/11 that I shared as an inspiration for finding hope and life in the midst of tragedy. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/nick-diane-marson-come-from-away-chance-encounters/index.html Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tryinglifesisters/ We'd love to hear what you're trying to this year. Leave us a voice message here and we may put it in an upcoming podcast. https://anchor.fm/rebecca-hopkins/message

Amy just got healthy from COVID and Rebecca tells a dog story, but mostly we're trying on some new things in our spiritual journeys. Oh and we actually got to go on a hike together. Without kids. In the wonderful, miraculous quiet. In this episode, Rebecca read from "Pillars: How Muslim Friends Led Me Closer to Christ." https://www.amazon.com/Pillars-Muslim-Friends-Closer-Jesus/dp/1636080065/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=pillars&qid=1620943044&sr=8-1 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tryinglifesisters/ We'd love to hear what you're trying to this year. Leave us a voice message here and we may put it in an upcoming podcast. https://anchor.fm/rebecca-hopkins/message --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

We celebrate Amy's 40th birthday reclaiming our youth and embracing the concept of a microadventure by roller blading and skating on a scooter in nearby Palmer Lake, Colorado. Find out if we survived the day, how we feel about trying embarrassing things and what surprised us most about our microadventure. (Check out our pictures on Instagram, Trying Life Sisters.) Here's a link to the book Rebecca mentioned: Embarrassment and the Emotional Underlife of Learning.   https://www.amazon.com/Embarrassment-Emotional-Underlife-Thomas-Newkirk/dp/0325088772 Follow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/tryinglifesisters/ We'd love to hear what you're trying to this year. Leave us a voice message here and we may put it in an upcoming podcast. https://anchor.fm/rebecca-hopkins/message Share your own adventures and creativity on social media using #tryinglife.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Some say it's 2,744 steps, others say 2,768. Rebecca completely lost count, lost her breath and nearly lost her mind while trying to climb the Manitou Incline. It's one mile straight up the base of Pikes Peak...all in railroad tie steps that used to be an actual railroad for a cable car. Find out if she completed the challenge. https://www.instagram.com/tryinglifesisters/ We'd love to hear what you're trying to this year. Leave us a voice message here and we may put it in an upcoming podcast. https://anchor.fm/rebecca-hopkins/message And use #tryinglife to share your own adventures and creativity on social media. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

We take a break from our more upbeat adventures to talk about how March is a month that is full of difficult memories for both of us. Learn about Amy's loss of her first baby 10 years ago and how it still affects her today. Find out more about Rebecca's departure from Indonesia two years ago in the spring...and some wise words Amy gave her then that still helps her get through those memories now. We talk about how our bravest moments weren't embarking on grand adventures but on bravely surviving particularly painful 24-hour periods. And we share what we're learning as we move forward, but still take time to honor the losses of the past. Something we mentioned: A Ted Talk by Nora McInerny: "We don't 'move on' from grief. We move forward with it." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khkJkR-ipfw Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tryinglifesisters/ We'd love to hear what you're trying to this year. Leave us a voice message here and we may put it in an upcoming podcast. https://anchor.fm/rebecca-hopkins/message --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Amy and Rebecca try to tap dance and share their new talent with the world--at least the part that is listening here. Find out what Rebecca started doing something just five minutes a day since the pandemic started. We also talk about microadventures--small, near adventures that we can into our regular old lives. And we discuss whether we should take a train or bus somewhere or attempt to get lost in our town, and then we talk ourselves out of all of that. And Amy went on a microadventure for four hours...you'll have to listen to find out where. And Rebecca tells about a microadventure she went on with her first newborn baby back when she lived in Asia. Some things we mentioned: Microadventures by Alistair Humphreys. https://alastairhumphreys.com/microadventures-3/ Ormao Dance Company in Colorado Springs Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tryinglifesisters/ We'd love to hear what you're trying to this year. Leave us a voice message here and we may put it in an upcoming podcast. https://anchor.fm/rebecca-hopkins/message --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

We're Rebecca Hopkins and Amy Prajescu. And THIS is our podcast origin story. Find out why we're trying this and many other things this year together. We talk how we didn't get to spend 14 years living on the same side of the globe and how now we're giddy with all this time we have together. We share the mystery ingredient in the (chocolate) fuel for this idea. We unearth important research on Trying Things. We reveal our deepest fears about branching out. And we preview some things we plan to try this year...unless we chicken out... In that case, I hope Constantin makes us some more chocolate cake. Constantin's Chocolate Cake recipe: 3 cups flour 1 cup sugar 1 1/2 cup cocoa 1 T. baking soda 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 4 eggs 1 1/2 cups buttermilk 1 1/2 cups warm water 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 tsp. vanilla Mix together wet ingredients, then dry ingredients, then combine. Bake 350 degrees for 35 minutes in 2 9-inch round pans. FROSTING: 1 cup butter, softened 8 oz. cream cheese, softened 1 1/2 cups cocoa 3 tsp. vanilla extract 6 cups powdered sugar Throw in a couple spoons of Nutella. Partially melt some chocolate chips and add those in, too. Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tryinglifesisters/ We'd love to hear what you're trying to this year. Leave us a voice message here and we may put it in an upcoming podcast. https://anchor.fm/rebecca-hopkins/message --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Are you trying to figure out how to move forward in this murky post 2020-world? Join two sisters, Amy Prajescu and Rebecca Hopkins, as we're trying life after a year of staying home. Rebecca recently moved to Colorado after living on the opposite side of the world as her sister--in Indonesia. They're now in the same city and trying to find ways to embrace adventure and creativity in this sometimes otherwise trying life. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app