Podcasts about christmases

Bryan and Michael Voltaggio return to the pod to talk holiday cooking, family rituals, and their big Tournament of Champions: All-Star Christmas victory. They share childhood memories: from sausage balls to two-house Christmases. And how those traditions influence the way they cook for their own families today. The brothers open up about working together at their hometown restaurant, the emotional stakes of competing as a team, and the moment they realized they might actually win it all. Plus: Boursin-stuffing brilliance, massive lasagnas, onesie-clad fast-food holidays, and a story about a very unfortunate playlist choice. Follow Food Network on Instagram: HERE Follow Jaymee Sire on Instagram: HERE Follow Michael Voltaggio on Instagram: HERE Follow Bryan Voltaggio on Instagram: HERE Learn More about Tournament of Champions: All-Star Christmas: HERE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Step into the winter stillness of Hever Castle with me, the beloved home of the Boleyn family, and a place that witnessed far more than festive cheer. In today's Tudor Christmas Advent episode, I'm sharing Hever as you may never have seen it: dressed in its glowing Christmas finery and wrapped in the quiet magic of midwinter. But Hever is more than beautiful… it is the backdrop to a moment Dr Owen Emmerson and I believe changed the course of Tudor history. During the Christmas season of 1526 into early 1527, something happened here, something that shifted Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn's future, and with it, the future of England. Anne was away from court, surrounded by family, and finally had the space to reflect on Henry's increasingly urgent pursuit. What unfolded at Hever that Christmas would set the stage for everything that came next. In this episode, I'll take you through Hever's festive rooms and frosted gardens, sharing photographs taken this December by Dr Owen Emmerson and some of my own from Christmases past… while we explore how one winter retreat became a turning point in Tudor history. If you visit Hever at Christmastime, I invite you to imagine Anne here in 1526, facing a decision that would shape not only her destiny, but the destiny of a kingdom. Let's step into Hever Castle at Christmas…  And if you'd like to know even more about Anne's family and their beloved home, do take a look at "The Boleyns of Hever Castle". #HeverCastle #AnneBoleyn #TudorChristmas #TudorHistory #HenryVIII #BoleynFamily #HeverAtChristmas #ChristmasHistory #HistoryYouTube #TudorTok #TheAnneBoleynFiles #BritishHistory #CastleHistory #LearnHistory #ChristmasAdventSeries

In part one of the Christmas Clean series, Sathiya explains why Christmas is one of the most triggering seasons for porn relapses and how you can avoid falling into the same patterns as past years. With holiday stress, disrupted routines, loneliness, and overindulgence all working against you, the key is identifying your personal holiday triggers, learning from the last five Christmases, and building a simple plan to stay clean. This episode gives you a practical, repeatable process to recognize your biggest pitfalls and create boundaries that protect your freedom—so you can enter 2026 with real momentum and zero shame. Perfect for listeners searching for porn addiction recovery tips, holiday relapse prevention, and how to stay clean during Christmas.   Know more about Sathiya's work: Join Deep Clean Inner Circle - The Brotherhood You Neeed (+ get coached by Sathiya) For Less Than $2/day Submit Your Questions (Anonymously) To Be Answered On The Podcast Get A Free Copy of The Last Relapse, Your Blueprint For Recovery Watch Sathiya on Youtube For More Content Like This Chapters: (00:01) Why Christmas Is the Most Triggering Time of the Year (01:20) The “Holiday Debt” Analogy & Why Most Guys Relapse in December (02:24) Step 1: Identify Your Holiday Triggers (03:45) Common Holiday Triggers Explained (04:48) Why Christmas Triggers Repeat Every Year (06:20) Creating Your Personal Trigger Plan (07:25) Real Example: How One Client Prevented a Thanksgiving Relapse (08:20) Setting Boundaries on Sleep, Food, Alcohol, and Social Behavior (09:18) Closing Advice: Don't “Wing It” This Christmas

A new poll shows that 70% of U.S. Catholic voters view Pope Leo XIV favorably. Meanwhile, as Christmas approaches, aid is reaching Jamaican families recovering from a devastating hurricane. And, the Pontifical Irish College in Rome continues to preserve music through nearly 400 Christmases.

Every year, families slide into the same five Christmas traps.  And every year, those traps lead to the same results: debt, stress, disappointment, and a Christmas that looks nothing like the King we're celebrating. In this episode, we break down the five biggest traps Christian families fall into and what to do instead. You'll learn how to lead your home with clarity, set a Christ-centered tone for the season, avoid financial self-sabotage, and give in a way that actually honors Jesus. If you're tired of chaotic, expensive, spiritually thin Christmases, this is your reset. About Abraham's Wallet: Abraham's Wallet exists to inspire and equip Biblical family leaders. Please partner with us in inspiring and equipping multi-gen families at https://abrahamswallet.com/support AW website Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Instagram Chapters (00:00:00) - How to Plan for the Year-End(00:04:56) - 5 Christmas Traps That Keep Families Broke(00:07:42) - Christmas Gifts: A Modest(00:12:45) - 3 Rules for a Spiritual Holiday(00:16:12) - I Put Christmas Lights On My House For Christmas(00:21:04) - Christmas Debt: The 3 Traits(00:26:13) - 3 Tips for Managing Money During the Holidays(00:30:42) - The Last Trap of Little House on the Prairie(00:32:48) - Prioritizing Material Gifts Over Generous Heart Led Giving

From an inexplicable force that turned a woman to ashes in her farmhouse, to strange phenomena that transformed a quiet English town into a UFO hotspot, these chilling Christmas mysteries continue to baffle investigators and haunt communities long after the holiday decorations were packed away.IN THIS EPISODE: A nurse was found dead in her bed - and her boyfriend and his nine-year-old son vanished, leaving behind only a truck full of bloodstained presents. (Christmas Murder in Lockhart) *** A little girl vanishes on a winter road trip to Las Vegas, and twenty Christmases later, a detective's search for answers leads to a desperate couple's final confession - but not to the truth about what really happened to two-year-old Nikole Betterson. (Nikole's Christmas Farewell) *** Behind one of the most beloved Christmas poems ever written lies a centuries-old mystery: was "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" penned by a scholarly professor for his children, or did someone else create the story that shaped how we see Santa Claus? (‘Twas The Mystery Before Christmas) *** When Patty Vaughan left her home on Christmas Day 1996, she left behind three children and a trail of mysterious clues - including an abandoned van, suspicious blood stains, and a red work uniform that would puzzle investigators for decades to come. (The Patty Vaughan Vanishing) *** When farmhand John Larson awoke to find soot on his pillow on Christmas morning 1885, he never imagined he'd discover his employer Patrick Rooney dead from smoke inhalation and his wife Matilda mysteriously burned to ash in a perfectly circular hole in their kitchen floor - with no other fire damage to the house. (Matilda Rooney's Christmas Combustion) *** In the quiet town of New London, Connecticut, what began as a simple flat tire on Christmas Eve 1973 turned into one of the community's darkest mysteries when twenty-year-old Kevin Showalter was struck and killed by a driver who vanished into the night - leaving behind a grieving mother, whispers of a cover-up, and questions that would haunt the town for decades. (The Hit And Run Death of Kevin Showalter) *** A teenage girl's first office Christmas party should have been a celebration of new beginnings, but for Rhonda Hinson, it became her last night alive - and the start of a mystery that would puzzle investigators for over forty years. (Rhonda Hinson's Only Office Christmas Party) *** A mother's quick errand turns into a decades-old mystery when Tracy Mertens vanishes from her Birmingham flat days before Christmas, leaving investigators with a yellow Ford Escort, two mysterious men, and questions that remain unanswered to this day. (The Tracy Mertens Mystery) *** On Christmas morning 1964, the quiet town of Warminster, England woke up to strange sounds that would mark the beginning of one of history's most puzzling mysteries - a series of unexplained events that would become known worldwide as 'The Thing. (The Warminster Christmas Thing)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Cold Cases, Colder Nights00:02:38.802 = Show Open00:06:20.432 = The Warminster Christmas Thing00:13:13.664 = *** The Tracy Mertens Mystery00:17:10.974 = The Mystery of Matilda Rooney's Christmas Combustion00:21:36.666 = Rhonda Hinson's Only Office Christmas Party00:27:32.493 = *** Christmas Murder in Lockhart00:30:24.890 = The Holiday Hit-And-Run of Kevin Showalter00:33:56.238 = Nikole's Christmas Farewell00:38:20.096 = *** The Patty Vaughan Vanishing00:41:44.518 = ‘Twas The Mystery Before Christmas00:47:49.521 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakSOURCES PAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/ChristmasMysteries

Hey Mama friend, You know what's stressful most Christmases?? Gift giving!! But does it have to be?? I did an amazing episode with author, Jenna Michael last year- Check out episode #125 if you are feeling that stress. Now the reason it can be stressful is because when we are in high pressure situations- the deadline of Christmas day- we go into autopilot. These are our natural ways to function for our nervous system to protect and keep our bodies safe. BUT- just because it's natural, doesn't mean it's GOOD. I want to talk about the 4 ways anxiety shows up in a very busy season- like Christmas and what to do about it. So today, I'm going to help you identify YOUR specific autopilot anxiety response, and then I'm going to give you five practical ways to disrupt it and respond better—even in the middle of the Christmas crazy. In this episode: The 4 autopilot anxiety responses: conflict, distance, over/under-functioning, projection 5 steps to disrupt your anxiety patterns The Know/Do prayer framework The Courageous Faith Method How to honor your word through the 4-step integrity process Resources mentioned: The Bold Blueprint 6-month group coaching program Instagram: @theshanwright Email: hello@theshanwright.com Want more? Book a free stress assessment Take the "Am I in Burnout?" quiz Join the Holistic Moms community Please share this episode with everyone who needs a little more peace this season!

“Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose, and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people], making the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16 AMP   *Transcription Below*   Questions and Topics We Discuss: How did God meet you in your experience of army life to reveal your choice of hope vs. fear? What have you learned about community, both before and after your experience of launching your husband into space? For all of us, how can we rediscover our fun side when we've been trapped in survival mode for too long?   Stacey Morgan is always ready with a funny or thoughtful story from her own life; whether it be holding down the home front during military deployments, working for the Smithsonian, skydiving, or blasting  her husband into outer space. Stacey is on staff with MOPS International, a nonprofit focused on the unique needs of mothers around the world. She and her husband, Army colonel and NASA astronaut Drew Morgan, have four children.   Connect with Stacey on Instagram or through her website.   Other Savvy Sauce Episodes Related to Friendship: Friendship with Drew Hunter Reflecting Jesus in Our Relationships with Rach Kincaid Nurturing Friendships with Jackie Coleman Art of Friendship with Kim Wier   Thank You to Our Sponsors: Chick-fil-A East Peoria and The Savvy Sauce Charities (and donate online here)   Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast!   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook, Instagram or Our Website   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)   Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”   Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”   Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”   John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:09)   Laura Dugger: (0:09 - 2:54) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here. I want to say a huge thank you to today's sponsors for this episode, Chick-fil-A East Peoria and Savvy Sauce Charities.   Are you interested in a free college education for you or someone you know? Stay tuned for details coming later in this episode from today's sponsor, Chick-fil-A East Peoria. You can also visit their website today at https://www.chick-fil-a.com/locations/il/east-peoria.   I'm so excited to share a special Patreon re-release episode. And if you've been with The Savvy Sauce for a while, you know that we used to make some money by having people sign up for Patreon and as a reward, they would get access to special episodes. Now we have done away with that as we've transitioned to becoming a nonprofit, and we want to make all of these episodes available to you, so we re-release a few every year.   What I'd love to ask is, as we're approaching the end of year because we've taken out that revenue stream, would you consider financially supporting Savvy Sauce Charities?   There are two simple ways. First, if you want to mail us a check, that saves us all of the processing fees, and you can make that out to Savvy Sauce Charities and mail it to P.O. Box 101, Roanoke, Illinois 61561. Also, if you want to go online, visit thesavvysauce.com and you can type in different words to the search button. You could type in “donate” or “support” and it should take you to the place where there's a button to click and put in your credit card information and give that way. We would be so grateful for any amount, and we love our partnership with you.   Here's our chat.   Stacey Morgan is my guest today, and you may have heard her name in the news over the past few years. She has documented her story in her debut book, The Astronaut's Wife: How Launching My Husband into Outer Space Changed the Way I Live on Earth. And now she's going to share more about that season and all the lessons God taught her about making the most of her one incredible life, and she's going to inspire each of us to do the same.   Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Stacey.   Stacey Morgan: (2:55 - 2:58) I am so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.   Laura Dugger: (2:58 - 3:07) Well, it is truly my pleasure. And will you just start by giving us a little bit more context for our time together and just share a few things about yourself?   Stacey Morgan: (3:08 - 4:49) Sure. Well, hi, my name is Stacey. I currently live in Texas.   I have four kids. I'm married to a guy named Drew who has kind of an unusual job. I grew up in a small town just outside of Boston and was kind of a scholar-athlete growing up interested in a lot of different things but always involved in church and youth group. And that really served me well when I went off to college.   The first college I went to, West Point. And actually, I'll tell you in a minute, but that is where I eventually met my now husband, Drew.   We got married after I graduated from undergrad. He's a little bit older than me and he is an Army officer. And so, we have moved all over the country. We've lived on both coasts and had a number of kinds of unusual situations just, you know, kind of typical for a military family living all over the place.   I've had a lot of crazy jobs. I think mainly I have an unusual story because I'm really quick to say yes to things, which sometimes, you know, it's a double-edged sword. Sometimes you say yes and you realize, “I should have thought through that a little bit more.” But really it's been quite an adventure because we have had the opportunity to live in a lot of different places, experience a lot of different things.   And we ended up here in 2013. We can kind of get into that if you want, but we ended up down here in Texas with my husband, who is still an Army officer, but he became a NASA astronaut. And so, that totally changed the direction of our lives and kind of changing all the plans we had for what we were supposed to be doing in the military and ending up down here at Johnson Space Center. Then, him eventually launching into outer space.   Laura Dugger: (4:49 - 5:01) Wow, there are so many points to unpack, but let's back it up to what you had mentioned about West Point. So, will you just elaborate and tell us more about how you and Drew met and fell in love?   Stacey Morgan: (5:01 - 7:21) Sure. So, we were both cadets at West Point when we met. He was a little bit older than me, but we met through Officers' Christian Fellowship, which is a Christian club that is very popular on military bases, both at the academies but in big Army and other services as well when you get out.   It's a, you know, it's like small groups, typical for what most people would find comfortable in kind of church community. And so, we met there and we just kind of clicked, you know.   I would say it's funny looking back, we were not the type of people I think we would have thought we would marry. He was far more serious than I am. I'm a little bit more, I'm the one to more kind of like walk the fine line, but we work together really well.   We've always been a great team. That's always been a real theme in our marriage, you know, that we are a team. And, you know, when he proposed after I graduated from undergrad, he kind of said, “I promise you a life of adventure,” which at the time sounded wonderful and adorable.   Of course, it has come back to haunt me several times when he has been, you know, come up with some crazy plan and when I hesitate he's like, “I promised you adventure.” And I'm like, “Now that's unfair. I did not know when you said adventure back in 2000 that you meant all these crazy things like going to space or all these different deployments and all this kind of stuff like that.”   So, we now have four kids. We've been married this summer will be 22 years. And, you know, it hasn't been without its challenges like any marriage and certainly any marriage under stress because of stressful situations, whether that's military deployments, whether that's space travel or just kind of life and parenting. And as you kind of grow up together and get to know each other and the world changes around you, we've certainly had ups and downs, but we are a team.   And I think God has really honored that and it's been really helpful for us when we've had those sticky seasons where you just feel like, “Man, we are just not connecting or kind of jiving the way we would want,” to actually say to each other that we are on the same team and that has been really helpful.   Laura Dugger: (7:22 - 7:40) The part of your story that involves space travel is one that most of us will never be able to relate to experientially, but it's still extraordinary. So, can you walk us through the detailed events leading up to 9:28 p.m. on July 20th, 2019?   Stacey Morgan: (7:42 - 15:28) Sure. So, I should back it up one big step behind that just to give everybody a little context. So, in 2012, we were kind of living our lives. We had always been deep into the Army Special Operations community. We love that. In order to live and kind of thrive in that environment you have to be all in, and we were all in.   And one day my husband came home and he was uncharacteristically giddy and he said, “You're not gonna believe this huge news. NASA is opening up the application window for a new class of astronauts.”   And I thought, “Why are you telling me this? This has no bearing whatsoever on our lives. We are on this path and that is a completely different path.”   And he said, “Well, I want to apply.”   And I thought to myself, “Well, I wanted to be a ballerina at one point in life, but that ship sailed. Like who doesn't say they always wanted to be an astronaut? Like this seems like a childhood fantasy.”   But he said, “No, I just want to apply. Like don't worry, all of our plans are gonna stay the same. They've never selected an Army physician before. I just, you know, I want to...” You know, the joke was that you'll always be a NASA applicant, right? And that'll be great. We'll laugh about it at family Christmases and stuff.   Except he kept making it through every gate. And so, in 2013 we got the call that completely took our life off of one set of train tracks and put it on another. At that time, we were currently stationed just outside of Washington DC at Fort Belvoir. We were supposed to be literally the next week moving to Germany. And that's how close these changes kind of came up on themselves. And so, we had to unravel everything for Germany and move to Houston, Texas, because that's where Johnson Space Center is.   And so, he began his training in 2013. I started my journey in learning a whole new culture, a whole new way of doing life. I'd never lived in a place that was at least not near a military base or within a military community. Didn't quite recognize at the time how much that shared sense of community had made things easier in terms of connecting with people before that and when I didn't have it.   So, it was probably our rockiest transition for me personally that I'd ever had in terms of friendships and getting connected. That's a big part of my story because I think friendship struggles are so common for adult women. It's just something that nobody really teaches us how to do and so a lot of women are very lonely.   But fast forward, he trained for several years until it was eventually his turn to fly. And in 2019, the only way to get to the International Space Station was to fly on a Russian Soyuz rocket. So, some people are very confused because they think, “Well, every space movie I've ever watched is taking place in Florida, right? Whether that's Apollo 13 or Armageddon or whatever. Why didn't he launch from Florida?”   Well, between 2011 and 2020, the Space Shuttle program had ended. SpaceX Crew Dragon had not yet started launching from Florida again. So, for about a 10-year period, the only way to get to and from the International Space Station was to ride a Russian rocket.   So, that's what NASA did. They went into partnership with the Russians, which of course makes things very interesting given today's kind of current political climate and all the world events. But that meant when it was Drew's turn to launch, we as a family had to travel to Kazakhstan, which is a country that I could not spell before 2019.   And so, if you don't know where that is, don't feel bad. I didn't either. I had to look it up. It's a former Soviet Republic really kind of in between Russia and Afghanistan. So, it is in the middle of nowhere. And when the Soviets were building their space program in the 1950s and 60s, they built their secret space city there in Kazakhstan. That's where they started their space program and they have kind of kept it unchanged and they continue to launch their rockets from there today.   It was a whole kind of world travel and cultural experience to take my four kids to Kazakhstan, which is a completely different cultural experience for really what came down to a very stressful, very emotional moment really waiting for that launch. So, unlike Florida, which you know when you watch on television, it's colorful, there's a lot of people, a lot of spectators, big people remember from the shuttle days big countdown clock, a loudspeaker kind of telling everybody what's going on... that's not how it is in Kazakhstan.   So, about 30 minutes before the launch, the kids and I were brought to this viewing area. And by viewing area I would say big field. It's not... there was kind of some grandstands area far at the other end of the field, but that's where all the space tourists stand and the press and all that kind of stuff and we didn't want to be near them. So, our escort brought us down to the end, the other end of the field, and it's just dark and it's quiet and there's no announcements. There's no countdown clock. It's just looking at your watch or your phone there just kind of in the dark and you just know that that Russian ground crew is going to launch that rocket at exactly 9:28 p.m. Not a minute earlier, not a minute later.   And so, standing there in the dark holding my kids' hands, and we can see the rocket in the distance only about a mile away, which by rocket launch standards is very close. Knowing that in a minute or 30 seconds or 10 seconds as it gets closer, it's either going to be one of the best days of your life, super exciting, super proud moment, or it's going to be the worst day of your life, and you could become a widow.   And as much as it's easy to kind of get complacent because incidents are so rare, but we all can remember any number of space disasters that have happened. Columbia, Challenger, those are very real. And with my time down here at Johnson Space Center, you come to learn those names and you meet those families and you meet those widows and widowers and you realize that space travel is dangerous. You know, at the end of the day my husband was in a little tiny capsule on top of a rocket full of highly explosive fuel. So, it's very scary.   And in that moment standing there thinking, “In 10 seconds my life is going to change no matter what happens.” Even if this goes perfectly, what happens next? I don't really know. It's kind of like having a baby. You can read all about it and assume things will be the way they're going to be, but until you're in it and then it happens, you don't really know how it's gonna go.   And so, it was a really overwhelmingly emotional moment because you think this could go sideways. And also, by the way, the world is watching live with me. So, if something goes wrong, I'm not able to process this privately. I will be experiencing it in real time with the rest of the world.   But even if it goes perfectly, what happens next? Like what does it look like to live on earth with a spouse in space and single parent for nine plus months while their other parent is in space? And you really don't know and it's scary to think like, “Gosh, what if something happens?” You know, he can't like come home early. Can't just like a business trip jump on a plane or a train and get home early. There's no coming back early. So, whatever happens, I'm on my own for better or worse. I'm on my own and I hope I have the endurance and the support system and everything I'm gonna need in order to be successful in this nine months.   Laura Dugger: (15:28 - 15:47) And my heart is pounding a little bit faster just as I hear you describe this. And I'd love to get back to your story, but first just to pause and wonder with that mixture of this adventure right in front of you and then your experience of army life, how did God meet you in all of that to reveal your choice of you're able to choose hope or fear?   Stacey Morgan: (15:47 - 22:32) Right. So, you know, when you take the time to step back and think, sometimes you don't see these patterns in your life until you kind of start putting them down on paper. And it was interesting for me to see how God had prepared me for that moment with other moments, especially related to military deployments in the past. Because certainly experiencing a rocket launch and all that fear and kind of this moment of where is my hope found in this moment, that was a varsity level moment.   But I'm so thankful that about ten years earlier God really started to prepare me for that moment with some other big moments. Like when my husband deployed for the first time.   I'll never forget, it was the height of the War on Terror. So, we were living in a military community which was amazing and a lot of my friends' husbands were also serving in the same military units or similar military units and they were deploying. The tempo was high so that meant, you know, six months deployed or longer, coming home for short amounts of time and then deploying again. Lots of action specifically in Afghanistan and Iraq at the time.   And so, lots of fatalities, lots of injuries, lots of grief, and for spouses a lot of fear because we knew what they were doing was very dangerous. And so, for me and my friends we kind of had this unspoken rule which I think a lot of people can understand which was, “Let's just not talk about this scariest thing because somehow talking about it makes it seem more possible.”   And as crazy as that is to say, people get that. You know, there's a lot of things we don't talk about because it's just too scary to think about. And so, for us the scariest thing in our life at that time was the fear that our husbands would not come home, that they would be killed in action. And that felt very real because we were going to memorial services, we were visiting people in the hospital, we were turning on the news and seeing what was going on in the world. And there was often communication blackouts because we knew that they were doing things that were very dangerous, very secretive.   And so, at the time I happily did what everybody else was doing which was, “Let's just not talk about it. Let's just kind of live life managing.” We felt like we were managing this fear, I think that's what I would have said at the time.   But then one day my friend Lisa, who's an amazing friend and she's always like two steps ahead of me on the wisdom scale, we were having coffee on her front porch and she turned to me and she said, “I've been thinking a lot about what life would be like if our husbands were killed.”   And this was like a bomb drop. I mean because we just were not supposed to be talking about this. Like here the rest of us had been avoiding all morbid thoughts about what could possibly happen with our husband and instead she had like turned and looked it straight in the eye.   And I was shocked. And so, I kind of sat up straighter and I said, “What do you mean?”   And she said, “Well, I've been thinking about it and it's not that, you know, life would certainly be hard and doesn't mean we wouldn't need counseling or our kids wouldn't need support, but life would still go on even if that happened. Life would still go on. Life would still be full of good things and God would provide and bring people around us to support us and I've just been thinking about that.”   And I was stunned. I was absolutely stunned because while the rest of us were too afraid to face that fear, in looking at it she kind of exposed it for what it was, which was certainly real and an absolute possibility that that could happen. But when she started walking down the path of like, “Okay, if this happened then what would happen?” You have to decide, “Do I believe God would really be with me or not? Do I believe His promises are true that He will be with me on good days and bad days and that He will draw people to me who will love me and support me? And have I plugged myself into friends and a faith community that would be there for me if that happened?”   And it was a game changer. That was probably one of, at the time, the biggest life-changing conversations I'd ever had as an adult because it really did shift how I viewed feeling afraid about things like that. And so, I had several opportunities... Drew deployed several times and then certainly doesn't take combat deployments to feel afraid like that. I know I have felt it before when my daughter was in the NICU, you know, and I had to leave her in the NICU and go home at night. I know I have felt it during this pandemic several times. I know I'm gonna feel it when I drop my oldest off at college this summer. You know, this moment where it just life feels very scary mainly because of the unknowns that come next and the fact that you have no control over those.   And so, that rocket launch moment was, you know, I felt like God was really prompting me in that moment to say, “Hey, if this rocket explodes like what will you do with that? Do you still trust me that I'm here with you and that I will still bring people to you and love you? Like is your support, is your foundation and your hope truly found in me or is it found in this rocket launch going successfully? Because it might not, and then what does that mean for you?”   And so, it really was this choice of am I gonna choose to live a life of fear, which is our default because if you do not choose something else we will always live a life dictated by fear of something. It's exhausting to live like that because once you conquer one fear another one's gonna pop up. Then they come in bunches and they just start layering on top of each other. Honestly it can lead to despair because there's plenty of things in the world to be afraid of and new ones just pop up every day.   So instead, I felt like God was offering me a new way of living and it really felt tangible in that moment of that rocket launch which is, “Hey, I hope that you will choose to find your hope in me. Just me. The one unchanging thing in this world that will be unchanging regardless of what happens with this rocket launch in 10 seconds. But if it goes well or if it goes poorly I am unchanging. You can rely on me. I will be with you in the best and the worst of times. And even if the rocket launch goes successfully and whatever happens in the next nine months, I'm with you there as well. So, you don't need to be afraid because I'm here with you. You can have hope that I will enable you to do what must be done no matter what happens tomorrow.”   Laura Dugger: (22:32 - 22:49) I'm so grateful that you chose hope and you chose faith. And then after all of that excitement and that adrenaline experienced on launch day, what did your life look like in the months to follow?   Stacey Morgan: (22:49 - 26:47) Yeah, it wasn't easy. You know I joke that those nine months really were like it was like a master class in all these little lessons I've learned throughout the years, but I'd never had to put them into practice at this level and all at the same time.   So, things like being honest about that I needed help. That, you know, there are times in the past where I have certainly wanted people to know or think that I had it all together and that I could do it all by myself especially, you know, I think every mom feels that way.   Certainly, military spouses, we take a lot of pride and feel like I'm doing this on my own.   And I realize now that I had certain seasons I have made life a lot harder for myself because I somehow thought that there was like an extra trophy if I finish the race by myself. I said that it was like, spoiler, there's no trophy. And also, I was just making it harder for myself.   And so, this season I could not fake it. Like past seasons I could fake it. This one I could not fake it. I had two teenagers, two tweens, a lot of hormones and then prepubescent and puberty things flying around. Just a lot of scheduling, a lot of driving, like just life. And then just the stress of living with someone who, you know, a spouse who was living in space and the stress of what does that do to your marriage, to parenting and, you know, parent-child relationships. Just every single piece of running a house, of parenting all the things, was solely on my shoulders and that's a big weight. And it was tough. It was tough.   So, I could not fake it. I had to ask for help. I had to be willing to ask for it and receive it, which are two different skill sets I found. It's sometimes you get good at one and not the other. I had to get really willing to be vulnerable as my friends and say things like, “I'm really lonely.” Can you know, it's like being honest. Like everything's not just, “Oh, this is so exciting. Oh, isn't it so great? Aren't we just so proud of them?” Yes, but at the same time sometimes I'm lonely. Sometimes I'm struggling.   Sometimes in my stress I would overly focus on trying to control my home life or what was happening within my own house and become not as pleasant of a person to live with because I was just trying to kind of regain some control in what felt like a little bit of a chaotic world and then you become not your best self and you know that. And so, I had to learn how to kind of get out of that survival mode and still have fun even when life is hard. And really just kind of accept that life isn't one thing or the other. You can be in a hard season and it still have good things in it. Life can be full of opportunities and challenges and one does not negate the other. And when you try to live your life by one narrative or the other, not only are you faking it but you make life harder than it needs to be and you kind of block other people out of it.   So, there was a lot of learning going on in there but we really all came down to that first decision of how am I gonna live my life in this season? Am I gonna live it fearfully, reactionary, hair trigger, you know, just stress all the time because I'm afraid of what comes next. I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to handle it? Or am I gonna live a life of hope, which is of course like not wishes and dreams but it is anticipation that God will be with me no matter what comes down the pipeline. And sometimes that's divine comfort that is hard to explain but you just feel it. Sometimes it's people he draws to your life who literally will sit on the couch with you and just like hold your hand or give you a hug that moment you need it. Sometimes it's someone offering to carpool or take your kid out driving because they're trying to get their driver's license, you know?   But that's really the biggest thing for me. I talked about it in chapter one of the book because that's the foundation that really all those other lessons were built on.   Laura Dugger: (26:47 - 27:26) And I think also with your book, it was helpful to hear little insights into what it looked like for your marriage. And it was even interesting when you said it's really important for astronauts to have forms of entertainment and that you were so committed to being involved in Drew's life and that you two still found ways to stay connected. I just think that has to be encouraging to any married couples listening right now because you clearly had a big barrier to overcome. But what were some of those ways that the two of you tried as best as you could in that season to stay intimately connected to one another's lives?   Stacey Morgan: (27:26 - 31:19) Yeah, it's not easy. And I think there's kind of this fallacy that is kind of dangerous for especially young married I think to believe which is like in every season of your life you're gonna feel amazingly connected to your spouse and you're gonna constantly be growing in your relationship. And sometimes that's not true. Like sometimes one person has a job that takes them away from home or someone is sick or there are other issues going on in your life where the connection is just not as strong not because you don't want it to be but because the circumstances you find yourself in don't allow for that.   And certainly, while my husband was in space that was a lot of challenges to feeling connected. I mean there's good communication but there's a difference between like quality and quantity, right? So, he could call me on the phone every day but because of the time differences and his schedule the only time he could call me was between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. my time, which as any person knows and with any kids, is like the worst time of the day. Like everything's happening, the wheels are coming off, homework, pickups, dinner prep, like all that kind of stuff was crazy.   So, needless to say, I was not able to sit down and have like a heartfelt drawn-out conversation. And then kids hate talking on the phone so he wasn't really talking to them during the day. I'm like, you know, my eight-year-old isn't gonna send him an email. So, you know, there wasn't like a lot of quality or quantity conversation with the kids which of course puts a little stress on your marriage too because you worry about that.   And then we have one video chat a month and you want it to be fun. You want it to kind of be good for the kids as well as him but it's a very, you know, it's one hour to share between five people and so that's not a lot of time. And so, the reality is that for that season there was a lot of, I would say, relationship treading water. And you're, you know, the goal is just not to let things go downhill, which you can easily do in life when you and your spouse are experiencing the same event but from different points of view. And that's what we were doing. You know, we were sharing the mission but from two vastly different points of view.   And so, you do your best. But the difference is I think you have to in order to kind of come out on the other end better, you have to have a kind of a mutual commitment that, “Hey, we're going to... we are eventually going to come back together on this. We can't change the circumstances. I can't make the time difference different. I can't give you more time on the phone. I can't... there's things I just cannot change. But we are committed as a team to doing the best we can right now and when this circumstance changes, in this case when he came home, we're gonna kind of back up again and do some story sharing and reconnect about some things that we just didn't have the opportunity to in the past.”   And so, it's a little bit kind of like two steps forward one step back but eventually you still come out ahead if you are committed to trying to come back together and share those experiences in one way or another. Where you run into kind of danger is if people start experiencing two different things and then they never come back together so the gap just kind of keeps widening and widening. And then you hear when people say like, “Yeah, I woke up and I felt like I was living a different life than the person who was sleeping next to me.”   And so, reminding us to ourselves that we are a team even though we were experiencing the same thing. I didn't know a lot about a lot of the things he was doing. He didn't know a lot of stories about how things were for me. And so, it's okay to tell them later if you don't have the ability to tell them in the moment as long as you both have the goodwill and you prioritize coming back together eventually.   Laura Dugger: (31:19 - 34:26) And now a brief message from our sponsor.   Did you know you can go to college tuition free just by being a team member at Chick-fil-A East Peoria? Yes, you heard that right. Free college education. All Chick-fil-A East Peoria team members in good standing are immediately eligible for a free college education through Point University.   Point University is a fully accredited private Christian college located in West Point, Georgia. This online self-paced program includes 13 associate's degrees, 17 bachelor's degrees, and two master's programs, including an MBA. College courses are fully transferable both in and out of this program. 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We love producing free content that's available to everyone around the world with our monthly newsletters when you sign up for our email list and with our weekly episodes. We pray that this has been a benefit to you. That if any episode has ever impacted you, what we ask is that you will partner with us now and generously and prayerfully give financially before the end of the year. There's multiple ways to do this. Online at thesavvysauce.com, you can donate through Stripe,  PayPal, or Venmo with just a simple click. Or you can send snail mail to us at Savvy Sauce Charities, P.O. Box 101 Roanoke, Illinois, 61561. We hope you choose to support us today and during this season especially.   It sounds like you really leaned into your friendships. So, what would you say you've learned about community both before and after your experience of launching Drew into space?   Stacey Morgan: (34:26 - 38:07) Well, I tell you what, I realized that as an adult often a lot of us don't really know how to do friendship well. And our culture is so, it so values independence that we often convince ourselves that if we tell our friends or our community that we need help or just kind of show our true heart for how important it is to us, that somehow that's gonna be kind of like devalued or we're gonna feel weak. And I realized like, “Man, I wasted a lot of years trying to be tougher than I really am.” And I wish I could go back and change that because in this season, mainly because I had no choice. And so, God really used this opportunity to show me like, “Hey, I'm gonna kind of like force you to open up your heart, be vulnerable with this small group of really trusted friends and like just trust me to see what happens next.”   And I did and it was a game-changer. I mean, I have a lot of deep feelings but I put a little bit of a tough exterior and I forced myself to be super honest and super vulnerable with my friends and say things like, “I'm lonely or I don't even know what I need but I'm just feeling exhausted or angry or this is really frustrating to me or I need help with this and I don't even know where to begin.” And just let those friends step into my life in a really intimate way.   And you know, I think we've all had a friend at some point who has asked for help and we have been so happy to help them and we've never thought less of them for it. But somehow when it comes to our own time we're like, “Oh, I don't want to trouble anybody. Oh, they're gonna think I can't handle it.” Or like, “Well, this is like I made this bed so I better lie in it. You chose to have all these kids, you chose this career, you chose this whatever, like this is your problem.” But we would never say that about another friend. And so, I don't know why we are harder on ourselves than we are on our friends because it's not right. Most of our friends are happy to help us. They love us helping us, being with us, comforting us, supporting us. That's how they show how important you are to them and we need to let them do that.   I've also gotten better about verbalizing the feelings that I had always felt inside but I felt awkward verbalizing. Like, “Thank you for being my friend.” Or like, “Thank you for just spending this time with me,” or, “You are an important person in my life.” Words that we say to our kids, that we often say to our spouses, but sometimes for me at least felt weird saying to friends and I'm really trying to get better about that. That was a great nine months of practice. It doesn't come easy or natural I think to anybody but it's a game changer. Like why not tell your friends how much they mean to you?   So, community is essential. Like don't try to lone wolf this life. I've certainly had some more extreme experiences than probably the average person, but the principles are the same. Get plugged into community and have multiple circles of community. Certainly, your faith community but also you know if you work, if you go to the gym, if you go to school, like your kids' friends, like there's so many circles of community and don't be afraid to just jump right in and get connected. And you've got to do it before you are in crisis. You've got to kind of invest in these friendships so that you know them and can trust these friends so that when those seasons come that are hard you have this small group of people who you can rely on. It will be a complete game changer in your life when you have a small, could be one person, can be two people, trusted people who can journey with you.   Laura Dugger: (38:07 - 38:34) I could not agree more. I really think that friendship is one of the most precious gifts were given in this life. And going back to your marriage we had discussed that time of separation but then there was a whole other season of transition as well. So, what was it like to come back together after being apart for nearly 10 months?   Stacey Morgan: (38:34 - 42:55) Yeah, so it's funny there's always these Hollywood romanticized versions of what reunions must look like whether that's a military deployment reunion or you know when an astronaut comes home. And I think people assume it's some kind of like hot sexy romantic can't keep hands off of you but the reality is far different, right? Because it's... I mean maybe it is, maybe that's how it is for some people. I will just say for us, you know, when you've been living an independent life for however long, whether that was you know a six-month or an eight-month deployment or a nine-month deployment to outer space, you know I was living my own life fully independent for that long where I made all the choices. I didn't have anybody looking over my shoulder or you know there's a little bit of independent freedom there when you're the only one kind of making the big decisions.   And so, when that person comes back into your life, which you want them to come back, you're happy they're home, but there is this awkward transition period. It's definitely an opportunity for some tension because now there's another opinion back in the mix, right?   Like I had to kind of adjust my way of doing life for another person who had a valid opinion, another decision maker. The kids had to adjust to having another parent back in the house. You're kind of getting to know each other so there is a little bit of a sniffing out period where you're like, “Hey, nice to meet you.” Because we all change. You know you could be gone from someone for a month, you know, you're not the same person you were today as you were last year or six months ago or maybe even a month ago. So, anytime someone comes back in your life they're different, you're a little different. You're like my friendships had shifted over those ten months, like my work had shifted, everything in my life had moved on and he had not been there in the house with me to experience that so there was... it was a whole new set of experiences and a new person to get to know again.   Now he came home and what made it a little bit more dramatic was that Drew came home in the startup of the pandemic. He came home in April of 2020 which at the time I think we weren't sure, “Are we going up? Are we coming down?” We know now looking back we realize things were just ramping up; the world was, we were all still very confused about what's the best thing to do can we all the things you know. So, NASA pretty much brought him home and then he came home to our house after just a few days in kind of the quarantine facility there on Johnson Space Center. But then he came back to our house and then it's like he never left because all of the normal stuff that would happen when you come home from space like travel and meetings and all these kind of things were all canceled or postponed.   And so, instead of kind of like getting to know each other slowly it was like zero to sixty. I mean he was home and he didn't go anywhere, none of us could go anywhere. So, we joke that the irony that he was in space with five professional crew mates in a small space and then he came home to live in our small space with five amateur crew mates who are certainly not nearly as gracious or accommodating or helpful as the professional astronaut and cosmonaut crew mates he had. The irony is not lost on us. So, he came home I don't think we've ever spent that amount of time together you know 24/7 in the same house with all four of our kids, no school, nowhere to go because everything's closed. And so yeah we're getting to know each other in this kind of Petri dish of new experiences as the world is also kind of like upside down and everything's unusual.   So, in the end it was okay. I joke like we did a lot of “I was like let me go do this puzzle I just need some alone time” or “I'm going for a walk around the neighborhood please don't text me. I'll be back when I'll be back I just need a few minutes to myself.” I think everybody has had that moment in the during the last two years where you're just like, “I just need a few minutes alone please,” you know in my if you've been trapped in your house with somebody who you're not normally with 24/7.   Laura Dugger: (42:56 - 43:17) Well sure and with your experience, mental health is very important for the family of the astronaut and the astronaut themselves. Wasn't it your psychologist who is saying typically when you come back and enter this time of reentry and reuniting you do little bit by little bit because that tends to be wiser?   Stacey Morgan: (43:17 - 45:22) Yes, that's right. They call it titrating a return. That's a principle they have in the military as well which is they would normally come back from a deployment for at least the first couple weeks back from a long trip away they would go to work every day for several hours because it's you know psychologically difficult for two people who have been living very independent lives to come back together just with like zero transition. The military has learned this over the last 20 years you know that you could go from a combat zone to mowing your lawn in 24 hours. That's stressful especially if you add in you know marriage baggage, kids you know nagging kids or issues like that, financial struggles, that's a kind of what can be a breeding ground for some really difficult situation. So, it's best to let people get to know each other again a little bit at a time.   Like you said the normal return from space was kind of the same thing. It would be come home and then you'd have some physical therapy, you'd have these different meetings and it would be a little bit like going to work for several weeks while they're getting their body and everything back to normal. Then, you kind of could have this kind of extended time at home but it gave both people the ability to kind of like reintroduce themselves to each other in bits and pieces and just kind of ease into it. But we did not have that luxury so we kind of had to create it ourselves. And I am glad again that we had those past experiences to know where the potential minefields were. If you were not prepared you could be very disappointed if you went into it thinking, “Oh, they're gonna come home, it's gonna be like romantic. We're gonna be like together and loving it all the time and just connecting so deeply. It's gonna be amazing.” And then the first time that your spouse is like, “Why are you emptying the dishwasher like that?” It's important to know like, “Yeah, if there is going to be tension it is going to be awkward. That's okay that is part of the normal cycle and it's gonna be okay.” But I'm glad that we had that knowledge beforehand because it could be tough.   Laura Dugger: (45:22 - 46:07) Well and Stacey another reason that I really appreciate you being willing to let us enter your story with you. When we have different careers or we have someone in the military and a civilian who's not involved, there's so much room for assumptions and maybe not always assuming the best. There's opportunity for miscommunication so I'm just wondering about the person who's hearing this and what if they're thinking, “Well that sounds irresponsible or even selfish of Drew to choose this path if he's a husband and father.” So, how would you offer that kind of person another perspective that they might be missing?   Stacey Morgan: (46:07 - 48:20) I mean I would say is when it comes to astronauts for sure, you know, these are not like hot-rodding thrill-seeking people. In fact, I would say I think a lot of people make the assumption that people who do some of these higher like physically higher risky jobs must be like thrill-seeking you know just thrown caution to the wind about everything in their life. Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth. I think you would find that we certainly and I would you know I think a lot of people in the same career field are similar and that we are good risk calculators. And that like policemen, like firemen, like military personnel you know it's an act of service to be in this job. These are not just like you know space tourists or billionaires getting on a rocket for fun. These are professionals who have chosen a career field of service and whether that is as a policeman, a fireman, a service to the nation, service to humanity, service to their community and they all play a part in that.   I think most people recognize that that it is you know there's something to be said for the person who chooses a career that has a level of risk because they feel called to it and because thank God for people who will take on risk and are willing to potentially sacrifice themselves for someone else. I mean I think it's kind of a higher calling which is why in general in our culture we honor them and rightfully so. It is risky, it's very risky. They certainly don't do it for the money. I don't think anybody in any kind of government service would say that they're doing it for the money, that's for sure. You know they're doing it because they feel called to something bigger than themselves and to serve their fellow man in some way. That's certainly I know how we feel as a family that his choosing to transition as an Army physician into being still in the Army but serving in this capacity was just the next level up. The way he could serve our community, our country, our nation and all of humanity and he really is its service first. It's the opposite of selfish; it is selfless service really.   Laura Dugger: (48:20 - 48:55) Mm-hmm thank you for that. I just say amen to everything you just said. Really it's service from your entire family that requires a sacrifice from each of you like you said for the greater good. And I think something else that you pointed out so well in your book was that having this value more so of security or not living into this calling that you said this calling was put upon your lives that could actually be idolatry if you're starting to place a higher value on security or anything else other than God and so I think you model that well.   Stacey Morgan: (48:55 - 51:13) Thank you. Yeah I think a lot of people you know sometimes these idols creep up on us we don't realize that we have put something on a pedestal until it gets threatened to be taken away from us and all of a sudden our reaction is over the top because we're you know you realize, “Gosh, I'm finding my security in this thing I'm finding my identity in this thing whether this thing is a job, another person, a political party, a scientific breakthrough whatever it is.” Right? Like and I think a lot of people, I certainly felt it you know in that launch moment like, “Am I finding my identity in being married to this person or him having this job or this launch being successful? Because if I am in about 10 seconds my world may crumble because if that could all be taken away from me.” And in that yeah I think we all kind of have probably had a moment especially in the last two years where for a lot of people something that they have built their life on has been either taken away from them or has it has been threatened to be taken away because of the pandemic a job a person in their life you know a relationship your kids going off to school every day I mean whatever it is that you've built in your life and you have put on this pedestal and you kind of made without even realizing it have started to place more hope in those things remaining unchanged than you have in God. And all of a sudden when those things are threatened you have this over-the-top emotionally fearful response that's kind of an indicator I think to all of us like when we have that is like, “Whoo my fear and my response should tell me that I seem to be very very afraid that this is going to be taken away from me because I am putting too much hope in it. Instead, I should be taking that and putting it back where it belongs. I should reprioritize where I am finding my hope and the only unchanging thing that we can build our foundation on is God. Everything else, every person, everything, every job, every whatever it is can and could possibly be taken away from you and on your deathbed will be.” So, you know you can't help but have a little bit of self-reflection there.   Laura Dugger: (51:13 - 51:23) Well and then for all of us how do you recommend that we all can rediscover our fun side when we've been trapped in survival mode for too long?   Stacey Morgan: (51:23 - 56:05) This is a great question because I think all of us have felt this definitely in the pandemic. You know this part in your life where everything in the world feels very chaotic and so you try to regain some control in your own life by maybe regimenting your kids a little more, cleaning your house a little more, you know, controlling things at work or whatever your environment is. And without really realizing it you become this just like survival mode like your day just becomes about making things easier for yourself, streamlining things, making things just go go go. And you wake up one day and you were like, “I'm exhausted. Like why am I so tired? Why am I why do I have like no joy? Why do I just feel unhappy?” And you realize that you have not done anything other than just be like surviving and cleaning and doing work or whatever it is like you have just been doing the basics with no fun whatsoever.   So I have been there I hit that a bunch of times in the pandemic, but I certainly hit it when Drew was in space because it's really hard being a single parent and managing all of the emotional burdens and the logistics of it. And I realized that I was cleaning a lot I was kind of getting a little bit more trigger angry with kids or people who you know were making me upset because when you're in survival mode it's all about just like “Get out of my way let me do what I want to do,” it's about getting things done quickly and other people become an annoyance instead of a joy in your life.   So it's all about going back to something that that fills you up and it can be something really frivolous it can be something like it's very it's 100% unique to you and so I can't tell you what that thing is but I would say the first step in kind of getting yourself out of survival mode and kind of getting back to your your whole self is asking yourself the question like, “What do I enjoy?” Not for its educational value, not for its good cardio exercise or and not what your kids enjoy, not what is Instagram worthy, or anything like in your soul what fills you up? Is it reading? Is it watching movies? Is it riding bikes? Is it roller skating? Is it you know eating Mexican food? Like what is it that you enjoy doing that when you do it you just feel like more of yourself?   And then just go do it tomorrow. Like it's gonna take prioritizing time probably some money but that is as much of a part of who you are how God created you. He didn't make you this like worker bot or like just a mom or just a wife or just a daughter or a sister like He made you a whole person and a huge part of who you are are these things that you enjoy. And you cannot continue to pour into other people or work or your community if you are never getting filled up yourself. You will just dry out, you will be burnt out, you'll be unhappy and you'll actually be worse in all these other areas where you were trying to work hard because you're just gonna be like a shell of yourself.   So, for me it was prioritizing time with friends. It was... I got this crazy flyer on my front door for roller skating lessons and I had this fantasy of being a really good roller skater that stemmed from like when I was eight and so I signed my girls and I up for roller skating lessons which was hilarious and very humbling but it was just silly. It took time, we had to prioritize the time on every Saturday it took money, but it was just fun. It had no educational value my kids will look back on it and be like, “What was that all about? I don't even know.” But it was great because even in the midst of a stressful season like that was a very stressful season, undeniable, but as part of that narrative it will not only be like, “Yeah it was really tough when my dad was away and you know my mom had to like single-parent us but that was also the season where my mom took us to roller skating lessons. Isn't that weird? That was so weird.” And we'll laugh about it.   And so, it's just about finding something that you want to do and then just unapologetically spend the money, spend the time, and invite a friend to do it with you again. Doing something with a friend is always more fun than doing something alone. Don't feel like you have to justify it or explain it to everyone you don't need to take pictures to post online you don't need to tell it just just go do it and have a good time. It's amazing how when you do that suddenly like those dust bunnies or that email that had a weird tone that you got don't annoy you as much as they used to because your kind of like finding your whole self again.   Laura Dugger: (56:05 - 56:27) That's helpful to remember to live life to the fullest and be ready for the next adventure that life's gonna throw at us. Yeah. And just as a bonus can we just ask what are some of the most common questions that you and Drew answer about space?   Stacey Morgan: (56:27 - 57:25) That's a good question. A lot of like personal hygiene questions about teeth brushing toilets how do you know take showers or whatever and of course the answer is they don't take showers. But and then of course a lot of people want to know, “Hey I've always been interested in becoming an astronaut how does somebody do that?”   And there are so many resources online people you know I say, “Look go online read all about it. There's amazing videos NASA puts out an incredible amount of resources that you can read up on but at the end of the day do what you are most passionate about because the likelihood that you, or your nephew, or your cousin, or your co-worker, your son, or, whoever it is that you know is convinced they want to be an astronaut the likelihood of them being an astronaut is very low. So you should do what just fills you up do a career and a life that you are passionate about and if God calls you to that path those doors will open but if He doesn't you'll still be living a life fully within God's purpose for you.”   Laura Dugger: (57:25 - 57:39) And Stacey you're such an incredible communicator both in this interview time together but also really enjoyed your book. And so, if people want to follow you to hear what you're up to next, where would you direct them online?   Stacey Morgan: (57:39 - 58:41) Sure well they can go to my website StaceyMorgan2000. That's like Stacey Morgan two zero zero zero dot com. That has my blog that has links to a different podcast like this that I've been on and they can check that out. They can find me on Instagram same handle StaceyMorgan2000.   And you know if people want to reach out, I love when people have been sending me messages lately after they've read the book it's been so awesome. You know I tell people like I certainly didn't write this book for the money I'm actually donating all my book proceeds to charities that support military families. So, I've been joking like, “Hey read the book if you don't like it the worst that happened is you donated to a military charity. If you do like it buy ten copies and give one to all your friends. But if you do like it I love it when people send me messages and just tell me kind of like what resonated and how it spoke to them.” That's just been one of the I would say the coolest aspect of completing this project was kind of putting it out there and then getting to see how God uses it in people's lives.   Laura Dugger: (58:41 - 59:02) There were so many things that resonated but off the top of my head if anybody has a copy of the book they'll have to turn to the part about baloney on sale friends. And Stacey you may know that we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge and so as my final question for you today what is your savvy sauce?   Stacey Morgan: (59:02 - 1:01:08) Well I'll piggyback off your baloney is on sale friends' reference and that would be: pick up the phone and text your friend. We didn't need a study to show us this because I think most of us have just known this in our soul but there is an endemic of loneliness in the world right now as you know we've got all these ways to connect and yet people feel more disconnected. They feel more lonely especially women and what I learned through my own kind of relationship struggles over the years is that everyone's waiting for someone else to go first. That you in that moment you feel like you're the only person who's feeling lonely and alone and that everybody else is in these friend circles and you're just somehow on the outside. But the reality is that pretty much everybody feels the same way you do and everybody's sitting at home wishing someone would just text them and invite them to coffee.   So that's my practical tip is don't wait, go first be the bold friend or even acquaintance like it doesn't have to be someone that you are super besties with. But those baloney is on sale friends like I said you have to read the book and understand that that is like a special category of friendship that's the kind of friendship that our soul longs for but those things don't appear or like pop out of the ground. That kind of friend doesn't just show up it's developed over time it's invested in and cared for and loved and it starts with literally a text to go get coffee. That's how every great friendship story begins. So, if that's you, if you feel like yeah I don't have this close friend who I can do something with I'm lonely. Okay take that first step be the one who picks up the phone send that text message to the woman from church, or the woman from the gym, or that friend you haven't talked to in a while and just invite them over for coffee. Nothing fancy nothing crazy no agenda just come over for a couple hours for coffee. Every single person I know who does this no one ever regrets inviting a friend over for coffee. That's the first step that we can all take into just feeling more connected and having those kind of friends that we want.   Laura Dugger: (1:01:08 - 1:01:31) Love it. Well Stacy your book definitely changed my perspective on risk and I was so hooked on all the stories that you shared so I believe that your book is truly a gift to anyone who chooses to read it and your faith is very inspiring so thank you for sharing your journey with us and thank you for being my guest.   Stacey Morgan: (1:01:31 – 1:01:33) Well, thank you it's been great.   Laura Dugger: (1:01:33 – 1:05:16) One more thing before you go, have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you, but it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it

Send us a textIn this week's episode, we're diving into the festive chaos of Netflix's new holiday film Merry Little Ex-Mas, starring Alicia Silverstone and Oliver Hudson. What starts as a well-intentioned attempt to recreate the magic of Christmases past quickly unravels when a long-separated couple tries to navigate the holidays under one roof—along with the husband's very present new girlfriend. The result is a cozy, comedic, slightly chaotic story about old patterns, new boundaries and what happens when Christmas nostalgia meets very real emotional baggage.We break down the performances, the chemistry and the moments that made us gasp, laugh and yell at the screen in true Love on the Pod fashion. From complicated co-parenting to unexpected holiday romance, we explore why this movie works, where it surprises and how its themes land in real life. Pour a cup of something warm, settle in and join us as we unpack all the mistletoe-level tension and second-chance sweetness that Merry Little Ex-Mas brings to the season. Support the showThank you for listening to this episode of Love on the Pod! Subscribe, Rate, and Review: Don't miss an episode—subscribe to Love on the Pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform. If you enjoyed the episode, please rate and review us! Shop Our Merch: https://www.loveonthepod.com/category/all-productsConnect with Us: Email: loveonthepod@gmail.com Instagram: @LoveOnThePod Visit Our Website: For show notes, episodes and more, visit https://www.loveonthepod.com. Stay tuned for our next episode, where we'll discuss another holiday favorite. See you next time!

In this episode, Jennifer shares some fond memories of Christmases that were far from perfect but by far the ones that meant the most. Resourceshttps://holleygerth.com/the-gift-of-rest/

Christmastime Topic from Trammin' Episode 289Another year has gone by, and another Christmas has come, as it does this time each year. It's mostly the same, and not much is new. Do we crave new things, or do we yearn for the Christmases gone by? We look forward to traditions, letting go of old ones, making room for new ones. We grow older as the marshmallow world of our childhood melts away. But we grow fonder of new roots that take hold. What makes Christmas special to us in this phase of our lives? Gather 'round as we tell a tale about Christmas that you've all been told, on a little saint episode of Trammin' Through the Snow!Holiday Music"Wish Background" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/“Jingle Bells” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Silent Night" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Holiday Weasel" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Krampus Workshop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Oh, Christmas Tree" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Sleigh Bells Ringing" Mike Koenig (soundbible.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"Jingle Bells (Calm)" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Listen to full episodes every Windsday and topic-only uploads on Big Thunder Thursdays!InstagramTrammin' - https://instagram.com/TramminPodcastChristian Rainwater - https://instagram.com/imrainwaterMusicLocal Forecast - Elevator Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Trammin' - The Disneylanders, Addy DaddyUsed with permission.Character Art & AnimationNadia Dar - https://nadsdardraws.carrd.co/Trammin.comTrammin' is written without the use of Artificial Intelligence.©Trammin' - A Disneyland Podcast

Fluent Fiction - Catalan: A Christmas Eve Miracle at Barcelona's Children Hospital Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/ca/episode/2025-12-04-23-34-02-ca Story Transcript:Ca: Des del pis 8 de l'Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, les llums de Nadal brillantaven.En: From the 8th floor of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, the Christmas lights glittered.Ca: Era una nit freda d'hivern, però a dins la sala d'espera de pediatria tot intentava semblar acollidor.En: It was a cold winter night, but inside the pediatric waiting room, everything tried to seem welcoming.Ca: Núria, amb el seu somriure atent, caminava pel passadís.En: Núria, with her attentive smile, walked down the corridor.Ca: Faltaven pocs dies per Nadal i l'hospital es veia més buit amb els companys gaudint de les vacances.En: There were only a few days left until Christmas, and the hospital seemed emptier with the colleagues enjoying their holidays.Ca: Els infants, però, encara delicats, passaven el Nadal aquí.En: The children, however, still delicate, spent Christmas here.Ca: Oriol, amb només set anys, estava assegut sobre el seu llit hospitalari.En: Oriol, only seven years old, was sitting on his hospital bed.Ca: Dibuixava estrelles i arbres de Nadal amb els llapis de colors que Núria li havia portat.En: He was drawing stars and Christmas trees with the colored pencils that Núria had brought him.Ca: Havia passat per una operació i, com tots els infants, només volia tornar a casa.En: He had undergone an operation and, like all children, just wanted to go home.Ca: Sentia enyorança.En: He felt homesick.Ca: El soroll del carrer l'omplia de records d'anteriors Nadals, sempre plens d'alegria i dolços.En: The noise from the street filled him with memories of past Christmases, always full of joy and sweets.Ca: Un matí, mentre Núria portava la safata amb l'esmorzar, va veure la tristesa en els ulls d'Oriol.En: One morning, while Núria brought the breakfast tray, she saw the sadness in Oriol's eyes.Ca: "Hem de fer alguna cosa especial per ell i els altres nens," va pensar.En: "We have to do something special for him and the other children," she thought.Ca: Va decidir organitzar una festa de Nadal, però l'hospital estava sota mínims i els recursos escassejaven.En: She decided to organize a Christmas party, but the hospital was running at minimum capacity and resources were scarce.Ca: Amb determinació, Núria va parlar amb els seus col·legues.En: With determination, Núria spoke with her colleagues.Ca: Tots acordaren ajudar.En: They all agreed to help.Ca: Van decorar el passadís amb flocs de neu de paper fets a mà i un petit arbre de plàstic.En: They decorated the hallway with handmade paper snowflakes and a small plastic tree.Ca: Els voluntaris van oferir-se a preparar activitats i, fins i tot, va aconseguir una visita especial: un Pare Noel disposat a repartir somriures.En: Volunteers offered to prepare activities and she even managed to arrange a special visit: a Santa Claus willing to spread smiles.Ca: La vigília de Nadal, Oriol encara estava trist.En: On Christmas Eve, Oriol was still sad.Ca: Volia ser a casa amb la seva família.En: He wanted to be home with his family.Ca: Núria es va apropar i li va dir: "Tinc una sorpresa per a tu, Oriol.En: Núria approached him and said, "I have a surprise for you, Oriol."Ca: " Aquella tarda, mentre les llums s'apagaven al voltant de Barcelona, van obrir les portes de la sala.En: That afternoon, as the lights dimmed around Barcelona, they opened the doors to the room.Ca: Els nens van veure el Pare Noel arribar amb un sac ple de regals.En: The children saw Santa Claus arrive with a sack full of gifts.Ca: La música va començar a sonar i les rialles ompliren l'espai.En: Music started playing and laughter filled the space.Ca: Oriol va veure com els ulls de Núria brillaven quan tots van començar a cantar nadales.En: Oriol saw Núria's eyes shine when everyone began to sing Christmas carols.Ca: Aquella nit, va adonar-se que aquells a l'hospital eren ara la seva família.En: That night, he realized that those in the hospital were now his family.Ca: Envoltat de salutacions càlides i la mà de Núria estrenyent la seva, va somriure per primer cop des de feia dies.En: Surrounded by warm greetings and Núria's hand holding his, he smiled for the first time in days.Ca: El seu cor es va omplir d'alegria.En: His heart filled with joy.Ca: Amb la festa acabada, Núria sentí una pau interior.En: With the party over, Núria felt a sense of inner peace.Ca: Va veure com fer feliç els nens li retornava també felicitat.En: She saw how making the children happy also brought happiness back to her.Ca: Les parets de l'hospital, aquella nit, es van transformar en la llar més càlida del món.En: The walls of the hospital, that night, transformed into the warmest home in the world.Ca: I així, la nit de Nadal es va convertir en una vetllada màgica que Oriol recordaria per sempre.En: And thus, Christmas Eve became a magical evening that Oriol would remember forever. Vocabulary Words:the corridor: el passadísthe pediatric room: la sala d'espera de pediatriatiredness: la enyorançathe operation: la operacióhomesickness: la enyorançathe memories: els recordsthe colleagues: els col·leguesscarce resources: els recursos escassejaventhe determination: la determinacióthe smile: el somriurethe greetings: les salutacionsthe inner peace: la pau interiorthe Christmas Eve: la vigília de Nadalthe sack of gifts: el sac de regalsthe volunteers: els voluntaristhe handmade snowflakes: els flocs de neu de paper fets a màthe small plastic tree: el petit arbre de plàsticthe sadness: la tristesathe party: la festathe hospital bed: el llit hospitalarithe noise: el sorollthe past Christmases: els anteriors Nadalsthe sweets: els dolçosthe handmade decorations: les decoracions fetes a màthe greeting: la salutacióthe warmest home: la llar més càlidathe magical evening: la vetllada màgicathe breakfast tray: la safata amb l'esmorzarthe joy: l'alegriathe Christmas carols: les nadales

Another year has gone by, and another Christmas has come, as it does this time each year. It's mostly the same, and not much is new. Do we crave new things, or do we yearn for the Christmases gone by? We look forward to traditions, letting go of old ones, making room for new ones. We grow older as the marshmallow world of our childhood melts away. But we grow fonder of new roots that take hold. What makes Christmas special to us in this phase of our lives? Gather 'round as we tell a tale about Christmas that you've all been told, on a little saint episode of Trammin' Through the Snow!Holiday Music"Wish Background" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/“Jingle Bells” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Silent Night" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Holiday Weasel" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Krampus Workshop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Oh, Christmas Tree" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Sleigh Bells Ringing" Mike Koenig (soundbible.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"Jingle Bells (Calm)" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Listen to full episodes every Windsday and topic-only uploads on Big Thunder Thursdays!InstagramTrammin' - https://instagram.com/TramminPodcastChristian Rainwater - https://instagram.com/imrainwaterMusicLocal Forecast - Elevator Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Trammin' - The Disneylanders, Addy DaddyUsed with permission.Character Art & AnimationNadia Dar - https://nadsdardraws.carrd.co/Trammin.comTrammin' is written without the use of Artificial Intelligence.©Trammin' - A Disneyland Podcast

Fluent Fiction - Serbian: A Family's Magical Christmas: Old Traditions, New Beginnings Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sr/episode/2025-12-03-08-38-20-sr Story Transcript:Sr: У магичној зимској бајци, Калемегдански парк био је испуњен снегом и празничним духом.En: In a magical winter fairy tale, the Kalemegdan park was filled with snow and holiday spirit.Sr: Беле пахуље лагано су падале на древне зидине тврђаве.En: White snowflakes gently fell on the ancient fortress walls.Sr: Свуда око њих, светлећи украси и шарене лампице улепшавале су простор, доносећи осећај радости.En: All around them, glowing decorations and colorful lights beautified the space, bringing a sense of joy.Sr: Чинило се као да је читав свет стао да ужива у том тренутку.En: It seemed as if the whole world had paused to enjoy the moment.Sr: Милош, најстарији од троје браће и сестара, шетао је кроз парк са сестром Иваном и братом Петром.En: Miloš, the eldest of the three siblings, was walking through the park with his sister Ivana and brother Petar.Sr: Меморије о заједничким Божићима попут овог испуњавале су његов ум.En: Memories of Christmases spent together like this one filled his mind.Sr: Желим да одржим традицију коју су њихови родитељи створили.En: He wanted to uphold the tradition their parents had created.Sr: Њихов дух и љубав били су присутни у свему што су радили.En: Their spirit and love were present in everything they did.Sr: „Морамо ово учинити посебним," рекао је Милош, гледајући брату и сестрију.En: "We must make this special," Miloš said, looking at his brother and sister.Sr: „Родитељи су увек волели Божић на Калемегдану.En: "Our parents always loved Christmas at Kalemegdan."Sr: "Ивана, са осмехом на лицу, одговори: „Наравно, Милоше.En: Ivana, with a smile on her face, replied, "Of course, Miloš.Sr: Донела сам све што нам треба за украшавање.En: I brought everything we need for decorating.Sr: Хајде, биће дивно.En: Come on, it will be wonderful."Sr: "Док су корачали ка великој фонтани у центру парка, Петар се окрете према њима.En: As they walked toward the large fountain in the center of the park, Petar turned to them.Sr: Његов израз лица био је озбиљнији.En: His expression was more serious.Sr: „Али, можда је време да променимо нешто," предложи Петар.En: "But maybe it's time to change something," suggested Petar.Sr: „Заобиђемо старе обичаје и стварамо нове.En: "Let's bypass old customs and create new ones."Sr: "Милош се заустави, погледао Петра у очи.En: Miloš stopped and looked Petar in the eyes.Sr: „Мислиш да наши стари обичаји више нису важни?En: "Do you think our old customs aren't important anymore?"Sr: " упита он.En: he asked.Sr: „Не то," заснивно одговори Петар.En: "Not that," Petar responded earnestly.Sr: „Важно је, али живот иде даље.En: "It's important, but life goes on.Sr: Можемо стварати нова сећања исто тако важна.En: We can create new memories that are just as important."Sr: "На тренутак, Милош је ћутао.En: For a moment, Miloš was silent.Sr: Онда, узврати осмехом.En: Then he smiled back.Sr: „У реду, можда можеш бити управу," признаде Милош.En: "Alright, maybe you could be right," Miloš admitted.Sr: „Покушајмо нешто другачије ове године.En: "Let's try something different this year."Sr: "Поподне је прошло у веселој атмосфери, мешању старих и нових традиција.En: The afternoon went by in a joyful atmosphere, blending old and new traditions.Sr: Организовали су мала породична такмичења који су унели смех и радост.En: They organized small family competitions that brought laughter and joy.Sr: Фотографије су бележиле нове тренутке, док су сећања на прошлост остала у срцима.En: Photos captured the new moments, while memories of the past remained in their hearts.Sr: На крају дана, цела породица је стајала окупљена око фонтане, славећи дух Божића и породичну љубав.En: At the end of the day, the entire family stood gathered around the fountain, celebrating the spirit of Christmas and family love.Sr: Милош је осетио топлину међу њима, схватајући да традиција није само у обичајима, већ и у људима, у љубави, која их све спаја.En: Miloš felt the warmth among them, realizing that tradition isn't just in customs, but also in people, in the love that binds them all together.Sr: „Захвалан сам што вас имам," тихо рече Милош.En: "I'm grateful to have you," Miloš said quietly.Sr: „И хвала ти, Петре, на идејама.En: "And thank you, Petar, for the ideas."Sr: "Петар се насмеши, осећајући да је допринео нечем значајном.En: Petar smiled, feeling he had contributed to something significant.Sr: Зимска ноћ је прекрила град, а Милош је обгрлио брата и сестру у чврст загрљај.En: The winter night covered the city, and Miloš embraced his brother and sister in a tight hug.Sr: Одлучио је да у тој зими, између старих зидина Калемегдана, нови почетак заиста није лоша идеја.En: He decided that in that winter, between the old walls of Kalemegdan, a new beginning was indeed not a bad idea.Sr: Божић је био дан који их је повезао и подсећајући их на оно што је заиста важно: да буду заједно.En: Christmas was the day that connected them, reminding them of what truly matters: being together.Sr: И тако, у светлу звезда, завршила се прича о чаробној породичној вечери, где су прошлост и будућност нашли пут заједно.En: And so, under the light of the stars, ended the story of a magical family evening, where the past and the future found a way together. Vocabulary Words:magical: магичнојfortress: тврђавеsnowflakes: пахуљеbeautified: улепшавалеeldest: најстаријиuphold: одржимcustoms: обичајеearnestly: заснивноsignificant: значајномembraced: обгрлиоspirit: духdecorations: украсиtradition: традицијуjoyful: веселојatmosphere: атмосфериmoments: тренуткеcaptured: бележилеmemories: сећањаfountain: фонтаниgathered: окупљенаearnestly: заснивноcontributed: допринеоpaused: сталаannounced: речеbypass: заобиђемоpresent: присутниblending: мешањуbinds: спајаwinter: зимскаgentle: лагано

Growing up, our Christmases were steeped in tradition—family gatherings with parents and grandparents, Christmas Eve on one side, Christmas Day on the other. There was always food, music, laughter, and that wonderful feeling of belonging. Over the years, life has shifted—our kids are grown, families live farther apart, and even health and travel have changed what holidays look like. This year, our celebration looks a little different too. In this episode, Greg and I reflect on how to find meaning when traditions change, how to create new rhythms that fit this season of life, and how to hold on to what truly matters most. See full article with free download here: https://goalsforyourlife.com/redefining-traditions Click here for Personalized Mentorship: https://goalsforyourlife.com/personalized-mentorship  Get POWER OF AFTER BOOK HERE: https://amzn.to/3GpEGlJ Make sure you're getting all our podcast updates and articles! Get them here: https://goalsforyourlife.com/newsletter  CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 01:49 - Holidays Change 06:44 - Setting Broad Goals 10:22 - Creating a Sense of Belonging 16:40 - Fostering Belonging in Relationships 21:59 - Perseverance and Resilience 24:20 - Summary of Key Points 29:30 - Conclusion and Takeaways 31:15 - Final Thoughts

The McLaren Team has lost their minds and we are wondering whether Max is actually the 3rd Papaya Driver. Paralympic swimming superstar Rowan Crothers joins us to talk about the upcoming social media ban PLUS Georgie revisits her softball spirital home and Libby is in her happy place after the 3rd week of the Sportish Swimming Club. Sporties, while we might be signing off for the summer break there's still SO MANY great chats you can catch up with back in the feed AND you can keep track of us and sport and life over on our Instagram, @beingsportish. Wishing all the Sporties the merriest of Christmases and a happy new year. We can't wait to share with you our new season of Sportish in 2026! Libby and Georgie xxx PS - have some Sportish thoughts? Get them off your chest - email us at hello@sportish.com.au or message us via Instagram @beingsportish. Hosts: Georgie and Libby Trickett Connect with Us: Instagram: @beingsportish Website: www.playonmedia.com.au Email: hello@sportish.com.au See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Avery and Scotty are back for a cozy, slightly unhinged holiday catch-up with some martinis poured, shots lined up, kids finally in bed. In this They read your wild holiday horror stories: camcorder sex tapes played at family gatherings, chaotic blended Christmases, cheating scandals, and pets absolutely ruining dinner. Nothing is off limits, and the submissions are as unhinged as promised. In between listener stories, they crack open a truth-or-sip game and things escalate fast. Avery reveals the unhinged nickname she secretly gave David's penis, they break down their hard no's, secret kinks, and what gives major tiny-dick energy. If your own family feels a little too intense this season, pour a drink, heat up your leftovers, and spend the holidays with Avery and Scotty instead. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Fluent Fiction - Norwegian: Finding Christmas Peace: Sindre's Journey Through Music Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/no/episode/2025-12-01-08-38-20-no Story Transcript:No: Det var en kald vinternatt i Oslo, og snøen dalte forsiktig ned fra himmelen.En: It was a cold winter night in Oslo, and snow gently fell from the sky.No: Sindre holdt skjerfet tettere rundt halsen mens han gikk mot Oslo Operaen.En: Sindre held his scarf tighter around his neck as he walked toward the Oslo Operaen.No: Byen hvit og stille, et bilde av ro i kaoset som var hans følelser.En: The city, white and quiet, was a picture of calm amidst the chaos of his emotions.No: Det var desember, og julelysene glitret om kapp med stjernene.En: It was December, and Christmas lights glittered in competition with the stars.No: Folk rundt ham smilte og lo, etter å ha den forventningsfulle energien som kjennetegner julen.En: People around him smiled and laughed, filled with the anticipatory energy that characterizes Christmas.No: Sindre var derimot ikke like begeistret.En: Sindre, on the other hand, was not so enthusiastic.No: hans hjertet var tungt.En: His heart was heavy.No: Minnene om julene han pleide å feire med sin familie, nå langt borte, presset på tankene hans.En: Memories of the Christmases he used to celebrate with his family, now far away, pressed on his mind.No: Han følte seg isolert, både avstandsmessig og emosjonelt.En: He felt isolated, both physically and emotionally.No: Allikevel hadde han bestemt seg for å tilbringe denne spesielle kvelden i operaen, i håp om at musikken kunne varme sjelen hans.En: Nevertheless, he had decided to spend this special evening at the opera, hoping that the music could warm his soul.No: Da Sindre kom inn i den storslåtte foajeen, ble han møtt av en varme som kontrasterte den bitre kulden utenfor.En: When Sindre entered the magnificent foyer, he was met with a warmth that contrasted with the bitter cold outside.No: Oslo Operaens moderne arkitektur strålte i det svake vinterlyset, dekorert med juleranker og stjerner.En: Oslo Operaen's modern architecture shone in the dim winter light, decorated with Christmas garlands and stars.No: Han fant plassen sin, satte seg ned og hørte lydene av orkesteret som stemte instrumentene.En: He found his seat, sat down, and listened to the sounds of the orchestra tuning their instruments.No: Konserten begynte.En: The concert began.No: Melodiene fløt gjennom rommet, og operaens vegger vibrerte med de kraftfulle og myke tonene.En: The melodies flowed through the room, and the opera's walls vibrated with the powerful and gentle tones.No: Sindre lukket øynene, lot musikken omslutte ham.En: Sindre closed his eyes, allowing the music to envelop him.No: Han hørte på sangene han hadde vokst opp med, men aldri fullt ut verdsatt før nå.En: He listened to the songs he had grown up with but had never fully appreciated until now.No: Da orkesteret begynte å spille "Glade Jul", skjedde det noe inni ham.En: When the orchestra started playing "Glade Jul," something happened inside him.No: Det var som om de åpningsnotene smeltet isen i hjertet hans.En: It was as if those opening notes melted the ice in his heart.No: Sindre følte hvordan en bølge av følelser vasket over ham.En: Sindre felt a wave of emotions wash over him.No: Rundt ham satt ukjente mennesker, men for første gang på lenge, følte han seg ikke alene.En: Around him sat strangers, but for the first time in a long while, he did not feel alone.No: Han kjente en forbindelse, en felles glede som strømmet gjennom rommet.En: He sensed a connection, a shared joy that flowed through the room.No: Tårene som steg i øynene hans var ikke lenger bitter sorg, men heller en bittersøt blanding av savn og skjønnhet.En: The tears that welled up in his eyes were no longer of bitter sorrow, but rather a bittersweet blend of longing and beauty.No: Sindre innså at selv om familien var langt borte, var de fortsatt en del av ham.En: Sindre realized that even though his family was far away, they were still a part of him.No: Tankene på dem ga ham styrke, og på det samme tidspunktet bestemte han seg for å bygge broer, ikke murer.En: Thoughts of them gave him strength, and at that moment, he decided to build bridges, not walls.No: Da konserten var over, reiste Sindre seg med en letthet i stegene.En: When the concert was over, Sindre stood up with a lightness in his steps.No: Utenfor var snøen fortsatt som et glitrende teppe over byen.En: Outside, the snow still lay like a glistening blanket over the city.No: Med et smil tok han frem telefonen sin for å ringe hjem.En: With a smile, he took out his phone to call home.No: Sindre hadde funnet veien tilbake til varmen, til forbindelsen han ønsket.En: Sindre had found his way back to the warmth, to the connection he longed for.No: Han visste at julens ånd bodde i hjertet, der man åpnet for kjærlighet og håp.En: He knew that the spirit of Christmas resided in the heart, where one opens up to love and hope.No: Og slik, i stillheten av vinterens natt, fant Sindre julefred.En: And so, in the silence of the winter's night, Sindre found Christmas peace. Vocabulary Words:foyer: foajeenmelodies: melodieneanticipatory: forventningsfulleglittered: glitretembrace: klememotions: følelserarchitecture: arkitekturbitter: bitrewarmth: varmetuning: stemteflowed: fløtvibrated: vibrerteenvelop: omslutteconnection: forbindelsebittersweet: bittersøtlonging: savnhope: håpmagnificent: storslåttegarlands: julerankercontrast: kontrasterteconsoled: trøstetblanket: teppeglistening: glitrendeshared: fellessorrow: sorgstrength: styrkerealized: innsåbridges: broercontentment: tilfredshetreside: bodde

Fluent Fiction - French: A Parisian Christmas Reunion: From Memories to Magic Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/fr/episode/2025-12-01-08-38-20-fr Story Transcript:Fr: La neige tombe doucement sur Paris.En: The snow falls gently over Paris.Fr: Les lumières scintillent autour de la Tour Eiffel.En: The lights twinkle around the Tour Eiffel.Fr: C'est Noël et l'air est rempli de l'odeur des marrons chauds.En: It's Christmas, and the air is filled with the smell of roasted chestnuts.Fr: Élodie marche lentement dans le marché de Noël, son cœur rempli de nostalgie.En: Élodie walks slowly through the Christmas market, her heart filled with nostalgia.Fr: Elle pense à quand elle était petite, aux Noëls passés avec sa famille.En: She thinks about when she was little, about Christmases spent with her family.Fr: Luc est là aussi.En: Luc is there too.Fr: Il observe les gens, prend des notes pour son article.En: He observes people, taking notes for his article.Fr: Il est loin de chez lui et se sent un peu perdu dans cette foule joyeuse.En: He is far from home and feels a bit lost in this joyful crowd.Fr: Soudain, il voit Élodie.En: Suddenly, he sees Élodie.Fr: Ils ne se sont pas vus depuis longtemps.En: They haven't seen each other for a long time.Fr: "Élodie !"En: "Élodie!"Fr: crie-t-il, surpris.En: he shouts, surprised.Fr: Élodie tourne la tête.En: Élodie turns her head.Fr: Elle sourit en reconnaissant Luc, un vieil ami.En: She smiles, recognizing Luc, an old friend.Fr: "Luc !En: "Luc!Fr: Quelle surprise de te voir ici !"En: What a surprise to see you here!"Fr: Ils se serrent dans les bras chaleureusement.En: They warmly embrace.Fr: Le marché est très animé.En: The market is very lively.Fr: Tout le monde bouge, parle, rit.En: Everyone is moving, talking, laughing.Fr: Élodie et Luc décident de s'échapper du tumulte.En: Élodie and Luc decide to escape the hustle.Fr: "Viens, allons au café près d'ici," dit Élodie.En: "Come, let's go to the café nearby," says Élodie.Fr: Ils trouvent une petite table au fond du café, loin du bruit et du froid.En: They find a small table at the back of the café, away from the noise and cold.Fr: Le serveur leur apporte des chocolats chauds fumants.En: The waiter brings them steaming hot chocolates.Fr: Ils parlent de leurs souvenirs de Noël.En: They talk about their Christmas memories.Fr: Élodie se souvient des décorations colorées de son enfance.En: Élodie remembers the colorful decorations of her childhood.Fr: Luc raconte les Noëls dans sa ville natale.En: Luc talks about Christmases in his hometown.Fr: "Parfois, même ici, je me sens seul," avoue Luc.En: "Sometimes, even here, I feel alone," Luc admits.Fr: Élodie hoche la tête.En: Élodie nods.Fr: "Moi aussi, je voudrais que ce soit comme quand on était enfants."En: "Me too, I wish it were like when we were children."Fr: Leurs histoires et rires remplissent la pièce de chaleur et d'amitié.En: Their stories and laughter fill the room with warmth and friendship.Fr: Pour la première fois, ils se sentent plus légers, plus heureux.En: For the first time, they feel lighter, happier.Fr: Leurs tasses vides, ils se lèvent pour retourner au marché.En: With their cups empty, they get up to return to the market.Fr: L'atmosphère est magique.En: The atmosphere is magical.Fr: Ensemble, ils se promènent parmi les étals, admirant les objets artisanaux, dégustant des douceurs.En: Together, they stroll among the stalls, admiring the handmade items, tasting the sweets.Fr: Élodie ressent une nouvelle joie, un mélange du passé et du présent.En: Élodie feels a new joy, a mix of past and present.Fr: Luc sent que Paris n'est plus si étranger.En: Luc feels that Paris is not so foreign anymore.Fr: Sur le chemin de la Tour Eiffel, ils échangent des promesses de ne pas attendre Noël prochain pour se revoir.En: On the way to the Tour Eiffel, they exchange promises not to wait until next Christmas to see each other again.Fr: Ils se quittent avec le sentiment d'être à la maison, même loin de leur enfance.En: They part with the feeling of being at home, even far from their childhood.Fr: Dans l'éclat des lumières parisiennes, Élodie et Luc ont trouvé un peu de magie de Noël, ensemble.En: In the glow of Parisian lights, Élodie and Luc have found a little bit of Christmas magic, together. Vocabulary Words:the snow: la neigeto twinkle: scintillerthe smell: l'odeurroasted chestnuts: marrons chaudsthe nostalgia: la nostalgieto observe: observerto take notes: prendre des notesthe hustle: le tumultethe waiter: le serveursteaming: fumantto admit: avouerto nod: hocher la têteto embrace: se serrer dans les braslively: animéto escape: s'échapperthe childhood: l'enfanceto stroll: se promenerthe stall: l'étalhandmade: artisanalto taste: dégusterto exchange: échangerpromises: promessesthe glow: l'éclatto turn (head): tourner la têteto recognize: reconnaîtreto fill: remplirto get up: se leverthe atmosphere: l'atmosphèrethe joy: la joiethe magic: la magie

As Christmas draws near, excitement fills our homes—along with the endless catalogs, wish lists, and the subtle temptation to want more. In this episode of the Raising Godly Girls Podcast, hosts Rachael Culpepper and Melissa Bearden wrestle honestly with the tension every family feels: how do we help our daughters avoid holiday greediness and instead cultivate grateful, generous hearts? Through personal stories and biblical wisdom, they explore how the desire for "just one more thing" can take root even in the sweetest child—and how God gives parents the tools to gently guide their girls toward contentment.  Rachael and Melissa take listeners back to their own childhood Christmases—where innocence, wonder, and excitement sometimes gave way to comparison or selfishness. They remind us that these moments aren't failures but opportunities. Opportunities to help our girls understand the difference between healthy desire and a heart consumed with having more. Through Patti Garibay's "Greedy Christmas" devotion, moms are encouraged to simplify traditions, model self-control, and anchor the season in the joy that comes from thoughtful, meaningful giving.  The episode also equips moms with practical, faith-filled strategies for shaping their daughter's heart: reframing the Christmas list, creating space for gratitude, and gently redirecting attention away from abundance and toward the Giver of every good gift. Rachael and Melissa highlight how modeling contentment in our own habits—whether through budgeting, slowing down, or choosing simplicity—sets a powerful example for the next generation. And as always, the conversation returns to the truth that generosity isn't about what we can afford, but about reflecting the heart of Christ.  Listeners will also hear how American Heritage Girls reinforces these lessons year-round. Through badges, service projects, and Troop community life, girls learn that generosity, stewardship, and humility are practiced virtues—shaped not by Christmas morning, but by a Christ-centered lifestyle. This episode empowers moms to help their daughters resist the cultural pull toward more and embrace the lasting joy of being a cheerful giver.    Three Takeaways from This Episode  Contentment Over Consumption — Help your daughter practice gratitude and resist the pressure to pursue "more."  Thoughtful Gift-Giving — Tools like the four-gift rule teach budgeting, stewardship, and generosity.  Generosity From the Heart — Joy grows when girls give with love, reflecting God's character rather than the world's expectations.  Scripture References  Luke 12:15 – "Be on guard against all greed…"  2 Corinthians 9:7 – "God loves a cheerful giver."    Explore more resources to raise girls rooted in Christ at raisinggodlygirls.com. Find or start an AHG Troop at americanheritagegirls.org. 

This week, I sat down with Jacu Strauss, Architect, Designer and Creative Director of Lore Group - the team behind iconic hotels like Sea Containers London, Pulitzer Amsterdam, Riggs Washington DC, Lyle, and 100 Shoreditch.Jacu's journey is extraordinaryFrom growing up in the Kalahari Desert, dreaming up imaginary worlds, teaching himself to draw and paint, and spending Christmases in his grandfather's 20 room desert hotel… to studying architecture at the Bartlett, landing a role with Tom Dixon, designing Sea Containers having never done a hotel before, and ultimately shaping some of the most distinctive hotels on the planet.This is creativity, curiosity, and courage in its purest form.In this episode, Jacu and I dive into…Growing up in the Kalahari and learning to “create his own world”How a childhood surrounded by nature, storms and stars shaped his visual imaginationBecoming an architect… in the middle of the 2008 crashJoining Tom Dixon's studio and learning the power of storytelling in designWinning the pitch for Sea Containers London without ever having designed a hotel beforeWhy hospitality is the ultimate playground of art + scienceHow he builds hotels where guests write their own storiesThe importance of imperfection in design (“interiors should be about people”)Why comfort beats everything — “great bed, great shower, great materials”The unseen touches behind Lore Group hotelsHis philosophy on reducing waste, reusing buildings, and designing sustainablyHow to design when everyone has an opinion - and why the question “Why are we doing this?” matters more than anythingCreativity, boundaries, and the real joy of experimentationThe culture required to make creative teams flourish rather than fear mistakesQuotes from Jacu“I grew up in the Kalahari Desert… I had to create my own world” “Creativity is just problem solving” "Attitude is everything” “You can't fool people in a hotel” “It's not just about the end product - it's about the journey” “Interiors should be about people. Imperfection is the most beautiful thing” “Smell is sometimes the first impression… sometimes even before you walk into a space” “I want guests to write their own story, not have an experience forced on them” "If you skip the first step - experimentation - it's difficult to complete a project successfully” “There are no rules in design. You have to create your own rules all the time” Why this episode is worth your timeIf you've ever walked into a hotel and thought, “Why does this just… feel good?”This conversation is the answer.Jacu brings a rare blend of thoughtful philosophy, meticulous craft, and playful human insight. It's a deep dive into the creative mind behind some of hospitality's most beautiful spaces and a reminder that design is really about people, comfort, and emotion, not just aesthetics.It's poetic, practical, and properly inspiringShow PartnersA big shout out to Today's show partner, RotaCloud, the people management platform for shift-based teams.RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from a single, web-based app.It makes work simple for your team, too,...

The Christmas season is filled with twinkling lights, festive excitement, and no shortage of gift lists—but in the middle of the holiday rush, how do we help our daughters understand that generosity is more than presents under a tree? In this heartfelt episode of the Raising Godly Girls Podcast, hosts Rachael Culpepper, American Heritage Girls Executive Director, and Melissa Bearden explore what it truly means to cultivate a generous heart—one rooted in gratitude, compassion, and the character of Christ.  Through stories from their own girlhood Christmases, Rachael and Melissa reflect on simple moments of kindness that shaped their understanding of giving. Together, they unpack the truth that generosity flows not from abundance, but from love—and that the greatest gifts we give our daughters are opportunities to serve, bless others, and reflect God's heart for the world. With insights from American Heritage Girls Founder & Executive Director Emeritus Patti Garibay's "Divine Generosity" devotion, this episode reminds us that God Himself is the model of sacrificial giving, offering His Son as the greatest gift of all.  Listeners will discover practical ways to spark meaningful conversations about generosity, from redefining what "giving" really looks like to letting girls take the lead in blessing someone this season. Rachael and Melissa also share how the American Heritage Girls Program helps cultivate year-round generous living through service, community engagement, and Christ-centered character development.  Whether you're navigating a busy December calendar or longing to bring deeper spiritual meaning back into your family's traditions, this episode will encourage you to slow down, refocus, and lead your daughter toward a joy that lasts far longer than wrapped gifts or glittering décor.  A Few Things to Remember  God is the ultimate Giver—and our generosity reflects His heart.  True giving isn't about the size of the gift, but the love behind it.  Girls learn generosity by watching us—our joy, our sacrifice, our willingness to bless others.    Download the free Raising Godly Girls Guide to Joyful Giving at Christmas a family resource filled with activities, Scriptures, and conversation prompts to help you nurture a spirit of generosity this season.  Explore more tools for raising girls who love and serve the Lord at raisinggodlygirls.com.  Find or start an AHG Troop at americanheritagegirls.org. 

The economy and uncertainty around spending are huge hurdles for the average consumer going into the holidays. People often lean on their credit cards to make those Christmases that much better, but there is a better way. We invite Mori Paulsen, Bank of America Utah President, to talk about how families can set spending boundaries and communicate when it comes to giving gifts to lessen the impact on their wallets.

Feeling the pressure to homeschool perfectly through Thanksgiving and Christmas while also hosting, baking, and keeping everyone cheerful? In this conversation with Kelly Warner from Hope in the Chaos, we're exploring how to make holiday homeschool simple, peaceful, and actually enjoyable—without the guilt of falling behind or missing out.Kelly shares honest stories from her decade of homeschooling (including the year she made her son do school through Christmas break!) and practical wisdom that will help you choose rest over stress this season.In this episode:✅Real holiday homeschool options from keeping rigid schedules to taking December completely off✅How to keep learning simple but meaningful through topic studies, service projects, and family traditions✅Why rest needs to be as much a part of your homeschool as the busyness✅The mindset shift that frees you from the pressure of being "behind"Practical ways to prioritize peace over perfection and connect with your kids during the chaosReady to simplify your holiday season? Grab Kelly's free Ultimate Holiday Planner mentioned in this episode to organize everything from cookie baking to gift wrapping in one simple place!Resources Mentioned:Homeschooling Through The Holidays 2025 The Ultimate Holiday Planner 25 Family Christmas TraditionsThe Heart of Serving Others at ChristmasKelly Warner is a seasoned homeschooling mom from Maine, where she lives with her husband and their four children, two of whom are proud homeschool graduates. With years of experience navigating the ups and downs of home education, Kelly is passionate about helping families simplify their journey and find encouragement amidst the chaos of daily life. She shares practical tips, inspiration, and real-life homeschooling wisdom on her website, Hope In The Chaos, and across social media.FacebookFacebook GroupInstagramPinterestShow Notes:Finding Hope in Holiday Homeschool ChaosToday, y'all are in for a treat, because I know overwhelm starts a lot—well, all the time, but especially during the holidays. How do you go through the holidays? How do you try to homeschool through the holidays?My good friend Kelly Warner is here, and we're just going to sort of pick her brain for some ideas.Kelly: I am so excited to chat about homeschool overwhelm and how your listeners can homeschool through the holidays with some simplicity, and hopefully get to the end of December and not feel like they missed it.Y'all, I didn't really think about this, but the name of her company is Hope in the Chaos. Just think about that. She talks about finding hope in the chaos of life, the chaos of homeschooling, the chaos of kids.Meet Kelly WarnerKelly: My name is Kelly Warner. I'm a homeschooling mom from Maine. My husband and I have 4 children, 2 of which are homeschool graduates.When I say we've done it all, we've done it all. We did start in the public school system, so I can talk about withdrawing and transitioning. I'd love to just help you make your homeschooling simpler.There is hope in the chaos, and life is chaotic, parenting is chaotic, raising children, homeschooling, but we can find hope. I find my hope in Christ, of course. That is where my hope is found, that's where we put our hope in this household.Those people that follow me know that I'm a person of faith, Kelly and I have similar faith, and so you might hear some of that sprinkled in here and there. Whether you agree with this or not, there are still things that you can grab, take hold of, and put into practice.The Homeschooling Through the Holidays SeriesFor those of you that don't know, she is the host of Homeschooling Through the Holiday series. Tell us a little bit about what inspired you to start this, and then are there any common struggles that you see with families during the holiday season?Kelly: Homeschooling through the Holidays is a 4-week series. We're starting November 17th. We have 16 amazing bloggers who are joining us to give readers just some practical tips and tried-and-true advice that works in their home.Homeschooling through the holidays has one goal: We want to make holiday homeschooling simple. For some, we're gonna talk about exactly how to homeschool through the holidays. Maybe you want to stick to your current schedule, your child needs that routine, you need the system.For others, perhaps you're wanting to take a break, and you want to feel okay about that. We cover it all.This whole series was dreamt of—I was thinking about this earlier today—actually in my bathroom. I was getting ready, I was dealing with the hustle and the bustle and the stress of it all. I was a newer homeschool mom, and just thinking about how do I make this all work? How does my family make this all work?It just seemed like every year the holidays brought in more stress and more chaos. I said, my readers feel the same. I know they absolutely are dealing with what we are, there's nothing new under the sun.I talked to some of my mentors, I think I might have even bounced some ideas off of you, Kerry, in the first year of this series, because this was a huge undertaking. This was the first time I had ever put anything like this together.But I had a mission, and the mission was to help other moms who were already in that October time of the year, and feeling the pressure to homeschool well, to host the holidays well, and to do it all with cheer, and with joy, and to never let anyone know that it's hard, or that it's difficult.I've been really open with my audience about the struggles of homeschooling. Part of the reason I do that is because when we started, which was more than a decade ago, nobody wants to talk about it. Everybody talked about the happy parts of homeschooling, and those should be celebrated. We are in the season of gratitude, we are being grateful and having positive attitudes, and those are good things.But sometimes we also just need someone to come along and say, the season's rough. And that's okay. And just someone to be with you.That is kind of where homeschooling through the holidays began. I really had a heart for homeschool moms that are stuck on the struggle, the overwhelm, the complexities, and just feeling like they have to do it all.That is so good. You are so transparent, I know, and that's one reason I wanted to have you here. I remember when I would speak at conferences, and these people are going, oh, my kids just love homeschooling all the time, they just love this, that, and the other, and I'm like, well, mine didn't always love it.Let's be real. I think we are now in a place, especially the last several years, especially after all the COVID stuff, that people are more open to say there really are struggles.What Holiday Homeschool Can Look LikeLet's talk a little bit about realistic expectations. What would that realistically look like in your homeschool?Kelly: If you are someone—if your child or your home thrives on order, it is okay to keep your schedule. Perhaps you do have a more rigid plan where you start school at 9, and then maybe you're done at 1. Perhaps your holiday homeschooling is going to look like we're going to curve that back.Maybe we're going to leave school from 9 to noon, because some children and some families, they thrive on systems and routine. To come out of that routine is just going to cause too much chaos, and that's okay.For other families, and we've done this ourselves, sometimes we take the whole season off. I had one year where I told the kids, we're going to do topic studies for December, not going to assign you any math, any history, any reading. My kids studied geography, they studied history, they studied mechanics, all through topics. One was studying hunting, so he learned about guides and hunting and different rules, and it led to animal studies as well.I had one that wanted to study the radio. So he learned about the history of the radio and radio programs, which does naturally lead into podcasting, because that's a very similar medium.I can tell you, we've done the rigid holiday homeschool, where I didn't leave any margin. One of our very first years, we had a program that had 180 days of learning. I was a new homeschool mom, I am very orderly, very by the book. I like structure.I had divided up all of our resources, I had scheduled all of our breaks, and kids get sick, and I didn't leave any wiggle room for sick days. So my poor son, while the rest of us were on Christmas break, was still learning because he had had some sick days.I made him sit there and do the work because that's what I thought homeschooling was. I was sucking the joy right out of it. When I say I've made every mistake in the book, I'm not exaggerating.It's an embarrassing story, it's a horrible story. I still feel bad for my son. He's an adult, he has moved on, he is functioning well in his adult years. But I started homeschooling him in middle elementary school, and I thought we had to be by the book. I thought the holiday breaks started when the work was done, rather than when we wanted the breaks to start.That is so good, because homeschooling is all about freedom, and we should be able to take the freedom that we have when we are schooling at home, or educating our kids at home. That doesn't mean it has to look like the two-week break that public schools take.I was actually—I feel very blessed. One of my good friends, we started homeschooling when my daughters were in third and fifth grade, and she'd been homeschooling since the beginning, kindergarten. She told me in November, she says, Kerry, one thing we've always done is we take the month of December off, and we make our homeschool centered on Christmas.I was a public school teacher, check those lesson plans, scope and sequence, all that stuff, but I was like, okay, I'm going to follow this, because one of the reasons we wanted homeschool was to get away from that system. That first year, that didn't mean they quit learning, it just didn't look the same.For us, at that age, we centered everything on Christmas kinds of things. When I taught school, every year, even in the public school, we did a Christmas around the world unit. So I knew that, so I was like, okay, we can at least do something that I don't have to figure all out.Keeping Learning Simple and MeaningfulHow can we keep learning simple, but also have meaning in our learning through November, Thanksgiving, December, Christmas, Advent, and all of that?Kelly: One of the best ways that I think we can keep learning simple is to make it relative to the time of year. This time of year, we're in our Thanksgiving and our Christmas season. It is a wonderful time to look at opportunities such as baking cookies for your neighbor.First of all, the serving. Scriptural lessons abound there. You are caring for others, you are being giving, but you're also, when you're cooking and when you're baking with your kids in your home, you've got measurements, you've got budgeting, especially if you're talking about how many cookies do we need, how much flour do we need?The other day, my daughter, she's 11, she wanted to start sourdough. There we are at 9 o'clock at night, talking about ratios, talking about flour, water, in starter, we're talking about how long it has to rise.You can do scripture copy work. It's a fabulous time. One of our favorite lessons that we do is we read through the book of Luke in December as a family. Everybody reads one chapter per day, and then we just have open discussions about it. Not everything in homeschooling has to end with a test.Many of the best lessons we give to our kids allow them to have a real-life application. Perhaps you're shoveling snow for neighbors. If you know a family that is affected with some food insecurity, maybe you're doing some secret Santa stuff, or you're just delivering a welcome basket.Churches often have opportunities for service. If you have any interest in the shoebox program, the shoebox program is a wonderful way to homeschool through the holidays and to really give an applicable lesson to your children that they can carry well into adulthood.If you are someone who wants to have a little bit more in your learning, there are Christmas books you can read, watch the movies, do a compare and contrast. You can bake through the movies. If your family likes, perhaps, ELF, there are some interesting recipes in that. Then you can lean into a study of nutrition.We love reading Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and then, of course we watch the movie, so that we can have some compare and contrast. It's one of my favorite things to do with books and stories. You can do copy work, you can study the authors, you can study the time period or the place where the book has been set.Sometimes we say that, because we've been homeschooling for a long time. For those of us that have been in this, we say, oh, it's easy! Grab a book, think of a lesson. If your listener is going, I have no idea how to sit with a book and think of a lesson, that's okay. Contact me, contact Kerry, and we would happily teach you how to read a book and pull out those lessons that are naturally just around your home and around your children.Favorite Holiday TraditionsYou mentioned Charles Dickens is one of your favorites. Can you think of anything that's either your favorite seasonal activity, tradition, or something that was your kid's favorite thing?Kelly: One of our favorite activities, and this is more of a family tradition, but it does fall into the homeschooling realm, and we still do this: when we decorate our home for the holiday season, we make homemade hot chocolate, we listen to classic Christmas carols.We just run around our house, we talk about our ornaments, we talk about the things that are going up, because I really want my holidays steeped in tradition. I want my children to look back with merriment and excitement for the times that they had. I firmly believe the holidays are a season, not just a day.My children will say they loved, absolutely loved the year we took December off from book learning, and we did the topical learning. That is not something that I have brought back, but it was a wonderful experiment for myself, more so than the kids. It gave me the permission to let go as we were diving into more relaxed learning.Charles Dickens, as I mentioned, that's a favorite. We read that every year, and we do read through Luke every year because I think it's important.This year, I'm hoping to throw in some Christmas around the world studies. It's not something we've ever tackled, but this year, I only have two—we're only homeschooling two, which is so different, it feels so tiny. I think it would be really interesting to learn how other cultures and even other time periods have celebrated Christmas.Of course, our modern Christmas, I don't think that it's reflective in many homes of what it should be. This year we're really taking a spin. We're doing character training. We're really working on characters and hearts, and really just making sure that hospitality, bravery, integrity, and gratitude—those are some of our big focuses for this year.I think some holiday around the world studies are going to just help pull us back, and really have my kids thinking, and of course, any of our listeners, put a little perspective.We don't realize that sometimes our traditions that we have here in the United States have come from other countries. There's one story about a man named Boniface, who was in Germany. He moved from England to Germany, and there's a whole long story to get to why he's whacking off branches, and the branches end up being the boughs that they put over their fireplace.I have a hard time with this. People are like, oh, but that's a pagan thing. I'm like, you know what? Jesus went and spoke parables about where those people were at that moment in time to draw spiritual truths, and that's what Boniface was doing.When you do start, you're going to learn things in history that are not in a textbook. You're just going to grow so much. I loved Christmas around the world, and plus, you can always throw food in there, and if I threw food in something, my kids always paid a little more attention.Kelly: If you keep little hands busy with a snack, that's one of my favorite tools, especially for a longer lesson or a boring lesson.Changing Your Mindset About Being "Behind"I know some moms are like, okay, well, that all sounds good. But I'm either not sure if I can really take a break. I've even had some moms, what do you do with your missing days? And I'm like, those aren't missing days, those are creative ways you can still count English or reading and all that stuff.But some people are like, how do I take a break? How do I not be behind? I don't want to be overwhelmed. To me, it's all a mindset thing. We've got to sort of reset our mind, our expectations. What do you have any suggestions to where they can sort of change their mindset and still come out with some semblance of peace throughout the holidays?Kelly: That was part of the reason I started thinking about the story that I shared earlier about my son. I was so worried about him being behind in his book. Here he is, I think 4th grade maybe, and I am cutting into his Christmas break while everyone else is pausing, because I am worried about some outside pressure.If you've got mom guilt, it's okay. I've got mom guilt, too. We feel guilty because we care, and we feel guilty because we want to make sure that we're doing a great job. That, in and of itself, already tells me you're doing amazing as a homeschool mom.However, I will say, over the years that I have learned, rest needs to be as much a part of our homeschooling as the busyness. We have got to allow for natural breaks, and encourage our children to not always run on autopilot.American society, especially in this modern world, we are go, go, go. We are always talking about time hacks and efficiency, and how can we learn more, do more, multitask. We've done it to a fault. Our children aren't robots.Our children need natural times of rest, to decompress, to allow our brains to process what we've learned, to slow down. I go back to Scripture. God created rest in the beginning. His seventh day, right after he put humanity on this earth, he rested from His work.I'm not going to go so legalistic as to say following the Sabbath, but God put rest for Himself, and he gives the Earth a natural rest. Winter and the slowing down of the seasons—especially, again, I'm up here in Maine. Nothing is growing, nothing is blossoming and blooming, because everything's at rest during the winter.As the days get shorter, as our daylight hours decompress, maybe that's time for us to just say, you know what, we're gonna slow down too. We're gonna focus on the birth of Christ, we're gonna focus on our families, we're gonna really understand what this means, rather than just check boxes.Because when our kids are stressed, and when everybody's under pressure to learn, is anyone actually learning? I just had this conversation yesterday with my daughter. She's working on the countries of Central America. She just wants to get through it as fast as she can.She's just reading them off the map, she's saying them all wrong, Ecuador, El Salvador, and I'm like, let's slow down. And she's like, it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon! That's okay. Learning can happen on the weekends, can happen on the evenings, and it often happens best when we have our children's attention, when we have their curiosity, and when we can make it fun.Our children are programmed for fun. I go back to that story, my son was not learning that year. I was just drilling him, finish the workbook, finish the worksheet, finish, go, go, go, go, go. I don't think he remembers those lessons. I don't think those have applied.I learned more out of what NOT to do in that season. If we have a listener out here who is struggling with, how do I take a day off? How do we take a week off? What about all this math? It's a 36-week program.It's gonna be okay if you get to May, and you've only done 30 weeks. You can still be done with their school year at 30 weeks and pick up with week 31 when your school year resumes.You can always, if you've got a child who's interested and they want to move a little faster in the spring when the days are longer, that's okay. No one says that we have to finish every book, finish every worksheet. No one says we have to do all 45 minutes of the curriculum every day.If we have moms out there that are struggling, the best thing they can do is say, I feel guilty, but I'm still gonna pause because I know it's what's best for my kid.As we as moms learn how to do that, and teach ourselves how to rest, it will be easier. Next year will be easier, because you'll get to January this year and be like, okay, we're gonna pick up, we're gonna start, we're all refreshed, we're ready to learn.Then next year, when the guilt comes, or the concern about the slowing down for the holidays, you're gonna be like, no, we did fine. We get to January, and nobody missed out on anything.You know, I was a public school teacher for 6 years. I don't know that I ever finished a textbook. Even in math, because mastery was more important to me. I think that is an artificial pressure that moms are putting on themselves. They're comparing themselves and thinking they're behind because everyone else is ahead, and those people aren't telling you the whole story anyway.I love the idea of rest. I probably would get on the Sabbath soapbox, because I totally believe that we do need a rest. Our bodies do, and when I think about between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we have four weeks of Advent, and you can take that Sunday and spend some time, not in education, but just discovering what—I don't know the order, joy, peace, love, and hope are the four weeks of Advent.You could begin that Sunday reading something in the Bible about that. That is educational, and sometimes I personally believe that is more important than whether they know what 3 plus 3 is, or whether they know trigonometry, or the law of physics.I'm not saying those things are unimportant, depending on the job. But I think we need to always keep our priorities. This is a perfect time to bring Jesus Christ into our homeschool, into our education.Prioritizing Peace Over PerfectionWhen families prioritize peace over perfection, and peace, meaning their focus is on Jesus, that is the reason for the season. Have you seen some benefits from doing that, or any tips and tricks on how you could do that?Kelly: I have been very open with my first few years of homeschooling, and there was no peace. Peace was not the priority at all. In fact, my priority was doing better than the public school. That's it. I had pulled my kids out, and we were going to do better than them, no matter what.I can tell you that that was the wrong motive. My relationship with my children suffered during that time. My relationship with my spouse suffered during that time. I quit homeschooling, actually, during that time, because I was going at it with all the wrong motives. I was going at it from the wrong direction. It was more about me than anything else.When families choose peace over perfection, as you had mentioned, the atmosphere of the home changes. All of a sudden, kids are okay. If they spill the milk, they know, maybe someone's gonna come help me clean it up, instead of someone just coming and lashing out.We do this thing in our home. We go back and forth with food. Sometimes we have breakfast brownies, because fun. The kids' love language is fun. Sometimes we eat breakfast brownies, but sometimes we eat Froot Loops, too. In all honesty, what's the difference between Froot Loops and brownies? I don't think there is any.It's just a matter of how can we connect with our kids? Jesus never hurried in His ministry. He knew he had just the right amount of time.In our world, we tell everybody we have to hurry. If you look online, you will be told that you only have 18 summers with your children. You only have 18 Christmases. We're told to just soak it all up, and just enjoy it while it lasts.I still see my adult children, and I know you do as well. I still see my parents. We have this fallacy that we need to rush through life, we need to make sure that we're perfectly preparing our kids academically, and we just miss the heart.We need to connect with our kids, especially in this modern world where everything is trying to pull our kids away. I firmly believe that when God created the family unit, there was a purpose behind that—the two parents, the children, and God gave us these children.Some of us have parented through many difficult seasons. If you ask any parent that has an adult child, they've got some stories. It's okay, because we can share those stories, and we can share those accounts with other moms that are in the trenches.Titus 2 talks about sharing, and the elder women are to teach the younger women how to love their husbands and love their children. I can remember when I read that passage and it clicked. Motherhood might not always be instinctual and natural. We need the village, so we need other homeschool moms, we need Titus 2 moms.When the enemy comes in, and he tells us to rush through holidays, or to rush through the lessons, or to just hurry our children alone, or to fix the cookie because their candy cane cookies aren't perfectly shaped, just tell him no.No is a complete sentence, and it is the best defense you have against the outside pressures of the world.As I mentioned earlier, we do a lot of traditions, because I think traditions keep us rooted. It's okay if traditions change, too. We used to just bake cookies as a family, but a few years ago, I read another mom blogger, and she bakes one batch of cookies with each of her children.I said, oh, I love that. So I'm going to adopt that tradition, because the more my kids get older, the more I said, okay, I want to be rooted with them. I want to figure out how to transition and have good adult relationships with them.If you're home right now, it's feeling chaotic. If the idea of the holidays are stressing you out and you're concerned, think about a way you can just add one thing. Maybe it is cooking with your kids, rather than worrying about math.Maybe you are going to pause history in exchange for maybe a movie night with your children. Perhaps you're gonna say, you know what, we need some new holiday traditions, and just hop on Google real quick. I'm sure a quick Google search will yield you dozens!I know I have a blog post about holiday traditions that you can start with your family. So there are many ways, and I think those traditions, and remembering that rest is okay, are two of the best ways that you can maintain peace in your home and homeschool during the holiday season.I will say rest is so important, and I love the idea of winter is when everything dies. But then, at the end of winter, spring comes up, and there's beauty and flowers and all of this. It's just a season of the year, and just like it's a season of your life. Sometimes we do need to rest.I could get on my soapbox about all the health benefits, and all the emotional benefits, and everything. It's more than that, but if for no other reason, God tells us to rest, and so we need to, and there is beauty after that rest, or that dead season.I do have to share real quickly, you mentioned, y'all, the baking with your kids. We bake cookies, but my kids sold the cookies that they baked, and then they used the profits to buy gifts. We would choose one missionary family every single year, and then they would use the profit to go—this is back before you had Amazon and you could ship all around the world. You had to actually go buy it, wrap it, put it in a box, and go to the post office to send it over to Europe.To this day, all three of my kids will tell you that is their favorite Christmas tradition that we did. We also made pumpkin bread, and my middle daughter doesn't like pumpkin bread at all, but when she had to do something at work to represent her favorite family tradition, she baked that pumpkin bread and took it up there and gave it to everyone else, because there were just so many memories, and it had more purpose than just baking cookies and eating them. Or like you said, baking cookies and giving them out to your neighbors. There's so much you can do that can add some purpose to it as well.Kelly: There is. I know you've actually shared that story before, Kerry, when you were a contributor to homeschooling through the holidays, I have a whole blog post where you shared in depth how people can utilize that in their homeschool, and it is a wonderful tradition.I don't even know how I ever got it, but somehow God laid it on my heart. But speaking of homeschooling through the holidays, how can people learn more about that, or if they want to get in contact with you, how can they reach out to you?Kelly: As I said at the beginning, homeschooling through the holidays, we're in our third season, or our third year. This year we launch on November 17th. Everything's gonna be on my website, it's hopeinthechaos.com.That's the easier way to get through it. We can drop the full URL in the show notes, wherever people are watching. We do have the two previous seasons as well, if someone wants to catch up, if they want to see your tip on how to do the baking and the selling.I really want moms to get to the end of the holiday season, whether that's December 26th, whether that's January 1st, wherever, or if you go right through Advent into January. I really want moms to get to the end and be able to say, I enjoyed that, not I survived that.Raising children is a season in life, and it's not one that we need to be surviving. We do need to be enjoying it, and we do need to be finding the opportunities to cling to the hem of the garment, because there are times when it's hard. There are times when it's just downright depressing.This is where the Lord is leading me. He tells us that we can find rest with Him. That's part of the reason for this series, is to give moms practical tips and advice that allow them to remain centered on Christ, remain focused on their families, and be able to get to the end of the holiday season and just say, I enjoyed that.There are so many people that don't have that opportunity. Those of us who are blessed enough to be in the homeschool world and to be sharing our knowledge, we have an amazing opportunity to help lift homeschool moms up, and to share what we have learned, and spare one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ as we do that.That's where the heart is, in this series, which is 4 weeks long. It is a whirlwind of information. We have some amazing contributors, including yourself, and we have some amazing sponsors.I know that you said you weren't sure if this was coming out during the first week or the second week, but even if this comes out the second week of the series, during the week of Thanksgiving, we're gonna launch the anchor post, which is the start of the series, and it's gonna allow your readers to find all 20 episodes in this year's series.Final Encouragement and Free ResourceThat is awesome. Well, that sort of sums it all up. I was going to ask you if there was anything else you wanted to leave our moms with before we close. You said so many good things, but if there is, now would be a great time to do that.Kelly: I did—I think we had talked about this briefly, it never came up in any of the questions. I would love to help your audience kind of combat some of the chaos of holiday homeschooling by offering them a free copy of my Ultimate Holiday Planner.It's just a simple way, I'm a planner, and so it is a simple way for them to just jot down all of the things, whether it's hosting holiday parties, finishing up Christmas shopping, wrapping gifts, baking cookies, or other traditions with the kids, and to put it all in just one simple place.I'm gonna have that link available. It's gonna be down in the show notes, rather than trying to spit it out and have someone try to type it and remember it. Because I really want to help your audience get to the end of the holiday season, whatever that is for them, wherever that date falls, and thoroughly feel like they enjoyed the time.It was memorable, it was peaceful, it was not stressful, even if there might have been some times where it was kind of a little bit chaotic. Because we can handle chaos without letting it overwhelm us. We do that by having systems, by having tools, and by having support.Very good. Well, Kelly, thank you so much for spending time with us, taking some time out of your day. I really appreciate it.Kelly: Yes, Kerry, I thank you for having me. You have a wonderful holiday.Ready to simplify your holiday homeschool season? Grab Kelly's free Ultimate Holiday Planner at the link above and check out the Homeschooling Through the Holidays series at hopeinthechaos.com for 4 weeks of practical tips from 16 amazing bloggers. You can get to the end of December and say "I enjoyed that" not "I survived that"!

Happy Sunday and Happy Bookmas!! Week 2 we are excited to welcome on AzthiaBookwyrm to the podcast!! We had just a fun time discussing He Sees You When You're Sleeping by Alta Hensley! A spicy stalker romance.  Make sure you check out Azthia's socials and go follow her by using the links below or you can find her by searching @Azthiabookwryrm on both! TikTok   Instagram   And as always make sure you are following us as we post a new episode each Sunday and we still have 4 more weeks of Bookmas to go!!! You will not want to miss out! Come find our socials here!!!   Summary:  Why choose between naughty or nice in this steamy, suspenseful Christmas-themed stalker romance that's perfect for dark romance readers seeking a spicy, festive read.  It's the night before Christmas and I'm alone in the house… Popular jewelry influencer Chloe Hallman is steeling herself to spend another holiday on her own. Instead, she finds herself drawn to two different guys… a smoldering hot fan of her secret, seductive online persona, and a sexy fireman named Jack who looks out for her in their NYC neighborhood. She has no idea that I know her better than she knows herself. Her deepest secrets, her darkest desires—she's careful, but I've been watching, never leaving footprints in the snow outside her home. Jack was the first responder to the accident that stole a beautiful young woman's family two Christmases ago, and he's been quietly guarding her ever since. When Jack uncovers Chloe's secret account, his obsession only grows. Both he and Chloe are drawn to the darkness that mirrors their own. She's my Christmas wish come true. And I'm hers. She just doesn't know it yet. Will Chloe's Christmas be a tale of fiery passion...or a dangerous game with a man whose love knows no bounds? TROPES Stalker romance Acquainted in real life Christmas romance Fireman romance Morally grey MMC He falls first Kink friendly    

Fluent Fiction - Danish: Home for the Holidays: Rediscovering Family Bonds Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/da/episode/2025-11-12-08-38-20-da Story Transcript:Da: Røgen fra skorstenen steg op mod den klare efterårshimmel.En: The smoke from the chimney rose towards the clear autumn sky.Da: Indenfor i det store familiehus summede der af liv.En: Inside the large family house, there was a buzz of life.Da: Nikolai sad stille for sig selv i et hjørne af stuen, omgivet af hustandslyden af latter og klingende glas.En: Nikolai sat quietly by himself in a corner of the living room, surrounded by the household sounds of laughter and clinking glasses.Da: Det var den tid på året, hvor hans familie samlede sig for en tidlig julefest.En: It was that time of year when his family gathered for an early Christmas party.Da: Juletræslysene blinkede i så mange farver, mens ilden knitrede i pejsen.En: The Christmas tree lights blinked in so many colors while the fire crackled in the fireplace.Da: Han havde ikke fejret jul med familien, siden han flyttede til udlandet for nogle år siden.En: He hadn't celebrated Christmas with the family since he moved abroad a few years ago.Da: Nikolai var vendt hjem for at være en del af denne særlige aften, men han følte sig uventet som en gæst i sit eget hjem.En: Nikolai had returned home to be part of this special evening, but he unexpectedly felt like a guest in his own home.Da: Traditioner havde ændret sig.En: Traditions had changed.Da: Der blev talt hurtigere, og nye indvendige vittigheder fyldte rummet.En: Conversations were faster, and new inside jokes filled the room.Da: Det føltes som om, han aldrig ville kunne være en del af samme samstemte rytme som de andre.En: It felt as if he would never be able to be part of the same coordinated rhythm as the others.Da: Signe, hans sprudlende kusine, bemærkede hans tilbagetrukne natur.En: Signe, his lively cousin, noticed his withdrawn nature.Da: Hun kom over og gav ham et stort knus.En: She came over and gave him a big hug.Da: "Nikolai!En: "Nikolai!Da: Du skal være med, kom nu!"En: You need to join in, come on!"Da: sagde hun med et smil, der kunne smelte sne.En: she said with a smile that could melt snow.Da: Hun hev ham med over til gruppen af fætre og kusiner, der spillede en leg med røde og hvide nissehuer.En: She pulled him over to the group of cousins who were playing a game with red and white Santa hats.Da: Nikolai prøvede at deltage med et smil, men følte sig klodset.En: Nikolai tried to participate with a smile but felt awkward.Da: Signe blev ved med at opmuntre ham.En: Signe kept encouraging him.Da: "Husk, julen handler om at være sammen!"En: "Remember, Christmas is about being together!"Da: sagde hun og skubbede en kop rødgløgg i hans hånd.En: she said and pushed a cup of warm gløgg into his hand.Da: Sidst på aftenen, mens de sad om pejsen, blev Nikolai omsider modig nok til at tale.En: Later in the evening, as they sat around the fireplace, Nikolai finally gathered the courage to speak.Da: "Jeg har savnet jer alle sammen.En: "I've missed you all.Da: Det har været hårdt at være væk så længe," begyndte han.En: It's been hard being away for so long," he began.Da: Stemningen blev stille, og familiens ansigter blev alvorlige med forståelse.En: The room grew quiet, and the family's faces turned serious with understanding.Da: "Vi har også savnet dig, Nikolai," sagde Signe, blidt.En: "We've missed you too, Nikolai," Signe said gently.Da: "Du er altid en del af os."En: "You are always a part of us."Da: De begyndte at dele historier fra deres tid sammen, mindede om tidligere jule og grinede af de fjollede hændelser, der bandt dem.En: They began sharing stories from their time together, reminiscing about past Christmases, and laughing at the silly events that bound them.Da: Nikolai følte en varme indeni, som han ikke havde forventet.En: Nikolai felt a warmth inside that he hadn't expected.Da: Det var som om, han blev viklet ind i et usynligt familietæppe, fyldt med kærlighed og accept.En: It was as if he was being wrapped in an invisible family blanket, filled with love and acceptance.Da: Da natten skred frem, flød samtalerne frit, og latteren blev dybere.En: As the night went on, conversations flowed freely, and the laughter grew deeper.Da: Nikolai vidste nu, at selvom traditionerne ændrede sig, var hans familie stadig den samme.En: Nikolai now knew that even though the traditions had changed, his family was still the same.Da: Deres kærlighed var uændret.En: Their love was unchanged.Da: Han smilede, mens han så flammerne slikke mod brændet, og følte endelig, at han var kommet hjem.En: He smiled as he watched the flames lick the wood, and finally felt that he had come home. Vocabulary Words:chimney: skorstenenclear: klareautumn: efterårgathered: samledegazed: såcrackled: knitredemoved: flyttedeunexpectedly: uventetguest: gæsttraditions: traditionercoordinated: samstemtelively: sprudlendewithdrawn: tilbagetruknehug: knusencouraging: opmuntrecups: kopgløgg: rødgløggcourage: modigreminiscing: mindedesilly: fjolledewrapped: viklettales: historierbound: bandtinvisible: usynligtacceptance: acceptflowed: flødunchanged: uændretlicked: slikkefinally: somremained: stadig

This week is presented by "Dial It Back", available now on Prime Video. This episode is sponsored by Cozy Earth! Use promo code HALLMARK to get 40% off at cozyearth.com--Brian is back to review a brand-new holiday movie that fans have been buzzing about: Christmas Above the Clouds. Featuring the return of an Erin Krakow and Tyler Hynes pairing, this movie is a little Christmas magic at 30,000 feet.ABOUT CHRISTMAS ABOVE THE CLOUDSWorkaholic CEO Ella Neezer tries to skip Christmas by boarding a flight to Australia. But her plan takes an unexpected turn when she is visited by three quirky spirits representing her past, present, and future — and she finds herself face-to-face with her ex-fiancé Jake. As Ella navigates these encounters, she's forced to confront the choices that prioritized success over connection, ultimately rediscovering love, compassion, and the true meaning of Christmas.AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR CHRISTMAS ABOVE THE CLOUDSNovember 8, 2025 | Hallmark ChannelCAST & CREW OF CHRISTMAS ABOVE THE CLOUDSErin Krakow as Ella NeezerTyler Hynes as JakeDirected by Peter BensonBRAN'S CHRISTMAS ABOVE THE CLOUDS SYNOPSISMeet Ella Neezer — a certified holiday grump. She runs a fancy-pants travel company and all of her employees hate her. It's Christmas Eve, but she could not care less. The new ad campaign isn't good enough and she wants improvements by the 26th. “I'm not saying you have to work on Christmas… it just has to be better by then.” Very chill.Ella and her assistant Bobbi head to the airport to catch a flight to Australia so Ella can skip Christmas entirely — even though Bobbi has a son, Tim, that she'd clearly rather be home with. On the way, Ella's sister calls trying to convince her to come home for Christmas. Absolutely not. Ella looks at a photo of her mentor, Marlene Jacobson, and for a second it looks like Marlene is moving. Weird, but let's brush that off.At the airport, Ella bumps into her ex-boyfriend Jake — the one she broke up with six years ago today. Even worse? He's seated right next to her on the plane.The plane takes off and suddenly things get spooky. Lights flicker. Window shades go up and down. And then — Marlene Jacobson appears on the seat-back screen to haunt her. She announces that Ella will be visited by three spirits. Buckle up, bucko.Ella falls asleep and is woken by the Ghost of Christmas Past, who is obviously a flight attendant. She shoves Ella out of the plane (casual) and Ella lands in her own childhood. She sees herself and her sister stuck at boarding school over Christmas. Then she jumps to college, where she meets young Jake, the cute librarian who gives her his scarf. They were happy once! Next, she sees an old company Christmas party — back when her employees liked her — and she and Jake are very in love. We get a memory montage: years together. He even proposes at Christmas. But as her career ramps up under Marlene, Ella gets busier, misses more time, and eventually the relationship breaks. She watches herself end it, placing the ring down. Finally, she sees herself snapping at Bobbi last year when Bobbi needed to rush home to her sick son. It hurts.Ella wakes back up on the plane and apologizes to Jake for all the Christmases she worked through. She could have done better.Then comes the Ghost of Christmas Present, who takes her to a bar where her employees are having their own mini Christmas party — and talking about how much they dislike her. Ouch. They visit Ella's sister's house, where her sister wishes Ella could just share in the joy. Ella sticks around long enough to remember how fun Christmas used to be. They visit Jake's charity, which is thriving. There's a woman clearly into him. Ella is jealous. They stop by his old friends' annual “Dive Bar Christmas” — the tradition Ella used to love. She misses those days. Then they visit Bobbi's house — Tim is sick with asthma, and the family resents Ella… until Tim says he's thankful for Miss Neezer because the job helps afford his medicine. Ella is crushed.Back to the plane she goes. Bobbi's asleep, so Ella goes to talk to Jake instead.Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come arrives. Ella sees her employees talking like someone is gone — but who? At her sister's house, everyone is dressed in black. Jake shows up with flowers. Someone has died. Eventually, Ella realizes Jake gave up on love. Then she sees Bobbi's home. Tim's chair is empty. And then — she sees her own grave. She's devastated, begging for a chance to change.Suddenly — she's back on the plane. The flight has landed in Utah due to engine trouble. Coincidentally, her sister lives in Utah. It's Christmas morning (technically 1 AM).Ella snaps into action. She tells Bobbi she's getting a promotion, double salary, the best health insurance imaginable, and a first-class flight home to be with Tim. Bobbi is stunned.Ella and Jake go to breakfast. Ella tells him she doesn't want to go through life alone — especially not without him. She apologizes — sincerely. They slow dance. He dips her. They kiss BIG ONES.They surprise her sister. Ella apologizes for not being the sister she should have been. They spend Christmas together. Jake tells Ella he loves her. She tells him she's always loved him — some might say it was always you. They kiss again.Bobbi FaceTimes. Tim says, “God bless us, everyone.”The end.

Growing up, Christmas was magical. My parents made first things first, and gave us consistently quiet, deeply magical, family-centred, Christ-focused Christmases. As I grew up, I realised how truly rare this was, as so many friends expressed distaste for the holidays because their parents were stressed, or they were introverts dragged from event to event.  So often, we get caught up in the hustle of the Season, missing both its true symbolism and losing opportunities to carve out truly life-giving memories for our families. Jennifer's step by step guide to making Christmas, hosting, giving, and gifts simple, priorities focused and delightful is the perfect way to step into the Season. Enjoy!  Episode sponsored by the Peaceful Press! Looking for ways to celebrate and enjoy the beauty of the holidays? Check out our Christmas Guides Vol. 1 and 2, and the Unearthing Wonder Advent Guide.  Find the beautiful Peaceful Press Cookbook on Amazon!!  In this episode: A step by step guide to walk you throuigh cutting out clutter and noise and creating a perfect Christmas Making a plan for the Holidays that gives you margin for what really matters  Setting clear priorities for your family The Peaceful Press Christmas Planning Sheets  Great Christmas Stories The Peaceful Press Christmas Gift Guides Check out All Creation Waits and the Peaceful Press accompanying Advent Guide, Unearthing Wonder All Creations Waits–Young Children's Version The Peaceful Press Holiday Book Flood  You can learn more about Jennifer here- Jennifer's Instagram Episode sponsored by The Peaceful Press. Create connection through our literature based resources.  Some Amazon Affiliate Links.

Fluent Fiction - Italian: Finding My Voice: Luca's Courage to Break Free Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/it/episode/2025-09-27-22-34-02-it Story Transcript:It: Le foglie cadevano piano sull'antica casa di famiglia, colorando il giardino di tonalità calde e rosse.En: The leaves were gently falling on the old family house, coloring the garden with warm and red hues.It: L'aria profumava di pasta fatta in casa e fumo di camino.En: The air smelled of pasta made at home and fireplace smoke.It: Era un giorno di festa, ma anche di tensione sottile.En: It was a day of celebration, but also of subtle tension.It: La famiglia si riuniva per festeggiare il compleanno di Luca, seppur in ritardo.En: The family was gathering to celebrate Luca's birthday, albeit belatedly.It: Luca era seduto su una vecchia poltrona di velluto marrone.En: Luca was seated in an old brown velvet armchair.It: Guardava suo padre e suo fratello maggiore, entrambi uomini imponenti con forti opinioni.En: He watched his father and older brother, both imposing men with strong opinions.It: Si sentiva spesso piccolo accanto a loro, non fisicamente, ma nell'anima.En: He often felt small next to them, not physically, but in his soul.It: Accanto a lui, Alessia, la sorella maggiore, sempre pronta a gettare acqua sul fuoco quando la situazione minacciava di degenerare.En: Next to him, Alessia, the older sister, always ready to throw water on the fire when the situation threatened to degenerate.It: Il tavolo della sala da pranzo era già apparecchiato.En: The dining table was already set.It: Nonostante le piccole crepe sui piatti di ceramica, c'era un'atmosfera intima che ricordava i Natali passati.En: Despite the small cracks on the ceramic plates, there was an intimate atmosphere that reminded of past Christmases.It: Mentre i genitori parlavano di politica e affari, Luca rimuginava in silenzio.En: While the parents spoke of politics and business, Luca brooded in silence.It: Sentiva crescere dentro di sé un desiderio pressante di essere ascoltato, di essere visto per ciò che era veramente, non come una pallida eco dei suoi familiari.En: He felt a pressing desire growing inside him to be heard, to be seen for who he truly was, not as a pale echo of his family members.It: "Allora, Luca," disse suo padre, "hai deciso cosa farai dopo la laurea?"En: "So, Luca," said his father, "have you decided what you'll do after graduation?"It: La domanda era innocente, ma per Luca era come un colpo dritto al petto.En: The question was innocent, but for Luca, it was like a blow straight to the chest.It: L'aspettativa era chiara: seguire la rotta tracciata dai suoi fratelli.En: The expectation was clear: to follow the path his brothers had taken.It: Alessia intuì il disagio di Luca.En: Alessia sensed Luca's discomfort.It: Gli diede una lieve spinta sotto il tavolo, un invito a parlare.En: She gave him a slight nudge under the table, an invitation to speak.It: Con un coraggio che nemmeno lui sapeva di avere, Luca si alzò in piedi.En: With a courage he didn't even know he had, Luca stood up.It: "Basta," disse, con la voce un po' tremante.En: "Enough," he said, with a slightly trembling voice.It: "Voglio fare quello che mi rende felice, non quello che vi aspettate da me."En: "I want to do what makes me happy, not what you expect from me."It: Il silenzio cadde nella stanza come un velo pesante.En: Silence fell in the room like a heavy veil.It: Gli occhi di tutti erano su di lui, increduli.En: All eyes were on him, incredulous.It: Ma Alessia annuì, sostenendo il fratello.En: But Alessia nodded, supporting her brother.It: "Diamo a Luca la possibilità di spiegarsi," disse, con la sua voce calma ma decisa.En: "Let's give Luca a chance to explain himself," she said, with her calm but firm voice.It: Luca continuò, il cuore che batteva forte.En: Luca continued, his heart beating strongly.It: Parlò di sogni e paure, di come si sentiva perso sotto l'ombra di aspettative altrui.En: He spoke of dreams and fears, of how he felt lost under the shadow of others' expectations.It: Fu una liberazione, una nuova ventata d'aria.En: It was a liberation, a new breath of fresh air.It: Alla fine, la madre parlò con occhi gentili.En: In the end, the mother spoke with kind eyes.It: "Ci dispiace se ti abbiamo fatto sentire così," disse, aprendo il tavolo a una conversazione più aperta.En: "We're sorry if we made you feel that way," she said, opening the table to a more open conversation.It: Luca si sedette, sollevato.En: Luca sat down, relieved.It: Alessia gli sorrise, orgogliosa.En: Alessia smiled at him, proud.It: Aveva finalmente trovato la sua voce e con essa una nuova sicurezza.En: He had finally found his voice, and with it a new confidence.It: La famiglia, pur con i suoi problemi, aveva iniziato a capire che ogni individuo ha il diritto di seguire la propria strada.En: The family, despite its problems, had begun to understand that each individual has the right to follow their own path.It: La riunione continuò, ma con un'aria di rinnovata comprensione e delicatezza.En: The gathering continued, but with an air of renewed understanding and gentleness.It: E fuori, le foglie continuavano a cadere, tranquille, segnando l'inizio di un cambiamento non soltanto per Luca, ma per tutti loro.En: And outside, the leaves kept falling, peacefully, marking the beginning of a change not just for Luca, but for all of them. Vocabulary Words:the leaves: le fogliegently: pianothe house: la casahues: tonalitàthe air: l'ariathe fireplace: il caminosubtle: sottilethe brother: il fratelloopinions: opinionithe soul: l'animathe sister: la sorelladegenerate: degenerarethe dining table: il tavolo della sala da pranzothe cracks: le crepethe plates: i piattiintimate: intimathe chest: il pettothe expectation: l'aspettativaincredulous: incredulithe chance: la possibilitàthe dreams: i sognifears: paurethe shadow: l'ombraliberation: liberazionethe breath: la ventatathe mother: la madrekind: gentilirelieved: sollevatoproud: orgogliosagentleness: delicatezza

In this episode of Saving With Steve, host Steve Sexton is joined by Hannah Bartlett, The Christmas Insider and founder of Jolly Festive, a leading blog dedicated to all things Christmas. She shares tips for making this holiday season more joyful and less stressful, with practical insights on balancing spending, managing gift expectations, and planning meaningful travel without breaking the bank.   From imperfect Christmases to thoughtful traditions and smart travel planning, Hannah shares information to help you focus on what truly matters this season: connection, presence, and purpose. Whether you're hosting, gifting, or getting away, this conversation is filled with festive inspiration and real-world advice for having a more intentional holiday.   Learn more about the show at www.SavingWithSteve.us

Listen to ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology Art of Oncology article, "Brown Paper Bags” by Dr. Stephanie Graff, who is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University and Director of Breast Oncology at Brown University Health in Providence Rhode Island. The article is followed by an interview with Graff and host Dr. Mikkael Sekeres. Dr Graff shares how she handled receiving a gift from a patient. TRANSCRIPT Narrator: Brown Paper Bags, by Stephanie Graff, MD, FACP, FASCO  Minor demographic features of the patients described have been altered to honor their privacy “Why are you being weird about opening the bag?” he asks.  The gift that William brought me is still sitting on the edge of the clinic examination room counter, the proverbial elephant in the room. He presented it to me the moment I entered the examination room, excited as a child giving their first Christmas gift. I have demurred, stating I will open it later. I have tried to avoid opening the bag, explaining that I do not like opening gifts in front of people. William is as tenacious about me opening this gift right now as he is about facing his disease. I treat William for male breast cancer. I have always called him William because it is what the electronic medical record says as his preferred name. It is his first name, and when I verified on our first meeting what he preferred to be called, he said “William is fine,” but just like the Sheryl Crow song says, “I'm sure it's Bill or Billy or Mack or Buddy.” 1 William is electric. He lights up the examination room, engages my staff while playfully ribbing them, and has a laugh that reverberates down the hallway. He comes to each visit with a colorful story about the events that have transpired since our last appointment, vividly painting images of his children and grandchildren and his life outside the clinic walls. He swells with pride discussing his grown children like a new mother showing off photos of her baby. “Ryan just finished the most beautiful presentation deck for work. You should see it. Those slides! I bet he would show it to you.” Ryan works in banking or finance or insurance—I cannot remember—but I confess I never took William up on the offer to see the slide deck.  Abruptly, William stands up, moving faster than an elderly patient with metastatic cancer should be able to move. In a single swift movement, he grabs the brown paper bag from where I abandoned it on the counter and drops it in my lap. “Open it!” I sigh deeply, carefully unroll the top, and peek in. “I got those for the mister!” he exclaims. Inside is a bag of Werther's hard caramels. As relief floods me, I laugh a deep, slow laugh of appreciation for this 70-something man and his ability to brighten the world around him in the most surprising ways. During our last clinic visit, he told me hard caramels take the chemotaste out of his mouth, and I had confessed that my husband is also Werther's devotee, but prefers the soft chews. William made a case then and there for the hard caramels and told me I should try to get “Mr Dr Graff” to make the change. He approached the soft caramel versus hard caramel discussion with the intensity of a high school debate champion. Needless to say, the Graff household now alternates our caramels—enjoying both hard caramels and soft chews. “Seriously. What gives with you and the bag?” he probes again. I recognize that William is not going to let this go. He is too astute and persistent. So, I decided to tell him the whole truth about gifts from patients and brown paper bagsThat first year as an oncology fellow, after months on inpatient consults, I finally started outpatient clinics just as the holidays season began. The patients, many of whom had deep and long relationships with the attending oncologists—the same relationships I was eager to build, the relationships that drove me to oncology as a profession—brought in gift after gift, homemade cookies, handmade quilts, and jars of homemade jam. It was rarely something elaborate as the patients knew the faculty could not accept anything too over the top, but it often showed the same tender thoughtfulness that you show a dear friend or favorite relative. Their favorite coffee. A T-shirt of a favorite band. Or something jovial, like a rival sports team or college's coffee mug. It was during this time of the busy holidays, maybe the second week of December, in my own fellow's clinic, that one of my patients with solid tumor arrived with a small brown paper bag. He of course had synchronous primary malignancies that in no way aligned for a simple plan of care and was experiencing dreadful side effects, which seemed to be the way of fellow's clinic. I had been seeing him quite often, pouring every ounce of my nascent skills into trying to help him through his treatment. He handed me the bag, and in my enthusiasm and naivety and holiday spirit, I bubbled with excitement thinking “oh, he brought me a little gift!” But my own thoughts were pouring over him saying “I brought this in for you because…” and as he was saying the rest, I tore open the bag, all the while with my eyes on him as he spoke, and plunged my hand into the bag, grabbing the…what exactly…cloth something…to hear him saying….  “…because I wanted you to see how bad this diarrhea is! Pure liquid. Bloody. Constant. I can't even make it to the bathroom,” he was saying. Yes. I was holding—in my bare hand—his soiled, blood-stained underwear. Merry Christmas. I have not excitedly torn open a mystery gift or plunged my hand into a bag since. This is not a lesson that took more than one time to learn. In retrospect, perhaps my patient did give me a tremendous gift that day. I was given a true under-standing of his side effects, of what it means to have grade 3 diarrhea, hemorrhoidal bleeding, and fecal incontinence. If there was any chance I did not believe patients before that day, I have always believed patients since—no need to bring me evidence in a little brown bag. Thanks. I'm good. By this point in my retelling of the story, William was nearly doubled-over in laughter, red-faced, and barely able to breathe or stay in his chair. Thus, our little ritual began. William continued to bring me gifts in brown paper bags at every visit for the rest of his time as my patient. Always small tokens. A pocket pack of Kleenex during cold season. A can ofsoup “to warm my hands,” which are perpetually cold during physical examinations. A small handmade Christmas ornament. Sometimes, he would put a bag inside a bag, inside a bag…laughing like an evil super villain, while I nervously unpacked his brown paper bags of torture. William elected to go to hospice care appropriately, living a few months with a good quality of life with home hospice. A few weeks after his passing, his son arrived at the registration desk and asked to speak with me. When I went to the front of the clinic to invite him back, to hug him, and tell him how much his father mattered to all of us at the cancer center, he handed me a brown paper bag. “He insisted” was all William's son said. I opened it, genuinely concerned what I might find this time, nervously peeking into the bag. It was a copy of William's obituary, thanking the cancer center for all the care we had shown him and for inviting him to be part of our lives as much as we were a part of his. This is the greatest gift—the gift of impact. Of knowing my care mattered, of knowing we were truly on the same care team. I carry my patients and their families with me through life, recalling their anecdotes, wisdoms, and warnings at just the right moments. I save their precious words in a box of cards I keep at my desk. I also have a collection of hilarious, insightful, peculiar, and profound assortment of little gifts that made a patient think of me—a curio of curiosities, a microcosm of my career. I think this is why patients give these small tokens in the first place—to make tangible the gratitude, the emotion, and the bond that is ex-changed between the patient and the oncologist. In giving, we are connected. Gifts speak for us when the weight of emotion and the vulnerability of truth are too much. A gift says “you matter in my life” as much as a gift says “I want you to feel how life altering the diarrhea I have been experiencing at home has been.” I have received both those gifts. They have changed me. So, I do not know—I am thinking maybe it is time I go back to plunging my hand straight in? Because in the end, somewhere down there at the bottom, that is where all the good stuff is hidden. Mikkael Sekeres: Welcome back to JCO's Cancer Stories: The Art of Oncology. This ASCO podcast features intimate narratives and perspectives from authors exploring their experiences in oncology. I am your host, Mikkael Sekeres. I am Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Hematology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami. Today, I am so excited to be joined by Dr. Stephanie Graff, Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University and Director of the Breast Oncology Program at Brown University Health in Providence, Rhode Island, to discuss her Journal of Clinical Oncology article, "Brown Paper Bags." Our guests' disclosures will be linked in the transcript. Stephanie, I am so excited to have you here. Welcome to our podcast, and thank you for joining us. Dr. Stephanie Graff: It is such an honor to be here and to discuss this with you. Mikkael Sekeres: Stephanie, I have to say, I feel like I know you so well because I have read your writing over years, and there is an intimacy to how you write and an honesty to it where I really feel as if we are sitting together over a table drinking an International House of Coffee mocha blend, talking about our recent trip to Paris. But I am not sure all of our listeners know you quite as well, so I am wondering if you can tell us a little bit about yourself. Dr. Stephanie Graff: Sure. So I am on the JCO Art of Oncology editorial board, and live in Providence. So you and I have many shared interests. I love to write and I love to read, and I think that how you described my writing reflects my communication. I think that I tend to be really honest and open with patients about, about everything, about both myself and their disease. And I think that that is really what you are capturing in my story writing. I am an avid reader. I read just nonstop and write a variety of different styles of writing. I have written several breast cancer related texts, obviously academic papers. I have confessed to you in the past that I write poetry, but it is for myself. It is very unlikely to end up in the pages of JCO. I like writing stories like this when I feel like a story has been percolating in my mind for a while. Mikkael Sekeres: Boy, there is a lot of jumping off points I want to take from what you just said, of course. Maybe we can start with your writing process. What triggers a story and how do you face the dreaded blank page? Dr. Stephanie Graff: I think it is different for different stories. Often, it is something that has been the struggle or the relived experience that I keep turning over. And I find that like when I am walking my dog in the morning or when I am running on the treadmill, that sometimes the same moments keep coming back up in my mind: a difficult patient encounter, a heartwarming patient encounter, a challenging conflict with a peer or colleague. Those are the things that I keep going back to. And I think that as I go back to it over time, I craft that narrative. And crafting the narrative is also what helps me work through the story and cement it as a lesson that I learned from or that becomes a memory that is important to me, and ultimately makes it easy to just sit down and write, which is often, I do just sit down and write the whole story and it comes out pretty much in the form I end up submitting. But I think that that is because I have spent so much pre-contemplative thought before I get to pen to paper. Sometimes it is, with this story, and I think I had said this in my original cover letter with "Brown Paper Bags," one of my nurses, my nurse practitioner, actually had gotten a gift from a patient that was actually wildly inappropriate for her, both as a gift from a patient and for her as an individual. And she had like brought it back to our shared workspace and was like, "Guys, like, what do I do with this?" And it prompted all of us to share our stories of like really fantastic things that patients have given us, really weird things that patients have given us, and just to end up laughing hysterically about the funny moments and getting a little teary-eyed thinking about the way that we hold on to some of those memories. Mikkael Sekeres: I love that whole description. First of all, starting with your writing process. I think we all come out of a room sometimes where we have been meeting with a person, and our stomach just turns. There is something that did not sit right with us about the interaction or there is something that was really special about the interaction. And I think if we are thoughtful people and thoughtful doctors, we ruminate over that for a while and think to ourselves, “What was it that was really special about that, that really worked that I can actually apply to other patients?” Or, “What was it that did not work, that something that went south where I probably need to change my behavior or change how I am entering an interaction so that does not happen again?” Dr. Stephanie Graff: Yeah, I think about it like those, you know, I am sure you have the same experience I do that a lot of your early childhood memories are actually photos of your early childhood that you can remember more clearly because you have the picture of them, and certainly the same is true for my own children. But I think that having that description, that powerful visual description of a photograph from a moment, helps you cement that memory and treasure it. And I think that the same is true with writing, that when we have an experience that if we are able to make it tangible, write about it, turn it into a song, turn it into a poem, turn it into a piece of art, whether that is, you know, an interpretive dance or a painting, whatever your expression is, that is going to be something that becomes a more concrete memory for you. And so regardless of whether it is a good memory or a bad memory, I think sometimes that that is how we learn and grow. Mikkael Sekeres: I think that is spot on. I believe there are some theories of memory also that talk about accessing the memory over and over again so that you do not lose it and you do not lose the connections to it. And those connections can be other memories or they can be anything that occurred with our five senses when the event actually occurred. Dr. Stephanie Graff: Yeah. That- so one of my favorite books is Audrey Niffenegger's book called The Time Traveler's Wife. Have you read that? It is- the gentleman has a, you know, genetic condition in the fictional book that makes him travel in time and he like leaves his body, his clothes are on the floor and travels back and he is drawn to moments that are important to him. So he is drawn back constantly to the moment he met his wife, he is drawn back constantly to the moment his parents died. And I think that that is true, right? Our memory takes us back to those really visceral, important moments over and over again. Mikkael Sekeres: So you mentioned before, one of the jumping off points I wanted to explore a little bit more was when someone gets an unusual gift and brings it back to the workroom and there is that moment when everyone looks at it and the person says exactly what you said, "What do I do with this?" Right? And it is interesting that it is even a question because sometimes there is a really weird gift and there are certain people who would just immediately put it in the trash, but as oncologists, we do not, do we? Dr. Stephanie Graff: No. Mikkael Sekeres: That is not an option, but we want to know what it is we can do with it. So I do not know if you can remember any particularly unusual gifts you received or your colleagues received during that conversation and then what do you do with them? Dr. Stephanie Graff: Yeah, I think that sometimes they are, I mean, honestly, like the truth is is that I have them, right? Like they are all over my life, these little trinkets and doodads, even to the point that sometimes I give gifts that are inspired by my patients, too. Like two Christmases ago, I gave all of my colleagues as their Christmas gift these blown glass octopuses because one of my patients was obsessed with octopi and it like had led to several conversations, and they have obviously eight arms, we all know that, but they have numerous hearts, they have this very complex, empathetic brain, they are thinking and feeling, very cool, cool animals if you really start to learn and read about them. And I really started to think both about how much we had all kind of rallied around this one patient and her unique love of octopi, but also like how much that animal represents what it means to practice team based care, to have this larger than life heart, to feel like you are more than one brain, like you have eight arms because you work with these really great people. So I wrote that much more eloquently than I am doing right now in a card for my team and gave them these glass octopuses for Christmas. And so, you know, I think that our patients, it is not always even a physical gift. Sometimes it is just sharing their stories that ends up staying with us. Mikkael Sekeres: And that must not have been that long after the documentary was released about the man who had this special relationship with an octopus as well. So do you save the gifts given to you by patients? Why or why not? Dr. Stephanie Graff: So, obviously we get a lot of things like food and we just eat that, right? I am sure your clinic is a collection of boxes of chocolates and, so in Rhode Island, there is a lot of Portuguese patients and so we get a lot of like Portuguese bread and things like that too, which is delicious. So we have all sorts of food all the time and that just gets eaten. I do save patients'- and I realize we are not on camera for our viewing audience, but I have bizarrely, so one patient gave me this red devil, which is amazing because Adriamycin, which is obviously a really common breast cancer drug, is called the "red devil." And this is kind of a famous folk art carving by Alexander Girard. I think the actual real one is in Philadelphia at their art museum, but she was like, "You gave me the red devil, so I am going to give you the red devil." And like, I think that is hilarious. Like, I will save that forever. But I have so many other patients that have given me like little angels because I like meant a lot to them or helped them through this difficult moment. And I have all of those things, right? And so I have this kind of funny little shelf of angels and devils in my office, which is, I think, amusing. And then, obviously I wrote about the brown paper bags. You know, that patient filled it with little things like butterscotches and a can of soup and an instant hot cocoa mix. It was stuff that like you can realistically use. It kind of comes and goes. It is not necessarily something that you have forever. I had all three of my children during my time, one in fellowship and two as a practicing oncologist, and I was practicing in the Midwest then. I have a wealth of absolutely gorgeous quilts, baby quilts, that were made by my patients for my kids. And I have saved every single one of those. I can tell you which patient made it for which child because those are just such heirlooms to me. Yeah, lots of really great things. I am curious about you. You have to have these treasures too in your life. Mikkael Sekeres: Oh, absolutely. Isn't it remarkable that people in the face of life threatening illnesses, and I probably have a patient population specializing in acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes where their illness is often more acute than, than your typical patient in your patient population even, but even during those times, I am always so moved how people take the time to ask about us and want to know about our lives as physicians and take the time to give a gift. And sure, I have my own shelf of curios, I think that is how you refer to it in your essay, from patients and it is very meaningful. There was one patient I treated who was a baseball fan. We were both living in Cleveland at the time. I am a Yankees fan. Both my parents are from the Bronx, so they raised me the right way, of course, even though I was raised in Providence, Rhode Island. And she was a Red Sox fan, and every time she came to visit me, she would wear red socks. It became this ongoing joke. She would wear her red socks and I would remember to wear my Yankees socks. So when we reached the five year mark, she was cured of her leukemia, she gave me a framed box of red socks to hang up. So, yeah, we have these stories and they are immediately evocative of the person we took care of and built a relationship, hopefully a long term relationship with. Gift giving in oncology can be nuanced at times. Why do you think patients give gifts and why are they meaningful to us as caregivers? Dr. Stephanie Graff: I mean, I think that gift giving at its heart is sometimes just a more comfortable way to express emotion for so many patients, right? And humans, right? We give gifts to celebrate births, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, major holidays, right, for our own friends and family. And so it makes sense that that cultural or social tradition exists where we give gifts to acknowledge and celebrate that someone is important and a part of our life. And so often, I think it is just a way for a patient to say, "You have been here for me, I see you, I see the work you do, I appreciate you." So it is a way to say thank you that to any individual patient feels bigger than just the words. Obviously, I want to say as- if any patient stumbles onto this podcast, just the words are more than enough and we do not even need that. Like it is my greatest honor to care for the patients that allow me to enter their lives and care for them. Like, I do not need them to tell me thank you. I certainly do not need them to give me a gift, but I think that is a big part of why patients do it. But I think another part of it is that in many ways, you know, we have all seen that when somebody is diagnosed with cancer, that they have this real reckoning with their family and friends where people that they thought were very good friends do not know how to show up for them. And so sometimes they see these shifting dynamics in their friend groups, especially maybe for our younger patients or mid aged patients that just their friends are so busy. There is lots that goes on, right, that I think that often the gift is saying, "Thank you for showing up." We were a constant in their life during that time and for many of my patients, they do not have that constancy from the other people in their life. And so again, if anyone stumbles onto this podcast and someone in your life that you love is diagnosed with cancer, the most important thing that any of us can do for someone battling a chronic illness is just show up. And I often tell people even uninvited, like, show up and offer to take their laundry back to your house, show up and drop off a meal because I think that the people saying, "Well, let me know what I can do," is not helpful because it is really awkward to tell people what to do when you are battling an illness. Mikkael Sekeres: That notion of presence is just so important and you enunciated it beautifully. When my patients say to me, "Oh, I want to get you something," I always respond the same way that you do. I always say, "Your good health is the greatest gift that I could hope for," and just the, just the words and the presence are enough. I wanted to end quoting you to yourself and asking you to reflect on it. You write, "I carry my patients and their families with me through life, recalling their anecdotes, wisdoms, and warnings at just the right moments." Stephanie, what are those moments when you lean on the anecdotes and wisdom of your patients? Dr. Stephanie Graff: Patients will say things to me about - oh gosh, I will get all teary thinking about it - you know, patients say things to me who are my, you know, stage four metastatic patients about what has mattered to them in life. And it makes it so easy for me to leave that thing undone and go home at the end of the day because none of them say, "It really mattered to me that I spent that extra hour at work or that I got that promotion or that raise." I am in the habit of, when I meet patients for the first time and they are at a visit with their husband or their wife or their partner, I will ask how long they have been together. And when patients tell me that it has been decades, 40, 50, 60 years, I will ask what the secret is, because I am at 17 years of marriage and I'd love to see 63, which is my record for a patient story. And my one patient during a visit, the wife and I were talking and I asked how long they had been married. We had already had a pretty long visit at that point when it came up, and the whole visit, the husband had just sat in the corner, very quiet, had not said a word. For all I know, he could have been nonverbal. And she said, "Oh, we have been married 60 years." And I said, "Oh my gosh, what is the secret?" And before she could even open her mouth, he goes, "Separate bathrooms." I think about it all the time. Like any time I am like annoyed with my husband getting ready in the morning, I am like, "Yep, separate bathrooms. It is the key to everything." Bringing those little moments, those little things that patients say to you that just pop back up into your mind are so wonderful. Like those rich little anecdotes that patients share with you are really things that stay with you long term. Mikkael Sekeres: So it does not surprise me, Stephanie, that you and I have settled on the same line of questioning with our patients. I wrote an Art of Oncology piece a few years ago called exactly that: "What I Learned About Love From My Patients," asking the exact same question. It was a fascinating exploration of long term marriage from people who say, "Oh, you have to have a sense of humor," which you always hear, to some things that were just brutally honest where somebody said, "Well, I could not find anybody better, so I just settled," right? Because they are in the oncologist's office and sometimes people will speak very dark truths in our clinics. But my favorites were always the people where I would ask them and the husband and wife would turn to each other and just hold hands and say, "I do not know, I just love her." And I always thought to myself, that is the marriage for me. Dr. Stephanie Graff: My husband and I trained together. He was a fellow when I was a resident. So we had one rotation together in our entire careers and it was in cardiology. Like he was like the fellow on cardiovascular ICU and I was the resident on cardiology. And the attending had been prodding this woman who had heart disease about how she needed to be more physically active and said something to the extent to the patient about how he could tell that she was more of a couch potato, that she really needed to get more active. Mind you, this is a long time ago. And her husband, I mean, they are older patients, her husband boldly interrupts the attending physician and says, "She may be a couch potato, but she is my sweet potato." And my husband and I every once in a while will quip, "Well, you are my sweet potato" to one another because we still, we both remembered that interaction all these years later. Like, that is love. I do not know what else is love if it is not fighting for your wife's honor by proclaiming her your ‘sweet potato'. Mikkael Sekeres: Well, I cannot say just how much of a treat it has been to have you here, Stephanie. This has been Stephanie Graff, Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University and Director of the Breast Oncology Program at Brown University Health in Providence, Rhode Island, discussing her Journal of Clinical Oncology article, "Brown Paper Bags." If you have enjoyed this episode, consider sharing it with a friend or colleague or leave us a review. Your feedback and support helps us continue to have these important conversations. If you are looking for more episodes and context, follow our show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen and explore more from ASCO at asco.org/podcasts. Until next time, this has been Mikkael Sekeres. Thank you for joining us. The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.   Show Notes: Like, share and subscribe so you never miss an episode and leave a rating or review.    Guest Bio: Stephanie Graff, MD, FACP, FASCO is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University and Director of Breast Oncology at Brown University Health in Providence Rhode Island   Additional Reading: What My Patients Taught Me About Love, by Mikkael Sekeres    

New to ChristmasPodcasts.com: Christmas Chapters Podcast – The podcast where each episode unfolds a new chapter from the heartwarming and nostalgic stories of Christmases past. Hosted by Ashley, she explores the traditions, memories, and magical moments that have shaped our holiday seasons over the years. Through storytelling, laughter, and a sprinkle of holiday cheer, Christmas […]

Merry Christmas you beautiful people!We start the show with this episode's version of A Christmas Carol. It's an episode of the Disney cartoon series 101 Dalmatians called A Christmas Cruella. If you want, you can watch it here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njxjk4CosPM&t=1290sThen Bob Baker looks at what us Brits mean by a 'flannel' in Do You Hear What I Hear.After that it's The Christmas Quiz. I only scored 6 this week, let me know if you managed any betterNext up Bob is back with Where Are You Christmas, and it turns out it's hiding in Canada.Check out Bob's podcast here:  https://4fpodcast.buzzsprout.com/In the quiz in the last episode we had a question about how many doors there are in an advent calendar and Scott Newman, our US correspondent, has done a bit of research on the subject. I have as well, and we look at a few Guinness World Records involving advent calendars.This episode's recommendation is Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer: Gone Fishing.  It's a lovely show, and you don't have to be interested in fishing to enjoy it. They've also got some nice Christmas specials (that weren't filmed anywhere near Christmas). It's on the BBC iplayer, but it's on other streaming sites as well, so check it out.Get in touch:Email: totalchristmas@gmail.comWeb: totalchristmaspodcast.comMerry Christmas!

“I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. www.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. www.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. www.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. www.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. www.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. www.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. www.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. www.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I won my first Emmy when I was 21, which was the result of absolutely devoting myself day and night for two years to doing all the scene work. I attended classes simultaneously and did plays until my mother died. I studied with Michael Howard for eight years. Even when I was so tired I couldn't get up to do a scene, he would say, "Get up and do a poem." It helped me enormously; it saved me.The way I was trained and how I train others is that you know when you're in the zone. Oh God, it feels so good. It feels like flying. And that's what you want. You want to be so unselfaware that you're on liftoff?I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I won my first Emmy when I was 21, which was the result of absolutely devoting myself day and night for two years to doing all the scene work. I attended classes simultaneously and did plays until my mother died. I studied with Michael Howard for eight years. Even when I was so tired I couldn't get up to do a scene, he would say, "Get up and do a poem." It helped me enormously; it saved me.The way I was trained and how I train others is that you know when you're in the zone. Oh God, it feels so good. It feels like flying. And that's what you want. You want to be so unselfaware that you're on liftoff?I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I won my first Emmy when I was 21, which was the result of absolutely devoting myself day and night for two years to doing all the scene work. I attended classes simultaneously and did plays until my mother died. I studied with Michael Howard for eight years. Even when I was so tired I couldn't get up to do a scene, he would say, "Get up and do a poem." It helped me enormously; it saved me.The way I was trained and how I train others is that you know when you're in the zone. Oh God, it feels so good. It feels like flying. And that's what you want. You want to be so unselfaware that you're on liftoff?I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I won my first Emmy when I was 21, which was the result of absolutely devoting myself day and night for two years to doing all the scene work. I attended classes simultaneously and did plays until my mother died. I studied with Michael Howard for eight years. Even when I was so tired I couldn't get up to do a scene, he would say, "Get up and do a poem." It helped me enormously; it saved me.The way I was trained and how I train others is that you know when you're in the zone. Oh God, it feels so good. It feels like flying. And that's what you want. You want to be so unselfaware that you're on liftoff?I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I won my first Emmy when I was 21, which was the result of absolutely devoting myself day and night for two years to doing all the scene work. I attended classes simultaneously and did plays until my mother died. I studied with Michael Howard for eight years. Even when I was so tired I couldn't get up to do a scene, he would say, "Get up and do a poem." It helped me enormously; it saved me.The way I was trained and how I train others is that you know when you're in the zone. Oh God, it feels so good. It feels like flying. And that's what you want. You want to be so unselfaware that you're on liftoff?I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I won my first Emmy when I was 21, which was the result of absolutely devoting myself day and night for two years to doing all the scene work. I attended classes simultaneously and did plays until my mother died. I studied with Michael Howard for eight years. Even when I was so tired I couldn't get up to do a scene, he would say, "Get up and do a poem." It helped me enormously; it saved me.The way I was trained and how I train others is that you know when you're in the zone. Oh God, it feels so good. It feels like flying. And that's what you want. You want to be so unselfaware that you're on liftoff?I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. www.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I won my first Emmy when I was 21, which was the result of absolutely devoting myself day and night for two years to doing all the scene work. I attended classes simultaneously and did plays until my mother died. I studied with Michael Howard for eight years. Even when I was so tired I couldn't get up to do a scene, he would say, "Get up and do a poem." It helped me enormously; it saved me.The way I was trained and how I train others is that you know when you're in the zone. Oh God, it feels so good. It feels like flying. And that's what you want. You want to be so unselfaware that you're on liftoff?I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. www.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I won my first Emmy when I was 21, which was the result of absolutely devoting myself day and night for two years to doing all the scene work. I attended classes simultaneously and did plays until my mother died. I studied with Michael Howard for eight years. Even when I was so tired I couldn't get up to do a scene, he would say, "Get up and do a poem." It helped me enormously; it saved me.The way I was trained and how I train others is that you know when you're in the zone. Oh God, it feels so good. It feels like flying. And that's what you want. You want to be so unselfaware that you're on liftoff?I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I won my first Emmy when I was 21, which was the result of absolutely devoting myself day and night for two years to doing all the scene work. I attended classes simultaneously and did plays until my mother died. I studied with Michael Howard for eight years. Even when I was so tired I couldn't get up to do a scene, he would say, "Get up and do a poem." It helped me enormously; it saved me.The way I was trained and how I train others is that you know when you're in the zone. Oh God, it feels so good. It feels like flying. And that's what you want. You want to be so unselfaware that you're on liftoff?I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing world that I had access to, which was the world of the entertainment industry. My mom was supportive of my taking over and saying, "This is, I think, what we need to do." She liked the idea of moving to New York, so we moved to New York when I was 17 with a play that I had gotten. Then she got cancer and became really sick, so I had to take care of her full time. That lasted for about eight years, and then she died when I was 25. That was a rough go. At the same time, I had an amazing other world, and my other world was the world of make-believe and pretend, which I got to participate in on the soaps, with happy families and Christmases, Easters, miracles, love, weddings, and children. The pretend world that I spent a large amount of time in became a great way to balance what was sort of tragic in my real life.”Our guest today is Cady McClain. You probably know her from her long and celebrated career in daytime television. She is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning actress. She plays Pamela Curtis on CBS' Beyond the Gates, and is the Artistic Director of Axial Theatre, and her directorial work includes the documentary, Seeing is Believing: Women Direct, a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of women behind the camera. Her memoir, Murdering My Youth, is an honest and sometimes difficult book about growing up as a child actor in the spotlight. Her work across all these different art forms—acting, directing, writing, art, and music—all seems to be connected by a commitment to telling true stories, no matter how complicated. Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast