December 13, 2025 • 48 mins
Amy and Morgan share their plans for Christmas, including the change Amy will have this year and Morgan’s goal while she’s with family. Amy shares how Stevenson’s big half-marathon for charity came together and their plans to do it again. Plus, Morgan and Amy’s friends both were accidentally served alcohol and we think it’s a bigger conversation.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Best Bits of the Week with Morgan, Part one
behind a scene with a member of the show.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Happy weekend, friends, and we are nearing Christmas time. I'm
really excited about that. Amy is running me this weekend.
What's up Amy?
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Hello?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hello, thanks for being here. And speaking of Christmas. What
are your Christmas Flans? What's happening in the Amy household?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Yeah, we're just going to be in Nashville. We're staying here.
It's been a minute since I've stayed. I actually maybe
last Christmas we did I honestly cannot even remember. No,
I went to Colorado. That's normally what we do. I
know that there was a Christmas in the last five
years where we stayed home and didn't go to Colorado.
(00:41):
But pretty much every year for the last twenty years
or so, we go to Colorado. And I'm change, well,
you know, I alternate when I have the kids. So
this year I had them for Thanksgiving and Ben has
them for Christmas this year, and my boyfriend's family's from here.
They normally stay put because they do they have like
(01:03):
a spring break trip coming up, which is pretty quickly
after Christmas time, and so they're just staying here and
I was like, Okay, I'll stay and the kids are
going to go do something with their dad. And while
that has been the case in the past, I normally
go and we swap in Colorado because their dad, we'd
go to the same small town. He's got family there.
(01:23):
I have family there, so we still go there together,
just separately, if that makes sense. But they're not even
doing that. They're going to California so with his parents,
and so I'm like, well, I guess I'll just stay.
And my sister and her husband were just here a
couple of weeks ago. I don't know what it is.
(01:45):
I just feel like that's what I need to do,
is stay put. I could go see my sister in Colorado.
I'm like thinking this through live with y'all. I'm like, wait,
why am I staying? I should? I feel like parts
of me feel like I should go, but also it's
okay for me to stay. And I now have this
new extension of my family with my boyfriend and his kids,
and they're all going to be here, so it's not
(02:06):
like I'll be alone and then my kids will come
back to me from They fly back from California on
the twenty sixth, so.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Okay, So these are follow up questions. One, do you
plan has been Christmas with your boyfriend his family? Is
that on the docket?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Yeah, because otherwise I'd be alone.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, okay, so this is the first one you guys
are spending together, is that right? Uh?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Yeah, we were together last Christmas, but I was in Colorado.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Okay, So how do you feel about that? Are you excited? Oh? Yeah,
it feels normal.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I feel like I mean, I've spent this Thanksgiving was
the second time I had been with his family, and yeah,
it feels like that's what we should be doing. So
nothing about it. I'm not going to wake up there
Christmas morning or anything like. I I'll wake up, it
will be interesting. I'll be by myself. So I'll wake
up at my house and I got my dog and
(02:54):
my cat, and then I guess I'll get ready and
go over there probably first thing. Maybe even wear my pajamas.
His daughter and I bought some pajamas the other day
that are really cute and she's excited to wear I'm
Christmas pajamas. They're not matching, but they're the same if
that's like the same brand. Yeah, but they weren't matching
matching only because we actually both like the one she got,
(03:16):
but they only had one and that size, and we
both wanted the same size. So I was like, you
get them, or I'll get you that pair and I'll
get this other pair.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Do you know what they're getting for Christmas? Gifts from
their dad? Were you part of that experience? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (03:28):
I know what he got them, and I got them
gifts from just me.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Okay, so you have them individually.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
M hmm, yeah, like he shopped. I mean, of course,
he told me, like I'm thinking I am not getting
this thing. I'll get in that, you know, And then
I was like, oh, you should do that. I'm going
to get this. They make lists, like his daughter, she's seventeen.
She sent me a Google doc with links.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I love that. Honestly.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
My kids are the same way.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
You know, you get to a point where at least
you're getting things that you're gonna use and you want,
versus things that it feels like almost bad when you
get something that you know you're not gonna use or
you can't take back, and then you don't know what
to do with it.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
And then his boys use some app called like giftly
or something where it yeah, it's gift ly dot com.
And just looked it up and they it's almost like
a registry and you can check off, but they have
you know, ants and grandparents and cousins and all these
different people are shopping so they can just send them
to Giftly. I guess the daughter doesn't use it. She's like,
(04:22):
I prefer Google Doc. I'm like, that's fine. I love
the organization. Yeah, goule doc is awesome. It makes it easy.
And she's got some stuff coming up. She's doing an
internship in DC, so she needs professional clothes. So honestly,
most of her list was was for things that she
needs that for that. And I was like, okay, well,
(04:43):
I'm sure your dad would get you this stuff anyway,
Bess you need it, so I I'd milk other things,
but okay.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
And the giftly one, can you mark if you bought something? Yeah,
you mark it as like it really is like a registry.
And then I guess they know that they're getting those. Yeah,
they don't really.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
They like update it and I don't think they go
back and like check it out. I guess you could,
but I think they want to be surprised. They don't
know who got them what mm hm. And then it
just helps keep it organized, so like who's checking off stuff?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
So the Christmas that you'll go over to, it is
extended family also, so it's not just their core family
though I think in.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
The morning it might be I don't know in the
morning who shows up, maybe his dad and so yeah,
there probably could be some extended I shall know. Yet
my family we always make sausage gravy and cinnamon roles,
so I feel like I need to make that for them, uh,
which they've never had before.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, you have to like traditions together, That's how you
start to do that. Yeah, so we'll see. Does it
feel weird that this is going to be a different year.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
No, I'm excited about it. I think I just want
I think the reason for not traveling too is it's
like it's okay to be still and not create extra
stuff like of course wanting to see my family and
that would be a big blessing. And I think I
just have the self awareness that I need to stay
(06:09):
and be still, like because even Bem was like, you know,
made a suggestion like if you wanted to come out
to California, you could too, And then we could make
the swap out there, and I was like, I think
I'm good. I think I'm going to just stay.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Okay, So then it's probably an option to have the
I think, the feeling that you want to stay, the
feeling that there's something here.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
That you're Yeah, it's not like a like a woe
is me, like what sad I'm staying? It's oh, okay, Yeah,
I have an option here and it's okay for me
to stay. I don't need to force a trip or
force travel and add that to my plate. So good changes,
good changes. Yeah, what about you?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
So we're going to Kansas for Christmas, which will be
my boyfriend's first trip back home, but his his mom
is currently about to make her way here. She gets
here probably about the time that you guys are all
listening to this podcast, and we'll be staying with us
for the week, so we get spend time with her
and his sister, and they had all gotten together for
Thanksgiving in town as well, so we had seen most
(07:15):
of them. But so she'll come stay with us. It'll
be the first time she's staying with us, so we
have my learning lesson of what it's like to be
around other family I'm really used to my own and
I can tell my parents they make me mad or something.
This will be a new experience for me that I'm
looking forward to. But she's excited because we do a
bunch of sweet treats that we make for everybody every year,
(07:36):
and I do, and he's now like taking on that
tradition and we're making a whole bunch and his mom
is so excited because she's like, I get to be
part of this. I have a whole bunch of things
I can add, So I'm really excited to see what
that's going to be like. And then extra hands, Yes,
I love extra hands. It's a lot of work, so
make for that long and that many people. We have
an extensive list this year, two people versus my one
(07:57):
list that I used to do, so that I'm excited for.
We're going to do a bunch of Christmas stuff around town.
We have Christmas bars that we're gonna go see the
pop ups and different lists that I've found from being
chronically online too much of things that are happening in
Nashville for the holidays. And then yeah, around like a
few days before Christmas, We're gonna drive back to Kansas,
(08:19):
and we'll be there through Christmas and New Year's Eve.
All of my childhood friends are coming into town for
New Year's Eve, so we're all gonna oh that's a
party together.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Okay, So you're going to be there for a little
bit a while.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
And those girls are the same ones who were here
the night that I met him. Oh that's cool. Yes,
So I'm excited for them to all actually get to
spend more time together now that that's transpired, and for
him to meet all their husbands and partners and stuff
like that. So I'm just excited. It's gonna be a
lot of first and a lot of things happening, but
(08:51):
I think it'll be really fun.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yeah, I mean, I mean I think so too. A
lot of first for you that are new. And I've
never taken a guy home for Christmas. That's not wrong,
that's wrong.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
I've taken one, but it was the abusive relationship, and
so I think i've kind of black backed it out. Yeah,
that never happened that one. I don't really remember there
anything else I never have. So this feels good and
different and really exciting. So, and we're in such a
good place in our relationship, so I'm excited to see
what all comes about. I think we're gonna do a
(09:24):
podcast episode two, like after the Holidays, debriefing what it
was like for our cat ones. I was like, you
want to do this?
Speaker 3 (09:30):
He's like, hey, Yas, that'd be fun to have. Yeah,
like listen back on and see how far you've come.
And I'm trying to when you've got your fifth Christmas
together or something.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Right, like, that's the hope. That'll be the cool part
of it. And I'm trying to get my eighty eight
year old grandma to do an episode with me. I
don't know if she will. She used to be an
English professor, so she's super smart. But she's the one
who lives out on the farm by herself. She lives
this very like independent, fierce, just cool life out on
the farm. So I really I want to do an
(10:00):
episode with her, so hopefully she will. I hope so too.
All the ones I've done with the Apes Garden Residents,
the a little it'swer okay, we had little sneezes. Sorry,
this is real all the best I saw you.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
I'm trying to halt it, and then I was like, oh, I.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Gotta go, No, it's Okay that the families of the
residents when I do those episodes, they get really excited
because they wouldn't have had those stories and all of
that else wise. I guess I keep saying elsewhise, And
that's why I think.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
I think that how a way for you to convince
your grandma might be telling the stories of how other
people have come on and how their families have been
so grateful.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, because you just get I feel like, when it's
different than when you sit with your grandparents somewhere and
they tell stories, you may never ask the questions that
somebody's gonna ask during an interview because you just it's
random to be like, so tell me about that time
that you were five years old and this was happening
in your life or whatever, you know what I mean.
So I'm hopeful that she'll do that. But that's my
(10:59):
only work plan for when you're on. Other than that,
I'm trying to actually, like full blown get everything done.
So for a week and a half I can completely
check out unplug. We'll see if I can accomplish that.
Though I don't. I think you can. I think you can.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
And now you've got a partner that can maybe hold
you accountable. Obviously, if something comes up and there's a fire,
you have to put out your enough to maybe do it.
But I know otherwise you might be like, hey, which
would you get off socials? Just in general? Like do
you ever take a break from that, just for a
few days, Like don't even open it up at all? Whatsoever?
(11:37):
Not even for your personal.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
No, because it's just it feels not possible. I feel
like I miss stuff if I don't, And that's probably
me in my brain that I've set up that pattern.
But I just I feel like anytime, even if I've
gone twenty four hours where I just had a really
busy thing, we had plans, and I get on Saturday
(11:59):
after afternoon, I feel like I've missed eighty different things?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
And but what is it about what you're missing?
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Though?
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Like what is it? What does it matter?
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Not really not my personal one as much like I
still check it.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
But I'm saying if you're taking a week and a
half off, like what if you miss something, it doesn't
matter because you're not working.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I know what it feels like I should be reposting
things and making sure that everything is seen on our page.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
But when you take a week and a half off.
Are you taking time off from socials too, or just
your other stuff?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I mean, I'm trying to do it of all of it. Okay,
that would be the best thing for my body to Yeah,
that's where I'm like, Okay, let's let's commit, let's get more.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Going to break from socials.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I just don't feel like it's possible. I feel like
I'm going to get an email or something's gonna happen
where I'm going to have to do something and the
minute that I check back in, there's no going back.
That's the spirit. I might try, though, at least a
few days try. Yeah, go a weekend. Yeah, that'll be
my goal. I'll schedule some posts or something, so hopefully
I can. We'll see. Yeah, I'll check back in with yeah, Okay,
(13:06):
we're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back.
And speaking of holidays, Thanksgiving, I was watching on your
Instagram Stevenson's run. That was such a cool thing to
watch happen.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Yeah, it was well, I was inspired. I was so
proud of him, and you know, he wants to do
it again next year, but he wants to do a
full marathon instead of a half, so he went from
trying to double his running goal or his furthest he's
gone to five miles, so we wanted to double that
to ten miles. And it wasn't that he saw the
(13:39):
donations coming in per mile, because some people were pledging
per mile. So I started to realize some people think, oh,
he's running more to try to get more money out
of people. Well, what really was going on in his
brain was that money was coming in, not just pledges,
actual donations, and he felt like, if these donations were
coming in, I need to give them a show, you know,
(14:02):
like I need to really push myself. So ten miles
seems doable, I better tried to go for a half marathon.
And so that's what that was about. It was because
most people just paid in advance, so it's not like
they were like, oh, well, I'm going to go back
and do three point one more miles in a donation. No,
he just felt like he was so grateful they were
(14:24):
making donations in as part of this fundraiser in his
honor or however you want to look at it, to
the orphanage where he grew up, and he wanted to
he wanted to make sure he was working for the money. Yeah,
he wanted to push himself a little bit harder. How
did he feel after doing a half marathon? Because great,
from going five miles to a half marathon is a
(14:45):
pretty massive jump. Yeah, he was a little sore, but
nothing about his body was winded, like cardiovascularly. He felt
totally fine. I think his shins were bothering him a
little bit. I went and got epsom salt and ran
him a bath. He'd never taken one of those before.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
He's never taken a bath.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
No. I mean when he was a kid, he took
a bath, but he'd never taken an Epsen saw bath. Okay,
especially as a teenager, Like, I don't think he's taken
a bath since he was maybe when we first adopted
him he was seven eight nine. I think we would
take baths, but after that he stopped.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Okay, And I shouldn't react that way. I feel like
there is a lot of people out there that probably
have never taken a bath. It's just it's more of
a foreign concept a little bit. I don't think I'm
to him.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
He was like, what I have to sit in this
water with this salt?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
And yeah, we did get him the lavender epsin sal or.
No I got.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
I just got plaining unscented because I thought, oh, if
I get a scented version, it's gonna throw him off
for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
So not sore. And how much money did he end
up raising? Total?
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Thirty over thirty four thousand dollars wild.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah, it's also crazy to me. You were listing off
on the show how many things that that's going to
take care of? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
I actually just got a text from the treasurer of
Team Haiti and she was updating me that like she
was able to send a wire, like, I'll just here's
the like, I literally just got it this morning. She
was wiring like ten thousand of it today and she'll
(16:14):
be saving the rest to go towards teacher salaries for
next year. But all that's going to cover is Christmas.
There's an itemized list that was given to teacher Johnson
and it includes the nanny bonuses as part of ten thousand.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Then tea.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
There's six teachers, and then the head of the school
is getting a bigger bonus. Then she was able to
wire as part of that the teacher salaries for January, February,
and March and increase one of the teachers pay by
two hundred and fifty dollars so that all the teachers
make the same amount. Also a scholarship for another kid's
student that's wanting to go to the school. And then
(16:51):
she threw in five hundred dollars for emergencies that may
come up, which we never have like excess for just
in case emergencies, and obviously they let us know what
that is. And then we have to pay a fifty
dollars wiring fee to get the money there. So it
was just cool to see, like all of that is covered,
and the rest of next year we covered. We're not
going to send it all at once, but at least
the teacher salaries part is covered. And so it was
(17:12):
cool to see that the Christmas gifts check, teacher bonuses check,
nanny bonas's a scholarship. Like all of that was just
wired today because people were so generous with Stevenson's run.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
And where did this start? Why did Stevenson decide he
wanted to do this?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Well, Chase was at my house, but you know Chase,
he's from Kansas, I do Chase Loucke. So he's gone
to Haiti with me. I mean, that was a long
time ago, but he's been to Haiti. We do other
work things together, and he was over at my house
and we were sitting at a table trying to think
we're we were trying to think of finding monthly donors
(17:53):
to Team Haiti.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
So the idea was.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
We were thinking if we could just give people to
sign up ten dollars a month, but we get lots
of people to do it. And that's what's crazy about
Stevenson's run. A lot of his donations were five to
ten dollars, so it was cool to see that all
adding up. I mean, there was very few people that
made larger donations, but the majority of that thirty four
thousand was people just five ten dollars here, which that's
(18:20):
neat to see because when everybody comes together, it all
adds up and can really make a difference. So we
were trying to brainstorm what we could do for monthly donors.
So Chase and I were already having a conversation and
Stevenson got home from a run. He had just run
five miles and he was like, oh, we're all talking
about the Orphanage. We're like yeah, and so we just
(18:41):
explained to him what we were trying to do and
he was like, man, do you think I could run
ten miles? He's like I just ran five and I
was like, yeah, I think you could. Like we might
need a little motivation, but like what would motivate you?
And then that's when he was like, I don't know,
maybe money for the orphanage. It just was right place,
(19:01):
right time for all of us, like him getting back
from a run, him doing five miles, him getting curious
about ten miles, us thinking of fundraisers, and then we
were like, wait a second, what if next Saturday? And
that's literally how it was. Next Saturday, you do a run.
We didn't even know what look like. I was asking
listeners for help on Instagram, like saying, do y'all have
any ideas? How could we do this? And that's when
people like have people pledge per mile and we're like, oh, okay, yeah,
(19:23):
that's a good idea. And then it just evolved from
there and then seven days later he was running and
that's how it happened.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
I love that so much. He's such a cool kid.
It's cool to see just from when you guys first
got him to now.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
It has a very big heart. Yeah, he's very tender.
He thinks about people, he's empathetic, he ca like, he's
very very special.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Well, and I saw something really sweet that you had
reposted one of Stashira's posts because she was so proud
of her brother. Yeah, that's cool to see.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Yeah, because she couldn't be there and she was with
some friends and yeah, she was like, I'm smiling, I'm
I'm paraphrasing right now, but in the gist of it
was I'm seriously so happy right now. I'm proud of Stevenson.
And I'm like, what because their relationships there's typical teenage siblings,
(20:18):
like they don't totally get along that well, and one day,
hopefully that will get better, but right now she just
finds him incredibly annoying.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Oh yeah, it takes until you are away from each
other to finally realize how much you care about each
other and how much that matters.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Yeah, So it was special to see her happy for
him and selving that, and I think she was genuinely
happy to see also people caring about the orphanage and
giving to that cause.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
So did that make your mom heart just kind of flutter?
And yes, I was like, Okay, yeah, this is really yay, yay,
yay for these moments.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
I'm gonna cherish it, soak it up because I don't
know how long it will last.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, I love that. I love that this is going
so well. It's it's really been fun too. It was
cool as somebody on the other side of the screen
just to watch him do that.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Yeah, and him have friends show up to run with him.
There wasn't a mile that he ran alone. We were
all taking turns. And next year we'll see how we
do it. Maybe we'll have a little more time to
plan it, and maybe that's when we can focus on
getting reoccurring monthly donors, like, hey, if you want to commit,
can you commit to five dollars a month? Yeah, because
then it would just be recurring, and we've never really
(21:27):
focused on a plan for that. You know, some people
will do that and they get something in return, like
maybe you're sponsoring a kid and then.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
You get updates about that kid.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Well, we don't want to send out specific information about
each kid there or have that type of thing. And
then kids are getting adopted, so they're in and out,
and we used to post more about the kids there,
and then there's obviously a thing of protecting their privacy
and exploiting their situation, so that we thought, well, maybe
(22:01):
people would want to sponsor like a nanny or an
adult like a tea, you know, because there at least
have more agency. They are adults. They can sign a
paper and agree to be a part of something like that.
And there's just a lot of things that we've tried
to consider that would make people want to feel connected.
I just haven't been able to go there since twenty seventeen,
(22:22):
and I think when I go there, followers have more
of a connection because they get an inside look. But
I haven't been in so long. We still have constant contact,
you know, even been my accession, like he's doing stuff there.
We still have the bakery there and that generates funds
as well, but some of this stuff is for We've
since opened a school there, so there's the orphanage costs,
and then there's the school costs, and there's operation costs.
(22:43):
There's a lot of costs that go into things. So
they it's just thankful for people that, you know, they
may have no idea what the orphanage is even like,
but they still took time and effort to donate money
to Stevenson's run and that was really special.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
It is cool. One of the coolest parts about this
time of year is if you can it's cool to
see the generosity that comes out with the season, of
people wanting to help each other and show up for
each other and causes that people care about, Like the
Giving Tuesday is one of my favorite days to watch
on social media because you really see everybody's passions come out,
the things that they care about, the things that they
(23:20):
want you to support, and that they've been doing all
year but you just really haven't seen because it's just
like it's one of those catchway toos where people are like, well,
if you posted about it, then you're not actually you
don't care about it in the way that you do.
But then if you don't post about it, you're not
raising awareness. It's like, you know, you rock in a
hard place there. So I just love this time of
year for that reason too. I feel like we get
(23:40):
to see more of the good in the world than
you know, every part of the year, everybody else is
keeping it silent because they feel like they have to. Yeah,
so I loved that part. I wanted to hear about it.
So thanks for sharing.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Yeah, those for bringing it up. Stevenson's going to be excited.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
He's so awesome. Are you ever gonna take a quick
break and we'll be right back. I want to talk
about some awkward things that we all have to do
on a regular basis that we just kind of deal
with and put up with. And the reason this even
became a conversation was because I was at the dentist
and it's a newer one, so I'm still getting to
know the people there and stuff, and the hygienis is
(24:15):
working on me, but she was so sweet because she
wanted to talk to me. The man, she was talking
to me the whole time, and she was in my
mouth the whole time, So I'm like, I can't say anything,
and then if I do try and talk, she stops
working on me, and then it prolongs the appointment and
it's just such an awkward interaction. So then I was
thinking about all of the things that like we just
deal with on a daily basis that are super awkward.
(24:36):
Is there anything that comes to mind for you with
this that we just like don't realize we do all
the time.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Oh gosh, I don't know, you mean that I do
that might be awkward or that's like awkward that happens
to me.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Yeah, like all people probably experience something like this. Like
another one is when you're at the grocery store checkout
and they're like, have a great day, and you're like,
he thanks you too, or you say something we were
because you're just not sure how to enter.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Yeah. Well sometimes I'll I anticipate that the clerk is
asking me how my day is, and they're not like
they something else comes out, but I'm anticipating how are you?
And I answer with I'm fine, how are you? And
they're like I said, cash or credit or whatever.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Yeah, these are like those things. I feel like we
have a lot of awkward interactions on a daily basis
that we just nobody ever talks about. Yeah, and we
just deal with the much humans.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
There's this one guy I've been passing when we walk
our dogs every day in our neighborhood, or I walk
my dog every day and he walks his, So we
are walking our dogs and I pass him over and
over and his dog always is so aggressive towards my dog,
and I almost like tense up when I know we're
about to end, and I know he feels bad too,
But that's an awkward interaction I've been having in my
(25:51):
neighborhood where I'm like, oh, shoot, and I want to
just like turn around and go the other direction just
to save Kara the stress and his dog the stress.
But I'm like, well, I don't want him to think
I'm avoiding him, so I'm like trying to hold car
really tight. So that's an awkward neighborhood situation that I'm
having right now.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Oh that's a good one. And also another one that's
awkward is when you see somebody not pick up poop
and you like you want to say something, but then
also you don't want to say something.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
I'm not saying anything, but I am judging.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Right, That's one that I judge, and that people do
it so freely.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Maybe goodness, I don't see that, not in my neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
I think it's as I walk in a little park
and it's a little.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Bit more, they probably think that, oh, this is a
public park, I don't need to pick it up.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Yeah, I see it a lot, So that's one. Then
another one I was thinking of was when you're at
a grocery store. Maybe it's a grocery or somewhere else
just in public and somebody's on the phone and you
think they're talking to you, and then you.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Were just start tugging. Yes, there's that or right now
with the parking lots being so full when you're shopping,
like you finally get to a parking spot, but another
car pulls in like right at the same time, and
you're like, who had.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Their blinker on first? And it becomes a fight a
parking lot.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Yeah, I just go ahead and driveway, I surrender, I
wave the rifleg and like you can have it, I'll go.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
But it is awkward for a second.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
It isn't like well.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
But yeah, and there's no communication because you're both in
cars so you can't.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
I also feel like and maybe it's just a lot
of grocery store moments for me, but there was another
one where I took the last product of something at
a grocery store and another lady was walking up to
get it and she kind of gave me the dirty eye,
like I was was a ticket. Well you were there first, right,
but awkward interaction.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
I've been trying to do my shopping, you know. I
was thinking, that's where online shopping comes in handy, because
you don't have awkward interactions. But I have been trying
to do my shopping at some local boutiques this year.
I don't know, it just popped in my head. I
went into one the other day and I was like,
they have such cute stuff here, and I've never been
(27:50):
in this store. So it got me curious about the
different little boutiques that are one officer, not a chain,
not anything, and why have I never been into them?
And so I made it my mission to go shop
at them and buy gifts at those stores.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Okay, so maybe this is I don't think it's really
a Kansas thing. It's more so. There was one boutique
and it was called Alter Ego way back when in Wichita, Kansas.
And this is what turned me on to like boutiques
was mind you, I loved doing Wichita. We didn't have
like we had two malls, but they were a little icy,
so you really just it was hard to find places
to shop at in Wichita. That was like finding cute
(28:26):
clothes or things that were in style versus like just
going to Walmart or Target. And we loved this boutique.
So then when I moved to Nashville, I feel like
I really started to do boutiques all the time, and
that's where I did a lot of shopping, and my
mom would come to town and she'd love going to
all the boutiques. So I feel like boutique shopping has
been a part of my life all because of this
one store in Wichita, because they never gave with other options.
(28:48):
But now I love it because those are the stores
that I actually really like going to, Versus when I
try and stop in a Walmart or a Target, half
the time they don't ever have what I need, and
then I have to go to Amazon. It's weird. It's
like I want a shop in person. I want to
support like the in store places, but like the big
ones don't do it for me, but the boutiques they
(29:08):
always have things that I want. Real.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Yeah, I feel like I've found so many unique, special
cute gifts and they have everything. Answer where I got
the pajamas with my boyfriend's daughter, Like I was like,
I've never even seen pajamas like this before. These are
so cute and they're so soft and they're so unique.
And then they have like adorable kitchen knickknack things and
(29:30):
cute little Santa cups like that. Some of my friends
would love little mugs, and it's like a one stop
shop because then they also had jewelry and you know,
blankets like they had. It's like a variety, which I
know you have variety if you go walk around the mall,
but also to like something felt good about keeping it.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
I like the mom and pop local shops too, because
also again the mall's just I'm telling you, I've tried
to be in store shopping to be part of my
community a little bit more, and they just don't. They
don't have stuff anymore. It's weird. It's it's weird what
I've feel like I've witnessed as a consumer, and it
makes me then go to online chopping, and I hate
that because I don't want to online chop. Weird, weird balance, weird,
(30:13):
awkward moments. Those are the things that I thought about. Okay, Also,
we were at dinner with friends, and I want your
perspective on this. So the guys were drinking, they were
all having a great time, but the girls weren't drinking,
and one of them had ordered a mocktail, but what
arrived at our table for her was a cocktail and
she took a drink of it. And he like quickly
comes over. It was like that wasn't that had alcohol
(30:35):
or whatever? I feel like like my boyfriend and I
kind of looked at her tilther. I was like, that
was a really big mistake. No, that's huge. Should I
tell you?
Speaker 3 (30:42):
I haven't told you this. I show prepped it, but
we never talked about it on the show, so you
wouldn't have known because I just sent it to Bobby.
My friend was at a sound bath, okay, and she's
like fourteen years sober and she's at a sound bath.
What kind of thing drinks do you think someone has
at a sound bath?
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Oh? Like orange water water?
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Yes, something you know, not toxic like alcohol, because you're
it's a sound bath. Yes, it's like a yeah, peaceful
zen yoga type experience with.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Sound bath sounds.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
And they offered this drink at the end and she
took a sip of it. She was like, oh, yeah, yeah,
I would love that. And she took a sip of
it and instantly she could tell, like when it was
hitting her nose in her lips like something was off,
and then it got in her mouth and she could
taste the tequila. It was like this margarita infused something
or another and she just spit it out immediately and
(31:43):
then looked at the girl working and she was like,
is there alcohol in here? And she was like, oh yeah,
and that festive and fun, you know. I think it
was like a little festive holiday drink. And she was like, yeah, sure,
but I'm seven or I'm fourteen years sober so and
she was like and the girl just goes she was young,
and she's like, oh, my bad.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
And my friend was like, yeah, my bad.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Okay, I don't really know how to handle it. She
just kind of thought there needs to be more of
a this is an alcoholic drink. I mean, everybody in
the class was an adult, So maybe that something got
lost and my friend did not get the memo that
there was alcohol in the post sound bath cocktail.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
I feel like I would have missed that memo too.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
I just wouldn't think, like a sound bath on a
Tuesday night, you're having some tequila.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Or just like you you clearly state that, especially this
day and age, you have a lot of people that
don't consume alcohol for a whole bunch of reasons. That's
something that should be like, hey, do you want this
festive holiday cocktail, and if as soon as you say cocktail,
it's like, okay, well does have alcohol and it not
just like here's it right to heal you after whenever.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
It was interesting that that just happened to her a
few weeks ago. So what like this sort of similar
ish situation where you have alcohols not to be.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
I don't feel like, I mean, thankfully two of the girls,
one of them was pregnant, the other wasn't. Thankfully it
went to the girl who isn't. But I'm like, that
could have they both ordered a mocktail, and that could
have easily been the one that was pregnant, and you
have a lawsuit waiting on your hands. It was just
like a wild I couldn't. And as someone who was
a server, I get it you make mistakes. There's gonnay
(33:22):
times where you do things wrong. But if there was
one thing I ever made sure I did not do
wrong with mix up an alcoholic drink. If I was
unsure if something was a mocktail versus a cocktail, I'm like,
mixed hat again because I don't know what's in that, right,
you know, I just that's something that you can't mess with.
That or somebody's allergy. Theo's are two biggest thinks. Somebody's
definitely allergic to something, and if they can't have alcohol,
(33:43):
I feel like you can't miss up there. Those are
like those are fireballfences. But it was funny because my
friend was really chill about it. Thankfully she's not, like
she's sober by choice the last few years, but so
thankfully it wasn't gonna be something super detrimental to her.
But she was really cool about it, and I just was.
I feel like I would have not been chill about that.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Yeah, my friend was very chill about it too, but
it did make her a little nervous, like having that
touch because she's not sober by choice. I mean she
is by choice, yeah, but she had to get sober, Like.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Was she doing okay, like some something.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Yeah, she's fine, thankfully, but I could see we're in
that situation your brain getting like depending on how much
you were to have, but like it hitting your system,
and some people's brain just have like a I mean
some alcoholics that I know they have that craving all
the time. They can't they can't give into it because
they know what's on the other side of that so
(34:37):
they actively choose not to. But then you give your
brain that the taste of that, and it might be
like one time, Okay, Okay, there it is. That's what
I've been waiting for. Oh, that's what I've been missing
because our brains are so different. I watched a video
recently on what's actually happening to your brain when you
give it alcohol or drugs, and it's quite fast, and
(35:00):
how all of our chemical makeups are so different. So
sometimes we can't understand maybe why someone can't stop. And
the video talked about an analogy with like ice cream
for some people, or dairy, Like we don't ever question
someone's ability to process or not process dairy. Like if
(35:25):
someone's like, oh I can't have ice cream, my body
will react right away. We're like oh wow. And then
but yet sometimes we have a hard time understanding like
why can't they process alcohol the same as everybody else?
Like what's up with that? Well, we need to accept
it just the same of like oh wow, yeah, you
can't have alcohol. It's not about willpower or like your
(35:47):
body physically reacts totally different, and you know, sometimes people
are like, oh, we'll just switch to like this type
of alcohol well, that's like maybe switching from chocolate ice
cream to vanilla cream. It's still going to impact you. Yeah,
and you just the best thing to do is to
stay away from the dairy, right, So the best thing
to do is just stay away from the alcohol.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
And I feel like culturally in the last I guess
I've noticed it association with social media because being in
college when social media was really first hitting, I feel
like you watched people have these fun lives and it
was always revolved around alcohol. So you were kind of
taught that partying and like having alcohol and drinking were
associated with a good time. And that could just be
(36:31):
my experience in the way that it all played out,
but I think the correlation with social media and alcohol
has definitely played a role, and that you see heck,
I mean half of my feed because I love food
so much. I see a lot of food, but in
association with food is drinks, because you're not going to
go to a restaurant and get a good food and
not have the drink that pairs with it or whatever.
(36:52):
And I feel like that has made us think that
like people have to have alcohol to be having good times,
or having to consume alcohol to the normal person versus
the not normal person. And I don't know, maybe that's me,
maybe that's my experience with the comparison of too, but
I definitely feel like me growing up, I associated alcohol
with a good time, and if you weren't doing it,
(37:13):
you weren't having good time, or like you weren't a
cool kid for doing it, you know what I mean,
even though we had the DARE programs and you did
all the things in school that were like, don't do
these things, but it still was associated with that. I'm
sure there's other things beyond just what we saw on
social media, but maybe in magazines and on MTV and
stuff too.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
Yeah, I think the pendulum is swinging a little bit
because now on social you see a lot of the
I guess sober Curious or the mocktails are having a
moment right now where you know, people are have the
ability to buy a mixer or a drink where it's
like you can either add nothing to this and it's
going to taste like your favorite cocktail or if you
(37:53):
want to add a shot of tequila or vodka or
whatever the drink calls for.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
What's that with co?
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Yeah, that brand where you can drink it as is,
and have you know a margarita? That's what do they
say besides virgin?
Speaker 2 (38:10):
It's what's it called? We mocktail? Is how I but
DoD they're just mixers? Are they that? I guess?
Speaker 3 (38:16):
But I thought they're like when you're at the is
it just mocktail? Like when you're out there, because they
don't say virgin margarita.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
No, they definitely say mate or.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
Virgin pina clauda. They say, I thought there was another
word for it. That's like, because virgin's just weird now,
but for the cocktail or virgin.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Yeah, zero proof, spirit free, non alcoholic, okay, those are
all though.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
I don't know spirit free well anyway, it gives you
the same vibe and then you have the choice, like
so if someone wants it alcohol free, they have it
that way, and then if you want it, then you
add a little doll.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
Up of a little something, a some something.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
You know.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
I've been since I started my clinse and doing all
the work I have been to with the like care
of my the functional nutritionist, I haven't had alcohol since
that was like part of this cleanse was me like
removing everything bad for my body, and so I had
gone two months without any alcohol, and I felt the
best I'd ever felt, and even since then. Now we'll
(39:19):
go out and do things and I might have two
or three drinks and I just give it to my boyfriend.
I'm like, I'm good. I had to taste of it.
I'm fine. I don't you say two or three? And
I'm like, oh wow, like that would be a lot
for me. No, no, no, no, not like two or
three full drinks.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
You're like, and now I just go out and have
like three, and I'm like, okay, we're good, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Like, yeah, i'd be good too. No for even having
one full drink at this point, he's gonna send me
over the yeah, okay, okay, yeah, No two or three
SIPs of something and two or three SIPs.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
I literally thought you were like yeah. After the third one,
I'm like, well, I'm good. You can have my drinks now.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Could you imagine that I was saying? Yeah? So it
feels weird that, like my whole life, I was so different,
But I just feel so much better, and it's, you know,
how awesome it is to not wake up with a hangover,
feel sick, or feel inflamed because I had too much
alcohol that I shouldn't have been even putting in my
body to begin with.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Yeah, I know, I think I drink less than I
ever have before, and you're right, I do feel better.
And not that I was ever heavy, heavy drinker. I
definitely had times or seasons where I would have a
little glass of wine and I felt like I wanted
that every night, or quote unquote needed that. Obviously I didn't,
(40:34):
but I was just like, oh, okay, that's time for
a glass wine. It became like a routine. Thankfully, I
don't have my chemical makeup, isn't going to instantly become addicted.
And then I also didn't give it enough to where
then my body needed that all the time, Thank goodness.
But that's where it can get you sometimes, and I'm
(40:56):
very thankful that that wasn't my experience. My sister and
I were talking the other day because we couldn't remember.
I couldn't remember. We never knew our mom's dad. He died,
and then our mom has since passed and our uncle
has passed, so now we just have our aunt left,
and we're gonna call her and try to have a
conversation of what their dad was like. Because I couldn't
(41:16):
remember if he was an alcoholic, but I think that
maybe he was, and I want to know some information
about that because other than that, I don't know of
alcoholism in my bloodline, like my direct like my mom
or my dad didn't have an issue, but if my
grandpa did, like that's in my bloodline.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
Well, so I feel like two with those older generations,
it's really the younger generations were like, oh, yeah, they
were an alcoholic, but maybe at the time that person
didn't think they were an alcoholic. Yeah, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
I think it was very known, but nobody ever talked
about it. Like my sister are like, why didn't we
talk about this more? But it just wasn't anything. I
know that they got divorced for a reason. They were
divorced before he died. Before he passed away, my grandma
had already divorced him, and I think because he treated
her pretty terribly and there was some scary moments and
(42:06):
to think that my mom had to witness that as
a child, and I just want to kind of hug
my mom with things that maybe she had to go
through or witness that we just never talked about.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
And so that's another thing too.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
If you're around family this holiday season, that's when you
tend to see more of your family, ask questions just
to get to know family history and what life was like.
Of course that might be heavier stuff your family may
not want to revisit. But if you do have one
on one time or go on a walk, or you
are talking to your mom or dad, be like, what
was your childhood like?
Speaker 2 (42:38):
What were your parents like?
Speaker 3 (42:41):
Because I want to know that now and it might
explain some of how my mom was. Thankfully she wasn't
abusive or didn't have alcohol issues, but she was very
emotionally unavailable to me, and so I think there was
some neglect there that I've had to work through and
now it might make it These things might make more
(43:02):
sense to me if I could know more of why
she was shut off in that way. Mm hmm, yeah,
understanding her background.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
That family history and stuff. Man, you I feel like
everybody has a family lore that you find out about
as she keep getting older. There's like little pieces that
just start to piece together until you're finally, like in
your eighties nineties, and you finally have the whole puzzle.
But it took your whole life to put everything together. Yeah,
it's like the family tree that they make you do
in high school, but you don't actually have all the
pieces to do the family tree.
Speaker 3 (43:31):
Yeah, my siblings and I are trying to figure out
my dad's second wife. We know the first, we know
the third that was my mom, and we know the
fourth because it was after my mom, but we don't
really know anything about the second. Like nobody's seen a picture,
nobody's got like we have the name, but like where
is she and what happened and how.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
Long was it? And you know, like it's just I
want to know facts.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
About my dad's second wife, Like I would love to
know that, but he's gone now too, and I don't
really know who we could ask. I mean, we got
to figure that out. But my brother has been doing
something cathartic. He's been writing songs and he's not a writer,
and he's in his fifties, like he hasn't traditionally been
a writer, like a songwriter, but he's been doing something
or writing things just for his own therapeutic process, some healing.
(44:20):
And he sent us a song that he wrote about
our uncle the other day and he was like, I'm
trying to write one about Dad, but it's been difficult,
and so he texted me and my sisters and he
was like, send me things y'all remember about Dad. Just
throw them up here, like just throw everything at the wall.
Do you remember about his cooking and different things? And
I'm curious to see what he's going to put together.
(44:40):
He's like, I'll send it to y'all when i'm done.
And listening to the song like he or he wrote
out the lyrics, So reading the lyrics to the song
that he wrote about my uncle that was really special,
and then listening to how he kind of wants it
to sound was cool. And I was thinking about getting
with like Brandon ray or I don't know somebody here.
(45:03):
I need to ask Bobby, like who if I should?
I want to like hire somebody to put together what
my brother's done and just just as a demo and
give it to him as a gift, like hey, I
made this come to life.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
Or I feel like you could definitely have somebody help
you with that. Yeah, like that could be a special.
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (45:21):
I was just thinking of activities even with siblings of
like hey, guys, let's write. Let's all get together and
write a song about our dad and just see what
what or your mom and see what comes out.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (45:30):
It was a cool group text and I haven't texted
with my other siblings. My sister and I text a lot,
but then my half brother and half sister we text
like on the holiday, like you know, or the day
my dad died, like oh, hey, happy day.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
You know, I think it's happy.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
I don't know what we say, but we're like thinking
of you all today, heartheart, Yeah, I'm a happy dad's
dead day. I mean, I would have put it past
this to say that and sort of laugh. You find
ways to grief and yeah, makes it fine. But I
just thought that literally just came up this week and
that's something we've been texting about. So I was just
going to share that since it's sort of related in
(46:11):
when you're together with your family for the holidays, that
also could just be a fun activity with your family
arou on the table, like hey, let's write a song.
Just come up with some verses and a chorus, and well,
in my favorite way, like genuinely that I've seen more
sides of my family members. When we play games together,
we pull out just so many and not just one
it's not like we played one board game.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
We played all night. We bring out like fifteen different
games and we just rotate through all of them. And
I feel like this when I learn a lot about
people that you just never see another side of them.
So if you don't want to be super emotionally.
Speaker 3 (46:40):
Yeah, yeah, maybe you don't need cathartic, you just need fun.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
Yeah, you can try the cathartic. If it doesn't work,
maybe try games. You a funny song, Yeah, you could
write a funny song. There was a game it's called
Redneck Life. It's like Life the game, but redneck version.
And we grew up in Kansas. We all have that
countryside of our family, and so we played Redneck Live
and we all had to you had to talk in
(47:04):
the game and your redneck accent, and it was the
We laughed for like six hours. Oh that sounds fun
because it was literally just like us as we were kids,
coming all out and all of our like my dad's
little mannerisms from his childhood, because he he says things
like washer and dala, like, he has words that he
uses very in that kind of country slang, and it
(47:26):
all just came out and it was fun to watch.
Oh so like that. Yeah, so you could do something
fun like that. I'm sure there's like.
Speaker 3 (47:32):
It's called redneck life. Yeah, okay, and it's hilarious.
Speaker 2 (47:35):
You can only win by keeping your teeth. Oh that's funny,
keeping only your teeth. And I can't be insulted because
I literally grew up on a farm with redneck life,
so that that was my life for a solid portion.
But all right, we're gonna jump out of here and
answer some listener questions, so go check that out on
part three, Amy, thanks for joining.
Speaker 3 (47:53):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (47:53):
Tell the people where they can find you.
Speaker 3 (47:55):
Radio Amy on socials and podcast is Feeling Things with
Amy and Kat.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
Love that and an early early Merry Christmas to everybody.
Enjoy the holidays with your family and there will be
more best Bits for the holidays, so you'll have plenty
each weekend until we are back.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
That's the Best Bits of the Week with Morgan. Thanks
for listening. Be sure to check out the other two
parts this weekend. Go follow the show on all social.
Speaker 3 (48:18):
Platforms and follow at web
Speaker 1 (48:21):
Girl Morgan to submit your listener questions for next week's episode.
The Best Bits of the Week with Morgan, Part one
behind a scene with a member of the show.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Happy weekend, friends, and we are nearing Christmas time. I'm
really excited about that. Amy is running me this weekend.
What's up Amy?
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Hello?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hello, thanks for being here. And speaking of Christmas. What
are your Christmas Flans? What's happening in the Amy household?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Yeah, we're just going to be in Nashville. We're staying here.
It's been a minute since I've stayed. I actually maybe
last Christmas we did I honestly cannot even remember. No,
I went to Colorado. That's normally what we do. I
know that there was a Christmas in the last five
years where we stayed home and didn't go to Colorado.
(00:41):
But pretty much every year for the last twenty years
or so, we go to Colorado. And I'm change, well,
you know, I alternate when I have the kids. So
this year I had them for Thanksgiving and Ben has
them for Christmas this year, and my boyfriend's family's from here.
They normally stay put because they do they have like
(01:03):
a spring break trip coming up, which is pretty quickly
after Christmas time, and so they're just staying here and
I was like, Okay, I'll stay and the kids are
going to go do something with their dad. And while
that has been the case in the past, I normally
go and we swap in Colorado because their dad, we'd
go to the same small town. He's got family there.
(01:23):
I have family there, so we still go there together,
just separately, if that makes sense. But they're not even
doing that. They're going to California so with his parents,
and so I'm like, well, I guess I'll just stay.
And my sister and her husband were just here a
couple of weeks ago. I don't know what it is.
(01:45):
I just feel like that's what I need to do,
is stay put. I could go see my sister in Colorado.
I'm like thinking this through live with y'all. I'm like, wait,
why am I staying? I should? I feel like parts
of me feel like I should go, but also it's
okay for me to stay. And I now have this
new extension of my family with my boyfriend and his kids,
and they're all going to be here, so it's not
(02:06):
like I'll be alone and then my kids will come
back to me from They fly back from California on
the twenty sixth, so.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Okay, So these are follow up questions. One, do you
plan has been Christmas with your boyfriend his family? Is
that on the docket?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Yeah, because otherwise I'd be alone.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, okay, so this is the first one you guys
are spending together, is that right? Uh?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Yeah, we were together last Christmas, but I was in Colorado.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Okay, So how do you feel about that? Are you excited? Oh? Yeah,
it feels normal.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I feel like I mean, I've spent this Thanksgiving was
the second time I had been with his family, and yeah,
it feels like that's what we should be doing. So
nothing about it. I'm not going to wake up there
Christmas morning or anything like. I I'll wake up, it
will be interesting. I'll be by myself. So I'll wake
up at my house and I got my dog and
(02:54):
my cat, and then I guess I'll get ready and
go over there probably first thing. Maybe even wear my pajamas.
His daughter and I bought some pajamas the other day
that are really cute and she's excited to wear I'm
Christmas pajamas. They're not matching, but they're the same if
that's like the same brand. Yeah, but they weren't matching
matching only because we actually both like the one she got,
(03:16):
but they only had one and that size, and we
both wanted the same size. So I was like, you
get them, or I'll get you that pair and I'll
get this other pair.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Do you know what they're getting for Christmas? Gifts from
their dad? Were you part of that experience? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (03:28):
I know what he got them, and I got them
gifts from just me.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Okay, so you have them individually.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
M hmm, yeah, like he shopped. I mean, of course,
he told me, like I'm thinking I am not getting
this thing. I'll get in that, you know, And then
I was like, oh, you should do that. I'm going
to get this. They make lists, like his daughter, she's seventeen.
She sent me a Google doc with links.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I love that. Honestly.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
My kids are the same way.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
You know, you get to a point where at least
you're getting things that you're gonna use and you want,
versus things that it feels like almost bad when you
get something that you know you're not gonna use or
you can't take back, and then you don't know what
to do with it.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
And then his boys use some app called like giftly
or something where it yeah, it's gift ly dot com.
And just looked it up and they it's almost like
a registry and you can check off, but they have
you know, ants and grandparents and cousins and all these
different people are shopping so they can just send them
to Giftly. I guess the daughter doesn't use it. She's like,
(04:22):
I prefer Google Doc. I'm like, that's fine. I love
the organization. Yeah, goule doc is awesome. It makes it easy.
And she's got some stuff coming up. She's doing an
internship in DC, so she needs professional clothes. So honestly,
most of her list was was for things that she
needs that for that. And I was like, okay, well,
(04:43):
I'm sure your dad would get you this stuff anyway,
Bess you need it, so I I'd milk other things,
but okay.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
And the giftly one, can you mark if you bought something? Yeah,
you mark it as like it really is like a registry.
And then I guess they know that they're getting those. Yeah,
they don't really.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
They like update it and I don't think they go
back and like check it out. I guess you could,
but I think they want to be surprised. They don't
know who got them what mm hm. And then it
just helps keep it organized, so like who's checking off stuff?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
So the Christmas that you'll go over to, it is
extended family also, so it's not just their core family
though I think in.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
The morning it might be I don't know in the
morning who shows up, maybe his dad and so yeah,
there probably could be some extended I shall know. Yet
my family we always make sausage gravy and cinnamon roles,
so I feel like I need to make that for them, uh,
which they've never had before.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, you have to like traditions together, That's how you
start to do that. Yeah, so we'll see. Does it
feel weird that this is going to be a different year.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
No, I'm excited about it. I think I just want
I think the reason for not traveling too is it's
like it's okay to be still and not create extra
stuff like of course wanting to see my family and
that would be a big blessing. And I think I
just have the self awareness that I need to stay
(06:09):
and be still, like because even Bem was like, you know,
made a suggestion like if you wanted to come out
to California, you could too, And then we could make
the swap out there, and I was like, I think
I'm good. I think I'm going to just stay.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Okay, So then it's probably an option to have the
I think, the feeling that you want to stay, the
feeling that there's something here.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
That you're Yeah, it's not like a like a woe
is me, like what sad I'm staying? It's oh, okay, Yeah,
I have an option here and it's okay for me
to stay. I don't need to force a trip or
force travel and add that to my plate. So good changes,
good changes. Yeah, what about you?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
So we're going to Kansas for Christmas, which will be
my boyfriend's first trip back home, but his his mom
is currently about to make her way here. She gets
here probably about the time that you guys are all
listening to this podcast, and we'll be staying with us
for the week, so we get spend time with her
and his sister, and they had all gotten together for
Thanksgiving in town as well, so we had seen most
(07:15):
of them. But so she'll come stay with us. It'll
be the first time she's staying with us, so we
have my learning lesson of what it's like to be
around other family I'm really used to my own and
I can tell my parents they make me mad or something.
This will be a new experience for me that I'm
looking forward to. But she's excited because we do a
bunch of sweet treats that we make for everybody every year,
(07:36):
and I do, and he's now like taking on that
tradition and we're making a whole bunch and his mom
is so excited because she's like, I get to be
part of this. I have a whole bunch of things
I can add, So I'm really excited to see what
that's going to be like. And then extra hands, Yes,
I love extra hands. It's a lot of work, so
make for that long and that many people. We have
an extensive list this year, two people versus my one
(07:57):
list that I used to do, so that I'm excited for.
We're going to do a bunch of Christmas stuff around town.
We have Christmas bars that we're gonna go see the
pop ups and different lists that I've found from being
chronically online too much of things that are happening in
Nashville for the holidays. And then yeah, around like a
few days before Christmas, We're gonna drive back to Kansas,
(08:19):
and we'll be there through Christmas and New Year's Eve.
All of my childhood friends are coming into town for
New Year's Eve, so we're all gonna oh that's a
party together.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Okay, So you're going to be there for a little
bit a while.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
And those girls are the same ones who were here
the night that I met him. Oh that's cool. Yes,
So I'm excited for them to all actually get to
spend more time together now that that's transpired, and for
him to meet all their husbands and partners and stuff
like that. So I'm just excited. It's gonna be a
lot of first and a lot of things happening, but
(08:51):
I think it'll be really fun.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yeah, I mean, I mean I think so too. A
lot of first for you that are new. And I've
never taken a guy home for Christmas. That's not wrong,
that's wrong.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
I've taken one, but it was the abusive relationship, and
so I think i've kind of black backed it out. Yeah,
that never happened that one. I don't really remember there
anything else I never have. So this feels good and
different and really exciting. So, and we're in such a
good place in our relationship, so I'm excited to see
what all comes about. I think we're gonna do a
(09:24):
podcast episode two, like after the Holidays, debriefing what it
was like for our cat ones. I was like, you
want to do this?
Speaker 3 (09:30):
He's like, hey, Yas, that'd be fun to have. Yeah,
like listen back on and see how far you've come.
And I'm trying to when you've got your fifth Christmas
together or something.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Right, like, that's the hope. That'll be the cool part
of it. And I'm trying to get my eighty eight
year old grandma to do an episode with me. I
don't know if she will. She used to be an
English professor, so she's super smart. But she's the one
who lives out on the farm by herself. She lives
this very like independent, fierce, just cool life out on
the farm. So I really I want to do an
(10:00):
episode with her, so hopefully she will. I hope so too.
All the ones I've done with the Apes Garden Residents,
the a little it'swer okay, we had little sneezes. Sorry,
this is real all the best I saw you.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
I'm trying to halt it, and then I was like, oh, I.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Gotta go, No, it's Okay that the families of the
residents when I do those episodes, they get really excited
because they wouldn't have had those stories and all of
that else wise. I guess I keep saying elsewhise, And
that's why I think.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
I think that how a way for you to convince
your grandma might be telling the stories of how other
people have come on and how their families have been
so grateful.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, because you just get I feel like, when it's
different than when you sit with your grandparents somewhere and
they tell stories, you may never ask the questions that
somebody's gonna ask during an interview because you just it's
random to be like, so tell me about that time
that you were five years old and this was happening
in your life or whatever, you know what I mean.
So I'm hopeful that she'll do that. But that's my
(10:59):
only work plan for when you're on. Other than that,
I'm trying to actually, like full blown get everything done.
So for a week and a half I can completely
check out unplug. We'll see if I can accomplish that.
Though I don't. I think you can. I think you can.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
And now you've got a partner that can maybe hold
you accountable. Obviously, if something comes up and there's a fire,
you have to put out your enough to maybe do it.
But I know otherwise you might be like, hey, which
would you get off socials? Just in general? Like do
you ever take a break from that, just for a
few days, Like don't even open it up at all? Whatsoever?
(11:37):
Not even for your personal.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
No, because it's just it feels not possible. I feel
like I miss stuff if I don't, And that's probably
me in my brain that I've set up that pattern.
But I just I feel like anytime, even if I've
gone twenty four hours where I just had a really
busy thing, we had plans, and I get on Saturday
(11:59):
after afternoon, I feel like I've missed eighty different things?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
And but what is it about what you're missing?
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Though?
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Like what is it? What does it matter?
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Not really not my personal one as much like I
still check it.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
But I'm saying if you're taking a week and a
half off, like what if you miss something, it doesn't
matter because you're not working.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I know what it feels like I should be reposting
things and making sure that everything is seen on our page.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
But when you take a week and a half off.
Are you taking time off from socials too, or just
your other stuff?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I mean, I'm trying to do it of all of it. Okay,
that would be the best thing for my body to Yeah,
that's where I'm like, Okay, let's let's commit, let's get more.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Going to break from socials.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I just don't feel like it's possible. I feel like
I'm going to get an email or something's gonna happen
where I'm going to have to do something and the
minute that I check back in, there's no going back.
That's the spirit. I might try, though, at least a
few days try. Yeah, go a weekend. Yeah, that'll be
my goal. I'll schedule some posts or something, so hopefully
I can. We'll see. Yeah, I'll check back in with yeah, Okay,
(13:06):
we're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back.
And speaking of holidays, Thanksgiving, I was watching on your
Instagram Stevenson's run. That was such a cool thing to
watch happen.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Yeah, it was well, I was inspired. I was so
proud of him, and you know, he wants to do
it again next year, but he wants to do a
full marathon instead of a half, so he went from
trying to double his running goal or his furthest he's
gone to five miles, so we wanted to double that
to ten miles. And it wasn't that he saw the
(13:39):
donations coming in per mile, because some people were pledging
per mile. So I started to realize some people think, oh,
he's running more to try to get more money out
of people. Well, what really was going on in his
brain was that money was coming in, not just pledges,
actual donations, and he felt like, if these donations were
coming in, I need to give them a show, you know,
(14:02):
like I need to really push myself. So ten miles
seems doable, I better tried to go for a half marathon.
And so that's what that was about. It was because
most people just paid in advance, so it's not like
they were like, oh, well, I'm going to go back
and do three point one more miles in a donation. No,
he just felt like he was so grateful they were
(14:24):
making donations in as part of this fundraiser in his
honor or however you want to look at it, to
the orphanage where he grew up, and he wanted to
he wanted to make sure he was working for the money. Yeah,
he wanted to push himself a little bit harder. How
did he feel after doing a half marathon? Because great,
from going five miles to a half marathon is a
(14:45):
pretty massive jump. Yeah, he was a little sore, but
nothing about his body was winded, like cardiovascularly. He felt
totally fine. I think his shins were bothering him a
little bit. I went and got epsom salt and ran
him a bath. He'd never taken one of those before.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
He's never taken a bath.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
No. I mean when he was a kid, he took
a bath, but he'd never taken an Epsen saw bath. Okay,
especially as a teenager, Like, I don't think he's taken
a bath since he was maybe when we first adopted
him he was seven eight nine. I think we would
take baths, but after that he stopped.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Okay, And I shouldn't react that way. I feel like
there is a lot of people out there that probably
have never taken a bath. It's just it's more of
a foreign concept a little bit. I don't think I'm
to him.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
He was like, what I have to sit in this
water with this salt?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
And yeah, we did get him the lavender epsin sal or.
No I got.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
I just got plaining unscented because I thought, oh, if
I get a scented version, it's gonna throw him off
for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
So not sore. And how much money did he end
up raising? Total?
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Thirty over thirty four thousand dollars wild.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah, it's also crazy to me. You were listing off
on the show how many things that that's going to
take care of? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
I actually just got a text from the treasurer of
Team Haiti and she was updating me that like she
was able to send a wire, like, I'll just here's
the like, I literally just got it this morning. She
was wiring like ten thousand of it today and she'll
(16:14):
be saving the rest to go towards teacher salaries for
next year. But all that's going to cover is Christmas.
There's an itemized list that was given to teacher Johnson
and it includes the nanny bonuses as part of ten thousand.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Then tea.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
There's six teachers, and then the head of the school
is getting a bigger bonus. Then she was able to
wire as part of that the teacher salaries for January, February,
and March and increase one of the teachers pay by
two hundred and fifty dollars so that all the teachers
make the same amount. Also a scholarship for another kid's
student that's wanting to go to the school. And then
(16:51):
she threw in five hundred dollars for emergencies that may
come up, which we never have like excess for just
in case emergencies, and obviously they let us know what
that is. And then we have to pay a fifty
dollars wiring fee to get the money there. So it
was just cool to see, like all of that is covered,
and the rest of next year we covered. We're not
going to send it all at once, but at least
the teacher salaries part is covered. And so it was
(17:12):
cool to see that the Christmas gifts check, teacher bonuses check,
nanny bonas's a scholarship. Like all of that was just
wired today because people were so generous with Stevenson's run.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
And where did this start? Why did Stevenson decide he
wanted to do this?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Well, Chase was at my house, but you know Chase,
he's from Kansas, I do Chase Loucke. So he's gone
to Haiti with me. I mean, that was a long
time ago, but he's been to Haiti. We do other
work things together, and he was over at my house
and we were sitting at a table trying to think
we're we were trying to think of finding monthly donors
(17:53):
to Team Haiti.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
So the idea was.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
We were thinking if we could just give people to
sign up ten dollars a month, but we get lots
of people to do it. And that's what's crazy about
Stevenson's run. A lot of his donations were five to
ten dollars, so it was cool to see that all
adding up. I mean, there was very few people that
made larger donations, but the majority of that thirty four
thousand was people just five ten dollars here, which that's
(18:20):
neat to see because when everybody comes together, it all
adds up and can really make a difference. So we
were trying to brainstorm what we could do for monthly donors.
So Chase and I were already having a conversation and
Stevenson got home from a run. He had just run
five miles and he was like, oh, we're all talking
about the Orphanage. We're like yeah, and so we just
(18:41):
explained to him what we were trying to do and
he was like, man, do you think I could run
ten miles? He's like I just ran five and I
was like, yeah, I think you could. Like we might
need a little motivation, but like what would motivate you?
And then that's when he was like, I don't know,
maybe money for the orphanage. It just was right place,
(19:01):
right time for all of us, like him getting back
from a run, him doing five miles, him getting curious
about ten miles, us thinking of fundraisers, and then we
were like, wait a second, what if next Saturday? And
that's literally how it was. Next Saturday, you do a run.
We didn't even know what look like. I was asking
listeners for help on Instagram, like saying, do y'all have
any ideas? How could we do this? And that's when
people like have people pledge per mile and we're like, oh, okay, yeah,
(19:23):
that's a good idea. And then it just evolved from
there and then seven days later he was running and
that's how it happened.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
I love that so much. He's such a cool kid.
It's cool to see just from when you guys first
got him to now.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
It has a very big heart. Yeah, he's very tender.
He thinks about people, he's empathetic, he ca like, he's
very very special.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Well, and I saw something really sweet that you had
reposted one of Stashira's posts because she was so proud
of her brother. Yeah, that's cool to see.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Yeah, because she couldn't be there and she was with
some friends and yeah, she was like, I'm smiling, I'm
I'm paraphrasing right now, but in the gist of it
was I'm seriously so happy right now. I'm proud of Stevenson.
And I'm like, what because their relationships there's typical teenage siblings,
(20:18):
like they don't totally get along that well, and one day,
hopefully that will get better, but right now she just
finds him incredibly annoying.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Oh yeah, it takes until you are away from each
other to finally realize how much you care about each
other and how much that matters.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Yeah, So it was special to see her happy for
him and selving that, and I think she was genuinely
happy to see also people caring about the orphanage and
giving to that cause.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
So did that make your mom heart just kind of flutter?
And yes, I was like, Okay, yeah, this is really yay, yay,
yay for these moments.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
I'm gonna cherish it, soak it up because I don't
know how long it will last.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, I love that. I love that this is going
so well. It's it's really been fun too. It was
cool as somebody on the other side of the screen
just to watch him do that.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Yeah, and him have friends show up to run with him.
There wasn't a mile that he ran alone. We were
all taking turns. And next year we'll see how we
do it. Maybe we'll have a little more time to
plan it, and maybe that's when we can focus on
getting reoccurring monthly donors, like, hey, if you want to commit,
can you commit to five dollars a month? Yeah, because
then it would just be recurring, and we've never really
(21:27):
focused on a plan for that. You know, some people
will do that and they get something in return, like
maybe you're sponsoring a kid and then.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
You get updates about that kid.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Well, we don't want to send out specific information about
each kid there or have that type of thing. And
then kids are getting adopted, so they're in and out,
and we used to post more about the kids there,
and then there's obviously a thing of protecting their privacy
and exploiting their situation, so that we thought, well, maybe
(22:01):
people would want to sponsor like a nanny or an
adult like a tea, you know, because there at least
have more agency. They are adults. They can sign a
paper and agree to be a part of something like that.
And there's just a lot of things that we've tried
to consider that would make people want to feel connected.
I just haven't been able to go there since twenty seventeen,
(22:22):
and I think when I go there, followers have more
of a connection because they get an inside look. But
I haven't been in so long. We still have constant contact,
you know, even been my accession, like he's doing stuff there.
We still have the bakery there and that generates funds
as well, but some of this stuff is for We've
since opened a school there, so there's the orphanage costs,
and then there's the school costs, and there's operation costs.
(22:43):
There's a lot of costs that go into things. So
they it's just thankful for people that, you know, they
may have no idea what the orphanage is even like,
but they still took time and effort to donate money
to Stevenson's run and that was really special.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
It is cool. One of the coolest parts about this
time of year is if you can it's cool to
see the generosity that comes out with the season, of
people wanting to help each other and show up for
each other and causes that people care about, Like the
Giving Tuesday is one of my favorite days to watch
on social media because you really see everybody's passions come out,
the things that they care about, the things that they
(23:20):
want you to support, and that they've been doing all
year but you just really haven't seen because it's just
like it's one of those catchway toos where people are like, well,
if you posted about it, then you're not actually you
don't care about it in the way that you do.
But then if you don't post about it, you're not
raising awareness. It's like, you know, you rock in a
hard place there. So I just love this time of
year for that reason too. I feel like we get
(23:40):
to see more of the good in the world than
you know, every part of the year, everybody else is
keeping it silent because they feel like they have to. Yeah,
so I loved that part. I wanted to hear about it.
So thanks for sharing.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Yeah, those for bringing it up. Stevenson's going to be excited.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
He's so awesome. Are you ever gonna take a quick
break and we'll be right back. I want to talk
about some awkward things that we all have to do
on a regular basis that we just kind of deal
with and put up with. And the reason this even
became a conversation was because I was at the dentist
and it's a newer one, so I'm still getting to
know the people there and stuff, and the hygienis is
(24:15):
working on me, but she was so sweet because she
wanted to talk to me. The man, she was talking
to me the whole time, and she was in my
mouth the whole time, So I'm like, I can't say anything,
and then if I do try and talk, she stops
working on me, and then it prolongs the appointment and
it's just such an awkward interaction. So then I was
thinking about all of the things that like we just
deal with on a daily basis that are super awkward.
(24:36):
Is there anything that comes to mind for you with
this that we just like don't realize we do all
the time.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Oh gosh, I don't know, you mean that I do
that might be awkward or that's like awkward that happens
to me.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Yeah, like all people probably experience something like this. Like
another one is when you're at the grocery store checkout
and they're like, have a great day, and you're like,
he thanks you too, or you say something we were
because you're just not sure how to enter.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Yeah. Well sometimes I'll I anticipate that the clerk is
asking me how my day is, and they're not like
they something else comes out, but I'm anticipating how are you?
And I answer with I'm fine, how are you? And
they're like I said, cash or credit or whatever.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Yeah, these are like those things. I feel like we
have a lot of awkward interactions on a daily basis
that we just nobody ever talks about. Yeah, and we
just deal with the much humans.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
There's this one guy I've been passing when we walk
our dogs every day in our neighborhood, or I walk
my dog every day and he walks his, So we
are walking our dogs and I pass him over and
over and his dog always is so aggressive towards my dog,
and I almost like tense up when I know we're
about to end, and I know he feels bad too,
But that's an awkward interaction I've been having in my
(25:51):
neighborhood where I'm like, oh, shoot, and I want to
just like turn around and go the other direction just
to save Kara the stress and his dog the stress.
But I'm like, well, I don't want him to think
I'm avoiding him, so I'm like trying to hold car
really tight. So that's an awkward neighborhood situation that I'm
having right now.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Oh that's a good one. And also another one that's
awkward is when you see somebody not pick up poop
and you like you want to say something, but then
also you don't want to say something.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
I'm not saying anything, but I am judging.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Right, That's one that I judge, and that people do
it so freely.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Maybe goodness, I don't see that, not in my neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
I think it's as I walk in a little park
and it's a little.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Bit more, they probably think that, oh, this is a
public park, I don't need to pick it up.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Yeah, I see it a lot, So that's one. Then
another one I was thinking of was when you're at
a grocery store. Maybe it's a grocery or somewhere else
just in public and somebody's on the phone and you
think they're talking to you, and then you.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Were just start tugging. Yes, there's that or right now
with the parking lots being so full when you're shopping,
like you finally get to a parking spot, but another
car pulls in like right at the same time, and
you're like, who had.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Their blinker on first? And it becomes a fight a
parking lot.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Yeah, I just go ahead and driveway, I surrender, I
wave the rifleg and like you can have it, I'll go.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
But it is awkward for a second.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
It isn't like well.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
But yeah, and there's no communication because you're both in
cars so you can't.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
I also feel like and maybe it's just a lot
of grocery store moments for me, but there was another
one where I took the last product of something at
a grocery store and another lady was walking up to
get it and she kind of gave me the dirty eye,
like I was was a ticket. Well you were there first, right,
but awkward interaction.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
I've been trying to do my shopping, you know. I
was thinking, that's where online shopping comes in handy, because
you don't have awkward interactions. But I have been trying
to do my shopping at some local boutiques this year.
I don't know, it just popped in my head. I
went into one the other day and I was like,
they have such cute stuff here, and I've never been
(27:50):
in this store. So it got me curious about the
different little boutiques that are one officer, not a chain,
not anything, and why have I never been into them?
And so I made it my mission to go shop
at them and buy gifts at those stores.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Okay, so maybe this is I don't think it's really
a Kansas thing. It's more so. There was one boutique
and it was called Alter Ego way back when in Wichita, Kansas.
And this is what turned me on to like boutiques
was mind you, I loved doing Wichita. We didn't have
like we had two malls, but they were a little icy,
so you really just it was hard to find places
to shop at in Wichita. That was like finding cute
(28:26):
clothes or things that were in style versus like just
going to Walmart or Target. And we loved this boutique.
So then when I moved to Nashville, I feel like
I really started to do boutiques all the time, and
that's where I did a lot of shopping, and my
mom would come to town and she'd love going to
all the boutiques. So I feel like boutique shopping has
been a part of my life all because of this
one store in Wichita, because they never gave with other options.
(28:48):
But now I love it because those are the stores
that I actually really like going to, Versus when I
try and stop in a Walmart or a Target, half
the time they don't ever have what I need, and
then I have to go to Amazon. It's weird. It's
like I want a shop in person. I want to
support like the in store places, but like the big
ones don't do it for me, but the boutiques they
(29:08):
always have things that I want. Real.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Yeah, I feel like I've found so many unique, special
cute gifts and they have everything. Answer where I got
the pajamas with my boyfriend's daughter, Like I was like,
I've never even seen pajamas like this before. These are
so cute and they're so soft and they're so unique.
And then they have like adorable kitchen knickknack things and
(29:30):
cute little Santa cups like that. Some of my friends
would love little mugs, and it's like a one stop
shop because then they also had jewelry and you know,
blankets like they had. It's like a variety, which I
know you have variety if you go walk around the mall,
but also to like something felt good about keeping it.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
I like the mom and pop local shops too, because
also again the mall's just I'm telling you, I've tried
to be in store shopping to be part of my
community a little bit more, and they just don't. They
don't have stuff anymore. It's weird. It's it's weird what
I've feel like I've witnessed as a consumer, and it
makes me then go to online chopping, and I hate
that because I don't want to online chop. Weird, weird balance, weird,
(30:13):
awkward moments. Those are the things that I thought about. Okay, Also,
we were at dinner with friends, and I want your
perspective on this. So the guys were drinking, they were
all having a great time, but the girls weren't drinking,
and one of them had ordered a mocktail, but what
arrived at our table for her was a cocktail and
she took a drink of it. And he like quickly
comes over. It was like that wasn't that had alcohol
(30:35):
or whatever? I feel like like my boyfriend and I
kind of looked at her tilther. I was like, that
was a really big mistake. No, that's huge. Should I
tell you?
Speaker 3 (30:42):
I haven't told you this. I show prepped it, but
we never talked about it on the show, so you
wouldn't have known because I just sent it to Bobby.
My friend was at a sound bath, okay, and she's
like fourteen years sober and she's at a sound bath.
What kind of thing drinks do you think someone has
at a sound bath?
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Oh? Like orange water water?
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Yes, something you know, not toxic like alcohol, because you're
it's a sound bath. Yes, it's like a yeah, peaceful
zen yoga type experience with.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Sound bath sounds.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
And they offered this drink at the end and she
took a sip of it. She was like, oh, yeah, yeah,
I would love that. And she took a sip of
it and instantly she could tell, like when it was
hitting her nose in her lips like something was off,
and then it got in her mouth and she could
taste the tequila. It was like this margarita infused something
or another and she just spit it out immediately and
(31:43):
then looked at the girl working and she was like,
is there alcohol in here? And she was like, oh yeah,
and that festive and fun, you know. I think it
was like a little festive holiday drink. And she was like, yeah, sure,
but I'm seven or I'm fourteen years sober so and
she was like and the girl just goes she was young,
and she's like, oh, my bad.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
And my friend was like, yeah, my bad.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Okay, I don't really know how to handle it. She
just kind of thought there needs to be more of
a this is an alcoholic drink. I mean, everybody in
the class was an adult, So maybe that something got
lost and my friend did not get the memo that
there was alcohol in the post sound bath cocktail.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
I feel like I would have missed that memo too.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
I just wouldn't think, like a sound bath on a
Tuesday night, you're having some tequila.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Or just like you you clearly state that, especially this
day and age, you have a lot of people that
don't consume alcohol for a whole bunch of reasons. That's
something that should be like, hey, do you want this
festive holiday cocktail, and if as soon as you say cocktail,
it's like, okay, well does have alcohol and it not
just like here's it right to heal you after whenever.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
It was interesting that that just happened to her a
few weeks ago. So what like this sort of similar
ish situation where you have alcohols not to be.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
I don't feel like, I mean, thankfully two of the girls,
one of them was pregnant, the other wasn't. Thankfully it
went to the girl who isn't. But I'm like, that
could have they both ordered a mocktail, and that could
have easily been the one that was pregnant, and you
have a lawsuit waiting on your hands. It was just
like a wild I couldn't. And as someone who was
a server, I get it you make mistakes. There's gonnay
(33:22):
times where you do things wrong. But if there was
one thing I ever made sure I did not do
wrong with mix up an alcoholic drink. If I was
unsure if something was a mocktail versus a cocktail, I'm like,
mixed hat again because I don't know what's in that, right,
you know, I just that's something that you can't mess with.
That or somebody's allergy. Theo's are two biggest thinks. Somebody's
definitely allergic to something, and if they can't have alcohol,
(33:43):
I feel like you can't miss up there. Those are
like those are fireballfences. But it was funny because my
friend was really chill about it. Thankfully she's not, like
she's sober by choice the last few years, but so
thankfully it wasn't gonna be something super detrimental to her.
But she was really cool about it, and I just was.
I feel like I would have not been chill about that.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Yeah, my friend was very chill about it too, but
it did make her a little nervous, like having that
touch because she's not sober by choice. I mean she
is by choice, yeah, but she had to get sober, Like.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Was she doing okay, like some something.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Yeah, she's fine, thankfully, but I could see we're in
that situation your brain getting like depending on how much
you were to have, but like it hitting your system,
and some people's brain just have like a I mean
some alcoholics that I know they have that craving all
the time. They can't they can't give into it because
they know what's on the other side of that so
(34:37):
they actively choose not to. But then you give your
brain that the taste of that, and it might be
like one time, Okay, Okay, there it is. That's what
I've been waiting for. Oh, that's what I've been missing
because our brains are so different. I watched a video
recently on what's actually happening to your brain when you
give it alcohol or drugs, and it's quite fast, and
(35:00):
how all of our chemical makeups are so different. So
sometimes we can't understand maybe why someone can't stop. And
the video talked about an analogy with like ice cream
for some people, or dairy, Like we don't ever question
someone's ability to process or not process dairy. Like if
(35:25):
someone's like, oh I can't have ice cream, my body
will react right away. We're like oh wow. And then
but yet sometimes we have a hard time understanding like
why can't they process alcohol the same as everybody else?
Like what's up with that? Well, we need to accept
it just the same of like oh wow, yeah, you
can't have alcohol. It's not about willpower or like your
(35:47):
body physically reacts totally different, and you know, sometimes people
are like, oh, we'll just switch to like this type
of alcohol well, that's like maybe switching from chocolate ice
cream to vanilla cream. It's still going to impact you. Yeah,
and you just the best thing to do is to
stay away from the dairy, right, So the best thing
to do is just stay away from the alcohol.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
And I feel like culturally in the last I guess
I've noticed it association with social media because being in
college when social media was really first hitting, I feel
like you watched people have these fun lives and it
was always revolved around alcohol. So you were kind of
taught that partying and like having alcohol and drinking were
associated with a good time. And that could just be
(36:31):
my experience in the way that it all played out,
but I think the correlation with social media and alcohol
has definitely played a role, and that you see heck,
I mean half of my feed because I love food
so much. I see a lot of food, but in
association with food is drinks, because you're not going to
go to a restaurant and get a good food and
not have the drink that pairs with it or whatever.
(36:52):
And I feel like that has made us think that
like people have to have alcohol to be having good times,
or having to consume alcohol to the normal person versus
the not normal person. And I don't know, maybe that's me,
maybe that's my experience with the comparison of too, but
I definitely feel like me growing up, I associated alcohol
with a good time, and if you weren't doing it,
(37:13):
you weren't having good time, or like you weren't a
cool kid for doing it, you know what I mean,
even though we had the DARE programs and you did
all the things in school that were like, don't do
these things, but it still was associated with that. I'm
sure there's other things beyond just what we saw on
social media, but maybe in magazines and on MTV and
stuff too.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
Yeah, I think the pendulum is swinging a little bit
because now on social you see a lot of the
I guess sober Curious or the mocktails are having a
moment right now where you know, people are have the
ability to buy a mixer or a drink where it's
like you can either add nothing to this and it's
going to taste like your favorite cocktail or if you
(37:53):
want to add a shot of tequila or vodka or
whatever the drink calls for.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
What's that with co?
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Yeah, that brand where you can drink it as is,
and have you know a margarita? That's what do they
say besides virgin?
Speaker 2 (38:10):
It's what's it called? We mocktail? Is how I but
DoD they're just mixers? Are they that? I guess?
Speaker 3 (38:16):
But I thought they're like when you're at the is
it just mocktail? Like when you're out there, because they
don't say virgin margarita.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
No, they definitely say mate or.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
Virgin pina clauda. They say, I thought there was another
word for it. That's like, because virgin's just weird now,
but for the cocktail or virgin.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Yeah, zero proof, spirit free, non alcoholic, okay, those are
all though.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
I don't know spirit free well anyway, it gives you
the same vibe and then you have the choice, like
so if someone wants it alcohol free, they have it
that way, and then if you want it, then you
add a little doll.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
Up of a little something, a some something.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
You know.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
I've been since I started my clinse and doing all
the work I have been to with the like care
of my the functional nutritionist, I haven't had alcohol since
that was like part of this cleanse was me like
removing everything bad for my body, and so I had
gone two months without any alcohol, and I felt the
best I'd ever felt, and even since then. Now we'll
(39:19):
go out and do things and I might have two
or three drinks and I just give it to my boyfriend.
I'm like, I'm good. I had to taste of it.
I'm fine. I don't you say two or three? And
I'm like, oh wow, like that would be a lot
for me. No, no, no, no, not like two or
three full drinks.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
You're like, and now I just go out and have
like three, and I'm like, okay, we're good, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Like, yeah, i'd be good too. No for even having
one full drink at this point, he's gonna send me
over the yeah, okay, okay, yeah, No two or three
SIPs of something and two or three SIPs.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
I literally thought you were like yeah. After the third one,
I'm like, well, I'm good. You can have my drinks now.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Could you imagine that I was saying? Yeah? So it
feels weird that, like my whole life, I was so different,
But I just feel so much better, and it's, you know,
how awesome it is to not wake up with a hangover,
feel sick, or feel inflamed because I had too much
alcohol that I shouldn't have been even putting in my
body to begin with.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Yeah, I know, I think I drink less than I
ever have before, and you're right, I do feel better.
And not that I was ever heavy, heavy drinker. I
definitely had times or seasons where I would have a
little glass of wine and I felt like I wanted
that every night, or quote unquote needed that. Obviously I didn't,
(40:34):
but I was just like, oh, okay, that's time for
a glass wine. It became like a routine. Thankfully, I
don't have my chemical makeup, isn't going to instantly become addicted.
And then I also didn't give it enough to where
then my body needed that all the time, Thank goodness.
But that's where it can get you sometimes, and I'm
(40:56):
very thankful that that wasn't my experience. My sister and
I were talking the other day because we couldn't remember.
I couldn't remember. We never knew our mom's dad. He died,
and then our mom has since passed and our uncle
has passed, so now we just have our aunt left,
and we're gonna call her and try to have a
conversation of what their dad was like. Because I couldn't
(41:16):
remember if he was an alcoholic, but I think that
maybe he was, and I want to know some information
about that because other than that, I don't know of
alcoholism in my bloodline, like my direct like my mom
or my dad didn't have an issue, but if my
grandpa did, like that's in my bloodline.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
Well, so I feel like two with those older generations,
it's really the younger generations were like, oh, yeah, they
were an alcoholic, but maybe at the time that person
didn't think they were an alcoholic. Yeah, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
I think it was very known, but nobody ever talked
about it. Like my sister are like, why didn't we
talk about this more? But it just wasn't anything. I
know that they got divorced for a reason. They were
divorced before he died. Before he passed away, my grandma
had already divorced him, and I think because he treated
her pretty terribly and there was some scary moments and
(42:06):
to think that my mom had to witness that as
a child, and I just want to kind of hug
my mom with things that maybe she had to go
through or witness that we just never talked about.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
And so that's another thing too.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
If you're around family this holiday season, that's when you
tend to see more of your family, ask questions just
to get to know family history and what life was like.
Of course that might be heavier stuff your family may
not want to revisit. But if you do have one
on one time or go on a walk, or you
are talking to your mom or dad, be like, what
was your childhood like?
Speaker 2 (42:38):
What were your parents like?
Speaker 3 (42:41):
Because I want to know that now and it might
explain some of how my mom was. Thankfully she wasn't
abusive or didn't have alcohol issues, but she was very
emotionally unavailable to me, and so I think there was
some neglect there that I've had to work through and
now it might make it These things might make more
(43:02):
sense to me if I could know more of why
she was shut off in that way. Mm hmm, yeah,
understanding her background.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
That family history and stuff. Man, you I feel like
everybody has a family lore that you find out about
as she keep getting older. There's like little pieces that
just start to piece together until you're finally, like in
your eighties nineties, and you finally have the whole puzzle.
But it took your whole life to put everything together. Yeah,
it's like the family tree that they make you do
in high school, but you don't actually have all the
pieces to do the family tree.
Speaker 3 (43:31):
Yeah, my siblings and I are trying to figure out
my dad's second wife. We know the first, we know
the third that was my mom, and we know the
fourth because it was after my mom, but we don't
really know anything about the second. Like nobody's seen a picture,
nobody's got like we have the name, but like where
is she and what happened and how.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
Long was it? And you know, like it's just I
want to know facts.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
About my dad's second wife, Like I would love to
know that, but he's gone now too, and I don't
really know who we could ask. I mean, we got
to figure that out. But my brother has been doing
something cathartic. He's been writing songs and he's not a writer,
and he's in his fifties, like he hasn't traditionally been
a writer, like a songwriter, but he's been doing something
or writing things just for his own therapeutic process, some healing.
(44:20):
And he sent us a song that he wrote about
our uncle the other day and he was like, I'm
trying to write one about Dad, but it's been difficult,
and so he texted me and my sisters and he
was like, send me things y'all remember about Dad. Just
throw them up here, like just throw everything at the wall.
Do you remember about his cooking and different things? And
I'm curious to see what he's going to put together.
(44:40):
He's like, I'll send it to y'all when i'm done.
And listening to the song like he or he wrote
out the lyrics, So reading the lyrics to the song
that he wrote about my uncle that was really special,
and then listening to how he kind of wants it
to sound was cool. And I was thinking about getting
with like Brandon ray or I don't know somebody here.
(45:03):
I need to ask Bobby, like who if I should?
I want to like hire somebody to put together what
my brother's done and just just as a demo and
give it to him as a gift, like hey, I
made this come to life.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
Or I feel like you could definitely have somebody help
you with that. Yeah, like that could be a special.
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (45:21):
I was just thinking of activities even with siblings of
like hey, guys, let's write. Let's all get together and
write a song about our dad and just see what
what or your mom and see what comes out.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (45:30):
It was a cool group text and I haven't texted
with my other siblings. My sister and I text a lot,
but then my half brother and half sister we text
like on the holiday, like you know, or the day
my dad died, like oh, hey, happy day.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
You know, I think it's happy.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
I don't know what we say, but we're like thinking
of you all today, heartheart, Yeah, I'm a happy dad's
dead day. I mean, I would have put it past
this to say that and sort of laugh. You find
ways to grief and yeah, makes it fine. But I
just thought that literally just came up this week and
that's something we've been texting about. So I was just
going to share that since it's sort of related in
(46:11):
when you're together with your family for the holidays, that
also could just be a fun activity with your family
arou on the table, like hey, let's write a song.
Just come up with some verses and a chorus, and well,
in my favorite way, like genuinely that I've seen more
sides of my family members. When we play games together,
we pull out just so many and not just one
it's not like we played one board game.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
We played all night. We bring out like fifteen different
games and we just rotate through all of them. And
I feel like this when I learn a lot about
people that you just never see another side of them.
So if you don't want to be super emotionally.
Speaker 3 (46:40):
Yeah, yeah, maybe you don't need cathartic, you just need fun.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
Yeah, you can try the cathartic. If it doesn't work,
maybe try games. You a funny song, Yeah, you could
write a funny song. There was a game it's called
Redneck Life. It's like Life the game, but redneck version.
And we grew up in Kansas. We all have that
countryside of our family, and so we played Redneck Live
and we all had to you had to talk in
(47:04):
the game and your redneck accent, and it was the
We laughed for like six hours. Oh that sounds fun
because it was literally just like us as we were kids,
coming all out and all of our like my dad's
little mannerisms from his childhood, because he he says things
like washer and dala, like, he has words that he
uses very in that kind of country slang, and it
(47:26):
all just came out and it was fun to watch.
Oh so like that. Yeah, so you could do something
fun like that. I'm sure there's like.
Speaker 3 (47:32):
It's called redneck life. Yeah, okay, and it's hilarious.
Speaker 2 (47:35):
You can only win by keeping your teeth. Oh that's funny,
keeping only your teeth. And I can't be insulted because
I literally grew up on a farm with redneck life,
so that that was my life for a solid portion.
But all right, we're gonna jump out of here and
answer some listener questions, so go check that out on
part three, Amy, thanks for joining.
Speaker 3 (47:53):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (47:53):
Tell the people where they can find you.
Speaker 3 (47:55):
Radio Amy on socials and podcast is Feeling Things with
Amy and Kat.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
Love that and an early early Merry Christmas to everybody.
Enjoy the holidays with your family and there will be
more best Bits for the holidays, so you'll have plenty
each weekend until we are back.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
That's the Best Bits of the Week with Morgan. Thanks
for listening. Be sure to check out the other two
parts this weekend. Go follow the show on all social.
Speaker 3 (48:18):
Platforms and follow at web
Speaker 1 (48:21):
Girl Morgan to submit your listener questions for next week's episode.
Hosts And Creators
Bobby Bones
Amy Brown
Lunchbox
Eddie Garcia
Morgan Huelsman
Raymundo
Mike D
Abby Anderson
Scuba Steve
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