The Hospitality Gene. Expecting Miracles. Building Roots. Family Chat with Amy’s Sister.

Amy’s sister & bro-in-law {Cristi & Ben Dozier} are on today’s episode in honor of their ‘Building Roots’ show finally premiering on HGTV! Cristi is the first three things and Ben joins for the fourth thing!! They talk about so many different things and it’s a longer episode than usual…but it’s a fun family chat that is full of little nuggets of wisdom {mostly from Cristi}, so we hope you enjoy it! 

Watch HGTV every Sunday night {for the next 7 weeks} at 9/8c for the ‘Building Roots’ show…also streaming on Discovery+.

@RootDesignCo for Root Design Instagram.

RootHouseCo.com for Cristi & Ben’s coffee shop.

TheShopForward.com/mom to shop for Mother’s Day + support moms & babies in Haiti! :)

Follow Amy on Instagram: @RadioAmy

Visit RadioAmy.com for all the Things!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Okay, cass up broad little food for yourself life. Oh
it's pretty Bay, it's pretty beautiful than that. A little
moth kicking with four Happy Thursday and welcome to four Things.

(00:35):
Amy here and my sister Christie say, hey, hey, she's
joining me for all four Things today, and we're going
to talk about a lot of different things, from writing
and being intentional with things and getting out of your
comfort zone and maybe baking a cake that you don't
really want to bake. And these cool bracelets that my

(00:55):
sister gave me that she also wears that can be
encouragement to me while I'm wearing them. We're gonna talk
about gratitude. I'm gonna talk to my sisters. Has been
been because their TV show has debuted on HDTV, and
so it's crazy. I'm sitting across from an HDTV star
right now. You are officially on TV, which is so
funny because when this first started years ago, like two

(01:17):
thousand nineteen or before, being like, yeah, they started coming
to you, and we didn't know what was really going
to happen. And I would say, up until about probably
last week when it premiered, You're like, well, we'll see
if it really happens. I'm like, oh, you've already filmed
eight episodes, pretty sure it's going to happen, and we're
going to be on hd TV every Sunday night for

(01:38):
the next eight weeks, so I think it's happening. I'm
kind of starting to expect that this is really real.
We really did film this, and they really are going
to air it because they have it's it's out there.
So I would just encourage you all to check out
h G t V on Sunday nights. What's the exact
time again, it's nine eastern, eight Central, but you'd have

(01:59):
to check your look go listings because I have no
idea what that means on Mountain or does it just
keep going down or did they stagger the playtimes. I
don't know, but i feel like that's a good time
slot and I'm incredibly proud of you. And you know,
Christie and I were spending some time together recently because
it was the anniversary of our dad's death, which one

(02:20):
of my friends texted me angel versary and I thought, oh,
that's interesting. She's like, I know angel versaries are hard,
and I was like, oh, that's one I've never heard before.
But it does feel weird to say death anniversary or
the day our dad died or I don't even know that.
Some people like to acknowledge the day. But for you
and I, we both remember that Mom died on October.

(02:42):
That one's hard to forget because the day before your birthday.
That was weird. And then Dad is April fools because
we had to pull our dad off life support last
April one, and we were joking that he might wake
up and say April fools. Well, the thing with Dad,
because he would make that joke. You just know he'd
be sitting in there being like, what if I popped

(03:04):
up right now and said April fools. You know, he
was just such a jokester, And obviously it was a
super sad time and it wasn't a joke, but in
our heads, we just knew he would be walking by
cracking some sort of joke about passing away on April
Fool's day, right, which you know, that's why we got
together and we won't forget his angel versery or whatever

(03:27):
y'all want to call it. Some people probably would just
avoid that day altogether and not even really want to
acknowledge it. I feel like people handle death and grieving
very differently, and that's okay, but we are sisters of
family where we acknowledge it. We talked to each other,
will send a note the day of or in this case,
we cooked like Dad, And you know, just shows how

(03:48):
Christie and I are very different. I wanted to honor Dad,
but just by going out to eat and eating good
food because he loved food. And I don't want to
deal with the cooking and the entertaining and the cleaning
and the but Christie takes after Dad and it is
very much an entertainer and a cook and creating special
moments in the kitchen. And so we did. We went
to the grocery store. I begrudgingly went, but you were

(04:13):
right and that was the best thing for us to do.
And when we were sitting down to eat, I was like, okay,
this is good. And watching you cook with the towel
over your shoulder, because that's how Dad would have done it.
He always had a towel on his shoulder. That was special.
And I even did a journal entry about it the
next morning, and I've decided I'm going to read it
to you. I'm doing the Artists Way exercise and This

(04:36):
is where the writing talk comes into play, because Ali
Fallon has been on the podcast before talking about how
writing is so important. Her whole thing is about writing
and journaling. And The Artist Way is a book that
my therapist recommended, probably back in and I started reading
it a little bit, but then I set it aside
and I haven't busted it out, but I do remember.
One of the main things for tapping into creativity and

(04:59):
getting your rain flowing and all the stuff was she
wanted you to wake up every morning and write for
three minutes. This doesn't matter what you write. Just pinned
a paper for three minutes. You can even write I
have nothing to write for three minutes. Eventually things will
flow and you'll have things to write. And I would
say for over a week now, I've been writing for

(05:19):
three minutes, maybe even two weeks now at this point,
three minutes every morning. I set a timer. I don't
I don't have time for more than that right now,
especially that early in the morning. But I'm making it
a part of my routine and I'm loving it, and
things just flow. So this is from April twod this year,
the morning after we cooked because you wanted to cook

(05:40):
for Dad. Okay, So last night was special. Christie made
us dinner like Dad would have done. I wanted to
just go out to eat because we are different that way,
but I let her do her thing, and it was
so good I wonder why I didn't inherit. Dad's cooking
and entertaining Gene and moms too makes me think about
how Stashira once this crazy cake made for her birthday,
and I basically want to tell her that we can't

(06:02):
do it because I have zero desire to figure it
out and bake it. As I sit here, though, I
wonder what would Dad do. Well, he'd wake up at
four am, go to the store, get all the ingredients,
he'd figure out the weird Chinese measurement conversions, and he'd
make the dang peach cake situation for his granddaughter. But

(06:23):
he's not here, so dot dot dot me question mark.
And then my three minutes was up. So I came
to the conclusion that Dad not here, so he can't
do that, but I can channel him and take the
time to do this special thing that's to share once,
which her birthday is coming up April, so I'll probably

(06:43):
be making this weird Chinese cake situation and doing the conversions.
But then I was telling Christie about how the measurements
are all weird and these Grahams. But Christie has a
coffee shop shout out Root House and Beghos at Springs,
and she said, when they bake, they bake in Grahams
and it's so much easier. So then I got that
encourage from Christie about the cake and I'm excited about

(07:04):
it now. And it's all because you decided to cook dinner.
And then I woke up the next morning and journaled
about it. Boom. That's amazing, isn't it. Yeah, So the
writing is healing and powerful, right, I think. I guess
it does help you tap into something you might not
have otherwise reached any other way, because you would have
let yourself be so distracted potentially by life and not

(07:24):
sitting there being focused on train of thought and where
it could go. Yeah, and being intentional about tapping into it. Yeah.
I love that story, and I love that you're going
to bake the cake. And honestly, with the whole Graham's thing,
we used to be totally intimate. I was intimidated by that,
but I had it. We had a baker who converted
all of our recipes to Graham's. And really it's all
about having a scale, and it's really not that hard.

(07:45):
If the scale has a Graham's notation on it, that
you can just you know, kind of calibrate everything too.
I don't even know if those are the right words,
but you know what I mean. Like you said it
on the scale, you put into under grams of flour,
then you put it to zero and you put in
three grams of flower. Whatever it is. So it's really
not that hard. People, when you see a cookbook that
has Grahams, you just need a scale. Well, Christia, I

(08:08):
have called you basically Martha Stewart, Like I say just that.
I don't say you're Martha Stewart, but I when I
define you to people sometimes I'm like, wow, my sister
is basically Martha Stewart. And you have been for years
and years and years ever since. I remember visiting you
at Texas A and M, Like in your duplex or
condo that you shared with people. You had a little,
tiny room, but your room was decorated just right, and

(08:30):
your bed was always made, and your books were lined
up on your little bookshelf, Like do you remember how perfect.
I thought. I was like, Wow, my sister so together.
And then when you would cook, you you really didn't
have a big budget for food, but you would make
these rice and beans and I would just bust out
of canna beans, but you would do the black beans
from the bag and cook them all day. Yes, And

(08:54):
so I've always looked up to you in that way.
And I know that in the show, the h G
t V Show Building Roots, like you have a little
I think there's maybe some cooking vignettes. I don't know.
I just saw visuals of it, and I thought, oh
my gosh. Well, first of all, Dad would be so
proud of you that your show came to Fruition and
that you're doing it, because he was super excited about

(09:17):
it before he passed away. But you hadn't even really
started filming yet, and so he didn't even get to
see all of that. But I just picture him, Yes,
Sunday nights, he'd be like calling all of his friends
and telling everybody. He would be when he's at the
grocery store buying the ingredients for Sashara's cake, he would
be telling the grocery store clerk, Hey, my daughter, she's
gonna be on h G t V tonight eight Central.

(09:40):
You watch HDTV. Yeah, walked around with like the h
G t V app like open on his phone, watching
it at the coffee shop with no headphones. That's what
he would do when he would listen to the Bobby
Bone Show. And it was embarrassing, but also looking back,
it's very sweet and cute and supportive and he's so out.

(10:00):
But what I think would be super cool and Dad
would freak out over is what if this parlays into
some sort of a cooking show. Well, even in Just
The Little Too, we had two episodes where we did
two little cooking segments and so one of them was
baking an apple crumble pie and then one of them
was doing kiso fendido, which was one of Dad's favorite
things to make. And it just kind of came together

(10:22):
last minute. And when I was doing the case of Fendo,
I was like, Dad would absolutely be all over this
right now. And honestly I was thinking about him the
whole time. Well, if he was alive and well, like
before he got sick, because he had to have surgery
in two thousand and eighteen to remove some cancer from
his tongue and throat and never recovered. So from then

(10:43):
on was on a feeding tube, and his quality of
life just went drastically downhill. So we haven't had our
dad and his true personality and all his glory when
he couldn't talk as well. Yeah, he couldn't swallow, and
he's very social and again loves to cook and entertain,
but that kind of all got lost in the last

(11:04):
few years of his life. But let's say this was
pre surgery and he was his normal Cliff He I
bet would have been on that episode with you. Oh,
I would have been like, you are coming, We're cooking
case of fun dito, and it all makes sense during
the episode how it works. But also with the apple Pie,
I mean, he wasn't afraid to get in and bake things.
He was always making Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls as a

(11:27):
bore in the morning with them. Oh yeah, he didn't.
He couldn't sleep. He'd always get up early and so
he'd always be making breakfast tacos or cinnamon rolls or
whatever it is, and you know, show up with a
special delivery wherever he was going that morning. I mean
when you were living in Austin, I mean that's the
type of dad we had, Like Christie had four kids
at home, and dad would live sort of nearby, and

(11:49):
he would, yeah, go to the store, get all the
stuff a pioneer woman, sneak into her house before anyone
was awake and start the cinnamon rolls, and then by
the time the kids got up for school, papal had
just made homemade pioneer woman cinnamon rolls. Randomly, when there
was a period of time where he actually lived with uh, yeah,
that's right, and that what was both. I mean he'd
show up at our house when he didn't live with us,

(12:10):
no matter and just come on in and start making breakfast,
or when he lived with us. Those are some of
my favorite favorite memories that the kids are going to
have of papau Is sitting there rolling out whatever he
was making, whether it was breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you know,
because he was always cooking something. And I want to
go back to this word entertain because you use the

(12:31):
word entertaining. And I had learned a difference a long
time ago, and I realized, Wow, do I really want
to entertain or do I want to be hospitable? And
so I really have learned that when you entertain essentially
and use that word, it's more like, Okay, what are
they going to think about me after this? And when
you want to be hospitable or you want to host

(12:51):
and have people in your home and show them hospitality,
it's more how are they going to feel about themselves
when they leave? So I don't know why, ever since
I learned the two different definitions in that word, I'm like,
I do not entertain. Well, oh, I mean, like oay.
So for example, when we were cooking for Dad's angel versary,

(13:14):
and all of a sudden, Stevenson comes in and he's
like smashing the potato that we're making. You know that
we're grilling on the skillet and Ben and Ben are
in the kitchen and they're doing dishes and chopping garlic
and squeezing limes, and you really just get everybody involved
and talking over this process that we're all doing together,
and it really does just bring people together in just

(13:36):
a different way. You know, it's like a group effort.
And then you know, we're talking about memories of Dad
and then we're sitting down eating and honestly, your Bin's
prayer was so beautiful over Dad, and he would have
absolutely loved that night, and I felt like he was
there with us, and he lives on through us because
of us continue to make efforts to gather around the

(13:59):
table like this, and because you were intentional about creating
that for us. And see, I'm the little sister and
I look up to and I learned from you, and
I learned from that night like this is the stuff
that's important and creating an experience for everybody. And I
like now that I know the difference in entertaining and

(14:21):
you know, being hospitable or having the gift of hospitality.
That's what Dad had. He had the gift of hospitality,
hud And like I journaled about or I wrote about,
I didn't inherit that gene, but I do think it's
possible for me to tap into it. And I don't
need to limit my brain by thinking, well, I just

(14:42):
wasn't born that way. And that's been my my easy
way to write it off and not have to dive
into something that is a little bit more difficult for
me to tackle. It doesn't come naturally to me to
want to figure out the menu and then figure out
how to make it taste good and figure out for
it too but it doesn't have to be that complicated.
And I think that I have used that as a scapegoat, like, oh,

(15:03):
that's not my thing, let's just go out to eat.
And if it is your there's no shame. And if
you need to go out to eat, or you're limited
that day, or you don't have the capacity or the bandwidth,
depending on what's going on, like we maybe would have
had to have saved that for another night, if, for example,
it was just a hard day or something. You're like,
you know what, tonight's not the night while on her
dad by cooking and another night. That makes me think

(15:25):
of Burnet Brown's whole you know thing, which I've talked
about a lot of you know, some days she just
has to check him with her husband and be like, hey,
where are you today. She's like, I got about ten percent?
And if he's also got ten percent, then they need
to cancel some plans, get take out, make their life
as simple as possible. But if he's got and she's
got ten, she's like, okay, we're good. We got But

(15:45):
like every day is different. And so I just no
longer want to limit myself to that thinking. I want
to now take this in and be intentional and learn
from it and be like, you know what, I can't
take the day to bake some weird Chinese peach cake
for my daughter's fifteen birthday. I'm going to do that
and it maybe I do it with her, and again

(16:06):
it's an experience, and maybe we get Stevenson involved, and
you know, it's a whole family affair, and then when
we eat the cake, it'll be that much more special
than if I had just ordered it from somewhere. But
if you order a cake, no shame, because that's I
want to be clear about that, because there are those days,
there are those moments, but this is something my daughter
really wants to do. And I before all of that,

(16:29):
was literally about to be the mom that was like, Nope,
we're not doing that. This is crazy. She watched a
YouTube video and took the time to write down every
and single ingredient and all the instructions to what you
needed to do from this Chinese YouTube channel. There you go,
there's a whole tutorial on it. So it can't be
that hard. Can be that hard, so let the cake be.

(16:51):
I know that I'm talking about this cake which might
not be relatable to you, but what is it in
your life? What is it in your life that you're
kind of not allowing the experience is to happen because
it's just not your thing. But can you tap into
it for the sake of the experience for everyone involved? Right,
there's nothing wrong with ordering take out, there's nothing wrong

(17:11):
going out to eat. Dad loved all of those things too,
he was in the restaurant business. But I mean I
had the night we were cooking, and you had some
into you too, So it's like, hey, we're going to
the store and we had fun ballad. I made the salad.
You actually had more in you than you thought. You
just needed a little spur, I needed a little kick
in the pants. Yeah. We also played George Straight all

(17:34):
night in the kitchen and he serenaded us while we
while we cooked it up. Which that's exactly what we
did last year after Dad died. We came home from
the hospital and it was me, you are half brother
or half sister, and some nieces and nephews, different people
all in the house and we were cooking and listening
to George Straight because that's what dad. Oh. We made

(17:56):
grilled cheese on a cinnamon raisin bread we'd did ca
soo fun dito. Oh yeah, we did a lot. We
just made a list of like, what are random things
the Dad love that are so good? And I got
to say the grilled cheese on cinnamon raisin bread. It
wasn't yeah, it wasn't just grilled cheese like and I
don't cheese. Yeah, it was like pimiento cheese on raisin

(18:17):
bread with jalapenas. Yeah. But I don't think I had
ever had that with Dad. Kim did someone, Yeah, Kim had,
and she was like, it is amazing. And so we
all have these different ways. We remember sharing food with
Dad and we kind of brought a lot of that
to the table. And then I think we also had
maybe we had coke and peanuts. I don't remember. We
did have that at his service. We passed around little

(18:40):
bottles of coke put peanuts in it because that was
one of his little snack tricks, favorite thing to eat
slash drink at the same time while he was driving around.
And We're going to do gratitude later on with you
as one of the things. But I just want to
take this moment and I'll just say how thankful I
am to have the capacity the last year or two

(19:03):
to enjoy these types of things because I missed out
on so much of Dad's cooking when I was deep
into my eating disorder and a lot of disordered behaviors.
So I had so much gratitude the night that we
cooked and just eating freely and not stressing out about
what ingredients you were using or how you were doing it,

(19:23):
or and even last year, because I've been in recovery
for over two years now and it's just it's a
freeing place to be and I know not everybody is there,
but I have to continuously be thankful for each day
or memory or moment that I've been able to make
in recovery because I spent so many years not eating
the food my dad would make, or not eating the

(19:44):
food you would make, Christie, and not accepting and receiving
all the hospitality you were putting out there. For me,
it was like, oh, I'm good, I brought my own
lettuce in a bag and I'm just going to eat that.
Or actually, i'll be there late because I have a
workout that I need to do and I miss out
on that time and I am just thankful for that.

(20:05):
And if anybody else out there is still in that.
I just want to be an example of hope that
I remember thinking, why can't ever be that person? It's impossible,
this is just part of me and who I am.
But again, that was that limited thinking. And I'm thankful
now that my brain can recognize and I've been able
to build new neuropathways and we can grow and we

(20:26):
can evolve and we can be different and it is possible.
That's my one thing of gratitude about this particular topic
and things I wish I would have been able to
experience with Dad, and it would be more food and
more receiving his love because food was his love language, right,
it absolutely was. Yeah, so there's hope. I just wanted
to in this thing with that little nugget. And next

(20:49):
we're gonna talk about these cute little bracelets that my
sister got me that are also it's basically like wearing
reminders like what can you have around do you? What
can you wear or what people can you surround yourself
with that are going to be encouraging and lift you
up and be that reminder that you need in your
life on a daily basis. I don't know if that's

(21:22):
coming through on the mic. But I'm jingle jingling these
bracelets that my sister got me. Now, these are bracelets
that you have at your coffee shop, which is Root
House and Pagosa, and you wear them every day, and
then you decided to gift them to me. And we'll
go ahead and read the order that we each put
them in on our wrists. Because when my sister gave
them to me, she's like, oh, these are so encouraging,

(21:44):
and I wear them on my wrist and you face
them towards yourself so that you see them, and she's like,
I have them in a particular order. So I put
mine in my order, and I wanted to see if
we did it the same, which of course we didn't.
So Christie, you read, you read yours and in your order,
and then I'll read mine. It's three bracelets that each
have a phrase on them, and I've been wearing these
all through the filming of the show, and I still

(22:05):
wear them every day. And so here we are the
three different phrases, and this is the order I have
them in is expect miracles and the next one is
just one life, go out and put good things in
the world. So the way I read it in my
head is expect miracles because we have just one life,
so go out and put good things in the world.

(22:26):
That's the sentence I'm telling myself every time I look
down at these bracelets, especially when you're filming. Christine needed
any type of like encouragement in any way, because she
is not someone that ever wanted to be on TV
or thought she would be on TV, or even was
excited about being on TV. But now I know that
you're proud of yourself for doing it and you're excited. Well,

(22:47):
definitely was outside my comfort zone. And then the whole
crew that we've worked with has been so amazing that
you want to do a good job for them, also
for everybody that's involved and invested so much. Everybody was
working so hard, and so I felt like I need
to show up and do the best I can do. Well.
The order I put mine in mind goes, go out

(23:09):
and put good things into the world, just one life
and expect miracles. And the way I read it is
go out and put good things into the world because
this is just one life and expect miracles. I think
that was my sentence. I never knew we were supposed
to make a sentence until you told me you did that.
But you know, it's just your way. I don't know
if you're supposed to, But I make up little games

(23:32):
in my head sometimes just to get through life. I
just think of all the interesting conversations that can happen
over a cup of coffee, or little gifts that might
be able to be purchased from Root House that are
then given to someone else, like these bracelets, where it's
like putting something out into the world. Y'all are putting
your beautiful art out into the world through the show
and Root Design and everything that you'll do. I know

(23:54):
in one of the episodes because one of your producers
wanted to have me on for the veal because it
was a very special episode where the family had lost
their mom to cancer, which is similar to our mom,
and y'all were redoing some of their house. The way
she described it to me, she's like, your sister has
poured her heart and soul into this house, and it

(24:17):
would be so awesome if you could fly out for
the reveal and be a part of that episode. But
it was filming during the week when I had the show,
The Bobby Bones Show, and I couldn't leave, so I
wasn't able to be there. But that's an example of
you taking your talent and putting good out into the
world and blessing that family with beautiful design to honor

(24:38):
their mother that had passed on. Right. That was a
really special episode. And I think, I don't know what's
going to make it because that one hasn't aired yet,
so I don't know what cuts will make it. But
I definitely was crying multiple times on different you know
O t F s, which an O t F on
those on these design show things. I didn't know any
of this lingo, but an O t F stands for

(24:59):
on the fly and it's the thing where someone's kind
of one or two people whoever it is, is standing
outside somewhere usually and then there's a cameraman, a sound
guy and a producer kind of behind the camera feeding
questions and you're just standing there answering questions. And and
then they edited all together to kind of help the
storyline flow. And so the other piece of JEWELRYA always

(25:23):
wore was the star necklace that SPA makes with the
three stars on it, and I can just remember every
O t F the field producer who's behind the camera.
She's always like, Okay, are your star straight? And she'd
come and be sure that you know, my stars were centred,
So they should be centered in every O T F.
If they're not, then that was just a minor fail
for that day. So we'll see hopefully they're always centered.

(25:44):
So it just kind of became a thing. Well, I
love that because even that necklace is good that's being
put out into the world. It's made locally in Nashville
by women that are transitioning out of adversity, like a
difficult lifestyle, some homelessness. Our friend Gracie actually founded the
jewelry part of that company, and it was called Miriam
Designs in the beginning, and she had a group of

(26:05):
women that would come over to her house and they
would go up to her attic, and they were from
the rescue mission, transitioning literally from homelessness, and they would
work from her attic making jewelry. And then Able came
to her and they did a merger, and she was
the jewelry part and she worked alongside Able for a
little bit and then Able bought her out, and then

(26:26):
so Able took on all of those women, some of
them still work there to this day, some of the
women that started in Gracie's attic and now they're able
And then so that's who's making the Star necklace. And
then because it's under a Squaw, it's supporting Haiti and
so that's a necklace that it's a win win thing.
I wear mine almost every day as well, and make

(26:46):
a good Mother's Day gift f y I because Mother's
Day is next month. So if anybody's shopping for Mother's Day,
I'll just say that shop Squaw dot com. That's how
you would get there, ees p w A. But there's
tons of items and they support Project Meta Share right now,
which is a life saving maternity work in rural parts
of Haiti where these women otherwise wouldn't have access to

(27:08):
medical care and they get to give birth in a
safe way now and things that we take for granted
in America like they now have access to because of
Project Meta Share. So very thankful for that organization and
the Star Necklace being a part of supporting that, or
even like our cool mom line or anything for things
like customizable gray pullovers are now available, so I'll just

(27:29):
send you there again. Shop a spot dot com if
you want a meaningful Mother's Day gift that is putting
good back out into the world. And it's super special
that you would wear your star necklace every episode. I've
been wearing my bracelets and I'm going to wear these
every podcast episode. I do so that I can look
down and remember that this is just one life and

(27:51):
to expect miracles and so for the good you put
out into the world. We just broke that one down.
And then what about just one life? What is the
story you tell yourself around that particular bracelet. What's kind
of the reminder like if if you have a dream
in you or there's something you want to do but
you're super super nervous, or something is holding you back,

(28:11):
like just remember, like this is your one life, you know,
so you want to make it a good story, and
sometimes that means taking a risk. And it makes me
think of that movie We Bought a Zoo. Did you
ever see that where you know, there's that one segment
in there where he's there. I forget the whole context,
but it's like, you only need twenty seconds of bravery

(28:32):
to kind of turn your life a different direction or
to create something interesting. And so honestly, I think of
that line almost every time I'm about to show up
on one of those film days because I'm nervous, I'm like,
what am I doing? How can I do this? But
it's literally just the twenties seconds of saying, Okay, I'm
gonna get out there. It's just this one life. I

(28:54):
don't know how this opportunity came to us, but I'm
gonna do my very absolute best and I'm gonna go
out and put something good in the world. Because it's
just just one life. So then yours is in a
different order. Then you go to expect miracles. Is that
your order? Because mine is expect miracles. I don't know
why I have my order. Well, I don't think the

(29:14):
order so much matters. It all flows, but you had
a reason for put it in that order, and so
for me, I think similarly if it is just one life.
So I just want to remind people that you're allowed
to pivot, you're allowed to change your mind. For me,
that's a good reminder for this is just one life.
Because sometimes we aim to please so many others instead

(29:37):
of maybe following what we need to do or what's
best for us, or figuring out our truth. We can
get pulled so many different directions, and we're worried about
what so many people might think, or trying to please
this person or that person. But if we just have
this one life and you want to look back, you
might want to have done some things that we're actually

(29:57):
not for everybody else, or worried about everybody else. Might
think about when it comes to that, like what is
speaking true to you? And I guess I would say
that to me, like what is speaking true to me?
Because I spent a lot of my life and still
do very worried about other people and what they're thinking
and how this is going to affect them. And I

(30:19):
think it's okay to be worried if something's going to
affect someone and want to be handle it in like
a kind of responsible way, But ultimately, what do you
need to do for yourself? So anyway, that's what just
one life speaks to me. Like when I see that,
I use it as a reminder. It sounds so selfish
to say out loud, but it shouldn't. And that's the thing.

(30:39):
We've been conditioned or people pleasers sometimes, And I wouldn't
even categorize myself as a people pleaser because I can
definitely do my own thing, so people please are the
definition for me. You would do it more because you're
accommodating you don't want to, but I would. I have
certain people that I've always been like, oh, I don't
want to damage that, or I don't want to ruffle
those feathers, or I don't want to cause issues there,

(31:00):
or I don't want to let these people down in
that way. I don't know how to define the difference.
I'm like thinking, I'm not trying to verbalize it, but
you are definitely way more of a people pleaser. But
you've gotten I think you're you're better at it. But
everybody kind of worries about what other people think. But
I think when you're doing it to an extent where
you're altering life decisions, that really you need to be

(31:21):
making the best decision for you. And then if you
start making decisions for other people and you're not happy,
then when like tatis and tapping into what your gifts
are and what you can share versus maybe what you
think the world are people is expecting of you, then
more what what you have like genuinely inside of you

(31:43):
to give and share and grow. So I think that
goes into this idea of expect miracles. I love the
word expect because if we do have this just one life,
and we do go out and put good things in
the world, can we be expectant that just awesome, amazing
things are going to happen even from the bad big
and small, even if it is a bad thing, because

(32:03):
we all are going to hit the bad parts, and
even in the terrible tragedies of life, can you expect
that something miraculous and amazing is going to come out
of it in some way, shape or form, even though
you may have to walk through the messy middle of it. Right,
I think a mom and pimp and joy that is
a beautiful thing that came from her cancer journey that

(32:25):
has done a lot of good for a lot of organizations,
and she didn't even live to see any of that happen.
And so I mean that's just one example. There's even
like way more superficial ones. So we've talked about like
my micro blading experience with my eyebrows, Like I got
a really bad micro bladed brow job and it was

(32:45):
so bad, but I had to get them lasered off.
And I wasn't even introduced to the laser person until
after I went to a new microblading person. She's like,
I can't help you. I can't help you to get
these lasered off. Go see my girl, Carrie, who's at
the Nashville Beauty Girl, and I have enjoyed my new
skincare routine from her for the last few years. And
I never would have met her had I not gotten

(33:06):
the bad browse, and so thankfully and now I have
Megan in my life and she's a new brow person,
and that's a very seems like shallow, silly thing, but
it never would have happened if I hadn't had the
bad brows, which I still am trying to get rid
of some of the redness. So every time I see
the red, I'm like, you know what, I wouldn't have
met Carrie. I'm thankful for the red. I'm thankful for
the red. And then there's more serious things like cancer

(33:29):
and that Mom prayed Lord used this cancer for good,
and now there's all kinds of donations that have been
made to support various causes, all because Mom wanted her
cancer to be used for good and him and Joy
was born. But you can look for the good and
everything if you choose to. And I don't want to
be like toxic positivity person here. But weren't you talking

(33:50):
about a quote from Bob Goff or something? Oh yeah,
well his his new book is really good, Undistracted, and
his whole thing is that in all our failures and
and all the things that either bring on ourselves or
that we walk through, that somehow these failures or mistakes
in life or hard things that we go through can
be cat nip for new opportunities. That's it, cat And

(34:14):
you know how you are with cats, So like cat nip,
you know, Yeah, that's what I was looking for. We
were talking about that and so yeah, so that's just
a summary of how he basically put it, that all
these things we walk through our cat nip for new opportunities.
And you know, for years I wanted to get pregnant,
and I walked through the infertility and the it was unexplained.

(34:36):
That was even more difficult to understand because we would
go to fertility doctors and we had tests done and
nothing was really wrong. But then now I look at
Stevenson and Stashira and our whole adoption and it's like, Okay,
that was a really hard season. But now that I'm
on the other side, like going through that hard stuff
lead to Okay, we're not going to give up on this.
We still want to be parents, and now we're gonna

(34:57):
do adoption. And now we have these two amazing kids
that they're growing up right before our eyes, and it's
really hard and I can't believe there are sometimes it's
been hard. There's challenges there that I'm sure there's been
hard stuff we've been walking through even with that, that
a few years from now, I'll see what came from that, Like, yeah,
that sucked and was really hard, but look where we

(35:17):
are now because of it. And infertility, Yeah that sucked.
That was really hard, but look where we are now
because of it. And so I can expect miracles. And
I do see Steven sentenced to Shara as miracles. They
are our miracle children. And the fact that they came
from a total another country and now they live here
with us and they have this totally different life. It's

(35:38):
amazing and I'm thankful for it. And I'm thankful for
the infertility too. I know It's like sometimes you go
through things and you would sort of say, gosh, I
would never wish this pain on anyone else, But I
am so thankful that it happened to me because of
how it grew me and stretched me and introduced me

(35:59):
to another way or a or a different way or
something that led to a beautiful story I couldn't have imagined.
So it's kind of you know, that's what you're saying,
which makes me think of Donald Miller's book Here on
a Mission, and it's all about a story, which he's
gonna I'm interviewing him for the podcast soon and then
actually I booked Ali Fallon to come back on the

(36:21):
week after him to do a follow up on writing
because they're very big on writing your story, which is
back to like the first thing, doing the three minutes
of writing a day. That's where I'm starting with my
writing and I'm going to continue doing that, and I
hope others will will join me if they feel led
to do that. But I've been hearing about the writing

(36:41):
for years and I've tried to do it before, but
I feel like this time it's sticking. Oh, this is it,
this is it, this is your moment. This is able
to go out and put good things in the world
because you only have just this one life. So you
should expect miracles. That's right. M okay. So coming up

(37:07):
for the fourth thing, I'm gonna be talking to your husband, Christie,
your co star for building roots, the father of your children,
my co host, Yeah, Ben Doser, he's gonna be on
for the fourth thing. But before we get to that,
I would love to do four things gratitude with you
in this thing, and here four things that you are

(37:29):
currently thankful for. Well, first thing, I'm thankful for our
allergy meds because you've got this cat now and now
the longer the cat lives in your house, and I'm
allergic to cats now. I don't know why, because I
we had cats growing up. We had Rocky, Rascal, Brisket,
Smoky Smokey and the bandit. Yeah, we had all the cats,

(37:51):
hamsters and fish and bird. We didn't have all those
cats at once, no, over time, we had dogs. Over
the span of our child those were all our cats.
And I never was allergic. It wasn't until I was
eighteen and I left for college and I came home
and all of a sudden, I'm allergic to cats. And
that's how it's been ever since. Is I can you

(38:12):
know my eyes get itchy. Sometimes I'll get hives if
I touched the cat. So your cat's been living in
your house. Apparently it's anti allergenic, hypo allergenic, Okay, cats
can't really be unless they're hairless. But she falls into
the category of like the top ten that are kind
of well okay, Well it's not the type of hypo

(38:33):
allergenic cat I need, so I don't touch your cat. However,
the first night I was at your house, I was like, oh, shoot,
I feel it coming on. My eyes were getting itchy,
and I was like, okay, I'm allergic to this hypo
allergenic cat. So it's okay. I love your cat. It's
beautiful cat. Herggie Maggie, which is named after our dog.

(38:56):
We had a dog named Maggie. Yeah, well actually Stashira
named her Magnolia Moon. That's her full name. I'm sorry,
but Maggie for short. And yes, we had a dog
growing up named Maggie, so it is very fair. I
forgot it had a full name, Magnolia Moon. Excuse me,
while in my head it's named after our dog, Maggie,
which was a West Highland White Terrier shaggy dog and

(39:17):
she had a skin condition skin condition, which I think
the Cara my dog has a skin condition. She licks
all the time and I can't get her to stop.
And she's what you would think a hypoallergenic dog would
have perfectly fine skin. You remember, Maggie would like elbow
crawl across the room and rub her belly. Her stomach
was itchy anyway, So I am semi allergic to your cat,

(39:39):
I believe, but thankfully we got allergy meds. Oh that's good.
Which do y'all sell our puzzle at your coffee shops
with Maggie on it? Okay, I'm just making sure because
Maggie's a star, she could be a model. I saw
add the other day where it looked like it was Maggie,
and I thought, we need to get this cat an agent.
I don't know if h G TV is interested in
Maggie modeling for anything that if they ever need a

(39:59):
cat on set for anything or whatever. They following instructions,
she she's good on the leash like and they can
photoshop the leash out like. We just have her stay
still with the leash and then photoshop the leasha. But
her first gig was actually on the puzzle. But she
didn't have the model for we just photoshopped her face
on the puzzle, along with cars and a lot of

(40:21):
other things along the root House cookie. Yes, and root
House Coffee Shop baked a cookie to put specifically on
the puzzle, which not just one cookie. People, we had
the big because we had to get the cookie just right.
But it's only one cookie on the puzzle, which I
feel like there's fun things on the puzzle, which also
makes me think again a mother's day, if you have
a mom in your life that loves puzzles and puzzle

(40:42):
supports and what does it say on it. I mean,
it's your catchphrase. It says it's fine, I'm fine, everything
is fine. There's also encouraging little doodles throughout because that's
kind of obviously that's a joke because like, things are
not fine, but puzzles can be very therapeutic and healing
and good ex or size for your brain, sort of
like writing for three minutes a day doing puzzle work

(41:05):
is good for your brain. And I got into puzzles
when honestly I was just a little depressed and I
would sit and watch birds and do puzzles. And now
that I'm in a better place. I still find the
value in puzzles for exercising my brain, but I'm just
not sitting there for like hours. Like before they got
you through a rough pat, they got me through a
rough patch. So it was fun to be able to

(41:26):
design a puzzle that was fun, Like I did enough
puzzles to know the ones that are not fun and
ones that are fun. And I feel like that puzzles fun,
especially with the message, but then the encouraging doodles, like
there's an owl on there that's doodled and over the
Alice says, see things differently? How are you looking at
things in life? Can you see this differently? Can you

(41:48):
try to see it from someone else's perspective? Can you
see the good in it? Can you have compassion and
grace and understanding? And I think that's another one of
the things, is like have grace, be kind. She like
all the different little things doodled throughout. So the puzzle
is a special thing and it could be a good
gift for a mom in your life that likes puzzles.

(42:10):
Shop USPA dot com or we have them at the
coffee shop. If you're in Pagosa, Oh yeah, go to
Root House coffee and they also that's where that's where
you'll have these bracelets that we talked about earlier, which
who makes these um These are by sugar Boo, which
is a really cute company I think out of Atlanta. Yeah,
and so you'll have those at the coffee shop too.

(42:31):
Or if you want to give like a cute little
maybe gift basket to a mom or multiple things that
kind of go together, like create an experience. You could
get a bag of root House coffee and then you
could go to shop us blaw and get a puzzle
and then have certain things shipped to you and like
make a little gift bag and like find a cute
coffee mug or something and gift coffee, a mug, a puzzle,

(42:54):
and it's a whole morning time experience. Or maybe if
you want the Amy package, which we don't sell any
of this stuff, but like you go get bird seed
and a bird feeder and a puzzle and you set
it all up in a window outside of where your
mom might do a puzzle. Or you could give her
a hypoallergenic cut with some allergy mats on the side

(43:15):
and a puzzle. So yeah, just think of a way
too for Mother's Day. So whatever gift you do end
up getting, like, can you create a little experience for
them whatever? That might be? All right? So the allergy
mats for your first thing, what's the second thing you're
thankful for? The second thing is the morning you made
coffee for me. Yes, because it was the espresso, it

(43:37):
was the oat milk, it was the whole thing. And
there was a time in life when you didn't even
know how to work. You're awesome coffee maker, and um
come a long way. And then I was hunting through
your cabinets for collagen because now I'm on this thing
where I have to put collagen in my coffee every morning,
and I noticed a huge difference in my skin vital proteins.

(43:58):
It has to be the vital pro teens unflavored. And
one time I was told a friend about this, and
they accidentally ordered the beef flavored of the gelatine coffee
and she was like, this is wrong, this is wrong.
Christie said she couldn't taste it, so she put beef
flavored collagen in her coffee. Don't recommend that, but anyway,

(44:19):
you had some collagen. Obviously you haven't been using it
as regularly lately, because you were like, is it expired?
And I was like, I don't care. Does it expire?
I don't know, And so luckily you made me the
coffee I could get my scoop of collagen that morning.
It was all a good day. Well, and that I'll
just say that I ended up checking the expiration even
though you didn't care, and it said it expired, so

(44:42):
it must last a long time for years on the star,
I mean, yeah, and there's only about a quarter of
it left, so I'll probably use it up myself if
you're not using it as regularly as you used to,
even though you're the one that introduced me to it. Well,
I just wanted to make you the coffee to be hospitable.
I was actually going to bring up to your room,
but then you ended up coming down before I was

(45:03):
able to get up there because I was waiting. I
put some eye patches in the refrigerator for your under eyes,
and I was waiting for those to make sure they
were cold, and then I was going to bring you
up the cold eye patches and the freshly made latte.
It's like a full service spa when I come to visit.
I know, I'm not. I'm not entertaining. I'm gonna under
Are you trying to show me how awesome you are? No,

(45:25):
I'm trying. No, I was trying to give you an
I wanted you to walk away feeling good. Yeah, no,
I felt it because you know what, you had eye
patches on also, and I was like, oh, I need
to get some eye patches on and I had some
in my bag upstairs, but you were like, oh, I
put some in refrigerator for you, and it honestly made

(45:45):
me feel so seen and special and thought of, and
it was so small. It's like dollar eye patches from Amazon.
But then I put them on apparently upside down, and
I didn't know we even want backwards. It sounds like
backwards and and upside down police. So I'm always learning
things from you, and You're always introducing me to things.
I would say eye patches would be another, like fun

(46:06):
little addition to make to your mother's day goodie bag.
The dollar ones from like a little jar or anything
from Amazon. You don't have to get the fancy ones,
but if you want to, there are some nice ones
out there. I would just say I probably go back
and forth if I'm gifted. I like to be gifted
the fancy ones like Peter Thomas Roth. My mother in
law always gifts those to me, and I'm thankful because

(46:28):
that feels nice. But when I'm buying them for my
own soap, depending on how you want to gift, but yeah,
I add some eye patches and some coffee and a
puzzle or whatever it might be. Like, it might not
even get out, or these bracelets or the allergenic cat.
I just Maggie keep making a cameo here. I would not.
I had to go all the way to California to

(46:50):
get Maggie so and then I got scammed by some
woman in like Louisiana before that, and I mean finding
that cat was not easy. Okay, So what's the third
thing I find? Really have introduced you to something what
you don't physically have it yet, I don't believe. But
the lobe Wonder. Oh yeah, well I called it. I
called it the Wonder Lobe. But then when I was

(47:12):
looking it up to be sure that was the name,
I found out it's actually called the Lobe Wonder. This
is something I had to wear all during the TV
show as well, but you couldn't ever see it but
if I wanted to wear ear rings, I have to
literally put this little sticker on the back of my
lobe because my left earring hole is so stretched out
from wearing big ear rings when I had little kids

(47:33):
and stuff and they'd pull on all the different things.
So I have like, literally it looks like it could
have had a gauge in my ear if I've stretched
it all the way open. Is that what they're called
gauge gauges. Yeah, So, but you put this little sticker.
It's called the lobe wonder and it is a ear
ring support patch, which I have ripped ear lobes as well.

(47:56):
One is worse than the other. But I actually don't
even really have ear lobes. I just have a piece
of skin that attaches to my jaw and then I
have a hope. I don't really Yeah, I'm missing the
whole lobe part. So it's even worse because I have
no lobe and there's a big hole, and so I'd
probably honestly have to like trim the wonder lobe patch

(48:16):
thingy or the lobe wonders half a patch because they're
really small. It would hang down and you would see
the patch. But I know, this seems like a fascinating
invention that I'm sure it's been around for a while,
but shout out to whoever created that. Because ear rings
are hard if you have ripped lobes right, So I
was I was wanting to wear earrings and I just
haven't been able to and so I literally was just

(48:39):
doing a search like how can I fix my ear?
And there is a whole process you have to, like
get your ear cut open and reattached and all these
things which circling back to meeting at the Nashville Beauty
Girl Carrie. She's married to a dermatologist, Drew, who's the
most surgeon who can cut open my ear and sew
it back up. So maybe get a little too for one,

(49:00):
maybe on that I don't know what the downtime is
on that. Well, hopefully we do that, and then once
we do that, we'll be like, oh, look at this,
this miracle that came from Amy's tragic brows. We now
have a most surgeon that is married to a face
girl that we love and he just cut open repaired
our ears two for one. Well, obviously it's not an

(49:23):
uncommon problem because someone has invented a solution so I'm
sure there's someone listening out there that needs to get
these ear support patches. Earring support patches, I should say,
And you just stick this little thing on the back
of your ear. It sticks in place. Then you can
put your little earring through it and it holds it
in place without further stretching out your ear or completely

(49:45):
falling through your ear like some my rings will do.
Love it, Okay. Fourth thing you're thankful for, oh, fourth
thing is just that the show is finally out, Like
we have poured, impored, impoured into this and it has
not been easy, and they're been lots of fails and
lots of learning situations obviously, but I'm hoping they're just

(50:06):
catting it for future opportunities or you know what I meant,
shout out Bob Gough. Yes, well, I am super proud
of you. I know it hasn't been easy and and
I know, especially in the beginning of filming, it was
very difficult because Dad had just passed away and you
were processing that and grieving and having to start filming
a show which was giving you a lot of anxiety,

(50:28):
and you ended up in the hospital thinking you were
having a heart attack, but really it was a panic attack,
but I think you've come a long way and helping
manage that and taking care of yourself like mind, body
and spirit and breathing and walking and just doing things
that some people might consider like, oh, well, I don't
take the time for myself, because you're not that person.

(50:50):
You have four kids, you have you all, You're always
taking care of other people. And so what my hope
for you in this next season, because I'm watching you
sort of start to do it, is take care of you,
take care of yourself, sort of like to put the
oxygen mask on yourself before you put it on everybody else.
And I've watched you as growing up like the younger sister,

(51:12):
always taking care of other people. And I'm excited about
this cool opportunity and the opportunities that might come from it,
but also you growing in it and you blossoming into
who you are supposed to be, not for everybody else,
but for you, right, And so I think, alongside being
thankful that it's just actually out and that I'm actually

(51:32):
not in denial anymore, that this is not happening, it
really is happening. But to look back and see the
beautiful community of people it has brought together from all
the guys on our construction crew and then subcontractors, and
then the production crew, and then so many of the
people I never have even met, but I know that

(51:53):
they're also working on it to edit the sound and
edit all the things, and I know there's just so
many people that have so much into it, and I'm
just so thankful for everybody's gifts and talents and hard
work that is come alongside us. Well. I am excited
to watch the rest of the season. I mean, there's
what seven more episodes left every Sunday night at eight

(52:18):
seven Central, and I'm like the proud sister telling everybody
posting on Instagram, it's crazy, that's my sister. Yeah. So
I can't wait to see the rest of the episodes,
especially the one with that family and you bringing joy
to their home. And I know that every episode is
going to be good in its own way, but that

(52:39):
one seems like particularly special and I wish I could
have been there. Maybe season two, if there is one,
maybe everyone makes sure to watch. Even if you're not watching,
just turn it on. Just turn it on at your house,
Go turn on every TV that you own, right, I
don't know how they, you know, manage all that the ratings. Yeah,
I know I how any of that works. But I've

(53:02):
heard that works. I think whatever. Yeah, in your room
to read emails to h G t V because I
would just want it to be organic, Like if you
really like it, like really watch it. It's okay if
some people right now just your TV and walk out. Yeah,
that's what I'm saying, Like we want people to really
watch it. But it's okay. If you don't have time

(53:23):
right now, just Sunday nights, turn your TV onto HDTV
and go do your thing. If you got to go
run errands, it's fine. If you got to go to
a dinner, just leave it rolling. Yeah, it's called building roots.
Find that in the schedule. And yeah, you'll be supporting
a small town in Colorado, Progosta Springs. And like you said,
you're amazing team in the contractors, and these are people

(53:44):
that they would be working there and doing their thing
even if they weren't on TV. And you have been
have been working and doing your thing for years. It's
not like Root Design just started. I was technically Root
Design's first employee. But I'll talk about that with Ben
and the next thing that's a good point, yes about
thank you for coming on for these three things. Sister.
You're always welcome on the podcast anytime. In fact, I

(54:06):
wish you were like on more regularly. We need to
find more time for that. I'm sure you have the time.
You run a coffee shop, you've got four kids, you're
doing a TV show, hopefully going to be starting season
two at some point. So yeah, we don't know about that.
You still have sumption design that y'all are doing projects
on even that aren't televised, and so I'm sure you

(54:26):
have time to come on my podcast all the time.
I wish I could be on your podcast more. That
would be so fun. Okay, well, and we would talk more.
Just one life. What we still time? We do talk more?
Maybe should just record every time we talk and then
air it as a segment. Yeah, I mean, hey, just
one life, expect miracles, go out and put good things
in the world. Yeah, like a podcast. Starting to like

(54:48):
your order better my order? I need to reverse my order. No,
don't second guests yourself. This is your life. Don't please me.
That's right. You know. I gave these to Adelante too
when I went to see her. Adelante is my niece
who is traveling the world right now. She took a
gap year between high school and college to go serve
with what she's with a group called World Race, and

(55:11):
so it's an organized gap here, and it's nine months
of traveling to three different countries. So she's already gone
to Guatemala. Then she was in South Africa. And while
she was in South Africa, they had a parents week.
So I have seen her in months, and we showed
up and went to parents week and that's it was
her birthday that week. And I didn't bring her gift

(55:32):
because she's living out of a backpack. I can't. There
was not much I could bring. I wrote her a letter,
Dada da, and then I gave her my bracelets that
I was wearing that say these three terms. And so
when I ordered more for myself, I ordered you some
as well, and more for the coffee shop because we
were sold out. So and well, and what are they
doing they work with I mean just super quickly, like
right now they're now they're in Ecuador. She just got

(55:55):
to Ecuador last week, and everybody works. They they're kind
of partnered with different organizations, so it's usually a team
of forty kids and then within those forty and they're
not kids, they're young adults. They're all between the age
of eighteen to twenty one for this particular type of
trip that she's doing. And so they are broken up
into groups of five or six and then they go

(56:16):
get partnered with different organizations whoever is available in whatever
they work out. So right now her the particular one
for this last leg of being in Ecuador. She is
so Ecuador. She's in Quito, and Quito is the second
highest elevations capital city in the world. The first highest
is La Paz, Bolivia. Listen, these are all I'm now.

(56:39):
I'm back in seventh grade Spanish class lapase Bolivia, Ecuador,
liu li ma puruno. I do not know that. Well,
my seventh grade Spanish teacher taught us that song to
memorize the capitals of the countries in South America. Awesome,
and I still remember I do not know that song

(57:01):
at all. So okay, Well, she obviously is in ke Equador, Okay,
so what's going on there? What is she doing there?
Her particular group is at a so it's at nine
hundred feet, which is super high. Pagosa is at seven
thousand feet, which is where I live in the mountains,
and that's altitude, like you'll get altitude sickness. But then

(57:23):
we're talking. She's at hundred feet, which is even higher,
and so you get good math right there. Yeah, is
in fact higher than seven thousand. Yes, in case you
didn't know, thank you, Okay, But then this is already
in the mountains, and so she's even further up a
mountain in a village at eleven thousand feet, which is

(57:46):
even higher than hundred. So there's this beautiful refuge type
place there, which is a rehabilitation center for girls that
are being rescued out of sex trafficking industry there, which
is a problem globally. But it's beautiful to see that
all over the world because we know about the place

(58:07):
outside Austin which is helping rehabilitate girls, and there's other ones,
but here in in Keto, Ecuador, they're also doing the
same thing, and so Adeline is just kind of coming
alongside in whatever capacity they need to come along to
to be with the girls and to help with some
of their therapies that they do. They have equine therapy
and they're going through school and the youngest girl is nine.

(58:30):
They're all under eighteen, and it's honestly very heavy situation
to hear a lot of their stories, and Adeline is
just being worked over in just the emotional heaviness of
it all. And I'm just so thankful for her to
have this opportunity before she starts college because it has
been life changing for her. I love that she gets

(58:50):
to go do that. And again, that's called world race.
That's my speech impediment WS and ours like real world
world race. I have to really inc before I say,
but I don't know, it's just something to look into
for maybe some parents listening or some kids listening, they're like, Hey,
I don't know that I'm quite ready to start college
right out of high school, and maybe I could go

(59:12):
have an experience like that. And I'm thankful that, Yeah,
Adeline was able or y'all were able to give her
that as an experience and a gift, and she's helping
people all over the world and creating probably friendships and
bonds that she'll remember the rest of her life. So anyway, Adeline,
if you're listening to this, love you, proud of you,
and remember to go out there and put good things

(59:33):
into the world because it just got this one life
and expect miracles. That's right, that's right, alright. So a

(59:55):
fourth thing. Fourth thing is my brother in law Ben Haven. Welcome.
Christie and I talked about the show a little bit
and Building Roots, and you're the founder of Root Design
and it started back in two thousand and four, and
of course I remember that because I was your first
employee and I was living in the shed in your backyard,
and I think that was my small way to contribute

(01:00:16):
to rent or something. And then yeah, I think I
left Root Design to go work the front desk at
Gold's Gym, so you know that was a step up.
You would sleep in your clothes because that early morning
you had to open the gym a bit at the
front desk, and I'd go wake you up because you
were always late, and there you were sleeping in your
Gold's Gym uniform, ready to go. So how in the

(01:00:41):
world did Root Design? Well, let's back up, let me
ask why roots. The word roots shows up a lot
because Root Design is the name of the company, and
then years later you'll move to Colorado and open up
Root House coffee shop. Then the TV show is called
Building Roots. So why is it that word so important

(01:01:03):
to you? Christie came up with the name root designed
long time ago, and rude just means the source from
which all things grow. And whether it's coffee over our conversation,
whether it's a new adventure or new business or whatever,
it's the source from which all things grow and all
good things come from. Design and building roots where we

(01:01:23):
moved to Colorado with our family a few years ago
and kind of redid our whole business there, and so
building Roots just kind of fit perfectly because that's what
roots mean, kind of the the source from which all things grew.
So we're starting some new adventures. Yeah, And so the
company started in Austin, which is where we were all
born and raised. But then when it made the transition

(01:01:44):
to Colorado and you'all added the coffee shop under that umbrella.
Then how in the world did you even get approached
for a TV show? I mean, obviously I know the answer,
but it's not something to be clear. Y'all saw out
at all in any way, shape or form. So what
did that look like? Yeah? Nothing we ever imagined, wanted,
dreamed anything. But one day we got an Instagram message

(01:02:08):
from a sweet lady named Bridget, and you could just
tell the way she approached us and her messages that
she had read our story, she had read some of
our Instagram post a personal and professional, and she just
really connected with us. And that's we've been hit up
before with some other you know, TV opportunities are different
things like oh y'all look cool, this is funny, they'll
do neat work, but they really didn't connect with us.

(01:02:30):
And Bridget just really connected with some of our Instagram
stories about family and faith and doing good first and
enjoying good design, doing good projects for great clients, but
first and foremost family and everything else we did. And
so the Instagram she hit you up on was root
Design Co. Yeah, okay, so not your personal because you
are Bindoser and my sister's Christine Doser. That's your handles,

(01:02:51):
but your company Instagram, Root Design Code. You got the
d M. And then I mean that was probably what
two that was two thousand eighteen, and then she emailed us.
I said, sure, send me some more information. And then
she emailed us and she called us by the wrong
names and the email and she was so embarrassed, and
so it kind of got off to a bad start
just by like, oh, I was like, who's Jesse and

(01:03:11):
Kate And she's like, oh my gosh, I mean Ben
and Christie. I'm so sorry, I'm so embarrassed. So but
it just kind of broke the ice and it created
even a better relationship because we just started laughing even
from the first email she sent us. And that's kind
of how it's gone, you know, since then. A lot
of hard challenges and overcoming and during filming a TV
shows crazy, but it all started with a good laugh
and that's kind of how we like to do things.

(01:03:33):
But it was just kind of like, just let's see
where this goes. There's no pressure, just take the next
step in that direction, and if it doesn't work out, okay,
no big deal. Because yeah, I mean TV shows are
ideas are pitched left and right, and I know that y'all.
You know, talked to Bobby early on because he's done
TV and I can't even tell you how many opportunities

(01:03:54):
he's thought of or been approached with and then they've
totally fallen through. And so it is wild to think
that here we are four years later and now the
show is on HDTV and it's really crazy. And there
were some awesome people that were along with us, like
you yourself and just walking us through this whole thing.
Bobby had some great key insights a couple of times

(01:04:17):
just on helping us pick some different people that needed
we needed to have in our lives during the TV show,
and um, obviously our family and dad and some other people.
So it's really really neat to have some people. And
we just kept taking the next right step through the
next door, and none of the doors closed. We just
kept kind of going through and they just kept opening
and we kind of got more and more nervous as
we got closer, and then the camera showed up one

(01:04:39):
day and then we really started sweating, and uh, we
did as good as we could. It was crazy. So
define the role of you and Christie on the show.
I don't know everybody thinks of Chip and Joe, which
are incredibly awesome people and what they do in the
homes they do, but we're a little bit different than that.
I'm kind of the designer behind the whole kind of

(01:04:59):
big pick or of the project, the vision, remodeling, restoring,
whatever the project is, and working with our team to
build that dream that vision kind of too fruition on
the day to day hammer and all type of stuff.
But it all starts out with the sketch, which generally
comes from my barn down by the river, in an old,
you know, eighteen hundred year old barn. And then Christie

(01:05:20):
comes in at the end of the project. And she's
always with me along through the projects, kind of just
pushing me and pinching me in different ideas, and we
share a lot of uh concepts and all the different
things that go into a project. But then she really
comes in at the end and really turns the project
into a home, really makes it um what the clients
really wanted, and that she just she puts that charm

(01:05:41):
and that aesthetic on it. The colors, the fields, the vibes,
the blankets, the pillows, all the different things that you
walk in and you just feel welcomed in a house
and you just and that's what you want to walk in.
You just want to feel like you're welcomed home. And
that's what Christie does. And you do have the gift
of design and laying things out in a unique way
and creating a space that's gonna be just different than

(01:06:04):
what you would see everywhere else. I mean, which a
lot of people have that that gift, but you're definitely
one of them, and you've had that since early on.
But I'll just take this time as encouragement for people
that are trying to figure out what in the world
they're gonna do with their life. No matter what age
you are, I think you can always pivot change your mind,
or maybe you're a young listener. But I did not

(01:06:26):
have any sort of degree that related to media or
radio or anything like that. And now I've been in
a career in radio for sixteen years, and neither you
or Christie have a degree in architecture or design. I
know you've went to college, but for totally different things,
and you've taken courses along the way that have grown

(01:06:49):
your quote unquote education in this field. But it's like,
you don't have to go to college for certain things.
And it's just interesting how we're living out totally different
lives than any of us thought. Right. My degree was
in recreation, which means I went skiing and fly fishing
every day in college. We have a saying, if you
do what you've always done, you'll be what you've always been.
And so we just always love to just mix things

(01:07:10):
up and and designs one thing that we get to
do and we just have kind of a natural talent
that God has given us and we get to use
it um and you know, it pays the bills and
we but more than that, we get to meet some
really neat people and build some really neat dreams for
some families that want to do things different, or trying
a new home or try a new layout, or just
all types of fun ideas. And so anytime someone comes

(01:07:31):
to us with a story where they want to try
something different, we're all in. And again we live born
and raised in Austin and kind of flipping our life
a little bit moving to Colorado, just kind of mixing
things up, doing things different and seeing what happens. And
that's fun. There's a lot of risking that, but sometimes
you don't know what the reward is until you get
to the other side. So like you and jumping into radio,

(01:07:52):
no clue with where this was going to go, and
same with this, we have no clue where this is
going to go. Well. And not to say that this
whole journey from tooth hours and four two now has
been easy, there's I'm glad you mentioned that because it's like, oh,
there's been some definite loads of owning your own business
in this way and it's been challenging, but you've persevered
and had good support. But there's definitely times where you

(01:08:14):
probably thought, okay, this is done. Yeah, there're several times.
So we we don't like to hold onto things too tightly.
We hold things loosely. And we were willing to walk
away from Root Design a couple of different times. We've
had some awesome partners and and all partnerships kind of
come and go in different times frame and we've had
some wonderful partnerships that have ended incredibly well and we're
so thankful, But so many times we were we had

(01:08:37):
to challenge ourselves are were willing to walk away from
Root Design, and and when we were willing to, he
would often bring it back to us and and so
much more. And when we risk different things in the business,
um again, they come with challenges. All risk have challenges,
and so um we've really been pushed and we've done
things outside of our comfort zone time and time again.
Clients too, bigger projects in different locations where where they

(01:09:00):
may be. We've done things that we weren't really ready for,
but the client was ready for us to try it
with them. And so that's where we've just been blessed
with some amazing clients that kind of went along the
journey with us. And we've always said we're kind of
making it up as we go, but we have learned
a lot and rest a lot, and that's where that's
where growth happens. So what would you say that the

(01:09:20):
biggest takeaway from filming eight episodes was for you? Like,
what's something you learned about yourself in that process? Gosh,
the biggest thing and the biggest takeaway was it continues
to be less about what we build and who we
build up. There's so many great designers all around the
country and to say anybody can do anything, everybody has

(01:09:41):
unique talent. But and we hope to really provide our
clients with a great, great return on their investment in
a great fun project that they can really live in
and enjoy and make memories. But if that's what it
was all about, kind of in there, and we want
this to keep going with the people that we surround
ourselves with and the people we get to best with
and the people we get to build up not just

(01:10:03):
with the project but in life and around us, and
so that's really been the kind of the takeaway after
this last six seven months, and that you breathe voice
lessons And that was probably the hardest thing, sitting in
front of a voice coach and singing to myself or
to him whoever this guy was. He was really awesome.

(01:10:25):
But yes, I had to get voice coaching just for
you so I could sit here in front of this Mike.
I will say, you haven't even done that at all,
and I've been super impressed. No, I was sitting here
waiting for you to be you know, well, because there
is some breathing thing that been first and last podcast
has always done for years. But I know that you've

(01:10:46):
been working hard, and I know that you've done the
vocal coaching stuff, and I think it is paying off.
And I am super proud of you. And I'm proud
of Christie and the kids, your whole family, like everyone
that's a part of this, your whole team, and just
representing Pagosa Springs, Colorado and the beauty of Colorado. I
even do. I was telling you all the other day,

(01:11:07):
I literally do ads for the State of Colorado because
I am such a big fan. And when they approached
me about it. I was like, well, that's an easy
natural fit because it's a beautiful place. And I will
say that the creators or the producers or I don't
know who these people are that would be doing this
in your show. The scenery of each episode, like the
drone shots, I guess that they're getting there so stunning.

(01:11:30):
I'm like this in itself. The whole show Building Roots
is a commercial for the state of Colorado because it
just looks so beautiful and majestic and peaceful and like
you a place you want to go. Of course, the
winter months can get a little brutal, but it's still beautiful.
It's still beautiful. So they can film as less of
me as they won't, and more of the scenery less

(01:11:51):
than more scenery, you have much better. Sure, Okay, Well,
I just hope everybody checks it out if they haven't already.
I know, I am just over the moon about it,
and every Sunday night I will be in front of
my TV watching Building Roots and it's at nine eight Central.
Just as a quick reminder, Christine, I were joking earlier

(01:12:12):
that people, even if they're like not into it, and
they could care less, just go ahead and turn on
your TV and walk out there. Let's try. Let's try.
Just turn it on, have it gone. We'll see where
it goes. But there's some really good stories I think
people will enjoy, and Christie was amazing and her connection
with some of the clients, and some really neat stories
are going to come out. So we're we haven't seen it.
We've seen one episode, we haven't seen the seven of

(01:12:34):
the others. So I'm excited to see some of these
stories and how that production team put them all together.
I think they're going to be really neat. Yeah, and
so this episode only one has already aired, and then
this Sunday will be episode two, and then so on
and there's eight totals, so everybody you know what you're
doing for the next seven Sunday nights. So okay, well,

(01:12:54):
thank you, Ben and um, you know, let's just talk
to you later on the phone or something. Game. Bye,