In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica interview Tyler Christensen about being raised in the LDS church as a closeted gay kid and his subsequent journey coming out and finding solace in literature and Queer studies. K. Tyler Christensen is a Ph.D. Candidate in American Literature & Culture in the English Department at The George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, DC. There, he teaches Creative Writing and American Literature. Additionally, he’s an instructor in the Critical Race, ...
Sep 23, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 69
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica pick up where they left off last week regarding Hank's situation. Matt was surprised when Ann told him they were going to reveal the truth to Hank. He thought he had a couple of more years to plan the conversation that he wasn't Hank's biological father rather than just a few days. They talk about how Matt prepared for that potentially life-altering conversation and how it went and the aftermath. They also discuss the questions and concerns that arose an...
Sep 16, 2020•43 min•Ep. 68
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica discuss when things really started to fall apart with Ann, Matt, and Jessica. Co-parenting can be incredibly difficult. Especially when the parents involved struggle to communicate effectively. Matt and Jessica know this first hand in their experiences with Matt’s ex-wife. In previous episodes, they’ve alluded to the challenges that have come up, as a result, particularly involving Matt’s son Hank. They talk about the blowup fight Matt had with Ann over ...
Sep 09, 2020•37 min•Ep. 67
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica interview the Poor Bishop from last week's episode, Jerry Sturgill. Jerry has played a prominent role in each of their lives and encourages them to live boldly in all that they do. Today, he is sharing his viewpoint on the events of Steve and Jessica's relationship, and Matt and Jessica's. If you remember from last week, Jerry was the catalyst in Matt and Jessica finally facing their relationship problems. At his suggestion, they wait to seal their marri...
Sep 02, 2020•50 min•Ep. 66
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica discuss the time Jessica decided to leave Matt. They examine the nature and complexities of entering a second marriage. About a year after their marriage, they decided it was time to get sealed in the church. But at the time, they were going through some serious marital strain. Jessica felt as if Matt didn’t really care if they were together and struggled to connect with him. Matt was still actively dealing with the pain from his first marriage and had i...
Aug 26, 2020•54 min•Ep. 65
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica have a conversation with Chelsie Dort. Chelsie runs a popular blog and Instagram account dedicated to all things related to family life. Her content often refers to her experiences, raising a blended and biracial family. Chelsie’s oldest child is from her first marriage and youngest three from her current one. Unfortunately, though her first marriage ended due to infidelity, she does not regret the experience at all. Through that challenge, she was able ...
Aug 19, 2020•56 min•Ep. 64
In this episode, Matt, Jessica, and Steve discuss the importance of sticking to your guns. It can be difficult to adhere to your values as a parent especially when they’re continually being challenged. There are always challenges to overcome when raising a blended family. The influence of multiple parental figures can present new obstacles and modes of communication. Jessica reflects on a time she felt she didn’t stick to her guns and dealt with intense guilt over it. When their blended family w...
Aug 12, 2020•40 min•Ep. 63
In this episode, Matt, Jessica, and Steve talk about their experiences with Steve introducing his new boyfriend to them. Navigating their unique relationship continues to present interesting scenarios in each of their lives. The dynamic Steve, Jessica, and Matt share is undoubtedly fascinating. They tend to be reminded of this whenever inviting anyone new into the fold in the form of relationships. Though he is happy to have such supportive friendships with Jessica and Matt, Steve has often been...
Aug 05, 2020•44 min•Ep. 62
In this episode, Matt, Jessica, and Steve discuss Steve’s recent encounter with harassment at his work. A guest at his hotel spoke in a derogatory manner to one of the staff, which led to Steve confronting the guest and kicking him out. The guest used slurs against Steve, which led to how people are treated based on appearance. As a gay man, Steve is often the subject of attention, and sometimes it can be negative. The three of them muse on the instances when it isn’t negative and how he is ofte...
Jul 29, 2020•45 min•Ep. 61
In this episode, Matt, Jessica, and Steve interview Charlie Bird, a gay active member of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints. Charlie is most famously known as the BYU mascot, Cosmo the Cougar. He gained notoriety for his impressive dance skills and many of his video clips have gone viral. Since his time at BYU, Charlie has become an advocate for LGBTQ identities within the LDS church. He currently lives in Utah and is pursuing his master’s degree in social work to become a clinical ...
Jul 22, 2020•43 min•Ep. 60
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica discuss dive into why it was so hard for Jessica the first few years of our marriage. They start breaking down some of Matt's false beliefs and the stories he was telling himself about why he couldn't show up for her. Matt and Jessica describe the hardships of the early years of their marriage. For Matt, he dealt with a lot of security issues and spent those years testing the waters of their relationship. To navigate those years, Jessica often confided a...
Jul 15, 2020•49 min•Ep. 59
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica discuss the ups and downs of co-parenting and how to keep your relationship healthy. It all starts with Steve’s story witnessing a custody battle (over a dog) while at work and leads into each of their own experiences with splitting custody. Matt and Jessica describe the interesting situation they are in dealing with two custody situations on each end of the spectrum. Jessica explains what she’s had to learn along the way as a new stepparent and how to h...
Jul 08, 2020•48 min•Ep. 58
In this episode, Jessica, Matt, and Steve move through their timeline of Matt and Jessica’s relationship. They talk about how their relationship created new roles for Matt in the church and how he struggled to find his place in it during this transition with Jessica. Before Matt and Jessica started dating, Matt served the church as a Sunday school teacher. He was moved to the role of executive secretary of the ward after they met. In this role, Matt assisted the Bishop with scheduling and planni...
Jul 01, 2020•43 min•Ep. 57
In this episode, we welcome the Inclusive Step-Mom, Beth McDonough. Beth is a certified step-parent coach who uses her experience as a child of divorce, a step-mother, and attraction to women to help others adjust and find success as a step-parent. Beth specializes in LGBTQ+ issues, being a childless stepmom, infertility, and strengthening stepfamilies. She talks to us about her mission to make everyone feel included. Too often online resources use language and family exclusive terminology. She ...
Jun 24, 2020•44 min•Ep. 56
In this episode, Steve, Jessica and Matt discuss jealousy and how it gave them perspective on the changes that were happening not only in their lives, but the lives of their ex’s and their children. Matt and Jessica’s new beginning meant a new normal for their children too. They talk about teaching their children that it is okay to show your step-parents the same amount of love they show their biological parents and vise-versa. It's a complicated topic that can vary based on each family's circum...
Jun 17, 2020•47 min•Ep. 55
In this episode, we are talking about the meaning of the word sonder, the realization that everyone has a life as complex as one's own. It’s a timely way of thinking as we all reflect on how we are showing up in our countries current climate. This year has been a tough one. It has been a year of economic setbacks and, as of recently, a movement for change. Jessica begins this episode reflecting with Steve and Matt on today’s cultures and their sense of responsibility to understand the crusade fo...
Jun 10, 2020•36 min•Ep. 54
This episode marks the one year anniversary of Husband In Law. Steve, Jessica and Matt thank their listeners for following their story and share some of their favorite moments recording. Taking the first step and deciding to start a podcast wasn’t an easy decision. Jessica has mentioned before that she felt a calling to help make a difference in people’s lives. For her that calling led to this podcast. Steve struggled with sharing his story and worried about the criticism he thought he would rec...
Jun 03, 2020•44 min•Ep. 53
In this episode, Jessica talks about her trip to the Grand Teaton and how the vacation turned out to be a giant hurdle emotionally and physically. The beginning of Jessica and Matt’s marriage has been the topic of the last few episodes. Jessica and Matt have been struggling to have the open conversations they need work through the transition of a second marriage. This week, Matt and Jessica reconnect at the state fair after Jessica searches for clarity at the top of the Grand Tetons. She starts ...
May 27, 2020•45 min•Ep. 52
In this episode, Jessica Matt and Steve continue their conversation about the early days of Matt and Jessica’s marriage. In previous episodes, Matt talks about immense responsibility settling in after the wedding. He was struggling to open up to Jessica about his feelings and it came off seemingly distant and less interested in the relationship. The three talk more about those feelings while focusing more on how the hesitation impacted Jessica. One of the first noticeable changes was Matt no lon...
May 20, 2020•53 min•Ep. 51
In this episode, Matt opens up about how financial stress weighed on him in the beginning of his marriage with Jessica. Debt accumulation from his past relationship put up a temporary wall with new experiences with Jessica. They get on the subject when Steve starts a conversation about his involvement in Jessica buying a new car. He shares how he still felt a responsibility for Jessica’s well-being after their divorce and wanted to be there for her, including with finances. He brings up that he ...
May 13, 2020•46 min•Ep. 50
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica will dive into the night of their wedding and what Steve did. Steve will start off by hilariously talking about how that day was “a great milestone” in his life because he had just given away his ex-wife. He left the wedding feeling like a huge burden had been lifted from him and the feeling was actually similar to what he felt the day he rode his bike away from Jessica after they had officially ended things. After that he had to redo his apartment with ...
May 06, 2020•47 min•Ep. 49
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica will talk all about the week before Matt and Jessica got married. Jessica will talk about how empowering her bachelorette party was because of all the awesome things she got to experience like learning how to pole dance and lap dance. Matt on the other hand doesn’t remember much of his bachelor party except that they went long-boarding, because he had to go to Ann’s house after she called him and asked him to go pick up their kids because her husband had...
Apr 22, 2020•52 min•Ep. 47
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica will continue their conversation on how dating was like for Matt and Jessica before they got married. They will dive into the subject of love languages, which refer to how different people love each differently. Jessica will explain how she is comfortable with her weird mix of love languages because everyone in her life loves her in their own unique way and she appreciates it. Matt’s love language towards Jessica for example, includes him understanding t...
Apr 15, 2020•54 min•Ep. 46
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica will talk about how dating was like for Matt and Jessica before they got married. They’ll start off the episode by sharing how they’re all doing with social distancing and "sheltering in place" due to the global Coronavirus pandemic. Things have been out of balance for Steve because all he’s been doing is work (working a ton of hours because they laid off 12 out of their 17 employees) and self quarantine at home alone which makes him feel the loneliness ...
Apr 08, 2020•55 min•Ep. 45
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica will have a conversation with Jason Dunnigan, better known as The Modern Dad on Instagram. His Instagram handle, the_modern_dad, is an ode to his message and belief that dads need to be more involved in their children’s lives than they traditionally have been. While he’s an expert social media marketer and runs global social media accounts for a craft company, his true passion lies in being a husband and father. He is married with four children, and is k...
Apr 01, 2020•45 min•Ep. 44
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica will be talking about Matt’s dating life right after his divorce was finalized. He has been going through a very rough divorce because his ex-wife had insisted that she would be the one to file the divorce papers, and she dragged it on for more than a year and a half during which time Matt was going through the dry spell of the century. He wanted to start dating, and he weirdly expected lippage (making out) on the first date with the first person he woul...
Mar 25, 2020•44 min•Ep. 43
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica will dive into Steve’s dating life right after him and Jessica ended things, and they’ll start off the conversation with an interesting discussion on the type of guys he’s attracted to and likes to date. Right after ending things with Jessica for good, Steve dated Sebastian and after that too was over, he got into the dating scene in Boise. He had a bit of a rough time in the beginning because, as he later learned, he wasn't meeting the expectations of m...
Mar 18, 2020•41 min•Ep. 42
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica will share the second part of their conversation with Lindsey Ellison, a speaker, writer, and relationship expert whose main expertise comes from her experiences and studies dealing with narcissists. Lindsey specializes in narcissistic abuse, and is the author of the bestselling book, “MAGIC Words: How to Get What You Want from a Narcissist.” She comes on to share her inspiring story from growing up with a narcissist father, being married to a covert nar...
Mar 11, 2020•37 min•Ep. 41
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica will have a conversation with Lindsey Ellison, a speaker, writer, and relationship expert whose main expertise comes from her experiences and studies dealing with narcissists. Lindsey specializes in narcissistic abuse, and is the author of the bestselling book, “MAGIC Words: How to Get What You Want from a Narcissist.” She comes on to share her inspiring story from being married to a covert narcissist, being divorced and single at 35, dating a psychopath...
Mar 04, 2020•36 min•Ep. 40
In this episode, Matt, Steve, and Jessica will chat about when it is the right time for someone to introduce whomever they’re dating to their kids, especially when they’re in a co-parenting/blended family arrangement. Jessica feels that the way to handle that is very personal and depends on the unique situation one is in. In her own experience, when she dated someone she would sometimes introduce him to Penny right away, but the one thing that she applied with every one of them including Matt (e...
Feb 26, 2020•44 min•Ep. 39
