Send us a text This episode is a discussion with Sarah Brandell. Sarah is an infertility and pregnancy loss life and mindset coach who supports women on their path to motherhood. She helps women manage the heavy emotions of their fertility journey while reconnecting to themselves and their passions in the present. She is a fellow infertility warrior as well as a wife and rainbow baby mama. Sarah shares her story about Infertility and how she lost herself and time in her life while trying to get ...
Jan 18, 2024•31 min•Season 2Ep. 44
Send us a text Jenna Hodge is a mom of three and motherhood coach who is passionate about the health and wellness of both mom and child. She helps moms take care of their little ones and themselves by balancing self care with their kids’ needs. Hear Jenna's personal experience with motherhood, postpartum depression and many other things and how she turned her struggles around by herself. She helps moms learn how to change their mindset to take care of themselves while also raising their children...
Jan 04, 2024•33 min•Season 2Ep. 43
Send us a text This episode is a wonderful conversation with Liz Carroll who shares her experience with JOY. Liz Carroll is a life-long student and teacher of making mindful money moves. Originally believing she was "bad with money," Liz did the hardwork to rewrite her money story. She needed to drop limiting beliefs about how a woman can earn and manage money to set her up for financial success in a way she would commit to and follow. It worked. Liz attained financial independence and retired e...
Dec 14, 2023•36 min•Season 2Ep. 42
Send us a text In this episode, I have the privilege of talking to Tanya Hackney. Tanya graduated with a B.A. from Middlebury College in 1997, where she majored in English and double-minored in French and Education. She married her high school sweetheart and taught kindergarten in Atlanta, Georgia before transitioning to homeschooling her own five children aboard sailing vessel Take Two. She’s lived aboard, traveled, and written for the Take Two Sailing blog for the last fifteen years. She has a...
Nov 30, 2023•43 min•Season 2Ep. 41
Send us a text You don't want to miss this episode!!! This is a very special, emotional episode for us. Hunter, Addison, and I sat down and had a session with Tami Hendrix, a Compassionate Medium and Healer. We lost our beloved Onyx, a 4-year-old black lab, suddenly and unexpectedly on Labor Day. We have had tremendous heartbreak these last few months as we have had to immediately navigate life without her and try to make sense of what happened. I was referred to Tami by my therapist and I am so...
Nov 16, 2023•21 min•Season 2Ep. 40
Send us a text This episode is a wonderful conversation with Mary Ann Pack. Mary Ann Pack is a spiritual medium, best-selling author, publisher at Envision Greatness Press, and joy advocate. Her mission is to spread more love and joy in the world by writing, publishing, coaching, and podcasting to support others as they use their voices for messages of hope and healing. If you have a book being called through you, want to participate in a collaborative book project, need ghostwriting, or need a ...
Nov 02, 2023•44 min•Season 2Ep. 39
Send us a text It's been at least 4 weeks since we put out an episode. Losing our sweet Onyx has made it very difficult to be focused on daily tasks. We are still grieving for our dear doggy. What have the last 7 weeks been like? We still cry as we are trying to navigate our lives without Onyx. Evenings, nights, and weekends are the toughest. What I have learned is that when my kids cry, I don't need to try to fix anything for them. I can't fix anything. I can't bring back Onyx so there is nothi...
Oct 19, 2023•13 min•Season 2Ep. 38
Send us a text A brief description of what we have been going through these last few weeks. This is the reason why I don't have a full episode ready. We lost our dear 4 year old doggy, Onyx suddenly. We are trying to keep our head above water each day. I have not been able to be productive in my life or find much JOY. I am a believer that JOY and grief coexist but when you are in the forefront of grief it is really hard to find JOY. We will be back soon sharing our experience with this current e...
Sep 21, 2023•4 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Send us a text Drive-a-logue Game: Go to the link below and enter NJT for a 20% discount at checkout. https://drivealogue.com/?sca_ref=4141865.xLTkWKLvJW How to find Adam: [email protected] https://www.adamleebrooks.com/ https://drivealogue.com/ https://www.facebook.com/adamleebro https://www.instagram.com/adam.lee.brooks/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamleebrooks Drive-A-Logue link: https://drivealogue.com/?sca_ref=4141865.xLTkWKLvJW Put NJT in the coupon box for a 20% discount! Lauren's B...
Sep 07, 2023•46 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Send us a text Jenna B is a wife, mother, and spiritually intuitive. Jenna has worn many hats in life trying to find her own purpose outside of the home. With a very supportive husband, Jenna had the time to sit and pray to find what she was meant to do. Jenna feels her purpose is to help, heal and spread love to others. Jenna and I discuss what transpired in her life to lead her to consciously choose joy every single day. She shares that she asks for ease, flow, and grace every single morning a...
Aug 24, 2023•28 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Send us a text My guest today is Michelle Ruddell. Michelle is a speaker, author, and semi-retired teacher who lives in Central Texas. She speaks to women's groups about how to find joy in the middle of tough circumstances. her book, "Welcome to the Club, I'm Sorry You're Here", was written to offer hope to grieving parents. Michelle shares with us the story of losing her 5-year-old child over 30 years ago, how a neighbor told her she would never be happy again, and how she has consciously learn...
Aug 10, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Send us a text In this episode, we talk with Michael Jann and Michele Jourdan. Michael is an Emmy-nominated late-night comedy writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon . Michele is Mike’s wife, writing partner, and a gold-medal-winning body-builder. She likes working out so much, she actually married a dumbbell: Mike. Their story is deeply personal: Their 27-year-old son Max’s mental breakdown, hospitalization, diagnosis, and ongoing recovery (fingers c...
Jul 27, 2023•29 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Send us a text This week's episodes briefly share some "teasers" of some amazing people I will be interviewing who all are connected to JOY in their personal or professional lives and how they bring JOY to others. Michelle lost her 5 year old in a car accident over 30 years ago. Even though her neighbor said something very negative and hurtful, Michelle tells us how she held on to JOY in the midst of grief. Jenna shares how she lives her life everyday with joy. It is about changing your perspect...
Jul 13, 2023•6 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Send us a text It's fun getting together with family you haven't seen for a while. But how do you keep the JOY flowing instead of the arguments and negative situations? You create boundaries and expectations ahead of time. We just returned from a family trip with my brothers' families and mine celebrating our Mom's 80th birthday. We spent a week together at Folly Beach in South Carolina, all in the same rented VRBO. How do you set expectations: 1. Don't expect everyone to do the same thing at th...
Jul 01, 2023•12 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Send us a text This will be our last one on Cultivating Joy in Children for a while as I will be bringing guests on who are experts in JOY. We have so many wonderful conversations coming up to share about JOY. Now on to this episode: Addison and I discuss how important it is to laugh. As adults we are much too serious and we don't tap into fun and laughter enough. Instead, we carry stress, worry, and anger. Those negative emotions have a traumatic effect on our bodies and lives. Instead, learn h...
Jun 15, 2023•15 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Send us a text In this episode I have a candid conversation with Girl Dad Nation's Matthew Krekeler. He is the father of three young girls and has a podcast called Girl Dad Nation. We chat about how he keeps JOY alive in a house full of young children. He taps into his religion and how his religion helps him navigate JOY. Matthew talks about when he and his wife struggled with infertility and how he was able to let that go, tap into gratitude and JOY to then end up having 3 daughters. He also ta...
Jun 01, 2023•44 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Send us a text As we celebrate finishing our first year of podcasting, we are inviting listeners to share with us topics they want to hear about in season 2. What areas in your family are joy crushers? Do you need tips on creating more joy? Do you want to share with us how you strive to bring JOY into yours and your family's life? Bring it on and reach out so we can continue to bring value to every listener out there. We all can use MORE JOY in our DAILY LIVES! Drive-A-Logue link: https://drivea...
May 18, 2023•3 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Send us a text Life is filled with difficult times so let's teach our children how to get through them. If they learn now they will be able to get through difficult times successfully as adults and become less anxiety ridden. In this episode I talk about the importance of why children need to know how to do this and how we can teach them to do this. How do we teach them? Respect their feelings. Don't sugar coat them. Don't tell them it's no big deal, don't tell them let it go. Instead, validate ...
May 04, 2023•13 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Send us a text I'm so excited to share this conversation with Martha McBride. We connected over social media and found we have a lot in common, especially our goal to live in JOY daily. Martha shares her experience with a bad breakup that led to depression and how she was then able to get out of that. She also shares how she knows she is living in a state of JOY each day. One way she knows is if she is singing. Not just songs on the radio but even when she can't find her keys. Haha! I love it! S...
Apr 20, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Send us a text In our series Cultivating Joy in Children, I talk about Gratitude. Why is it important for us to teach our children to be grateful? Gratitude is a JOY creator! Why do we want to teach our children gratitude? 1. Develop a feeling of empathy. 2. Teaches them to be more generous toward others. Why is this beneficial? 1. Less stress 2. More Positive 3. Happier and more joyful 4. They will perform better at school 5. May not be as materialistic. 6. Will be able to cope better in diffic...
Apr 06, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Send us a text I DID IT!! I pulled out the coupon card that was made for me for my birthday! The, "1 Hour of No Screen Time". It was the perfect time as I was becoming inundated with all the text sounds coming out of Hunter's phone! It was time for some SILENCE!!! Listen in to see how the family reacted, what took place during the hour, and what it led to for this week. Share a takeaway with us from this episode or an idea you have on "screen-free" time for the entire family. Drive-A-Logue link:...
Mar 23, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Send us a text Let's talk about how hugging can cultivate JOY in children. Hugging gets our oxytocin and serotonin chemicals flowing which provide a lot of benefits for our bodies. To give us even more benefit, make your hugs last a minimum of 6 seconds. That's when all our happy chemicals really start flowing. What does hugging do for children: 1. Helps kids grow 2. Keeps kids healthier 3. Stops temper tantrums 4. Builds Resilience 5. Make kids JOYFUL by Pamela LI https://www.parentingforbrain....
Mar 09, 2023•15 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Send us a text Mark and I follow up on what we discussed in Episode 21. We come up with a plan on how to solve conflicts within our family. How do you make a plan? Take time to identify the following components: Who- Who are the key players involved in the conflict? What -What actions or behaviors created the conflict? What is each person's part? When -When does this conflict occur? Is there a pattern when a conflict happens? Why - Look in the mirror-How much of this conflict did I cause? How -H...
Feb 23, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Send us a text This episode discusses the second tip on how to cultivate joy in children. What is it? It is spending time together. I know many parents may think that their children don't want to spend time together but I would bet anything that is not true. Listen in on: Why this is important What are some ideas that families can do together How to get started I know it will create a shift in families and create more JOY! Children, especially teens will be more JOYFUL and so will the parents. D...
Feb 09, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Send us a text In this week's episode, Mark and I reflect on a situation that had occurred moments earlier with our son. Lauren and Hunter seem to be having collisions around chores and they end up both becoming angry and upset. Hear the changes in behavior Lauren put into place once calmed down, under Mark's suggestions, and how it helped us to have a civil conversation toward changing patterns and behaviors so these situations don't continue. This is only Step 1 to shifting our patterns and be...
Jan 26, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Send us a text This is the first episode of a new series: Cultivating Joy in Children. It is just as essential for children to learn how to create joy in their lives. It has the same benefits as adults. Plus, if you start now your children will learn tools on how to create joy as adults during difficult times. Tune in to see how to start the process and build a foundation so you can start to teach them strategies on how to cultivate joy. Drive-A-Logue link: https://drivealogue.com/?sca_ref=41418...
Jan 12, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Send us a text Like many, this is such a special time of year for our family. With holidays all around us, lights, family time, friend time, break from school etc., we share what we put in place to create JOY for each other and talk about what others may do if they don't celebrate the holidays. There are always ways to create JOY no matter what your beliefs are during the holiday season. Beware: There is quite a bit of background noise from our 11 year old. :) Drive-A-Logue link: https://driveal...
Dec 29, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Send us a text Did you know that music can illicit the same responses in our bodies as sex and create a musical orgasm? Listen in on how essential music is in creating JOY, why music is important in our lives, and how Lauren's family has used music to create JOY. Music is an EASY JOY CREATOR and can be used ALL THE TIME!!! Drive-A-Logue link: https://drivealogue.com/?sca_ref=4141865.xLTkWKLvJW Put NJT in the coupon box for a 20% discount! Lauren's Book, My Dad Died From ALS and How I Found Joy 3...
Dec 15, 2022•13 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Send us a text We have a special guest on this episode. Lauren's oldest brother, Mark. We were interested in chatting with him about how he and his family navigate joy together. We dive into how his experiences growing up with our parents shaped his experiences as a Dad in raising his young son. What were the joyful experiences from childhood he brings to his family and what experiences he changes from how he was raised? We also talk about how he and his wife make time for each other while raisi...
Dec 01, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Send us a text When you are outside, do you take time to notice nature, or is your head down in your phone, ignoring everything around you? Do you need a quick JOY pick-me-up? Nature will do it!! It's proven to create calm, reduce stress, enhance cognitive and academic skills, and even recover from illness. This week's episode will enlighten you as you hear more about what nature can do for you and some ways I have used nature to create JOY. It's one of the easiest JOY creators out there! Joyful...
Nov 17, 2022•15 min•Season 1Ep. 16
