Our origin story, marriage advice, & 2026 resolutions

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I don't even want to say how many years. Wait, years? Since before you had CJ? I don't know if this is inappropriate for the podcast, but I put kiss more. Matt will kiss me and sometimes I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Redo that. Like a smooch kiss. What is your best advice for being a wife? Always here to share the hope and the heart with heart and humor. Welcome to Always. Here, we're your host, Abbey Howard and Abbey Howard. Wow, this is crazy. I feel very nervous. Really? Yeah, I have butterflies mostly because I'm excited, but I have full confidence in this being really natural for us because we talk all the time. Totally. And we got Addie here on the production mic. Hello. It's a family affair. I know it's fun to just watch you guys in the studio on the outside. It's kind of weird. I like it. I like it. I like it too. Less pressure on me to look good every episode. True. True. I feel like we just filmed our announcement video right before this and it was like a scripted fun thing and I feel like I'm talking like I'm on a script. Like I have to turn off my acting brain because I've never had an acting brain. You're natural though. I appreciate that. We should probably first address for those that don't know why we have the exact same name. Oh yeah, that's a good part. We always make that stupid joke. Yeah, it's either really convenient or really confusing. Oh, we're. Our family couldn't afford nothing. I think that's from Zach and Cody. It is from Zach and Cody. Our family could only afford one name. Yeah. No, but we are technically you're Abigail and I'm really going to train myself for the sake of this podcast to call you Abigail, but I've called you Abby for a decade now. Yeah, I know. It's crazy how long we've known each other. Yeah. Well, a decade actually. Yeah, a whole 10 years. But to be fair, the early years. We were not friends. I didn't know you were. I love to do. We should get into that. So different. Yeah, let's get into it. OK, so we're both Abby, Abigail for her. My full name is just Abby. For those of you that may not have known that. But we married brothers. Yep. Caleb and Matt. They're 18 months apart. They're pretty close. Yeah. Yeah. Always closer than I think. Caleb seems like such an older brother, so I always feel like he's much older. I think, too, because Caleb and Matt weren't super close for a lot of their lifetime until we all got married and we're in the same life stage that I feel like now they're closer and they feel less of an age gap. But I feel like growing up, there felt like a big, big age gap. Yeah. Because we're all high school sweethearts, which is also wild. Yeah. Yeah. That is fun. OK, so kind of get into it. OK. Do you remember the first time you met me? I don't. OK. Yeah. So we started dating. We both started dating in high school. Yes. I started dating Caleb when I was a senior and he was a junior. And then we dated all through high school, college. And I remember you coming into the picture, I think maybe when I was still in high school. No. No, I'm sorry. I was a sophomore. I was in college. Because you and Matt started dating your senior year. Right after junior year. Yeah. Yeah. So I was maybe right before you went into sophomore year. Yes. So I feel like we never really had a ton of time together because you lived in a different city. I was in college just so far apart. Yeah. But I have distinct memories of you from the beginning. I think that's so crazy. Every time you say that, you're like, you were so cool. I was never cool. I've never been cool. Really? I feel like you're pretty cool. And in comparison to me, Abby, let's be fair. I don't think. You guys always did fun, crazy things with your friends. I feel like I was just, I didn't, I just had like a small group. I don't know. I just wasn't like the cool girl that I feel like you probably had me built up to be in your head. Well, we didn't go to the same high school. So in my mind, you were like city girl. You'd known the family so much longer than me. You were so much more comfortable. You had like cool style and you always felt edgy to me. So I was like, she's just so cool. I was intimidated. You, this is intimidated by you. This was my first memory of you. I don't know if I've ever told you this, but we were eating at the Howard's house, like at their kitchen table. And I was like, gosh, she's so comfortable. And like, I was so nervous around their family for so long. And like, I like would get a stomachache. I'm like so nervous. I just really wanted them to like me, but I also like didn't know how to behave. I was just really awkward. And then I remember I'm sitting across from you and you're sitting next to Josh and he's eating watermelon. You remember the food. Yeah. Cause you were like, Josh, you're eating kind of loud. You like corrected his eating. I don't think I could ever say anything like that. Why did I feel so comfortable saying that? It wasn't rude. It was just like, you were like, you, he felt like your brother. Yeah, he did. I met Josh when he was nine years old. Yeah. Yeah. He's 23 now. Crazy. Isn't that wild? I know. So he kind of was, he is my little brother. Yeah. Yeah. That is really funny. I feel like my first impressions of you, I don't remember the first time we met in person, but I remember Matt talking about you all the time and we were all like, we get it. You love her. And he'd be like, I'm going to marry Abby. I'm going to marry Abby. And I was like, okay, you sound crazy. You sound crazy. Cause you guys were like 18. 17. 17. He's like, I'm going to marry her. And I'm like, okay. I knew you were amazing from what Matt said, but. That's sweet. I didn't, I don't remember like actually meeting you for the first time. I remember. So then, okay, we keep dating kind of just like crossing paths. Really just like holidays and stuff and not really talking too much, to be honest. I was so scared. And then we had, got engaged. I went, I was at your engagement. You were. Yeah. That's fun. I bet we have pictures from that together. Yeah. And then we had bridal showers together. This is where it's a little awkward in my opinion. This is where I feel like we became friends. Yeah. Starting to become friends, but we're getting married at the same time. We're having shared showers, which is a little awkward to begin with. Then you have me being. Like extra awkward and then us not also being like super close. Well, it was kind of funny because everyone thought we both were child brides. You know, we were, I was 23, you were 20. Yeah. Like my family thought I was a child bride. I was called a child. So it's like the two children just sitting there at their bridal showers. Yeah. I mean, it was really sweet for them to host those showers and like very generous, but they were beautiful, still not super close. We were. at each other's weddings sometimes i wonder i'm like man i wonder if it would have been fun to have you as a bridesmaid and like i think i'm going back i'm like totally what you would have been like my main like i mean all these things but i'm like also our relationship just wasn't like that yet totally and who would have known what was gonna come of it but i feel like a specific turning point was when you came to visit matt and i in springfield and you guys stayed at our one bedroom apartment with us you can't you get close with someone when you share a one bedroom apartment we went to silver dollar city yeah like made meals together that was really fun that was really fun i think that was the first time i saw your personality and matt's personality too like i always knew matt as like the younger brother and you know he was always busy with his acting and stuff and so actually getting to spend quality time with you guys was so fun i remember we baked and yeah we took our dog at the time was a puppy and you let us bring him to your apartment we just i mean we literally just ran around springfield and we just i don't know i was like wow they're so fun that was a good time and then we did a couple more trips together and then you ended up moving to arizona and i feel like then like we were already close by then yeah and so but like ever since then it's just like i really feel like we're all sisters and then addy joined the mix with blake like gosh three years ago now yeah three and a half well we've been married three and a half yeah crazy five and now we're all in arizona together all the sisters i know so fun i'm glad we're all here yeah it's fun it's a good time oh addy's married to my brother for context yeah so but we all call it abby howard is the middle person abby and the pink if you're if you're watching on this video i've been referring to you as my bonus sister-in-law and i kind of like that i think that's perfect i have to admit an insecurity i feel you guys both have like biological sisters so sometimes i feel like i'm overstepping but i'm like my sisters so like if i type it out i usually say sister-in-law out of respect i don't think my sister would care i'm not i'm not taking your place i don't think i'm equal to you oh i bet my sister's like that my sister probably doesn't care that's sweet that's what i didn't know you did that every time then i'm like do they think it's weird that i'm separating sister-in-law but i'm glad i got that out there and now we can just say sisters and we all know we're not trying to overstep i think i did that for your birthday on my story i'll text you can i put sister like is she okay with that like me being your sister that works great i mean my sisters love you so it's not like weird about it that's so sweet Oh, boy. Should we start our first segment? We should. Okay. This segment is called Wow, That's Crazy. Here's a tip. Wow, that's crazy. Wow, that's crazy. That's crazy. The inception of it is that Abby and I say that all the time. And to the point now where my son CJ says it, he goes, that's crazy. And then I was like, why do I say that so much? And I think it's because we say it all the time. I didn't even realize we were saying it. I didn't either until CJ started saying it and I started paying attention. I said, Abby says a lot. I say it a lot. So it must be something we feed. So we thought it'd be a funny idea. We thought it'd be a funny idea for a segment on the podcast. And Abby right now is currently offline and you have been for a while. I post, post and ghost. Yeah, but you don't like. I have been for, wow, we could do the exact math, but like two and a half months. Wow, that's really healthy. It feels great. I'm currently breastfeeding, so I feel like I'm chronically online. That's the time. So we have a good balance here. But I do want, I think that is an insecurity of like going offline. It's like it's so much better for my mental health and like my productivity, so many other things. But I'm also like. I feel like I'm getting left behind sometimes. Well, that's why we have this segment. That's great. We're going to keep you in the loop and then we'll get your opinions on what's going on. Okay. We do want this to be like non gossipy. It's just gonna be fun, lighthearted and chatty, but we're going to keep you in the loopy. Okay. Loopy. New word. We're going to start with like a, this is kind of just more an impressive one. The world has a new youngest female self-made billionaire. Did you know this? No. I feel like this is not what you were expecting. Gosh. Wow. The youngest. How many are there? Okay. I took notes. Okay. I prepped for this. I know. So in the world, there are three, around 3000 total billionaires. Okay. But out of that, only four to 430 are female. That's a huge. Four to 400. Oh, 400 to 430. Of those billionaires are female. Why don't we have the exact number? Well, I don't actually know. That's why there's like a 30 range there. Okay. And then around. A quarter of those are only, are self-made. So. Okay. About 124 are self-made female billionaires. The rest became billionaires by inheritance. Oh, okay. I know some of these. Yeah. So it's very impressive. Yes. And we have a new youngest. She's 29 years old. Okay. My age. So I, I got one year to catch up. Well, you don't want to be able to tie. I got about a billion dollars to catch up with. I need a billion more dollars. Her name is, I hope I say this right. Luana Lopez Lara. Okay. Luana Lopez Lara. There's a couple different ways. You could say that maybe just one to her, but she co-founded Kalshi and it's a regulated exchange for event-based trading. So think about gambling on elections, weather, sports, all kinds of different things. So that's pretty big news. I wonder if most of her users are male or female. I would be pretty confident that male. Yeah. Yes. She did have a co-founder who was a male, but I think it's, I mean, I'm, I'm very impressed that she's like young female entrepreneur became a billionaire. That's insane. But then also I'm like, dang, it's kind of gambling. Yeah. Kind of taboo a little bit. Oh, really? Do you think it is? I mean, I don't personally do it, but I feel like my dad grew up. I feel like my dad kind of, he played party poker. So it wasn't like, it's not sports betting, sports betting, which I feel like is a different. Yes. Blake does sports betting. I feel like it's different than gambling. It wasn't really a conversation. Honestly. Do you see those in the same? Realm? I do. Sports betting and gambling? Yes. But because in Missouri, where I'm from, before we moved here, it was always illegal. It's legal now as of a couple of days ago. Right. So I think that's why there's this hard shift where like my dad used to drive over state lines to Illinois to sports bet. But we would always consider it gambling because it was always kind of on the same playing field. I've always, I feel like the conversation was always like, don't ever get started on that. Like you'll waste all your savings. You'll ruin all, squander all your savings. Yeah. I've never done it. I've never actually even felt tempted to do it. I don't know. I wonder if it's like, if the number that is based on like the amount spent, like Blake puts like $20 in like a month, like it's not like a lot of money. So I wonder if like, that's why I'm like, it's not gambling. Cause he's like, it's controlled. Yeah. Controlled. Uh huh. It's just interesting. I thought it was funny. We're really proud of you. Luana. Luana. Good for you, girl. That's the first one. I thought we'd start with something light and kind of interesting. Love that for women. Go girls. Okay. The second one is maybe the opposite. The opposite of, have you heard about the hair by Chrissy drama? No, I know that there's something, but that's literally the extent of what I know. Okay. I think this is a very interesting debate. Okay. So TikToker at not famous 808 made a viral video about how she went to habit salon and was charged $4,000 for her hair extensions and service. She was charged $2,974 for the quote Chrissy service in which she claims that Chrissy personally only touched her hair for 60 seconds. And in this TikToker, she was charged $2,974 for the quote Chrissy service in which she was charged $2,974 for the quote Chrissy service in which she claims that Chrissy personally only touched her hair for 60 seconds. So this is a very interesting debate. I think it's a very interesting debate. done there in the past in the middle of the controversy so then it looks like those people are like supporting chrissy like someone made a video that was like hey my hair is short right now that i did not get my hair they're like asking if she went to chrissy while during this time now it's become a witch hunt i hate that stuff i hate that stuff but yeah i mean so i thought that was interesting what a circus isn't this is like this is something that's so funny to me because being on the side of like not like watching the videos and like reading the comments and seeing like the speed in which these things accelerate just being filled in on i'm like wow that's crazy that that became a big deal and merch was sold about it i know isn't that why you buy merch everybody i did not buy merch this girl got a ton of followers too yeah her first review video was very kind yeah it wasn't slanderous i think that's why people got mad at chrissy for her response because it was like you could have just taken the review kindly and just washed under the rug or even not drawn attention to it but she got it it it agitated her i'm pretty sure i met her one time i don't remember what she's really tiny she's really cute yeah beautiful yeah that's crazy that's crazy i think um with it being the start of the new year 2026 i mean really this year was it went fast it's a great time to talk about resolutions now i know abby personally isn't a resolution girly but we asked her to come up with some for this year and i'm pretty sure caleb would really appreciate this he likes he's a goal setter right he is i feel like every year i have a like a pew pew stuck to my head and he's like we're gonna write goals and i'm like i like sweat i'm like goals fine but he's right i'm wrong i like well matt's not really quite organized enough he like loves big goals but they could come at any day like it could be like tuesday at five in october he's like what is the most important thing you want to get out of life and i'm like happens all the time okay i have a question for you guys you say you're making goals do you remember the acronym for smart goals yeah i actually think about it specific measurable attainable relatable timely or what's our pretty close um specific measurable achievable relevant and time bound oh relevant i didn't refer to that i've actually never heard of that i was gonna say these goals are not those but that's why it was a little it didn't have to be that oh it didn't work well they didn't have to be i feel like my are achievable well you have to write out i would like to achieve this by like the specific goal measurable like you have to make all of those within the goal it's like yeah one goal has five points we used to that was like workshop in school maybe that's why i hate doing goals because i'm like all right one thing has to do five things and i never did that i never did that it felt overwhelming okay that's crazy um but first let's talk about some of our goals for this podcast because i feel like this kind of came out of nowhere but also a lot of people to always hear this has been something we've talked about for a long time years actually before you guys started unplanned we kind of threw the idea around and we've always kind of come back to it throughout the years just saying how fun it would be i i do think that there is a gap like i love podcasts that are girly and fun but there's not a ton that aren't i would say maybe super salacious or just gossip centered which those are have like a time and a place but i feel like we can fill that gap of being a podcast where it feels like friendly casual sweet but also we're going to talk about real things in our life yeah um and i feel like we have a shared mission and how we share those things i don't know if you want to touch on that you want me yeah i mean we've had a lot of conversations and actually like developing it so this like abby said it's been a conversation for a while since before we started unplanned the podcast i do with my husband and like i think when we brought up the unplanned you were like well dang it you stole my idea i was like and i i kind of always knew in the back of my head that this would like come to be but just like the timing and i feel like the timing of this is like honestly perfect because we are in the early motherhood stage we are wives we're living our life like trying to do i i just feel like this is a time where community is could can be harder to find than ever but also like more important than ever yeah and i think online it can and i'm not going to try to just like gas myself up yeah and this isn't a generalization this isn't i'm not even thinking of anyone specifically at all totally but just it can feel like um you know a time suck or like maybe you leave and you just feel more anxious or less i don't know i think that we both just had a lot of conversations about wanting this to be a place that makes you feel uplifted related to maybe we'll share what we're making for dinner maybe we'll share a book we read or a tv show or a great fun date night idea or an activity for your toddlers just like where we can find a community of other people that are in the same season of life miss this season of life or are anticipating the season of life yeah like totally oh did i say that right that's great and when we share hard things we want them to be shared in a way that feels hopeful like it's so easy to get out up here with a microphone and like dog on your husband or dog on your kids and being a mom or you know and it's like that's not in the long run like beneficial and we want to kind of share like yeah but life can be hard but we can also be hopeful and like have fun through the hard things yeah we have such a purpose in that like hard things so we did create a mission mission statement yeah we did it took us a while but took us a while but here's what we landed on so i mean this is also for you guys to keep us accountable as well each other everyone on the team um always here to share the hope and the hard with heart and humor yeah we want to laugh a lot yeah i mean we're not we're mostly gonna be laughing we're not serious honestly genuinely i mean we can be but yeah overall so that's kind of like our goal for always here and fun doing this as sisters yeah starting this it's like such a blessing that we have our relationship but also like the fact that we have our community of friends in real life and now we're gonna have an online community that's really fun now our personal goals okay did you come up with 10 i had three and then you said 10 so i piggybacked to the drawing board okay so i have 10 okay okay long way would say that so my first one is i want caleb and i to do one planned date out a month at least and we used to be really good about doing weekly date nights before kids and then we fell into a season of being really financially broke if we didn't do any dates and we also had a child so it's like well we'll just sit on the couch tonight again and i think it's been a really easy habit to fall out of so i want to prioritize at least we can have a babysitter come once a month and go out to dinner like easily you know so just like putting that on the calendar and following through with that that's sweet yeah i put kiss more and write more love notes yes i put them in the same one because kiss more actually was one of my resolutions from a previous year but i want to bring it back again and i feel like i told matt this when i made that my goal a couple years ago i'm like we love each other a lot we touch a lot and we're like always close to each other let's just kiss sometimes like i don't know if this is inappropriate for the podcast but why is it that when you're i feel like we could kill but i've been married we've all we've all been married almost seven years now we're going on a seven years yeah 26 and i'm like well kiss me yes i'm not your buddy oh no matt will kiss me and sometimes i'm like whoa whoa whoa do that like a smooch kiss and so no actually that was a thing so like he was like sometimes i feel like a kiss you and i feel like you like lean away i'm like why do i do that like i like kissing you so now i'm like i want to be i need to initiate more kisses so i can break whatever happened i feel like something when we had kids i was just kind you can't roll like you have a pregnancy breastfeeding like it started then i was like i'm people are touching me too much and so he would kiss me when i was breastfeeding i was like just like and i freaked out and then i'm clearly not breastfeeding so i'm like i it just carried it over and so kiss more and write more love notes because my husband is a words of affirmation man and he saves all of our notes like very very i found the stack and i was like it's those are getting old oh that's we need to add new ones to that stack so i'm like maybe i could maybe once a month yeah put a number on it that's sweet i love that yeah there you go measurable measurable once a month adding it kiss once a month this is a month uh my next marriage goal is i want to take a trip this year just caleb and i a trip just this too that's so good always we last year we went it was like for his work conference and so we haven't gone and we did like an extra day but caleb was also in entering into work mode so it's like we just i want like even if it's just a weekend or something so fun we haven't done that in a long time yeah us too we'll watch the kids thanks and i actually have a travel one as well but i said travel with friends oh we're opposite i like we like we travel together for work and for fun for like 24 hours a lot and i love that i want to keep the same amount of that in but i want to travel with friends specifically with kids the same age as ours so it just it's that just feels so fun like get a big house everyone comes we like have game nights and movie nights with friends and i just want to travel with friends and i want to travel with the kids we all make food in and just like have a kid trip yeah but with our friends too i don't personally love all inclusives like that's where we've gone for caleb's work trips this is not like my favorite type of vacation but i do think an all-inclusive is fun would be fun for a friend trip like that yeah because you're all contained in one area but like if you need to go back for naps or you want to go to food or something it's like everything's right there yeah so you can be on the same schedule but not at the same time yeah i get that well i was picturing like getting a big air and maybe and like cooking food and stuff like that but i don't dinners together oh no that is impossible to do with friends been there and done that and no it's really fun but it's like you can't stay together sure too big okay so moving off my goals I'm recently postpartum so I'm like 10 weeks out getting back into fitness is kind of interesting and I'm really excited about it I do have a goal to run a half marathon oh you're gonna do it uh-huh I did that with CJ when I was seven months postpartum and I think I'm gonna try to make that a goal with every baby to try to do a half marathon within the first year postpartum wow I don't know why I just think if I give myself a challenge I'll actually do it see for the turkey trot this year I did 10 minute miles and I was pretty gassed for three miles I'm not running it fast did you run the whole time I did run the whole time see that's a goal in itself I don't think I could run a 10 minute mile and run the whole time you could add no that's a mental thing yeah it is I don't have oh okay I do know run no I hate running I'm gonna take that up like I don't have that that thing to keep me going which I feel like you need to have for uh running Abby has good grit thanks you really do you just need a good podcast always here plug get it on your run ladies yeah literally you're like no I can't listen to it anymore running for me I'm like maybe I'll get into that when I'm like an empty nester yeah not my season for running it is hard with littles I just yeah I'm it takes too long it's so therapeutic I wish I felt that way about it I feel like I'm I'm stressed you're like I'm stressed I just want to stop okay want to be the one who's always in the know about the game the scores the plays here's a tip the apple sports app just pick your favorite teams and get automatic live updates without even knowing their schedules and when your team scores it shows up right on your iphone lock screen making it easy to check in anytime so rule the group and you're good to go and I'll see you next time bye bye bye anytime so rule the group chat and download apple sports for free on the app store or find it on your new iphone similarly I have on my list of goals go on more walks I just feel so much better I started that after the loss and I was like I just feel so much better just being outside slowing down and actually I'm talking about independent walks I love them that's like let me go with you and I'm like yes now I have to go do my own laps now yeah because it's just like that's kind of part of it I feel like I don't have a lot of alone time in my days and I don't think that mattered to me or stood out to me as like something that I wanted to change until like more recently and I was like oh gosh I actually really feel like I need to like kind of recoup independently like a little bit every single day and I don't think I'll be able to do this daily like that just doesn't feel realistic but I just said on more walks and I like love it I like turn on a sometimes I'll just listen to music or um usually I just like listen to a podcast and I'll just listen to a podcast and I've been listening to Dr. Arthur Brooks podcast like about happiness while I'm walking I'm like this just feels this feels like self-care this feels like really good yeah so that is on mine to just do that more often especially in Arizona now it's like a great time to walk for sure for sure really nice I love that I like that I like that one a lot um another one I have is get a pull-up I kind of had that before I got pregnant with my daughter why did I think of like pp diaper pull-ups I really just want to get back they're easy okay do a pull-up okay yeah I like to get a pull-up again that was something that I never envisioned for myself ever in my entire life even from a child remember when we used to do the physical fitness test in school like elementary school I always missed out on the blue ribbon because I couldn't do a pull-up dang it I know I feel like I've seen you do pull-ups work out yes I got one down right before I got pregnant again so I want to get it back okay that's a goal of mine to get the pull-ups back I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know after after having babies yeah that strength is gone gone it's gone I tried I was like oh I'm not there anymore I know I just want to get strong again it was so fun so that's that's my goal I actually have zero fitness goals that I'm looking at my list that's probably healthy that's really good I feel like I want to keep doing exactly what I'm doing on that I just want to keep riding I've had that same goal just to show up we're gonna ride that wave we're gonna ride that exactly how we're doing it um another one I have is that I want to take more pictures I got a camera and I feel like that's a good idea I want to take more pictures I want to this happens a lot where I'm like oh yeah I want to like share this thing that I did even to my story or like text it in the family group chat I'm like zero pictures no documentation of that day which you would think I have a lot of documentation which I do I have like video things but it's not like stuff that I'm like I want to I can go back on and be like that's that moment and our kids are only little for so long they're changing so fast yeah like I specifically want to get pictures of my kids but me with my friends like I have a lot of friends I see every day I don't have a single picture with now will it be awkward to take out my little camera that I got and be like let's take a picture at the park yeah it'll be awkward but it's always shameless I feel like it's always fun when you have pictures like I want to organize them in some fashion so I can find them I'm always grateful when people remember to take pictures yeah me too I'm like it's never annoying but I feel annoying if I ask to do it it yeah it feels like you're putting people on the spot but I don't personally feel that way I think it's also because what I do for my job I'm like I feel like I can't pull out my camera or phone or be weird but sure stands I think yeah I think if it's just personal use yeah I'm gonna put it just for funsies okay my next one is uh I need to schedule a dentist appointment oh no that's been about I don't even want to say how many years Abby that's actually scary because wait years okay listen let me explain since before you had CJ Abby you know you're more prone to cavities when you're pregnant I know six after having Griffin six after having Griffin yes I've never had a cavity in my life oh so I don't think I'm a prone person no but I have not gone since I was 26 you have really good teeth thank you I floss daily I water pick I brush twice a day I'm very on top of my oral hygiene but it is disgusting and embarrassing to admit I have not been to the dentist in that long but after I turned 26 and I went off my parents insurance I just didn't think that I could afford going to a dentist which I actually don't think is the case but then we did get into a sticky financial situation and I really we really couldn't afford to go to the dentist so now I'm like okay like we're normal we could we should schedule a dentist appointment maybe just one visit yeah for the kids I have like it's not even like they're on insurance they have a membership at their dentist office I feel like we should do that they probably have that for adults too yeah cute yeah just get a cleaning actually you know what Teresa one year for Christmas our mother-in-law got me a dental cleaning for Christmas ask her for that for Christmas great gift idea I know she got that for me a couple years ago wow okay um by a couple I mean more than that okay um this one's relatively random I have a couple kid ones so maybe I'll just fire them both off but uh check out books from the library oh yeah that was such a classic thing I did as a kid like I would go every Saturday morning with my dad and we would just like stock like stock up on books and like I'm still a big reader to this day and I think a lot of kids love books so like it wasn't just like he's going to get children's books with me he would also go and like he had like a stack of books on hold to check out for himself and read and it was like I feel like that made me want like a lifelong reader because I saw my dad doing it for fun and it was also just like fun to go to the library I'm like it's free I feel like the kids could like pick it out on their own and they my boys already love to read and I think this would just be like a fun thing to do and also fun in the community I mean heck yeah you never know who you can meet the library they have a lot of events we go to the library story times somewhat frequently but I never check out books I got my first library card a couple weeks ago since the first time I was literally a child a small child and you know what they told me they said we don't charge for late books and in my head anymore in my head I thought that's nice but I feel like you should have some accountability on these people like I need accountability to return my books yeah so I'm pro bringing the charge back maybe people just weren't paying them because it's like what are they gonna do yeah truly or maybe some people couldn't come back to get their books back I don't know yeah I guess I don't want to like discourage people from checking out books they're like take out a lien on your house another light-hearted one though I have like related to the kids is work on letters and numbers with the kids more this came because my kids can count but I realized if I were to point to a number they don't know which I think is what they look like normally normal yeah but they don't know what the numbers look like and they really don't know what the letters look like either like we talk a lot about like a a apple like we do all that we count with the numbers but I'm like I haven't done the extra step of like this is what it looks like like if you want to recreate it this is what it needs to look like yeah that's going to work on that step in the new year it is interesting when you start realizing your kids are ready to learn yeah like a good there is like a fast shift in that well and also since our kids stay home like I feel like if they do go to preschool they're like really kept to like their milestones more so totally which is a good thing about that but we can also do that at home yeah I agree it's a great one I want to do 10 minutes a day of uninterrupted play with the kids and we've been talking about this a lot but I have noticed a huge difference especially when I'm working from home I try to keep work time to naps but obviously that's just sometimes not feasible and if I'm busy running around the house doing things and I can tell when CJ starts to get anxious and want my attention more because I'm blacked out or you know and it's I'm like man I just need to sit down and have 10 minutes with him and I've noticed a huge a huge shift in the day when I've done that so I want to continue that and a goal daily that's a really good one it's so simple it's just like i feel like we get in these modes of wanting to do our tasks and clean and cook and you know get our work done and it's it can be easy to miss but it's it's been really beneficial i think that comes from dr amon like i feel like a lot of people say that but he said that like 10 minutes of uh specifically child-led play yes like where they like kind of pick what you're doing or like like you impressed me too because you're like the other day i was climbing under the table with cj i'm like good good on you oh my gosh my neck hurts like this is fun i was in a full half under the table full half up yeah that's how i feel because griffin's thing is always asking me to chase him and sometimes i'm like i need to be sure to say yes sometimes because sometimes i'm like there's i can't right now i can't chase you you're exhausted sometimes i watch you do that i'm like dang she's got good stamina i'm like i actually get really tired right about now but then sometimes he wants me to catch him and sometimes he doesn't want me to catch him oh yeah i'm gonna read the room i can't i'm trying to read the room right now it's a catchy type of thing i accidentally knocked him over i was catching which i was like oh my gosh this is my bad he's like my leg he said no do that don't do that mama so sad that's a good goal yeah i think that's an easy one this one is kind of boring but like it needs to happen and honestly some of you listeners you need to hear this one too i need to organize the pain points in my house oh yeah and create a system not just create a system so it doesn't happen again i'm thinking about my mud room every time i walk through that space i'm just not happy i'm like this is just a mess so i want to create like a system for it to like find a thing find what to do with the kids shoes our shoes the socks how can they get back in there how can we organize that think about them that'll be the first one i tackle but then i feel like once i get one done i'll be inspired to do the other pain points probably my pantry maybe that could use some work like my pantry is crazy create a system there yeah so yeah i like that that's a good that's a very good goal and you just start with one thing at a time one thing at a time i always i like the question are you there are three things clean tidy organized yeah i would say i'm clean and i'm tidy but i'm not organized my house is no systems i would give myself clean and tidy yeah i feel like we're very similar not organized and it but here's the thing it bothers me when it's not organized it's not like i'm like oh no big deal like it does kind of bother me like i look at the kids clubhouse in our house it's just a closet with toys it's a bomb it's a bomb i'm like how do they walk in here they're just crunching and when i have to go back there i'm like ow like it's so that that can't be the first one though no i'll have an aneurysm if i try to do that honestly maybe i need to document that journey it's literally so spooky in there i love that yeah clubhouse is really a stretch let's be honest yeah it's a closet with where a bomb went off i feel like kids need a space where they can just be a bomb though i agree that's what matt says but i'm also like what about just a couple bins to put them in yeah so we have in floor space to walk sure that's reasonable yeah i'll never be here's what i'll never be i'll mark my words i probably won't ever be but you know what maybe i'll change my mind down the line i don't think i could be a toy rotation mom no i had hopes and dreams and you know what i have a bag of toys that sat in our shed for about a year and a half they've never rotated in oh they're brand new um no oh but you just took them away not now yeah i they're they're not gonna like there's a way to do it like i have friends that do it it's like you have to have one that you can do this with one that you can do this this and i was like oh my gosh i feel like that's complicating motherhood's more than we need yeah i don't want another i don't want to complicate it i don't need another thing maybe we just need to keep a room where we just chuck all the toys the playroom the clubhouse or the clubhouse i will say i do keep i try to keep his toys minimal like in his play area i'll i'll take some out and i'll put them back in his room yeah and i'll switch those out but i'm not like intentionally rotating them i'm just like he's not playing with this one i'll throw in his room and i'll bring out a different one that's better with a one-story house with a two-story house i'm right my problem is is like toys part of the toys end up downstairs and part of them end up upstairs and i'm like this is too much too many steps well i've got a new one um we've been rotating our toys just because the dogs have been eating them okay so pretzel is probably gonna start eating some toys we love force rotation yeah force love my babysitter just texted me that she ate the dogs ate something so you're rotating them or you're throwing them away we're throwing them okay but then we get her new toys because they're get they got eaten i will say i feel like lewis has done that lewis is our dog he's done that less with vivian's toys like cj he was so excited with all the new toys and they were all squeaky he doesn't care anymore they like the rubber ones uh-huh like the bath they got them out of the bath the teething toys bye-bye bye-bye yeah bye-bye also that is why i also wrote go on more walks as my goal is because now i have a dog so i want to take her on walks when she learns how to walk on a leash yes better well lewis is a great walker but he's so big that i have to literally tie him to my body so that's like a personal problem that's not a pretzel problem okay it's just my dog is more of a horse so when i take him to the gym i'm like oh my god i'm gonna be like oh my god i'm gonna be like oh my god i'm gonna walk i'm like wrestling half the time oh my god well he's just big okay well then why do you like if he stops to pee my whole body yanks oh wow i'm like halted yeah that's just crazy it's just different dog i'm like it's actually not like the sandlot dog yeah literally i mean he's gotten a lot better and i i take him on walks but pretzel girl trained at 16 weeks so hopefully they can turn out to pull yeah and to walk i don't think they're supposed to walk ahead but not obviously not pull yeah right now she's just a puppy so she's distracted by every cent and then i have to sometimes pick her up yeah yeah the puppy phase is horrible she's like she'll do a decent but then there comes a point where we just end up carrying her sure sure this is a more serious one i want to get back into regular bible study routine and read at least four times a week i feel like i was really good about this even with cj when he was a newborn but now being pregnant and having a toddler i would wake up before cj before i got pregnant and then i was so tired when i was pregnant that i was like uh i just got out of the habit so i'm trying to like once now that like i'm not up as much in the night i can hopefully get back into a better routine of waking up before cj and reading it's just good for me to start the day like that i love that it took me getting into like an actual study before i was like okay this has five days and i'm gonna see them in seven so i only got two accountability is good yeah no it was really good and then i was like if i don't have this done i'm gonna feel disappointed internally but also i will have nothing to contribute so i need a little public shame you can join mine okay or not mine the one i'm in yeah yeah so i need a little public shame i need someone to be like abby you failed this week you really let us down you let us down you know first of all most of all you let god down and i just need to like sit on that i just think my abby she would be the most receptive to that i think you're right thank you for that feedback you like the feedback you're so good about that i need to work that's that's not how it works but i just need to know well her friend's telling you to let god down maybe that's maybe that's a little harsh i don't think that's how that works want to be the one who's always in the know about the game the scores the plays here's a tip the apple sports app just pick your favorite teams and get automatic live updates without even knowing their schedules and when your team scores it shows up right on your iphone lock screen making it easy to check in anytime so rule the group chat and download apple sports for free on the app store or find it on your new iphone this one's uh not serious good switch it up i want to learn how to make a good steak oh i love steak sure i really really love steak but it was something that i was just like i'm some i have no business cooking that like i need to only go out to eat that sure i think it's attainable to cook at home totally and i have a cast iron i i've tried before believe it or not i've tried it before but it's not to make a steak at home people like you just need a lot of butter and some time and like keep going or rosemary and just keep it didn't turn out that good the thing about that that sucks is it's like an expensive mistake you're like dang that's a good 15 piece of meat right there that might have been where i messed up though oh you bought cheap steak you gotta go sirloin or nothing like i don't know what cuts to get i don't know where to get it how do you tell if it's good like do you get the what do you what kind of cut do you get i don't know i feel like fillets i get sirloin but sirloin when you're like buying it from the store wait is sirloin just cow no no no sirloin is a different cut okay and fillet is a different sirloin's the leanest isn't it yeah my my family used to do sirloins um well done that's how my mom does the most dry thin see i like fat i like fat on my meat this is maybe the one area in our lives we differ in no we have a couple you're doing desserts we don't like the same types of dessert that's true um but yeah i think maybe maybe our palates are the one thing that we differ on yeah our taste our taste buds i like no we have so many different abby whenever we do a pot roast abby loves to leave the fat in there and i'm like it's the flavor abby asked abigail to cut the meat at sunday or like pull it apart and abigail just has a whole side of just the fat she's like that's not good if blake goes up he's like why is this all here i go i'm gonna turn around now and you put it back in there and i won't watch i'm like that's part of the roast girl that is good oh yeah no i mean i get it a lot of people don't like it i just can't really i like I like them fat. Wake up at or before 7 a.m. again. I don't have to expand on that. That's pretty self-explanatory. The days of me sleeping past 7 are probably over. Respectfully. So you got to have one or two days a week to sleep in. Maybe one is fine. Do you want to hear currently how this is going? I set my alarm for 7. I lay in bed. You set your alarm for 7? Yes. But I don't wake up until at least 7.30. That's when CJ's hatch light turns green. And he walks into my bedroom. Because Caleb's gone for work way earlier than I wake up. So CJ walks in. He goes, Mama, the light's green. And then he climbs in bed. And I lay there until 8. That is a blessing, honestly. I don't know. I feel like maybe you should just milk this for all it's worth. I know, but it's stressful. Oh, okay. Because then it's like I have to wake up and nurse and feed CJ all at the same time. And it's just too much. So are you just going to get less sleep or are you going to go to bed earlier? Here's the thing. This is a pipe dream. Okay. It's a pipe goal. It's never going to happen. I'll text you. Yeah, text me at 7 a.m. Wake up. Gosh. Well, I mean, I feel like. We'll get there. You're a unique toddler, Mom, that sense that your kids will allow this to happen. I know. CJ's golden. Such a chill guy. But also loves to sleep. He's your son. He really does love to sleep. Okay. Well, I mean, I only have one more. I have two more. You have one more. Yeah, you go for one more. You did skip me, but I didn't take it personally. Sorry about that. It's okay. I forgive you. Caleb and I have been talking about dopamine. And we're going to do a. Well, this sounds like a lot of stuff. It's the most dreadful thing ever. But we're going to do a dopamine fast in the new year. Okay, well. I don't really know what that entails, but apparently it takes all the joy out of life. So no sugar for a week. Listen, Abby, I told you I do not want to do this. You guys have done this before. No. And it's honestly hard on everybody. Like, I'm like, let's get ice cream. And it's like, oh, I know. Well, yeah, I know. And we're getting no screens. No TV. No. No stimulation. No brain. Like, nothing stimulates the brain. So. How are you going to work? Well, yeah. See, that's my loophole. Maybe make a YouTube video of it. So then you're working, but you can't do anything else. Yeah, that's good. I like that idea. But then you can't post. But then it'll be the most boring YouTube video of all time. No, I feel like people have done that before. Really? Yeah. It's just me laying on the floor. I'm so bored. That's the thing. You're going to end up finding other things to do. That's true. You're going to get creative. I know. No, I feel like this is. This is good. But I just don't know why sugar is included in that. Well, I think it really lights my brain up. Okay. I really love sugar. I really love sugar. Yeah, we're really into sugar in our family. Anyway, dopamine fast. And hopefully trying to just, like, be creative. For a week? Quiet our brains. Yeah, maybe. We haven't dialed in on the details. Okay. I feel like that's probably what science would say. Wow. Three days or seven days. That sounds good. Yeah. I think they'll be healthy. I'll just say my last one quickly. It's short. I want to do a monthly one-on-one date with CJ and Vivi when she gets older. Cute. One-on-one dates. Especially with CJ now. I could do that. That's really cute. Yeah. Just we're adding more kids to the fam. So giving them more one-on-one time. We did do this. And the kids were so sad that they weren't together. Aww. Have I told you that? Auggie was in the car and he goes, Griffy, are you? Like, in the car. Just, like, kept yelling it. Aww. But, yeah, I do want to do that. But they really love to stick together. That's sweet. Yeah. But I think it'd be great. I think it'd be good for them. Yeah. They're just attached at the hip. They really are. Okay. My last one. This one I have had on my resolutions. And I got to be honest. Failed at it. Miserably. I got to do it this year. Volunteer more. Oh. I think I've made every excuse in the book of, like, oh, my kids are too little. Like, I have to. Whatever I have to do. I just want to be more involved in our community and serving more. Because I just feel like it's a discipline that I used to have a lot. You guys used to volunteer all the time. Yeah. Thank you. And I just, I hate that I genuinely have lost it. We're at zero percent for that. And it's, it's something I'm like, okay, well, I can make all these excuses. But if I don't continue this now, like, I'll never continue it. And also model it for our children. And we have an organization that I really want to volunteer with here locally. And so, no more excuses. Got to do it this year. Well, let me know when you do it. Because we'll join. Yeah. It's on Saturday mornings. I am also at zero percent on volunteering. So, I'm not much, I'm not any better in my area. Okay. Those were great. Those were good. Those were good. Okay. We'll check back in later. Keep us accountable. We're going to keep you accountable on your dopamine fast. Wow. Wow. That's crazy. That's really crazy. And scary. That'll be one of the seconds. Can you text? I don't know. Oof. I'll let Caleb set the rules and I'll just support him in it. I'll just send you a note in the mail. Yeah, just send me letters all week. I'll get to you on Sunday. Yeah, I can do it. It's up to the past. So, should we explain our Ask Abby segment? Yes. What is it? I'm just kidding. We're going to Ask Abby's. Ask, ask, ask, Abby's. So, this is exciting. We wanted to do something where we could incorporate the audience. And I think this is like a thing, isn't it? Like, Ask Abby. Ask Abby's already a thing. There's another, there's another Abby who started this. Yeah. So, we're taking her inspiration. I think it was a column in the newspaper. Okay. Like, a while ago. Cute. Don't quote me on that. But we're giving her credit. This is not an original idea. And we're not the first Abby's to do this. No. We have a phone number that you guys can actually, call in and leave us any type of question. Whether it's a personal question for Abby and I, Addie, like all of us. If it's an advice question for yourself, get to know us, whatever it may be. Do you have the phone number, Addie? It is 602-456-9690. And we'll put it in the Instagram bio. Sure. Something like that. The description of the show, too. The description of the show. Yeah. So, you can call in whenever's best. I love that. I'm really excited for this. Like, I'm excited to, like, actually get to hear from you guys. And this is fun. I think so, too. See the phone? I wish that was the actual phone that is the tie-in with the phone. That would ring. Yeah, literally. Oh. That could be scary. These are vetted. We are vetting these questions. For this first episode, we thought it would be fun to reach out to your guys' friends and family to ask questions or ask advice. And so, we'll play a couple of those now. The Abby's have never heard these. So, this will be the first time they've heard them. I'm nervous. I'm excited because it's just our friends and family. Friends and family. Yeah. That was really sweet of them. That is sweet. So, this is the first one. Some of them don't have their names, so I'm interested to see if you can tell. Oh, okay. Hello. I was wondering how you guys thought of Always Here. Yay! I'm so excited for you guys. Aw, cute. Is that Amber? Aw. Thanks, Amber. Okay. So, I feel like I've got to give you credit for this one, Abby. Abigail, that's kind. It was, I mean. We were trying to think. We had a lot of brainstorming sessions about the name. Turns out a lot of our ideas were not creative. They were not creative. Already existing. And turns out Chad GPT's ideas weren't creative either. So. Chad GPT is plagiarism. It's plagiarism. So, we were thinking, you know, I was kind of like, what do we have in common that we would want the logo to be? The logo for the show will probably be our initials, A-H, because we're both Abby Howard. We were thinking of a lot of names that had Abby Howard in it, and none of them were. Yeah, the biggest. What was the biggest one? Abby Howard 2-1? Yeah. Abby Howard squared. Abby Howard squared. Like, we're not mathematicians. Like. That was recommended by many different sources. But I was like, okay, A-H is our logo. That's what we have in common. So, if we can find a podcast name that the first letter begins with an A and the second letter an H, that would be, probably would make a lot of sense. And so, we typed it into chat, and we were like, okay, give us some options. And Always Here was on that list. Love it. And there's kind of the tie-in of we're always here for each other. We're family. We're best friends. And we're always here for you. And we're always here for you guys, our community. And so, there's kind of a, yeah, a communal element to it. Me too. Hi, guys. Okay. So, since I'm getting married next year, my question to you is, what is your best advice for being a wife and transitioning into that role? Okay. Love you both. Bye. Aw, me. That's sweet, Mandy. Aw, sweet. I'm so excited for her. The number one thing I always tell people, it's very simple, and it's silly a little bit, but I think you just really have to remind yourself to be kind to one another. There's so much going on in the engagement planning process, the wedding. It's stressful and fun at the same time. Then you move in together for the first time. Like, in our case, we didn't live together before. So, then you're navigating all of these firsts together, living with someone, and you're meshing your life together. It can be very easy to be impatient or snippy or, like, get into a lot of small arguments. And I feel like I found myself a lot of times just being like, just respond kindly. And I feel like that saved us a lot from small, petty bickering fights of just, like, taking a deep breath and just being like, okay. Like, you know what I mean? I think just remembering to be nice. Like, you're nice to them when you're dating. Yeah. And you don't want to lose that when you're married, you know, just because now you have the covenant. Mm-hmm. I don't know. It's silly and it's simple, but just be nice. Yeah, I guess. I mean, it's because it's easy. It's like, I know you're going to stay. Yeah. Mine is very much along the same lines, but I feel like say sorry often. And I feel like that is something that I still need to work on all the time, where it's like, okay, you know what? Me trying to win this thing, because what do they say? If you're winning or if they're winning, you're both losing. And so it can feel, I feel like it's just like my own self-righteousness in me that's just like, no, I don't need to do it. I feel so justified in how I'm behaving. But, like, just, like, quickly be, say sorry quickly and often. Yeah. And I think that would just. just resolve a lot of things. life moving because also you're still living in the same house you're still sleeping in the same bed you're still waking up together in the morning no point in dragging these things out and i think that can also become a pattern too like in marriage it's like oh we're just gonna be silent or you know hold the scrudge for a certain extended amount of time yeah that's good getting that practice yeah don't be stubborn and don't keep score and i think it's also reciprocated too yeah you do that like you need to tell your don't do it because you're expecting it to be reciprocated but i think that it will also benefit you in the end yeah totally want to be the one who's always in the know about the game the scores the plays here's a tip the apple sports app just pick your favorite teams and get automatic live updates without even knowing their schedules and when your team scores it shows up right on your iphone lock screen making it easy to check in anytime so rule the group chat and download apple sports for free on the app store or find it on your new iphone hi abby and you I know you guys are starting your new podcast and you're chasing questions and i have a question for you girls so i know that your husband man caleb are from st louis and i know that abigail is from st louis so do you guys ever have any plans to ever move back to st louis where you can enjoy the four seasons and maybe have more family around just curious thank you bye not the sales pitch in her voicemail i loved her that was so cute that's so cute so sweet you mom you asked me this daily i don't know what i don't think the answer's changed i feel like she needs to move to arizona that's what i'm saying she loves it here i know we're starting a petition to get everyone out here is your answer no i mean for right now yeah i don't ever see that happening but sorry mom i love you so much i love my family hi mom thanks for the question that's really sweet love you you did not answer that hi um i'm super excited you two are starting this new podcast so my question is do you have any special christmas traditions from when you were a kid that you feel you might also continue with your own kids thanks bye that's cute that's so sweet that's my mom and she actually brought us sparkling apple juice and lindor chocolates to celebrate today which is so sweet we love our supportive families um christmas traditions okay this actually maybe is the time to implement my resolution that i forgot to put in oh let's um i'm really big in traditions but i'm also really big into weekly traditions because they truly shaped my childhood so i can think of several but like i knew that every friday night oh my gosh i'm gonna get choked up thinking about my grandpa i knew that every friday night i was gonna stay at my grandparents house and every morning i was gonna wake up and have blueberry eggo waffles and hot chocolate with my grandparents and i was gonna go to the library with my dad sometimes we'd go bowling like wednesday nights we would get dinner with my grandparents sundays we had dinner at my grandparents like we had a lot of weekly traditions that truthfully are the things that stand out the most when i look back on being a kid and it's not like i really loved our memories at disney i really loved our memories from traveling but like when i think about like that nostalgic feeling of just like being a kid it really always takes me back to like those friday nights those sunday afternoons like those weekly things and so i have always this has been something i've been really aware of the entire time we've had kids i'm like especially because i don't live in my hometown and i we didn't have family out here when we first had kids i was like i want to have weekly traditions and so i started doing sunday dinner but so i have sunday dinner on we host it at our house every week most of the time unless something comes up but i really try to stick to that and then um i want to instate two new weekly traditions one or two new this year that's very ambitious but they don't have to be huge like i'm like friday night we could get pizza and watch a movie or we could do like oh we play games on this night or something like that yeah but i had a lot of traditions in my own house we played games like every single night growing up that's my mom right there we played a lot of games we played banana grams and i was like when i got married i was like we're gonna play banana grams all the time matt hates banana grams oh no so this is part of starting your traditions we play monopoly deal the two of us oh that's good marriage advice if you're mad find a game that you can play where you don't have to talk and you can like avoid the subject of whatever's making you mad and by the end of playing the game might not matter so much anymore yeah it's light-hearted it's light-hearted it helps get you distracted and you're like we're actually friends this is our game that we play together yeah it's sweet all that to say christmas traditions we had a lot of them but i i remember so many like really fondly why you start because i just talked a lot oh well i was thinking about it i think that's true i'd be out like the idea of traditions and i that's something kill but i've talked a lot about too for christmas i loved the night before christmas obviously we would put cookies out for santa and carrots out for the reindeer and that was always very fun and exciting it would always make a big deal about it so i want to do that with cj and also we did saint nick on december 5th i think we did a lot of things with cj and also we did a lot of things with cj which i didn't do that with cj this year but we'd put our shoe on our fireplace and saint nick would come and give us like a pre-gift for christmas which was so fun because you know the anticipation until christmas day is so crazy you get all the presents at once yes and so it was always fun having that little like taste of and it was kind of the intro into the holiday season so i think that'd be cute to continue that's really sweet yeah from when i was really little at like the more traditional church we would go to as a kid they did a christmas pageant every year of the christmas story and they would always give the biggest candy bags i remember this every year that's what i remember they gave the best like candy bags all the assortment i really remember that i also remember me and my brother both are very fixated on traditions i feel like can you definitely yeah like definitely it's that way yeah we're both like that um we would always get taco bell on christmas eve and play monopoly oh that's fine we did that one year and then the like we didn't even have to have a conversation like we're doing that again we're gonna do this we're gonna do this often oh and so now every year on christmas eve i'm like this just feels kind of weird that we're not eating taco bell and playing properly but that's like last year blake made a roast for either christmas day or christmas eve and he's like so should i do a roast again like he's like we did that last year so are we like gonna keep this going and it'd be a tradition i really think it gave us such a sense of like stability yeah i felt very safe as a kid and i feel like that played a role in that yeah i think i always hear about your guys's traditions like i know your traditions like i can tell you that on friday night you spent your night at your grandparents house and then you'd watch cartoons in the morning with the eggo waffles like you didn't need to tell me that blake has told me that like so many times yeah that's sweet we like really locked in on those things i think it was like our family though too like they really prioritize family time it was nothing like extravagant yeah but like that just made me feel so safe as a kid and like it also played into christmas like also we would get christmas this is a long one we get christmas eve dinner with our amish family i love that made great food i okay i have two more and they're each directed towards each of you one of you hello always here ladies i have a a comment and a question oh it's caleb or abby uh first off want to say i'm so proud of you and the woman you are and the mom you are he's talking about me right excited for your guys podcast and and journey um excited to see where this goes so my question is what is something that i do sometimes but wish i did more frequently in marriage so i'll leave it with that love you that is so sweet caleb is so tender it was just my birthday and he sent the like probably the nicest text of everything he read it to me i said oh my gosh that was nicer than when i sent her that was so sweet i was like that's amazing so nice i know i love that he sent that okay that's cute something that he does in marriage i wish he did more that's a good question oh i don't want to like put him on the spot hey he invited it i think he should write me more love notes he used to write me love notes all the time and i have like i have pages of them i i saved them like matt does and yeah they're getting a little stale babe refresh we're gonna do a little refresh on the notes thanks for asking okay last one hey cutie it's your husband matt um i just wanted to call on him first of all say how insanely proud i am of you for launching the show this is a really big deal and i just i actually can't believe you're doing this i know you've talked about doing your own show with abby for actually years now so i'm so proud of you i'm so proud of you guys but my my question for you is what does it look like for a husband to adore his wife in a way she can feel every day right because i think there's big gestures that we can make as husbands to make our wives feel adored and loved but you know what's what's maybe like a small thing a daily thing that goes a long way and something maybe that really matters to you so i love you uh i'm so proud of you and i can't wait to listen to the first episode go you that's sweet so sweet i thought of two things but one of them's just so like why is it a big deal but why do i like feel so taken care of when he makes my coffee in the morning yeah i'm like oh that just makes me i don't know about adored i but like i don't know i think it's i'm a service girl so like your words of affirmation are you i'm all of all of them okay yeah there's a quality time is my biggest one okay yeah well um like he's made my coffee the past like several mornings like he just comes in with it i'm like you knew i needed that oh that's super sweet it just makes me it feels like a movie whenever that happens i'm like i feel like i'm just living in a rom-com where i just wake up and my husband super hot lot and makes me cough um but another one I think um that I also want to do more of myself is just like acknowledging efforts because sometimes I feel like with the daily life especially as a mom and a wife like your role it's just easy it's just it becomes routine and so it just becomes like okay like this is what I do and this is what you do but like I think it goes both ways like okay yes this is an expectation that we do this every single day basically or every week but just acknowledging it every single time or like a lot of the times still makes me just feel really seen and like appreciated and ultimately adored when that happens he's like gosh this dinner is delicious like thank you so much I'm like thanks you're welcome thanks yeah I've made it for you 500 times you love it that's really sweet yeah oh we love you guys I love my husband I can't believe we did this I feel I'm sweating so much I am sweating as well I am excited this is like the biggest thing I've committed to in a really long time and I feel very honored that you asked and that you trust me at this and that I feel like you're right this timing was perfect and I'm excited to go on this journey with you guys yeah and I just shout out to everyone for all the work that but a lot of work for everyone yeah a lot of work going especially Addie like thank you so much we'll get some of the kinks worked out as future episodes go but this was really fun and just really excited to be here with you guys and I'll see you guys next time and just really appreciate y'all supporting the show and tuning into our first episode call the number if you feel so inspired and we'd love to listen to you on the show and remember we're always here Coca-Cola for the big for the small the short and the tall peacemakers risk takers for the optimists pessimists for long distance love for introverts and extroverts the thinkers and the doers for old friends and new Coca-Cola for everyone pick up some Coca-Cola at a store near you Mr. Monopoly here miss me Monopoly is back at McDonald's with millions of prizes a 2027 cheap charity a carnival cruise vacation gift cards from DoorDash and Best Buy peel then play in the McDonald's app get your bag no purchase necessary 50 us and dch 18 plus see play at mcd.com for rules and play mcd.com amoe for info and playing without purchase by mail by November 2nd chance card game ends November 8th game ends November 22nd 2026 see rules for prize details Monopoly is a registered trademark of Hasbro