Life lately

Sarah has a running injury and is rethinking her fall race plans.

Abby and fam had an incredible long weekend at the beach.

Reading lately

Sarah shared two nonfiction hits: Behind Their Screens by Emily Weinstein and Carrie James and Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey.

Abby read yet another witch book, The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings.

Our dream lives

We talk about what we dream of for our lives in 5, 10, 20 years, as well as what dreams we'd have if money was no object or if we could go back in time and change things.

Eating lately

Abby has found the perfect snack for work: individual cottage cheese cups.

Sarah made a vegan chocolate cake for Neil's birthday.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment on our show notes, email us at [email protected], or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transportation update

We share our current transportation situations, how they've changed since our last episode on the topic, the challenges and joys of this stage, and our transportation dreams for the future.

Life Lately

Abby is over the summer and ready for fall.

Sarah's family is adjusting to new school year routines with HP in middle school.

Reading lately

Abby loved the witchy vibe of Weyward by Emilia Hart.

Sarah got a lot out of listening to Die With Zero by Bill Perkins. She originally heard about the book from this podcast interview.

Eating lately

Sarah and E are making Thai iced tea with boba (and these straws).

Abby enjoyed the taste of fall with a new apple cake recipe.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at [email protected], or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We chat about the ways in which we support our kids to learn to make choices and how that's changed in the different seasons of parenting.

Life lately

Sarah and her people had an amazing week at family camp.

Abby is over summer and ready for school to start again please and thank you.

Reading lately

Sarah read the contemporary romance Better Left Unsent by Lia Lewis

Abby loved the trio of queer romances in the Love and Other Disasters series by Anita Kelly.

Eating lately

Abby made the crunchy roll bowl from Pinch of Yum.

Sarah and E are testing out a chocolate peanut butter cake recipe.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment on our show notes, email us at [email protected], or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Checking in on 2024

We reflect on how the year is going so far, remind ourselves of our words for the year, and look ahead to the second half of 2024.

Life lately

Abby is starting a new job.

Sarah loved the show The Break: A New Rock Musical.

Reading lately

Abby thoroughly enjoyed Ink, Blood, Sister, Scribe by Emma Törzs.

Sarah recommends two romantic comedies: Funny Story by Emily Henry and The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren.

Eating lately

Sarah tried a new breakfast casserole (with croissants!).

Abby's family enjoyed this street corn recipe.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at [email protected], or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Family life lately

We chat about what's going well and not so well in our families these days, as well as share some optimism about things that have been hard in the past and aren't any more.

Life lately

Sarah's children are out of school and summer has begun!

Abby is eagerly anticipating a friend group camping trip to Rickwood Caverns State Park.

Reading lately

Sarah read the nonfiction book The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.

Abby enjoyed the spicy romance Scandalized by Ivy Owens, which is a pseud for Lauren Billings (half of romance-writing duo Christina Lauren).

Eating lately

Abby is very into these probiotic sodas from Trader Joe's.

Sarah introduced her children to cinnamon sugar bagels, and they are a hit.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment on our show notes, email us at [email protected], or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Obsessions

We share what we've been into lately, from camping to curry. Links mentioned:

• 1000 Hours Outside podcast about camping
• Where Should We Camp Next? Budget Camping by Stephanie and Jeremy Puglisi

Life lately

Abby's family is down to one car after the Volvo's transmission died.

Sarah graduated from library school!

Reading lately

Abby listened to You Need a Budget by Jesse Meacham and Sarah read the YA historical fiction novel We Are Not Free by Traci Chee.

Eating lately

Sarah is making curry with these curry pastes.

Abby was delighted when her favorite vanilla creme donuts were back in stock.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at [email protected], or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We chat about how good we are at getting things done, which tasks are easy for us to start and finish, and whether anything helps us check things off our lists.

Life lately

Sarah (along with all of Bloomington) is prepping for April 8's solar eclipse.

Abby got a puppy, Edie.

Reading lately

Sarah highly recommends the YA novel, In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner (especially the audio version).

Abby has been slowly making her way through the first three books of the Her Royal Spyness series by Rhys Bowen.

Eating lately

Abby hacked a grocery store cookie cake for Pepper's birthday.

Sarah tried out this Pad Thai recipe.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment on our show notes, email us at [email protected], or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Life lately

Abby is feeling good about their family's summer plans.

Sarah's kids are enjoying some winter hobbies.

Reading lately

Abby read True Biz by Sara Nović and Sarah read S.K. Ali's young adult novel Saints and Misfits.

Looking ahead to turning 40

As we enter the last year of our 30s, we look back over the last decade, look ahead to our 40s, and share how we hope to celebrate our milestone birthdays.

Eating lately

Sarah tried two new focaccia recipes but had the most success with this one from Alexandra Cooks.

Abby shares about a new Trader Joe's product: garlic asiago cheese dip.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at [email protected], or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Life lately

Sarah is thankful that January is behind us, and night shift is going surprisingly well for Abby.

Reading lately

Sarah read (and loved) The Good Part by Sophie Cousens.

Abby listened to Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann.

Religion and spirituality

We discuss our experiences with religion and spirituality, growing up, today, and how we think about religion and spirituality as parents.

Eating lately

Abby ate Torchy's Tacos every day she was in Texas and has no regrets.

Make-your-own sushi is a big win at Sarah's house.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment on our show notes, email us at [email protected], or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New year’s intentions, 2024

We set our intentions for the year, share our words for the year, and discuss specific goals in various categories.

Life Lately

Abby is looking forward to time with family over the holiday (plus Tex-Mex!).

Sarah shares to home winds: the headboard Neil made and all the secondhand plants.

Reading lately

Abby found a new romance series by Sarah Estep--the Brunch Bros.

Sarah read the technology parenting book Growing Up In Public by Devorah Heitner.

Eating lately

Sarah found success with a traditional caramel recipe and Abby enjoyed apple cider caramels made by a friend. We recommend this thermometer that attaches to the pan.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at [email protected], or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We look back on our respective years, talk about how we did with our intention words, and do a lightning round of favorites from 2023.

Life lately

Sarah recommends the Fantastic Fiction website.

Abby is leaving the leaves this year.

Reading lately

Sarah read the nonfiction book The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World by Max Fisher.

Abby enjoyed the first two installments of the Wilmot Sisters contemporary romance series by Chloe Liese.

Eating lately

Abby is very into Cherry Cordials, the best seasonal Little Debbie.

Sarah has significantly upped her bean game.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment on our show notes, email us at [email protected], or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.