As you know, I am knee-deep in finishing my manuscript which is due to my publisher by August 2. And because of that, I am taking the summer off of releasing new content here on the show so that I can focus creative effort on the manuscript. I will however be releasing re-runs of past episodes each week. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to pour creative energy into the book!

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I’m happy to welcome Heather Brown to the table. Heather is the creator and editor of the online community, My Life Well Loved. She has a passion to empower women, inspire confidence, and elevate living a life well loved. Her website is a destination for fitness, fashion, mom hacks, and wellness tips. And in this episode, not only do we talk about finding normal in the middle of quarantine but we spend some time focusing on tips for health during this season. Heather shares some tips to stay physically and mentally healthy during this time.

I want to welcome Anne Beiler to the table today, but you likely know her as the founder of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, the largest pretzel franchise in the world and author of the recent book, The Secret Lies Within. Anne shares her story today about the secrets she learned to keep after experiencing the death of her toddler-age daughter and sexual abuse from her pastor. She talks about how growing up Amish shaped her, how she found her way out of a cycle of shame, how confession gave her life and how she was brave enough to write a new ending to her story. I was struck with Anne’s vulnerability, transparency, and humility throughout her story and I know you will be too.

I am happy to welcome my new friend, Carmin Black, to the table. We actually recorded this conversation way back in January which at this point feels like 2 years ago. Carmin is the Co-Founder and CEO of HALF UNITED which is a brand that provides meals and access to employment for children and families in need with each purchase made. She is a female social entrepreneur who believes that by consuming with care, anyone, anywhere, can UNITE together to change the lives of people in need. And let me just say that go follow her right now. Look her up and follow along because is worth it. There is an air of transparency about her that is so authentic. You will feel like you can go to her for all sorts of advice. And in this episode, that’s what you’ll get. She not only shares the story of how she went from working in journalism to creating the Half United brand, but she shares some advice about business and life, too. We talk about what’s hard about running a business in which her response even translates to the tension I feel in parenting. She also talks about what friendships look like in this season of life and again, you will really resonate with what she shares. Stay tuned for that last Survival Kit question because she really drops the mic.

We are still trying to find our Corona rhythm and between my girls having spring break (aka Corona-staycation) and having to move out for a few days to fix the AC, I knew it was best for me to not tackle a new episode for this week. I decided this would be the perfect time to let you get a sneak peek into what the Patreon content is all about. In this bonus episode, you will get to hear the extra content recorded with my dear friend, Merica Stum, from our Year in Review episode along with the Ask The Expert question with David Thomas and Sissy Goff: how to handle sibling conflict.

If you decide to support the show on Patreon, you will receive this type of content every week and month. The tiers are as little as $3 or $7 a month. Go to Patreon to check it out.

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We are going to continue in our relationship series. Today, Larry Bilotta joins me. Larry has been helping people in their relationships and marriages for years and his heart for doing this was birthed from his own marriage. He talks about how the first 27 years of his marriage were awful and then in year 28 something changed. They have now been married for over 40 years. We talk about his marriage and what caused it to fall apart but then what helped it change. We talk about how the messages we hear in childhood shape how we experience relationships as adults. We talk about what those messages sound like, the solution to them and how to take ownership of them.

The last several days have turned everything upside down so I decided to do my monthly solo episode early after a friend encouraged me to address how to survive the quarantine. With all the unknown surrounding the CoronoVirus, our emotions are high. How in the world are we supposed to social distance ourselves and work from home and home school the kids?!

To address this, family joins me around the table to talk about what we are feeling and thinking right now about the virus. Then, I share a few tips on how to survive being quarantined.

I welcome my friend Nicole Zasowski back to the table. She first joined me back on episode 161. If you haven’t listened to that one, I highly recommend it especially if you have walked through any type of change or loss that was really hard. Nicole is a Marriage and Family Therapist and recently published a book called From Lost to Found: Giving Up What You Think You Want For What Will Set You Free and it is a beautiful and helpful book. For this episode, I pulled out a chapter in her book on relationships and talk about how to be a good partner by moving away from a dependent or independent stance to one of interdependence. We talk about how we are responsible for being loving in our relationships but not responsible for making someone feel loved. And we spend some time unpacking what it looks like to self-regulate the emotions you feel in a relationship and how to figure out what your best self looks like so that you can show up as that person.

 We have a really great conversation about conflict. We talk about why there’s beauty in conflict; our different styles of conflict; how the way we were raised affects how we handle conflict; practical steps to deal with conflict, how personality plays into it, and how our nonverbal communication plays a role. We have a really fascinating conversation about congruency in our communication—what we feel and what we say—and why that matters so much. I gained so much wisdom from this conversation and I think you will too

Sarah shares a BIG announcement at the end of today's episode so be sure to not miss it! But first, Sarah talks about a little something that we all have all faced: rejection. She shares stories of her past and how those rejections defined her sense of worthiness and belonging. She also shares how to overcome the critical voice in our head in order to move from rejection to worthiness.

I am so happy to welcome my friend Katie Hearn to the table. She is the Digital and Accessible Services Coordinator for the Atlanta Braves. She focuses on assisting all fans in having a memorable experience while at Truist Park, with a special emphasis on their accessible programs.

In the spring of 2017 she suffered sudden vision loss and is now blind. She tells her story of how she lost her vision while she was in her twenties and how that affected everything in life. She shares how she is working to find a new normal, how she sees the world differently now and how losing her vision helped her find her voice. And you know, I couldn’t resist asking several Atlanta Braves related questions. (My goal is to convert all of you to Braves fans.)

I am so happy to welcome my dear friend, Meredith McDaniel, to the table today. Our friendship was birthed from proximity—literally walking the same direction on a sidewalk over 4 years ago. Meredith is a licensed counselor and author of the new book, In Want & Plenty: Waking Up to God’s Provision in a Land of Longing.

We talk about the enneagram and how that shapes how we see the world around us. Then, we spend some time talking about what it looks like to feel stuck and how to create some forward motion. She even turns the table and asks me about where I feel the most stuck. I think this is a conversation that we can all relate to. If you’ve ever said, “I’m stuck, now what?” then you will enjoy this conversation.

Today's episode is very practical. Sarah shares one thing she does on Sunday in order to have a successful week. 

Be sure to download the FREE planner pages that Sarah mentioned.

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