When we catch a common cold or the flu, our bodies respond and usually within a few days, we feel better and we are healed. Sometimes, healing doesn't come so fast. In this episode we talk about healing. Healing from a surgery takes at least 6 weeks of post op care, and then even sometimes requires some physical therapy and some TLC for a year! Eac…

This weekend we’ve celebrated Memorial Day! Memorial Day for us means a 3 day weekend. Sometimes we have baseball games, that we get rained out of, and sometimes we can sneak in a little camping, a little barbeque in the backyard, some yardwork, and some fun, and it means the end of school and the start of summer!!! Memorial Day was a day that star…

Ignaz Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician who discovered the cause of childbed fever and introduced the "germ theory" to the medical world. Unfortunately, it was through his experience of contaminating his patients that he learned that he was the problem. He was the carrier of the disease that led to many deaths in Vienna General Hospital. Like Se…

The school year is quickly wrapping up! With field trips, field days, finals, crazy schedules, and more, the month of May will be over before you know it and summer vacation will be underway! These past few weeks I have loved getting my mail to see graduation announcements from the class of 2024. Friends and families all over are celebrating their …

It's always a pleasure to interview one of my children for the podcast! This week I chat with my son Elder Cody Rydalch! Cody has been serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Costa Rica for the last 18 months. About a month ago, he came home for health reasons and we have had the joy of having him home while we work…

Our bodies go through a lot in a day. They are the vehicles we use to work, play, serve, teach, nurture, and so much more! They require a little TLC! Last week we talked about the Five Pillars to Living well. Sleep Nutrition Movement Sunlight Connection When one of these is ours, we naturally work to compensate by other means. Sometimes we eat more…

Dying Well. What does that look like? When we think of dying well, it means probably with loved ones, home, comfortable, safe, enjoying life, free of pain and suffering. Does living well look the same? I have wondered if in our efforts to die well, we acutually live well. This podcast discusses Five Pillars to Living (and Dying) Well! They are Slee…

Everywhere we go we can find rules and regulations. When we travel to a baseball tournament on the weekends, there are regulations for the number of innings, runs, and pitch counts. The purpose of these regulations is to maintain safety and provide proper rest for the players. Just like a pitcher needs regulations and rest, so do we. We need nervou…

Every single one of us has a problem or challenge that can feel like we are walking around with a 50 pound weight on our shoulders. They can be heavy, burdensom, and tiring. And sometimes it feels like we are completely alone when packing that challenge. I know that I have a tendency to keep my worries and burdens to myself, to not ask for help fro…

There are many times when things go just as we thought they would. When we have planned and prepared and everything goes perfectly, and then there are times when they don't. In fact. As I think about most things, they often look different than I thought they would have in my mind, but it's OK. This week we had a surprise text that followed with hav…

Easter is coming! I love this holiday and the opportunity to reflect on Jesus Christ. A few years ago I was asked to write an essay to enter into a compiled essay book. While the book is still in the works, I am sharing this essay with you today in celebration of the Easter holiday! Mother's Who Know, Julie B. Beck Will You Engage in the Wrestle? S…

As promised, this week we are going to talk about Easter and some Traditions to incorporate with your families. Some of you may do easter egg hunts, baskets, and bunnies, and some may not, and choose to just focus on the Savior, his life, and his resurrection. And some may do both. We try hard to find a balance between both. So I am going to give y…

We all have things we’re pretty good at. I would say I’m a pretty good cook. I’m a pretty good housekeeper. I’m good at exercising. I’m good at taking care of my family. I’m good at something else. Worrying. I have heard myself say “I’m a worrier” I spend a lot of time thinking, and overthinking, about things. Over and over and over. I spend time w…

Every single one of us has stress. We have so much on our plates as we juggle family life, kids, jobs, and the list goes on. We all do our best to manage and deal and cope, but do we understand stress? In this podcast, we are going to discuss the stress response to help us better understand it, and by understanding it, we can help manage it. Stress…

Whenever we travel, one of the biggest stressors is getting through the airport. There are so many security checks and measures. There are machines, security guards, and dogs all scanning for danger or threats. We have an internal scanning system called our Nervous System. Our nervous system is meant to scan for safety, danger, or life-threatening …

This week on the podcast we get to hear from my oldest son Dylan on the Power of Relationships. Dylan and I always had a pretty good relationship, but during his mission our relationship grew and developed. As a missionary Dylan had the opportunity to interact with many different people and companions, and he developed some very valuable skills to …

Rulon D. Pope said, "We live in an age and society where hope becomes expectation, and expectation turns quickly into entitlement." This made me wonder how often some of our hopes may have become expectations. In our relationships with others, we can hope for things, but when expectations arise and those expectations are not met, we have disappoint…

What does love look like? Have you ever asked this question? What does it look like for you!? And what would Love look like in every situation? These are a few places I saw love this week: Love is the random sugar cookie on the counter with a note that said: For Mom, love Meg because she knows I love drink shop sugar cookies. Love is walking away f…

The winter months can be long and hard around here, especially for playing baseball. Our family does a lot of that and practicing baseball can be tricky. A few facilities are available, and I have found it helpful to hire coaches to do some hitting and fielding sessions with the kids during these months. I hired a coach to keep my 14-year-old Austi…

Every day our mind is consumed with thoughts and ideas. If we were to look at our thoughts and rank them in how often we think of something, or what is at the top of our minds, what would those thoughts be? Home Family God Work Entertainment Food All of these areas of focus are on my mind constantly, but do I put them in the proper order? Is there …

When our kids were little we took them to Build a Bear Workshop to make a stuffed animal that was especially for them. They could pick the bear or animal, the inside qualities we put in them, the stuffing, the accessories, all of it. They were perfectly tailored to fit each child. Wouldn't it be nice if we could do the same about ourselves? Pick ev…

Why do we get up and grind every single day? Why do we continue to push and endure the hard? What is the purpose of all of this? What really matters? I have been asking myself a lot of these types of questions, and the answer is Family. It all comes down to the fundamental unity of society. Family. God created the earth as a place for human familie…

As the new year begins, we all seem to have great intentions and goals to conquer and accomplish. We look forward with anticipation of what is to come! But have you thought about the benefits of looking back? Sometimes we look back and feel regret and sadness, and that's OK, but if we can look back through the lens of learning, and growth, and reme…

At the beginning of this year, I introduced my word for the year: Intention. In this podcast episode, I talk about a few things I have learned during my year of intention! First, intention requires some attention! I picked my word, I was really intentional, but then sort of forgot about that word! If I want to have intention it does require some at…

Change is happening right as we speak. It is just part of this life, part of our every day, but that doesn't mean we always enjoy it! There are a few things we can plan on with change. It is part of life. It happens. Every single day. It is part of God's great plan of happiness. There is growth with change. BELIEVE in the growth with change and you…

Christmas is the time of year when you can find lights everywhere. On our homes, our trees, windows, garlands, and more! The lights illuminate the dark and dreary days of winter, add cheer and warmth to our homes, and remind us of the true source of light, Jesus Christ. In this podcast episode, we talk about how each one of us carries light. We hav…

The holidays are a time of celebration, relationships, and gathering, but what about when you are missing the presence of a loved one? Many circumstances can prevent us from getting together with the people we love during the holidays: death, military, serving missions, traveling, finances, scheduling, and the list goes on. With intention, a little…

Many things in our day-to-day lives are super easy to do, and therefore we put them off and convince ourselves we can do them later. If they are easy to do, then that means they are easy to not do. No one will even notice, right? No one will care? It's no big deal. We can tend to do this with cooking, cleaning, and laundry, but also with our relati…

Relationships can be tricky. They can have highs and lows and ebb and flow. Sometimes we can be full of love and then other times we can feel pretty frustrated, disconnected, and conflicted with our relationships. One of the ways we can strengthen them is with Gratitude! Gratitude can be just the thing to help us improve our relationships. In this …

We’ve all probably been to the doctor to get some help with a sickness, illness, injury, or ailment, and he has written us a prescription. Some form of medication or treatment to help us feel better. Did you know gratitude can do the same!? President Russell M. Nelson said: Over my nine and a half decades of life, I have concluded that counting our…

I'm a succor for all of the Halloween goodies and sweets! Actually, I'm a succor for any sweets! The day after Halloween can be rough sometimes. Not just because of a late night, but also because of the amount of excess sugar we may have eaten. Many teachers I talked to in the schools called this the "Halloween Hangover." This leads to tired and gr…

Our vision, the way we perceive the world and how it operates, has been influenced by everything! It is influenced by our genetics, our upbringing and childhood experiences, our day-to-day experiences, all of it. Our brains and bodies are always scanning and taking in everything! I think of it like Superman with his x-ray vision. We are always scan…

With Halloween coming up the big question is what are you going to be?! What are you going to dress up as!? Ghosts, goblins, witches, and wizards, so many options! Every costume has accessories. For some costumes we will have wigs, some will need face paint, and some have Magic Wands. Which costumes need magic wands? Witches and fairies were the fi…

We all want to be picked, to be chosen, and to be wanted. You can probably remember as a kid being in PE class and having a team captain choose teams. Were you first picked? Or were you last picked? I always cringe when I think of being the last picked and when I watch others be last picked as well. Every one of us has the internal desire to be see…

All too often we think of judgment as a bad thing, but is it always? When we use judgment to criticize and condemn others, then yes. When we use it as a blanket statement to someone or someone's actions as if it is a final sentencing, then judgment only blocks connection and creates problems. But there is another kind of judgment, righteous or inte…

There are two main things each and every one of us has to spend. Time and Money. Time: We all have exactly the same amount of time in a day 24 hours a day 7 days a week About 4 weeks a month And 12 months in a year. Those are given. Money on the other hand, everyone has different amounts of money. Some have an abundance of money and others live pay…

I’m sure if we were asked where you feel like you have areas that you struggle with or limitations, you could all make a grocery list of items. A few of mine: I get a little snappy and snarky when I am anxious. I am good at procrastinating and putting things off until the last minute. I don’t listen very well sometimes. I’m a bit of a control freak…

In Rome and Florence, Jarred and I walked in and out of several different buildings and churches. We walked up and down the cobblestone streets lined with buildings. We saw buildings and structures and roadways that have been there for centuries! The Roman Forum, where goods were traded and sold like a street market or fair, was built before Christ…

Nesting is a phenomenon that some women will experience before the arrival of a new baby! They will clean, organize, prepare, and plan for the upcoming arrival of their new bundle of joy! It is also a way to cope with some stress and gain some control in our world that may be shifting. Although I am not pregnant, I have been nesting with the expect…

All too often when I am talking to someone or doing something, my mind is somewhere else. It is thinking of the next thing, thinking what to say, what to do, and more. Then, I'm off and running to that next thing. Last year I noticed Stockton would turn and wave every time I dropped him off at school. It was important to him that I see him before h…

It's that time of year! When the school bell rings, kids are back, and we get back into routines and schedules! The beginning of a school year is a great time to reassess and can be a new beginning for many of us! In this episode, we talk about how to set ourselves up to get what we want during this new school year. How do we want this year to look…

In this week's podcast, we talk about 3 more "lessons" or "reminders" I had while in Italy. Michaelangelo, the great artist and sculptor had a fascinating life and after reading and learning about his story, it is very apparent he was guided, led, and put exactly in the right places to allow him to develop and share his talents. His dots are all co…

My husband and I had the opportunity to travel to Rome and Florence and it was amazing! But a lot of planning and prep goes into traveling! For today's podcast we will talk about lessons I learned while planning this trip but also while on the trip! We will discuss our brain's desire to have the entire puzzle put together and know all the answers i…

As an independent insurance agent, my husband Jarred and his business have the opportunity to work for many insurance companies. Some companies do incentives for the agencies that they are partnered with. Well, one of the companies does trips for an agent and a guest and it just so happened Jarred drew on the trip this year and we went to Italy! We…

Many times we will find ourselves in an environment with new people or people we are not familiar with. It is human nature to want to stick with our tribes, to be with the people who we know and feel comfortable with, so we will try to avoid the discomfort of meeting someone new and putting ourselves out there by getting on our phones! We will star…

Do you remember as kids playing Truth or Dare?! Or daring eachother to do silly or crazy things? Sometimes I will dare my own kids to do things. A dare creates a little bit of competition and fun and games. It pushes us outside of our comfort zones and causes us to try to do new or hard things. Sometimes, we need to dare ourselves! We don't always …

There are many people in our lives we will defend to the death. Family members, friends, teammates, co-workers. There may also be people in our lives that we feel have our backs, but do you have your own back? Sometimes we can be really good at showing up for others and supporting them, but we let ourselves be on the backburner. We don't keep commi…

Have you ever thought about confidence AND humility, together? Do you think they can coexist? This is something that’s been on my mind and I’ve been doing some thinking about. Jarred and I have a motto, “Teach the kids confidence, the world will teach them humility.” We have always tried to build, build, build because we live in a world that will t…

It was an early morning, or middle of the night at 1:00 a.m. and I heard Otis our dog barking right by my window. Otis’ bark was loud and persistent. We live in the country so I was pretty sure there was a critter or even possibly someone in the yard so I got up. I was sure he was going to wake the whole neighborhood! I walked to the back door and,…

Most of the time we are told to not get angry and fight, but is it always a bad thing!? Listen in to this podcast as we discuss times when it might not always be bad! Anger is an energizing emotion, and for me, I find myself getting to work and being extremely productive when I get mad. I get determined, put my nose down, and fight through the chal…