Friendlier

We discuss the past year and look ahead to 2025. Also, surprise! This is our final episode of the podcast and we share our favorite episode and what the pod has meant to us over the last 8 years. Our favorite episodes: Quitting , Hard times , Enneagram 8 Experience (Sarah) and Everyday superpowers and Personal policies (Abby) And because we didn't do a year in books episode this year, here are our...

Day in our (fall) lives We share the details of our days from Tuesday October 22nd. You can also listen to our first day-in-the-life episode or similar episodes from  2020 and 2022 if you’d like to see how our days have changed. Links we mentioned: The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to...

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...

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 Latel y 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 Weyw...

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 ro...

Checking in on 202 4 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

New year’s intentions, 202 4 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 . S...

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 f...

Our year in books, 2023 We share the highs and lows of our reading year as well as our favorite books in various categories. Life lately Abby loves her new Pact sweaters . Sarah is cozying up with the Calm Christmas podcast . Reading lately Abby read the spicy romance novel (set in Bloomington!) How Not to Fall by Emily Foster. Sarah read Michelle Huneven's novel Search . Eating lately Sarah made...

We give an update on the state of clutter in our homes and discuss how we think we might manage it better. We'd love your ideas! (And here's the podcast Sarah mentioned: A Slob Comes Clean ) Life lately Sarah ran a half marathon—yay! Abby built a screen door. Reading lately Sarah read the satirical novel Wellness by Nathan Hill. Abby enjoyed the first two mysteries in the Jane Austen-inspired Mr....

Parenting strengths and weaknesses We share areas of parenting that come easily to us (and those that don't!), our partners' parenting superpowers, and a recent parenting win. Episode about our everyday superpowers Life lately Abby shares the sad news that the hospital where she works will be closing Labor and Delivery later this month. The renovation continues at Sarah's house... In this update,...

We look back on how the summer went and what we learned about how to make next summer even better. Life lately Sarah is picking paint colors again. (What a nightmare.) Abby healed one of her kitty's ears without a vet trip thanks to this product . Reading lately Sarah read the Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom Duology by Leigh Bardugo. Abby read Feed the Baby: An Inclusive Guide to Nursing, Bottle-Feed...

Mindsets We share mindsets and mantras that have served us well over the years, ones that do not work for us, and mindsets we are trying to help our kids cultivate. Life lately Abby was on television for her work. Sarah's family has joined the local climbing gym. Reading lately Abby is all-in on Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. Sarah recommends Maame by Jessica George. Eating lately Sarah and Abby b...

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 2023. Life lately Sarah’s children are at sleep away camp for the first time. Abby recently did a refresh of her indoor plants. Reading lately Sarah read and loved  You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir  by Maggie Smith. Abby listened to  Remarkably Br...

Preferences We share our preferences in our lifestyles, food, music, tv/movies, books, and socializing, as well as how our they have changed over time and whether they align with our spouses' preferences. Life lately Abby's battling the lice that made their way into her home. Sarah's family is preparing for an egg drop competition. Reading lately Abby read the queer, young adult romance Not My Pro...

With this episode, we're starting a new schedule for Friendlier. We’ve decided to release new episodes on the first Tuesday of each month, instead of every other week, as we’ve been doing. As our lives have gotten busier, it’s been tough to fit in podcasting, but we love this creative project and connecting with all of you, so we’re hopeful that the new schedule will help us continue to fit the po...

K-12 school experiences We share the highs and lows of our experiences in elementary, middle, and high school. Life lately Abby has poison ivy. Sarah just got back from the SEC gymnastics championships in Georgia. Reading lately Abby enjoyed the cozy fantasy The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna. Sarah read Jennette McCurdy's memoir I'm Glad My Mom Died . Eating lately Sar...

We discuss what we want more of and less of, as well as things that are just right in our lives. Life lately Sarah took the kids to their first public meeting. The neighbors fixed the fence at Abby's house. Reading lately Sarah enjoyed Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. Abby got into the cozy fantasy/romance Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree. Eating lately Abby resurrected a childho...

Technology We share our most used tech in daily life, technology other people seem to love but we don't, favorite tech related to kids/parenting, and our technology aspirations. Links we mentioned: Kindle strap Wireless headphones Wyndy app Calm app Life lately Abby shares that her beloved cat, Duncan, passed away last month. Sarah just got back from a ten day to trip to Germany. Reading lately Ab...

We talk about cultivating a family food culture: what we want food and eating to feel like in our families, what is working and not working in our family food experience, and resources that we’ve used in developing family food culture. Links we mentioned: Intuitive Eating   by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch Virginia Sole-Smith’s Instagram Ellyn Satter’s  Division of Responsibility Visibl...