Marriage Lab

Choosing a spouse is choosing the person you'd like to offer the most forgiveness to of anyone else over a lifetime. Why? Because the intimacy in marriage creates more opportunity for hurt than any other relationship. Therefore, to have a thriving marriage, we must lean into the heart of Jesus and forgive each other like He forgave us. Generously, for the big and the little trangresses, witho...

Have you ever been trying to honestly explain what you're thinking or feeling and say the words "Part of me feels..." or "Part of me thinks..."? Most people do intuitively. In this episode we talk about how to utilize this phrase into our communciation with our spouse to give the most accurate picture of what's happening inside of us. We also explore how this is used...

In this episode we break down a couple tools for connecting with your spouse even when you're in the middle of conflict or have something unresolved between you both. Please rate, review & share the podcast! ------------------------------------------------------------ Join Jenna's life-changing Habit Mastery Course ! Registration for next round begins January 3, 2024. ---------------...

Have you ever been looking forward to the weekend only to find that what was intended to be restful and relaxing, never actually filled you up? Have you ever headed back into your workweek feeling like you wasted an opportunity to take good care of yourself and your family? We definitely have! In this episode, we talk about the shift that's happened in the last year that has transformed our w...

In this episode we talk with our friend Serena Angeli who has gone on her own journey around awareness, understanding and growing in her attachment style. Interestingly, she began her journey with an avoidant style and later with an anxious style.  Jenna and I, Aaron, talk about how our avoidant and anxious styles, respectively, seem to perfectly trigger each other. Each of us talk about the growt...

In this episode Aaron & Jenna talk about what to do when you feel like your spouse is stuck in life.  the common mindsets the pop up when you recognize your spouse is stuck what to avoid the best ways to help Join Jenna's life-changing Habit Mastery Course ! Please rate, review & share the podcast! For more on what the Zints have to offer, check out ZintSquad.com where you can book on...

In this episode we interview our friends Autumn and Andrew Elliott. They saw a major turn in their connection after some counseling revealed a need for a "baseline." This baseline served as their way to stay connected on the most basic level so that the small conflicts that used to tank them before were no longer pulling them down. Another possible name for this "baseline" are...

In this episode, we interview our friends Ryan & Jessica Casey about how their individual journey's of growth, risk and healing contirbuted to their ability to connect as a couple. Please rate, review & share the podcast! For more on what the Zints have to offer, check out ZintSquad.com where you can book one-on-one or couples coachings for emotional and relational health with Jenna a...

In this extra vulnerable episode, Aaron shares his journey walking through a crisis of faith and Jenna shares her experience walking with him in it. Please rate, review & share the podcast! For more on what the Zints have to offer, check out ZintSquad.com where you can book one-on-one or couples coachings for emotional and relational health with Jenna and Aaron, join the waitlist for Jenna&apo...

In this episode, we talk about what self-compassion is, the importance of it and the impact of it in our lives. We both have our own journey learning we needed it and walking it out for ourselves. There is no finish line. It's an ongoing part of what makes it possible for us to not only love ourselves well, but to love each other, our kids and everyone else well. Please rate, review & sha...

In this episode we dive into the habits of physical health that have been slowly but surely building in our lives over the past couple years. We share our journey about pain felt when one spouse is pursuing fitness and the other doesn't want to join. We also talk about ways to create life-long habits of health. Please rate, review & share the podcast! For more on what the Zints have to of...

Jenna and I had a few therapy sessions which help shed some light on the triggers that came up in our last hard conversation. We begin to unpack those in this episode. It's not all resolved but we're still moving forward. Little bits of better over a long period of time. Please rate, review & share the podcast! For more on what the Zints have to offer, check out ZintSquad.com where y...

In this episode Jenna and Aaron share their recent conflict that is still not fully resolved, though they are staying connected in the midst of it. This conflict has surfaced many times throughout their marriage: Jenna feels lonely with the household chores, as well as family responsibilities and family connection; Aaron feels sad and fearful that he will never be able to do enough to help Jenna f...

Have you ever felt like you've "failed" at vacationing? Like the very thing you've been looking forward to for so long winds up disappointing or becoming even more disconnecting than normal life? Jenna and I (Aaron), have been here countless times in our decade and a half of marriage and in this episode we talk about what we've learned over that time that has helped shape...

In this episode, Jenna and I (Aaron) invited our besties Eli Leedy and Michelle Thompson. This is our first interview with a non-couple. Eli is single (as of the release date......ladies) and Michelle is married. We've got at least 10 years of history with each of them individually and we've each experienced our share of highs and lows.  In this episode we answer these questions: What&ap...

I don't believe we have any children listening to our podcast, so I think it's safe to say, you are an adult and you fall into one of these categories: You have great friends and would love to sustain them You don't currently have many friends and want more You have friends but would love more depth/time/fun In this episode Jenna and I (Aaron) talk about our journey of navigating fr...

In this episode, Jenna shares what it's like having ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder) and how the differences in her how brain works affects her ability to perceive time, the way she stores and retrieves information and how it affects her ability to focus. Aaron talks about what it's like being married to someone with ADHD and how to navigate it with grace. Please rate, revie...

As we began to practice vulnerably sharing our hearts with each other, we found that we often ran into trouble when the listener would get defensive. So we started asking ourselves, what is it about the way I'm sharing my feelings that puts them on the defense? We found defensiveness shows up strongest for these reasons: Sometimes our "feelings" (read: emotions), are really disguise...

Stacey Cook took Jenna's Habit Lab Mastery Course last semester and joins us with her husband to talk about the life change both she and he have experienced as a result of implementing (keyword) the tools learned from the course. In this episode you'll hear them talk about: the transformation of debunking the all-or-nothing mentality the power of processing emotion with regularity how so...

In this episode, Jenna and Aaron talk about the nuances of defensiveness when two people are communicating pain. The biggest struggle in learning to express emotion on a regular basis has been the defensiveness that inevitably arises as the result of our partner sharing pain that we caused. Aaron shares that playing the role of the victim typically results in defensiveness that is blaming. "I...

In this episode we talk about the difficulty and necessity of keeping your heart soft in the middle of a hard conversation. This is one of the most difficult things to do when you are triggered, but it's the only path to connection in conflict. Jenna describes our recent car-buying experience and all of the strong emotion that arose with it and how she navigated the difficulty of it while kee...

In this episode, we review a tool Jenna created (and Aaron named) called That's What She Said. It's a tool for when you're dysregulated because of something your spouse said. Wives, feel free to change it to That's What He Said. Aaron shares how he used this tool a couple times recently around their sex life. You can do this by yourself (self-regulating) or with another person...

We had our friends Morgan & Chris Nicholson on to talk about how they went from a volatile first few years of marriage to a thriving couple today. They share their experience of years of disconnection and hurt and the transformation that came from bringing others into their process and taking ownership for making change within themselves individually. Please rate, review & share the podcas...

This week we interview our friends Sam & Rebecca LaRobardiere. Sam owns a local award-winning coffee shop and roastery called Theory. Rebecca is a certified Sex Coach. Both of these pursuits happened during marriage with young kids. We watched as they both pursued the dreams that were on their heart while maintaining connection with each other and as a family. As they share in this episode, it...

Danny and Sheri Silk are the creators of the organization Loving on Purpose which is a resource for people who want relationships that are full of hope, solid communication skills and ultimately a loving connection. They have classes, courses, teachings, books and resources for better marriages, parenting and relationships in general. Danny has written multiple life-changing books including Unpuni...