Sidetracked

On September 20, 2021, Makayla Noble, a world-champion cheerleader, suffered an injury that resulted in a severe spinal cord injury. Both Cynthia and I were part of her extended community and were getting updates on her healing journey and how to pray for her. Today we have the honor of interviewing her to see how God has used her life to glorify Him even when things don’t go as planned.  From the...

**earbud alert–if you listen with little ones around may want to pop in the ole earbuds or be prepared to have lots of conversations ;) **  We kick off today looking like we are going to two separate events, with one dressed up and one in athleisure. Are you team shorts or team dresses for summer? We give some summer updates including how to feed ALL of the teens that are home and my 1980’s drink...

Today’s podcast kicks off with a real-life example of how the enneagram can improve relationships and facilitate healthy conflict resolution. Heather sent our guest, Beth McCord, a less than friendly email recently and Beth responded with grace and understanding because she knows how to navigate our personalities, what a gift.  Our guest Beth is a well-known speaker, author, teacher, enneagram coa...

Today’s sidetracked starts off with Cynthia airing her grievances. We talk about eyebrows and all of the products we use to get them to grow. Then move on to an update about our Patreons which we find out are the Wal-Mart and Target of that platform. I guess once you start posting content people remember they are paying for it. We also talk about our local celebrity from American Idol, Jack Blocke...

Today kicks off our new sidetracked series with a surprise guest! Toni Collier- author, speaker, podcaster, and single mom- joins us to cover all the topics. Toni is the author of  Broken Crayons Still Color  and encourages people that even in the hard and dark parts of life God is waiting to use us. In our brokenness, we can see God in the land of the living. She reminds us that regardless of eve...

As usual, this sidetracked has so much packed into it, especially as we head into Mother’s Day and the end-of-school-year May(hem). We recap my son Quade’s final high school musical performance as Lumiere in  Beauty and the Beast . Once again the tears are flowing as I process having a senior and all of the final milestones that come along with it.  Cynthia tries to describe what her best Mother’s...

Right off the bat Cynthia and I get sidetracked by my grumpy mood. A mood I blamed on an instagram battle but probably more about my grief of having a senior who is actually going to college!  There’s some rehashing of the Bachelor, Heather’s advice for renting with Turo and discussion whether audiobooks count as reading. We also get sidetracked talking about all of the end-of-school year emotions...

Today’s show starts with a small hiccup and then really gets going with our guest and listener Rachel Green (but not that one ;)). We discussed what we had for breakfast and it was everything from a frittata, to coconut milk yogurt with all the toppings, to a Diet Dr. Pepper with saltines. Can you guess who ate what?  Rachel admits to being sidetracked by ruminating over her busy calendar, and how...

Where do you turn when life gets messy?  Cynthia said it best, “98% of life is the messy part.” But that sentence doesn’t have to end there, with us shaking our fists at the sky. Instead, get Sidetracked with Cynthia and me as we dive right into life’s messy parts, clinging to the brilliant hope that God is still good to us, and for us.  Pre-order Cynthia’s new book,  Life is Messy, God is Good  a...

Happy New Year! We’re starting the year off right with mile-long to-do lists and a complex highlighting system so we don’t forget to wash the dog in the midst of crocheting that giant bow.  JK!  But we are thinking about what went well in 2023 and what we’re focusing in on 2024. Whether you make resolutions or not, evaluating how things are going is helpful and the flip of the calendar is a natura...

Ready or not, the holidays are upon us! What are your favorite holiday traditions? What are the ones you could leave behind?  Get sidetracked with Cynthia and me as we discuss everything from trees (real, fake, and Jesse) to gift giving philosophies (more or less presents than Jesus?) to elves and shepherds and the awful name your pie might get if it doesn’t come out just right. There’s even help...

Pull out the petit fours and lip plumpers – it’s time to celebrate! Don’t Mom Alone has officially reached double digits!!  Get Sidetracked with us as Cynthia leads us on a surprising, only mildly teary ride as we look back on 10 years of the podcast. There’s even a Cameo from Bob Ross! Jk, there isn’t. But we do have a great lineup of special guests and listeners to help us commemorate 10 years o...

It’s mum time in Texas, y’all! Both the colorful garden flowers and the personalized faux floral and ribbon creations seen at Texas homecoming football games.  Get sidetracked with Cynthia and me this week as we decode what the kids are saying these days, design our own mums, and talk about the hard things life has thrown at us lately. We discuss the trap of comparison and we finally stop searchin...

Is Back-to-School time a mini fresh-start for you? With all the fresh supplies we get a chance to think again about who we want to be and what our daily life can look like.  Get sidetracked with Cynthia and me this week as we discuss rhythms we are creating for the fall. Cynthia discovers AI and we talk habits, opening our homes for connection, scrapbooking for our younger selves, and new business...

We’re baaaaaack! How was your summer? Maybe you’re like us…a little laughing, crying and even vacation freak-outs. Around here you’re never alone. Listen in for a fun conversation with our friend Cynthia Yanof as we chat about summer adventures and the transition to Fall.  We’re talking about expectations as moms. How sometimes things turn out better than expected and other times we grieve the los...

How do you give your kids independence? At what stage do you let kids try and fail?  At the heart of parenting is this job: to give our kids the skills they need to live without us. We know that and we still might spend hours in their rooms trying to help them get to sleep or keeping up with their gym clothes or assignments. We bring our own fears or suppositions about the future to bear on their...

How do you connect with your spouse? And how often?  It’s easy for us to get busy parenting and adulting and then take our marriage relationship for granted. We may think we’ll focus on it when things slow down or the kids aren’t so needy, but actually, a healthy marriage is a great help to our kids.  We’re taking time this summer (as usual) to be mentored by an experienced mom and benefit from he...

What do you do when your kids are a little sassier than necessary? How do you respond? Can we shape their responses? When does it really matter? To answer those questions we need both perspective and wisdom.  We’re taking time this summer (as usual) to be mentored by an experienced mom and benefit from her wisdom. Bonus! My guest for these 6 weeks is both wise AND funny. Join me for conversations...

Who are your close friends? What do you do to cultivate friendships in your life? Friendship as an adult can feel like we’re unicorn-hunting, clinging to some childhood ideal or tv show standard. But real life friendship requires risk and it can come and go in seasons. And it is so worth it.  We’re taking time this summer (as usual) to be mentored by an experienced mom and benefit from her wisdom....

What do you feel when your child is struggling? How do you decide when to step in?  Whether it’s fighting for your attention from a new baby or struggling with a new skill there are times for us to intervene and there are times for us to let our kids be uncomfortable. Yes, because we’re limited, but also because, as our summer of mentorship guest puts it, “If I want to raise kids that can stand al...

What do you do when your kid lies? What about when your kid doesn’t make the team? Is this your failure or theirs…or is it something else?  We’re taking time this summer (as usual) to be mentored by an experienced mom and benefit from her wisdom. Bonus! My guest for these 6 weeks is both wise AND funny.  Join me for conversations with wife, mom, author, and podcaster Cynthia Yanof. We’ll answer so...