Wes and Shelly Share

Sharing our experiences from the South Carolina seacoast this week, as well as reflecting on past trips and memories of the beach with our family.

This episode was recorded on our first visit to the North Carolina Zoo south of Asheboro! We discussed memories of zoos, orcas and trips to the Pacific Northwest, and the wonderful aspects of natural and human diversity in our world. Link to our sharing websites on shellyfryer.com/podcast.

In our 13th episode, Wes and Shelly reflect on the wonderful children’s picture book “Where the WILD Things Are,” and our memories of it. We also discuss favorite memories of Mother’s Day, and Shelly tells the story of how her father, Carl Ward, was a first generation college student, changing the trajectory of life for his children and grandchildren. Our wonder link is the podcast, “Are We There...

In this episode, recorded at Rocky River Vineyards outside Locust, North Carolina, we share our exciting adventure to Reed’s Mine today. In 1799, a young 12-year-old made the first discovery of gold in the United States recorded by European immigrants. We also talk about our aspirational identities in the “empty nest,” who we wanted to be when we were little, and who we want to be now. Wes also sh...

In this 11th episode, we discuss lots of things we remember about our mothers and ways our lives have changed as empty-nesters as parents. Referenced articles and links will be added soon! Our wander links are a couple local parks we visited recently, and our wonder links revolve around the Artemis 2 mission of NASA to the moon.

It’s our first Easter with an empty nest! This Sunday we recorded “lakeside” at Powder Horn Mountain, a wonderful private community about 20 minutes from Boone, North Carolina. About 2 1/2 hours from our house in Matthews. We discuss our memories of the children’s book, “The Velveteen Rabbit,” lots of past Easter memories, and share two wonder and two wander links. Wander links: Powder Horn Mounta...

In this Saturday episode from Squirrel Lake Park in Matthews, North Carolina, we reflect on how we loved reading “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” both to our children and to students in school. We also discuss “The School I Love,” ideas for Shelly‘s forthcoming book, and other aspects of teaching we have loved and loved today. Our wonder link is, Wes’ aspirational BBQ catering business, gol...

Our 8th episode! We spent most of our time talking about Kevin Henkes’ wonderful 1991 book, “Chrysanthemum,” and the ways the themes of this book overlay with our experiences as classroom teachers as well as parents. We included multiple related book recommendations, and talked a little bit about Shelly‘s ideas to write her own book. Last of all, we shared two “Wonder links” and two “Wander links!...

A podcast from Landsford Canal State Park in South Carolina! Discussing this wonderful book: Book: “Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives” by Richard A. Swenson https://www.amazon.com/Margin-Richard-A-Swenson-MD-audiobook/dp/B01M70RZN4/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3OM575AHNLN2U&keywords=margin+swenson&qid=1678657949&sprefix=margin+swenson%2Caps%2C136&sr=8-1...

In this episode, we reflect on memories of our honeymoon to Hawaii in 1995, and some other trips we made to Hawaii over the years, including a family reunion in 2009. We also reflect on formative international travel experiences we’ve both had. These include Shelly‘s three years teaching in Germany for DOD, and Wes’ trips to Turkey and New Zealand.

In this episode, we talk about our journeys of health and the book, “Habits of Health,” by Dr. Wayne Anderson.. We also talk about our adventures on Saturday as we joined members of our church serving breakfast on the street in downtown Charlotte, to folks experiencing homelessness. Our Wonder Link of the week is the eagle cam on YouTube from Big Bear, California. Our Wander Link is the Disney+ se...

Wes and Shelly reflect on books we remember reading, and others reading to us, when we were growing up. We also discuss books we remember reading to our own children. In part two, we reflect on good memories from trips together to Manhattan, Kansas. This week's "Wander Link" is Liquid Art in Manhattan, Kansas. Our "Wonder Link" is a set of two oral history interviews with Wes' mother, Angie Fryer,...

In our third episode, we discuss one of Shelly‘s favorite children’s books, “The Wild Robot,” and its sequel, “The Wild Robot Escapes,” by Peter Brown. We discussed how the themes of these books intersect with artificial intelligence (AI) ChatGPT from OpenAI, ethics, and themes of family, kindness and love. In the second half, we discuss our five-year plan, as we are now “empty-nesters” in North C...

In our second episode, Shelly and Wes talk about the family favorite book, “Good Night, Moon,” and its connection to North Carolina astronaut Tom Marshburn . We mention connections to the remixed version, “Good Night, iPad,” discuss why Shelly loves “Space Fridays” with her fifth grade class so much, and our weekend adventure to “Cast-Iron Waffles” and the New York Butcher Shop in Indian land, Sou...

In our first episode of “Wes and Shelly Share!” we preview the basic format and planned length of our episodes, and what we want to talk about our show. We describe the different elements of our podcast description: “Wes and Shelly Fryer share about outdoor adventures, healthy life habits, parenting and marriage, navigating the opportunities and challenges of the empty nest.” We also tell a little...