The Mommy Project

  See - Overalls are a thing!  Fashion trends we are embarrassed about The Cowboy Hat and Dress...."I looked like a Migrant worker! All I was missing was a shovel." Hannah's List of Music: Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Classic Rock....                             "Because that's what you do as a little brown girl in Texas in the 90s." Alternative Grunge Rock Thing. and I was "Wearing my platform clogs and 3 earrings in each ear... " Bush, No Doubt, Nirvana, Third Eye Blind, Master P Cash Money Millionaires. "When Bling Bling came on My Life was Over, My life was OVER!!" - Hannah Du Op music and the Golden Oldies, Swing. Old Standards Jazz: "I don't understand jazz- I feel Like you need a Ph.D to understand jazz!" Greenday album:  little 8th grade Hannah knew her parents would HATE! Kimberley's Music choices as a 15 year old: The Andrew Sisters, Sentimental Journey, Frank. Blues.    Guilty Pleasure: Big Brother 19 Sponser a Millennial Today: John B Crist video   

  Social Media Faux pas, Why we Love to hate the Social Media Monster, and Revealing our somewhat Niave history. All here on Episode 52.    Coming Soon: The Social Media print out for parents who have children with socail media accunts. Whats trending, how to craft a strategy, and what is the origin story behind the app Snapchat. Check back with us for Ep. 53. You will need to hear this episode!    Thank you Hannah! 

Sunday Confession 17- uncovers the real reason why Hannah had to traverse across town for the Shop-Vac... And why she had to reactivate her Facebook account to set people straight.  Meanwhile, Kimberley reveals some TMI and why she would NOT be a good contestant for her reality tv show of choice.  Lots of Fun You won't want to miss here at Sunday Confession 17.    Please Share, Subscribe, and Support The Mommy Project by subscribing to our podcast on your favorite podcast app and sharing us with one woman you know and love. Help us Help You... laugh, shrug, and skip your way to rockstar status.  Happy Sunday! 

YouWill Love This Episode - Being Mid-Summer, It is So Hot outside! Why not curl up in the air condition with a good book and stiff arming the world for awhile...  Stephanie Wilkes, who is a Young Adult Book Critic and Libriran shares her current reads and recommends.  Plus- Lyndsey Sikes and I discuss gossipy beach reads, Princess Diana, and where to find courage when Option A does not work out!  Past Episodes to check out: Stephanie (Episode 50 and Sunday Confession 16) and Lyndsey Sikes ( Episodes: 37, Episode 39 and Sunday Confession 03)   Book titles recommended with Notes: ( Note: The Asterisk * indicates My Must Reads... because they are Ridiculously Compelling) OPTION B: FACING ADVERSITY, BUILDING RESILIENCE, AND FINDING JOY.  BY SHRYL SANDBERG AND ADAM GRANT   (Check out On Being Podcast Ep. April 24, 2017 interview with Sheryl Sandberg.... So Awesome! ) THE FIVE SECOND RULE BY MEL ROBBINS, (take courage and live your Best Life... I am a sucker for Motivational, "get off your butt and Do Something" type books.) KISS CARLO AND THE BIG STONE GAP BY ADIANA TRIGIANI THE GLASS CASTLE *** BY JEANNETTE WALL (memoir, nomadic bohemian childhood - this book will stick with you for a while). THE ROYAL WE BY HEATHER COCKS THE ROYALS BY KITTY KELLY (super gossipy, fast read/ fun for the beach) THE LAST MIDWIFE BY SANDRA DALLAS  (talks about women's rights particular to Birth, Labor and Children... Historical Fiction/ Christian Author.... also- a mystery- a baby is murdered, who did it?) HOW CANCER MADE ME MOMMY **** BY ALY TAYLOR (talks about spiritual warfare, mental battles, infertility, health, Courage, and is honest about this journey.. written in a blog-style format). SALLY CLARKSON  (THE LIFE-GIVING HOME: CREATING A PLACE OF BELONGING AND BECOMING ***** AND EDUCATING THE WHOLE HEARTED CHILD (anything by Sally Clarkson is life-giving, encouraging and helpful in this Journey of motherhood!) GENUINE FRAUD BY E. LOCKHART  (YA novel) SPEAK EASY, SPEAK LOVE BY McKELLE GEORGE (YA novel) CONFESSIONS OF A DOMESTIC FAILURE BY BUNMI LADITAN THE HONEST TODDLER  BY BUNMI LADITAN  BIG LITTLE LIES BY LIANE MORIARTY WHAT ALICE FORGOT ****** BY LIANE MORIARTY (this is a favorite adult fiction for me- Liane Moriarty writes Women really well!). THE HATE U GIVE BY ANGIE THOMAS (YA Novel).  (racial issues, unique point of view, opens up the door for interesting conversation about social issues) ME BEFORE YOU JOJO MOYES  (will make you Ugly- Cry) Audiobooks- that have compelling narrators, bring life to the characters and are easy/ fun listens: Matiltda by Roald Dahl Heartburn by Nora Ephron Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 

Sunday Confession 16 -  Which Friend Are You?  Smelly Cat, Pop Culture Confessions, Guilty Pleasures and More! with Stephanie Wilkes from Ep. 50 of The Mommy Project. 

Stephanie Wilkes- Mom of 2, who also juggles the following roles: librarian, YA novel reviewer, entrepreneur, seamstress, and killer wit. Stephanie is a delight and a true believer in making things awkward, but in a good way. She is a truth teller- one who never shies away from grittier or even science-y related conversations.  Adoption when the Birth Plan does not go as Planned The Struggle with Guilt The need for Protecting our identity  We discuss this all here on The Mommy Project 

Sunday Confession is all about confessing the McDonald's denial in our life-  That "momentary pleasure followed by incredible guilt which eventually leads to cancer.... "Im Lovin it!" - Jim Gaffigan. So I ask you? What is your McDonalds.    Here is what Krystal has to say.... along with some tips and recommends.   

Love and Respect are some of the simplest yet hardest ingredients to marriage. Listen to Krystal's story.  Stay the Course Giving your spouse respect and admiration is important Guard yourself from the "second look."  Friendship/ true friendship is revealed during the trials and tragedies  Never give up on God's plan Love dare Psalm 46:10, Ps. 94, Ezekiel 37:4, Isaiah 41:43, Ps. 27:13-14.  Stay in the Land of the Living. 

Sunday Confession is here again- we love this series here at The Mommy Project – maybe one of my most favorites of the all the series we have done on the podcast. LaTonya Lewis reveals her Sunday Confession: What book is on your nightstand right now? The Bible, Humble Roots by Hannah Anderson   What music did you like to listen to as a teenager- that maybe your parents did not approve of or know about? I listened strictly to christian music.  Prism, Truth, Keith Green was my hero, Second chapter of Acts, Ferrell & Ferrell, Leon Patillo, Sandy Patti, Evie, The Imperials and believe it or not, I enjoyed the Gaithers too!!  My folks taught me an appreciation for worship music and for Gaither style music!(or if they did.. Perhaps did not appreciate). One “lost art” you wish would come back “in fashion” or be taught at home? Respet for authority and those over you.  Doesn’t matter if its a referee, police officer, parents, grandparents, teachers, anyone in a figure of authority.  I think this is quickly declining in our society.   What is your top 3 pieces of advice on marriage? Every morning when your feet hit the floor, choose to love.  If we do this, everything else will fall into place!!!  My circumstances DO NOT alter whether or not I love, it is a daily decision! Advice on having a relationship with your mother-in-law? I despise the bad connotation this word has on our society.   From the get go, I was determined to love my mother in law, and embrace her.  We have a very sweet relationship and love one another dearly.  Again, it goes back to the love thing, it’s something we choose to do! Now, from the mother in law side, I think we need to do the step back thing and think about how what we do affects the new Son or daughter, or if it is a seasoned relationship, how is what I am doing today affecting my relationship with my son in law or daughter in law?     Where do you find a comfortable bra? (a real concern among us women). When I was young, I used  to buy Victoria’s secret!  Now that I am middle aged, anything without a wire is most comfy to me!!!  I’m walking now, so I’m adjusting to sports bras! If I could get away with not wearing one, I so would!!!

Our Website is: themommypro.com …. not what I said at the end of this episode…. Just needed to get that out of the way before I forget. This Episode is About Choosing to Love and How there is nothing wrong with good cup of Coffee. LaTonya Lewis is a mom of 5 adult children and several grandchildren. She knows how each person is uniquely different and requires a different skill set when it comes to parenting. Notes to Read: What encouraging words would you say to your 30 year old self raising little ones? Don’t be so uptight!  It’s okay to make mistakes, as long as you are learning from them, repenting of them, and turning away from repeating them.  It’s good to as our children for forgiveness when we mess up with them.  It gives them an opportunity to offer forgiveness to others, something we could all use a little more practice with I think!  Not only that but it is freeing for us as parents, and children are so quick to forgive!  Matthew 18:3 Jesus tells us a truth: “unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.  So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”  I think the Father gives us children, not solely for the purpose of raising a godly seed like it says in Malachi 2:15, but to also show us the condition of our heart, that we are a soul in need of a Saviour.   What do you think is one of the biggest struggles women face today? As mothers, as wives? As Believers? Comparing ourselves to others Which produces the “I want” We are bombarded with technology and the “you need this” to make your life better, where in all reality, what matters for eternity is “Christ in us, the hope of Glory” and I dont think that this Hope of Glory was so weighted down with the things we allow ourselves to be dragged down by. Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us to strip off the things that slow us down, especially the sin that easily trips us up.  We can get so easily swayed from his plan when we take our focus away from Him and place our focus on others.  His plan for young moms is to teach and instruct our children in the love and fear of the Lord.  This is a daily job, that sometimes we would like to put on hold, but we cannot afford to lay aside our responsibilities and trade them off for the things the world quickly tells us we deserve!  We must stay focused on our task at hand!  If we allow our eyes to be pulled to the left or the right, we can easily be lead down the road of envy, which will spill over to our husbands and our children, and before we know it, we have a home with so much disorder.  That’s when it’s time to sit back and take a look at our hearts and refocus our eyes.  Proverbs tells us that a tranquil heart gives life to flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.  I love having a tranquil heart, because it makes for a very peaceful home!   What advice did your mom/dad (or grandparent) give you that you will always remember? My parents taught me a very simple truth:  To Obey is better than sacrifice!  Doesn’t matter what it looks like, it’s always obedience to the Holy Spirit. When it comes to Passing on the Faith- who taught you or mentored you when you were “in the trenches” with littles? My Parents were our biggest cheerleaders!  They would encourage us to stay the course with the kids, to not give in lest we lose ground. Apart from them, I would have to say that my husband was my greatest mentor when I was in the trenches.  We were in the mountains of Guatemala our first 19 years.  The Lord was very gracious to us when it came to family.  We both had a heart to do life with our family the way He wanted us to be, this called for many hours of falling on our faces before the Lord, searching out His word, not just one time, but on a continual basis.  Who else can we turn to, He has the words of Life, He has given them to us.  It is up to us to dive into this living water that brings life to our very souls. How did you and your husband Pass on the Faith to your children? I think it is vital that we share our God moments with our children and grandchildren.  Tell them of the great things he has done in our lives. Deuteronomy 6 tells us to repeat his commands over and over again to our children, and I think that the things he does for us on a daily basis need to be told again and again to our children.  I actually cheated a little with this answer.  I texted on our family group text and had our children give me some of their thoughts as to how Michael and I passed on and continue to pass on our faith to them.     Story telling.  There is always the story of you standing in the closet saying to God “papa needs new clothes”.  And a thousand other stories like that. Your marriage. In an age where the divorce rate is sky high, ya’ll remain faithful to each other Papa always reminds us that he hears from God and so therefore his is doing X,Y, &Z. Ya’ll were intentional to wake up early before school and sit with us to read the Bible and then teach us about what we were reading. You disciplined & trained us and taught us the importance of why you did what you did so that learned to love when God disciplines and trains us. You always trusted and made sure to point out His provision for our family.  And Ya’ll did it in such a way that trusting God to provide for our needs is like second nature.  We just KNOW He will. You taught us an unshakable faith that no matter what, GOD IS.  Because of that I have been able to walk through one of my darkest nights.  You are real, no matter what, if it’s just us or if people are in our home. You are you in your relationship, your attitudes, your parenting…… That family is very important.  The way you treat each member with respect, even when we don’t deserve it. What are some Practical steps and recommendations of what worked and what did not. Cramming it down their throats never works. Praying for their hearts and laying them before the Father always does!!!  I cannot stress enough how vital it is to tell them your God stories!   If you had to pare down your “Family Rules” down to 1-2 rules you want to instill in your children- what would they be? What activities or ways do you teach/model this to your children? God and HIs Word decide all things for our family’s daily lives God expects our best, whatever that looks like. We constantly refer to those 2 things with every decision, every friendship, every job offer, every invitation, and it doesn’t matter is we are at work, school or play…..God expects our best! Does this mean we are perfect?  Absolutely NOT!!!  But this is one of the stones laid in our family foundation, and when we do mess up, We repent, dust off our knees and keep running toward the goal!!!! What does/did a “bad day” or crazy moment with your kid (s) look like? What are some ways you to bounce back from tough moments, or aggravating days? Usually a bad day when they were young would be either because I was struggling with something and my attitudes just trickled down to them, or they were trying my patience, which resulted in a lack of my training them when they were younger.  Now, as they grew and began to develop friendships and hormones, this was a totally different ball game!  My bad days were usually me being sad because they were walking and growing through a hard time in school with friends or with a family member (which very well could be either their father or myself).  I have always carried their grief within myself and have laid them out before the Lord.  Nothing in us is good, so we must totally rely on Him to handle these relationships.  We must also remember that what things seem to menial or meaningless to us as adults, may very well be mountains to their little eyes and hearts.   How do/did you build relationships with your children at different stages? I’ll tell you what really helped us, was reading Gary Chapman’s book on the Five love Languages.  This was very eye opening for both Michael and me and helped us to focus on the different needs of each of our children.  On the other hand, we have always had what we called “family time” and that could be sitting and reading a story, watching a movie, playing a game inside, playing a game outside, visiting grandparents with purpose, or just listening to each one tell us about their day.  But I think that knowing each of their strengths and giving to each one as you see they need it, really helps to keep balance in the home as far as your relationship with them.   Now that they are older, it may be just to drop over for a cup of coffee, or invite them over for a cup!  Or it could be a thoughtful text, a word of encouragement, sitting and watching a christmas movie in the middle of July, keeping the grandkids, an unexpected hug (if you know me you know that the last love language on my list is touch, and I think it is at 0).  I’m not saying that we are perfect at any of this, we are walking through this journey we call life learning just like every other human on this earth! And a sure journey it has been!!!!   What is something you specifically pray for your children/ grandchildren? What do you love most about being Mom? I specifically pray that our children and grandchildren would fear the Lord and depart from evil.  That they would run fast and furious after the Lord!!   What I love most about being a mom is the fact that Michael Lewis is their Father, and we get to share and do life together with our crazy family!!! What is One thing you do exceptionally well as a mother? And yes- Everyone has Something! I think mine would be that I am constantly aware of the emotional and mental state of our children, which helps my husband, because I help to keep him aware of it.  That way we are all on the same page, most of the time! What are you learning in this season of life? Just that:  That life is full of seasons, and seasons change, and so must I!  If we don’t change with the seasons, we will most likely not be liked by our very own! I want to be the one to embrace the changes that come my way, live life to the fullest, and love our children through their ups and downs!  Cause we all know that life is full of them!!!  Thank the Lord He is our steady constant!!   What do you love most about this season of life? I love seeing our children and spread their wings to do the things the Lord puts before them!!  Whether that is raising children, going to a foreign land to minister, studying in Bible college, enrolling in Seminary, serving at their home church, starting a new church, finishing High School……….wherever each one finds themselves, watching them run hard after Christ fills me to no end!  

Sunday Confession 13 with Hayley Gaston. Topics discussed: Why working at Anthroplogie would be a dreamy… Cosmetics tips and cheap hacks for dry skin and when the Lux brands are not in the Budget. You hate when your date ___________ Think Dirty App. (about all the toxic cleaning products in our homes) Music we listened in High school The Bachelor, The Bachelorette Franchise, and Who we already Love on Big Brother Christmas Abbott – Cross Fit – Her diet book.  Martha Kennedy and why you should be her friend! Unpopular opinions and our Awesome Guilty Pleasures. The Popcast with Knox and Jamie Shoe Dog The Five Second Rule  Hayley Gaston is a Rockstar!   Me Swooning at the Perkins Row Anthropologie: At my favorite store0 trying to decide to buy a dress…. Thoughts?? Sending this picture out for feedback- I am not a “dress person” but am trying to get out of the fashion rut! thoughts?? I can go broke at this place! The Podcast Project Playlist.

Life is a Process- We don’t always know where we are going and how it will turn out. This is an Episode all about the Creative Process, Why Community is Important and Answering Listeners Questions with Hayley Gaston. Here is the Transcript of this week’s episode: The Podcast Project Playlist: (Enjoy!) This is a playlist of music used in the The Mommy Project Series Season 2. I chose songs which either represented the content, the person or special request from the guest. This was so much fun to create- and very eclectic in taste/genre.   Episode: 47… Hayley will act as host and ask the questions:   Why did you start the podcast? A few reasons: for a few years i had felt almost jealous of my husband’s creative work. I would see others start a blog, or work on a new project or create something… and I felt envious. Why can’t I do that? And was not really even sure why i felt jealousy. The Jealousy nagged at me until I started seriously thinking about writing and podcasting.  2. I have always LOVED stories – in any shape and form but my favorite is in audio format. I love listening to people’s stories. And when I became hooked on podcast- that love grew. 3. I had some serious bouts of post partum and would have anxiety over something tragic happening to me and thinking my kids would never know who I was… and I thought the podcast would be a way of recording time. People have pictures, my husband has video, I have podcasts as a way of recording. When I said one day in spring 2016 to my husband that I wished I could do a podcast- he said “why don’t you?” and so I did. Lastly- I wanted friends, i had just been too lonely for female friendship for too long. We are all so busy, we forget to be intentional about friendship, and this is how the desire to have people over manifested- through the guise of a podcast… (preference the name change)  So, I realize you are rebranding to The Mommy Project or themommypro… which we will get to that later, but tell me -Why the name The Podcast Project? I wanted the podcast to be seen as a project- Projects start with an idea, but its usually hazy, or we want to replicate someone’s, we know what we want, we just don’t know how to get there. And so we begin… I love my Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon’s book- where he talks about the Life of a project: we begin thinking it is THE BEST IDEA EVER, then THIS IS HARDER THAN I THOUGHT, THERE IS SO MUCH WORK!, THIS SUCKS, ITS BORING I HATE THIS!, DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL, IT WILL BE GOOD TO FINSIH, FINALLY– ITS DONE, IT SUCKS, BUT NOT AS BAD I THOUGHT!  And that is exactly what is represented in the 1st season of The Podcast Project. My dark night of the Soul was so bad- we had to take a holiday break. I wanted to quit Every Day. I was weighed down the content that had been discussed in the “Woman Project Series,” there was some recorded episodes that malfunctioned and therefore lost, and I felt I still had not found the “thing” I was wanting to say, or discuss. But the Beautiful thing about a Project- is it is ever changing, if you keep going- keep showing up- eventually the Project will evolve into something new, something you love, and so ultimately the first year of The Podcast Project is a Project showing – fining my voice, finding my people, and in order for me to do that- I had to try on different topics, until I found the right fit! I did eventually with Season 2. What are the top 5 things you have learned this year doing the podcast? This is in no particular order: 1. Just start something- No clue who my audience was, i thought I wanted to discuss pop culture, or women’s issues, do reviews, and even a tiny dab of political… and it was not a great fit. But I kept at it, and listened!  2. Who I ask is important! And why I am asking the “ordinary woman,” the mom or the woman who feels like she does not have a voice or a large platform, the isolated mom, the working mom, the stay at home mom, the wise and the novice, I want this to be a place of encouragement, we are not comparing here, we are not judging here- we are in the business of encouraging moms, to be a safe place.. That’s a breath of fresh air. . 3. How to Avoid the Rabbit Trail. 4. Be able to Role with it. Equipment malfunctions, episodes are corrupted, website goes down, guest cancel… just have to role with it. 5. Be Brave. And Use integrity when editing. I am sure I will learn more this next coming year…   What are some of your favorite episodes? I love the Mommy Project Series Starting in Ep. 30- to present. And Some of my favorites are Ep. 30, I love the passing the faith series which is Ep. 42, 43, 44 and a soon to come ep., I love love love the Sunday Confession Series, and not to toot my horn but I have a Special Place in my heart for Ep. 23 which is my story/ testimony. But there was a Freedom in that episode that is only God! I also Love SC Ep. 09 The Marital Confession- which was actually a do-over.. Because the first recording was a little too controversial. But this is Marriage Confession that was one of my requests for our 7th year of marriage. It is hard to pick a favorite- because some episodes were on hard subjects like: miscarriage or sex trafficking.. Both are awesome! I love the Book Episode with Lyndsey Sikes and How Emily Raney and I gushed over our love of the Podcast Read Aloud Revival. There are so many good ones I can gush over! And there are some that have not been released yet that are Awesome!! Such a Hard Question. What do I love most about the podcast? I love that it is oral history- that years from now a mom who has guested on the podcast or a woman who has been a guest can play her episode for her children or someone she cares for and they can hear her and how she felt, what she thought, the triumphs and the conflicts at that particular moment. Whether it is a Sunday Confession and they are telling a funny story about their latest disaster and how they love to watch reruns on the Real Housewives while eating cookie dough- or they are sharing their heart on the Mommy Project – The Oral History of our lives is so cool!  And I love that through this I have talked and seek out community in a way that as a recovering hermit I never ever would have! It has made my life so rich! What does your workflow look like?…What does your editing process look like? This is a hard one: I listen and ask questions of what women are worried about or interested in learning how to do.. Etc. I try to figure out who would be good to talk about xyz… I ask them via email, text, instagram.. Facebook stalking… whatever. I pray A Lot! I write questions out- send the questions – and then the recording. I record 2 ways: if she lives in town- she comes over, sits in my makeshift dining room-made into a recording studio- and we chat.. Or if she lives out of state or driving distance- I call her.. And all they have to do is pick up the phone. Then I hit Save!  Post recording, is the editing.. Which involves listening to the recording, taking notes, figuring out what needs to stay/go.. We try to keep the edit to just dead space or rabbit trails.. Because I want the episode to sound as natural and organic as possible… Like if you were sitting at a coffee shop and having a conversation with a girlfriend.. How would that sound.. And that is the tone I am after. Then- when it comes to the actually chopping and dicing.. I pretend I am super tired and can’t possible learn how to use our editing program.. And then my husband works his magic! While he congratulates himself on how much of a magician he is.. And I applaud. I am sorta not kidding.  Then there is the show notes, the social media, all the website, the uploading.. All that is me. You are at year with The Podcast Project, why are you rebranding to The Mommy Project? I am rebranding- because I finally found my “niche” or the space I want to “set up camp.” The Mommy Project is more specific- I wanted to keep the word Project- because often times that is what being a mom feels like- a grab bag of tricks, some work/ most don’t, lots of feelings, and a work in progress. And the word Mommy- is the large umbrella where everything ties back to the role of moms in this world. The word mom is not exclusive either– that mother figure is present in our lives whether we are moms to our own children, step mothers, Adoptive mom, the motherless child/ adult, single, married no kids, aunts, sisters, god mom… the list goes on.. And I want all women to feel welcome and encouraged.   Are you a Mommypro? Absolutly NOT! It is just short for The Mommy Project. Our website will be www.themommypro.com   I am not a mommy, I am not married, so how can The Mommy Project benefit me?  This podcast is for all women of any age and season. It is for the soon to be mom, the I am a caregiver of children mom, I work with teenagers- mom, The Single mom with grown kids, the Heart Mom who is struggling with infertility, the I am 20 something and have no desire to be a mom – I hope to broaden the perspective of the role of motherhood in our culture and in our lives. We have such polarizing ideas of what it is like to stay at home with 3 kids, or have a career, what marriage looks like or being divorced feels like. We compare ourselves and struggle to not judge the woman standing ahead of us in the grocery store. I want the podcast to be a place where women can go to find their people, to know how to comfort a woman who just experienced a tragedy, and to celebrate the wins of life with each other. Also- Sunday Confessions are for anyone- woman, child, man, teenager, college kid … it is a fun series! What is the Sunday Confession Series? The Sunday Confession Series is so much fun!! It is where one guest comes over or calls in and shares what they are really excited about, their unpopular opinions on any topic, perhaps a funny anecdote and their guilty pleasure. And we have had a variety of guilty pleasures shared confessions revealed. I do have a format I give them more as a brainstorming aid… but usually once people get started they can think of a lot of confessions. And Confessions can be anything from pop culture, sports, parenting, church, fashion trends, to diet or marital confessions..  Not much is off limits in this episode. What is next for The Mommy Project? Well- I have some personal goals.. like learn how to do ALL the editing, and not be afraid to mess up. But als0- With the new branding and new direction- I am posting a Podcast Project playlist from Spotify of all the music played in past episodes. So if you are interested- go check that out in the show notes… I want to revamp the website to make it easier to navigate. I plan on placing this podcast on Stitcher and Google Play Music- I am hoping to take on more sensitive topics regarding MOMLIFE, and have some regular collaborations with some moms who have come on the show, as well as try to get some “big namers” on the show…  and As always showing the realness of motherhood, in a world that likes to make everything glossy or hopeless. Which neither picture is real. Because Of Christ- we have Hope, and what we see on Instagram, on Sunday Morning, at the PTA meeting or the Birthday party.. Is not real- it is the churched up, glossed over version. And The Mommy Project is about encouraging women in the realness of their lives.   Last thing– I am going to place this list of questions on our website- so anything said today can be found there- as well as  HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST. I will also work on placing instructions on how to leave a comment on our website, and a review on iTunes. The Easiest way to listen to our podcast is by downloading the podcast app on your phone. We are on iTunes. And in the search button Type in The Mommy Project and click- There you will find our episodes – the weekly and the bonus Sunday Confession- it is all free. Hit the Subscribe button– and you will never miss an episode. It will download into your feed automatically once we upload it. We try super hard to get it up on Fridays and Sundays.

  Lots of History here on this Sunday Confession.   Sunday Confession #12 is all about unpopular opinions, why Father’s Day Gift shopping is the Worst! Plus, more. Turn – Netflix series Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.  The Hamilton Soundtrack All the Holidays… Ugh! Advice to Moms: Don’t Compare your self to others- you are doing awesome. Comparison never wins. The Presidential Podcast Side Note: I love Sophia Loren’s facial expression she is giving Blonde Actress Jayne Mansfield.  This is a fun article to read.  Vanity Fair Happy Sunday!

Adoption Rocks!! The Raney Boys! “I homeschool, not because I’m trying to “imagine shadows away,” but in order to give them “sharp eyes and bellies full of laughter.” Emily Raney Growing up in the 80s and 90s Chubby Bunny… marshmallows.. Ugh! Read Aloud Revival  Sarah Mackenzie Adoption – G.K. Chesterton – “Kids Know Dragons Exist, They just need to know they can be defeated. Books discussed: Sticks Across the Chimney. by Nora Burglon Little Riders Margaretha Shemin Percy Jackson Peter the Great. Greek and Roman Mythology Teaching from Rest– by Sarah Mackenzie (a short read, but excellent- you can apply this book to other areas of life- not just homeschooling).  Music: Firelight (Unbreakable) – For Those who Wait I thought this choice of music was appropriate for a mom who has boys. Emily mentioned her boys love hardcore Christian Rock like Red and Rapture Rukus. I want to dream againTake me where I’ve never beenI want to go thereThis time I’m not scaredNow I am unbreakable, it’s unmistakableNo one can touch meNothing can stop me

Sunday Confession 11- we confession our Unpopular opinions on fashion trends, celebrity hangups and our favorite item in our make up bag. Summer is here and the confessions are Hot! For More of Emily’s take on all things Fun- check our her blog Louisianabrideblog.com and on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter at  Labride.