Ep. 24 Asking hard questions and answering your calling with guest co-host Dr. Cara Pence

Dr. Cara Pence is a wife, mom, and active member of her church and community, and she is also a practicing general surgeon. This week, she joins us on Sorta Awesome to speak about the way her choices in life have defied the expected gender roles in both her faith community and the medical field. She shares the experience that almost made her quit medical school, how she battles mom guilt, and why having a husband who is a stay at home parent makes the most sense for their family right now. All of that (and more!) plus awesome of the week on Episode 24 of Sorta Awesome!

SHOW NOTES

1) Geocaching.com

2) The Good Wife on IMDB

3) Wiki on escape rooms

Find Cara on Twitter - @surgeonsongs  

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook or on Instagram! You can find Megan on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 23 Ten awesome tricks and helpful tips

Megan and Kelly are all about letting you in on some helpful tips and tricks that are sure to bring some sparkly awesome to your life. This week, we share ten little life hacks on topics ranging from laundry stains (we know! but really!) to pie crusts to essential oils. Also, Megan shares her number one most important YouTube trick that she forgot to tell you in episode 21! All of that plus Awesome of the Week in Episode 23 of Sorta Awesome.

SHOW NOTES

1) Love Well Blog: Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

2) Two Bossy Dames: newsletter sign-up, Twitter, Dame Margaret, Dame Sophie

3) Ninja on Amazon

4) Carbona stain removers - entire set on Amazon

5) school supplies on Amazon

6) Palazzo pants on Amazon

7) Thred Up (Kelly’s referral link; use it to get $20 off your first order!)

8) Plant Therapy: KidSafe blends

9) Pie Crust tip

10) Tart Cherry Juice on Amazon, Mama Natural video

11) Time: Watch All the TV You Want Without Paying a Cable Bill

12) YouTube playlists

Find Kelly on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook or on Instagram! You can find Megan on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 22 Break-ups, Favorites, and Other Confessions

This week, Laura joins Megan on the show, and they take some follow-up questions from listeners. What do you do when a friendship comes to an end? How can you work on a friendship the same way you would work on a marriage? Then the topic turns to books and they compare notes on all-time favorite authors and books. Finally, both of them reveal their lists of pop culture guilty pleasures.

SHOW NOTES

sortaawesomeshow on Instagram!

1) Hollywood Housewife: birkenstocks are (back) in style

Women’s birks on Amazon (affiliate link)

2) Facebook Groups app

3) The Mid: The Meta Friend

4) Hollywood Housewife: favorite books of all time

5) SortaCrunchy: Gatsby in the springtime

Find Laura on her blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! 

 

Ep. 21 Uncovering the awesome of YouTube

In Episode 21, a listener question about kids and YouTube safety inspired Megan and Rebekah to leave no stone unturned in exploring just what it is that makes YouTube so awesome. The history of YouTube, why millions of people are subscribing to channels, how much money professional YouTube personalities make, and what parents need to know to keep their kids safe - all of that and a whole bunch more gets covered today!

The audio in this episode is at times very UN-awesome. Thank you for bearing with us! And if you have just a few minutes, please head to http://sortaawesomemegan.tumblr.com/survey to tell us just a bit about yourself. It will be so helpful as we plan the future of this show!

SHOW NOTES

1) The Art of Simple : Date nights/Tate nights

2) The Skimm

3) Business Insider : History of YouTube

4) Channels mentioned on the show:

Evolution of Dance
Chocolate Rain
My Drunk Kitchen
Tyler Oakley
Grace Helbig
Shaytards
Bethany Mota

5) Rebekah’s pop bottle sprinkler video

6) PewDiePie discusses how much money he makes

7) Common Sense Media: A Parent’s Ultimate Guide to YouTube

Find Rebekah on her blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! 

 

Ep. 20 How to fit the fun into busy lives with Jessica Turner

Jessica Turner is the blogger behind TheMomCreative.com and is the author of The Fringe Hours. Today, she joins the show as guest co-host! As a working mom of three children, she knows the importance of creating efficient systems so you can free up time to have fun and pursue your passions. In this episode, she takes listener questions and shares her tips and examples of what this looks like in her life. 

SHOW NOTES

1) Honest Company

ePantry (new customers get a $10 credit using that link!)

Amazon

(Jessica’s affiliate links!)

2) AMC’s Turn

3) BONUS! The Fall; Bletchley Circle

4) Jessica’s husband, Matthew Paul Turner

World Vision

5) Fringe Hours website, Fringe Hours on Amazon

Find Jessica on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 19 Asked & Answered: Megan in the hot seat!

Our incredibly awesome listeners have submitted some questions just for Megan, so Kelly returns to her journalist roots to pin her down for some answers. Topics include God and Myers Briggs, approaches to family planning, public school parenting joys and struggles, and the one item on her bucket list that might surprise friends and family.

SHOW NOTES

1) STORM app

2) Bialetti Moka Express 6 Cup Espresso Maker

From YouTube: Moka Express Review and Demonstration

3) Gary Thomas, Sacred Pathways

4) Toni Weschler, Taking Charge of Your Fertility

5) From SortaCrunchy: On feeling called to public schools, on (still) feeling called to public schools, the truth about urban schools

6) The Art of Simple: Create a family purpose statement

Find Kelly on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 18 Host an awesome party - Hollywood Housewife tells you how!

Laura brings her A-game this week to answer a listener question on how to actually enjoy hostessing without running around crazy in the kitchen. She’s been practicing the art of hospitality since long before she became the Hollywood Housewife, and her Top Five Tips for hosting parties are inspiring for beginner hostesses as well as those who are no stranger to hosting others.

Find Laura on her blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 17 How to build a love-filled home

This week, Megan and Rebekah talk about building a loving home. Whether you are single or married, a parent or not, tune and hear us discuss how to learn to speak a new love language, what to do when you are NOT feeling the love for those around you, and how to foster love (and like!) between siblings. 

SHOW NOTES

1) Mystery Show from Gimlet Media. Starlee Kine on Twitter

2) Acoustic Covers playlist on Spotify

Imagine Dragons cover Blank Space (YouTube)

3) 5lovelanguages.com  
The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts, Gary Chapman

Five love languages: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Physical Touch

4) Simply Rebekah: Six Simple Sanity Savers for When I Feel Like I’m Going to Lose My Mind

5) Dr. Laura Markham ahaparenting.com

How to stop siblings fighting

Siblings Without Rivalry, Adele Faber

Find Rebekah on her blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 16 Wisdom, grace, and a donkey with author Rachel Anne Ridge

What a delight to welcome my long-time blogging friend and acclaimed author Rachel Anne Ridge to Sorta Awesome! Publisher’s Weekly listed her book Flash: The Homeless Donkey Who Taught Me about Life, Faith, and Second Chances one of their Best Summer Books 2015. Today, she joins us to talk about coffee, parenting (especially parenting teens! eek!), and a donkey named Flash who changed everything for their family.

SHOW NOTES

1) Joy Williams on VENUS song by song at Medium.com

2) Heather King :: The Extraordinary Ordinary, Your Hard is Hard

3) Book Trailer for Flash 

4) FlashTheDonkey.com and Flash on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Find Rachel Anne at her blog HomeSanctuary.com and on Twitter

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 15 Sixteen shades of awesome: all about Myers Briggs

This week, Kelly is my co-host and we are giddily geeking out about all things Myers Briggs. After we share our Awesomes of the Week (red lipstick! great movies!), we dig into some fantastic listener questions about the Myers Briggs personality typing system. Which type is the most introverted of the extroverts? And can a cabin in the woods help you discover which type you are? Take a listen and find out! We would love to hear your type, too! Find us on Twitter @SortaAwesomeMeg or in the Facebook Group: Sorta Awesome Hangout

SHOW NOTES

1) Sephora’s The Red

2) Creativity, Inc. 

3) Pop Culture Happy Hour episode on Inside Out

4) Monkey See blog: Why the Key Character in Inside Out is the One Who Isn’t There

5) 16personalities.com

6) Davesuperpowers on Youtube

Find Kelly on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! 

 

Ep. 14 All about friendship

Episode 14 brings our Hollywood Housewife Laura back to the show and we have a deluxe edition of Sorta Awesome for you this week! We are talking all about friendship: the good, the bad, and the Facebook. Laura shares the two ways she was able to overcome loneliness as a newcomer to LA, and we talk about the key ingredient to building strong friendships as grown-ups. We would love to hear your advice on the topic of friendships! Find us on Twitter @SortaAwesomeMeg or in the Facebook Group: Sorta Awesome Hangout

SHOW NOTES

1) Hollywood Housewife : Creating community after the lonely years

2) Hollywood Housewife: How to start a book club 

3) Tiny Prints & example of Mommy Card at Tiny Prints

Find Laura on her blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 13 Just a few helpful how-tos

Rebekah is here for Episode Lucky Number 13! 

Today, we are all about telling you HOW-TO on a fantastic array of topics. Listen in to hear us tell:

1) How-to get your summer sizzling with a beloved series premiere 

2) How-to make a super frugal backyard kid-pleaser

3) How-to navigate a seat-squirming awkward dinner with friends

4) How-to potty train a toddler boy (I used a lifeline and called a friend on this one!)

5) How-to start a blog!

SHOW NOTES:

 

1) Rebekah’s viral video (and the post from Simply Rebekah)

2) Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, Piper Herman

3) Meet my friend Lora Lynn of Vitafamilae.com

 Vitafamiliae: Potty Train like a Pro

4) Amy Lynn Andrews, How to Start a Blog

Mad Mimi

MailChimp

Typepad.com

Squarespace.com

Kat Lee’s How They Blog

Find Rebekah on her blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 12 Oh, the Enneagram? It’s Awesome!

My friend and Enneagram coach Leigh Kramer visits Sorta Awesome today as guest co-host. Most of you know me as a big Myers-Briggs geek, but what you may not know is that I TOTALLY dig the Enneagram system, too! Before we get into personalty types, we share our Awesome of the Week (Leigh’s revolves around a secret haunt in Nashville known for celebrity and ghostly appearances, and I share what recent event made my whole body completely flush). Then Leigh explains the Enneagram system for us which leads us to talk about why people resist discovering their type. What does this look like in relationship? In friendship? In major life events? Tune in to find out!

SHOW NOTES:

1) From Leigh’s blog at http://www.leighkramer.com/
Let’s Enneagram it Up!
Beyond the Road Less Traveled By

2) Enneagram Institute (Leigh is a 4, I am a 9)
Richard Rohr’s The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective
The Wisdom of the Enneagram, Riso & Hudson

3) Leigh Kramer, yourenneagramcoach.com
FAQ page with more resources

Find Leigh on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 11 Ready, Set, Summer!

Kelly is here for Episode 11, and we are talking all about summer! In this episode, we start as always with Awesome of the Week. Then, we each share our top summer finds - recipes, activities, treats, and more! Later in the show, I beg advice from her on how she handles screen time and scheduling in the summer. We would love to hear about your top summer finds, too! Find us on Twitter @SortaAwesomeMeg or in the Facebook Group: Sorta Awesome Hangout

SHOW NOTES:

1) Dude Perfect 

2) Mastrad Ice Pop Molds

3) Cajun Turkey Burgers

4) Talenti Gelato

5) Kelly’s favorite summer skirts at Athleta

6) Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street

7) The Style Scout: The Only Five Steamy, Dreamy Beauty Looks You Need for Summer; the Style Scouting Podcast

8) Buzz Feed: 29 Dollar Store Finds

9) Megan’s favorite Peppermint essential oil

10) L-Theanine

11) Moment, Qustodio, Curbi

12) unlimited screen time at Narrowback Slacker

Find Kelly on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 10 Being An Adult in LA: film school, self-care, and fans who want to be friends

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Episode 10 is all about our Hollywood Housewife, Laura. After we share our Awesome of the Week, we dig into some listener questions that are just for her. She gives us the scoop on getting started in the film industry, shares her thoughts on the line between her readers and her friends, and describes the once-a-year ritual that strengthens her as a person.

SHOW NOTES:

1) Crime Writers On …    

Vincent Bugliosi on Amazon

2) The Bullet Journal System

Examples of Bullet Journal on Pinterest

Bullet Journal Junkies Facebook group

the journal I found on Amazon

(Pics of my own coming ASAP!)

3) hollywood housewife: how to listen to podcasts 101

4) Jeff Tremaine on IMDB

Find Laura on her blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.com

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 09 Voxer & Viral Videos & Oh So Much More

Rebekah from SimplyRebekah.com - our pop culture guru - joins us today as co-host. We cover so much ground in this episode! Everything from pregnancy announcements (the lame to the extraordinary) to the app that changed everything for how we keep up with friends. Also up for discussion? Oil pulling and No Poo also get some air time along with our thoughts on navigating boundaries in the entertainment we consume. SO MANY THOUGHTS. Better go ahead and hit play, right?

SHOW NOTES:

1) We Can’t Stop … Having Babies

Megan’s twins pregnancy announcement

2) Voxer

3) Oil Pulling :: How to Use Oil Pulling for Oral Health (Wellness Mama)

4) No Poo posts at Red & Honey and One Year After Quitting Shampoo: A No-Poo’ing Update 

Find Rebekah on her blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more about Progger on their website and at BandCamp. 

Feedback on today’s show? Leave a comment below (click the date link) or find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook!

 

Ep. 08 A Mantra for Moms

Episode 08 is different! And I feel nervous!

This episode is me flying solo. I had something on my heart that I wanted to share with you, and Mother’s Day weekend seemed like the perfect time to offer this little gift to you. And since I know many people will have lots of plans in the next few days, I made this one nice and short for you.

One announcement of note - we now have our own space to hangout on Facebook! Join us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout group on Facebook to have the chance to share your own Awesome of the Week and tell everyone how you would have answered the listener questions from each episode. I hope you’ll join us there!

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more about Progger on their website and at BandCamp. 

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 07 Baby-Making & Art-Promoting

Episode 7 is a Kelly show!

Yes, my lovely friend Kelly Gordon of LoveWellBlog.com is back in the co-host seat. In non-recorded-non-podcast conversations with Kelly, we spend a lot of time giggling and a not small amount of time being serious. That’s the way today’s show is - plenty to laugh about before we answer some somewhat tough listener questions. 

SHOW NOTES (available at SortaAwesomeMegan.tumblr.com):

1) Periscope and some of Megan’s favorites on there:

Jon Acuff

Amanda Muse

thatblondegirlmandie

Mashable

World Vision USA

2) Kelly’s flowers!

3) All about the ENTP

4) Spirit-Led Parenting: From Fear to Freedom in Baby’s First Year

5) Robin Plemmons

6) Madeline L’Engle’s Walking on Water

Find Kelly on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 06 TriBeCa & OKC & Hollywood Kids

Episode 6 is a Laura show!

Our Hollywood Housewife is in New York City this week, so while she’s there, we talk about the TriBeCa film festival, the Oklahoma City bombing and memorial, and what it’s like to choose a school in Los Angeles. Plus, a few ideas on what to do with all those Instagram pics!

SHOW NOTES:

1) Oklahoma City Bombing

2) Former President Clinton’s visit to OKC

3) OKC Memorial Marathon & The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum

4) TriBeCa film festival

5) Angry Sky, The Birth of Big Air, Being Evel

6) Laura’s IG stream
Hollywood Housewife posts on chatbooks & artifact uprising
minted
postagram

7) Hollywood Housewife: how to listen to podcasts 101

8) Hollywood Housewife: finding a preschool in los angeles

Find Laura on her blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Ep. 05 Erin Odom & Secrets to Sanity at Home

Many of you may know that the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle sale launches today. Erin Odom (of thehumbledhomemaker.com) is one of the co-founders of Ultimate Bundles, and I wanted to invite her on the show to talk shop … er … to talk home, I suppose.

Shortly after my twins turned a year old, Erin shared an incredibly simple piece of advice for managing the home with little ones underfoot, but that simple secret absolutely saved my sanity for many months to come. Erin and I talk about that advice she gave me, and then we talk about how the bundle business grew into what it has become today. Finally, she explains what all you can expect to find in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle 2015. 

Click this link to listen to Episode 5 of Sorta Awesome featuring Erin Odom!

SHOW NOTES:

1. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, Marie Kondo

2. Dear Mom Who Can’t Afford Organic Food

3. Just click on that pretty pic and it will take you straight to the UHB site where you’ll find EVERYTHING you need to know to purchase a bundle for yourself!

(That link is my affiliate link. That means if you purchase a bundle after clicking on my link, I’ll get a few bucks for the sale. It costs you absolutely nothing extra to buy the bundle through my link and it’s a super simple way to support the podcast! Click here for all the fine print and click here to read the FAQs of this sale.)

4. Controlling the Spin Within

Find Erin on her blog, Facebook, and Instagram!

As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more about Progger on their website and at BandCamp. 

Feedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!