Our origin story, marriage advice, & 2026 resolutions

Summary

Always Here – Episode 1: Our Origin Story, Marriage Advice, & 2026 Resolutions

Podcast: Always Here
Hosts: Abby Howard (married to Matt) & Abigail Howard (married to Caleb)
Date: January 2, 2026
Producer Contribution: Addie
(Skip: ads, intro, outro)

---

Episode Overview

In this premiere episode, sister-in-laws Abby and Abigail Howard (yes, both are Abby!) introduce themselves, share the real story of how they became family, and reflect on their evolving relationship. The conversation is filled with warmth, humor, and vulnerability, from navigating “same name” confusion to sharing candid marriage advice and their personal and family resolutions for 2026. The show features the recurring segment “Wow, That’s Crazy,” pop culture chatter, and the launch of “Ask Abby”—their interactive listener Q&A. The Abigails aim to provide a hopeful, heart-forward, and genuinely funny take on love, motherhood, and womanhood.

---

Key Discussions & Highlights

1. The Abby & Abby Origin Story

How they met, initial impressions, becoming true sisters

• Name Confusion:
  • “We should probably first address for those that don't know why we have the exact same name.” – Abby (married to Matt) [02:07]
  • Joked their family could “only afford one name,” a reference to Zack and Cody [02:20].
• Clarifying Identities:
  • Abigail’s full name is Abigail, while Abby is just Abby. Both married brothers: Caleb and Matt, who are 18 months apart. [02:25–03:01]
• First Impressions & Early Years:
  • Neither remembers their first meeting precisely, as they dated the Howard brothers in high school and would cross paths at holidays [03:27].
  • Abby (to Abigail): “I have distinct memories of you from the beginning. I was really scared of you…You always felt edgy to me.” [04:02]
  • Abigail: “I think that's so crazy…I've never been cool.” [04:06]
  • Abby: “I was so nervous around their family for so long…you were so comfortable.” [04:32]
  • Abigail: “He [Josh, younger brother] kind of was. He is my little brother.” [05:37]
  • Abby was intimidated by Abigail’s confidence at family gatherings.
• Growing Closer:
  • Shared awkwardness of “dual bridal showers” and being labeled “child brides” at ages 20 and 23 [06:49].
  • Turning point: Abigail visiting Abby and Matt in Springfield and sharing a small apartment, realizing “Wow, they're so fun.” [07:34–08:19]
  • Now, all live in Arizona and are “all sisters”—Addie (married to Abby’s brother) calls herself a “bonus sister-in-law.” [08:55–09:03]
• A Note on Sisterhood:
  • Addie expresses insecurity over calling them “sisters,” but the consensus is: “Now we can just say sisters. And we all know.” [09:34]

---

2. Segment: “Wow, That’s Crazy”

Lighthearted pop culture chit-chat and surprising news

Youngest Female Self-Made Billionaire [11:04–14:15]

• Abigail highlights Luanna Lopes Lara, 29, co-founder of Kalshi—a regulated exchange for event-based trading: “Think about gambling on elections, weather, sports…” [12:16]
• Only 430 out of 3,000 global billionaires are female; just 124 of those are self-made [11:48].
• Discussion on gambling vs. sports betting, cultural perspectives:
  • “I feel like my dad used to drive over state lines to Illinois to gamble.” – Abigail [13:27]
  • “I've always…heard: don't ever get started on that, you'll squander all your savings.” – Abby [13:38]
• “Love that for women. Go, girls.” – Abby [14:14]

Hair by Chrissy Drama [14:15–20:08]

• Viral TikTok: Someone charged $4,000 for “Chrissy service” at a high-end salon but Chrissy herself “only touched her hair for 60 seconds.” [14:27]
• Chrissy’s mockery responses online fueled backlash; both sides recap: paying for a name vs. fair, transparent service. [15:41–17:56]
• “If you're paying thousands for the Chrissy experience, I…see where she feels misled.” – Abby [17:53]
• “I see both sides.” – Both agree [17:56]
• Drama escalated with merch, influencer reposts, confusion about who supported whom [19:00].
• “This is just…a circus…” – Abby [19:00]
• Concludes: “Wow, that's crazy that that became a big deal and merch was sold about it.” [19:46]

---

3. 2026 Goals & Resolutions [20:33–53:04]

Mix of personal, relational, and family intentions for the year

Podcast Mission

• “Always here to share the hope and the hard with heart and humor.” – The Abigails, mission statement [25:10]
• “We can fill that gap of being a podcast where it feels like friendly, casual, sweet…but also, we're gonna talk about real things in our life.” – Abigail [22:26]

Personal & Marriage Goals

(Select highlights and memorable quotes; full lists in episode)

• Abigail (married to Caleb):

  • One planned date night per month: “...At least we can have a babysitter come once a month and go out to dinner.” [26:19]
  • Take a trip, just as a couple—"We haven't done that in a long time" [28:05]
  • Run a half marathon postpartum: “I did that with CJ…gonna try to make that a goal with every baby to try to do a half marathon.” [29:43]
  • Get a pull up again: “I always missed out on the blue ribbon because I couldn’t do a pull up.” [32:27]
  • Schedule a dentist appointment after years of not going; barrier was post-insurance $$ [34:30]
  • 10 minutes of uninterrupted play with kids daily (inspired by Dr. Amen's advice) [38:25]
  • Get back to regular Bible study routine, at least 4x/week: “It's just good for me to start the day like that.” [45:01]
  • Monthly one-on-one “date” with her kids as the family grows [51:30]

• Abby (married to Matt):

  • Kiss more and write more love notes: “I put Kiss More and write more love notes… Matt is a words of affirmation man and he saves all of our notes.” [26:21]
  • Travel with friends, especially with families/kids: “Get a big house, everyone comes…have game nights, food together…” [28:26]
  • More nature walks—alone, as self-care: “I started that after the loss…this feels like self care, really good.” [31:21]
  • Take more pictures, including with friends, “It’ll be awkward but I’m shameless” [33:15]
  • Check out more library books, to foster reading and traditions [35:58]
  • Work on letters/numbers with kids (home education) [37:39]
  • Organize “pain points” at home, start with mudroom: “Every time I walk through that space, I'm just not happy…create a system so it doesn't happen again.” [40:21]
  • Volunteer more in the local community [52:03]
  • Learn to cook a great steak: “I really, really love steak…but I have no business cooking that. Like, I need to only go out to eat that.” [46:37]

Other Notable Themes

• Motherhood Realities: Both express keeping “systems” simple, being okay with mess, rejecting unrealistic toy rotation, and supporting each other as working, stay-at-home, or on-the-go moms. [42:14]
• Honesty about Shortcomings: “Volunteer more…I've made every excuse in the book…if I don't continue this now, I'll never continue it.” – Abby [52:03]

---

4. Ask Abby: Listener & Family Questions [53:27–End]

• Origin of the Podcast Name:
  • ChatGPT helped inspire “Always Here,” but they wanted something with their shared initials—AH [55:31]
• Marriage Advice for a Bride-to-Be:
  • “Just respond kindly…It can be very easy to be impatient or snippy…just take a deep breath.” – Abigail [56:59]
  • “Say sorry often and quickly…If they're winning, you're both losing.” – Abby [57:59]
• Will you move back to St. Louis?:
  • “You, mom, you ask me this daily…For right now? Yeah. I don't ever see that happening. Sorry, Mom.” – Abigail [59:45]
  • “I feel like she [my mom] needs to move to Arizona.” – Abby [59:51]
• Childhood Traditions to Continue:
  • Weekly traditions (Friday sleepovers at grandparents, Sunday dinner, library weekends): “That nostalgic feeling…is those Friday nights, those Sunday afternoons.” – Abby [60:25–65:15]
  • Abby plans to institute both Christmas and “weekly” traditions with her kids [62:24–63:01]
  • Abigail loved cookies for Santa, St. Nick’s little gifts, etc. [63:01]
• From the Husbands:
  • Caleb asks Abigail: “What is something that I do…that you wish I did more frequently in marriage?” She requests more love notes [66:21].
  • Matt asks Abby: “What does it look like for a husband to adore his wife daily?” Abby’s answer: “Small daily things—a cup of coffee made, acknowledging efforts—make me feel seen, appreciated, ultimately adored.” [67:35–68:56]

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I have flavors full confidence in this being really natural for us, ‘cause we talk all the time.” – Abby [01:26]
• “We're always here to share the hope and the hard with heart and humor.” – Abigail [01:08, 25:10]
• “I need to schedule a dentist appointment. I don't even want to say how many years.” – Abigail [34:30]
• “If you're paying thousands…for the ‘Chrissy experience,’ I kind of see where she feels misled.” – Abby [17:53]
• “Maybe I need to document that journey. It's literally so spooky in [the toy closet].” – Abby [41:48]
• “I'm going to try to make [running a half marathon] a goal with every baby within the first year postpartum.” – Abigail [29:43]
• “We’re both Abby. Abigail for her. My full name is just Abby. We married brothers.” – Abby [02:47]
• “It’s so easy to get up here with a microphone and dog on your husband or dog on your kids…and it's like, that's not, in the long run, beneficial.” – Abigail [24:31]
• “No, we have a phone number that you guys can actually call in!” – Abigail (launching Ask Abby) [54:01]

---

Timestamps to Find Key Segments

• Sister-in-Law Relationship & Early Years: 02:07–09:10
• “Wow, That’s Crazy” Segment: 09:52–20:08
• 2026 Resolutions Discussion: 20:33–53:04
• Ask Abby (Listener Q&A): 53:27–End

---

Podcast Tone and Final Observations

• Vibe: Warm, casual, self-deprecating and funny. They are unguarded about everyday struggles and joys.
• Ethos: Big on sisterhood and community, honesty about real life, inviting listeners into both the “hope and the hard” in marriages, parenting, and self-growth.
• Notables: Both genuinely supportive of each other’s goals, often finish each other's sentences, and blend practical insights with real family anecdotes. This is “sister chat” at its most relatable.

---

Calls to Action

• Listener participation encouraged: call the “Ask Abby” line ([54:10]: 602-456-9690) with any questions for the hosts.
• They’ll revisit resolutions and check in on listener (and their own) goals in upcoming episodes.

---

In their own words:
“Always here to share the hope and the hard with heart and humor.”
“We want to laugh a lot.”
“We’re both going to be laughing.”

---

Transcript

[Addie]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart choice. Make another smart choice with Auto Quote Explorer to compare rates for multiple car insurance companies all at once. Try it at progressive.com, progressive casualty insurance, and affiliates not available in all states and situations. Prices may vary on how you buy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Spring is here, and there's a whole new way to chai at Starbucks that's made perfect for you.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Choose your sweetness.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Dial it up. Or keep things light. Add a touch of pistachio, a hint

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

of strawberry or vanilla. Or make it a spring classic with lavender.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Because this season there's endless ways to chai at Starbucks.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I was really scared of you.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

We're not friends. I didn't know you were.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

You always felt edgy to me.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, well, I need to schedule a dentist appointment.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh, no.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I don't even want to say how many years.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Wait, years? Since before you had cj? I don't know if this is inappropriate for the podcast, but I put Kiss more. Matt will kiss me, and sometimes I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. We do that like a smile smooch kiss. What is your best advice for being a wife? Always here to share the hope and

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

the heart with heart and humor.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Welcome to Always Here.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

We're your hosts, Abby Howard and Abby Howard.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Wow, this is crazy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I feel very nervous. Really nervous.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah, I have butterflies mostly just because I'm excited, but I have flavors full confidence in this being really natural for us. Cause we talk all the time.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Totally. I agree.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

We got Addie here on the production mic.

[Addie]

Hello.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

It's a family affair.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I know.

[Addie]

It's fun to just watch you guys in the studio on the outside. It's kind of weird.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I like it. I like it.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I like it, too.

[Addie]

Less pressure on me to look good every episode.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

True, true.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I feel like we just filmed our announcement video right before this and it was like a scripted fun thing. And I feel like I'm talking like I'm on a script.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Like I have to turn off my

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

acting brain cuz I've never had an acting brain.

[Addie]

You.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

You're natural, though.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I appreciate that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

We should probably first address for those that don't know why, we have the exact same name.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, yeah, that's a good part.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

We always make that stupid joke.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. It's either really convenient or really confusing

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

or our family couldn't afford one.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I think that's from Zack and Cody.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That is from Zack and Cody.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Our family could only afford one name. Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

No, but we are technically, you're Abigail. And I'm really gonna train myself for the sake of this podcast. Call you Abigail. But I've called you Abby for a decade now.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, I know. It's crazy how long we've known each other.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah, well, a decade, actually.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. A whole 10 years.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

But to be fair, the early years,

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

we were not friends. I didn't know you were. I love to do. We should get into that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So different. Yeah, let's get into it. Okay. So we're both Abby. Abigail for her. My full name is just Abby for those of you that may not have known that. But we married brothers.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yep. Caleb and Matt.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

They're 18 months apart.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

They're pretty close.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. Always closer than.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I think Caleb seems like such an older brother, so I always feel like he's much older.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I think too, because Caleb and Matt weren't super close for a lot of their lifetime until we all got married. And we're in the same life stage that I feel like now they're closer and they feel less of an age gap. But I feel like growing up there felt like a big, big age gap.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Cuz we're all high school sweethearts, which is also wild.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That is fun. Okay, so kind of get into it.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Okay.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Do you remember the first time you met me?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I don't.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So we started dating. We both started dating in high school.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yes. I started dating Caleb when I was a senior and he was a junior. And then we dated all through high school, college. And I remember you coming into the picture. I think maybe when I was still in high school. No, no, I'm sorry. I was a sophomore in college. Because you and Matt started dating your senior year right after junior year.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. So I was.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So maybe right before you went into sophomore year.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yes. So I feel like we never really had a ton of time together because you lived in a different city. I was in college. Just so far apart.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah. But I have distinct memories of you from the beginning. I was really scared of you.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I think that's so crazy. Every time you say that, you're like. You are so cool. I was never cool. I. I've never been cool.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Really? I feel like you're pretty cool and comparison to me. Abby, let's be fair.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I don't think you had like. You guys always did fun, crazy things with your friends. I feel like I was just. I didn't. I just had like a small group. I don't know, I just wasn't like the cool girl that I feel like you probably haven't built up to be in your head.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Well, we didn't go to the same high school, so in my mind, you were like, city girl. You'd known the family so much longer than me. You were so much more comfortable. You had, like, cool, cool style. And you always felt edgy to me. So I was like, she's just so cool. I was intimidated. You. This is intimidated by you. This was my first memory of you. I don't know if I've ever told you this, but we were eating at the Howard's house, like, at their kitchen table. And I was like, gosh, she's so comfortable. And, like, so I was so nervous around their family for so long and, like, I, like, would get a stomachache. I'm, like, so nervous. I just really wanted them to like me, but I also, like, didn't know how to behave. I was just really awkward. And then I remember I'm sitting across from you, and you're sitting next to Josh and he's eating watermelon.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

You remember the food?

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah. Because you're like, josh, you're eating kind of loud. You, like, corrected his eating. And I was like, gosh, she's so comfortable. I don't think you could ever say anything like that ever.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Why did I feel so comfortable saying that?

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

It wasn't rude. It was just like, you were like, you. He felt like your brother.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, he did. I. I met Josh when he was nine years old. Yeah. Yeah. He's 23 now.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Crazy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Isn't that wild? I know. So he kind of was. He is my little brother.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. That is really funny. I feel like my first impressions of you. I don't remember the first time we met in person, but I remember Matt talking about you all the time and we were all like, we get it. You love her. Like, I'm going to marry Abby. I'm going to marry Abby. And I was like, okay, you sound crazy.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

You sound crazy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

You guys were like, 18.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

17.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

17. I'm going to marry her. And like, okay. I knew you were amazing from what Matt said, but sweet. I didn't. I don't remember, like, actually meeting you for the first time.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I remember. So then, okay, we keep dating, kind of just like crossing paths, really, at just, like, holidays and stuff and not really talking too much, to be honest. I was so scared. And then we got engaged. I was at your engagement.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

You were? Yeah. That's fun. We have pictures from that together.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah. And then we had bridal showers together. This is where it's a little awkward. In my opinion, this is where I

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

feel like we became friends.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yes. Starting to become friends. But we're getting married at the same time. We're having shared showers, which is a little awkward to begin with. Then you have me being, like, extra awkward, and then us not also being, like, super close.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Well, it was kind of funny because everyone thought we both were child brides.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

We were.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I was 23. You were 20?

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Like, my family thought I was a child bride.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I was called a child bride.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

So it's like these two children just sitting there at their bridal showers.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah. I mean, it was really sweet for them to host those showers, and, like, very generous, but they were beautiful. Still not super close. We were at each other's weddings.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I know. Sometimes I wonder. I'm like, man, I wonder if it would have been fun to have you as a bridesmaid.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And, like, I think going back, I'm like, totally. You would have been like, my main. Like, I mean, all these things. But I, like, also, our relationship just wasn't like that yet.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Totally.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And who would have known what was gonna come of it? But I feel like a specific turning point was when you came to visit Matt and I in Springfield and you stayed at our one bedroom apartment with us. You can't you get close with someone when you share a one bedroom apartment? We went to Silver Dollar City.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Like, made meals together. That was really fun.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That was really fun. I think that was the first time I saw your personality and Matt's personality, too. Like, I always knew Matt as, like, the younger brother, and, you know, he was always busy with his acting and stuff, and so actually getting to spend quality time with you guys was so fun. I remember we baked and, yeah, we took our dog at the time was a puppy, and you let us bring him to your apartment, and we just. I mean, we literally just ran around Springfield and we just. I don't know. I was like, wow, they're so fun.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That was a good time. And then we did a couple more trips together, and then you ended up moving to Arizona. And I feel like then, like, we were already close by then, and so. But, like, ever since then, it's just like, I really feel like we're all sisters. And then Addie joined the mix with Blake. Like, gosh, three years ago now.

[Addie]

Yeah, three and a half. We've been married three and a half.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Crazy five. And now we're all in Arizona together. All the sisters.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I know.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So fun.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I'm glad we're all here. Yeah, it's fun. It's a good time.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh, Addie's married to my brother. For context. Yeah. So. But we all call each other Abby.

[Addie]

Howard is the middle person. Abby in the pink. If you. If you're watching on video, I've been

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

referring to you as my bonus sister in law, and I kind of like that.

[Addie]

I think that's perfect.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I have to admit an insecurity I feel you guys both have, like, biological sisters, so sometimes I feel like I'm overstepping when I'm like, my sisters. So, like, if I type it out, I usually say sister in law out of respect for you.

[Addie]

I don't think my sister would care.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I'm not taking your place. I don't think I'm equal to you.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, I bet my sister's like that.

[Addie]

My sister probably doesn't care. That's sweet.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's okay.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I didn't know you did that every time. Then I'm like, do they think it's weird that I'm separating sister in law? But I'm glad I got that out there.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

And now we can just say sisters. And we all know. Yeah, we're not trying to overstep.

[Addie]

I think I did that for your birthday. On my story.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I was like, I'll text you.

[Addie]

Can I put sister? Like, is she okay with that? Like, me being her sister?

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That works great.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I mean, my sisters love you, so it's not, like, weird about it.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's so sweet.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, boy.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Should we start our first segment?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

We should.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

This segment is called wow, that's crazy.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Wow, that's crazy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Wow, that's crazy.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That crazy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

The inception of it is that Abby and I say that all the time. And to the point now where my son CJ says it, he goes, that's crazy. And then I was like, why do I say that so much? And I think it's because we say it all the time.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I didn't even realize we were saying it.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I didn't either until CJ started saying it and I started paying attention and I said, abby says a lot. I say it a lot, so it must be something we feed. So we thought it'd be a funny idea for a segment on the podcast. And Abby right now is currently offline. And you have been for a while.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I post post and ghost. Yeah, I do.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

But you don't.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Like, I have been for. Wow. We could do the exact math, but, like, two and a half months.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Wow, that's really healthy.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

It feels great.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I'm currently breastfeeding, so I feel like I'm chronically online. That's the time we have a good balance here.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

But I do want, I think that is an insecurity of like going offline. It's like it's so much better for my mental health and like my productivity. So many other things. But I'm also like, I feel like I'm getting left behind sometimes.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Well that's why we have this segment.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's great.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

We're gonna keep you in the loop and then we'll get your opinions on what's going on. Okay. We do want this to be like non gossipy. It's just gonna be fun, light hearted and chatty. But we're gonna keep you in the loopy.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Loopy new word. We're gonna start with like a. This is kind of just more an impressive one. The world has a new youngest female self made billionaire. Did you know this?

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

No.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I feel like this is not what you expect.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Gosh. Wow. The youngest. How many are there?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Okay, I took notes.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I prepped for this. I know. So in the world there are three, around 3,000 total billionaires. Okay. But out of that only four to 430 are female.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's a huge four to 400. Over 400.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

430 of those billionaires are female number. Well, I don't actually know. That's why there's like a 30 range there.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

And then around a quarter of those are only are self made. So. Okay. About 124 are self made female billionaires. The rest of the became billionaires by inheritance.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay. I know some of these.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. So it's very impressive.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yes.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

And we have a new youngest. She's 29 years old.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

My age. So I, I got one year to catch up.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Well, you got about a time billion

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

dollars to catch up with.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I need a billion more dollars.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Her name is, I hope I say this right. Luana Lopez Lara.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Luanna Lopes Lara. There's a couple different ways you could say that. Maybe just one to her, but she co founded Kalshi and it's a regulated exchange for event based trading. So think about gambling on elections, weather, sports, all kinds of different things. So that's pretty big.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I wonder if most of her users are male or female.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I would be pretty confident. Male.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yes. She did have a co founder who was a male. But I think it's, I mean I'm, I'm very impressed that she's like young female entrepreneur became a billionaire. That's insane. But then also I'm like dang, it's gambling? Yeah. Kind of taboo a little bit.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh, really?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Do you think it is?

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I mean, I don't personally do it, but I feel like my dad grew up. I feel like my dad kind of. He played party poker, so it wasn't

[Addie]

like, it's not sports betting.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Sports betting.

[Addie]

Like, which I feel like, yes, Blake does sports betting. I feel like it's different than gambling.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

It wasn't really conversation, honestly.

[Addie]

Do you see those in the same realm? I did sports betting and gambling.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yes. But because in Missouri, where I'm from, from before we moved here, it was always illegal.

[Addie]

It's legal now as of a couple days ago.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Right.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

So I think that's why there's this hard shift where, like, my dad used to drive over state lines to Illinois to gamble to sports bet. But we would always consider it gambling because it was always kind of on the same playing field.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I've always. I feel like the conversation was always like, don't ever get started on that. Like, you'll waste all your save.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

You'll ruin all.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Squander all your savings. Yeah, I've never done it. I never actually even felt tempted to do it.

[Addie]

I wonder if it's like, if the number that is based on, like, the amount spent, like, Blake puts, like, $20 in, like, a month. Like, it's not, like, a lot of money. So I wonder if, like, that's why I'm like, it's not gambling, because he's like, it's controlled. Yeah. Controlled, huh?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It's just interesting. I thought it was funny. We're really proud of you, Luana. Luana.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Good.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Good for you, girl. That's the first one. I thought we'd start with something light and kind of interesting.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Love that for women.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Go, girls. Okay. The second one is maybe the opposite of have you heard about the hair by Chrissy Drama?

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

No. I know that there's something, but that's literally the extent of what I know.

[Addie]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I think this is a very interesting debate. Okay, so Tick tocker@not famous808 made a viral video about how she went to habit salon and was charged $4,000 for her hair extensions and service. She was charged $2,974 for the quote Chrissy service in which she claims that Chrissy personally only touched her hair for 60 seconds. And in this TikTok, she kind of goes through it. She's like, she came through, and she'd go, okay, tone. And then her assistants would come in and do all of her work. So Chrissy then responded by making many TikToks in response, like, kind of mocking her. Which is where everyone then started chiming in online about, like, Chrissy's response. And then the other girl who created the original video would respond to Chrissy, and it kind of just went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. So there was a lot of debate about Chrissy's response. She did make merchandise kind of mocking her. It got really ugly.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay, so then I guess I don't really feel like it's a problem to talk about if she clearly kind of fed into it and made merchandise. So it's like she wants. She likes this conversation.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yes. But also, I don't know, because now her comment. Addie told me her comments are turned off on Tik Tok. Isn't that interesting? But here's my question.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

She was mad because it was so expensive.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Well, she said she paid almost $3,000 for the Chrissy service. And then Chrissy did not touch her hair.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay, Barely.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

And so the debate online is like, well, what do you expect? She's a celebrity hairstylist. She's super busy. You go in, you're paying for a premium for her name, and then you're gonna get her assistant's work, or people are saying, no, that's crazy. You got ripped off. And that's not transparent pricing because you're expecting Chrissy to do your hair, and then she's not. So I'm curious, your thoughts before.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

What are your thoughts on this?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Well, I feel like from a business perspective, I understand Chrissy. Like, she can't do everyone's hair. You know, she's built up her business and her reputation to a point where she's training people to do it her way, and she is coming through and making face. I'm like, okay, get that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

What was her response? Like, what was. Was she, like, defending herself? Or. Okay, what did. What was her defense?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Basic? I don't really remember. Addie, do you remember what happened?

[Addie]

I also went to go look for those response videos, and I didn't see them on the page.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

A lot of them were, like, in her caption, she'd be like, me and my million assistants, or me and my team of assistants. Like, she kind of was taking what the girl said and making videos directly,

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

saying she doesn't actually have that many assistants.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

No, but I think she was just

[Addie]

saying, I feel like she also. Maybe I'd put stuff on her Instagram story is maybe. But I saw some.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

A lot of TikTok.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay, well, I kind of. I kind of feel like if you're paying thousands of dollars for the quote unquote, Chrissy experience, I kind of see where she feels misled by that.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Uh huh.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Cause I feel like it's one thing, like I feel like that type of thing. I would expect if I go, if I'm just going to Chrissy's salon or habit, if I'm going to have it, then I expect that the assistants will be doing it and she trained them and she might even be there. But if you pay for that specific service, I feel like that does, that does kind of make it feel like that's different from what you'd be getting otherwise. You know what I mean?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, I didn't think about that. Like, obviously you're expecting, okay, I'm going to have it. I'm going to have a different hairstyle stylist. But then if you're paying for Chrissy service, you would think then, oh, I'm getting Chris.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

She got extensions, huh?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Okay.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I mean, I feel like those are, you know, that those are going to be really expensive, which she said that

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

she expected the price.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

And she agreed to the price. Yeah, she got there, she was confused by the actual service then.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I can see that. I can see that.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I know, I, I feel like this is when I see both sides.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah, yeah, I see both sides.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Because it's high demand.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Right.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

What is she gonna do?

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah. But maybe don't offer that if you can't really give more than 60 seconds.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yes, that's true. Yeah. Yeah, that's tough.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I personally, I can't understand the world of hair extensions in general, like, let alone the price to do them, the upkeep, but the fact that you can't scrub your scalp, that makes me feel angry.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I honestly know nothing about hair.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I need to scrub. Well, they have like, there's those like tracks, I think is what they're called, like on your head and then they move down and then you have to take them out and move them back up.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I think that's old school. Now they do like K tips. I don't know, we're getting in the weeds of that. But they have tons of different.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

They still require a lot of upkeep and you can't like just dig in your scalp. Like when I wash my hair, I'm like, good, good. That's crazy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I know. Wow.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's crazy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's dark. That struck a lot of debate online.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay, now I know an opinion.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Addy.

[Addie]

Oh, I was also just gonna say. Did you say that they both made

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

merch about the they she mentioned that she made merch. She made. The other girl made merch.

[Addie]

The other girl made merch too.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Now this just feels like a circus

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

and not so famous. 808 is kind of famous now. She got a lot of followers.

[Addie]

Yeah. Well, one thing that I saw which is kind of interesting and might be I'd be interested to know your guys's takes on it is so Hair by Chrissy. She reposts a lot of videos of like past services she's done because she's just posting on socials and on her tick Tock page. So then she's posting influencers who have gotten their hair done there in the past in the middle of the controversy. So then it looks like those people are like supporting Chrissy. Like someone made a video that was like, hey, my hair is short right now that I did not get my hair. They're like asking if she went to Chrissy while during this time.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Now it's a witch hunt. I hate that stuff. I hate that stuff. But yeah, I mean, so I thought that was interesting. What a circus.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Isn't it?

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

This is like, this is something that's so funny to me because being on the side of like, not like watching the videos and like reading the comments and seeing like the speed in which these things accelerate just being filled in on, I'm like, wow, that's crazy that that became a big deal and Merch was sold about it.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I know.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Did you buy Merch, everybody?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I did not buy merch.

[Addie]

This girl got a ton of followers too.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. Her first review video was very kind.

[Addie]

Yes.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It wasn't slanderous. I think that's why people got mad at Chrissy for her response because it was like you could have just taken the review kindly and just washed under the rug or even not drawn attention to it. But she got it agitated her.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I'm pretty sure I met her one time. I don't remember what. She's really tiny.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

She's really cute hair because she's beautiful. Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's crazy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's crazy.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I think with it being the start of the new year 2026, I mean really this year was. Went fast. It's a great time to talk about resolutions. Now I know Abby personally isn't a resolution girly, but we asked her to come up with something for this year and I'm pretty sure Caleb would really appreciate this. He like, he's a goal setter, right?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

He is. I feel like every year I have a like a pew pew stuck to my head and he's like, we're going to write goals.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And I'm like, yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I like sweat. I'm like, goals. Fine. But he's right, I'm wrong.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I like. Well, Matt's not really quite organized enough. He, like, loves big goals, but they could come at any day. Like, it could be like, Tuesday at 5 in October. He's like, what is the most important thing you want to get out of life? And I'm like, happens all the time.

[Addie]

Okay, I have a question for you guys. You say you're making goals. Do you remember the acronym for smart goals?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, I actually think about it. Specific, measurable, attainable, relatable, timely, or what's R?

[Addie]

Pretty close. Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, relevant.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I didn't refer to that. I've actually never heard of that.

[Addie]

I was gonna say these goals are not those, but that's why it was a little. It didn't have to be that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh, it didn't work.

[Addie]

Well, they didn't have to be.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I feel like mine are achievable.

[Addie]

Well, you have to write out. I would like to achieve this by, like, the specific goal. Measurable. Like, you have to make all of those within the goal.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It's like, yeah, one goal, sentence, goal, five points. We used to. That was like workshop in school. Maybe that's why I hate doing goals, because I'm like, all right, one thing has to do five things.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And I never did that. I never did that.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It felt overwhelming.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay, that's crazy. But first, let's talk about some of our goals for this podcast, because I feel like this. This kind of came out of nowhere. But also, a lot of people are doing podcasts. Why should you listen to always here?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

This has been something we've talked about for a long time.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Years, actually.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Before you guys started Unplanned, we, yeah. Threw the idea around and we've always kind of come back to it throughout the years to say how fun it would be. I. I do think that there is a gap. Like, I love podcasts that are girly and fun, but there's not a ton that aren't. I would say, maybe super salacious or just gossip centered, which those are. Have, like, a time and a place. But I feel like we can fill that gap of being a podcast where it feels like friendly, casual, sweet. But also, we're gonna talk about real things in our life.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

And I feel like we have a shared mission and how we share those things. I don't know if you want to touch on that. You want me to? Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I mean, we've had a lot of conversations and actually, like, developing it. So this, like Abby said, it's been a conversation for a while, since before we started Unplanned, the podcast I do with my husband. And, like, I think when we brought up the Unplanned, you were like, well, dang it, you stole my idea.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I was like, that's something.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And I kind of always knew in the back of my head that this would, like, come to be. But just, like, the timing. And I feel like the timing of this is, like, honestly perfect because we are in the early motherhood stage. We, our wives were living our, like, trying to do. I just feel like this is a time where community is. Can be harder to find than ever, but also, like, more important than ever. And I think online it can. And I'm not gonna try to just, like, gas myself up. Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

And this isn't a generalization.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

This isn't. I'm not even thinking of anyone specifically at all. Totally. But just, it can feel like, you know, a time suck or like, maybe you leave and you just feel more anxious or less. I don't know. I think that we both just had a lot of conversations about wanting this to be a place that makes you feel uplifted, related to. Maybe we'll share what we're making for dinner. Maybe we'll share a book we read or a TV show or a great, fun date night idea or an activity for your toddlers. Just like a place where we can find a community of other people that are in the same season of life, miss this season of life, or are anticipating the season of life.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, totally.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Did I say that right?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's great. And when we share hard things, we want them to be shared in a way that feels hopeful. Like, it's so easy to get up here with a microphone and, like, dog on your husband or dog on your kids and being a mom or, you know, and it's like, that's not, in the long run, like, beneficial. And we want to kind of share, like, yeah, life can be hard, but we can also be hopeful and, like, have fun through the hard things.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah. And we have such a purpose in that. Like, hard things. So we did create a mission statement.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, we did. It took us a while, but.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Took us a while. But here's what we landed on. So, I mean, this is also for you guys to keep us accountable as well, each other, everyone on the team, always here to share the hope and the hard with heart and humor.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, we want to laugh a lot.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah. I mean, we're not.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

We're both going to be laughing.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

We're not serious, honestly. Genuinely. I mean, we can be, but yeah. Overall. So that's kind of like our goal for always here. And it's been really sweet and fun doing this as sisters.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Starting this, it's like, such a blessing that we have our relationship, but also, like, the fact that we have our community of friends in real life and now we're going to have an online community. That's really fun. Now, our personal goals. Okay. Did you come up with 10?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I had three and then you said 10, so I piggybacked to the drawing board.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

So I have 10.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Okay. Long way would say that. So my first one is I want Caleb and I to do one planned date out a month at least. And we used to be really good about doing weekly date nights before kids. And then we fell into a season of being really financially broke if we didn't do any dates. And we also had a child, so I was like, well, we'll just sit on the couch tonight again. And I think it's been a really easy habit to fall out of, so I want to prioritize. At least we can have a babysitter come once a month and go out to dinner, like, easily, you know, so just like, putting that on the calendar and following through with that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's sweet.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I put Kiss More and write more love notes.

[Addie]

Yes.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I put them in the same one because Kiss More actually was one of my resolutions from a previous year, but I want to bring it back again. And I feel like I told Matt this when I made that my goal a coup ago. I'm like, we love each other a lot. We touched a lot, and we're, like, always close to each other. Let's just kiss sometimes. Like, I don't know if this is inappropriate for the podcast, but why is

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

it that when you're. I feel like we. Okay. Caleb and I've been married. We've. Well, we've been. All been married almost seven years now. We're going on seven years. Yeah, 26. And I'm like, kiss me.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yes.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I'm not your buddy.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh, no. Matt will kiss me. And sometimes I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

We do that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Like a smooch kiss, I guess. And so. No, actually, that was a thing. So, like, he was like, sometimes I feel like a kissy, and I feel like you, like, lean away. I'm like, why do I do that? Like, I like Kissing you. So now I'm like, I want to be. I need to initiate more kisses so I can break whatever happened. I feel like something when we had kids, I was just kind of like,

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

well, I think because when you're pregnant, you can't touch, you can't roll like

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

you have a breastfeeding. Like, I started. Then I was like, I'm. People are touching me too much. And so he would kiss me when I was breastfeeding. I was like, just like. And I freaked out. And then I'm clearly not breastfeeding. So I'm like, it just carried it over and so kiss more and write more love notes. Because my husband is a words of affirmation man and he saves all of our notes. Like, very, very. I found the stack and I was like, it's. Those are getting old.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, that's sweet.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I need to add new ones to that stack. So I'm like, maybe I could maybe once a month.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Put a number on it. That's sweet.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I love that. Yeah, there you go. Measurable, measurable.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Once a month. Adding it. Kiss once a month.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

My next marriage goal is I want to take a trip this year. Just Caleb and I. A trip just is too.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's so good. Always.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

We last year we went, it was like for his work conference. And so we haven't gone and we did like an extra day. But Caleb was also in entering into work mode. So it's like we just. I want like, even if it's just a weekend or something, so fun. We haven't done that in a long time. Yeah, just us too.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

We'll watch the kids.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Thanks.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And I actually have a travel one as well. But I said travel with friends. Oh. Because I like, we like, we travel together for work and for fun for like 24 hours a lot. And I love that. I want to keep the same amount of that in, but I want to travel with friends, specifically with kids the same age as ours. So it just. That just feels so fun. Like get a big house, everyone comes. We like have game nights and movie nights with the kids. We all make food in and just like have a kid trip.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

But with our friends too.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I don't personally love all inclusives. Like, that's where we've gone for Caleb's work trip. This is not like my favorite type of vacation, but I do think an all inclusive is fun. Would be fun for a friend trip like that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Because you're all contained in one area. But like if you need to go back for naps or you want to go food or someone? It's like everything's right there.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

So you can be on the same schedule, but not at the same time. Yeah, I get that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Well, I was picturing like getting a big Airbnb and like cooking dinners together. Oh, no, that is impossible to do with friends. Been there and done that. And no, it's really fun, but it's like you can't stay together.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Sure. Too big. Okay. So moving off my goals, I'm recently postpartum, so I'm like 10 weeks out. Getting back into fitness is kind of interesting and I'm really excited about it. I do have a goal to run a half marathon.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh, you're going to do it?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Uh huh. I did that with CJ when I was 7 months postpartum and I think I'm going to try to make that a goal with every baby to try to do a half marathon within the first year postpartum.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Wow.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I don't know why. I just think if I give myself a challenge, I'll actually do it.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

See, for the turkey trot this year I did 10 minute miles and I was pretty gassed for 3 miles.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Not running it fast.

[Addie]

Did you run the whole time?

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I did run the whole time.

[Addie]

See, that's a goal in itself. I don't think I could run a 10 minute mile and run the whole time.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

You could, Addie. That's a mental thing.

[Addie]

Yeah, it is. I don't have.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh, okay.

[Addie]

I do run. No, I hate running.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I'm gonna take that up.

[Addie]

Like I don't have that. That thing to keep me going, which I feel like you need to have for running.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Abby has good grit.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Thanks. You just need a good podcast. Always. Here, plug. Get it on your run, ladies. Yeah. Literally you're like, no, I can't listen

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

to anymore running for me. I'm like, maybe I'll get into that when I'm like an empty nester.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Not my season for running.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It's hard with littles.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I just. Yeah, it takes too long.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It's so therapeutic.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I wish I felt that way about it. I feel like I'm. Mine's the complete. I'm stressed.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It's not therapy viral.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I just want to stop. Okay. Similarly, I have on my list of goals, go on more walks. I just feel so much better. I started that after the loss and I was like, I just feel so much better just being outside, slowing down and actually I'm talking about independent walks I love. And Matt's like, let me go with you. And I'm like, yes, now I have to go do my own laps now.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Because it's just like, that's kind of part of it. I feel like I don't have a lot of alone time in my days, and I don't think that mattered to me or stood out to me as, like, something that I wanted to change until, like, more recently. And I was like, oh, gosh. I actually really feel like I need to, like, kind of recoup independently, like, a little bit every single day. And I don't think I'll be able to do this daily. Like, that just doesn't feel realistic. But I just sit on more walks and I, like, love it. I, like, turn on a. Sometimes I'll just listen to music or usually I just, like, listen to a podcast. I've been listening to Dr. Arthur Brooks podcast, like, about happiness while I'm walking. I'm like, this just feels. This feels like self care. This feels like really good. Yeah. So that is on mine to just do that more often. Especially in Arizona now it's like a great time to walk.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

For sure. For sure.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Really nice.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I love that. I like that. I like that one a lot. Another one I have is get a pull up. I kind of had that before I got pregnant with my daughter.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Why did I think of, like, PP diaper pull ups?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I really just want to get, like,

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

they're easy to get. Okay. Do a pull up. Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, I like to get a pull up again. That was something that I never envisioned for myself ever in my entire life, even from a child. Remember when we used to do the physical fitness test in school, like elementary school? I always missed out on the blue ribbon because I couldn't do a pull up.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Dang it.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I know.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I feel like I've seen you do pull ups workouts.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yes. I got one down right before I got pregnant again, so I want to get it back.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Addie]

That's a goal of mine too. Ups back after. After having babies.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. That strength is gone.

[Addie]

Gone.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It's gone.

[Addie]

I tried. I was like, oh, not there anymore.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I know. I just want to get strong again. It was so fun. So that's. That's my goal.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I actually have zero fitness goals that I'm looking at my list.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's probably healthy and that's probably good.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I feel like I want to keep doing exactly what I'm doing on that. I just want to keep riding. Had that same goal just to show up.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

We're gonna ride that wave.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

We're gonna ride that exactly how we're doing it. Another one I have is that I want to take more pictures. I got a camera, and I feel like this happens a lot where I'm like, oh, yeah, I want to, like, share this thing that I did, even to my story, or, like, text it in the family group chat. I'm like, zero pictures. No documentation of that day, which you would think. I have a lot of documentation, which I do. I have, like, video things, but it's not, like, stuff that I'm like, I want to. I can go back on and be like, that's that moment. And our kids are only little for so long. They're changing so fast. Yeah. Like, I specifically want to get pictures of my kids, but be with my friends. Like, I have a lot of friends I see every day. I don't have a single picture with now. Will it be awkward to take out my little camera that I got and be like, let's take a picture at the park? Yeah, it'll be awkward, but it's always. I'm shameless.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I feel like it's always fun when you have pictures.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Like, I want to organize them in some fashion so I can find them.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I'm always grateful when people remember to take pictures.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah, me too. I'm like, it's never annoying, but I feel annoying if I ask to do it.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, it feels like you're putting people on the spot, but I don't personally feel that way.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I think it's also because what I do for my job, I'm like, I feel like I can't pull out my camera or phone or be weird, but sure, everyone understands. I think.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. I think if it's just personal use.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah. I'm gonna put in my staple just for funsies. Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

My next one is I need to schedule a dentist appointment.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh, no.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's been about. I don't even want to say how many years. Abby.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's actually scary. Wait, years?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Okay, listen, let me explain.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Since before you had cj, Abby, you know you're more prone to cavities when you're pregnant.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I know.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Six. After having Griffin.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yes. I've never had a cavity in my life.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

So I don't think I'm a prone person.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

No.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

But I have not gone since I was 26.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

You have really good teeth.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Thank you. I floss daily. I water pick. I brush twice a day. I'm very on top of my oral hygiene.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

But it is disgusting and embarrassing to me. I have not been to the dentist not long, but after I turned 26 and I went off my parents insurance. I just didn't think that I could afford going to a dentist, which I actually don't think that's the case. But then we did get into sticky financial situation and I really, we really couldn't afford to go to the dentist. So now I'm like, okay, like we're normal. We could, we should schedule a dentist appointment.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Maybe just one visit.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. For the kids.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I have like, it's not even like they're on insurance. They have a membership at their dentist office.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I feel like we should do that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

They probably have that for adults too.

[Addie]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Cute.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah, just get a cleaning. Actually, you know what, Teresa? One year for Christmas, our mother in law got me a dental cleaning for Christmas. Ask her for that for Christmas.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's a great gift idea.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I know. She got that for me a couple years ago.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Wow. Okay.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

By a couple, I mean more than that. Okay. This one's relatively rare. I have a couple kid ones, so maybe I'll just fire them both off. But check out books from the library. Oh yeah, that was such a classic thing I did as a kid. Like I would go every Saturday morning with my. And we would just like stack like stock up on books and like I'm still a big reader to this day. And I think a lot of it has to do with those like traditions of going with my dad. And my dad would also, like, it wasn't just like he's going to get children's books with me. He would also go and like he had like a stack of books on hold to check out for himself and read. And it was like, I feel like that made me want like a lifelong reader because I saw my dad doing it for fun. And it was also just like, like fun to go to the library. I'm like, it's free. I feel like the kids could like pick it out on their own and they, my boys already love to read. And I think this would just be like a fun thing to do and also fun in the community. I mean, heck yeah. Never know who you can meet at the library. They have a lot of events. We go to the library story times somewhat frequently, but I never check out books.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I got my first library card a couple weeks ago. Since the first time, I was literally a child, a small child. And you know what they told me? They said, we don't charge for late books.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And in my head anymore, in my

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

head I thought that's nice. But I feel like you should have some accountability on these people. Like I need accountability to return My books.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

So I'm pro bringing the charge back. That's what I'm saying.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Maybe people just weren't paying them because it's like what are they gonna do?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, truly.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Or maybe some people couldn't come back to get their books back. I don't know.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, I guess I don't want to like discourage people from checking out books.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

They're like take out a lien on

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

your house, you need to return.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Another light hearted one though. I have like related to the kids is work on letters and numbers with the kids more. This came because my kids can count but I realized if I were to point to a number they don't know, which I think is fundamentally normal.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

But they don't know what the numbers look like and they really don't know what the letters look like either. Like we talk a lot about like a apple, like we do all that we count with the numbers. But I'm like, I haven't done the extra step of like this is what it looks like. Like if you want to recreate it, this is what it needs to look like. Yeah, that's good. We're work on that step in the new year.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It is interesting when you start realizing your kids are ready to learn.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Like there is like a fast shift in that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Well and also since our kids stay home, like I feel like if they do go to preschool they're like really kept to like their milestones more so totally. Which is a good thing about that. But we can also do that at home.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, I agree. That's a great one. I want to do 10 minutes a day of uninterrupted play with the kids. And we've been talking about this a lot but I have noticed a huge difference. Especially when I'm working from home. I try to keep work time to naps but obviously that's just sometimes not feasible. And if I'm busy running around the house doing things and I can tell when CJ starts to get anxious and want my attention more because he'll start to act out or you know, and it's, I'm like, man, I just need to sit down and have 10 minutes with him. And I've noticed a huge, a huge shift in the day when I've done that. So I want to continue that and try to make that a goal daily.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's a really good one.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It's so simple. It's just like I feel like we get in these modes of wanting to do our tasks and clean and cook and you know, get our work done. And it's. It can be easy to miss, but it's. It's been really beneficial.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I think that comes from Dr. Amen. Like I said, like, a lot of people say that, but he said that, like, 10 minutes of specifically child led play. Yes. Like, where they, like, kind of pick what you're doing or like, like, you impressed me too, because you're like, the other day I was climbing under the table with cj. I'm like, good, Good on you.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, my gosh, my neck hurts a bit.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Like, this is fun.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I was at a full half under the table, full half up.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah, that's how I feel. Because Griffin's thing is always asking me to chase him. And sometimes I'm like, I need to be sure to say yes sometimes. Because sometimes I'm like, there's. I can't right now. I can't chase you. You're exhausting.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Sometimes I watch you do that. I'm like, dang, she's got good stance.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Like, I actually get really t. But then sometimes he wants me to catch him, and sometimes he doesn't want me to catch him.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I'm read the room.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I can't. I'm trying to read the room right now. As a me catch you type of thing. I accidentally knocked him over. I was catching one time. I was like, oh, my gosh.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

My bad. He's like, my leg.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

He said, no, do that.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Don't do that, mama.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So sad. That's a good goal.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, I think that's an easy one.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

This one is kind of boring, but, like, it needs to happen. And honestly, some of you listeners, you need to hear this one too.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Inspire us.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I need to organize the pain points in my house.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And create a system. Not just organize it, but create a system so it doesn't happen again. I'm thinking about my mudroom. Every time I walk through that space, I'm just not happy. I'm like, this is just a mess. So I want to create, like, a system for it too. Like, find a thing. Find what to do with the kids. Shoes, Our shoes, the socks. How can they get back in there? How can we organize that? Thinking about them? That'll be the first one I tackle. But then I feel like once I get one done, I'll be inspired to do the other pain points. Probably my pantry. Maybe that could use some work.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Like, my pantry's crazy.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Create a system there.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So, yeah, I like that.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's a good. That's a very good goal. And you just start with one thing at a time.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

One thing at a time.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I always. I like the question. Are you. There are three things. Clean, tidy, organized.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I would say I'm clean and I'm tidy, but I'm not organized. My house has no systems.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I would give myself clean, clean, and tidy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. I feel like we're very similar.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Not organized and it bought. But here's the thing. It bothers me when it's not organized. It's not like I'm like, ah, no big deal. Like, it does kind of bother me. Like, I look at the kids clubhouse in our house.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It's just a closet with toys.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

It's a bomb. It's a bomb.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I'm like, how do they walk in here? They're just crunching.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And when I have to go back there, I'm like, ow. Ow. Like, it's so.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That can't be the first one.

[Caller]

One, though.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

No.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I'll have an aneurysm by trying to do that. Honestly. Maybe I need to document that journey. It's literally so spooky in there.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I love that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah. Clubhouse is really a stretch, let's be honest. It's a closet with where a bomb went off.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I feel like kids need a space where they can just be a bomb, though.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I agree. That's what Matt says. But I'm also like, what about just a couple bins to put them in?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So we have floor space to walk. Sure.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's reasonable.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Addie]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I'll never be. Here's what I'll never be. Mark my words. I probably won't ever be. But you know what? Maybe I'll change my mind down the line. I don't think I could be a toy rotation mom.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

No. I had hopes and dreams, and you know what? I have a bag of toys that sat in our shed for about a year and a half. They've never rotated in.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh, they're brand new.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

No.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh, but you took them away. Not now.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, they're not gonna rotate in.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

There's a way to do it. Like, I have friends that do it. And it's like, you have to have one you can do this with and one that you can do this, this. And I was like, oh, my gosh.

[Addie]

I feel like that's complicating motherhood more than we need.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I don't want another. I don't want to complicate it.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I don't need another thing.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Maybe we just need to keep a room where we just chuck all the toys. The playroom, the clubhouse, or the clubhouse

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I will say I do keep. I try to keep his toys minimal, like in his play area. I'll. I'll take some out and I'll put them back in his room.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

And I'll switch those out. But I'm not like, intentionally rotating them. I'm just like, he's not playing with this one. I'll throw in his room and I'll bring out a different one that's better

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

with a one story house. With story house.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I'm right.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

My problem is, is like, toys, Part of the toys end up downstairs and part of them end up upstairs. And I'm like, this is too much. Too many steps.

[Addie]

Well, I've got a new one. We've been rotating our toys just because the dogs have been eating them.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Addie]

So Pretzel is probably gonna start eating some toys.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

We love force rotation.

[Addie]

Yeah, force rotation. My babysitter just texted me that she ate the dogs ate something.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So you're rotating them or you're throwing them away?

[Addie]

We're throwing she. But then we get her new toys because they're get. They got eaten.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I will say I feel like Lewis has done that.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Lewis is our dog. He's done that less with Vivian's toys. Like, cj, he was so excited with all the new toys, and they were all squeaky. He doesn't care anymore.

[Addie]

They like the rubber ones. Like the bath. They got them out of the bathroom.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

The teething toys. Bye. Bye.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Bye. Yeah, bye.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Bye.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Also, that is why I also wrote go on more walks as my goal is because now I have a dog, so I want to take her on walks when she learns how to walk on a leash.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yes.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Better.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Well, Lewis is a great walker, but he's so big that I have to literally tie him to my body. So that's like a personal problem. That's not a pretzel problem.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It's just my dog is more of a horse, so when I take him a walk, I like wrestling half the time.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh, my God. Well, he's not big. Okay, well, then why do you like

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

if he stops to pee, my whole body yanks. Oh, wow. I'm like, halted. Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's just crazy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It's just different.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I ain't a dog. I'm like, it's actually not wrestling. Sandlot dog.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, literally. I mean, he's gotten a lot better and I. I take it him on walks.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

But that's Pretzel girl trained at 16 weeks, so hopefully they can teach her not to pull.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And to walk. I don't think they're supposed to walk ahead but not. Obviously not pull. Yeah, but right now, she's just a puppy, so she's distracted by every scent, and then I have to sometimes pick her up.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, yeah. The puppy phase is horrible.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

She's like, she'll do decent, but then there comes a point where we just end up carrying her.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Sure, sure. This is a more serious one. I want to get back into regular Bible study routine and read at least four times a week. I feel like I was really good about this, even with CJ when he was a newborn. But now, being pregnant and having a toddler, I would wake up before cj, before I got pregnant, and then I was so tired when I was pregnant that I would not wake up to read my Bible. And so then I was like, I just got out of the habit. So I'm trying to, like, once now that, like, I'm not up as much in the night, I can hopefully get back into a better routine of waking up before CJ and reading. It's just good for me to start the day like that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I love that it took me getting into, like, an actual study before. I was like, okay, this has five days, and I'm gonna see them in seven. So I only got two.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Accountability is good. Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

No, it was really good. And then I was like, if I don't have this done, I'm gonna feel disappointed internally, but also, I will have nothing to contribute.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

So I need a little public shame.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

You can join mine.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Okay.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Or not mine. The one I'm in.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So I need a little public shame.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I need someone to be like, abby failed this week.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

You really let us down.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

You let us down. You, first of all, most of all, you let God down. And I just need to, like, sit on that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Abby, she would be the most receptive to that.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I'd be here.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Thank you for that feedback.

[Addie]

You like the feedback.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

You're so good about that. I need to work that.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's not how it works. But I just need to know, well,

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

if a friend's telling you, let God down, maybe that's.

[Addie]

Maybe that's a little.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That ain't the gospel.

[Addie]

I don't think that's how that works.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Turn back to the descriptions. This one's not serious.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Good. Switch it up.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I want to learn how to make a good steak. Ooh, I love steak.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Sure.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I really, really love steak. But it was something that I was just like, I have no business cooking that. Like, I need to only go out to eat that.

[Addie]

Sure.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I think it's attainable to cook at home.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Totally.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And I have a cast iron. I've tried before, believe it or not, to make a steak at home. People are like, you just need a lot of butter and some thyme and like, like, keep going. Or rosemary and just keep. It didn't turn out that good.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

The thing about that that sucks is it's like an expensive mistake. You're like, dang, that's a good 15 piece of meat right there.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That might have been where I messed up, though.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, I bought cheap steak. You gotta go sirloin or nothing, baby.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Like, I don't know what cuts to get. I don't know where to get it. How do you tell if it's good? Like, do you get the. What do you. What kind of cut do you get?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I don't know.

[Addie]

I feel like fillet is the best.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I get sirloin.

[Addie]

But sirloin, when you're like buying it from the store.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Wait, is sirloin just cow?

[Addie]

No, no, no. Sirloin is a different cut.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Okay.

[Addie]

And filet is a different.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Sirloin's the leanest, isn't it?

[Addie]

Yeah, my. My family used to do sirloins. Well done.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's how my mom does it the most.

[Addie]

Dry, thin, hard.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

See, I like fat. I like fat on my meat.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

This is maybe the one area we differ in.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

No, we have a couple. You and dessert. We don't like the same types of dessert.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's true.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

But yeah, I think maybe, maybe our palates are the one thing that we differ on.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, our taste buds.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Our taste buds. I like. No, we have so many different.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Abby. Whenever we do a pot roast, Abby loves to leave the fat in there. And I'm like, it's the flavor.

[Addie]

Abby asked Abigail to cut the beat at sundae or like pull it apart. And Abigail just has a whole side of just the fat. I was like, she's like, like, that's not good. The blade goes up. He's like, why is this all here?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Your family? I go, I'm going to turn around now and you put it back in there. And I won't watch.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I'm like, that's part of the roast, girl. That is good. Oh, yeah. No, I mean, I get it. A lot of people don't like it. I just can't really. I like. I like them that

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

wake up at or before 7am Again, I don't have to expand on that. That's pretty self explanatory. The days of me sleeping past seven. Seven are probably over. Respectfully so you gotta have one or

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

two days a week to sleep in. Maybe one is fine.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Do you want to hear, currently how this is going? I set my alarm for seven. I lay in bed for set.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

You set your alarm for seven?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yes, but I don't. I don't wake up until at least 7:30. That's when CJ's hatch light turns green and he walks into my bedroom because Caleb's gone for work way earlier than I wake up. So CJ walks in, he goes, mama, the light's green. And then he climbs in bed and I lay there till 8.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That is a blessing, Abby.

[Addie]

I don't know.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I feel like maybe he should just milk this for all it's worth the fact. I know, but it's stressful, okay?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Because then it's like I have to wake up and nurse and feed CJ all at the same time, and it's just too much.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So are you just gonna get less sleep or you're gonna go to bed earlier?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Here's the thing. This is a pipe dream, okay? It's a pipe goal. It's never gonna happen.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I'll text you.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, text me at 7am Wake up.

[Addie]

Up.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Gosh. Well, I mean, I feel like we'll get there. You're unique, Toddler mom. That sense that your kids will allow this to happen. I know.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

CJ's golden.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Such a chill guy. But also loves to sleep. He's your son.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

He really does love to.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay, well, I mean, I only have one more.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I have two more. You have one more? Yeah, you did get me, but I didn't take it personally.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Sorry about that.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It's okay. I forgive you. Caleb and I have been talking about dopamine and we're gonna do a. What? Oh, this sounds like the most dreadful thing ever, but we're going to do a dopamine fast in the new year. Okay, well, I don't really know what that entails, but apparently it takes all the joy out of life. So no sugar for a week. Listen, Abby, I told you, I do not want to do this.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

You guys have done this before.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

No.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And it's honestly hard on everybody. Like, I'm like, let's get ice cream.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

And it's like, no, I know. Well, yeah, I know. And we're getting no screens, no tv, no stimulation, no brain. Like, nothing stimulating the brain.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So how you gonna work?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Well, yeah, see, that's my loophole.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Maybe make a YouTube video of it. So then you're working, but you can't do anything else.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, that's Good. I like that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

But then you can't post.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

This would be the most boring YouTube video of all time.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

No, I feel like people have done that before.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Really? Yeah. It's just me laying on the floor. I'm so bored.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's the thing. You're gonna end up finding other things to do.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

You get creative. I know.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

No, I feel like this is good. I just don't know why sugar is included in that.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Well, I think it really lights my brain up.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I really love sugar.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I really love.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, we're really into sugar in our family. Anyway. Dopamine, fast. And hopefully trying to just, like, be creative and for a week, quiet our brains. Yeah. Maybe we haven't. They haven't dialed in on the details.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I feel like that's probably what science would say.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Wow.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Three days or seven days.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That sounds good.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. I think they'll be healthy. I'll just say my last one quickly. It's short. I want to do a monthly one on one date with CJ and Vivi when she gets older.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Cute.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

One on one dates. Especially with CJ Now I could do that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's really cute.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. Just. We're adding more kids to the fam. So giving them more one on one time.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

We did do this, and the kids were so sad that they weren't together. Oh, have I told you that Augie was in the car and you guys. What Griffy are you like. And the car just, like, kept yelling it. But, yeah, I do want to do that. But they really love to stick together.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's sweet. Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

But I think it'd be good for them. They're just attached at the hip. They really are. Okay. My last one. This one I have had on my resolutions, and I gotta be honest, failed at it miserably. I gotta do it this year. Volunteer more. I think I've made every excuse in the book of, like, oh, my kids are too little. Like, I have to. Whatever I have to do. I just want to be more involved in our community and serving more because I just feel like it's a discipline that I used to have a lot.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

You guys used to volunteer all the time.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah. Thank you. And I just. I hate that I genuinely have lost it. We're at 0% for that. And it's. It's something. I'm like, okay, well, I can make all these excuses, but if I don't continue this now, like, I'll never continue it. And also model it for our children. And we have an organization that I really want to volunteer With. With here locally and so no more excuses. Gotta do it this year.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Well, let me know when you do it because we'll join. Yeah, it's awesome at 0% on volunteering, so I'm not much. I'm not any better in that area.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay, those are great. Those are good.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Okay, we'll check back in later.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

He was accountable. We're gonna keep you accountable on your dopamine fast. Wow.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Wow.

[Addie]

That's crazy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's really crazy and scary.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Can you text?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I don't know. I'll let Caleb set the rules and I'll just support a minute.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I'll just send you a note in the mail.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, just send me letters all week.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

We'll get you on Sunday.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, get to us after the fast. So should we explain our Ask Abby segment?

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yes. What is it? I'm just kidding.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

We're gonna ask Abby's. Ask, Ask, Ask Abby. So this is exciting. We wanted to do something where we could incorporate the audience. And I think this is like a thing, isn't it? Like Ask Abby.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Ask Abby's already a thing. There's another. There's another Abby who started this, so we're taking her inspiration. I think it was a column in the newspaper like a while ago. Don't quote me on that.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

But we're giving her credit. This is not an original idea.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And we're not the first Abby's to do this.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

No. We have a phone number that you guys can actually call in and leave us any type of question, whether it's a personal question for Abby and I adding it, like all of us.

[Addie]

Us.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

If it's an advice question for yourself, get to know us, whatever it may be. Do you have the phone number, addie?

[Addie]

It is 602-456-9690. And we'll put it in the Instagram bio.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Sure.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

The description of the show.

[Addie]

Description of the show. So you can call in whenever's best.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I'm really excited for this. Like, I'm excited to, like, actually get to hear from you guys. And this is fun.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I think so too.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

See the phone? I wish that was the actual phone. That.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That is the tie in would ring. Yeah.

[Addie]

Literally.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, that could be scary. These are vetted.

[Addie]

So we are vetting this question for this first episode. We thought it would be fun to reach out to your guys's friends and family to ask questions or ask advice. And so we'll play a couple of those. Now, the Abbe's have never heard these, so this will be the first time they've heard them.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Nervous.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I'm excited because it's just our friends and family. Like, that was really sweet of them.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That is sweet.

[Addie]

So this is the first one. Some of them don't have their names, so I'm interested to see if you can tell.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh, I'll be. Hello.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I was wondering how you guys thought of always here.

[Caller]

Yay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I'm so excited for you guys. Oh, cute.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Is that Amber? Okay, so I feel like I got to give you credit for this one, Abby. Abigail.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's kind. It was. I mean, we were trying to think. We had a lot. A lot of brainstorming sessions about the name.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Turns out a lot of our ideas were not creative.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

They were not creative.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Already existing.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It turns out Chad GPT's ideas weren't creative either.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So ChatGPT is plagiarism. Plagiarism.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

So we were thinking, you know, I was kind of like, what is. What do we have in common that we would want the logo to be? The logo for the show will probably be our initials. AH because we're both Abby Howard.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

We were. So we have a lot of names that had Abby Howard in it, and none of them were.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, the biggest. What was the biggest one? Yeah. Abby Howard squared.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Abbey Howard squared. We're not mathematicians.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Like, that was recommended by many different sources. But I was like, okay, ah is our logo. That's what we have in common. So if we can find a podcast name that be the first letter begins with an A and the second later letter in H, that would be. Probably would make a lot of sense. And so we typed it into chat, and we were like, okay, give us some options. And always here was on that list.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Love it.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

And there's kind of the tie in of, we're always here for each other. We're family, we're best friends, and we're always here for you guys. Our community. And so there's kind of a. Yeah, a communal element. Me too.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Hi, guys. Okay, so since I'm getting married next year, my question to you is, what is your best advice for being a wife and transitioning into that role? Okay.

[Caller]

Love you both.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Bye. Oh, sweet. Mandy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, sweet.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I'm so excited for her.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

The number one thing I always tell people, it's very simple and it's silly a little bit, but I. I think you just really have to remind yourself to be kind to one another. It. There's so much going on in the engagement planning process, the wedding. It's stressful and fun at the same time. Then you move in together for the first time. Like in our case, we didn't live together before. So then you're navigating all of these firsts together, living with someone, and you're meshing your life together. It can be very easy to be impatient or snippy or like, get into a lot of small arguments. And I feel like I found myself a lot of times just being like, just respond kindly. And I feel like that saved us a lot from small petty bickering fights of just like taking a deep breath and just being like, okay, like, you know what I mean? I think just reminding, remembering to be nice. Like you're nice to them when you're dating and you don't want to lose that when you're married. You know, just because now you have the covenant. I don't know, it's silly and it's simple, but just be nice.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah, I guess. I mean, it's because it's easy. It's like, I know you're gonna stay.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Mine is very much along the same lines, but I feel like say sorry often and quickly. And I feel like that is something that I still need to work on all the time where it's like, okay, you know what? Me trying to win this thing because what do they say? If you're winning or if they're winning, you're both losing. And so it can feel. I feel like it's just like my own self righteousness. I mean, that's just like, I don't need to do it. I feel so justified in how I'm behaving. But like, just like quickly be. Say sorry quickly and often.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And I think that would just resolve a lot of things, keep life moving. Because also you're still living in the same house, you're still sleeping the same bed, you're still waking up together in the morning. No point in dragging these things out. And I think that can also become a pattern too. Like in marriage, it's like, oh, we're just gonna be silent or, you know, hold this grudge for a certain extended amount of time.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, that's good.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Getting that practice.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. Don't be stubborn and don't keep score.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And I think it's also reciprocated too.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah. When you do that, you need to tell your partner, don't do it, because

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

you're expecting it to be reciprocated. But I think that it will also benefit you in the end.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, totally. Hi, Abby. And Abby. I know you guys are starting your new podcast and you're taking questions and

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I have A question for you girls.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

So I know that your husband Matt,

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Caleb are from St. Louis and I

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

know that Abigail is from St. Louis. So do you guys ever have any plans to ever move back to St. Louis where you can enjoy the four seasons and maybe have more family around? Count. Just curious. Thank you. Bye. Not the sales pitch in her voicemail.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I loved her.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That was so cute.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So sweet.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

You, mom, you asked me this daily. I don't know why. I don't think the answers change.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I feel like she needs to move to Arizona.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's what I'm saying.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

She loves it here.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I know we're sort of petitioning to get everyone out here.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Is your answer no?

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I mean for right now? Yeah. I don't ever see that happening, but. Sorry, Mom. I love you so much. I love my family. Hi, mom. Thanks for the question. That was really sweet. Love you.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

You did not answer that. Hi.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I'm super excited that you two are starting this new podcast. So my question is, do you have any special Christmas traditions from when you were a kid that you feel you might also continue with your own kids?

[Caller]

Thanks.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Bye. That's cute. That's so sweet. That's my mom and she actually brought us sparkling apple juice and Lindor chocolates to celebrate today, which is so sweet. We love our supportive family Christmas traditions. Okay, this actually maybe is the time to implement my resolution that I forgot to put in. Oh, I'm really big in traditions, but I'm also really big into weekly traditions because they truly shaped my childhood. So I can think of several. But like, I knew that every Friday night. Oh my gosh, I'm getting choked up thinking about my grandpa. I knew that every Friday night I was going to stay at my grandparents house and every morning I was going to wake up and have blueberry eggo waffles and hot chocolate with my grandparents. And I was going to go to the library with my dad. Sometimes we go bowling. Like Wednesday nights we would get dinner with my grandparents. Sundays we had dinner at my grandparents. We had a lot of weekly traditions that truthfully are the things that stand out the most when I look back on being a kid. And it's not like I really loved our memories at Disney. I really loved our memories from traveling. But when I think about that nostalgic feeling of just like being a kid, it really always takes me back to like those Friday nights, those Sunday afternoons, like those weekly things. And so I have always. This has been something I've been really aware of the entire time we've had kids I'm like, especially because I don't live in my hometown and we didn't have family out here when we first had kids. I was like, I want to have weekly traditions. And so I started doing Sunday dinner, but so I have Sunday dinner on. We host it at our house every week most of the time, unless something comes up. But I really try to stick to that. And then I want to instate two new weekly traditions. One or two new this year. That's very ambitious. But they don't have to be huge. Like, I'm like, Friday night, we could get pizza and watch a movie. Or we could do, like, oh, we play games on this night, or something like that. Cute. But I had a lot of traditions in my own household. We played games, like, every single night growing up. That's my mom right there. We played a lot of games. We played Bananagrams. And I was like. When I got married, I was like, we're gonna play banana grams all the time. Matt hates banana grams.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, no.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So this is part of starting your traditions. We play Monopoly. Deal.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

The two of us.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Oh, that's good marriage advice. If you're mad, find a game that you can play where you don't have to talk. And you can, like, avoid the subject of whatever's making you mad. And by the end of playing, the game might not matter so much anymore.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah, it's lighthearted.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

It's lighthearted. It helps get you distracted, and you're like, we're actually friends. This is our game that we put together. Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It's sweet.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

All that to say Christmas traditions. We had a lot of them, but I remind. I remember so many, like, really fondly. You start. Because I just talked a lot.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, well, I was thinking about it. I think that's true, Abby. I like the idea of traditions, and I. That's something Kilburn I've talked a lot about, too. For Christmas, I loved the Night Before Christmas. Obviously, we would put cookies out for Santa and carrots out for the reindeer. And that was always very fun and exciting. It would always make a big deal about it. It. So I want to do that with CJ. And also we did St. Nick on December 5th, I think, which I didn't do that with CJ this year, but we'd put our shoe on our fireplace and St. Nick would come and give us, like, a pre gift for Christmas, which was so fun because, you know, the anticipation until Christmas Day is so crazy.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

You get all the presents at once.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yes. And so it was always fun having that little like taste of and it was kind of the intro into the holiday season. So I think that'd be cute. Cute to continue.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's really sweet.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

From when I was really little at like the more traditional church we would go to as a kid, they did a Christmas pageant every year of like the Christmas Story. And they would always give the biggest candy bags. I remember this every year. That's what I remember. They gave the best, like candy bags, all the assortment. I really remember that. I also remember me and my brother, both are very fixated on traditions. I feel like, like, can you definitely kind of like that.

[Addie]

Blake definitely is that way.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah. We're both like that. We would always get Taco Bell on Christmas Eve and play Monopoly.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, that's fun.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

We did that one year and then the next year we're like, we didn't even have to have a conversation. Like, we're doing that again. We're gonna do this. We're gonna do this often. And so now every year on Christmas Eve, I'm like, this just feels kind of weird that we're not eating Taco Bell and playing Monopoly.

[Addie]

But. Well, that's like last year, Blake made a roast for either Christmas day or Christmas Eve. And he's like, like, so should I do a roast again? Like, he's like, we did that last year. So are we like going to keep this going and it be a tradition?

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I really think it gave us such a sense of like, stability. Yeah, I felt very safe as a kid and I feel like that played a role in that.

[Addie]

Yeah. I think I always hear about your guys traditions. Like I know your traditions. Like, I can tell you that on Friday nights, you spent your night at your grandparents house and then you'd watch cartoons in the morning with the eggo waffles. Like, you didn't need to tell me that. Blake has told me that so many times.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's sweet.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

We like really locked in on those things. I think it was like our family though too. Like, they really prioritized family time. It was nothing like extravagant.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Yeah.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

But like, that just made me feel so safe as a kid. And like it also played into Christmas. Like also we would get Christmas. This is a long one. We get Christmas Eve dinner with our Amish family.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I love that. Made great food. I believe it.

[Addie]

Okay, I have two more. And they're each directed towards each of you. One of you.

[Caller]

Hello. Always here. Ladies, I have a comment and a question. Oh, it's killing for Abby. First off, want to say I'm so proud of you. And the woman you are and the mom. You are talking about me, right? Excited for your guys podcast and journey. Excited to see where this goes. So my question is, what is something that I do sometimes but wish I did more frequently in marriage? So I'll leave it with that. Love you.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That is so sweet. Caleb is so tinder. It was just my birthday and he sent me, like, probably the nicest text I've ever seen.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

He read it to me and said, oh, my gosh. That was nicer than what I sent her.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That was so sweet.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I was like, that's amazing.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

So nice.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I know. I love that he sent that.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay. That's cute.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Something that he does in marriage. I wish he did more. That's a good question. Oh, I don't want to, like, put him on the spot.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Hey, he invited it.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I think he should write me more love notes. He used to write me love notes all the time and I have, like, I have pages of them. I. I save them like Matt does. And, yeah, they're getting a little stale, babe.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Refresh.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

We need a little refresh on the notes. Thanks for asking.

[Addie]

Okay, last one.

[Caller]

Hey, cutie, it's your husband, Matt. I just wanted to call in and first of all, say how insanely proud I am of you for launching the show. This is a really big deal, and I just. I actually can't believe you're doing this. I know you've talked about doing your own show with Abby for actually years now, so I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you guys. But my. My question for you is, what does it look like for a husband to adore his wife in a way she can feel every day, Right? Because I think there's big gestures that we can make as husbands to make our wives feel adored and loved. But you know, what's. What's maybe like a small thing, a daily thing that goes a long way and something maybe that really matters to you. So I love you. I'm so proud of you. And I can't wait to listen to the first episode go you.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's sweet.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

So sweet.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I thought of two things, but one of them is just so, like, why is it a big deal? But why do I, like, feel so taken care of when he makes my coffee in the morning? I'm like, ah, that just makes me feel. I don't know about adored, but, like, I don't know. I think it's. I'm a service girl. So, like, your words of affirmation are you.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I'm all of all of them. Okay. Yeah. There's quality time is my biggest one.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Okay. Yeah. Well, like, he's made my coffee the past, like, several mornings. Like, he just comes in with it. I'm like, you knew I needed that. But it just makes me. It feels like a movie. Whenever that happens, I'm like. I feel like I'm just living in a rom com where I just wake up and my husband super hot and makes me cough. But another one, I think. I think that I also want to do more of myself is just, like, acknowledging efforts, because sometimes I feel like with the daily life, especially as a mom and a wife, like, your role, it's just easy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

It's just.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

It becomes routine. And so it just becomes like, okay, like, this is what I do and this is what you do. But, like, I think it goes both ways. Like, okay, yes, this is an expectation that we do this every single day, basically, or every week. But just acknowledging it every single time or, like, a lot of the time still makes me just feel really seen and, like, appreciated and ultimately adored when that happens. He's like, gosh, this dinner is delicious. Like, thank you so much. I'm like, thanks. You're welcome.

[Addie]

Thanks.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah, I've made it for you 500 times. You love it.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

That's really sweet.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, we love you guys. I can't believe we did this. I feel I'm sweating, so.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

I am sweating as well.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I. I am excited. This is, like, the biggest thing I've committed to in a really long time. And I feel very honored that you asked and that you trusted me at this and that. I feel like you're right. This timing was perfect, and I'm excited to go on this journey with you guys.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah. I just shout out to everyone for all the work that came.

[Addie]

A lot of work for everyone.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Yeah, a lot of work going in, especially Addy. Like, thank you so much. We'll get some of the kinks worked out as future episodes go, but this was really fun and just really appreciate y' all supporting the show and tuning into our first episode. Call the number if you feel so inspired, and we'd love to listen to

[Addie]

you on the show.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

And remember, we're always here.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Monster Energy.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Everybody knows White Monster Zero Ultra.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

That's the OG it kicked off this whole zero sugar energy drink thing, but

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Ultra is a whole lineup now.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

You've got Strawberry Dreams, Blue Hawaiian Sunrise, and Vice Guava, and they all bring the Monster Energy punch. So if you've been living in the

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

White can branch out.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

Ultra's got a flavor for every vibe, and every single one is zero sugar. Tap the banner to learn more.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Close your eyes. Exhale. Feel your body relax. And let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh, my gosh. They're so fast.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

And breathe. Oh, sorry.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

I almost couldn't breathe when I saw

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

the discount they gave me on my first order.

[Abigail Howard (Abby, married to Caleb)]

Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order.

[Abby Howard (married to Matt)]

1-800-contacts.