Leaving It All Behind for a New Life

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Bobby Bones Show – "Leaving It All Behind for a New Life"

Host: Granger Smith
Guests: Jeremy and Melissa
Release Date: February 3, 2025

In the episode titled "Leaving It All Behind for a New Life," Granger Smith welcomes guests Jeremy and Melissa, creators of the podcast and family vlog "New World, Old Soul." They delve into their transformative journey from conventional lives to embracing homesteading and self-sufficiency in the serene landscapes of Northern Idaho.

---

1. From Conventional Life to Pursuing a Dream (00:10 - 03:15)

Granger initiates the conversation by expressing admiration for Jeremy and Melissa's venture into simple living and innovative lifestyles. He remarks:

"You’re doing things that people only dream about doing. First of all, respond to that. Like, what does that mean when I say to you, how do you feel when I say you're living a lot of people's dream?"
[00:10] – Granger Smith

Jeremy responds by highlighting the surreal nature of their journey and the divine guidance they've felt:

"For us, all of this really has been a dream come true... it's been a tremendous blessing."
[01:47] – Jeremy

Melissa adds context to their previous conventional lifestyle:

"We lived very conventional lives before... Jeremy was a police officer and didn't love that because it was just this daily grind."
[02:19] – Melissa

---

2. The Catalyst: Transitioning from Law Enforcement to YouTube (04:16 - 08:31)

Melissa recounts the initial motivation behind their shift:

"I saw him start to almost despise the job... I thought, well, we can't have cattle and chickens are kind of gross. We did a couple hundred chickens and we thought. So I started raising rabbits."
[04:16] – Melissa

Despite Jeremy's skepticism about the viability of their rabbit videos:

"I thought it was crazy... but we enjoyed doing it."
[06:13] – Jeremy

Their content began to gain traction unexpectedly, leading to monetization opportunities:

"By the time we went back, we had YouTube asking us if we wanted to be monetized... it just kind of took on a life of its own from there."
[07:03] – Jeremy

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3. Embracing Self-Sufficiency: Moving to Northern Idaho (08:31 - 12:20)

The decision to relocate was influenced by a retirement plan and a desire for safety and self-sufficiency:

"We had a retirement plan of retiring in Idaho because we just thought it was a beautiful area and we felt that it was a very safe area to do the whole homestead."
[08:31] – Melissa

They faced the challenge of moving to a remote location, 30 miles from the nearest gas station, during the early stages of the pandemic:

"We called it the promised land. And we just... we both felt like that's what we were supposed to go do, but it was insane."
[09:18] – Melissa

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4. Building and Sustaining the Homestead (12:50 - 16:18)

Melissa discusses their journey towards self-sufficiency, including building their own home and establishing sustainable systems:

"We built the overwhelming majority of it... we put up all the walls and did all the Sheetrock drywall."
[15:18] – Jeremy

They currently rely on solar power to enhance their sustainability:

"Our big infrastructure project this year is going to be a big solar array... solar for us ultimately is going to be the ticket."
[16:00] – Jeremy

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5. Navigating Challenges: Homeschooling and Daily Obstacles (16:27 - 20:42)

Homeschooling their four children posed unique challenges, balancing education with their new lifestyle:

"We started homeschooling... my daughter, I didn't want to put her in the system because... I thought this doesn't fit all kids."
[12:50] – Melissa

Jeremy shares the family's struggle with unconventional living conditions, such as handling a composting toilet system:

"It was a five-gallon bucket system... we had to dispose of everything on the far end of the property."
[19:52] – Jeremy

Melissa emphasizes the importance of prioritizing their children's well-being over maintaining the vlog:

"We're not going to make memories through the lens of a camera. I want to make sure that I'm making memories for myself."
[31:18] – Melissa

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6. Reflections on Technology and AI Relationships (24:29 - 29:08)

The conversation shifts to the impact of technology and artificial intelligence on human relationships. Granger posits:

"People will develop relationships with these AI personalities, and this will be a huge demise to the human population."
[25:19] – Granger Smith

Jeremy and Melissa express concern over AI's role in society, viewing it as potentially detrimental:

"I think it takes away from everything it is that I desired for myself and my kids."
[28:53] – Jeremy

Melissa critiques prominent tech figures' influence on AI development:

"Are we not questioning what his actual motives are?... Meta. Are we not worried about this for the human race and for the human soul?"
[26:10] – Melissa

---

7. Balancing Vlogging with Family Life (30:39 - 34:42)

Jeremy and Melissa discuss the delicate balance between content creation and maintaining authentic family experiences:

"It's all about boundaries and balance... cameras take away from everything I desired for myself and my kids."
[33:15] – Jeremy

Melissa shares an anecdote about prioritizing real-life moments over creating content:

"Our kids were standing there, like, staring at us argue over the happy dance... the dance is dead."
[31:56] – Melissa

---

8. Listener Engagement: Addressing Relationship Issues (34:55 - 44:43)

Granger introduces a listener question from Samantha about repairing a strained friendship. Jeremy and Melissa offer heartfelt advice:

"It is worthwhile to put in that effort to maintain those relationships or repair those relationships because ultimately that's all we have in the end."
[36:16] – Jeremy

Melissa adds:

"Probably look at what caused those little irritations in the beginning and whether or not your friendship is compatible."
[36:16] – Melissa

They discuss the challenges of apologizing without self-justification, emphasizing personal responsibility in mending relationships.

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9. The Reality of Stress and Contentment (42:31 - 45:07)

The guests reflect on the inevitability of stress, regardless of one's environment:

"Our stresses are so insignificant to so many others, but we have, you know, just some self-imposed stress."
[42:31] – Jeremy

Melissa concurs, highlighting that personal expectations often drive stress more than external circumstances:

"I think we do a lot of it to ourselves with our own self-imposed deadlines and schedules and expectations."
[43:14] – Melissa

---

10. Homeschooling Advocacy and Child Development (46:43 - 50:24)

Melissa passionately advocates for homeschooling, emphasizing its benefits over conventional schooling, especially for boys:

"Kids are built so differently, especially little boys... the classroom environment... was designed for little girls."
[46:43] – Melissa

She contrasts their approach with traditional education systems, promoting a more liberated and curiosity-driven upbringing:

"Our nine... he's really into engineering and rockets and he's all over the place. When he tries to talk to another 10-year-old about it, they'll be like, you're weird."
[49:44] – Melissa

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11. Closing Thoughts and Future Engagement (50:28 - End)

Granger expresses admiration for Jeremy and Melissa's journey and openness:

"Thank you guys so much for sharing incredible wisdom. And it's just, I love the journey you're on."
[50:49] – Granger Smith

The episode concludes with a light-hearted exchange and a nod to future interactions.

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Notable Quotes:

• Granger Smith ([00:10]): "You’re doing things that people only dream about doing."

• Jeremy ([01:47]): "It's been a tremendous blessing."

• Melissa ([12:50]): "We started homeschooling... I thought this doesn't fit all kids."

• Granger Smith ([25:19]): "People will develop relationships with these AI personalities, and this will be a huge demise to the human population."

• Jeremy ([28:53]): "It takes away from everything I desired for myself and my kids."

• Melissa ([46:43]): "Kids are built so differently, especially little boys... the classroom environment... was designed for little girls."

---

Conclusion:

In this compelling episode, Jeremy and Melissa share their inspiring journey of leaving behind conventional careers and lifestyles to embrace a life of self-sufficiency, homesteading, and content creation. They candidly discuss the challenges and rewards of their choices, offering valuable insights into balancing personal dreams with family responsibilities. Additionally, their reflections on technology, especially AI, and its impact on human relationships provide a thought-provoking perspective for listeners contemplating similar life changes.

Transcript

[Granger Smith]

Well, this is a special episode of the podcast, and I am so glad that you two are with me. First of all, and I didn't plan this. I didn't wake up this morning and think that I was going to have you as guest on the podcast. But, Jeremy and Melissa, you came up to my house from Idaho long ways to record a podcast with Amber and I and your podcast, New World, Old Soul, and it's actually fantastic and very practical, and it's from the perspective of good, simple living, I guess you could say.

[Jeremy]

Correct. Yeah, I think that's accurate.

[Granger Smith]

Which is the vlog that you guys also have a family vlog. And I'm fascinated by your story, though. And so as we were kind of setting up for. For your podcast here at the house, I said, hey, do you want to get on my podcast and you want to join me? Because I think a lot of people could benefit from your wisdom and the way that you process things, because, a. It's relatable the way that both of you process things as a family. And it's also innovative because you're also. Although you're relatable, you're doing things that people only dream about doing. First of all, respond to that. Like, what does that mean when I say to you, how do you feel when I say you're living a lot of people's dream?

[Jeremy]

It's surreal. For me, we have discussions about that very thing on a pretty regular basis, because for us, all of this really has been a dream come true. And I think, you know, we felt called to do what it is that we've done, and it's. It's God that's really seen us through. And, you know, looking back for that reason, I think it's just kind of been surreal as a big, big risk for us to. To leave familiarity and take on a new chapter in our lives. And it's. It's just. It's been a tremendous, tremendous blessing. It really has been.

[Melissa]

Yeah, yeah, agreed. We lived very conventional lives before.

[Granger Smith]

Okay, start. Start with that. Where were you before? Because when I say dream, it's like, this could be my dream. I. I wake up in the middle of the night, and I go, man, babe, I just had an incredible dream. What was it? We moved to northern Idaho, 30 miles from the nearest gas station, started homeschooling the kids and homesteading with. The most beautiful mountains are the Sawtooth Mountains. What are they called?

[Jeremy]

They are the Purcell Mountains, the Selkirk Mountains, and the Cabinet Mountains. We are surrounded by mountains. Three different ranges.

[Granger Smith]

Yeah. So, babe, I had this incredible dream. Three different mountain ranges in northern Idaho and we're living our lives there. What are we doing? Well, we're still vlogging and have a podcast and you guys are living that dream. So start Melissa, with the. The conventional life before. Where were you before? So we can get to where you are now.

[Melissa]

We were right outside of Portland, Oregon, and Jeremy was a police officer and didn't love that because it was just this daily grind and we were getting by but we couldn't get ahead. And times were getting funny for police officers during that time. Yeah, there was a lot of cultural stuff going on. And my biggest fear for him, well, I saw him start to almost despise the job. And I felt guilty as a stay at home mom that he was going to a job that he didn't like and that was dangerous. And then when I saw police officers being in prison for doing their job, that was my greatest fear. And I thought, I have to get him out of this because we're just depending on him only. And he had so much weight on his shoulders. And I thought, well, there's this thing called YouTube and other people are doing it and maybe I could do it because I raise rabbits. So I started making rabbit videos.

[Granger Smith]

That's how this started.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, yeah. Believe it or not, you're living a.

[Granger Smith]

Conventional life, like in every sense of the word. And you're. What did you say? You're. You're getting by but not getting ahead.

[Melissa]

Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

And you're in Portland, Oregon, which, by the way, the last time I was there when we played a show at the Palace Theater. Something, something like that. I remember looking out of the window of my bus and there was a homeless man laying right outside the door with a needle in his. Stuck in his arm and his. The curb was his pillow and he was dead asleep. So that when we came out of the bus to go into the venue, we had to step over him. So that's, that's the kind of the setting. You're outside of Portland.

[Melissa]

Barely. Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

Living a very unknown lifestyle as a police officer. And how many kids at the time we had four. And you thought I'd make. I raise rabbits so we could do YouTube.

[Melissa]

Well, we started having this drive to become more self sufficient. I don't know why. In 2012, I just decided we need to start learning to grow our own food and raise our own meat. We only had an acre, so we started raising meat rabbits, which was very weird at the time. People were like, you're gonna eat bunnies and we're like, well, we can't have cattle and chickens are kind of gross. We did a couple hundred chickens and we thought. So I started raising rabbits. We had a big garden. We turned our yard into this food forest. And then we wanted to do more. We were like, we need 20 acres. One acre isn't gonna do it. And so we knew we needed to leave that area because it was so expensive. And I just thought, I'll teach people how to raise rabbits. So I was making dozens of dollars on YouTube and he was like, you were wasting your time. This is never going to do anything. Please stop making these embarrassing rabbit videos. Because, like, people at his work were being like, and this is how you take the hide off. And these are meat bananas.

[Jeremy]

Good times. Good times.

[Melissa]

Yeah. I just thought, this is the path, like, this is the way.

[Granger Smith]

What did you think?

[Jeremy]

I thought it was crazy. I literally thought it was a waste of time. I remember, I recall conversations that we were having at home, like, we can find better things to be doing with our time. That will probably be more fruitful. But we enjoyed doing it. It's what we were passionate about at the time. And so we just kind of kept going. She posted a video about how to process a meat rabbit. Didn't really check on it for a few weeks, and by the time we went back, we had YouTube asking us if we wanted to be monetized. And the video had like a million views. And so all of a sudden we saw some potential in it. We're like, hey, maybe we can devote a little more time, some, you know, additional resources to this and just see what happens. It'd be great to cover a bill on a monthly basis or, you know, be able to cover our groceries, what have you. And it just kind of took on a life of its own from there.

[Melissa]

Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

What kind of police officer were you?

[Jeremy]

I was a patrol officer for 10 years and then I needed a break. I was burnt out with shagging 911 calls and going to the same houses repeatedly, dealing with the same offenders, the same people. So I left the road and became a school resource officer. Did that for an additional three years, which was a great assignment. I actually genuinely enjoyed doing that. It was great just interacting with the kids on a day to day basis and feeling as though I was having an impact on these very young, malleable minds. So.

[Granger Smith]

So. Kentucky ballistics Daniel Arms from Arms family homestead.

[Jeremy]

He.

[Granger Smith]

He left. He was a Oklahoma state trooper. State trooper, which is funny. Lunkers tv. Rob Terkla is. He's back in the. He's back in the police academy now. So there's. There is a connection between being a police officer and a YouTuber.

[Jeremy]

Yeah. I watched Daniel specifically for a really long time and of course I was drawn to his content given that we had, you know, this shared profession in and was able to have a couple of phone conversations with him prior to us deciding to leave law enforcement and devote ourselves to YouTube. So he was a huge source of inspiration for us with what it is we were desiring to do. But it is really interesting. There are a lot of people with law enforcement backgrounds that somehow managed to work their way into YouTube trying to.

[Melissa]

Figure out how to get out.

[Jeremy]

Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

So, okay, so get me to the getting out. So how in the world do you get to Idaho from here? This sounds impossible.

[Melissa]

Yeah, well, we had this retirement plan of retiring in Idaho because we just thought it was a beautiful area and we felt that it was a very safe area to do the whole homestead. We're kind of prepper minded and we just like diving into stuff like that. Like, hey, no matter what happens, you could have this safe little homestead. And it was kind of a bug out property for us.

[Granger Smith]

Okay.

[Melissa]

And we thought 10 year plan, 15 year plan, maybe we sell it if the. We probably would have ended up selling it if we hadn't done YouTube because prices went up so high during the pandemic.

[Granger Smith]

Yeah.

[Melissa]

And we had this property for about six months, totally off grid, field in the middle of nowhere, no water to it, just nothing. And I was like, we should move to it. We should just. And he's just like, what are you talking about?

[Granger Smith]

She's making all these kind of decisions, which are crazy decisions.

[Jeremy]

Very bold woman.

[Melissa]

They were nuts. But I just felt like God was calling us out there. We called it the promised land. And we just. I called him at work one day and I said, I think we should go and we should YouTube it and we'll just. I mean, I was like, I made $800 last month on YouTube and I'm like, it's not going to go down if we go there. It'll only go up. So maybe we could figure out some other stuff. Like we can get by. We'll live in the trailer, we'll sell the house. And he's just like, okay. And like two weeks later, he quit his job. It was basically like we were running on adrenaline and faith and I don't know why. We just both felt like that's what we were supposed to go do, but it was insane.

[Jeremy]

Looking back at it yeah, that's wild, man.

[Granger Smith]

I mean, that is just. Daniel Arms didn't even do it that way. He had to get to a certain amount, you know, of income and to. But during the pandemic, all of us did crazy things. And do you think, actually if you think there wasn't a pandemic, do you think you would have been motivated to, to make that leap?

[Jeremy]

I don't know. I think that the desire definitely would have been there. I don't know that we actually would have followed through, though.

[Melissa]

But we didn't go till April of 2020 and it hadn't actually started when we.

[Granger Smith]

That's true.

[Melissa]

So when, when we started doing showings, like it all happened the same week and then it felt very meant to be. Like we're supposed to get out of here. And so we felt like, because we didn't even know what it was at that time, we didn't know how serious it was. Remember, the first initial reports were really scary and no one knew how serious or not serious it was. And we thought like, if this turns into Ebola or something, at least we'll be out in the mountains.

[Granger Smith]

Did you guys get vaccinated?

[Melissa]

No.

[Jeremy]

No.

[Granger Smith]

Did your, did your department require it?

[Jeremy]

I don't know if they ultimately did. I know a lot of agencies in. Within Washington state did. I wasn't willing to do that and take that risk. So that would have been something that we would have had to confront head on at some point, I assume. I don't think they required it.

[Granger Smith]

But there are people I know that are in eastern Oregon that want to be part of Idaho.

[Jeremy]

Yes. They want to secede from the greater Idaho movement. Yep.

[Granger Smith]

I also know I have some dear friends that I've traveled the world with. They're in Kansas Valley, Oregon, down south. And so there's. And it's the same in California.

[Jeremy]

Yes.

[Granger Smith]

You get, in New York, you get all these people that are kind of trapped in a state that's led by the ideas of the, the, the city, the liberal city that is pushing people out.

[Jeremy]

Yes.

[Granger Smith]

And it's, it's a shame because Oregon is an incredibly beautiful state.

[Jeremy]

It is.

[Granger Smith]

And so is California. So is New York. And in Texas, we feel that same pressure out of the city of Austin.

[Jeremy]

Right.

[Granger Smith]

And. And so you're going to get a trailer. You're going to go to the promised land.

[Melissa]

The promised land.

[Granger Smith]

And all the people in Idaho are like, no more Oregon. People stay out. You know, but you guys are going. We're going to, we're going to do this. So at what point did you start to formulate the idea of homesteading and homeschooling? And we're not just going to. We're not going to make a slight jump. We're going all in neck deep. We're going 30 miles, you told me earlier, from the nearest gas station. Where did all that come from?

[Melissa]

The land we bought. We've. I never actually thought we'd live on it. I thought, like, this is just really beautiful. It's a great investment. It's somewhere to put cash that we've been saving our whole lives. And so when we moved out there, it did feel very remote. We had already homeschooled our. That's what we did. I was a public school teacher before, and then when I had my daughter, I didn't want to put her in the system because being someone who experienced it, I thought, this doesn't fit all kids. And I feel like I could probably do better. I would know my kids better. And so I quit teaching. I called my principal from the hospital and said, I'm not coming back, which stinks because it was August, and she's like, what am I going to do for a kindergarten teacher? I'm like, I don't know. I'm not coming back. And I never did. So we had always homeschooled, so that was an easy transition.

[Granger Smith]

Okay. Okay.

[Melissa]

And so we weren't uprooting our kids from schools and these big friend groups. So that was an easier decision to make because if you have kids that are plugged into schools and programs and sports, you're now changing their whole lives.

[Granger Smith]

So what about sports now? Are there sports involved with your kids?

[Jeremy]

Yeah, they do gymnastics. Nevaeh, our oldest, is now 18 years old, but she. I told you, she plays guitar, has done music her entire life. Our youngest son, Eli, is actually really into bull riding. Somehow that's kind of taken on a life of its own as well. But he's been. He's been doing little rodeo events in Northern Idaho and had a lot of fun with that. But they each get to choose one thing that they want to devote themselves to when it comes to extracurricular activities. And so they have.

[Granger Smith]

Because it costs $50 just to get to their place, because Fuel, for sure.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, I'll buy us. That's. That's a fact.

[Melissa]

Especially in the winter time. Yeah, it's definitely. It's challenging when you homeschool. There's challenges that go with that. It's. It's not like, oh, they have every opportunity. Like, you're kind of lying to yourself if you say that it is different and they are more isolated and they have a smaller friend group and they get to pick one activity. And it's just the reality of it. I'm not going to say it's perfect.

[Granger Smith]

Well, there. There's also a big difference. We built this house here that we're in and we lived in the trailer in the barn. So there's a little bit of a parallel with the Smiths and you guys there. Except for one huge difference. And it's three letters. Diy. Did you build that house?

[Jeremy]

We built the overwhelming majority of it, yeah. The structure itself, we had things like plumbing and electric that were done just because I'm not real familiar with the cod. So we just brought in contractors to take care of that aspect of it. But pretty much everything else. We put up all the walls and did all the Sheetrock drywall. Yeah, it was a lot of work every day.

[Granger Smith]

How self sustaining is this home?

[Melissa]

It needs to be better. So we're going to start doing solar projects and things this year, but I.

[Granger Smith]

Have no doubt you will.

[Melissa]

We're totally self sustained with water. We have a huge garden, big food storage. So it's pretty much just power we need to improve at this point.

[Granger Smith]

Do you think solar's the ticket for.

[Jeremy]

The so so far that's what we're doing. Yeah. That's our plan for this year. That's our big infrastructure project that we're going to be working on is going to be a big solar array. You know, we've considered like propane generators as well. But I think solar for us ultimately is going to be the ticket.

[Melissa]

Yeah.

[Jeremy]

To making sure that we can provide for ourselves when we have to.

[Granger Smith]

Do you get a little bit of anxiety thinking like it's not there yet and if something hits, you know, if the world goes down in flames and yeah, we were almost there, but we didn't get it.

[Jeremy]

It's always kind of in the back of our minds, which is the reason we're prioritizing it this year. It's just been such a long journey to get to this point.

[Melissa]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. We felt more of that when we were in the trailer. It's like, oh, geez, if everything went down now, like we're stuck in this trailer. So it was night one, we're sleeping in the trailer. We had no home. There was like we had burned the ships. There was no going back. He quit his job.

[Granger Smith]

Unbelievable.

[Melissa]

So we're in this tiny trailer. How big was the trailer? 24ft.

[Jeremy]

It was a 26 footer.

[Melissa]

26Ft. It wasn't like one of those big fifth wheels or anything. It was not great. And it was like night one, it was freezing cold and the water pump broke. It froze and water just poured throughout the trailer. Night one. And I thought, what are we doing? Like, so the very next day we started building the tiny home in the shop.

[Granger Smith]

Okay.

[Melissa]

I was like, yeah, we can't do this. This isn't fair to the kids. So there's guilt and stuff that goes along with that is like, are we living our dream? Are we just being crazy? Are we gonna have to go back with our tails tucked?

[Jeremy]

Beg for your child back nine months in the trailer. It's doable.

[Granger Smith]

As a parent though, your dream is their dream. They don't get to have a dream.

[Melissa]

Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

Not yet, at least. How old were they at the time? Oh, gosh.

[Jeremy]

Veil was 13.

[Melissa]

Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

13 year olds don't get dreams.

[Jeremy]

Yeah. Well, yeah, she's along for the ride.

[Melissa]

Yeah, she wasn't long for the ride.

[Jeremy]

We had 13. 10, 8 and 4. 5. Yeah.

[Melissa]

He was little.

[Jeremy]

Yeah.

[Melissa]

20. 20. He was 4.

[Jeremy]

Yeah.

[Melissa]

Yep.

[Granger Smith]

Yeah. I, I, I, we were in, we were paralleling you guys around the same time. And so although we didn't have the, the Idaho winners and we were in a barn that was. You had Texas summers and we had Texas summers, though. Lots of scorpions and crickets and daddy long legs. Fascinating. Because you said, burn the ships. That's a, that is what we think is something Cortez said or did. At one point in my life I looked that up and we're not sure. Like no one's really sure if Cortez story. But it's so romantic.

[Melissa]

Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

That he, he, you know, he hit the shores and he said, we ain't going back to Spain. I'm burning the ships down. So that all you could commit to the new cause? Yes, because if I don't burn the ships, then you'll think there's a chance if it gets bad enough or if something, if we get sick enough or whatever happens, we could always pull the cord here. Pull the parachute and jump in the ships and go back to Spain. And Cortez burned them so that you have to commit. And you guys committed.

[Melissa]

Yeah, we had to sell the house and everything. We thought, should we rent it out? No, because it's too easy to go back. So I heard this advice. If you really want to succeed at something, put yourself in a place where you cannot fail. Like, if you fail, you're going to die. And so, and then that's how you succeed because it's sheer desperation. You will just keep going. And we had the kids depending on us.

[Jeremy]

It's a mindset, it's a philosophy. You know, it became our driving force behind getting everything done. I mean we'd wake up on days. We had a composting toilet system that we used for two and a half years. It was not fun, it was not easy. I was responsible for that task. And it just, like I said, it was just a mentality of no matter what, stay committed. Like you said, keep going.

[Granger Smith]

What was, what was.

[Jeremy]

Was a five gallon bucket system of rotating five gallon buckets that had to be cleane down.

[Melissa]

On a day to day basis with pine shavings. It wasn't one of those fancy composting.

[Jeremy]

So I would literally dispose of everything on the far far end of, of the property, which was a, a long walk, especially when we had two feet of snow on the ground. And that was our life for two and a half years.

[Melissa]

We called it the walk of shame.

[Granger Smith]

So you're walking poop literally through the snow?

[Jeremy]

Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

Man, what a story to tell the kids.

[Melissa]

He had the burden of the entire family in those buckets.

[Granger Smith]

So you say composting, but what I mean is that like improving the land or did you did it or were you just dumping it?

[Jeremy]

It was being dumped, so it's technically composted down since, you know, over the past couple of years. So yeah, it's composting in place. We plant plants a tree there one day maybe, I don't know.

[Melissa]

Let's just say we don't garden over there.

[Jeremy]

It's on the far far end of the property.

[Granger Smith]

Man. As crazy as it sounds though, I love that. And I remember, I remember our time was such a special time living in that RV because for one we were just so in tune with the weather, with nature. If it was raining, we all knew it. If it was hot, we all knew it. If the temperature was dropping, we all knew it. If, if there was a bat that got in the barn and the dogs were chasing her, we all knew it. If there were, you know, if a skunk made it into the barn, which happened, we all knew it. And, and I, there's a part of me that laments that living in a house that's, you know, kind of air conditioned and the insulated walls and you, you don't. Is it raining outside? Is it dark outside? Wow, I didn't know it's already dark in the rv, you know, Everything.

[Melissa]

Yep.

[Jeremy]

That sounds so familiar. I actually missed that era, that period of time for as, as miserable as it, as it was.

[Granger Smith]

Yes.

[Jeremy]

At times I, I relished in just the adventure of it. And kind of like you're saying, yeah, you, you were very familiar and aware of everything that was happening and I missed that as well. You become too comfortable when you have a nice house.

[Melissa]

Yeah. And you don't go outside anymore.

[Jeremy]

Heated, insulated, all the time.

[Melissa]

You're like go outside, play. And so the kids played more. They climbed trees.

[Granger Smith]

Same.

[Melissa]

Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

So the next question is, are our AI relationships more fulfilling?

[Jeremy]

Absolutely not.

[Granger Smith]

We'll take a break and I'm going to get to this.

[Amber]

A lot of people thinking about 2025 and New Year's resolutions and a lot of those are business related. In fact, a lot of people listening right now are thinking this is the year I'm finally going to start that small business. Something I've been wanting to do it forever and now is the time. It's going to be some kind of e commerce business. And I need a website and I've got the perfect product. I'm going to put it on there. But then you think it's too complicated. Thinking about the website, thinking about the checkout process, all the behind the scenes. How do you even get that going at all? Well, let me help you. @yiyi.com we use Shopify and we have for a long time. It takes all the questions about the technology out of it and leaves you to just be creative and sell your product. See, Shopify makes it simple to create your brand open for business and get your first sale, get your store up and running easy with thousands of customizable templates. No coding or design skills required at all. All you need to do is drag and drop. And then their powerful social media tools helps you connect all your channels and shoppable post and help you sell everywhere that people scroll. See, Shopify makes it so easy to manage your growing business. They'll help you with the details like shipping, taxes and payments from one single dashboard, allowing you to focus on the important stuff like growing your business. What happens if you don't act now? Maybe you'll regret it. Don't kick yourself when you hear me say this again in a year and you still haven't done anything. Established in 2025. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Sign up for your $1 trial period at shopify.com grainger all lowercase go to shopify.com grainger to start selling with shopify today shopify.com granger if you want to get a hold of me, an easy way to do it is cameo.com grangersmith cameo.com grangersmith you could order a video message from me saying whatever customizable message you want me to say. Happy birthday, Happy Anniversary, maybe a word of encouragement. Whatever it might be, I think it's a pretty good gift, especially for people you just don't know how to buy for. Get them a cameo from [e-mail] Grangersmith.

[Granger Smith]

So I mentioned, are AI relationships more fulfilling? What's the argument on that? This is an episode of a podcast you guys did.

[Jeremy]

It is. What did that stem from?

[Melissa]

It was people developing those AI, like, actual love relationships and compatibility relationships, which is so crazy. But I think we do that with our content creators, too, or our podcasters. We become very attached to these online personalities.

[Granger Smith]

I, I have been kind of like, preaching this to my band and crew for at least a decade, and for a while they were like, granger, you're so stupid. Would you stop talking about this? But as we, as we talk about AI and this interesting thing to think about as you're, like, homesteading and you're, you're so far from the danger of these things. I believe wholeheartedly that first, you know, I will be in robotics, and we all know it's going to be doing laundry and cleaning houses and mowing the grass and shuttling cars back and forth. I understand all that. And Elon is saying that every house will have one, and I agree with him. I think it's going to be eventually it's going to be like cell phones, and it'll really help when you're talking about, like, elderly and childcare. Even though it sounds horrifying right now, it's coming. But I think the thing that most people are missing is this, your episode. I think what people are missing is people will develop relationships with these AI personalities, and this will be a huge demise to the human population.

[Jeremy]

Agreed.

[Melissa]

Yeah.

[Jeremy]

Yeah. I think there is definitely an element of evil to it. That's my personal take.

[Melissa]

Yeah. Well, we were just talking about the, the Elon worship, which I know maybe this makes me very unpopular.

[Granger Smith]

What does that mean?

[Melissa]

I feel like when Elon Musk kind of came to the other side, right? He joined the Trump team, everyone got really excited to have him. Like, Elon Musk, he's the richest man in the world. He's so smart. And now he's dancing at Trump rallies, and everybody rallied around him without asking any questions. And he is such an advocate for the AI, Even though he'll go on a Joe Rogan podcast and talk about how dangerous it is, but he's pushing it. And it's. I'm like, are we not questioning what his actual motives are? Can we trust this man just because he's at Trump rallies? Does that mean that we need to put all of our support and trust behind him? Or is what he's ushering in dangerous and evil? And is it. I mean, it's clearly. It's not of God. It's not natural. It's not what God intended for mankind. So why are we all just like Elon?

[Jeremy]

Look at him dance.

[Granger Smith]

I saw him dancing to that point, and he was, like, doing the fist pump in the air. And suddenly I saw him in a new light. When I saw that, I was like, oh, he. Like, he's the guy in high school that's like, no one has ever noticed him. And.

[Jeremy]

Right.

[Granger Smith]

And all of a sudden, this is the. Although he's had more money than anyone in the world and he's. He's had, you know, incredible platforms, he's never had a crowd of people screaming for him. And all of a sudden, you could just see the kid in him. He's like, oh, this is great.

[Jeremy]

Elation.

[Melissa]

Yeah, I feel the same with, like, the Zuck. You know, Mark Zuckerberg was always this nerd, and now all of a sudden he's on Joe Rogan and he's feeling really cool, and he's getting invited to sit at the cool kid table, and he loves it. But we have to question those motives still, because you have to remember what they just did in the past and what they want to usher in in the future. I mean, his whole platform is called Meta. Are we not worried about this for the human race and for the human soul?

[Granger Smith]

Yeah. So you guys have a very successful vlog and podcast. How are you uploading these videos?

[Jeremy]

Using Starlink.

[Granger Smith]

That's what I thought you were going to say. That's what I thought you were going to say. That's interesting, right?

[Jeremy]

It is.

[Granger Smith]

Love it or hate it, it has. Very useful.

[Jeremy]

Don't get me wrong. Absolutely. It's an incredible innovation, for sure. I'm not trying to take that away from. Yeah. I think the whole concept of AI, especially when you start talking about human integration, just for me, again, personally, I think there's an element of evil to it, and it's. It's terrifying. I think it should be to most of us.

[Granger Smith]

At what point would you pull the Plug on the public presence that you have. And I know you've thought about this.

[Jeremy]

Yes.

[Granger Smith]

I know you've thought, like, I'm not truly off the grid until I'm also off the Internet.

[Melissa]

Yeah.

[Jeremy]

I think the response is going to be different for each of us.

[Granger Smith]

Okay.

[Melissa]

Yeah. Well, I think Jeremy would shoot the rider tomorrow.

[Jeremy]

I absolutely would.

[Melissa]

And walk away from all of it.

[Granger Smith]

What would. Before you go, what would. What would cause that.

[Jeremy]

I just crave purity and simplicity. And it was a big part of the motivation for me to want to move my family where. Where we did with where we are. And I do feel like the. The interwebs, if you will, take from that. So I'm not. Again, incredible technology and innovation, but I think it takes away from everything it is that I desired for myself and my kids and relocating my family.

[Granger Smith]

The blessing and the curse.

[Jeremy]

Yes.

[Melissa]

Yeah. Like, you're a vlogger as well, so you realize when you go on a vacation and you're just trying to take something in, but yet you need to make the vlog. There is. That's. I think that's a hard thing for the audience to hear too, because they're like, wait a minute. But as the person who's doing it, or you're watching your kid blow their birthday candles out and you're trying to get the right shot of that, you sort of miss it in real life life. So we'll literally have. We'll sing Happy Birthday and then we'll do it again for the camera because I want to see my son blow his birthday candles out in real life, so. Or we'll go on a vacation, and five days are for filming in five days, no cameras.

[Granger Smith]

Whoa.

[Melissa]

So it makes our strategic. Yeah, you have to be. Or it will. When you vlog your life, it can become all consuming and everything becomes content. And now your real life is a show and you miss your children growing up.

[Granger Smith]

But that's. That's a maturity that a lot of people don't get to in a short amount of time. How did you get to that?

[Jeremy]

I just had this innate internal sense of. I guess it's all. It's going to be subjective, but for us, it's like, yeah, we don't want to interfere with our family's reality. You only have one shot at raising your children. And we want to make sure that we are as present as possible for every moment, ideally. And so, you know, cameras have a tendency to. To interview inter. Interfere with that. And I always tell her, it's like, I don't Want to be making memories through the lens of a camera. I want to make sure that I'm. I'm making memories for myself.

[Melissa]

Yeah.

[Jeremy]

It's an ongoing battle.

[Melissa]

Like, at the very beginning, we would have our kids say certain things, or we would do these little skits that were fun and the audience loved them, and they were clearly skits. But our kids were having to play these roles. And then we finally just decided we used to do this happy dance thing. And then one time we got in a fight over it because he was like, no, you're not, like, gyrating, right? Or something? I don't remember what it was, but we had to keep redoing it. And then we got into an argument. Our kids were standing there, like, staring at us argue over the happy dance. And that was the last time we ever happy dance. People were like, bring back the dance. We're like, never. The dance is dead. The dance caused a fight.

[Granger Smith]

So that is such good parenting. That's such good foresight to prioritize their mental health. Because I'm a vlogger. We're not saying. None of us are saying that vlogging is bad or it's unhealthy. We're just saying it's good to have limits and to prioritize certain things. This might be an example for me. I filmed. I have filmed many blowing out birthday candles. But I also genuinely love cameras and filming and storytelling. Maybe that's part of the old songwriter in me and the current sermon writer in me. I love storytelling, and I love. One of the ways I like to do it is through a lens. And so I don't feel. Amber does, though. She feels just like you. She's like, I don't want to do this. And I'm like, hey, never. Will you ever have to vlog if you don't want to? And so I don't. She hasn't done it in a long time, but I am like, I love. I love filming and especially love now the collection of videos that we've put out that we get to watch these home videos.

[Jeremy]

Yes.

[Granger Smith]

In a way that we just wouldn't have. And so there's a plot, there's a plus and a negative. And I love the way you guys are just thinking through what's. What's the priority here.

[Jeremy]

Yeah. Yeah. It's just all about boundaries and balance. But I'm with you. I. Ironically enough, I love having all of those memories to look back upon. I'm just seeing the kids get older over time, you know, with our Home build and seeing everything it is that we managed to pull off for ourselves. It's. They're so incredibly precious to me. They're like highly polished home videos. So I love having that. It's just in your day to day life and routine. When it comes specifically to the kids, it's like I want to make sure that we're setting those boundaries and doing what I just personally feels right for.

[Melissa]

Yeah. If it were just us, I don't think that we would have that. These same tortured conversations.

[Granger Smith]

But with the kids, absolutely.

[Melissa]

It's always about their privacy.

[Granger Smith]

And we'll link these videos in description. And I would encourage people listening right now if you're not watching, to go to the YouTube version of this episode and comment what your thoughts are on this. And we've talked about several different things and I think vlogging being the least of these things, but more importantly, probably homesteading and the journey off the grid, which is where you guys are heading. So cool. And I would love to continue to touch base with you guys and, and see how this journey's going. Until one day I text you and you go, we're off, man.

[Jeremy]

That was it.

[Granger Smith]

Or you just don't answer because you literally don't have cell phone service.

[Melissa]

Shot the router. Yeah. Without wi fi calling, there is no calling.

[Jeremy]

Flip phone.

[Granger Smith]

It's fascinating. Can you guys help me answer some questions on here?

[Jeremy]

For sure.

[Granger Smith]

This is what we do typically on this podcast. And this first one. And by the way, these, these. Ant man just got me these like five minutes ago before we started recording. Five minutes before we started recording this one. First one's from Samantha. It says hi Grander. A close friend of mine and I had a falling out over something pretty small. But now it feels like our relationship and our friendship is hanging by a thread. I want to fix things, but I don't even know where to start. I'm afraid it might just make things worse. How do you handle disagreements with friends and know if it's worth trying to repair their relationship?

[Jeremy]

Samantha, that'd be a tough one for me to answer. I would say it's definitely worthwhile. I'm not always the best when it comes to forgiveness, let's say. So what do you got, mama?

[Melissa]

So you're a grudge holder.

[Granger Smith]

Do you agree with that?

[Melissa]

Yeah. Jeremy, when he draws a line, it's a hard line and it's permanent. And so it's something that we talk about and I think you'll continue to work on.

[Jeremy]

Maybe I'm a work in Progress, I would say it is worthwhile, though. And so it is. It is worth the effort. And I will heed my own advice here. Yeah, it is worthwhile to put in that effort to maintain those relationships or repair those relationships because ultimately that's. That's all we have in the end. Right. Is your loved ones, your friends and family. So definitely a worthwhile investment.

[Melissa]

Yeah. I'm gonna say if something really caused a big rift that was small, there was probably some stuff that happened earlier that caused something little to cause something to mountain, you know, turn into a mountain. So probably look at what caused those little irritations in the beginning and whether or not your friendship is compatible or what. What was the problem? What's. What's the actual problem? Because it's probably not what the small argument is.

[Jeremy]

Small. Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

So one of our. Part of her question is, I don't know where to start because she might make things worse. Do you have people like this in your life right now? Like when I read the question from Samantha, do you think, oh, yeah, I know that guy.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, for sure.

[Granger Smith]

Is it because of the homesteading thing? Is it because of the move from Oregon or.

[Jeremy]

No, different. No. Yeah, yeah.

[Melissa]

Yours is more childhood based.

[Granger Smith]

Oh, before that.

[Jeremy]

Yeah. Just. Yeah. Long standing family stuff.

[Melissa]

Yeah. Jeremy's had to kind of protect himself from the time he was a little kid, so his experience is different.

[Jeremy]

It's a defense mechanism. I know that. I'm a work in progress.

[Granger Smith]

So the home setting thing, it's getting even more complex now when you think of it in that way.

[Melissa]

It allows you to isolate yourself.

[Granger Smith]

Exactly.

[Melissa]

Yeah. Where you don't have to integrate. It's so easy to just pull back and live in this little comfort bubble. We're both extreme introverts. Usually an introvert marries an extrovert and the extrovert encourages the introvert to get out there and patch up relationships. And when it's two introverts and our comfort place is to pull back, we do that and then we tell each other, that's good. So that can be dangerous. Yeah, we're like, this is cozy. We love living in our acorn and in there we stay like a little squirrel family.

[Granger Smith]

So how in the world do you reconcile what you just said with going out and getting podcasts and going to Nashville and Dallas and now Austin? What do you guys. Yeah, how are you doing that?

[Jeremy]

It's a weird thing because it's not that we are like so withdrawn that we. We don't like interacting with people. We actually love having these types of conversations. Having the opportunity to speak with you and Amber today. We. We love people. We love getting to know people, but we also relish our privacy and having our own little cocoon of our own rules that we get to set for ourselves, I guess you could say.

[Melissa]

But there's a lot of bloggers like that. Have you experienced that?

[Jeremy]

Yeah.

[Melissa]

That are total introverts. You meet them and they're very different.

[Jeremy]

Yes.

[Granger Smith]

So you're. You're right alongside Samantha going, I don't know where to start. Is that what you're saying?

[Jeremy]

I would say I have an idea about maybe where you could start, but it's not always easy to get there. Where is it?

[Granger Smith]

Where do you start?

[Jeremy]

By reaching out. You know, having those tough conversations, potentially apologizing, saying sorry, Expressing the love that you have for your. Your friend or family member. Again, I would. I would have to heed my own advice here.

[Granger Smith]

But, you know what's hard is apologizing without passing the blame at all.

[Jeremy]

Yes.

[Granger Smith]

Because we have a tendency to say, I'm sorry you feel that way, even though I, you know, I couldn't help it. You know, like that. We don't always say it that way, but that's kind of what we think.

[Jeremy]

Yeah. It's very disingenuous. Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

So you know what I've had to learn? Interest. This is an interesting lesson for me. This is a recent lesson that I could do someone wrong when there actually isn't something morally wrong with what I did. But it could have been in the. The judgment of the situation that started the whole thing in the first place. So, for instance, here's an analogy. I could take Lincoln to the zoo and then take him into the gorilla cage, then grab him harshly and say, let's go. We have to get out of here. And when I do that to Lincoln, that's not wrong of me to be very intense and grab him and say, we have to go. We have to get out of here. It's nothing wrong morally. In fact, you would say, you need to do that. But the problem was the wisdom in taking him into the gorilla cage in the very beginning. So I could, in that situation, apologize to him and say I was wrong, knowing that me getting him out of the gorilla cage, there was nothing wrong with that. It was the wisdom. And so it's hard to apologize without bringing yourself into it at all.

[Jeremy]

Yes.

[Granger Smith]

Samantha might be there. Oh, maybe you are.

[Jeremy]

Maybe so.

[Melissa]

Maybe Samantha is helping you.

[Jeremy]

Maybe she is. Thank you, Samantha.

[Granger Smith]

Yeah.

[Melissa]

I think it's just human nature to want to Defend yourself, too. So anytime that you feel like you're being targeted or someone's attacking you, you want to defend yourself and you want to say, I did this even though it was bad.

[Granger Smith]

Yeah.

[Melissa]

I did this because you made me. Or it was your actions that caused me to behave this way.

[Granger Smith]

Yes.

[Melissa]

Even though that's not necessarily the truth. The way you react is on you.

[Granger Smith]

Yeah. Do you have a. Do you have a spot where you guys sit at your place and kind of look at the mountain, the different mountain ranges, and just think, this is, this is life. This is unwinding everywhere.

[Jeremy]

But I'd say our slider in our living room.

[Granger Smith]

What's the slider?

[Jeremy]

It's a big, just living room slider. It's our primary entry into and out of our home. And we gaze out at that beautiful, sheer, rocky mountain face that we have there.

[Melissa]

I think going out with the horses is our unwanted time. There's something about horses because they're so simple, but they're so complex. And when you just go out there and just sit with them and watch them and the mountains are there, that's where it's like the rest of the world shuts off. You can be so stressed out and he'll be like, let's go see the horses.

[Jeremy]

Soothing.

[Melissa]

Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

Can I ask a question that. This is not an indictment, but I'm kind of asking like the rhetorical question of all the listeners right now. What can you possibly be stressed out about in northern Idaho, 30 miles from a gas station?

[Jeremy]

Yeah, we're incredibly blessed. Don't get me wrong. Our stresses are so insignificant to so many others, but we have, you know, just some self imposed stress. I think it's, it's more just our own mentality and the pressures that we put on ourselves that is probably the primary source of our stress.

[Granger Smith]

So would you tell people that, oh, you can't escape it. Life has its burdens because of this fallen world we live in. And even going to northern Idaho and building a house and enjoying all the mountain ranges, you can't escape it.

[Melissa]

Yeah. Maybe if you were fully retired or you were. You won the lottery or something, maybe you really could escape. And I don't know.

[Granger Smith]

You know, I already know it's not.

[Melissa]

I know more.

[Granger Smith]

You're saying that you know it's not true. You know it's not true.

[Melissa]

I know it's not.

[Granger Smith]

Yeah, let's get someone right here that won the lottery and asking, and they would say, no, I got problems.

[Melissa]

Yeah, no, yeah, it's. I don't Know if you can ever escape it. I think we do a lot of it to ourselves with our own self imposed deadlines and schedules and expectations. And when is enough, enough? That's the age old question. So when you work for yourself, that's something that you have to just decide. Otherwise it takes over and you just keep working. And I think that's probably where our.

[Jeremy]

It'S, it's not situational or based on your setting. You're not gonna, you know, you're not gonna be able to ease those burdens based on a, a place. Yeah, there's, there are other means of hopefully pursuing and achieving that piece.

[Granger Smith]

You guys have the Uber driver problem. This is what I, this is what I think when I'm right with an Uber driver, I'm always like, how do you stop? Like if you're out, how do you not get one more ride?

[Jeremy]

Right.

[Granger Smith]

And then one more ride and then one more ride. And that's kind of the problem you guys have.

[Jeremy]

Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

One more video.

[Jeremy]

Sure.

[Granger Smith]

One more guest, one more podcast.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, very true.

[Granger Smith]

It's scary to not, to not enjoy the very life you escaped to.

[Jeremy]

Yes.

[Melissa]

I see that a lot with people that do. Content creation is when you're in control of your own destiny. Sort of say like you know, your own business, but it's your life. Those lines get so blurred. You have to go into it making hard decisions, otherwise you'll lose control, you'll lose yourself.

[Jeremy]

Our biggest battle is contentment. Yeah.

[Melissa]

Yeah. Finding contentment.

[Granger Smith]

That's because you have red blood and you are, have a heart beating and you're human.

[Jeremy]

Amen. Absolutely.

[Granger Smith]

I remember in the music days touring, it was, it was so easy to take one more tour date or one more tour date. And so I would decide, my brother was my manager, which is, you know, by God's grace. Tyler would help me through this, even though he, you know, managers make a significant amount of touring, so it's hard for him too. But I would be like, hey, you know, we're going to take off December. And every time I would say that we're going to take off December and January sometimes. But every time I would say that an offer would come in on December 15 that paid more than we'd ever made the whole year. And so then you're up against this dilemmas. Then you start compromising, like, well, it's just one date. So you call the band and they're like, well, it's my wife and I's anniversary and we, I kind of thought we were off December. And so we were gonna, you know, we had a nice dinner planned, and. And I'm like, you know, but. But this will. You know, I'll give you a bonus because this and you just never. That never ends. And it's not just touring. It's. Any of it. It's content creation. It's taking another uber ride.

[Jeremy]

Yes.

[Granger Smith]

Even in the beautiful northern Idaho.

[Jeremy]

Very true. We are not immune.

[Melissa]

It doesn't seem to matter if you change your environment. We're still humans. We still have those human tendencies and that fallen nature of wanting more.

[Granger Smith]

Would you recommend people to homeschool their kids?

[Melissa]

Yes, I would. I'm very passionate for homeschool because I think kids are built so differently, especially little boys. Little boys are little boys, and I think it's so important to let them be. And the classroom environment, especially kindergarten, first grade, is just not set up for little boys. It was designed for little girls. If you look at the psychology of the classroom, it's very. And then it becomes very military. You stand in line for your lunch, you have to raise your hand to go to the bathroom. You have to stand in little rows. You learn in little rows. You don't speak out of term. And I mean, now the schools are kind of. They've kind of lost control of that, but that's not good either.

[Granger Smith]

So I don't know to what. To that point, I've studied a little bit of the Comanches that they were the tribe that ruled where we are right now. Like, if it was 1830, we would be dead because they ruled this land. And they were the most brilliant, the most effective war horse tribe that we know of that has ever been on the face of the earth. They were incredible. It's an amazing study. The Comanches are unbelievable. And one thing that they did was they let their little boys be boys. They didn't put them in any kind of school until they were about 13, when they were becoming a man. They would go with the different men of the tribe, which is also interesting. Something we don't do. We just have dads today. But they would have the father and the rest of the tribe, and they would take that boy and they would take everything that he learned and harness it. Harness all that wild energy and focus it. And these men were incredible warriors. So the boys would fight. They would ride horses at like 3 years old, like maverick's age. They would be on horseback, on little ponies. They would be shooting blunt arrows. They would fight each other. They would punch, give each other black eyes. They would swim and the tribe would just let the boys go.

[Melissa]

Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

That's the opposite of what you just said about elementary school kids.

[Melissa]

Yeah, they tell kids to hold that question or don't ask questions out of turn. My little boy has a million and one questions and Maverick, too. He's just chatting the whole time and he has so many incredible things to say. And I feel like we lose that as we get older because it's trained out of us. We have to conform to survive in the school environment. And when you just let them be wild, they become these curious, innovative little kids and they keep that. What they have at 3 years old, they still have at 13. And they're interested in all kinds of weird stuff and no one ever tells them they're weird. So our nine, well, he just turned 10. He's into some different things. And he does, in a way, struggle to find friends his own age because he'll start talking about, like, the history of bulls and love it.

[Granger Smith]

The owners of I love this kid already.

[Melissa]

Yeah, Just like really funny things. And he's really into engineering and rockets and he's all over the place. But when he tries to talk to another 10 year old about it, they'll be like, you're weird. And then he goes, am I weird? But he doesn't. He didn't ever consider himself weird. Just curious.

[Granger Smith]

So people that can't see you right now, and even if they can, you're behind a table, but you're very pregnant.

[Melissa]

Yes.

[Granger Smith]

And you do not know this baby, if it's a boy or girl, might just be a little warrior in there or a very special woman.

[Melissa]

I think that it's a little boy.

[Granger Smith]

You think it's a little warrior in there? Okay. Little Idaho wild boy running through those rivers.

[Melissa]

Wild boy. Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

Well, I'd like to have you guys on again and then we'll know.

[Melissa]

Yeah.

[Granger Smith]

But maybe I'll just come visit you guys. Maybe that's. Amen. Maybe we'll do that. Okay, maybe we'll go visit. But hey, thank you guys so much for sharing incredible wisdom. And it's just, I love the journey you're on. And like I said, it's just like you're living a dream and I think it's fantastic.

[Jeremy]

Thanks, Granger.

[Melissa]

Thank you.

[Granger Smith]

Yeah, thank you, guys. Thanks for joining me on the Granger Smith podcast. I appreciate all of you guys. You could help me out by rating this podcast on itunes. If you're on YouTube, subscribe to this channel. Hit that little, like, button and notifications bell so that you never miss anytime I upload a video. Yee Yee.

[TurboTax Representative]

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[Melissa]

Oh yeah, yeah.

[TurboTax Representative]

Just do your own taxes in the app by 2:18.

[Melissa]

What if I have lots of forms?

[TurboTax Representative]

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[Melissa]

What if I had three jobs?

[TurboTax Representative]

Still 100% free.

[Melissa]

What if I once saw Bigfoot?

[TurboTax Representative]

That has nothing to do with taxes. So still 100% free.

[Melissa]

Now that's what I'm talking about.

[TurboTax Representative]

Now this is taxes. See if you qualify in the TurboTax app. Excludes TurboTax Live must start and file an app by 2:18.