Life lately

Sarah loved her kids’ winter musical performances.

Abby got her first tattoo with 13 other adult friends in Birmingham.

Reading lately

Sarah finally read the Crescent City series by Sarah J. Maas.

Abby enjoyed The Wedding People by Alison Espach.

Looking back on 2024 and ahead to 2025

We discuss the past year and look ahead to 2025. Also, surprise! This is our final episode of the podcast and we share our favorite episode and what the pod has meant to us over the last 8 years.

Our favorite episodes: Quitting, Hard times, Enneagram 8 Experience (Sarah) and Everyday superpowers and Personal policies (Abby)

And because we didn’t do a year in books episode this year, here are our favorite reads from 2024:

Sarah

Fiction: In the Wild Light by Jeff Zenter (ya fiction, best book I read for my program)

Romance: Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood (ya romance, set in the world of competitive chess)

Nonfiction: Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan

Most enjoyable: You Belong with Me by Mhairi McFarlane 

Memoir: This American Ex-Wife by Lyz Lenz

Audio: Starfish, by Lisa Fipps (j-fic novel-in-verse)

Read aloud: Two great ones: A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus (WWII about children evacuated from London) and The Swifts by Beth Lincoln (books 1 and 2, both equally delightful and we can’t wait for more)

Abby

Fiction: Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer and Sandwich by Catherine Newman

Romance: Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner (A+ sapphic romance set in the world of women’s soccer)

Nonfiction: The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Most enjoyable: Fret Me Not by Sarah Estep

Memoir: This American Ex-Wife by Lyz Lenz

Audio: Weyward by Emilia Hart and Earls Trip by Jenny Holiday

Read aloud: The Wild Robot by Peter Brown (Pepper was old enough this year)

Eating lately

Abby made egg bites like you can get at Starbucks.

Neil found a recipe for gnocchi pot pie, which is the best .

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!!

Life lately

Abby and Sarah both share about recent trips.

Reading lately

Abby enjoyed listening to Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle.

Sarah read Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy by Cait West.

Day in our (fall) lives

We share the details of our days from Tuesday October 22nd. You can also listen to our first day-in-the-life episode or similar episodes from 2020 and 2022 if you’d like to see how our days have changed. Links we mentioned:

• The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
• The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln
• Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over American, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan

Eating lately

Sarah enjoyed new camping food while Abby was disappointed with Texas fair food.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Life lately

Sarah has a running injury and is rethinking her fall race plans.

Abby and fam had an incredible long weekend at the beach.

Reading lately

Sarah shared two nonfiction hits: Behind Their Screens by Emily Weinstein and Carrie James and Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey.

Abby read yet another witch book, The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings.

Our dream lives

We talk about what we dream of for our lives in 5, 10, 20 years, as well as what dreams we’d have if money was no object or if we could go back in time and change things.

Eating lately

Abby has found the perfect snack for work: individual cottage cheese cups.

Sarah made a vegan chocolate cake for Neil’s birthday.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Life Lately

Abby is over the summer and ready for fall.

Sarah’s family is adjusting to new school year routines with HP in middle school.

Reading lately

Abby loved the witchy vibe of Weyward by Emilia Hart.

Sarah got a lot out of listening to Die With Zero by Bill Perkins. She originally heard about the book from this podcast interview.

Transportation update

We share our current transportation situations, how they’ve changed since our last episode on the topic, the challenges and joys of this stage, and our transportation dreams for the future.

Eating lately

Sarah and E are making Thai iced tea with boba (and these straws).

Abby enjoyed the taste of fall with a new apple cake recipe.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Life lately

Sarah and her people had an amazing week at family camp.

Abby is over summer and ready for school to start again please and thank you.

Reading lately

Sarah read the contemporary romance Better Left Unsent by Lia Lewis

Abby loved the trio of queer romances in the Love and Other Disasters series by Anita Kelly.

Choices in parenting

We chat about the ways in which we support our kids to learn to make decisions and how that’s changed in the different seasons of parenting.

Eating lately

Abby made the crunchy roll bowl from Pinch of Yum.

Sarah and E are testing out a chocolate peanut butter cake recipe.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Life Lately

Abby is starting a new job.

Sarah loved the show The Break: A New Rock Musical.

Reading lately

Abby thoroughly enjoyed Ink, Blood, Sister, Scribe by Emma Törzs.

Sarah recommends two romantic comedies: Funny Story by Emily Henry and The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren.

Checking in on 2024

We reflect on how the year is going so far, remind ourselves of our words for the year, and look ahead to the second half of 2024.

Eating lately

Sarah tried a new breakfast casserole (with croissants!).

Abby’s family enjoyed this street corn recipe.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Life lately

Sarah’s children are out of school and summer has begun!

Abby is eagerly anticipating a friend group camping trip to Rickwood Caverns State Park.

Reading lately

Sarah read the nonfiction book The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.

Abby enjoyed the spicy romance Scandalized by Ivy Owens, which is a pseud for Lauren Billings (half of romance-writing duo Christina Lauren).

Family life lately

We chat about what’s going well and not so well in our families these days, as well as share some optimism about things that have been hard in the past and aren’t any more.

Eating lately

Abby is very into these probiotic sodas from Trader Joe’s.

Sarah introduced her children to cinnamon sugar bagels, and they are a hit.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Life lately

Abby’s family is down to one car after the Volvo’s transmission died.

Sarah graduated from library school!

Reading lately

Abby listened to You Need a Budget by Jesse Meacham and Sarah read the YA historical fiction novel We Are Not Free by Traci Chee.

Obsessions

We share what we’ve been into lately, from camping to curry. Links mentioned:

• 1000 Hours Outside podcast about camping
• Where Should We Camp Next? Budget Camping by Stephanie and Jeremy Puglisi

Eating lately

Sarah is making curry with these curry pastes.

Abby was delighted when her favorite vanilla creme donuts were back in stock.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Life lately

Sarah (along with all of Bloomington) is prepping for April 8’s solar eclipse.

Abby got a puppy! Meet Edie:

Reading lately

Sarah highly recommends the YA novel, In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner (especially the audio version).

Abby has been slowly making her way through the first three books of the Her Royal Spyness series by Rhys Bowen.

Getting stuff done

We chat about how good we are at getting things done, which tasks are easy for us to start and finish, and whether anything helps us check things off our lists.

Eating lately

Abby hacked a grocery store cookie cake for Pepper’s birthday.

Sarah tried out this Pad Thai recipe.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Life lately

Abby is feeling good about their family’s summer plans.

Sarah’s kids are enjoying some winter hobbies.

Reading lately

Abby read True Biz by Sara Nović and Sarah read S.K. Ali’s young adult novel Saints and Misfits.

Looking ahead to turning 40

As we enter the last year of our 30s, we look back over the last decade, look ahead to our 40s, and share how we hope to celebrate our milestone birthdays.

Eating lately

Sarah tried two new focaccia recipes but had the most success with this one from Alexandra Cooks.

Abby shares about a new Trader Joe’s product: garlic asiago cheese dip.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!