In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about therapy, inner child healing, inner teen conflict, small habits, and what it has looked like to start rewiring my brain one tiny choice at a time. We also catch up on D23, Disney, cheer season, summer rhythms, and an upcoming surgery, but the heart of this one is learning that structure is not always a prison. Sometimes it is care. If you have ever felt stuck between who you want to become and the old patterns that keep pulling you back, this is a soft place to land.

00:00 Weeks in a Row Is Basically a Habit
00:22 I Got Invited to D23
03:56 Surgery, Disney, and Life Updates
05:20 Cheer Season and Summer Rhythms
08:16 Doing the Work in Therapy
09:13 Mantras Are Not Enough Without Tiny Choices
10:12 The Inner Conflict I Have Been Feeling
11:51 Inner Child and Inner Teen Conflict
13:23 Small Habits and Actually Enjoying Your Life
14:13 My Morning Routine Right Now
18:27 When an Optimal Day Feels Peaceful
19:30 Why Structure Can Feel Like Rebellion
21:25 I Get To, Not I Have To
23:04 Structure Is Not a Prison
24:27 Caring for Myself in the Present
26:06 Stop Calling Yourself the Hot Mess Express
27:17 When Pain Forces a New Pattern
30:31 You Are Safe Now
32:20 It Might Not Be Who I Am Yet
34:05 You Are Not the People Who Hurt You
36:04 Choosing One Small Loving Thing
38:25 Learning to Live Harmoniously Inside
40:20 Changing the Way We Talk to Ourselves
41:19 Why My Insides Were in Conflict
42:25 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about rejection, slow seasons, faith, boundaries, work changes, and the reminder I keep coming back to: no means new opportunity. I share what it has felt like to be in a season where things are shifting, content creation is slower, relationships are changing, and therapy is helping me learn that being strong is not the same as being brave. Sometimes the brave thing is saying no, blocking the number, circling the wagons, and trusting that the path is being cleared even when it feels confusing.

00:00 Welcome to the New Shelf Corner
01:00 Thank You for Being Here
02:07 When Life Feels Uprooted
03:08 Sharing Without Owning Everyone’s Reaction
04:16 A Season of Cinching
06:12 When Work Gets Slow
07:08 Scarcity Mindset and Closed Doors
09:28 When the Plan Changes
12:04 A Path Being Cleared
13:29 No Means New Opportunity
14:46 Relationships Have Seasons
16:25 Strong Is Not the Same as Brave
20:18 Growing Into a New Season
23:05 When Slow Feels Like Something Is Being Taken
26:33 Your Yes Is Coming
29:17 Saying No So a Better Yes Can Come
34:40 You Are Not Alone in the Waiting
36:39 Being Brave Enough to Block
38:56 JOMO and Circling the Wagons
40:31 Slow Growth Is Still Growth
41:48 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about social media comparison, consumerism, aesthetic identity, and why your real life was never meant to be judged by someone else’s curated video. We start with Savannah Bananas, margaritas, and a date night that did not need to be fancy to be perfect, then we get into car kits, lip gloss, doom scrolling, content creation, and editing your environment. If you have ever looked up from your phone and felt worse about your home, your body, your people, or your life, this one is for you. You are not an aesthetic. You are a kaleidoscope.

00:00 Welcome to the Other Side of My Room
00:38 Savannah Bananas Date Night
02:23 Hot Dogs, Margaritas, and Living on the Edge
04:17 Why the Lawn Seats Were Perfect
08:18 Sports, Tiny Humans, and New Paths
09:35 Technical Issues and Showing Up Anyway
12:04 You Are Not an Aesthetic
13:00 Consumerism and Filling a Void
13:54 Car Kits and Comparing Your Life
15:11 Being Yourself in Different Settings
17:19 Kids, Social Media, and Lifetime Effects
19:07 Want Versus Need
20:16 The Instagram Comparison Spiral
22:12 Doom Scrolling Still Feeds You
23:20 Trad Wife Content and Planned Reality
26:58 Gratitude and Editing Your Environment
28:39 Looking Up From Your Phone
31:44 When Did Hand Sanitizer Become Your Value?
35:29 Who Am I Buying This For?
38:36 Aesthetic Became Identity
43:25 You Are a Person, Not a Trend
46:22 Treat Your Phone Like a Tool
47:13 Why I Keep Showing Up
49:11 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about parenting, projection, activities, milestones, and the way we can accidentally box our tiny people into who they used to be. From cheerleading tryouts to learning differences to realizing I had missed how much one of my girls had grown, this one is about stretching kids without pressuring them, letting them change, and remembering that their timeline is not about us. And honestly, it is for us too. You are allowed to be more than one thing. You are allowed to change your mind.

00:00 Audio Only, But Still Here
00:39 Speaking From Personal Experience
01:39 Cheerleading and Tiny People
02:15 Parenting Projection
02:33 When We Box Kids In
03:16 Milestones Are Different for Every Child
04:37 Comparing Siblings
05:16 Peer Pressure at Amusement Parks
07:29 You Are Allowed to Grow and Change
09:01 Kids Changing Their Interests
10:31 Protecting Them From Disappointment
11:26 Learning Differences and Parent Teacher Conferences
13:04 Stretching Without Pressuring
14:33 Running Their Own Race
15:28 Your Season Was Not Today
16:30 Boxing Ourselves In Too
18:08 When Mom Identity Gets Too Heavy
20:03 Your Best Is Enough This Week
21:40 You Are More Than One Thing
24:51 Do Not Hold People Hostage to Old Versions
26:28 Adults Change Too
28:30 Tiny People Need Choices
30:22 Winning, Losing, and Building Character
31:56 Seeing the Growth You Missed
32:44 Just Because It Is Uncomfortable
33:37 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about grief, losing my mom, Mother’s Day, and the moment my body basically said, babe, we cannot keep moving around this anymore. This year, my mom’s birthday hit differently, and I realized my grief has changed because I have changed. I talk about nervous system exhaustion, motherhood, mental load, self care that does not always look cute, and learning to honor what grief needs now. If you are grieving something or someone and your old way of coping is not working anymore, you are not alone in that.

00:00 Jumping Right In
00:21 The Intro Music Is a Bop
03:42 Cheer Coach Meeting and Tiny People
07:13 Born in the 1900s Stanley Stickers
08:02 My Mom Was Not on Vacation
09:32 My Mom, Codependency, and Generational Healing
13:04 I Moved Around the Grief
15:02 Scheduling Time to Cry
16:25 When My Body Shut Down
17:59 The Responsibility of Motherhood
19:03 The Nervous System of It All
20:09 Self Care Looks Different Now
23:01 My Grief Has Changed Because I Have Changed
24:30 I Could Not Grieve Like My 20s Anymore
27:37 Learning Not to Set People Up for Disappointment
31:03 Grief, Mother’s Day, and Changing Needs
34:38 You Are Not Meant to Be Cirque du Soleil
36:59 We Had to Stop Stepping Around It
39:10 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about raising girls’ girls, kindness with boundaries, jealousy, comparison, and the way insecurity can make us act like people we do not even like. I share why I was not always a girls’ girl, what younger me had to unlearn, and why I want my tiny queens to know that someone else’s compliment is not their criticism. This one is for the moms raising tiny humans, the women healing old friendship wounds, and anyone learning that kindness is not weakness.

00:00 Back in the Closet
01:15 One Bar Left to Give
01:43 Going Live Again
02:16 The Under Eye Filler Comment
04:46 Showing Up Anyway
05:38 Mr. Coffee Sent the Machine
07:09 My Mom’s Birthday Week
08:01 The Girls’ Girl Video
10:14 I Was Not Always a Girls’ Girl
12:02 Exposing Younger Amanda
14:37 Tearing Someone Down to Feel Chosen
16:31 Healing the Hurt
18:38 Feelings Are Not the Boss of Behavior
19:17 Preparing Girls for the World
21:25 Kindness With Boundaries
24:07 The Pollyanna Jam Example
28:40 Their Encouragement Is Not Your Discouragement
30:18 Not Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop
34:28 What Being a Girls’ Girl Means
37:18 Jealousy, Growth, and God’s Timing
41:30 Kindness Is Not Weakness
43:30 You Can Change the Sheets
45:52 Yesterday You Is Not the Whole Story
47:27 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m sharing about my brother Adam, grief, addiction, and the complicated pain of loving someone while also needing boundaries. This one is tender, personal, and heavy, because grief after addiction does not fit into a neat little box. I talk about mourning someone while they are still alive, protecting memories that feel too precious for everyone to hold, and learning that grief is not linear. If you have loved someone through addiction or lost someone in a complicated way, I hope this feels gentle and honest.

00:00 Welcome and Why This Feels Nervous
02:19 What Grief Does and Does Not Feel Like
03:41 Adam’s Story and Losing Him in 2019
06:04 How Addiction Started
08:06 Watching Addiction Change a Sibling
10:36 Loving an Addict Is Complicated
13:35 Grieving Someone Before They Die
16:54 You Can Change Your Story
18:16 Shame, Faith, and Addiction
21:05 Motherhood and Seeing Every Person as Someone’s Baby
24:15 Grieving While They Are Still Alive
27:03 The Life I Imagined for Him
30:11 Loving Someone in Addiction Is Hard
33:09 Dopesick and Grief Triggers
35:24 Protecting the Snow Globe of a Memory
40:20 Bringing Addiction Into the Light
43:14 Grief Is Not Linear
47:55 Finding Safe People for Grief
50:27 Holding Hope and Boundaries
52:30 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about marriage, communication, household labor, and the sneaky little scoreboard that can show up when we are tired, overwhelmed, and not saying what we actually need. I share what I’ve learned in my own relationship with Blake, including the tap in method, why social media can feed resentment, and how asking “what do you mean by that?” has helped us slow down before everything turns into a whole thing. This is not relationship advice from a pedestal. It is a long voicemail from someone still learning how to communicate, not condemn.

00:00 Getting Comfy and Welcome Back
00:46 I Got the Cheer Coach Position
01:51 The Besties Picked Relationships
02:31 Don’t Hear What I’m Not Saying
03:16 Will Blake Come on the Podcast?
05:15 Marrying the Person and the Family
06:32 People Get More Pronounced With Age
08:56 What Makes Marriage Hard?
11:01 Stop Expecting Someone to Change
12:07 Almost Not Walking Down the Aisle
13:52 Household Labor Is a Loaded Question
16:20 The Danger of Keeping Score
18:00 The Tap In Method
20:05 Social Media Can Feed Resentment
23:25 The Stair Meltdown and Therapy
24:14 Communicate, Don’t Condemn
27:14 Keep Getting to Know Your Partner
30:17 Listening to Your Partner’s World
34:59 What Do You Mean By That?
37:05 Put a Pin in the Argument
38:38 Pluck a Weed, Don’t Grow a Root
40:14 How We Tap Out and Tap In
43:15 Cheap Dates and Real Connection
45:18 Your Partner Was Once a Tiny Person
47:08 Relationships Are the Best Kind of Work
49:30 If You Have Not Heard This Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m finally sitting back down with y’all and talking about why the podcast paused, what judgment and comparison did to my heart, and why I’m choosing to come back anyway. This one is about ordinary life, social media consumption, grief, motherhood, therapy, boundaries, and the kind of steady season that can feel boring until you realize the house is not on fire anymore. If your normal life has started to feel small next to everyone else’s, I hope this feels like a reminder that you are not behind. You are in your chapter.

00:00 Welcome Back to the Podcast
01:06 Why the Podcast Paused
02:43 What This Season Will Hold
04:15 Saying Dreams Out Loud
05:22 Purpose, Pain, and Still Being Here
07:01 Finding Joy in the Ordinary
08:16 When Life Changes Overnight
10:30 Social Media and Community
12:03 Gratitude Without Toxic Positivity
13:18 What We Choose to Consume
14:41 When Comparison Becomes the Dictator
16:15 Other People’s Opinions
18:10 Coming Back in the Most Me Way
19:29 You Are in Your Chapter
20:45 When the House Is Not on Fire
22:26 Existing Is Extraordinary
24:10 Relationships, Gifts, and Expectations
26:14 Raising Tiny Kind Humans
28:34 What Is Coming This Season
29:32 Ordinary and Normal Can Be the Goal

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about pain, self worth, surgery recovery, friendship, therapy, faith, and what happens when life strips away the version of you who can perform, produce, help, and hold everything together. This is not medical advice, just lived experience from a year that changed me. I talk about chronic pain, the anniversary feeling around last year’s anal fissure, little Amanda, Hoover people, food and fiber, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and the belief I am trying to unlearn: that I am only worthy when I am useful. You are allowed to be loved at 0 percent.

00:00 Back Again and Working on Consistency
00:32 A Special Episode About Pain
01:30 Surgery, Healing, and Being Honest
02:39 The Sound That Finally Fit
03:30 Sharing Health Without Overwhelming People
04:23 Turning 37 and Finding the Real Me
05:19 The Anniversary of Pain
06:57 Pain and the People Who Show Up
08:29 When You Stop Reaching First
09:40 Pain as a Catalyst
11:22 Feelings Are Indicators, Not Dictators
12:21 Food, Fiber, and Body Changes
16:24 What Surgery Brought Up
17:43 The Let Them Theory and the Fire
19:24 Little Amanda and the Apple Core
22:26 Going Internal Instead of Blaming
23:30 Self Worth Tied to Achievement
25:58 What Pain Taught Me to Notice
29:30 You Do Not Have to Niche Yourself
30:06 Losing My Mom and Brother
31:49 When the Friendship Circle Gets Smaller
34:41 Standing in Your Own Fire
36:00 Chronic Pain Warriors
36:18 Sitting With the Younger Part of Me
38:25 Talking Back to the Trigger
39:27 Someone Will Always Have a Version of You
40:21 The Message for Whoever Needs It
41:35 Your Pain Is Valid
42:11 Loved at 0 Percent