What starts with Mitchell recounting an unexpected battle with nausea and a garden salad gone rogue quickly turns into a surprisingly thoughtful conversation about something we’ve all experienced: having house guests… and being one.

After Scarlet’s brother visits for a few days, Scarlet and Mitchell unpack the tiny habits that can make living with other people surprisingly stressful. From toilet lids and towels to parking direction and dirty glasses, they explore why seemingly insignificant details can become surprisingly meaningful when someone is sharing your space.

Is it about respect? Control? Different standards? Or are some people simply wired to notice details that others never even see?

Along the way they discuss family dynamics, differing personality types, marijuana use, forgetfulness, hypervigilance, and the complicated expectations we often place on the people closest to us.

As usual, the conversation wanders into unexpected territory, mixing humor with genuine reflection about relationships, adulthood, and learning to give each other a little grace.

The smallest habits often reveal the biggest differences in how people move through the world. What feels like basic courtesy to one person may never even register for someone else. Sometimes the challenge isn’t changing the habit. It’s deciding whether the relationship is more important than the irritation.

Are you the meticulous guest who leaves every room cleaner than you found it?

Or are you the relaxed visitor who thinks family shouldn’t sweat the small stuff?

Tell us your biggest guest or host pet peeve, and let us know whose side you’re on!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share Doing the Most with someone who has definitely forgotten to close a toilet lid.

Until next time…

Keep doing the most.

Episode 36 finds Scarlet and Mitchell recording their second attempt after deciding the first version just wasn’t working. What starts as a conversation about Oregon’s sweltering summer temperatures quickly spirals into tales of foul-smelling fly traps, overheated chickens, gardening triumphs and squirrel-induced frustration. Along the way, the hosts open up about something much more personal: how different communication styles can create tension in relationships, especially within blended families.

The episode balances laugh-out-loud moments with honest conversations about marriage, step-parenting, and learning to navigate conflict, before wrapping up with updates from the garden and a few television recommendations.

One of the most candid conversations the podcast has had so far.

Scarlet and Mitchell discuss:

The first garden is finally paying off.

Harvest highlights include:

The hosts also discuss:

Current TV recommendations include:

“We’re learning as we grow.”

If you enjoyed this episode of Doing the Most with Scarlet & Mitchell, be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Share the show with someone who appreciates honest conversations, relatable chaos, and finding humor in everyday life.

New episodes arrive regularly…assuming the squirrels don’t get there first. 🌱🐿️

Building a chicken coop sounded like a fun weekend project… until it wasn’t.

This week, Scarlet and Mitchell are fresh off several exhausting days of construction as they finally finish their backyard chicken coop and move the flock into their new home. Along the way, they discover that chickens aren’t exactly known for following instructions, debate future homesteading projects, and wonder if gardening and livestock have quietly become their entire personalities.

The conversation wanders into summer plans, family vacations growing up, memorable travel disasters, birthday traditions, and the experiences they hope to create for their own son. They also stumble into one of the most unexpectedly fascinating conversations yet: why many adults raised in the South still call their father “Daddy,” and why changing that feels almost impossible.

As always, it’s equal parts nostalgia, storytelling, humor, and figuring life out one random topic at a time.

Did you grow up taking family vacations every year, or were vacations rare in your family?

And if you’re from the South…

Do you still call your father “Daddy”? We’d love to hear whether that’s a regional thing or if you’ve experienced the same reactions Scarlet describes.

Share your stories in the comments or connect with us on social media!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share Doing the Most with someone who appreciates conversations that somehow begin with chickens and end with sociology.

New episodes arrive every week as Scarlet and Mitchell continue… Doing the Most.

Mitchell and Scarlet are back for another episode of Doing the Most, and true to form, they start with a simple conversation about raspberry sherbet and somehow end up exploring ADHD, hyperfocus, gardening obsession, medication names nobody can pronounce, and the growing list of projects taking over their lives.

The episode begins with a surprisingly passionate debate about whether it’s sherbet or sherbert, along with a few other pronunciation pet peeves that drive them both crazy. As nurses, Scarlet and Mitchell share stories about medication names that seem designed to challenge even experienced healthcare workers.

The conversation then takes a more personal turn as Mitchell opens up about feeling overwhelmed by his tendency to dive headfirst into new interests. What starts as a discussion about chickens and gardening becomes a deeper reflection on hyperfocus, productivity, anxiety, and the question of whether he’s been misunderstanding his own personality for years.

After reviewing the DSM-5 criteria for ADHD, Mitchell wonders if what he’s experiencing is something different entirely, while Scarlet offers her perspective from the front row seat of living with someone who tends to operate at either zero or eleven.

Along the way, they discuss:

As always, it’s a mix of humor, real-life chaos, and two people trying to figure things out while doing the most.

“I’ve always been zero or eleven.”

If you’re enjoying the show, subscribe, follow, and share Doing the Most with friends who are also juggling too many projects, hobbies, and half-finished plans.

New episodes drop regularly wherever you get your podcasts.

After a short break, Scarlet and Mitchell are back with an episode that proves life never really slows down. From surprise backyard chickens and first-year homesteading lessons to frustrating neighbors and Oregon driving habits, this episode is packed with the everyday chaos that comes with doing the most.

Along the way, they discuss flexibility, aging, forgotten childhood memories, gardening adventures, and why a simple steel plate in the road seems to cause a statewide traffic crisis.

🐔 The Chicken Expansion Project

🌱 Accidental Homesteaders

🧘 Trying Not to Become an Old Man

🐈 Living with Pets vs. Visiting Pet Owners

📦 The Neighbor Package Incident

🧠 Random Childhood Memories

🚗 So Tired Of…
This week’s frustrations include:

“We weren’t doing the most, so we added five chickens.”

Have chickens? Started a backyard garden? Know the secret to defeating squash bugs? Or do you also wonder why people stop for steel plates?

Let us know. We’d love to hear your stories.

Doing the Most with Scarlet & Mitchell is a podcast about family, pets, projects, parenting, and navigating the beautifully chaotic parts of everyday life. New episodes available wherever you listen to podcasts.

In this episode of Doing the Most, Scarlet and Mitchell wander through one of their classic kitchen-table conversations, covering everything from ASMR rabbit holes to accidental squirrel warfare, backyard gardening ambitions, and the sobering math of financial independence.

What starts with a discussion about oddly satisfying videos quickly turns into a neighbor confession, a garden update, and an existential detour into how much money it actually takes to stop working.

Spoiler alert: apparently a head of lettuce can cost about two grand… depending on how you do the math.

🌱 The Backyard Garden Era Begins
Scarlet shares what sparked their new gardening obsession, from thriving hydrangeas to raised beds, onions, kale, peppers, and dreams of eventual backyard chickens. They talk about learning the difference between annuals and perennials… perhaps later than most adults admit.

🐿️ The Great Squirrel Scandal
A friendly backyard habit takes an unexpected turn when the neighbor reveals that their squirrel feeding may have created an entire rodent empire… one that’s now destroying his landscaping. Cue neighborhood guilt, squirrel names, and some uncomfortable truths.

💸 How Much Money Does “Freedom” Actually Cost?
Mitchell spirals into a financial thought experiment: How much money would you need sitting in the bank at 4% interest to cover your bills… or replace your income entirely? The answer is enough to make anyone stare blankly at their raised garden beds.

📋 Wait… The Census Is Coming to the Door?
An unexpected visit from the U.S. Census sparks questions about privacy, civic duty, government data, and whether answering the door has become a high-risk activity in modern America.

🎧 Also in this episode:

“We’ve got a two-thousand-dollar head of lettuce coming up.”

Are you team feed the squirrels… or team protect the garden at all costs?
And if you’ve ever tried gardening, what’s the one thing you wish you knew before starting?

Connect with us on social media and let us know.

Listen, subscribe, and keep doing the most. 🎙️

This week, Scarlet and Mitchell are back in the studio navigating everything from Oregon’s aggressively uninspiring weather to the surprising emotional impact of heart emojis on Microsoft Teams. It’s a cozy chaos episode featuring five cats, double-digit vacuum ownership, and a public debate on whether dogs belong in restaurants (spoiler: it depends… a lot).

Somewhere between jury duty dreams and existential ennui, the duo proves once again that even the most mundane moments can spiral into deeply entertaining territory.

“That sounds like a him problem, not a me problem.”

If you’ve ever owned too many vacuums, questioned a coworker’s emoji choices, or silently judged a dog in a restaurant… this episode is for you.

👉 Follow, rate, and share Doing the Most with Scarlet & Mitchell
👉 Check out clips (and maybe the cats) on Instagram & YouTube
👉 Tell us: Are dogs in restaurants a yes or a no?

Welcome back to Doing the Most!
Mitchell and Scarlet hit the big 3-0… barely. Between shifting sunlight, unfinished house projects, and existential debates about flavored coffee, this episode is a beautifully chaotic slice of real life. If you’ve ever owned a home, started a “quick project,” or questioned your life choices in the coffee aisle… this one’s for you.

“A house a house is just a collection of projects.”

This week, Scarlet and Mitchell wander from ginger beer reviews to existential time audits—with a pit stop at Costco’s sample aisle (arguably the most dramatic place in retail). What starts as a casual chat about feeling “off” turns into a surprisingly deep exploration of how we spend our time… and why it never quite feels like enough.

The Costco Sample Social Experiment™
Why do people perform a full Broadway monologue for a free meatball? Mitchell and Scarlet break down the unspoken etiquette, the sample hoarders, and the mysterious lives of the sample employees.
Spoiler: “Enjoy” is the only acceptable script.

The “Minimum Effective Dose” Life Strategy
Scarlet explains her rotating self-improvement eras—skin, gut, hair—and how she goes all-in before scaling back to maintenance mode. Mitchell wonders if this approach could apply to… everything.

Toothbrush Time Machine Reflections
Mitchell shares his nightly ritual of mentally replaying the day and questioning whether he actually did anything meaningful—while comparing himself to celebrities who also had the same 24 hours (but probably didn’t fold laundry).

Time, Money, and the Illusion of Productivity
Do people with more money actually have more usable time? And is that the real cheat code to accomplishing more? Or is it about simplifying life instead?

Dreamer vs. Realist: The Core Debate
Scarlet and Mitchell unpack their fundamentally different worldviews:

Is one better than the other? Or do they balance each other out?

The Curse of Too Many Interests
Baking, piano, podcasting, reading, projects… Mitchell wonders if having too many passions is actually what’s holding him back from focusing on what matters most.

You’re a dreamer… and I’m a realist. And somewhere in the middle is probably where sanity lives.

This week, we’re going old school—no cameras, just conversation. What starts as a story about a surprise DJ controller purchase quickly spirals into something deeper: the gap between who we think we’ll be when we buy something… and who we actually are once it’s sitting in the corner collecting dust.

We unpack the “DJ Deck Effect”—that universal experience of buying into a vision of ourselves (artist, musician, photographer, gardener extraordinaire) only to face reality: time, effort, skill… and sometimes just plain disinterest.

From unused painting supplies to hypothetical bird photography careers, we explore how consumerism, creativity, and adulthood all collide—and why we keep falling for it anyway.

Then, we pivot into a different kind of stress: vacation planning. What is the ideal vacation? Relaxation? Adventure? Escaping your house but bringing your chaos with you? With a week off approaching, we wrestle with expectations vs. reality (again), and whether you can ever truly “relax” with a four-year-old in tow.

As always, it’s a mix of humor, honesty, and trying to figure life out… while doing the most.

“You’re not buying the thing—you’re buying the version of yourself you think you’ll become.”

What’s your version of a DJ deck?
That thing you bought (or almost bought) imagining a whole new life?

Let us know—DM us, comment, or send us a message. We promise we won’t judge… we probably own one too.