Hey mama,

Have you ever kept quiet because you didn’t want to rock the boat? Said yes when you really wanted to say no? Smoothed something over, avoided a hard conversation, or pushed down what you were feeling because keeping the peace seemed easier?

Many of us have learned to think of peace as the absence of conflict. But there’s a difference between peacekeeping and peacemaking.

Peacekeeping can look like staying silent, people-pleasing, avoiding discomfort, or sacrificing our own needs so everyone else stays happy.

Peacemaking asks something different of us. It can mean telling the truth with kindness, setting a boundary, listening with curiosity, apologizing when we’ve caused hurt, or being willing to stay present when a conversation gets uncomfortable.

So where might you be keeping the peace instead of creating it? What are you afraid might happen if you speak honestly?

Are you listening to understand or simply waiting to defend your side?

What are you bringing into the room when conflict arises?

And what might it look like to choose connection without abandoning yourself?

In this episode, I’m joined by Michelle Keil, The Doodle Coach, for a conversation about what real peacemaking can look like in our everyday relationships and why genuine peace doesn’t always mean everyone agrees or no one feels uncomfortable.

You don’t have to eliminate every disagreement or get every relationship right. Sometimes peacemaking begins with simply choosing how you want to show up.

This episode is part of the I’ve Got You Mama podcast — a show for moms and women who want to care for their whole self, live with intention, and find joy without pressure or burnout.

Connect with Michelle: https://thedoodlecoach.com/

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Next week on the podcast, I’m talking with Susanna Peace Lovell about the cost of caring and finding yourself when motherhood doesn’t look like you expected.

Whenever you’re ready, press play.

I’m really glad you’re here.

And I’ve got you, mama.

Hey mama,

Have you ever been frustrated with someone because they didn’t do something you never actually asked them to do?

They should have noticed. They should have remembered. You shouldn’t have to ask.

We all carry expectations into our relationships, and many of them feel so obvious to us that we don’t even recognize them as expectations. We assume the people who love us should simply know. And when they don’t, it can start to mean something much bigger: If you really knew me, you would know. If you really cared, you would have noticed.

In this episode, we’re talking about a coaching concept called manuals or the invisible instruction books we sometimes have for how the people in our lives should behave.

What rules have you quietly written for the people you love? Have you ever actually told them what you want? What are you making it mean when they don’t meet an expectation? Are you measuring how much someone loves you by whether they love you the way you would? And what changes when you communicate what you want while still allowing the other person to choose what they do with that information?

We’ll also talk about an important distinction between requests, boundaries, and manuals because letting go of a manual doesn’t mean having no expectations, tolerating poor behavior, or pretending you aren’t disappointed. It means recognizing what belongs to you and what belongs to the other person, communicating more clearly, and deciding what you want to do with the information their behavior gives you.

You may discover a few expectations worth communicating and a few you’re ready to release.

This episode is part of the I’ve Got You Mama podcast — a show for moms and women who want to care for their whole self, live with intention, and find joy without pressure or burnout.

There are no formal resources mentioned in this episode.

(Any links, programs, or tools referenced will always be listed here for clarity.)

If this episode resonated, I’d love for you to:

subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss future episodes

share this conversation with a friend who might need this message right now

Next week on the podcast, we’ll continue our relationship series with a conversation about peacemaking versus peacekeeping and why creating real peace sometimes requires us to have the difficult conversations we’d rather avoid.

Whenever you’re ready, press play.

I’m really glad you’re here.

And I’ve got you, mama.

Hey mama,

Have you ever walked away from a conversation with someone you love wondering how the two of you could have experienced the exact same interaction so differently?

You know what you said. They know what they heard. And somehow, those can feel like two completely different things.

Relationships are complicated because none of us enters them as a blank slate. We bring our history, beliefs, insecurities, expectations, sensitivities, and past experiences with that person. And they bring all of theirs too.

So when something happens between us, we're rarely responding only to what happened. We're also responding to what we think it means.

What actually happened?

What are you making it mean? I

s an old hurt or insecurity influencing how this moment feels?

Are you assuming you know what the other person is thinking? Or is there a real pattern in the relationship that needs to be addressed?

In this episode, we're looking at three parts of every relationship: what I bring, what you bring, and what actually happens between us.

Understanding those pieces can help us separate facts from interpretations, recognize the loops we sometimes create with each other, and approach our relationships with a little more curiosity.

You don't need to dismiss what you're feeling or convince yourself that everything is fine. Sometimes there really is something happening in a relationship that deserves your attention. This is simply an invitation to slow things down enough to better understand what you're responding to.

This episode is part of the I've Got You Mama podcast — a show for moms and women who want to care for their whole self, live with intention, and find joy without pressure or burnout.

There are no formal resources mentioned in this episode.

(Any links, programs, or tools referenced will always be listed here for clarity.)

If this episode resonated, I’d love for you to:

subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss future episodes

share this conversation with a friend who might need this message right now

Next week on the podcast, we’ll be talking about the invisible expectations (or “manuals”) we have for the people in our lives, and what happens when someone breaks a rule they didn’t even know existed.

Whenever you’re ready, press play.

I’m really glad you’re here.

And I’ve got you, mama.

Hey mama,

Have you ever walked away from a conversation and wished you could have a do-over?

Maybe you were more impatient than you meant to be. You got defensive. You shut down. Or you said something that sounded very different coming out of your mouth than it did in your head.

We all have moments when we don't show up in our relationships the way we wish we had. The question isn't whether we'll ever get it wrong. It's what we do next.

Can we recognize when there's been a disconnect and find our way back? Can we take responsibility for our part without immediately explaining or defending it? Can we apologize without turning our mistake into evidence that we're a terrible wife, mom, friend, or human being? And when someone we love reaches toward us (even a little awkwardly) can we recognize their attempt to repair?

In this episode, we're talking about the power of repair: what it looks like in marriage, parenting, friendships, and the other relationships that matter to us. We'll talk about repairing in the middle of a difficult conversation, coming back after things have gone sideways, giving an apology that actually takes responsibility, and learning to care about our impact even when our intentions were good.

Because healthy relationships aren't relationships where no one ever gets hurt, defensive, frustrated, or misunderstood. They're relationships where there is room to recognize what happened, own what belongs to us, and keep finding our way back to each other.

You don't have to get every interaction right. There can be grace for being human and another opportunity to try again.

This episode is part of the I've Got You Mama podcast - a show for moms and women who want to care for their whole self, live with intention, and find joy without pressure or burnout.

John & Julie Gottman -  Their research and work on relationships, conflict, and repair helped shape many of the ideas discussed in this episode.

Harriet Lerner - Her work on apologies, defensiveness, and taking responsibility also informed this conversation.

If this episode resonated, I'd love for you to:

subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss future episodes

share this conversation with a friend who might need this message right now

Next week on the podcast, we'll be talking about:

Whenever you're ready, press play.

I'm really glad you're here.

And I've got you, mama.

Hey mama,

Have you ever walked away from a conversation wondering, How did we even get there? Maybe something small was said, you reacted, they reacted to your reaction, and suddenly the conversation became much bigger than whatever started it.

So much can be happening underneath those moments. What actually happened, and what story did your brain immediately tell you about it? Did something touch a tender place or “raw spot” that made your reaction feel bigger than the moment itself? Are you and someone you love getting caught in the same familiar pattern over and over again? And what might change if, instead of being certain you know what the other person meant, you became curious enough to ask, What else could be true?

In this episode, we’re talking about the difference between reacting and relating, and how creating even a little space between what happens and what we do next can change the way we show up in our relationships.

We’ll talk about separating facts from the stories we tell ourselves, recognizing emotional triggers and raw spots, noticing the relationship loops we can get caught in, and coming back to the power of the pause when we feel ourselves getting activated.

You won’t catch your reaction every time. None of us will. But the more familiar you become with your own stories, triggers, and patterns, the sooner you can begin to notice what’s happening and choose how you want to respond.

This episode is part of the I’ve Got You Mama podcast - a show for moms and women who want to care for their whole self, live with intention, and find joy without pressure or burnout.

Hold Me Tight by Dr. Sue Johnson, including her work around emotional “raw spots” and the negative interaction cycles we can get caught in with the people closest to us.

Episode 5 of the I’ve Got You Mama podcast: The Power of the Pause

If this episode resonated, I’d love for you to:

subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss future episodes

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Next week on the podcast, we’ll be talking about the power of repair - what we can do when there’s been hurt, misunderstanding, or disconnection in our relationships and how we find our way back.

Whenever you’re ready, press play.

I’m really glad you’re here.

And I’ve got you, mama.

Hey mama,

What does love look like after 10, 20, or almost 30 years together?

This past weekend, my husband and I celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary. And as I thought about all those years - raising six kids, homeschooling, navigating careers and businesses, moving, changing, dreaming, struggling, and growing - I realized how differently I understand marriage now than I did when we first said “I do.”

Not because we’ve figured it all out. We definitely haven’t. But living that much life beside another person teaches you some things about love that you simply couldn’t have understood at the beginning.

What does it really mean to keep choosing each other when life gets busy or hard?

Are you loving the person in front of you, or quietly wishing they would become someone different?

Do you know what makes your spouse feel loved and have you actually told them what you need?

When conflict shows up, can you get curious about what might be underneath it instead of immediately deciding who is right?

And somewhere between the schedules, responsibilities, kids, work, and endless logistics of building a life together… are you still having fun?

In this episode, I’m sharing seven things my husband and I have learned over 28 years of marriage: about choosing your relationship, allowing each other to grow, communicating what you need, getting curious about conflict, protecting your friendship, and letting love change as you change.

One of my favorite realizations is that long-term love doesn’t have to look like new love. It has something new love simply can’t have yet: thousands of ordinary Tuesdays, dreams you’ve celebrated together, disappointments you’ve survived, arguments you’ve repaired, and years of witnessing each other become different versions of yourselves.

Maybe a strong marriage isn’t one where you never drift or struggle. Maybe it’s one where you keep learning how to find your way back to each other.

If you’re in a season where your marriage feels more like managing a household than enjoying the person you married, or you’re simply wondering what it looks like to keep growing together as the years pass, this conversation is for you.

This episode is part of the I’ve Got You Mama podcast - a show for moms and women who want to care for their whole self, live with intention, and find joy without pressure or burnout.

If this episode resonated, I’d love for you to:

subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss future episodes

share this conversation with a friend who might need this message right now

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to keep diving deeper into relationships — including reacting vs. relating and how emotional maturity changes our relationships, the power of repair after conflict, and how to love the people in our lives without trying to fix or change them.

Whenever you’re ready, press play.

I’m really glad you’re here.

And I’ve got you, mama.

Have you ever reached this point in the year and quietly started acting like the year is basically over?

Maybe you had plans in January that haven't happened yet. Maybe life got busy, priorities shifted, or some unexpected "life was life-ing" moments took your attention somewhere else. Or maybe there are things you still really want, but you've been telling yourself you'll get to them when life settles down, when you have more time, or maybe when January rolls around again.

But there are still nearly five months left in the year and that's a meaningful amount of life.

In this episode, we're talking about what could change if you gave the next 90 days some intentional attention - not by overhauling your entire life, but by choosing what matters most right now.

What's already working in your life that you want to keep? What isn't working quite as well? What have you been saying you want to do but keep postponing? Is there a goal you still genuinely want, or are you holding onto it simply because you decided months ago that you "should" do it? And if you could make meaningful progress in just one area before the end of the year, what would make the biggest difference in your life?

I'm also sharing a little of what I've been learning through my own physical reinvention experiment including how quickly my desire to feel stronger, healthier, and more energetic turned into trackers, protocols, research, and a plan for practically everything.

Eventually, I had to ask a much better question: Of everything I could work on, what actually matters most right now?

Because meaningful progress doesn't require optimizing every part of your life at once. Your plan needs room for your actual life - busy weeks, unexpected changes, people who need you, Wednesday afternoons when you don't have nearly as much energy as imaginary-you thought you would.

Sustainable change leaves room for margin, small wins, and the momentum that comes from realizing, Hey, I'm actually doing this.

So what could be different by November if you simply chose one doorway and started there?

You don't need to have the rest of your life figured out. You don't need a perfect plan. And you definitely don't need to wait until January.

There is still time to create something, change something, learn something, repair something, or finally begin something that matters to you.

Five months is a meaningful amount of life. Don't write it off before you've lived it.

This episode is part of the I've Got You Mama podcast  - a show for moms and women who want to care for their whole self, live with intention, and find joy without pressure or burnout.

Joyful Reinvention / Free Call with Maria

We'll look at where you are, where you'd like to go, and what kind of support could help you move forward with more clarity and intention.

If this episode resonated, I'd love for you to:

subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss future episodes

share this conversation with a friend who might need this message right now

Next week on the podcast: I'm celebrating 28 years of marriage and sharing some of the relationship lessons I've learned along the way - about choosing each other, navigating hard seasons, communicating what we need, and how love changes as we grow together.

Whenever you're ready, press play.

I'm really glad you're here.

And I've got you, mama.

Hey mama,

Have you ever found yourself thinking, "I just want to feel more peaceful," or "I wish I could be more confident"?

Most of us have. We long for more joy, hope, courage, and peace. But sometimes we wait for those feelings to arrive before we begin living differently.

What if we've had it backwards?

What if the life you're building today is quietly shaping the emotions you'll experience tomorrow? What if peace grows through the rhythms you create? What if courage is built one brave step at a time? And what if joy isn't something you have to chase, but something you become available for when you slow down long enough to notice it?

In this final episode of our emotions series, we're exploring a hopeful truth: while we can't control our emotions, we have far more influence than we often realize.

Through our values, our habits, our relationships, and the small choices we make every day, we can cultivate the conditions where emotions like hope, gratitude, courage, peace, and joy have room to grow.

This episode is part of the I've Got You Mama podcast - a show for moms and women who want to care for their whole self, live with intention, and find joy without pressure or burnout.

In This Episode

In today's episode, we'll explore:

Resources Mentioned

This episode concludes the 4-part emotions series:

Connect + What's Next

If this episode resonated, I'd love for you to:

Next week on the podcast...

We're beginning a brand-new series on midlife reinvention, starting with how to intentionally build a life that reflects who you're becoming, not just who you've always been.

Whenever you're ready, press play.

I'm really glad you're here.

And...I've got you, mama.

Hey mama,

Have you ever caught yourself scrolling without really thinking about it? Or reorganizing a drawer instead of having the conversation you know you need to have? Maybe you've stayed busy all day only to realize you never actually checked in with how you were feeling?

Most of us don't intentionally avoid our emotions. We simply get really good at distracting ourselves from them.

But what if procrastination isn't always about discipline?

What if busyness isn't always productivity?

What if that extra snack, another episode, or one more thing on your to-do list is helping you avoid something that feels uncomfortable beneath the surface?

And what might change if, instead of asking, "What's wrong with me?" you asked, "What am I trying not to feel?"

In this episode, we're exploring why our brains naturally resist uncomfortable emotions, how that resistance quietly shapes our choices, and why making room for difficult feelings actually expands our capacity for resilience, connection, and joy.

You don't have to become someone who enjoys discomfort. You simply have to trust that you're capable of moving through it.

This episode is part of the I've Got You Mama podcast - a show for moms and women who want to care for their whole self, live with intention, and find joy without pressure or burnout.

In This Episode

In today's episode, we'll explore:

Resources Mentioned

Connect + What's Next

If this episode resonated, I'd love for you to:

Next week on the podcast...

We'll wrap up our four-part emotions series by exploring how we can intentionally cultivate emotions like hope, courage, gratitude, and peace - not by pretending hard emotions don't exist, but by learning how to build the emotional life we want.

Whenever you're ready, press play.

I'm really glad you're here.

And... I've got you, mama.

Hey mama,

If someone asked you how you were feeling right now, what would you say?

If you're like most of us, it might be something like, "I'm stressed," "I'm overwhelmed," or simply, "I'm fine."

But what if those words are only scratching the surface?

What if "stressed" is actually covering disappointment, grief, loneliness, uncertainty, or resentment?

And what if learning to name those emotions more accurately could change the way you respond to them?

How often do you pause long enough to notice what's happening inside of you? And what might change if, instead of criticizing yourself for how you feel, you became curious about it?

In this episode, we're beginning to learn a new language - the language of our emotions. Emotional intelligence isn't something you're born with. It's a skill you can learn. And when you become better at recognizing and understanding your emotions, you become better equipped to lead yourself with wisdom, compassion, and intention.

This episode is part of the I've Got You Mama podcast - a show for moms and women who want to care for their whole self, live with intention, and find joy without pressure or burnout.

In This Episode

In today's episode, we'll explore:

Resources Mentioned

Connect + What's Next

If this episode resonated, I'd love for you to:

Next week on the podcast...

We'll continue our emotions series by exploring why we resist our emotions, the subtle ways we avoid discomfort, and how learning to stay with difficult feelings can lead to greater resilience, freedom, and joy.

Whenever you're ready, press play.

I'm really glad you're here.

And... I've got you, mama.