Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and just stopped with one word they said?  It either stopped you in your tracks, caused you to pause or think a little, gave you a reason to ask more questions, or taught you something.

One word can make all the difference in the trajectory of a conversation, decisions, and day.

When one of our kids went running into the parking lot at the grocery store with incoming cars…One word….Stop

When we went to Olive Garden this weekend the waitress asked for soup or salad?

Salad.  

Again, one word.  

As parents, the one word we use often, No.

No your not staying out past curfew

No, we don’t need that extra item at Walmart

No, we don’t need drinks with our meals, just water will do.

I’m sure you could think of a list of No’s!

When Jarred asked me to marry him, I said, one word…..Yes

On the day we were married, again, that same word….Yes

Words are powerful, and just one word can sometimes be more powerful than a phrase.

Every year, I pick a word for the year, and this year, my word is "Heart."

Why pick a word? Because it gives you focus for the year. It takes out the overwhelm of goals and lists, and gives you just one simple focus, a word, to learn about. You can take this word and grow, learn, create, study, and become.

Listen in to this podcast as we talk about a word for the year and I tell you about my word! 

Heart!

At One Ment by Thomas McConkie

Happy New Year!!!

2025 is under way! If you took a minute to reflect on the past year, what do you see?

Do you see a year of Gaps or a year of Gains?

When we are in the gap, we see where we didn't measure up.  Where we missed the mark and didn't reach the ideal or the perfect scenario.  The problem is, is it ever "just right?" Did we ever see the ideal or the perfect scenario? Gap thinking leaves us deflated, unmotivated, and unhappy.

If we see a year of gains, we measure backward and see the progress we made. Even if it is little bits of progress, it is still progress. We see where we have learned, grown, and been successful. This leads us to feel more motivated, successful, and happy and to want to keep moving forward. 

The beauty is we can see gains any time!   It's not IF we were successful and had gains, it's how we look at it! In today's podcast, we talk more about my favorite book "The Gap and the Gain" by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan.  We talk about measuring our gains for the year and seeing where we saw growth, change, and learning.

2024 was an amazing year full of GAINS for every one of us! Listen in to find out more!

The Gap and The Gain by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan

Little Children by Boyd K Packer

As we have just celebrated Christmas, the decorations will come down, the carols change to regular music, and family will go home, but Christ will still be there. 

He is in each and every one of our stories.  He's in the thick things and the thin things. Do we see Him?

In this podcast, I tell you a story about how we saw Crhist in our story and how we still see him.  We talk about how he delivers, heals, changes, and provides miracles for each of us!

Listen in and identify where you see Christ in your story!

New.  This is the word I’d use to sum up 2024.  We had a whole lot of new experiences, changes, surprises, challenges, and blessings come our way! When a package arrives on our doorstep we love to see what new thing the UPS man has delivered, but when it comes to life experiences, the Rydalch family loves to know what’s going on, loves to have a plan, and doesn’t necessarily love “new surprises” in the beginning, but we eventually warm up and see that “new” allows us to learn, grow, change, and bless our lives.

In this podcast episode, I read you our family Christmas letter about the "new" in our lives this year! You've all been on the journey with me as we have navigated this year and this podcast sums it all up! 

Merry Christmas!

This time of year can get a bit overwhelming and stressful with activities, social gatherings, gifts, and parties.  I have the best of intentions to enjoy the holidays, but sometimes it is difficult to manage it all! So in today's podcast, we are going to talk about 10 Holiday Hacks to help with the stress!

1. Make meal times easy!
2. Make a list of what's on your mind.
3. De-clutter a space or a room for projects or planning.
4. Make time for you to "rest" and that doesn't necessarily mean sleep!
5. Prioritize protein and eat less sugar.
6. Drink WATER
7. Don't eat late.
8. PLAY!
9. Communicate, and ask questions!
10. PRAY!

In this podcast, we will dive into each one of these in detail, but as you implement even one or two, yo will notice a decrease in the stress and an increase in your enjoyment this holiday season!

Whenever we travel, we love to come HOME.

After a long day of school, work, and errands....HOME is the place we all want to be!

At home is a place we can relax, let our gaurds down, feel safe, comfortable, and at peace.

Maybe it's not necessarily your "home" that you feel this place, but if you have a "happy place" those feelings are the same. You feel safe.

Sometimes going home, or to our happy place, isn't always possible, but the good news is we can access those feelings of home by a few simple practices!

Every day our bodies go through what is called the stress response where we experience heightened levels of stress, and then our bodies try to recover. By us accessing our "HOME" base, we are better able to recover!

One of the ways we can be proactive in our stress response recovery and make getting home easier is taking care of the 5 pillars of living well.

Sleep, nutrition and hydration, movement, sunlight, and connection.

Taking care of these will prepare us in advance for the stress responses that will come.

Next, breathe. Just breathing will give us the reset that we need.

Then, access a point on your body, an anchor point, that you notice you use to self-soothe.  Maybe it's rubbing your thigh or your hands, playing with your hair or a piece of clothing.  These are ways your body is self-soothing.  If we think about our HOME base, and the feelings of home as we touch these points, our bodies will relax and feel the same feeling as if we are at HOME.

We dive into this in today's podcast as we discus being HOME for the holidays!

Listen In!

Christmas is around the corner! This year Thanksgiving was a little late so Christmas will be here before we know it! As we set into motion our plans for holiday shopping and traditions, sometimes we can get lost in the shuffle and forget the reason for all of it.! Join in this episode as we discuss some gift-giving ideas and traditions, what they mean, and some of my favorite ideas to help you create and give some meaningful gifts and traditions with your loved ones!

New Era: Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh

Sometimes the days can go by at our house when it didn't even feel like we connected as a family, we touched base, and got a chance to catch up! We just go through the motions moving from one commitment to the next! It requires some intentional effort to slow down and put aside what we are doing so that we can have these moments.  

One of the practices we like to do as a family this time of year to help us slow down and connect is the Thankful Tree.  We spend just a minute each morning writing what we are thankful for and putting it on the tree.  

There are many ways we can practice gratitude as a family.  A tree, notes and cards, texts, and of course prayer.  In this episode, we talk about these practices and how to make them a simple and easy part of your day!

Join in and see if you discover any others as you listen!

What would you say if you could write a letter to your family, loved ones, and friends right now, in whatever phase you are in? What advice would you give? 

On three different occasions this week, as I have been running around, listening, and studying, I have run into just that.  

One was titled “Insights from my Life" by Neal A Maxwell.

One was in the Book of Mormon, chapter 7, Mormon is at the end of his life and makes a list.

Another was in the Don’t Miss This Scripture Study book 

On each occasion, three seasoned people offered insights and various life lessons.

I have thought about what I’d say, and this podcast would probably be way too long if I tried to fit them all in!

But for today I just want to highlight ONE.

Be Grateful.

In today's podcast, we will talk about a little mishap I had this week.  I fell off my bathroom counter and boy has it wreaked havoc on my back, routine, and schedule! Today I share some thoughts that have been helpful for me to practice gratitude. They are:

"It could have been so much worse."

"Thank goodness for help."

"I can still walk."

"This might be a good thing."

Listen in today as we discuss these and how we can all apply them in any situation or circumstance. 

Insights From my Life a BYU Speech by Neal A. Maxwell

Insights From My Life from the Ensign Neal A. Maxwell

In your lives who would you say is your wingman?

A wingman can refer to a pilot in the Air Force or a friend or partner who helps and supports another person.  They are there for help, support, backup.

Sometimes we feel lost and alone, like we have no one there for support and help or backup. In those times it is good for us to have a list handy of people who we know are there. Who are our wingmen?

So today, please take a minute to think about who those people are for you. We’re going to talk about this, an experience I had with some of my wingmen, and the importance of knowing you are supported and never alone.

When we feel alone and unsupported or abandoned, that triggers a sense of danger, causing us to hide, close in, or get really uptight, sressed, and anxious.  When we acknowledge the support we do have, it signals to our bodies and brains safety and security. Then we are better able to cope, work, nurture, and support the ones we love.

Listen in!