Today we're sharing a story we've shared before, OUR real life love story, of finding hope and recovery from pornography addiction. Neil and I talk about our dating journey and how he shared with me three months into dating that he had an addiction to pornography, what that looked like through our courtship and early marriage, some of the struggles we went through trying to find solution and find recovery, and what finally worked for us. Today is part 1 of 2 and make sure you come back next week to hear the second half of our story of finding hope and healing through the twelve steps of recovery.

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A few weeks ago I sat down with Lillie Biesinger, someone I had only met online previously, to talk all about macros! But we don’t just talk mechanics or specifics about weight loss or dieting, we talk about why this movement in the health and dieting industry was such a good fit for her (and for me!), how it taught her to give her body the best kind of fuel and why she’s so passionate about putting good things inside our bodies. Lillie really does feel like just the kind of friend every girl would want when you watch her online and I think you’ll feel the same way too as you listen to her in this interview.

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This was one of the very first interviews I recorded for Mint Arrow Messages, almost a year ago when I was still pregnant with Millie, and I recorded it with one of my ALL TIME favorites, Nicole Walters. Nicole is an incredible entrepreneur who quit her full time 6 figure corporate job in front of 10,000 people on a live stream to pursue her dream of teaching others how to be profitable in their online businesses. Since then she’s built a million dollar business, fostered and then adopted three beautiful girls who she calls her tinies, and now has a podcast of her own called The Nicole Walters Podcast. You can find her at NicoleWalters.com or join her community of rich friends as she calls them at Facebook.com/monetizethyself. In this episode you’ll hear a heartfelt conversation between Nicole and me about how she became a mom almost overnight, when she least expected it, and how she gives glory to God in her work, openly and publicly and how she feels that’s been a blessing in her life.

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Today’s interview is with a blog reader Cindy who was a student and survivor of the school shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. 20 years ago this week, in Littleton Colorado, the deadliest school shooting to date occurred at Columbine where two students opened fire and killed 12 students and 1 teacher and wounded more than 20, before the two shooters killed themselves. Cindy shared with me her story of what that day was like for her, how she was kept safe during the shooting, and the tender mercies she experienced on that day. She also talks about overcoming anger and resentment over the years, and how she learned to always look for the good in the world.

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Today I interviewed my friend Hilary Sloan who’s an incredible advocate for animal rescuing and the human behind the ultra popular Instagram account @ellabeanthedog. Hilary has fostered countless dogs and rescued three darling dogs starting with Ella Bean, followed by Coconut Bean and most recently Fifi Von Bean.

Hilary and I talk through her story of finding and falling in love with Ella, Coconut and Fifi, the challenges they’ve overcome together, and what it’s like to adopt a dog.

But most importantly, Hilary educates me on why "adopt don't shop" is such an important movement and not just a cute hashtag, what we need to do better as a society to put an end to puppy mills and even what the best practices are if you’re buying from a respectable breeder. 

I can’t wait for you guys to learn from and be inspired by my friend Hilary and her furry little family.

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Today’s interview was with my dear friend Jen, blogger, model and mom of two beautiful little twin girls. Jen helps me understand what it’s like to be a NICU mom, after her twins were born at 30 weeks and spent three months in the NICU. She walks me through what those days were like, the many highs and lows, and teaches me some really helpful things like NICU etiquette, and what helped them the most during that challenging time. We relive all of it and I can’t wait to share her intense and beautiful journey of bringing her two babies home with you guys today.

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Many of you have listened to the podcast episode where I interviewed Neil about his brother Dave’s death in January 2019, just a couple of months ago. 

But eight days before Dave passed away, we recorded this interview where I asked Neil all about his brother Steve who died after taking his own life in 1995. 

Neil and I discuss what it was like for him to lose a brother to suicide, how that affected his family, what he learned from this loss, and how to support and help others going through grief.

We wanted to note a couple of things, that first of all if anyone has said “I’m sorry for your loss” to Neil or me recently in reference to Dave’s death that we feel your love and that this interview was more of a reflection of what Neil’s grief was like as a 13 year old. 

We also wanted to mention that if you found this podcast because you are seeking help because of suicidal thoughts or you are struggling at all with thoughts of taking your life, you can make an anonymous call to the national suicide prevention lifeline 24/7 at 1 (800) 273-8255

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This week I sit down with my sister Brooke from the blog Female Foodie, but we don’t talk much about food, we actually talk about how she completed an iron man, which is a 2.4 mile swim, 114 miles on a bicycle, and then a 26.2 mile full marathon at the end.

She went from being that girl in grade school who was one of the last to finish and absolutely hated the mile run in PE, to hearing the words “Brooke Eliason, you are an Ironman!”

I can’t wait for you guys to be inspired by her story of overcoming obstacles and even people who doubted her, and re-live her experience training for and completing an Ironman.

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This week I sat down with vlogger and youtuber Kenzie Elizabeth Piper and talked a little about what we had planned to discuss - her experience with depression and anxiety - but mostly about something we totally didn't plan. The conversation really turned into a deep discussion about why SO many millennials are leaving organized religion, and what to do about it. We talked about how to love people as they leave and what not to say or do, what that was like for her, and what eventually brought her back to church. I learned a ton from this conversation and I think you will too!

Find Kenzie at...

Kenzie's YouTube Channel

Kenzie's Instagram

Kenzie's Podcast

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In today's episode we talk to my dear friend Cara Brook, from the booming beauty brand Maskcara Beauty, all about her experience and passion for foster parenting and her experience with fostering and adopting two of her own children. She gets real about the surprises that came with this process, how they decided that adding a third child (and pretty quickly after, a fourth) to their family was the right thing at a time when she was struggling to feel like she was enough as a mom and business owner. Come listen to her episode to be uplifted and edified and educated in the world of fostering, adoption and how this process has changed her life and her family.   

Loveisneverwasted.com

Adoptuskids.org

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