In this episode Natalie was invited onto the City Cast Boise podcast to discuss her recommendations for summer restaurants in the Treasure Valley. Hope you enjoy!

We’ve talked a lot about our move from tradition medicine to functional medicine. It has changed our lives and given us a lot of hope.

In this episode we sit down Amber Warren PA-C, IFMCP of Functional Medicine of Idaho and FMI Optimal and Host of the Functional Medicine Foundations podcast to discuss exactly what makes functional medicine different from traditional American health care. The frustration with our health care system is palpable across the Nation. What would it look like if doctors started to focus on root cause instead of just treating symptoms? If we tried to keep people well instead of waiting until they were chronically ill? If we didn't allow insurance and pharmaceutical companies to control the system. It’s a fascinating conversation. We get a bit riled up, but it might do us all a little good to rage a bit against the status quo.

Death is a topic our culture doesn’t seem to be very competent or confident talking about. Which is incongruent with the fact that, to paraphrase our guest, death is the most universal experience we have as humans. Some people may go most of their lives not confronting the reality of death until a loved one dies or they themselves receive a terminal diagnosis, and by that time we likely haven’t reconciled with the inevitability of death or developed any tools to deal with it. We want to change that and make the topic less culturally taboo, or at least less uncomfortable. Our hope is that by talking about it, we can get closer to making death the beautiful experience it can be.

In this episode we have an amazing conversation with Alex Glynn, local end-of-life doula, energy healer, and psychic. Alex is associated with two local companies or service providers: End-Of-Life Doulas of Idaho and Embracing Wild. As a death doula she, and other doulas, help individuals and their loved ones as the individual nears the end of life. She helps with practical end-of-life planning, emotional support, guidance and education on the death process, and managing grief. Her life’s passion is helping people at a time that’s often their most vulnerable.

Our conversation with Alex was one of our favorites. It was practical, emotional, philosophical, and comforting. We touched on so many topics such as helpful books about death and dying, cultural and colonial influences on society’s ability to talk about and process death, what the death process is like for both the individual and their caregivers, deep emotions including fear and grief, post mortem body care, traditions and rituals, and the importance of grief as a process. We walked away from this one feeling comfort and hope, and we hope you do as well.

If you’d like to learn more about death doulas, end-of-life planning, or other services that Alex specializes in, you can find her at End-of-Life Doulas Idaho and Embracing Wild.

Here are a few other resources we’ve found helpful:

A lot of us in the Treasure Valley are looking at the housing market and economy and asking, “What exactly is happening here?" In this episode, we’ve invited back experienced real estate investor and Idaho realtor Jesse Taff and mortgage and loan specialist Bryce Gonser to talk about the 2024 Treasure Valley housing market. Together we chat about interest rates, the balancing of the market, setting expectations for buyers and sellers, and what the future might hold.

If you are interested in real estate investing or home ownership, reach out to them on social media or at Waypoint Real Estate Group and Fulcrum Home Loans.

In this episode we speak with The Headstrong Project, a local non-profit whose mission is to provide active-duty military service members and veterans with mental health services and resources as they deal with trauma. Dr. Amy Williams is the group’s Chief Clinical Officer, and Tony Liles is a veteran and mental health advocate helping connect other veterans with the group and take advantage of their services. Both are trying to remove the stigma surrounding talking about mental health issues in the military, specifically trauma, and normalize speaking about it openly and getting help when it’s needed.

We discuss the varying forms of trauma, what PTSD looks like, how to spot signs of PTSD, how to find help, and specifically what resources and support are provided by The Headstrong Project. It’s a very vulnerable, honest, emotional, and needed conversation and we were honored to have it.

There is truly a mental health crisis across the country among those who have served our country, and they deserve acceptance and support from the other members of a grateful nation. If you or someone you care about is currently serving in the military or are veterans and need help working through trauma and PTSD, please connect them with The Headstrong Project at theheadstrongproject.org.

The annual Idaho Gives community non-profit fundraiser is upon us once again and in this episode we visit with Kevin Bailey of the Idaho Nonprofit Center who walks us through this year’s event and how to get involved. In addition to Kevin, we’ve brought in spokespeople for two of the non-profits participating to spotlight just a sampling of the amazing causes taking place in our state: Scott Curtis, CEO of Idaho Youth Ranch; and Bart Cochran, CEO of LEAP Housing. We learned so much about these great groups and are hoping to get each of them back on the podcast to dive deeper into the needs that are driving them to help our community.

We encourage all of you to participate in Idaho Gives by visiting the website idahogives.org, researching the over 600 participating non-profits, and making a donation. The event takes place Monday 4/29 through Thursday 5/2. And you can learn more about our other two guests at youthranch.org and leaphousing.org.

We bring back Amos Rothstein; local comedian, food editor for Boise Weekly, and up-and-coming beauty pageant MC; to talk about what we have seen in the past year in the Treasure Valley food scene. We talk happy hours, bars, new restaurants and co-ed bathrooms. Throwing in some conversation about dog people versus cat people, what a show “Real Housewives of Boise” would look like, and just a bit of sexual innuendo. It’s a very fun conversation. Get out your pen and paper, because you’re going to want to take notes.

In a very impromptu discussion, Natalie sits down with Becca Bailey from the media account Boise With Kids to discuss this current epidemic of burnout. They had already been chatting for a couple of hours about how they are both seeing and experiencing massive burnout in 2024, and the toll social media seems to be taking on their mental health. They decided to hit the record button in case anyone else was feeling the same. They admit they don’t have a lot of answers, and this was less of an interview and more a conversation between two friends trying to figure out why they are going a little crazy at times.

If you also find yourself feeling like you’re not quite figuring out this new world we’re all living in, come along on this chat, and maybe you’ll feel less alone.

In a very unexpected turn of events, it would seem we are getting a dog. Not that we had any plans on discussing this with Marissa Lovell from the Treefort team and also the From Boise newsletter, but we do tend to get side tracked. We discuss the pros and cons and decided we will need to do at update episode after surviving the puppy stage. You can definitely tell who in the group is the most pro-dog and who is a little hesitant. We also talk a bit about how Marissa is feeling about marriage as she nears the two-year mark.

Back to the main point of conversation, we are talking all things Treefort Music Fest 2024. From Foodfort to Filmfort, how to enjoy the festival on the cheap and which shows Marissa is most excited for. If you are new to Treefort and wondering what it is all about, we sum it up. If you are a Treefort Pro, we give you some tips about must sees this year, including some brand new venues.

We continue the conversation with Marissa in our next episode as we chat more about what she is doing with her extremely popular newsletter and podcast. Stay tuned. Happy Treefort, everyone!

In this episode we are chatting with Holly Beech, Communications Manager at the Idaho Office for Refugees. In this conversation we learned why Idaho is known throughout the country as having one of the best refugee programs, why Idaho is involved with refugee settlement, and how we can best support these members of our community. This discussion convinced us that refugee support is an incredible opportunity to enrich our community with diversity and new cultures.

We’ve noticed that there are many misconceptions about what the term “refugee” means, and that there’s often confusion with the concept of immigration. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, a refugee is a person of special humanitarian concern to the United States who can demonstrate that they were persecuted, or fear persecution, due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Refugees are people who are in need of help when they are persecuted in their own countries, and they come to America seeking asylum, or protection. This does not include people who come to the United States illegally.

We learned that determining where refugees go within the United States, and how many go to any given state, is a major effort. Idaho, come to find out, is one of the best organized and most helpful states to participate in the program. Holly did a wonderful job of walking us through all the details of how the system works and what we can do to support this community within our community.

We are releasing this in anticipation of a particularly exciting event happening on February 29, 2024. The Idaho Office of Refugees annual Legislative Luncheon will take place from noon to 1:30 PM on the fourth floor of the State Capitol Rotunda. This is a FREE event for the community. We strongly encourage you to come and enjoy authentic food made by the Idaho refugee community and listen to some of their stories. We can’t think of a better way to build community and truly become neighbors than by breaking bread together with people as they share their stories.

To learn more about the Idaho Office for Refugees, visit their website at www.idahorefugees.org. We also recommend you check out Holly’s podcast, Mosaics, where she and her team interview Idaho refugees who share their amazing stories.

With all that said, we bring you a conversation with Holly Beech from the Idaho Office for Refugees.