Happy Hour #36 is with my new friend Meredith Toering. Meredith and I met at the If Gathering this past February and didn't get hardly any time to chat, and after our chat today I was wishing I had more time with her. You are going to love her!

Meredith is the International Director of Morning Star, an NPO that works with orphans and at-risk children (family preservation programs) who have very complex heart defects in China, Uganda, and India.

On today's show Meredith and I chat about how she ended up in China, and the amazing story of her parents adopting Brooke, the little girl she took care of during a summer internship. I also begged Meredith to give me all her parents secrets on raising kids that love to travel, love people, and want to serve people well. We also chatted about how she won a spot on the #styleforjustice trip with Noonday Collection and IJM.

For a full summary and links to the show, click here!

Happy Hour #35 is with my friend Melanie Shankle. You may know Melanie from her blog, The Big Mama Blog, where she's been cracking up all of us readers for years now.

Melanie lives in San Antonio with her husband and daughter. She is the author of three books, Sparkly Green Earrings, The Antelope in the Living Room, and her newest, Nobody's Cuter Than You, that just released this week on April 7th.

On the show today we talk about her book a lot, her friend Jen that she mentions in the book who is walking through cancer, how I started podcasting because of her and Sophie's podcast, talking with our kids about sex, the shows we watch, how much we both like baseball, college life, and how technology has ruined us all. I laughed so much in this podcast and loved every second of chatting with Melanie. I think that you will too.

Today's Happy Hour episode is exactly what I had in mind when I dreamed of my own podcast. One minute we're talking about the crazy things our kids say about sex, and the next minute we're talking about one of our friends struggling through cancer. It's the real talk that girlfriends have, and so this Happy Hour is one that you will love.

For a full summary and links to the show, Click here!

Happy Hour #34 is with my friend Trillia Newbell. Trillia Newbell is the author of United: Captured by God's Vision for Diversity (2014) and Fear and Faith: Finding the Peace Your Heart Craves (2015). She is currently the Director of Community Outreach for the SBC;s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission Trillia is married to her best friend, Thern, they reside with their two children near Nashville, TN. You can find her at trillianewbell.com and follow her on twitter at @trillianewbell.

On this show we discuss training for a triathlon and her new book FEAR AND FAITH that releases TODAY (April 1st). I shared with Trillia my struggle in teaching my kids about race issues here in America. Trillia and I talked about how we struggle with measuring up to ways we women think we should be successful, and truly embracing our gifts that God has given us.

For a full summary and links to the show, Click here!

Happy Hour #33 is with my new friend Asher Collie, who founded the organization, SOLE HOPE, which I will be visiting this weekend! Asher and her husband, Dru, moved to Uganda 2 years ago. They have six children from ages 16 to 2 year's old. They started SOLE HOPE in 2010 to help the Ugandan people with jiggers. They are loving on Ugandans and helping change lives every day.

I'm actually traveling to Uganda THIS FRIDAY to work with Sole Hope and see their ministry first hand. I'm beyond excited to meet Asher, the whole Sole Hope team, and see all they do first hand. I'm also going to get to visit Jalia & Daniel and see where they make jewelry for Noonday.

On this episode we chatted about how Sole Hope started, and what their mission is for the people of Uganda. Asher and her husband have adopted 3 children since moving to Uganda. Her story about adoption was so moving, and led us to talk about breastfeeding babies that don't come from your body! (I may or may not have shared a little too much info about my love for breastfeeding!) Asher shares about the Sole Hope Guest house and I know I'm going to love it. This episode was super fun for me, and I'm excited to meet her.

For a full summary and links to this show, click here!

Happy Hour #32 is with Lindsey Wheeler. Lindsey, her husband Chris, and their daughter Eliana live in Nashville, TN. Lindsey started BOTTLE OF TEARS after she was diagnosed with lyme disease and wanted a way to spread love and hope to others that were suffering.

In this episode we talk about her journey with pain and suffering and how that led her to starting a company to help others. We recapped what happened at the end of the If:Gathering for her and how she's hoping for a miracle for her and her daughter to both have complete healing & restoration. Lindsey's story of how they were matched with their daughter will blow you away. We both have children that have come from hard places, and we want to encourage and equip parents on this path that we are, but how do do that without airing their dirty laundry is hard, and we talk about how to do that well. Lindsey shares about how God led her to her new journey in comforting the broken. I asked Lindsey what were some of the biggest things that encourage her when she feels so lonely, and it encouraged me so much in ways that I can be a better friend to those around you.

For a full summary and links from this show, Click Here!

Happy Hour #31 is with my friend Erin MacPheson. Erin is a stay-at-home mom by day and a writer and amateur chef by night. She is the author of more than nine books, including The Christian Mama's Guide series and the Hot Mama series. She lives in Austin with her three kids (ages 9, 7 and 3), her husband and her trusty Golden Retiever, Jack.

For a full summary and links to this show, click here!

Jessica N. Turner is the founder of the popular lifestyle blog The Mom Creative, where she documents her pursuit of cultivating a life well-crafted. Additionally, she is a writer for HuffPost Parents and DaySpring's (in)courage, an advocate for World Vision, a regular speaker at blogging conferences nationwide, and an award-winning marketing professional. She and her husband, Matthew live with their three young children in Nashville, Tennessee.

In this episode we talk about parenting topics such as going from 2 to 3 kids and how hard that could be. How Jessica feels about working outside the home and that she doesn't receive any guilt from doing that instead of being a stay at home mom. How moms tend to put ourselves last in world of taking care of people in our lives. What date nights look like for the Turner family. We also chat about our latest Netflix binges, and books we're reading. Jessica wrote a post that went viral about moms embracing themselves, their bodies, and wearing that swimsuit each year no matter how we feel about our bodies.

For a full summary and links to the show, Click here!

Happy Hour #29 is with a friend that I met at the Influence Conference in 2014, and knew that I wanted to have her on the Happy Hour to chat with all of us! Sarah Martin is the author of Just Rise Up. Sarah is originally from Texas, but lives in North Carolina with her husband and son now. You can find her blogging over at her website LiveItOut!

Follow Sarah on facebook, twitter, and instagram. Follow Jamie on facebook, twitter, and instagram.

For a full summary and links to this show, click here!

Today's guest on the Happy Hour podcast is Lindsey Paschal. Lindsey is a wife to Dan, and momma to two boys, one of which was born a few weeks ago. Previously to staying home full time Lindsey was a teacher. Last year she documented her journey to reading 52 books via her instagram account. She ended up reading 56 books.

On this podcast we discuss Lindsey's life as a teacher, and go through all the books that she read. Because of this conversation I decided that I would try and read 36 books in 2015. Eeeekkk. Hopefully I can make that!

Lindsey and I both keep up with all of the books that we read on GoodReads. It's an easy way to keep record of books that you have read and a running list of books that you want to read. Whenever I hear about a new book I want to read I just add it to my "to-read" section and when I'm ready for a new book I have a whole list at my disposal.

Follow Lindsey's book reading journey via her instagram account HERE. Find all of the Happy Hour Podcast episodes HERE.

For the full summary and links to this show, Click Here.

Kat and I met online and we have actually never met in person, but she's been such an encouragement for me in my podcasting journey. I was actually one of the first guests on her podcast for Inspired to Action. After being a guest on her show is when I felt as though podcasting is something I would want to do in life!

Kat is a momma, wife, blogger, encourager, podcaster and lots more in life. Her blog is something that you need to get your eyes on if you have not. Her whole gig is to inspire us mommas right where we are, and if you are like me, we need to hear encouragements daily.

For a full summary and links to this show, Click Here!