156: The Chicken We All Deserve

It's time to meet The Chicken We All Deserve! Joining TRB today in studio are three fabulous persons known as Caffeinatrix, Mr. Non-Renewable, and... THE FRICKEN CHICKEN. Yes, folks, it's time you meet this Master of Flight, with clipped feet, not wings, and get to know all about his antics... but wait... can you get to know his antics? You might just be surprised to spy him aloft in an airport someday, watching with his beady, greedy eyes. Everywhere the show goes, he goes.

"Let's Bawk It!"

In This Episode

TRB and Caffeinatrix meet again!
Acai is a superberry, basically.
Everyone's favorite food and where to find it (also, where to avoid it)
Video Master Mr. Non-Renewable details his journey to videography
Should you follow your dream?
Caffeinatrix chooses a college
"YOU SUCK, YOU BEANS!" and other ways to roast coffee
A question for the Slack Group discussion

Should You Follow Your Heart?

TRB, Caffeinatrix, and Mr. Non-renewable spend a good deal of time in this episode discussing their passions, both past and present, and how those passions have led them to where they are in life. Neither of the cohosts have fully decided what they want to do "forever"... and that's okay. They're young, they've got passions, they've got energy, they've got creativity, they've got time. I so admire both of them for really sitting back and taking a look at where they want to be and what they envision themselves wanting to do for the next several years, but also for making the choices that will make them happy in the short-term.

Real talk here: my life is waaaayyy different from what I thought it would be. When I was nineteen, I was in the middle of college, working toward my degree in elementary education. I was dating my husband, who had just graduated and was in grad school getting his masters in school psychology. We lived in San Diego, and we had so many fun adventures all over the city together. I knew I would marry him, but beyond that, I had only a foggy idea what our life would be like. I figured we'd move to Colorado, where I'm from, and probably have a couple of kids. I figured I'd teach and he'd work in the same school, and the kids would go to the school where we worked, and life would be easy peasy, carefree, simple, and sweet.

In reality, my life is not easy peasy or carefree, but it is quite simple and so very much sweeter than I could ever have imagined. I still adore my husband, eleven and a half years into our marriage. I did teach, but only for a while, until we had our firstborn. He did work in the same school as me, but only while he was getting his masters degree in clinical psychology. We did live in Colorado, but recently we moved to Wisconsin, which is frigid and humid and buggy and green. We now have four impossibly amazing children, and my husband works two jobs while I have a work-from-home job in the evenings and I'm starting a business. I homeschool the kids and "laundry" is the color of the new flooring we've put in our living room. We are busier than I had ever imagined we could possibly be, and we've endured some incredible hardships in our journey together, but I would be very hesitant to give up any part of what we have now.

My marriage to my husband has been a journey of twists and turns, with both of us discovering aspects of ourselves we'd never realized existed. My husband had never been around gardens much. Partway through the third year of our marriage, I discovered horticultural therapy and shared it with him. He was so excited about it. He went to the Horticultural Therapy Institute and became a Registered Horticultural Therapist, and now he is on the board of the American Horticultural Therapy Association. I have never been a very creative type. I hated art class, I never liked creative writing. Recently I've taken up photography, and I've really gotten into it. It's a super fun outlet for me and it's something I'm actually pretty good at!

Both my husband and I will tell you how very happy we are to have each other to support us and to encourage us to explore our newfound passions. Very rarely do people actually look ahead and dream up a life that closely matches the life they eventually live. The best we can do is to frequently evaluate our surroundings, our interests, and our supporters, and follow the path that not only meets our passions, but shows promise of stability. You see, passions will always be there. Old ones will fade, new ones will spring up. The most important thing is to surround yourself with people who will love you and extend grace to you as you pursue new ideas. Don't be a chicken. Follow your heart.