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00:00:01
Lean Into the Positive
38 Plays1 month ago
The Fishes are back for a second season and the first episode of 2025. Nancy is recording this from her home in Los Angeles. She and her family are safe and currently out of harms way but our hearts go out to all the families who have lost their homes and more.
If you want information about how you can help: Red Cross LA
This week's episode is a check-in on how we're individually prepared for any emergency. We also check in on how our resolutions are progressing as we're half-way through January. Lynne is focusing on small decisions that add up to big changes, and Kathy is focused on being positive and cutting down on single-use plastic.
The sisters also discuss the wellness trends they're getting into in 2025. Including Whoop wearable underwear and the Oura ring.
What's For Dinner? The fishes all try to make the same recipe and discuss how it went.
Pinch of Yum's Honey Chipolte Chicken Skewers We'd love you to try it and let us know what you thought.
We want to hear your comments and questions! Send an email to 3lfpod@gmail.com or leave a comment on our Instagram @3lfpod and be sure to follow us on our YouTube page www.youtube.com/@threelilfishes
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
I did write down my resolutions and I'm hoping that writing them down will help me be more successful. And one of my resolutions is not letting myself derail myself so easily this year. My health and my fitness are always like in the forefront of my mind. But sometimes if I start my day, say on the weekend with like a big weekend breakfast with my family,
00:00:25
Speaker
I kind of give myself permission to just chuck the whole like healthy eating and workout and all that stuff. It's sort of like this all or nothing mindset. And I'm going to try to be better about being more consistent and enjoying that maybe big breakfast, but then also getting back on track and like little tiny decisions add up to big achievements if you let them. Welcome to Three Little Fishes, where three sisters who grew up in the Midwest together but have since spread across the country. I live in Los Angeles. I'm in Nashville. And I live in Philadelphia. We are all married with children. We've all had careers, but now we stay at home with our families. We've all been through ups and downs that come along with life and have always helped each other through.
00:01:14
Speaker
shared stories and laughed together. We welcome all of you into our daily conversations and hope you have some fun with us. So let's jump in. What's up, fishes? Happy 2025.
00:01:30
Speaker
I come to you from Los Angeles today and my heart is a little heavy. um As you all know that there's major wildfires happening in Los Angeles and the Palisades and the Eaton fires.
00:01:43
Speaker
which are next to Pasadena. I just wanted to say that we're thinking about all of our listeners that are affected and we're with you during this really stressful and hard time. My family is safe and okay, but it's definitely been stressful and sad to watch the city burn. Um, I think the fish is also just want to send a heartfelt thank you to all the firefighters and first responders for helping the the city of Los Angeles and hopefully these fires will get contained soon. Yeah, we hope so. Yeah, definitely. um I just wanna also say that we'll put in at the bottom of our show notes ah linked to the Red Cross Los Angeles and FEMA if anybody needs that information, but know that the fishes are with you and we're thinking about you.
00:02:40
Speaker
All right, before we jump into it, I just want to remind all of our listeners to please continue to subscribe, rate, comment, invite three of your favorite fishes to join the conversation.
00:02:55
Speaker
All right, y'all. So with the fires out here in Los Angeles, it got us three fishes thinking about emergencies and we all live in different parts of the world. Yep.
00:03:07
Speaker
And ah the country and we got us thinking about how do we prepare for an emergency? My family was affected by these latest fires and we were on a watch for an evacuation.
00:03:23
Speaker
So we had to pack a bag. We didn't have to use it. And I also have to think about earthquakes. So we always have an earthquake kit that is ready to go for three days with water, food, change of clothes, blankets.
00:03:42
Speaker
We always have that on the ready to go. What about you all in Tennessee and in Pennsylvania? What do you have to look out for and how do you prepare for an emergency? Pennsylvania is interesting, especially where we live because I didn't think that tornadoes were a thing here being from the Midwest, but they are um where our home is actually. We live on kind of an elevation and so we always joke because we say we live in a wind tunnel because we get incredible winds that come through the back of our house. And like two years ago, a tornado actually touched down and went through our backyard and took out a bunch of these like hundred year old trees. So that was like my first experience here. Like, Oh my gosh, we have tornadoes as well.
00:04:38
Speaker
So we had to be mindful of that. um And with all those winds and the rain and those like tornadoes, we're constantly losing power. here So, you know, we probably lose power, I would say, four four times a winner, at least. And so it made us get a generator because there was one time We were out of power for several days and it was like, you know, I mean, it's kind of fun to get out the flashlights and do that for a couple of days and play the board games and stuff like that. But after a few days, it's like no fun. Yeah. So. And the anxiety kicks in, right? Because you're like, is the power ever going to come back on? Like, I think it becomes stressful, too. I mean, all the other thing that we do do
00:05:34
Speaker
we have and we've had it before we moved here we had it when we lived um in St. Louis we have ladders because we live in a two-story three-story house and so you know to get out if you're able to get out of the house safely with the ladder to get down without like breaking your leg would be a positive. So we do have those like little um metal ladders that thank goodness we haven't ever had to use, but we do have them. And then the only other thing I can think of that is always on my mind is just, you know, we have, well, now my son's in college and we're constantly on road trips as well and car safety. So we do have,
00:06:29
Speaker
Like an emergency kit in our car that has like the jumper cables, you know, the light sticks, like all that stuff and extra blankets. And of course we do keep food. I always have to have food in the car because that's like, I just think I would starve or something. I mean, I can't imagine that would ever happen, but yeah, but yeah, my son like just drove back to college and he actually ran into some weather.
00:06:58
Speaker
going through the mountains of Pennsylvania. And we couldn't see and like kind of almost ran off the road. So I mean, you never know. It could happen like at any moment. So you it's better to be safe than sorry, I guess.
00:07:11
Speaker
no um I mean, you kind of deal with the same thing, don't you, Linda, with like your girls? I do. I mean, actually, we um you know we do get tornadoes here in Tennessee. It's very common. In fact, I remember one of the first times you came to visit, we had a tornado warning, and the sirens went off at like three in the morning, and we all went downstairs to our basement. We happen to have a basement here, which is very uncommon. There's not a lot of basements in Tennessee.
00:07:40
Speaker
we went to the basement, I woke you up and you had your little sleeping eye mask on and your earplugs in. You're like, wait, what, what, what? And so we got you up. And we, my family's very kind of crazy when we have a tornado warning and we're up. We watch Twister during tornadoes. Yeah, I mean, I totally remember this because I think I'd gotten in late and I was tired and I was like dead asleep. And then I'm like, what are you doing in here? like And then her whole family is like downstairs on the couch and her husband's and they all have this movie going like it's a party. And I'm like, pretty yeah most people are like freaked out and they try and stay calm, but not the Schultz's. They're like, hey, it's party time.
00:08:29
Speaker
Well, I guess I guess you could look at it, it's better than freaking out and letting your anxiety take over. No, I think don't know you know, we've had times where we've lost power for a couple of days. So I do keep battery operated lanterns in everyone's rooms and then extras in the laundry room. And that's a good idea of you know blankets everywhere we gather the animals we put them in their crates so if we have to get out we can we've been very fortunate we haven't had anything catastrophic but I do remember back in the day there were a couple of times where we had huge blizzards in Chicago or we had tornadoes and we'd fill the tub with water just in case we lost water and power for multiple days you know and there's times where you can't open up a refrigerator when you don't have power so all those kinds of things are
00:09:19
Speaker
you know, good things to have in your back pocket if you need them. um I do have kids that travel in cars for long distances to get back to school, so I do the same thing. They all have blankets and flashlights and jumper cables and They need to know how to use the jumper cables. But I think you know it's almost easier in a way these days because if you have an emergency, you have a phone. Whereas back in the day, like we would go off to school and we didn't have cell phones. So you'd have to find a pay phone. So we always had like dimes or quarters or whatever stashed away in the car so that if we needed to get help, we could get to a pay phone and call somebody.
00:10:05
Speaker
Whereas now it's like a little easier, you can call AAA, you can call your insurance company and somebody can come help you. Right. And as long as you have cell service, I mean, you are right, it's easier to like reach out until your cell goes down. And like, do you remember the number to tell somebody if they come across or And are there payphones anymore? I don't even really know. i don't There are, but they're feeling far between. yeah And I have daughters. So when they are driving back and forth, like some of the things we always tell them is like, if your car breaks down, call for help. Don't get in a car with somebody.
00:10:41
Speaker
don't, you know, people, chances are they're nice people that want to help you, but they could be a serial killer. So don't get in a car with somebody you don't know. You know what I mean? So, um, you know, stay in lit, lit roads, try to get off the exit, try to get under a light, try to, you know, be mindful and be aware of everything around you kind of thing.
00:11:06
Speaker
Rich and I always, when we go to the movies, we also do like our exit plan. Like, I can't believe we have to do this now, but we'll sit in the movies and I'll be like, okay, where are we going? He's like, let's go there if we need to. That's like where we're going to go in case we have an emergency. So I think just all these kinds of things are good to have in your back pocket just in case, you know, prepare for the worst. Yeah, Peter actually she does that with our family on airplanes.
00:11:35
Speaker
He's like, there's where you're going and you're getting ex-kid or whatever. You're responsible for them. but I'm always like, when you did that when you were nearly married, I was kind of freaked out by it, but now I just kind of expect it. And it actually is a good plan. Yeah, it's good to have a plan. Hopefully you don't have to use it, but it's good to have a plan. You know, one other thing I wanted to say about the emergency is I think it's good.
00:12:02
Speaker
that you know your car because last year I got a flat tire and it was locally here and my son happened to come help me. I just was able to call him, but we both were surprised because this car that we were driving, we got like that the tire out. He was going to change my tire to put the donut on or whatever. It was like not blown up. it and We both were like,
00:12:31
Speaker
Oh, is that flat? Like there's something wrong with it. But it turns out they come that way. And then it came with an air compressor. So you actually have to blow it up. I mean, the whole thing was fascinating to me because I was like, I had no idea. So it's probably a good idea, you know.
00:12:50
Speaker
kind of like your car. yeah Do a dry run, maybe. Yeah. Yeah. Just so you kind of know, does my car have a spare tire? Because some cars even nowadays, I was asking my friend, her car doesn't even have a spare. Oh, really? I think some of these newer cars, some may not.
00:13:07
Speaker
Hmm. Well, I know we have a car that you can drive on a flat. Yes. A long time. I can't remember the number of miles, but it's like, of course, get off and get to your exit and get help, but you can drive on it for a long time without hurting the rim, which is amazing. Do you guys remember when we were growing up that we had to learn how to che like change a tire? Like dad put us in before he would send us off. When we were newly driving, we had to change a tire. Yes. Yes. You guys remember doing that? But now the tires are so heavy. I don't think I know how to do it, but I don't think I physically am strong enough to be able to do it. That's the other issue, right? like And they put those lug nuts on with like um
00:13:53
Speaker
a mechanical wrench or whatever. So they are hard to loosen up. But I mean, I think if you put your whole body into it, you could probably do it. It's gonna take some or take some effort. All right, you also we're headed into what's now 2025, which is incredible. And last Before we went on our break, we talked about resolutions and that study, um, that was done, I think by Harvard or Stanford was a Harvard. yep Um, and saying you would have better success to achieve your goals.
00:14:35
Speaker
your resolutions if you write them down. So I'm curious, do you fishes, did you fishes write down your goals or resolutions this year? You know, it took me a little bit of time. I've been fighting like a head cold for a few weeks. I haven't really wrapped my head around the new year completely, but I did write down my resolutions and um they're nothing earth shattering, but I'm hoping that writing them down will help me be more successful. And one of my resolutions is something that maybe other people will relate to is I have a hard time sometimes intraday to be kind of an all or nothing kind of person. So like,
00:15:21
Speaker
As I'm aging, I'm creeping up on 60 now, like my health and my fitness are always like in the forefront of my mind. But sometimes if I start my day, say on the weekend with like a big weekend breakfast with my family, I kind of give myself permission to just chuck the whole like healthy eating and workout and all that stuff.
00:15:42
Speaker
It's sort of like this all or nothing mindset and I'm going to try to be better about being more consistent and and enjoying that maybe big breakfast but then also getting back on track and like little tiny decisions add up to big achievements if you let them and it's not letting myself derail myself so easily this year, which I have a tendency to do. So that's one of my big resolutions this year is to try to just be more consistent, a little bit more graceful with myself, but then also like
00:16:17
Speaker
you know, stay the course. And if I fall off the track for a meal or a day or whatever, then get back on the horse and get with it again. And not let myself do that all or nothing mentality so much this year. I think giving grace is a positive thing of and a little bit at a time. Like you don't have is you're not failing if you don't get 100% all the time. right That's what we would tell our kids. like right you know Are you making effort? Are you trying? right Some days you're going to do well, some days
00:16:52
Speaker
maybe not as well. And that's okay. But I have a tendency to like, okay, I was so bad. And then it's like, okay, whatever. It's just like the day a shot. Whereas I feel like I'm going to really try to, you know, that's fine. If I go out for like an extraordinary meal, and I have a couple glasses of wine, that's fine. But like,
00:17:12
Speaker
get back on track the next meal, get back on track you know quicker, not to give myself permission to just chuck it all for a day or two. You know what I mean? I feel like I have that mindset too much. So I'm going to try and not do that this year. yeah And writing it down, maybe that will help me. I don't know. I'm hoping. Well, they say writing it down with food, if you're like if food's your goal to eat butter, they say if you track your meals, it does kind of make you hold yourself accountable for what you're doing and what you're consuming. So maybe. I did write down a couple of my goals this year because I was listening to you. And um I actually, one of my goals this year is to focus on the positive. I feel like sometimes we get a little negative and I'm not sure that that's
00:18:09
Speaker
the greatest thing for me. So I'm focusing on the positive. And I actually read this article. It was written by these two psychiatrists um from the Clay Center. And I will post that in the show notes. Their names are Steven Schultzman and Jean Byrne has seen. But they had, it was a very good article. It was kind of short, so you guys should all read it. But they also were talking about You have to be ready to change and you have to be positive because positivity really makes things a lot better and it makes you accountable and stay motivated and try to focus on like
00:18:54
Speaker
the positive things that maybe you have already done better last year that maybe you want to continue doing instead of the negative. Right. Because build on your little wins so that they become bigger wins. I know that just struck with me. I'm going to look more on the positive aspect and try and stay accountable for some of these small goals I have instead of yeah looking at the whole kitchen sink. Just look at a little thing.
00:19:23
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I love that. And like, my son Trevor says it's lock in January. So we're all like, as a family gonna lock in. I mean, I think like anything, right, like with anything, neck, negativity,
00:19:38
Speaker
builds negativity, positivity, builds positivity. So that completely tracks for me. So I was like, yeah, I'm all about it. And then I also have one other goal is a sustainability goal. I'm going to start really trying to use less bottled water. And I got myself a Yeti Rambler that's leak free, I hope. It says it is.
00:20:01
Speaker
but So I'm hopefully gonna try that I wish I could get my people on board with X I use my I have a huge 40 ounce Stanley that I love Yeah at at the house like it's easy in the house. It's harder to take with me out and about but um We have the same thing. We have filtered water throughout the entire house. Why in the world would we ever use anything not then, you know, the filtered water out of the faucet? Well, I also was noticing my kids do go to the gym and they do have those water bottles that they take to the gym. Yeah. Then my son brought home his water bottle from college and I'm like, okay, if they can do it while they're away,
00:20:42
Speaker
I could be doing it. Johanna loves her. She just got a Stanley. She really wanted a Stanley and because our my kids take reusable water bottles to school. And we went to Santa Barbara over the weekend. It was just a day trip. So I'm like, I need a bigger cup of coffee.
00:20:57
Speaker
So I'm like, Tim, I'm gonna use Johanna Stanley and then I'll just refill my other reusable cup when I need more. yeah But the Stanley works so well and it keeps the heat in so well that Tim is like, I can't even drink this coffee. So I'm like, oh, that's okay. I'll just take off the top for you and you can just like sip it without the top.
00:21:16
Speaker
And he's like, took a as he's driving, hot coffee is splashing in his face. He's like, this is not working. oh No. But if you keep the lid on, if you keep the lid on, it really is leaked, leaked proof. So that's my tip to you. Keep your lids on. Well, one of the things that I love, like, Nancy, you sort of mentioned it is um I have an Apple watch.
00:21:42
Speaker
And so um I've been trying this like fitness regimen, which I haven't been able to do for the last few weeks. since I've been sick, but I love that it keeps track of my like fitness rings and even it'll keep track of sleep and steps. And um I think there's so many amazing like little tools out there to help you sort of achieve some of these little whatever goals you have for your health and fitness and even mental health. There's like all these apps and AI is like coming up with like amazing things now. Yeah. I mean the wellness trends for 2025, that's a huge one. yeah Like the personal personalized fitness using AI. And we ended up getting um Trevor and Peter um a whoop
00:22:37
Speaker
which is kind of like an Apple Watch, but it's the same kind of thing. It measures sleep, your stress, recovery, strain, your your step counts, your heart rate, calories burned. I think it's pretty cool. yeah And they actually also came out with like whoop underwear. So it usually wear it on your wrist, but this underwear has like a little pouch in it. So you put the whoop in the pouch and then you don't have to wear anything on your wrist.
00:23:07
Speaker
That's so fascinating. How does that work, I wonder? That's amazing. Have you ever seen that Kora ring that you put on? Yes. I think those are kind of cool, too. I actually wanted to buy Trevor that for Christmas. yeah But when I was kind of like hinting around about it, he was like, I don't wear rings. I was like, oh.
00:23:32
Speaker
Okay, I get that. So that's why we did the whoop because he didn't want to have to wear something. So he wanted to he wanted to be able to track what he's doing. So the yeah, I think he was interested in it to know like, what, what is happening in his body? Is he is he wearing this special underwear and tracking it? Like, is he actually using it? Yeah, he is. And He actually also bought another band for the whoop that's like more like a plastic rubbery. yeah It's waterproof. I didn't know about the whoop.
00:24:08
Speaker
Um, I knew about like Apple watch fit bit, the core ring, but the whoop is new for me, but I love that there's all these different choices out there. Like our oldest daughter loves to check her sleep. Like she'll say to me, I slept 12.2 hours and you know, and she'll,
00:24:30
Speaker
rate her quality of sleep with the sleep app that she loves. And it's just one of those things that I do think kind of makes you aware of your healthfulness.
00:24:43
Speaker
You know, I think it's yeah sleep is huge. I mean, I'm impressed though, just to just not to interrupt Kathy, but that she can sleep for 12.4 hours. Is that what you said? That is like, how do I get that? It doesn't happen all the time, but it did the other day and she was like, I feel great. like I bet you do. That's amazing.
00:25:06
Speaker
I know, Kathy, I think that you were telling me that sleep is super important for your health too, like even more important than we even realize. Just from looking at these wellness trends, they're just saying, I think people underestimate how important sleep really is to just your overall health and mood um that people need to get sleep to recover. One of the things I'm trying to improve on for myself is that I love TV and I have one in my room and at night I have a bad habit of watching TV and kind of falling asleep to it. And they, I think that that's probably not the best way to actually go to sleep. So I'm actively trying to say the TV goes off at a certain time and they either have to read or listen to music or listen to a book instead of falling asleep to the TV.
00:26:01
Speaker
We'll see if I have noticed in a different time, a different bedtime routine. I think they do say if you have like a set routine that you try to do consistently, you do have a higher quality of sleep, which just is just hard. We have kids, we have teenagers that don't sleep. So like I'm up late waiting for people to get home and make sure everyone's not, you know,
00:26:27
Speaker
not yeah somewhere they're not supposed to be or doing whatever. Yeah. I mean, they say that like unplugging is important that we should not have. It's hard to do though. I will say that is a challenge for me as well, Nance. And the other thing I'm trying to do, and this is, I guess with circle back into um resolutions is, is that I, for my nighttime, trying to change that routine and be more mindful of just, you know, myself and being more calm at that time.
00:26:57
Speaker
and having less input, but also in the morning, like I'm really guilty of grabbing my phone first thing in the morning and looking at the news and checking my email. And I have found that my anxiety goes higher when I'm just go straight to the news before I give myself a chance to wake up. So I'm trying, I have to check email quickly just to make sure I don't have anything from the school. But other than that, I just don't want to dive into like,
00:27:25
Speaker
life yet. I want to wake up and try to set the tone for myself and my family without outside noise, even though that's tricky to do. I don't know how what how you guys start your day if you do if you go directly to your phone. I think you're kind of talking about, I mean, another trend they were talking about is micro practices. And that to me sounds like a micro practice. Like you're taking a little time for yourself before you start your day.
00:27:55
Speaker
Yeah, electronics, whatever. And they they're saying that doing these, and I don't even know who came up with that term. But even taking small breaks during the day, or they say gratitude exercises, which I kind of like being like,
00:28:14
Speaker
Yeah, you can't be you know, like gratitude for yourself or gratitude for other people or all of it like I guess it could be at all of it but just taking a breath. Yeah, like in the morning like you're saying, just breathe and you know, it's meaningful and supposed to help you. That sounds good. I feel like you know, there's enough outside noise that whatever we can do to kind of calm our minds and be as productive with our days, a positive thing, right? And the word micro, the that micro just makes it seem so very manageable. Like even if you did two things during your day that took a minute, but you stopped and thought about yourself or thought about what you were doing or not doing or whatever, right like that's so manageable as opposed to like upending your entire life and trying to like
00:29:06
Speaker
change everything so that you could achieve this ginormous goal. If you can just do little tiny things, it all builds into something like maybe beautiful, right? So yeah, I like that. And dancing the positive. Like dancing the positive. All right, girls. I like this.
00:29:27
Speaker
So we did a kind of a little different spin on what's for dinner this week because Kathy found this recipe that she wanted to try and she thought we should all three try it. And it was called um What was the recipe called, Kathy? It was a chicken recipe. It was it called Honey Chipotle Chicken Skewers. Honey Chipotle Chicken, yes. And I actually made this for my family last night. um i did not It was a dish that you were supposed to put on skewers and it had merit the had a marinade sauce with Chipotle peppers in it. I did not put them on a skewer. I just ended up cutting them up and putting them
00:30:10
Speaker
and chunk size and putting them in the pan. and cooking them that way with the sauce. And I liked it, but it had a kick to it. And I actively laughed out loud when I took a bite of it, because I was like, this is spicy. Is Kathy really eating the spicy chicken? So my question is to you, Kathy, did you eat it? And do you like spice? I had no idea. I told you to put the glaze on it. That's why.
00:30:43
Speaker
cut Did you do the glaze? I did the glaze, yes. Oh, so I actually did a lot of glaze on ours, which I think helped cut a little bit of that spice. So Peter and I thought it was a little spicy. ah My middle son did not. He was like, this isn't spicy at all. yeah And they actually all loved it. Even Peter, loved we did ours on skewers and we grilled it.
00:31:07
Speaker
and we had it with some rice and a salad, and I actually thought it was very good. Yeah, I liked it. I liked it, but it was spicy, and I think I was surprised. And I actually added more honey to cut the spice a little bit. So did I. I did too. Chipotle is a little tricky. In my family, a couple of people like spice. My husband does not at all.
00:31:32
Speaker
So I have to modify those kinds of recipes less Chipotle more honey. Yeah, but yeah, I think- But I thought it was a thumbs up. I thought it was good. Yeah, I think that we, I'm not sure, i maybe a redo, I'm not sure. Like i it might've been a little bit too spicy for some of my people, but I love that we tried a recipe together. So I would love the listeners to repost this recipe, give it a try, and I would love to know what your thoughts are. Is this thumbs up, thumbs down, spicy, not spicy enough? We would love to hear your comments.
00:32:07
Speaker
Well, we want to thank you for listening to our season two of our podcasts and letting us sisters jump into your day. Please make sure to follow, rate and review us. We wish you all a happy 2025. Please look out for some new topics and we are also going to be starting a book club. Have a great weekend. Sisters out.