Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
EP 126: Goodbye 2025, Hello 2026
0 Playsin 6 hours
We’re officially closing the book on 2025. In true Mom Group Chat fashion, we’re getting honest, reflective, and a little excited about what’s next.
In this episode, we’re walking through our goals and intentions for 2026, breaking them down into the categories that matter most in this season of life. This isn’t about rigid resolutions or pressure to “do it all.” It’s about clarity, alignment, and deciding how we actually want the next year to feel.
We dive into:
- Family: What we’re prioritizing at home, the kind of presence we want to bring into our families, and the boundaries we’re setting to protect that time
- Health: Shifting away from all-or-nothing thinking and focusing on sustainable habits that support our energy, strength, and mental health
- Career: Where we’re feeling called to grow, what we’re letting go of, and how we’re redefining success in this next chapter
- Mom Group Chat: Our vision for the podcast in 2026, what we’re excited to expand, and how we want to show up for this community
- Personal Growth: The internal work, mindset shifts, and intentions we’re carrying forward into the new year
If you’re heading into 2026 craving more intention and less pressure, this episode is for you. Grab a coffee, take a walk, or listen during a rare quiet moment—and maybe let this be your permission slip to reflect on what you want next.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction of Hosts
00:00:07
Speaker
There's no right way to do it.
00:00:12
Speaker
Oh, we're going to get into it. What up, moms? My name is Whitney Williams, and I'm here with my best friend, Candice. And this is the Mom Group Chat Podcast. Hello. I am loud today. i i Even my my little thing is like... my no no Yeah, you are louder today. Which I feel like our listeners will like. We've gotten some feedback that you're low,
Holiday Reflections
00:00:33
Speaker
low. sorry I'm an alto I always try to amplify you in editing but that is like all of a sudden it is so loud that it's weird I don't know maybe it's been my microphone there I don't know that's crazy wow I'm good now oh good well damn maybe I won't even have to edit you anymore ah that would be ah a treat a dream
00:00:58
Speaker
yeah How are we? Well, I miss you. it's been It's been so long since I've slept in your bed. ah It's been nine whole days since so we've seen each other.
00:01:14
Speaker
whole We are coming off of a holiday rolling right into another. yeah Yeah. I mean.
00:01:25
Speaker
We are in that time of year where everything is bus club. Another club, another club, plane. That's just how it feels. Like, and it's, it has begun. And i don't, it's funny. I don't feel like, I actually feel excited. Like we put up all of our Christmas lights. We got our tree. um It's not fully decorated yet, but we did. I'm actually literally sitting next to bins and bins of Christmas stuff.
00:01:54
Speaker
We, Okay, I've talked on this podcast at length about how I thought we lost a lot of our Christmas stuff in the flood. and we did, but we have more than I thought. Yay. And Vinny told me that, like, I guess last year, like weeks before the flood happened, like he had randomly moved a couple of boxes to the storage unit and out so out of our garage. ya So all the stuff I thought was in our garage.
00:02:26
Speaker
actually ended up not being so and we have more than I thought, which is exciting. And there are some like sentimental things that i was like, Oh my god, I had like fully thought we had lost this. And now we have it So that's great.
Alice's Dental Drama
00:02:40
Speaker
And, uh, yeah, I actually might try to decorate this evening to cheer me up a little bit. Cause I've had a tough morning. I know I need to hear about your day. Oh, okay. Sorry to like, just dive into this and be the chatty one, but we had Alice's appointment for her cavity filling and crown situation this morning. And a little bit of background, I think I've talked about it, but We went to the dentist. They were like kind of weird and unclear about her having a cavity. They said they wanted to like seal it.
00:03:15
Speaker
They wanted to put her to sleep. And I was like, wait, you want to put her to sleep to like put a little sealant on? That feels weird. And when I talked to my brother-in-law about it, he was like, wait, does she have a cavity? And i was like, i don't know. They didn't say that. Anyways, we went and got a second opinion from a second dentist. And they were like, listen, she does so well, the dentist. Like, let's try it with just nitrous gas to get it done. It turns out she had a second smaller cavity.
00:03:44
Speaker
next to the big one. That one's super small and new. um And they were like, let's try with the nitrous and see if we can get it done. And I was like, great. I didn't really want to try to put her to sleep. That felt like a little intense for a cavity filling. But also, I've never had a cavity, so I don't fucking know. I don't. Like, I don't even know what that process is like. I have no idea.
00:04:06
Speaker
So anyways, we tried this morning with nitrous. And y'all, it was So traumatizing. It was definitely probably worse for me than it was for her, but it was really hard They started to try to like, at first she wouldn't even put the nitrous like nose on. They let her choose like a flavor of the gas and she chose chocolate sprinkles, which i thought was an interesting choice, but whatever. Um, well, they used to only have bubble gum.
00:04:35
Speaker
um Y'all they had everything. Strawberry. They, they had sprinkles and they had chocolate sprinkles or rainbow sprinkles, but they had cotton candy, birthday cake, like all sorts of things.
00:04:49
Speaker
Um, And at first she like wouldn't even let them put the nose on for the nitrous. And i was like, Oh fuck, like this isn't going to go well. But then we had seen in the office, someone else get treated like laying on their mom, like, you know, and she was like, can I just lay on mommy and then you can do it. And so I was like, great. She can lay on me. And the doctor said, totally fine.
00:05:14
Speaker
So I laid down, she laid on top of me. I'm like, holding her hands. fucked They, they put the nitrous on. She seems to be doing fine. And my brother-in-law had said like, listen, if you can get through numbing, like numbing is the worst part. Like if, yeah, like if she can get through numbing, you're golden. and I was like, okay, I'm just like getting through numbing. And honestly, she was pretty okay. The one thing I think that messed with her more than anything is she wouldn't keep her mouth open big enough. So they had to put that like expander thing
00:05:48
Speaker
And she did not like that. And, but still she did. Okay. They put on the numbing gel first, like the bubble gum gel. And then they did the shots and she was okay. She was crying a little, but like on the whole doing okay.
00:06:03
Speaker
But when they got at the drills, it took a turn. It took a turn. I was having to literally like hold her arm. She was screaming, crying. She was trying to pull the nitrous nose off, trying to like put her hands in her mouth to get whatever was like on her mouth out of there. And there was a moment where the dentist said, okay, mom, do you want me to continue?
00:06:26
Speaker
and I just said, yeah, I do. Because it's like, at this point, we're already through the numbing. We're halfway into this. I was like, all of this struggle for like just to walk out of here in the same place that we came in you know?
00:06:41
Speaker
So I said, yes. And I was trying my best to talk Alice, like to distract her. I was talking about the toys we were going to get at Target after, Santa Claus, Christmas, all sorts of things. She just screamed and like was trying to wrestle me, but they were able to get the big cavity, you know, filled and put the crown on her tooth.
00:07:05
Speaker
They weren't able to touch the little one. Like she wasn't able to tolerate anymore. And i I agree, but they said that cavity is so small and new that we could just monitor it for a while. Yeah. And they also have some medicine, I guess that you can kind of paint on. it would just be like them painting on this medicine and it will help stop the growth of the cavity.
00:07:25
Speaker
But again, we weren't going to attempt that today. Like it was, you know, But when she sat up and they took everything off of her, like she was bleeding a little bit and we had to stick gauze in her mouth just for her to bite down on the gauze. And she did. She hated that. And immediately she was like, mommy, when is the crowd or when is it going to come out? When is it going to be taken out?
00:07:48
Speaker
And I was like, baby, that's going to be in your mouth. It feels a little weird right now, but it's going to it'll feel better in a little bit. And she was like, I want to keep it here. ah Like she wanted to leave it there. yeah um Oh my God. It was so traumatizing and like very hard. And I'm not going to lie there. I just had the thought of like, damn, this is why they want to put them to sleep. You know, like I get it.
00:08:13
Speaker
And like, I'm happy we were able, and she was y'all by the time we were in the car and like pulling out of the parking lot, she was totally fine. Like smiling, talking about the stickers she got and like,
00:08:24
Speaker
Meanwhile, I'm reeling. I'm like trying not to ball my eyes out in the car. yeah I was not well. um My aura ring was like, are you okay, girl? um So again, I think it was more traumatizing for me than it was for her, but it was really tough. And if you have a child that has a cavity, you're Although putting them to sleep is like not fun either. Like I do feel, I guess my biggest worry now is that like I've traumatized her about the dentist forever. Like,
00:08:56
Speaker
It'll be okay because I've done the same thing. you probably don't feel this way right now at all because i i feel like I've been where you've been, where we went to the doctor, and I don't know if y'all remember this, but like where they like stuck the whatever, the scope into the ear and it started bleeding and They were like, you need to go to the emergency room. And I had like a full-fledged panic attack. Anyway, I felt – well, I did traumatize Graydon for a long time.
00:09:22
Speaker
But he has gotten so much better at the doctor. So there's hope for you, Candice. Like they are so kind and gentle with him, like knowing what his past experiences have been. So I like fully – Yeah.
00:09:38
Speaker
i had cavities when i was little and so i really hated denni growing up and i think that's just like i i told you like a lot of kids dislike doctors and dennis because i mean you're doing something kind of rough to them yeah um But it's done. I'm so sorry. It's like the worst feeling and you're like, all you want to do is protect your child. I know. You're like, I'm doing what's best for you. And it doesn't, I don't know, like everything is like fighting against you. it's like, yeah. whole I one of the things I've really tried to teach Alice and you maybe you heard me say this to her when you were here, Whitney, but I always say to her, like, what's mommy's number one job? And she'll say back to me to keep me safe because that is my number one job. And that's like if I'm forcing her to do something that she doesn't want to do, I want her to know that like it's because it's my job to keep her safe, you know. And
Medical Traumas and Guilt
00:10:34
Speaker
so at the end, I was like and as she was like in the roughest part of it,
00:10:39
Speaker
The doctor and the nurse or dental hygienist or whoever she was, dental assistant, she was like, um they were both telling her, you're safe. Mommy's here with you. You're safe. You're safe. And so when she set up, I was like, I was like, what's mommy's number one job? And she was like, to keep me safe. And I was like, that's right. To keep you safe. And I said, and that includes your teeth. I have to keep your teeth safe. And she was like, okay. And, and then I also tried to tell her, I'm like, listen,
00:11:12
Speaker
Do you remember the last time we came to the dentist and they just brushed your teeth a little bit and poked around like I was like not every trip to the dentist will be like this. This was a special thing we had to do in order to keep your teeth safe. And she was like, okay. Literally me when I took Graydon, because he just got over like being scared at the doctor. We have the four-year-old checkup and he gets shots, which he hasn't gotten in two years. And I was just like, fuck me, man. Like we just got over yeah the hump of him being scared. And I told him recently, because we were talking about the doctor and he's like, i don't want shots again. Yeah. Dude, your doctor literally told me you don't have to have them again until you're 11. You're good.
00:11:59
Speaker
You're so good. as he i know. So that made me feel better because wow maybe we'll be like a whole nother person by then. Right. So. Yeah.
00:12:11
Speaker
So anyways, it was a little traumatizing. But like I said, or I said to Whitney before we hopped on, like texted, she went to my mom's for the afternoon. and I texted my mom, like, how is she? blah blah And she literally wrote me, to me, she's acting absolutely perfect. She's not a bad mood. She doesn't seem like bothered. I think it's amazing. That's what she said. And I was like, great. It was truly like it never happened for her. For me, different story. But like, that makes me feel better. I'm like, maybe she
New Year's Reflections and Goals
00:12:39
Speaker
won't be traumatized.
00:12:40
Speaker
You're going to be like me. Like, I'm kind of get scared to take Graydon to the doctor now. Like, it's on. yeah Like, I get a little nervous. I'm like, take her to the dentist next time. i later like Whenever I took Graydon for his four year old checkup, I had freaking Margo with me and I was like, I'm the one like, oh, here we go. I'm nervous. I'm freaking out. Like, he's going to freak out. Oh, yeah.
00:13:05
Speaker
Not fun. But. Oh, yeah. all good intentions. Sorry. love you. And i'm i end I just feel so relieved that it's done because that that cavity, i don't know if I told you this, but that cavity was getting deep. like Because when we first had it looked at, it was like the end of August. And between end of August and last week when we had that second opinion, they said it had gotten deeper and like bigger. And if it had gotten any worse, like she would have to have a baby root canal.
00:13:36
Speaker
Lord. The cavity was like big and So I just feel so relieved that it's taken care of and we're good now. And that tooth will come out when she's 10 or 11. And that'll her cool tooth and her tooth will be locked. And be her Iron Man tooth. Is it silver? It's silver. yeah. That's my girl.
00:14:00
Speaker
I know. I'm like, ugh. I just... I don't love the look of that, but like, what am I supposed to do? Is there any other option? I didn't ask. And you're like, can I get a gold one? Come on.
00:14:12
Speaker
I mean, that's just whatever luckily it's literally her back, the furthest back tooth in her mouth. Thank God. Yeah. Oh, poor baby. Well, glad it's done. it's over with now. Thank goodness. Yeah. Rough start to my day. And, uh, it's also like, I think the combination of like ending a holiday weekend with like that being the cherry on top, I was texting my husband. I was like, I feel like i have to take the rest of the day off. The, the transition into like work mode for me was so hard. I was like, I am like, not okay.
00:14:50
Speaker
That's literally like how I was talking to my like do day group and they, um, they were supposed to, like Rachel was supposed to go to a holiday party yesterday. And, um, the person who was having the holiday party, their kid woke up with hand, foot, and mouth. And we all were like, Oh fuck. Like imagine coming off of a long holiday weekend to having hand, foot, mouth, their home for a whole nother week. Oh my God. I would be so upset. I would be so upset.
00:15:20
Speaker
I said, Oh, someone's got that voodoo doll on them. For no literally that's, that's a nightmare. Truly God, for real. Yeah. But that's what happens when after like big family events and stuff, like like all the kids get runny noses again. I'm like, come on, you got daycare germs in you. Why you got a runny nose? know. It's actually funny you say that. Evie had like a runny nose this morning and I was like, where did that come from? What is happening? Literally, Margo, this morning, i'm like, you you have an ironclad system now. Like, what what are you doing with that?
00:15:50
Speaker
Yeah. You weren't even around anyone. Like, how did you get that? Yeah, that's how I feel. Because, like, we're the first grandchildren. You weren't even around any kids. Where did this happen where where did this come from? I'm like, come on. But, oh, well.
00:16:04
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, well. Today is our New Year's episode. i cannot... Let's flip this convo. Yeah, we're going to flip it around because fucking love the New Year. i You guys know this about me. I really do. But it's like, it's the same way that like you love Halloween because it's like by your birthday.
00:16:27
Speaker
my birthday is December The New Year is the new year is so Okay, this is going sound so cheesy and woo-woo, okay? But it's how I feel, okay?
00:16:38
Speaker
It is, like, so transformative for me. It's, like, the beginning of a new year, the beginning of a new, like, birth year for me. i am someone who, like, really believes in, like, resetting myself and my life for the new year.
00:16:55
Speaker
um and I just love it so much. So I'm excited to chat about it. Yeah, you do love the new year. i feel like you're good about like goal setting and stuff. Like you're a big planner, big strategist. And I'm just like the go with the flow as we've established. So it's like it kind of makes me do it, which is fun. um But my eyelash lady was telling me next year is the year of the horse, which amazing. Also, the year we were born in the 90s, 1990, and that was the year of the horse. So she said that it's a wealthy year for us 1990 kids.
00:17:30
Speaker
If you're hearing this, it's our year. We love to hear it and see it. Okay. I, ever since you told me that in texts, like recently, i feel like I've been seeing all sorts of things about the year of the horse. Yes. That's so funny. Yes, I really have. And I'm excited about all the possibilities. Literally. Woo! Okay. So my friend my friends, Chris and Lauren, do a really good job about this too. We did this at a New Year's party one year where you kind of like walk through and um prioritize like what's most important for you in the new year. And like I kind of categorize my thoughts around like family being number one, health, wealth, which is like job and then like whatever. Career, yeah, yeah. Yeah, career. And then also like a growth category. and ah
00:18:24
Speaker
yeah, how you want to like grow yourself for the new year. So I kind of like broke it up like that. That's the way I was thinking. I don't know. Perfect. Okay. Okay. I didn't prepare, but I i i got them in my brain. so I feel like you just like are always constantly ready to go.
00:18:41
Speaker
I've already been like doing my some reflection and thinking about the new year. yeah. yeah So i'm I'm prepared. I'm just going to go with you. and and Okay. Well, I had to write stuff down because you know I don't do this very often. But with family...
00:19:01
Speaker
um i feel like I've talked about how I've noticed Chris and i like disassociating a little bit by being on our phones a ton. And so I kind of thought of like a low lift, which I'm going to have to get him on board. He doesn't know this yet yet. But like a low lift like habit to start is to do like one hour Saturday and on Sunday of like tech free hour. so like TVs are off, phones are put away where we're like intentionally like just spending time with the kids. And like, honestly, that would be the easiest thing to do. Like first thing in the morning, we probably could like do two hours of that. But to like get that habit going is just for an hour.
00:19:45
Speaker
And I was like, that would be like a fun challenge to do in January and see how it continues. 100%. I love that. In fact, i one of the things I've been eyeing that I might still buy today because it's Cyber Monday when we're recording this um is the brick.
00:20:03
Speaker
Do you know what that is? the It's um a little cube and you can stick it. ah A lot of people keep it on their fridge and it's like ah um it's like a physical locking of certain apps of your phone. So you can like it you can brick your phone from accessing, like you can choose whatever, email, so like whatever. And in order for it to unlock, you have to go and tap your phone on the brick. So it doesn't like,
00:20:31
Speaker
you know, brick it forever, but it's, it's the physical like addition of having to get up and go do something that will ultimately like stop you from, or if you're like leaving the house for the afternoon, you could brick your Instagram email, whatever, so that you are.
00:20:48
Speaker
Yeah. Then you really can't. Yeah. so right. Cause you're not with
Family Bonding and Health
00:20:53
Speaker
the brick. So, um, I have been considering buying a brick to just, um, create some more ah like awareness and because I think that's what I've heard. Like, yeah I can't even help it. Like, i i don't even realize how much I'm tapping it.
00:21:09
Speaker
I'm just like tapping in there to tap it. Like, and I don't even realize it. And don't know. I just think that'd be a nice to do. I've seen this girl on TikTok where she does one hour of like, like she it's called like raw dogging. Yeah. Okay. Raw dogging life.
00:21:27
Speaker
Raw dogging for an hour. She started slow, like 20 minutes, 30. And she's up to an hour when she films of herself, just sitting there and like just letting her be in her thoughts. wait, I feel like I've seen Yeah. And now you just see her like looking around and like just sitting there on the couch, just chilling. Like, like you're not laying down, you're not falling asleep. You're just intentionally just like letting yourself think.
00:21:49
Speaker
And she's like saying that it was the best thing that she's ever done. Like it makes you slow down a little bit. Yeah. im Almost like you're in that newborn stage again where you're like, you literally just slow down and you like relish everything in life in that newborn stage. Yeah. um, that's like the only other time I've felt that way, that slow down.
00:22:07
Speaker
Now it doesn't, I'm just like chaotic all the time now. Yeah. I thought, well, I also like, yeah, I like also how you're approaching it of just being like one hour. It's, that's a very like achievable goal. Whereas, you know, this is something I talk about the time. People set like these crazy goals of like, I'm going to go without my phone for four days every month. You know, it's like, or whatever that's like more intense, the fact that it's one hour, it's like, that's a totally doable.
00:22:35
Speaker
or it Yeah, I've been like, let's get off our phones for the night until the kids go to bed. Like, yeah, it's just it didn't work. So I just need to try and I like that. Like I said, the easiest lift will be in the morning when we're all waking up, we're doing breakfast, like just keep the ball rolling a little bit.
00:22:50
Speaker
Yeah, totally. I love that. And then like one other thing was like, a um I loved this idea of like a monthly, like intentional memory challenge, which I thought was kind of cute. Just like one social experience or it could just be going out to dinner because sometimes like even in the winter we like to like keep locked in. But now the kids are older, like going to Zoolumination or whatever. I don't know, doing all kinds of stuff. Like this month is easy, but like starting in January, just getting out of the house and creating like fun memories would be um top of the list for family goals.
00:23:28
Speaker
Yeah. Mine is kind of in line with that. I would say that my goal is just more like intentional fun time out of the house. um Like doing something like that. Like an event or that's happening in Tampa or going to the beach for a picnic or something like that. And then in line with that also is weaving in at least one like afternoon or or morning of like one-on-one time with each of our kids, like for both of us, like daddy and Alice or daddy and Evie or mommy and Alice and mommy or mommy and Evie. And just having some one-on-one time. I feel like we used to do that all the time. And that's something that's like fallen off for us where if anything, it's one-on-one, it's always like,
00:24:16
Speaker
mommy and the girls or daddy and the girls, yeah but it's very rarely that we like split and do like, you know, true parent one-on-one time. So I want to start weaving that in more. Yeah.
00:24:28
Speaker
Yeah, that's something we do a lot. We just like break it up because we've always said like one kill kid feels like none. So it's like just easier to run errands with just one. So yeah, we do that a lot. um yeah And it gives them a break, the kids a break. So then they come back and they're excited to see each other. So it's nice. um And then i think that's all I had for like family ideas. I do want us to take a big trip. next year.
00:24:57
Speaker
Like I'm planning on saving some money to do like a fun family vacation because we did ours earlier in the year last or I guess this year. So I just want to save up and do like a fun trip together. Amazing. Love that.
00:25:12
Speaker
Good goal. I have I do have one family one, but I feel like it bridges into health. So I feel like maybe we could use that as a bridge. Okay. So our another like goal of mine is to just be more active as a family, like do more active things, get outside, go on walks, play sports, go to the park.
00:25:33
Speaker
um And yeah, I feel like both Vinny and I are in this place where we're trying to be more active and are seeing how good that is for us as a family and for each of us, even though his swimming is very...
00:25:51
Speaker
consuming sometimes and I complain about it but you of them alive yeah yeah for the most part I do see the benefits of it and I do want us to be like more active together as a family That's a good one. um i love a family walk. I like literally have to make Graydon go. But once he's there, we're good. um For me, i think this is the year where I join a gym again. i Love. yeah Yeah. I haven't done it in over a year. I used to do Orange Theory. Like I'm a bit I used to be like a big gym person. Like that was my hobby.
00:26:28
Speaker
And so some of my girlfriends are joining F45. So y'all on the pod, hold me to it. I'm going to try it. So I'm excited. It's like a mix of like personal training and CrossFit, I guess. I don't know much about it. Yeah, totally. I think I'll like it. um Some of my friends do burn and stuff. But then I had a friend tell me like ah they thought F45 would fit my endurance level a little better. So I think I'm going to go for that.
00:26:55
Speaker
I've always been curious about burn. It's never been close to me, but now like literally at the end of my street, one just opened this past weekend. Oh, perfect. Yeah. One of my friends. never been there though.
00:27:05
Speaker
um And they love it. But yeah, I think they that my friend was just like, I know what kind of workout you're looking for. And F45 is probably like it. i feel like I would like that too, honestly. Yeah, you definitely would. um So I think I'm going to do it.
00:27:23
Speaker
I'm excited. I that. I have to try it out.
Financial and Career Aspirations
00:27:25
Speaker
So that I just like I've been doing it this past month. I've been on this really big like movement streak run. So I want to keep that up where I've been walking like four miles every day. And so that's been amazing. um and it's honestly like the walks for me are like my mental health walk more than just like moving my knee. Yeah. It's like my nervous system reset most of the time. And now that it's getting cold, I'm like, yet.
00:27:53
Speaker
What am I going to do? Like, it's so yeah freezing out and I hate walking when it's like anything below 40. So I'm kind of missing that right now, but hopefully it'll warm back up soon and I can get back out there.
00:28:07
Speaker
Yeah. I think that's good, honestly. yeah and It's the year of like getting my shit back together. We focused we focused on like losing weight this year and I've had my ups and downs, but then now I'm like, now I want to get back into like good endurance, good like strength, like really just grow upon what I've done. um i am Yeah.
00:28:33
Speaker
I was going to say my other health goal is really just to like maintain where I'm at. i haven't lost any, like I haven't lost weight really in like over a month and a half, maybe even more time than that. um But I've been doing a pretty good job of maintaining and like keeping up.
00:28:54
Speaker
Well, until literally this holiday weekend, I went balls to the wall, but on the, on the whole, I'm pretty good about, maintaining healthy eating and like eating my protein. um And so really, it's just maintaining while also upping the active, like the active lifestyle, I want to be more active, I want to work out more. um And I feel like for the first time,
00:29:21
Speaker
working out is feeling really good again. And it's because I'm literally 50 pounds lighter, you know, but it's like, wow, I want to be strong now. And that's why I want, so yeah, I just want to maintain where I'm at and keep making healthy choices and move, move my meat more. if you meet You look fab. So I'm right there with you. Um, so next category being wealth.
00:29:49
Speaker
money, money, money, money. I wish. um But for me, wealth meaning like in my own career goals and with mom group chat is with with actual work is like maybe honing in on a new skill skill or like potentially like volunteering myself to join a new project, like one that I might not have a lot of like um expertise on, but could learn upon. And it would help me like grow within my career. um
00:30:22
Speaker
We have a new vice president at our company. So I feel like she's going to be having a lot of new projects coming up. So i told myself I wanted to volunteer to be on a new project for next year. Amazing.
00:30:35
Speaker
Cool. It's scary, but I want to, you know? Yeah. Um, okay. For me, I did so much this year with my work. I like diversified so much. I like started mentorship. I started the moment, which I don't really make, I don't make any money from that or anything, but it's like a passion project for me.
00:30:59
Speaker
um and I really just want to like continue diversifying um, um In 2026, I love my clients and the people I work with, but I'm really loving, like exploring different ways to like make money as like a personal brand and um dipping my toe into like a little bit of the influencer space, which I know some people have like feelings about or i even maybe it's that I have feelings about it myself. I don't know. It just can like feel like,
00:31:34
Speaker
it's like an imposter syndrome, right? It's like, I do people even care like what I have to say don't i don't know Um, so I got to get over that first of all. I feel like now it you it used to maybe feel that way. Cause not a lot of people did it, but now I feel like we have so many friends that do it and it just feels like achievable maybe now. There's so many easy ways to like monetize on it. And it's fun to like, just talk about your day-to-day life. Like, I don't think it's weird. And I think you're really good at it. Oh, thanks.
00:32:08
Speaker
Um, I, I think the truth is, and this, I don't know if this necessarily falls in the, in the career slash wealth category, but, I really want to like follow my enthusiasm more. And what I mean by that is like try to lean into more of the things that I like genuinely love and enjoy doing. And of course I love, you know, doing VA a work for clients. I do love serving people, but I love mentoring. I love helping women like start their careers. I love makeup and like start like doing that little makeup class was so fun for me. And like, I barely made any money on that. But it was so fun to do. and I like felt like I'm like, okay, I could see the potential here, you know? Yeah. So I just want to do more of that. I want to do more of like what I feel lights me up and ah just makes me feel like enthusiastic, you know? No, I totally agree. Like I said, you're so good at it. And I feel like the year of the horse is your year.
00:33:11
Speaker
Thanks. Okay. One more wealth goal is to start working more on retirement and, uh, like life insurance and just like, I don't know, like more long-term wealth things. That's something that I like Vinny, neither Vinny or I have like life insurance and I need to figure out what, how to do that. I assume we could probably do it through Vinny's work. So I need to figure that out.
00:33:38
Speaker
But, um, And like working for myself, like I don't really do a ton with like retirement and stuff right now. So I want to just start to like build the blocks of like being smarter about setting my future self up, you know? know That's such a good one. You kind of made me like reminded me that I had and another goal under family, which I thankfully started on is getting the will made for our family. So I signed up for, cause my company does um like benefits where you can get a lawyer and they'll draw up a will for you. So
00:34:13
Speaker
I took that step to get that done. And so now all Chris and I have to do is get that set up next year. And I was like, I've been wanting to do this for two years. Like that has been on my mind. It's kind of expensive to do. So I found this like little loophole with work that they'll do it. And so me and my friends that all have kids, we signed up for it. We're like, we have got to do this. Damn, I got it. Yeah, I definitely, you just never know what's going to happen, you know? And of course, like, I don't ever like to put that juju out. and Not that you're the horse. That's not going to happen, okay? No, no, no, no.
00:34:45
Speaker
But um I do want to, like, just have our ducks in a row so that, God forbid, you know, I don't know. And um we didn't get to touch on mom group chat. Like, it's still going to be popping next year. um I mean, this is, like,
00:35:03
Speaker
my my biggest goal is to post more on social and to like get more consistent clip. I want to post more on social. I want to connect with our community more. Like we said, we want I want to have four in-person events.
00:35:19
Speaker
And um are the other thing I will say is, which does go with wealth, I guess, is we really do want to try to monetize this podcast. Like if In case you don't know, we don't make any money from this. guy This is a true passion project, my girls. Okay.
00:35:36
Speaker
So um we we have had some like sponsorship interest and our listenership has grown so much. We have such a loyal an engaged community. So um i would love to hit a stride where like every episode we have two sponsors and can really get consistent with that. So if you're listening to this and you work for a company who would love to reach 300,000 engaged
00:36:04
Speaker
engaged moms Hit a girl up. Hit a girl up. Please. That would be so lovely. And like I said, we're going to continue to do this with or without.
00:36:15
Speaker
But hey, that would be nice. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Oh, and merch. How long have we been saying that? At this point, I don't even want to say it because it's like everyone's rolling their eyes. I might cut that part out. We're going to just we're just going to Beyonce drop merch one day of being like, it's here. Yeah.
00:36:35
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. And now moving on to growth as a person. Okay. Which is always a hard one because like I feel like I'm always, i always think of myself last on if like I think of growth as like starting a new hobby or i don't know, like something where you literally have to set aside time to do.
00:37:02
Speaker
So growth is kind of hard. um But if if it was a perfect world and I actually stick to something like, yeah, I would love to start a hobby like I would love to like stitch a stocking.
00:37:17
Speaker
God, that sounds so fun to me. I feel like that stuff is so hot right now. What is it? Cross stitch Imagine me needle pointing the shit out of stocking. That's what it is. Needle point.
00:37:31
Speaker
You'd be so good at it. It sounds fun. I would just need someone to teach me or like, boom, can I make a quilt? I would love that. Oh my God. So cute. Going to the fabric store. Like anyway, I would love to do that. I just need to find like a class on son someone teach me how to sew, teach me how to Dougie. think that'd be so fun.
Achievements and Self-Celebration
00:37:53
Speaker
One day. i know. i there's definitely like more hobby e things I want to do I think though, mine is going to be a little bit like,
00:38:06
Speaker
what I said with work. And that is just like following my enthusiasm, which is like my phrase for, it was kind of my phrase for this year, but I, and I feel like i did a lot of doing that this year. You did good.
00:38:18
Speaker
Yeah, I really have had one of the best years of my life, I think. But I want to just continue it and take it even a step further to like, I love to cook. I love to try new recipes from my cookbooks. And like, I just want to like romanticize little pockets of my life more.
00:38:36
Speaker
i mean, that's how that's what we literally said about Natalie with the Nat note, like yeah hosting more parties, like being in the moment, like creating these fun, like memorable things like that is, is always on the docket. I tried to do that this year as well. And we've had some like really good times with our friends. Um, so I agree. I also feel like something that I'm not super confident in, which is like public speaking. And I feel like I have grown so much this year, like in my career and with with mom group chat, like even being with Candice on camera, like I could tell so much difference. Like if I had done that in January versus like when doing it in November, like I probably would have felt completely different, but it just felt so easy and natural just because I have...
00:39:28
Speaker
been trying to grow that confidence and like being visible is okay and you can speak freely and yada yada so that's always on like something I want to work on yeah well I think you were amazing when we did the show really do you the videos never came i uploaded them to the drive so I'll send you a drive link too cool um so weird are you're in that album yeah I don't know it never came through weird They are long and like hefty, but still you would think they would come through. That's weird. um
00:40:05
Speaker
I love that for you. And I think that you were amazing on the show. So I think. i love us I love us. One thing that I am huge on is really looking back at the this past year and like reviewing And honestly, like celebrating the things that you've accomplished and you've done like big and small. I think it's so important for you, for everyone to like celebrate the things that they've done. And like, I love the trend on online right now. Have you seen the people who do like the celebrate cakes?
00:40:42
Speaker
And they're like, don think so it's like a cake in front of a camera. And, you know, they have like little things on toothpicks and they'll be like, hi, my name is Candice. And this year i launched a newsletter and they like put it in the cake and it's like a bunch of friends just put it in. It'll be little things like I, whatever. I took a hundred yoga classes this year, blah, blah, blah. All of those little things. Like, I feel like it's so easy I don't know, especially if you're like me, who's like an achiever, like really is always looking for like, what can I do now? Yeah, yeah. It's so important that you look back and be like, damn, I've done a lot. Like I should be so proud of myself. I think it's so important as women that we do that.
00:41:23
Speaker
um So what's your thing that you are like most proud of this year? Which?
00:41:31
Speaker
maybe just because it was like most recent, but like the being on TV was like freaking awesome. And like something that I never thought I would do in my life. Like always thought that that was meant for like broadcasting or journalism, like students at Alabama. Like I was just like, I would never want to do that. That is so terrifying. And then being up there with you, I was like, that was so amazing and fun. Like I love when can I come back? I lala loved that.
00:41:59
Speaker
I also have been presenting a lot in front of our CEO, which is always like not fun right before. I think it's just the anticipation, anticipation but once it's done, I feel like a badass boss bitch. Okay. Like I love doing that. Um,
00:42:17
Speaker
There's nothing, not a better feeling than being done with one of those and like giving kudos after that. So like those are two big ones, like work related, I guess. Yep. Family, my biggest accomplishment was probably Graydon learning how to swim this summer. Like that was such joyous moment for all of us. Like him being able to swim from like one of the pool to the other was just like a relief. Like, yeah.
00:42:44
Speaker
so fun like it was just a core memory being made so that was like and I feel like you're like wow we've entered like childhood you know what I mean like yeah you don't have babies anymore we've got kids swimming across pools honestly it's just so crazy and like how much they like took to the water this summer it was just like just so fun I'm gonna remember that forever like that being probably the most fun summer we've ever had I love that that's so fun what's yours Hmm.
00:43:20
Speaker
gosh, there's so many, i think like, this is kind of just like an overarching one and it's probably very broad, but I feel like for the first time in like five or six years, I like truly prioritized myself and like what I wanted to do um and that has like changed my life in so many ways. Um,
00:43:42
Speaker
and like for the better. So I'm just proud of myself for like putting myself first. I mean, not my kids are still first still, but like, you know what i mean? For the most part, like making myself more of a priority. Yeah. Um, and then honestly,
00:44:06
Speaker
on I'm really proud of my marriage this year. i really am. We started off this year. Oh my God, I'm going cry, I think. We started off this year in such a low place, you guys. like With us like being still displaced from the flood and like not sure what we were going to do. i feel like Vinny and I were in such a bad place. He was just like so angry about everything. and I was so sad and like feeling so unorganized with our life. And so us being able to come together and like make it through that and then
00:44:43
Speaker
Just this year, like, I feel like we've worked together as a team, like better than ever. And we communicate better than ever. And I'm really like proud of us. And I feel it is, i i do feel like that thing of like, oh, if we can make it through that, we really can make it through anything. And I feel like we have come out so much stronger on the other side. So that is so sweet of you to say. I love that.
00:45:10
Speaker
My Rose is my husband. oh Do you know that? That's a joke, but i it's a real housewives joke. but How sweet. The girls who know. no But um yeah, it was it was not a hard year in the beginning. So the thing, it's like it ebbs and flows and like, i don't know, kids will test you, but always come out on the other side. And sorry, I do need to say one thing.
00:45:37
Speaker
that me prioritizing myself like kind of goes hand in hand yeah with my husband, like, and I's like, I didn't resent him because I was taking care of myself first. And I, he wanted me more. Like, I i don't know how to explain it. Like, And I don't mean that in a way that like I got skinnier. So he wanted me more. That is not what I mean. i just mean like he could like when I'm happier and
Marriage Improvements and Workshops
00:46:04
Speaker
I'm taking care of myself, like he wants to be like in my space, in my world, in my like, you know what i mean? So it's funny. They like go hand in hand, even though like from the outside, they probably don't. But.
00:46:17
Speaker
No, i agree. i think whenever you're feeling better, like you kind of exude this confidence again and nothing's more attractive than someone being confident, someone like having your head on straight. I don't know. I agree. Yeah.
00:46:33
Speaker
So sweet. This is cute. Yeah. Happy Year. love a new year. um I did want to say i i didn't run it last year because obviously we were like not, i was not a person. But i um two years ago, or the two years before last year, i always have like an end of year workshop that I do called the Review, Refresh, Reset End of Year Workshop. It's usually three days and the first day is all about like reviewing your past year, what went well, what didn't go so well, and then refreshing your goals and then like how to reset your life for the for the next year and I'm bringing that workshop back it will be i believe i haven't set a date for yet but I believe will be the last like my birthday week like between um new year's and Christmas um so be on the lookout for that i mean I'll post it in mom group chat too but
00:47:32
Speaker
um I love doing that. Like I said, I'm a new year, I'm a new year Capricorn queen and I love helping people like set goals and review their life for the new year. So, so good. i remember it was wildly popular two years ago. Thanks. I had a couple of people ask me if I was going to run it again. So, okay. And I'm beefing it up even more then it used to be.
End of Episode Reflection
00:47:58
Speaker
So beefy, beefy,
00:48:01
Speaker
Well, I love you so much. I can't wait for all that we will do in 2026, which is so crazy to say our kids are going to continue getting older.
00:48:14
Speaker
Maybe at the very end of 2026, I'll be pregnant. Yay. That's crazy. It is one of our, but I don't, I don't want to say that too soon because I don't want it to be too soon.
00:48:28
Speaker
But very end. Of 2026. God willing. God willing. knock on wood Well guys, happy new year. I'll be the one. yeah I'll be the one horse galloping straight into 2026. So take a look.
00:48:44
Speaker
ah Weird. I love you. i Love you. Thank you so much for being a part of our mom group chat. New episodes drop every Tuesday. And don't forget, the group chat is blowing up on our Instagram page. So make sure you're following along over there. All right. Gotta go. My toddler just put something in her mouth.