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NOTES
Do you have trouble simply doing what you are doing? Do you suffer from endless to-do lists that run through your head, distracting you from what you are currently doing and causing you unending stress? I think we all do from time to time. In our recent show about being too busy, we discussed red flags that can be signs you need to slow down and remove some activities and responsibilities from your daily life.

In this show, we consider the simple (and yet challenging!) concept of simply doing ONE THING at a time. It is important to give ourselves permission to do this, and to remove unnecessary distractions that rob us of joy and harm our personal relationships. Take a listen and see if God might be asking you to do a little less multi-tasking in your life.

INTERVIEW
We talk this week with Alana Mitrovich, a wife, teacher, and hoping to be an adoptive mom. Find Alana online at The Catholic Home Economist and consider donating to her cause for adoption at Bring Home Baby Mitrovich.

Thank you so much to Monique for writing in and everyone who shared the link to last week’s episode online. You know I love hearing from you — keep those voicemails coming!

More links for this episode:
The Choice Wine Live (marriage conference I will be speaking at in Jacksonville, Florida, November 19)

SUPPORT
Girlfriends is on Patreon! Find out how you can pledge your support for Girlfriends at Patreon.com/Girlfriends

My new book is available!
You’re Worth It! Change How You Feel About Yourself By Discovering How Jesus Feels About You

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TO LISTEN
Simply hit “play” above!
or subscribe in iTunes
or subscribe in Stitcher
or subscribe in Google Play

Girlfriends is on Patreon! Find out how you can pledge your support for Girlfriends at Patreon.com/Girlfriends

NOTES
Is regular physical fitness a challenge for you? I think many of us know we could be doing better, but we get discouraged by ideas of perfection sometimes, or we are not sure where to begin.

I want to encourage every woman to make fitness something that WORKS in her life, as a benefit to her own physical and mental health. Some things to keep in mind:

1) Pick something you enjoy
You won’t exercise regularly if you don’t enjoy SOME aspect of it. Not every moment needs to be bliss, but choose something you are naturally inclined to do and keep up on a regular basis. Also! Choose a time of day that you are most likely to stick to a work out habit as well.

2) Imagine the benefits
Think of all the ways — even the small and seemingly insignificant ways — that you will feel GREAT and look better and have more energy when you do take the time for fitness. Imagine all the details of all the benefits and you will be motivated to get started and/or continue.

3) Reward yourself in healthy ways
Break up big goals into smaller ones and find healthy ways to reward yourself for achieving them. Will treating yourself to a smoothie after your workout get you moving? Or allowing yourself time for a long bath and some downtime with someone you love? Or purchasing a new book when you are consistent in your workouts over the course of a couple of weeks? Whatever motivates you, make it simple, make it small, and then do it!

4) Stop worrying about not doing it “right”
Forget perfection! We sometimes throw away a perfectly good and healthy routine simply because we feel we are falling short of some unrealistic expectation or unrealistic goal we have set for ourselves. Nobody is perfect! Make the adjustments you need to your schedule and your workout and make it work for YOU!

5) Vary your routine
No matter how great your work out routine, we all get bored from time to time. Switch out boring ones, try new activities, or rediscover oldies but goodies. Variety is the spice of life! And the secret to to sticking with your fitness goals.

How about you? What works for you to make fitness a regular part of your life in the leg term? Let me know and I can share your wisdom in a future podcast.

INTERVIEW
We talk this week with my friend Annemarie Rossi, blogger at Real Food Real Deals. Annemarie shares some ideas about eating well and feeding your family well on a budget, as well as her thoughts on personal triumphs and challenges over the years as wife, mom, friend, and professional.

Annemarie’s website
Annemarie’s Book
Annemarie on Facebook
Annemarie on Instagram
Annemarie on Twitter
Annemarie on YouTube

Thank you SO MUCH to Amy and Sarah for leaving feedback on Voxer this week. You know I love it — keep those voicemails coming!

More links for this episode:
The Choice Wine Live (marriage conference I will be speaking at in Jacksonville, Florida, November 19)

SUPPORT
Girlfriends is on Patreon! Find out how you can pledge your support for Girlfriends at Patreon.com/Girlfriends

My new book is available!
You’re Worth It! Change How You Feel About Yourself By Discovering How Jesus Feels About You

Subscribe to Girlfriends in iTunes
Subscribe to Girlfriends in Stitcher
About Danielle Bean
Danielle’s Books on Amazon
Catholic Digest
Subscribe to the Danielle Bean newsletter

Contact:
Email Danielle Bean
Rate and Review Girlfriends in iTunes
Leave voice feedback
Girlfriends on Facebook
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TO LISTEN
Simply hit “play” above!
or subscribe in iTunes
or subscribe in Stitcher
or subscribe in Google Play

Girlfriends is on Patreon! Find out how you can pledge your support for Girlfriends at Patreon.com/Girlfriends

NOTES
Is social media a tool you use for fun and information? Or has it become something negative in your life? Does it encourage you as a wife and mom, or does it DIScourage you by tempting you to compare your life to others and despair sometimes? This week we are talking about different ways that social media can be a positive or a negative influence in our lives, and how to handle it better, so that we use all things for good.

INTERVIEW
We talk this week with singer, song writer and youth minister Jackie Francois Angel. Jackie shares some perspective as a new wife and mom, but also recalls her single days with some great words of advice for young women hoping to marry someday. You will not want to miss her HILARIOUS answers in the lightning round too. Check it out!

Jackie’s website

Jackie on Twitter

Jackie’s music on iTunes

Thank you SO MUCH to Barbara and Emily for being our newest Patreon supporters. God bless you for your encouragement. It means so much to me!

More links for this episode:
The Choice Wine Live (marriage conference I will be speaking at in Jacksonville, Florida, November 19)

SUPPORT
Girlfriends is on Patreon! Find out how you can pledge your support for Girlfriends at Patreon.com/Girlfriends

My new book is available!
You’re Worth It! Change How You Feel About Yourself By Discovering How Jesus Feels About You

Subscribe to Girlfriends in iTunes
Subscribe to Girlfriends in Stitcher
About Danielle Bean
Danielle’s Books on Amazon
Catholic Digest
Subscribe to the Danielle Bean newsletter

Contact:
Email Danielle Bean
Rate and Review Girlfriends in iTunes
Leave voice feedback
Girlfriends on Facebook
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TO LISTEN
Simply hit “play” above!
or subscribe in iTunes
or subscribe in Stitcher
or subscribe in Google Play

Girlfriends is on Patreon! Find out how you can pledge your support for Girlfriends at Patreon.com/Girlfriends

NOTES
Are you too busy? How can you know? This week I broadcast from the Phoenix airport where we discuss some of the warning sigs that you might be too busy and that it may be time to remove some obligations from your calendar.

INTERVIEW
We talk this week with author Stephanie Engleman. Stephanie shares some of the ways she has felt God’s guidance and inspiration in he writing, but also in her daily life as a mom. She is author of A Single Bead which is young adult fiction, but the book sis receiving rave reviews from readers of all ages. Check it out!

Stephanie’s website
Stephanie’s book, A Single Bead, published by Pauline Books
Stephanie on Twitter

Thank you SO MUCH to Melissa, Sarah, and Kristen who left voice feedback this week, and to Analia, Kristen, and Sarah who pledged their support on Patreon. Thank you so much for your encouragement and support of the Girlfriends podcast. I love hearing from you!

More links for this episode:

Echo Prayer app (as recommended by Sarah Reinhard)
The Choice Wine Live (marriage conference I will be speaking at in Jacksonville, Florida, November 19)

SUPPORT
Girlfriends is on Patreon! Find out how you can pledge your support for Girlfriends at Patreon.com/Girlfriends

My new book is available!
You’re Worth It! Change How You Feel About Yourself By Discovering How Jesus Feels About You

Subscribe to Girlfriends in iTunes
Subscribe to Girlfriends in Stitcher
About Danielle Bean
Danielle’s Books on Amazon
Catholic Digest
Subscribe to the Danielle Bean newsletter

Contact:
Email Danielle Bean
Rate and Review Girlfriends in iTunes
Leave voice feedback
Girlfriends on Facebook
Danielle Bean on Facebook
Danielle Bean on Twitter
Danielle Bean on Instagram

TO LISTEN
Simply hit “play” above!
or subscribe in iTunes
or subscribe in Stitcher
or subscribe in Google Play

Girlfriends is on Patreon! Find out how you can pledge your support for Girlfriends at Patreon.com/Girlfriends

NOTES
Our topic this week is worrying. Are you anxious? Do you worry a lot? We all worry sometimes, and we can all recognize the uselessness of doing it, but it can feel very hard to stop. We will take a look at a few different strategies for removing anxiety from our daily lives:

1) Pay attention to your caffeine intake.
I know. I love coffee, tea, and Diet Coke. But do you ever find yourself feeling nervous or anxious and you aren’t even sure why? Consider caffeine. It’s been shown to cause nervousness, and if you develop a habit of drinking lots of it daily, you might be developing an anxiety habit right along with it. Take a brek and see if you notice a difference.

2) Time your worrying.
With this strategy, you let yourself worry — a little bit. If you find yourself worrying repeatedly about something, set a timer for 5 minutes. Then, for those 5 minutes, go ahead and worry all about it. Think about all that could go wrong and let yourself worry. When the timer goes off, you have to stop, though, recognizing how nothing was accomplished with your worrying.

3) Focus on gratitude.
So your whole world is falling apart, or you are pretty sure it is going to any minute. Deal with that anxiety by shifting your focus away from negative thoughts and focusing instead on what you are most grateful for. Look for big things and small things to be grateful for. Verbalize your gratitude. You will find your energy for worry dwindles this way.

4) Exercise!
Sometimes anxiety and nervous energy needs a physical release. Go outside for walk, rake some leaves, ride a bike, or run up some hills. Breaking a sweat can be a great way to relieve stress and release anxiety and worry from your body in a physical way.

5) Pray!
Duh! I saved this one for last, but it really needs to come first. How many times does Jesus tell us he knows us, loves, and is caring for us? How many times does Jesus remind not to fear, not to worry, and to trust him? Are we listening? Worry is what happens when we think everything depends on us or that no one i staking care of us. Say a Divine Mercy chaplet or simply repeat the prayer “Jesus, I trust in you” as often as you need to to banish worry from your day.

INTERVIEW
This week I share a fun interview I had with Sr. Anne Flanagan, FSP, who is an author and musician, but also a social media early adopter. She shares about her order’s beginnings and how social media has become an integral part of evangelization for her.

Sr. Anne on Twitter
Sr. Anne’s music on iTunes
Sr. Anne’s blog
Sr. Anne on Facebook

Thank you SO MUCH to Jessica (who recommends Pray As You Go for daily prayer), Tracy, and Sarah for sharing their feedback this week. Thank you so much for your encouragement and support of the Girlfriends podcast. I love hearing from you!

SUPPORT
Girlfriends is on Patreon! Find out how you can pledge your support for Girlfriends at Patreon.com/Girlfriends

Links for this episode

My new book is available!
You’re Worth It! Change How You Feel About Yourself By Discovering How Jesus Feels About You

From our healthy goals check-in: My Fitness Pal app

Subscribe to Girlfriends in iTunes
Subscribe to Girlfriends in Stitcher
About Danielle Bean
Danielle’s Books on Amazon
Catholic Digest
Subscribe to the Danielle Bean newsletter

Contact:
Email Danielle Bean
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Leave voice feedback
Girlfriends on Facebook
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TO LISTEN
Simply hit “play” above!
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or subscribe in Google Play

Girlfriends is on Patreon! Find out how you can pledge your support for Girlfriends at Patreon.com/Girlfriends

NOTES
Our topic this week is daily prayer. While we all need to be sure we are making time for quiet, focused prayer each day, there are also some easy ways we can pray throughout the day — even when we are busy. I share the following ideas:

1) Pray a morning offering. I like this one, but there are lots of ways to offer your day at the very start.

2) Attach prayer to daily activities. Whether you are driving or folding laundry, if you use daily actions as prompts to prayer, you will have regular reminders to connect with God.

3) Use music. Whether you like Christian rock or Gregorian chant, find and use music that inspires you throughout your daily activities.

4) Pray for your family one word at a time. This is a little practice I use to pray for many people I know and love in a focused way.

5) Use an examination of conscience. This is a great way to reflect on your day, ask forgiveness, ask for help, and give thanks at the end of each day.

INTERVIEW
This week I share an inspirational conversation I had with farm wife, mom, and theological writer Gina Loehr. This energetic lady shares about life on the farm as well as some surprising ways in which God has called her to motherhood and a professional life. She even met Pope Francis and has a new book out about that experience, The Church is Our Mother: Seven Ways She Inspires Us to Love. Check it out!

Gina’s books on Amazon
Gina’s website

Thank you SO MUCH to Christen who left an iTunes review, and Sarah Reinhard who left a voice message abotu how much she loves Daria Sockey, and to Tracy who is our newest supporter on Patreon. Thank you so much for your encouragement and support of the Girlfriends podcast. I love hearing from you!

SUPPORT
Girlfriends is on Patreon! Find out how you can pledge your support for Girlfriends at Patreon.com/Girlfriends

Links for this episode

My new book is available!
You’re Worth It! Change How You Feel About Yourself By Discovering How Jesus Feels About You

From our healthy goals check-in: My Fitness Pal app

Subscribe to Girlfriends in iTunes
Subscribe to Girlfriends in Stitcher
About Danielle Bean
Danielle’s Books on Amazon
Catholic Digest
Subscribe to the Danielle Bean newsletter

Contact:
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Leave voice feedback
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(This is an old column of mine that originally appeared at Inside Catholic)

I was going through some old pictures online the other day. Organizing family photos is a project I assign myself on occasion in order to avoid doing real work. Nothing makes sorting through decades’ worth of jumbled digital images seem like quite so enticing a task as having real work with a real deadline looming on the horizon.

As I browsed the files, I found myself particularly drawn toward the pictures my oldest son, Eamon, has taken with his camera over the years.

Funny thing about boy photographers — they don’t bother to clean up messes before they start shooting. I saw picture after picture of cookie-faced, wild-haired toddlers with a variety of toys, stuffed animals, shoes, papers, dishes, and books cluttering the background. I watched dozens of video clips of goofy children where a very pregnant mother lumbered by in the background carrying a laundry basket. Sometimes she sat, reading the newspaper on a mail-littered couch. Other times, she called out that lunch was ready, or that the bathroom was a wreck — and who was in there last, anyway?

These aren’t my annual, carefully choreographed, Christmas family photos. These photographic memories are the real deal, perhaps even real-er than I am comfortable remembering. As I looked through them, I found myself wondering: What will my kids remember of this house and this family when they are grown?

They might remember messes. I wouldn’t blame them if they did. The messes are real.

The other day, for example, when I pulled into the playground parking lot and opened my van’s side door, an empty soda bottle clattered to the pavement, followed by a tennis ball that bounced several times before rolling beneath the van, out of my reach. A pharmacy receipt and a discarded hamburger wrapper, caught by the sudden breeze, floated through the air toward me. I clapped at them with both hands and leaped into the air to capture them before stuffing them into my jeans pocket.

I looked down to see the five-year-old exiting the van. With his pants on backwards. The six-year-old was close behind. In a pair of rubber boots, one yellow, one black. The eight-year-old followed her brothers, sporting a lopsided ponytail, a navy skirt, white first Communion heels, and turquoise butterfly knee socks.

A group of preschool models, who might have just finished shooting an Old Navy ad, and their 20-something mothers were gathered near the swings. Staring.

My life, I sometimes think, has been exaggerated for comedic effect.

As a mother of eight, I catch myself thinking “if only” a lot. If only the kids would keep quiet for 45 minutes, I could write a great American novel. If only the kids would wear paper sacks for a week, I could get caught up on laundry. If only I didn’t have a so much “help” all the time, I could bake a loaf of artisan bread to accompany a homemade dinner daily.

But of course I have help. When I begin any cooking or baking project, at least one of my three youngest is sure to drag a wooden chair across the sticky floors to climb to the cluttered kitchen countertops. To help.

During one recent baking project, I realized that I must have been saying “don’t touch!” an awful lot, because Gabrielle wound up telling me that she intended to be good now — and to prove it she held her hands behind her back.

Raphael was not quite so accommodating. I managed to knead a batch of dinner rolls, but as I was preparing the dough for the first rise, he slapped a small fat hand directly on top of the gooey mound. He grinned with delight at the feel of the dough within his grasp.

Something about the sight of that small hand with its widespread fingers reminded me of a French phrase I learned years ago: la main à la pâte. Literally, hand in the dough. Figuratively, however, it means active participation in the plans and preparations for any particular project. Hands-on learning.

Raphael has la main à la pâte, all right. All the kids do.

When children make up a significant percentage of your household membership, there’s just no way around it. Their wants, needs, ideas, preferences, and opinions become the basics around which the rest of your life is built. They’re in the dough.

To me, the messes in old photos are evidence of so much more than just large family life. They are evidence of this life we’re living. Really living. Together.

My children’s hands are in the dough. In the laundry. In the writing. In the kitchen cabinets. And under the seats in the van. Sometimes I get impatient, and I wish their hands were not quite so much a part of everything, but that’s only when I allow myself to forget. That my life is a recipe, and these kids are essential ingredients.

Whether they scroll through the old photos or not, when my children are grown, they might remember some messes. They might remember some noise. But as I watched a final silly video where several of their small bodies tumbled over one another and fell into a heap of giggles on the floor, I dared to think that they’ll remember love.

Because it’s in the dough, too. And it’s every bit as real.

TO LISTEN
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Girlfriends is on Patreon! Find out how you can pledge your support for Girlfriends at Patreon.com/Girlfriends

NOTES
This week we are talking about communication between the sexes. If we understand one another’s communication styles and preferences, we can have much clearer and more fruitful communication in our relationships, especially in our marriages. I share 3 ways that men and women tend to communicate differently:

1) We speak about emotion differently.
2) We speak for different purposes.
3) We speak differently when faced with a problem.
In talking about these differences together and with our spouses, we can better understand one another and avoid unnecessary conflicts and offenses. We are all learning this stuff together!

INTERVIEW
This week I share an great conversation I had with Roxane Salonen who is a wife, mom, and author. Roxane shares about balancing writing with motherhood and some important things she has learned along the way. You will not want to miss the important words of wisdom that her friend Linda shared with her once. And we end with pickles and cinnamon candy! Sounds good, right?

Roxane’s blog
Roxane’s books
Roxane on Twitter

Thank you SO MUCH to Pat Gohn who left an iTunes review, and Melissa and Annemarie who left great voice feedback this week. Thank you for your support of the Girlfriends podcast. I love hearing from you!

SUPPORT
Girlfriends is on Patreon! Find out how you can pledge your support for Girlfriends at Patreon.com/Girlfriends

Links for this episode

My new book is available!
You’re Worth It! Change How You Feel About Yourself By Discovering How Jesus Feels About You

From our healthy goals check-in: My Fitness Pal app

Subscribe to Girlfriends in iTunes
Subscribe to Girlfriends in Stitcher
About Danielle Bean
Danielle’s Books on Amazon
Catholic Digest
Subscribe to the Danielle Bean newsletter

Contact:
Email Danielle Bean
Rate and Review Girlfriends in iTunes
//www.speakpipe.com/girlfriends”>Leave voice feedback
Girlfriends on Facebook
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