It’ll Always Be Fun with Brooke and Miranda

Guys!!! We invited Brooke's cousin, Ryan Dickie over, and the conversation went exactly where we expected… absolutely everywhere. 😂💜From Ryan’s social nightmare to how he and Miranda first met, we’re kicking off part one with plenty of laughs. Between the three of us, we have eleven children—which somehow leads to a discussion we never saw coming about football, hockey, and sports in general (IYKYK)🤣We also reveal a special surprise for this amazing human, because someone this special deserves a day of his own! 🎆🎁Ryan shares the heart behind the humor, the struggles of growing up, the story of Dukester, his first dog, who helped Ryan learn to believe in himself. 🐾❤️ And how even hard beginnings can have amazing endings. We follow his journey from Miami to Mason, West Virginia, his dramatic escape via train, and his inevitable return home. And how this place he once tried so hard to now leave holds an enormous place in his heart.❤️🏡There’s courage, perseverance, and a lot of love in Ryan’s story. There are also three friends who probably need supervision.And this is only part one. 😂🎙️Be sure to join us for this episode! Because when we're together, it'll always be fun!

💚 What if the thing we’re afraid to share is the very thing another family needs to hear?
In the final part of our conversation with our dear friend Robin Harris, we talk about the guilt and shame that can keep parents quiet—and what becomes possible when we finally let someone in.
From building a village of trusted adults to having age-appropriate conversations about difficult subjects, Robin reminds us that small-town life doesn’t make our children immune to hard things. But we don’t have to navigate them alone. 🤝
Together, we explore the power of small acts of kindness, the courage it takes to accept help, and one message our children need to hear: Nothing you’re going through will make me stop loving you.
At the heart of it all is a conversation about God’s love—and how understanding that love can change the way we care for our children, our neighbors, and ourselves. 💚
Come join us as we wrap up our time with Robin, and rememeber, when we're together, it'll always be fun!
⚠️ Content note: This episode includes mention of a death from a drug overdose. Please take care of yourself as you listen.
📞 If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 in the U.S. Free, confidential treatment referrals and information are available 24/7.

In part two of our conversation with our dear friend Robin Harris, we talk about what it really means to show up for people when life gets hard. ❤️
Robin takes us back to her early work with children in crisis and the lessons she learned about resilience, human behavior, and the incredible difference one person can make simply by staying. We talk about raising kids in a world filled with more “noise” than ever, why sometimes loving our children means allowing them to struggle, and the importance of learning that it’s okay to be uncomfortable.
We also turn toward Robin’s work surrounding the drug epidemic—the way addiction changes the brain, why recovery isn’t one-size-fits-all, and why no person should ever be written off as hopeless.
And woven throughout it all is something Robin learned from her own mom: love people in whatever form they come to you. 🫶
Because mistakes aren’t the end. Grief isn’t the end. The hardest season of your life isn’t the end.
Sometimes we have to sit in what hurts instead of trying to numb it or make it disappear.
This will end. But this is not the end. 💛
Grab your bestie and some tissues and join us, because when we're together, it'll always be fun!

Some people seem to have learned early that there’s always room for one more. Robin Harris is one of those people.
In Part One of our three-part conversation with Miranda’s lifelong friend, Robin, we go back to where her story began — growing up in a small town as one of five kids in a three-bedroom, one-bath house where somehow, the table was never too full. 🏡
Robin shares about the steadiness and generosity of her parents, the home everyone wanted to gather in, and the legacy of hospitality and kindness that still lives through Robin and her siblings today. We talk about the kind of faith that welcomes interruptions, makes space for people, and looks a whole lot like Jesus. 🤍
But Robin also opens up about a part of her story many people don’t know. Years of bullying left her carrying loneliness and shame — until an unexpected magazine article helped shift the course of the second half of her high school years. ✨
It’s a conversation about family, belonging, resilience, human connection, and how love can grow incredibly big in even the smallest spaces.
And maybe it’s no surprise that Robin eventually built a life and career around helping people — because for her, it has always come back to kindness, connection, and simply doing the next right thing. ❤️
This is Part One of our three-part series with Robin Harris — and trust us, we’re just getting started. 🎙️✨

When did getting dressed stop being about what we loved and start being about what was practical? Somewhere between growing up, raising kids, folding approximately 47,000 loads of laundry, and taking care of everybody else… parts of ourselves can quietly get packed away too. 🧺
🎙️This week, it’s just Brooke and Miranda back in the studio talking about everything from overflowing closets and dream homes to how our style changes through different seasons of life. But what starts as a conversation about fashion turns into something much bigger: the dreams, wants, interests, and pieces of ourselves we sometimes set aside while we’re busy being wives, moms, caretakers, and everything everyone needs us to be.
And then something starts to shift. 
For a lot of us, our 40s feel surprisingly like another coming of age. The kids need us differently. Things that have been dormant begin showing back up. We start asking what we actually like, what we want, and who we are apart from all the roles we’ve carried.
Maybe growing older isn’t about trying to “get back” to the person you used to be... Maybe you get to meet the person you are now. ❤️
So, go grab your bestie and join us, because when we're together, it'll always be fun! 💜 

This week, it’s just the two of us back in the studio! 💕 We’re catching up on a summer that somehow flew by way too fast—from the absolute surreal experience of seeing Kelly Clarkson and being in the same room with that kind of talent, to our trip to Ocean City, New Jersey with Brooke’s parents. Ocean City has been part of Brooke’s family story for generations, but this time Miranda and Levi got to experience it for the very first time. It truly is a special place.🌊
We’re also talking back-to-school season (including the fact that apparently not everyone in our families starts school at the same time 😂), and Miranda shares what it feels like to suddenly have two adult children. There’s something pretty bittersweet about watching your kids go from staying at your house to coming home to visit—even when you’re incredibly proud of the lives they’re building.
Then our conversation turns to Dolly Parton—our favorite songs and movies, the way Dolly’s movies helped Brooke through postpartum depression, and why the legacy someone leaves behind has so much more to do with the way they treated people than awards, accomplishments or money. ❤️
And that leads us somewhere we didn’t necessarily expect: Why are people sometimes so eager to be the first person to deliver bad news? We talk about the way we found out about Dolly, how social media can reward being first instead of being thoughtful, and what might happen if we flipped that completely.
✨ So here’s our challenge this week: Be a bearer of good news.Tell someone the encouraging thing. Give the compliment. Share something hopeful. Celebrate somebody. Look for the good—and when you find it, be the person who spreads it.
Because there’s already plenty of bad news to go around. Maybe we can get really good at sharing the good stuff instead. 💜
So grab a friend and listen! Because when we’re together, It’ll Always Be Fun! 🎙️✨

This week, we’re talking about what it looks like to raise and teach kids who know how to repair relationships, take accountability, and offer a real apology — and why so much of that starts with us modeling it first. Courtney shares how she works to create patterns of repair and reconciliation in her classroom and how those lessons can spill over into life at home.
We also talk about giving ourselves the same grace we so freely give everyone else, why we should probably get a little more comfortable telling our friends that we love them, and the importance of letting kids see that grown-ups don’t always get it right either.
And then… things get considerably less serious. 😂
We get into the legend of the OG Mrs. Beaver, Courtney’s mother-in-law, who has taught at the same school for 40 years-is that intimidating? 😬
We talk about Courtney's questionable decision to ask Miranda for advice... 😬
Exhibit A: THE HAMSTER INCIDENT. 🐹
An innocent phone call. One questionable idea. Miranda saying, essentially, “This is the greatest idea we’ve ever had — let’s do it NOW!” And somehow Brooke ended up tearing her walls apart. 😂 We’re also convinced that it is a scientific fact that nobody has ever owned a hamster without eventually acquiring a traumatic hamster story.
Plus, we reminisce about some ridiculous things our boys did in third grade, and Courtney closes the episode with some beautiful advice for teachers, parents, and kids.
It’s heartfelt, hilarious, thoughtful, and a little bit unhinged — which feels about right. 💛
Come hang out with us, because when we’re together, it’ll always be fun! 🎙️✨

Some people feel like a breath of fresh air! And this week, we’re sitting down with someone who is just exactly that! Meet our lovely friend, Courtney Beaver! 🥰 Courtney is a teacher, photographer, mom of three, avid reader, Disney lover…and a self-proclaimed extroverted introvert. 😂
In Part One, we talk about her decision to move from third grade to fifth grade, what it’s like teaching her own daughter for the second year, and the creative ways she finds to help her students truly learn. We also hear how Courtney found her love for photography, why capturing families through different seasons of life means so much to her, and what she thought she was going to be when she grew up. 📚📸✨
But the conversation also goes deeper. Courtney opens up about anxiety, and how her own experiences help her better understand the kids in her classroom, and her struggle with postpartum anxiety and OCD — something she spent too long dealing with alone. ❤️
We talk about creating spaces where people feel included and loved, learning that feeling someone else’s emotions doesn’t mean we have to become their emotional regulator, and remembering that even little kids are incredibly intuitive and often want to help solve the problems around them.
There’s laughter, honesty, and so much heart in this one.
🎧 Join us Friday for Part One with Courtney Beaver — and come back next week for Part Two! Because when we’re together, It’ll Always Be Fun! 💜
 
ps.
If you’re pregnant, postpartum, or adjusting to life with a new baby and struggling with anxiety, depression, OCD, or simply feeling overwhelmed, you don’t have to suffer alone. The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline is free, confidential, and available 24/7. Call or text 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262) to connect with a trained counselor. 💛

This week we're back with part two with Jalyn Short, and we’re talking about where she’s headed next — in music, in life, and everywhere in between. 💜
Jalyn shares how she balances music, school, relationships, and real life, why mentorship matters, and what she’s learned about stepping outside your comfort zone to find your people — even when it feels scary. She also opens up about staying optimistic in the face of criticism, the artist who has influenced her most, and why storytelling is such a huge part of her songwriting. 🎤✍️
And of course, we get into her debut album, Where I’m Going! 🎧✨
Then things get a little less serious… Jalyn introduces Brooke and Miranda to some music that makes us realize just how old we actually are 😂, reveals a guilty-pleasure song we absolutely did not see coming, and helps us determine which words we are — and are definitely not — allowed to say anymore. 🤣
We wrap it all up by asking Jalyn one of our favorite questions: What would you tell 10-year-old Jalyn if you could talk to her today? 💜
Come laugh with us, get inspired, and hear what’s next for Jalyn Short — because she knows exactly where she’s going. 🎶
So grab your bestie, pull up a chair, and join us! Because when we’re together, it’ll always be fun! ❤️

This week, we’re sitting down with Jalyn Short, a 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Gallipolis, Ohio, to find out where her love for music began—and where that love has already taken her. 💜
Jalyn shares how music has always felt like home, why she’s somehow more comfortable on a stage than almost anywhere else, and why performing for a room full of strangers can actually be easier than singing for people she knows. 😅
We talk musical theater, finding confidence, her process for writing a song, and—of course—the very first song she ever wrote: the undeniably iconic “Peace Is Awesome.”🎵
Plus, we get into her love for acoustic guitars, whether an electric guitar might be in her future 👀🎸, and the possibility that her dad has been hiding some serious guitar-playing talent all along!
For Jalyn, music isn’t just something she loves to do—it’s something she believes she’s called to do. And this week, we’re going back to where it all began. ✨
Grab a friend and join us, because when we're together, it'll always be fun!