Fast Lane with Sara Jayne

I think before we have kids we think "I'm not going to be that kind of mom," or "I'm going to do that when I'm a mom." Good joke. (I am obviously speaking from my experience, and from what I have heard from my friends and this may not apply to you, but....) I remember before I had kids, certain things I would see other kids do or say I would think "I won't let that happen." Without even knowing it, I would assume what kind of a mom I would be and I had ZERO experience. I laugh at this now. Becoming a parent was unlike anything else I have ever done in my life. If you are a parent, you get it. You know that either the moment they came out of your body, or the moment you held them for the first time, if maybe you adopted, your life would never, ever be the same. It's scary and it's great all at once. You meet this person for the first time, someone who you feel you have known forever when in reality you are starting a brand new relationship. I had no idea what kind of relationships I...

So, I have been doing Recipe of the Week for a long time, but, I am stepping it up a notch! I am going to post what I am cooking for the week because menu planning works well for me. I know what's going to happen, I am going to get messages after people see this and they will say "I thought you were gluten free?" or "I thought you ate healthier than this?" I am gluten free, everyone in my household HAS to be, except Ryan Klein, but he is fortunate that we are all so gluten free that he has to be while at home as well. When he is not at home he can be gluten infested, because, remember, we all make our own choices. I am never gluten infested, on purpose, because when I am, everyone in my house suffers because I am SICK. I digress. Also, I commonly do make changes to my recipes. It is very rare I make a recipe as is. So, I will do a lot of substitutions but, not everyone is into what I am into, so if you want to make substitutions, y'all are on your own ;) Here are my weekly recipes....

This won't be a surprise to anyone who knows me well, but I am not the same person anymore. I am not the same person I was 20 years ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago or even 1 year ago. Here is why. 20 years ago I was fresh out of high school, insecure as could be. Going to college, working at an amazing part time job. I didn't have a real plan, but day to day I went to class and things would work out. 10 years ago I was pregnant with my first child and getting ready to graduate from chiropractic school. Again, I had a plan but now I was looking at opening my own business and raising a person. Lots of emotions there. 5 years ago I had two kids, owned my business, was running one kid to pre-school and had a 2 year old oh, and I had one panic attack under my belt. One year ago I had two kids in school, one in daycare, still a chiropractor, panic attacks now a thing of the past, and had the idea of starting a podcast. And then we get to today. Right now I am homeschooling my two school...

We broke up is maybe a little dramatic but that is almost how it is feeling. This weekend I decided to delete Facebook off of my phone (gasp!). So, I am back to the 'olden days.' You know, using my desktop. I appreciate social media because it allows me to share videos, photos and stories to my friends and family who I do not see very often. I also appreciate it because I love seeing photos of my friends and family and their loved ones and their funny stories. Seriously, it makes my day when I see some of your posts. For instance, I will watch you all post your pregnant belly photos and see your new baby photos and I sometimes honestly feel like I am part of the family. However, I started to realize that I was looking at all of your posts, all of the time. And by all of the time, I mean when I am standing in line at a store, sitting in my car, sitting at a restaurant, when I am sitting on my couch and my own kids are playing right in front of me, even when I was riding the...

EP37_FLSJ: Homeschooling Without Overthinking the Process with Amanda Bentow 

On this episode of the Fast Lane with Sara Jayne podcast, Sara Jayne talks to Amanda Bentow about homeschooling, how to approach online marketing, building a personal brand, how distance learning differs from homeschooling, and the benefits of homeschooling. 

Episode Highlights: 

• Sara Jayne introduces her guest Amanda Bentow. 
• Amanda's background is in network marketing and business.  
• Amanda discusses Bible readings in the morning with her kids before starting the homeschooling education process with them. 
• What kinds of field trips has she gone on with her children?  
• She has been following the curriculum for math and language arts. 
• How does distance learning differ from homeschooling?  
• What is the best part of homeschooling? 
• What does Amanda say to the myth that homeschool kids and moms are "weird?"  
• How has her...

Why? Why in the world do we accumulate so much stuff?! Today I was done with stuff. There is stuff everywhere in my house. And I could go through every single room and find broken toys, random batteries, dishes, random papers, canned goods, nerf bullets, art projects. I COULD NOT TAKE IT ANY LONGER. Let's all be reminded that I have a three year old and that is how I can explain the canned goods and the dishes, because he 'cooks' a lot. I actually found it embarrassing. I can see how it happens though. Every holiday, birthday, fair, something gets brought home. Nothing gets taken out. So we just keep piling it in. The funny thing is, it doesn't matter how big or small your home is. If you have a bigger house, you will just find a way to fill it up. Law of the vacuum. I find stuff exhausting. Because it is everywhere and you always have to clean. Something always has to be put away. Something is always on the floor. So I am always reminding my  kids to "put that away!"...

On this episode of the Fast Lane with Sara Jayne podcast, Sara Jayne talks to M. William Phelps, famed true-crime writer, investigative journalist, and the host of the Paper Ghosts podcast on iHeartRadio. M. William Phelps talks about how he became a true-crime writer, formulating his podcast Paper Ghosts, and writing dozens of books. 

Episode Highlights: 

• Sara Jayne introduces M. William Phelps, who explains how he got involved in true crime stories.
• Is being an investive journalist make his relationships difficult? 
• How difficult is objectivity in his line of work?  
• Death Trap is a book that deals with a custody situation turned deadly. 
• M. William Phelps is working on season 2 of Paper Ghosts. 
• M. William Phelps and Sara Jayne discuss the book, Where Monsters Hide. 
• Is it hard not to judge people in these true crime stories? 
• What is behind the serial rapists’ phone calls in Dark Minds?  
• M. William Phelps wrote a...

For a few years I was very stressed by Christmas. It is the most wonderful time of the year but I was thinking it was the Most Wonderful Worst Time of Year. Where do we go? When do we go there? Who is feeling left out? What are we buying? What are we bringing? It seemed as if we were running non stop for a few days, presents were being opened left and right and then there is the awkwardness when your kid just wants to open gift after gift and doesn't acknowledge what they just opened. I know it isn't intentional, but the whole grateful aspect of the gift is lost. So, I would dread the holidays. Lots of running around and chaos. I love the days/weeks leading up to Christmas. The Christmas Story, the lights, the Hallmark movies, baking, Elf on the Shelf, Santa, the magic feeling in the air and especially how excited my kids are. I love it all. Just the actual celebrating days were what stressed me out. This year, I had a whole new outlook. It started out the same, stress and chaos....

On this episode of the Fast Lane with Sara Jayne podcast, Sara Jayne talks to her husband Ryan Klein about his perspectives on celebrating the Christmas holiday, shopping for gifts, the roles that he plays in making their Christmas holiday special for their children and each other, and traditions that matter to them.

Episode Highlights: 

• Sara Jayne introduces her guest and husband, Ryan Klein. 
• Who does he normally have to buy Christmas gifts for?  
• How much does he participate in the magic of Christmas? 
• Would he participate in baking sugar cookies and popcorn balls? 
• How does he feel about Christmas movies and Christmas traditions?  
• What does he think his role in Christmas is? 
• What are Ryan's favorite Christmas foods? 
• How have Sara and Ryan split Christmas time with their family members? 
• What is Ryan most excited about for Christmas this year? 
• Ryan and Sara share a story about playing with Nerf toys with...