In The Middle Of It
We’re all living stories that aren’t finished yet, and this podcast picks up right in the middle of some really interesting journeys. Whether it’s navigating adulthood, the Christian life, marriage, a music career, grief, healing, or parenting, this podcast hosts conversations for everyone to find themselves a part of. Tune in every other week to find new episodes full of great conversation, laughter, vulnerability, and more!
In The Middle Of It
Middle Mini (Q&A: Unread Emails, A Number One Party, & Album Progress)
In today’s mini, I answer your questions with tour updates, favorite guests, and a real look at what this past year has taught me about motherhood and faith. I share new music news, a very Nashville first birthday party theme, and one brutally honest confession. Thanks for watching! Tune in next week for a new episode with an incredible guest!
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Welcome And The Mug Story
SPEAKER_00Hey guys, welcome back to In the Middle of It. Welcome to a middle mini episode. Today we're gonna do an old-fashioned QA. Um, I put a question box on my Instagram a couple of days ago, and you guys sent in some wonderful questions. So I have them all on pieces of paper in this here, in the middle of it with Hanuker mug. You know, you guys would be surprised how many times we have guests come and they have these mugs, and then they think it's their souvenir to take with them. And then I have to tell them, unfortunately, we only have four of them, so you have to leave it. Actually, yesterday we had a guest on here, and um we said something like, Do you want to take a picture like holding the mug? And I think the guest thought that we said, Would you like a mug to take with you? And they said no. So, you know what? Some people love the mugs, some people maybe don't love the mugs, but we're gonna do a little QA. I'm just gonna pull them out randomly. All the questions are in here. We'll see how many we can get to in the next, like, I don't know, 10-15 minutes. All right. Question
Touring Plans And Christmas Shows
SPEAKER_00number one. When are you going back on tour? Good question. Um, so we kind of, since I had Owen, we've definitely done less shows than I have done previously. Um, but we've been back on tour kind of for the past, I don't know, I guess since December. Um, we've been going like maybe once or twice a month doing shows. So like last weekend I was in Kansas and Um we played a show out there, and then in a few weeks I'll be in Phoenix. So I don't know when you'll be listening to this necessarily, but check my website because all of the dates that I'm playing are gonna be on there. I'll do my best to keep that updated for you guys. And then um, I do know I can tell you that I will be on a Christmas tour this year. Can't tell you who it's with quite yet. It's not announced yet, but if you live in well, I'm not even gonna say that. There are several shows, I think eight to ten shows, and I will be playing all those Christmas shows this year. So if you want to come see a Christmas show, I'm your girl. All right, great beginning. Number
Favorite Podcast Guests So Far
SPEAKER_00two, favorite episode of the podcast so far? Okay, great question. Very hard to choose because every episode is so different and every guest is so different. Um, I will say in season one, we had Emily Ann Roberts on the podcast, and that's our most downloaded episode to this day. So that tells me that you guys really love Emily Ann Roberts too. How could you not? She's literally incredible. But that was, I had met her before that episode in passing here and there, maybe like two or two or three times. I knew who she was, I loved her music, but man, to sit down with her and talk with her, it was so sweet. She is such a one-of-a-kind person. Like, she's so likable, she's so funny. Um, she has such a wonderful voice, like, she's just incredible. And that episode was so sweet just to talk to somebody who is not in Christian music, because a lot of my guests are in the Christian music world. Um, but someone who's in country music and doing something totally different, but is such a strong believer and somebody whose faith is really beautiful in a secular space. And I just thought she had such great stories, and I really, really enjoyed her episode from season one. So if you haven't heard that one, go back and listen to it. And then an honorable mention is the episode that was recently posted with um Stephen Curtis Chapman and Mary Beth Chapman. You guys, I feel like I really tried to keep my cool in that episode, but I was freaking out, like so excited. I grew up listening to Stephen Curtis Chapman, like he was the number one artist in our house. Like we listened to every song of his on repeat. And um I was really excited about that. And Mary Beth was just so sweet, and I loved meeting them. Like just seeing their marriage, their dynamic, like it was just such a really inspiring, sweet, real conversation. So if you haven't heard the Stephen Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman episode, go listen to it. It's really good. Okay, number three. What
Motherhood Lessons And God In Small Moments
SPEAKER_00has this past year taught you about yourself and about God? I love this question. Um, so much. I feel like, especially this past year, just because so much has changed in my life with becoming a mother and um I feel like what has it taught me about myself? I'll start with that part of the question. I feel like I've realized that I am both stronger and weaker than I thought I was. Stronger because I have pushed through a lot this year. Um, even just physically, like I had surgery this year, I um I pushed Owen out without pain meds this year, like so many things that I didn't anticipate um doing that I I feel like I'm stronger than I thought, but also just like you know, the the sleeplessness and just the change in rhythm of my life. Like I feel like I have handled that with the most grace that I can. And I've I've been proud of myself just for being able to continue to work and to um make music and do what I love, but also have this really big responsibility that I'm carrying now with being a mother. So I think it's taught me that I'm stronger than I thought, also weaker than I thought. Like, I think realizing that we're just human and we need rest, we need um to ask for help. Like, there have been so many times where I just needed like my mom to come over and just hold Owen for a little bit so I could take a nap, or just asking Jason, like, hey, I have this thing on my plate I really need you to help me with. Like, I don't know, just realizing that I can't do it all. Like, I think I'm somebody who likes to to prove that I can do it all, but this year has shown me that I I can't, and that's an okay thing. Like, that's really fine. And then what has this year taught me about God? I think really just that God is present in the little moments too. Like, I've had so many experiences in my life where I have been on, you know, a retreat, or um I've been at a camp, or I've been at a show and I've experienced the power of God and just been wowed by him in awe of his presence. Um those moments are so special, but I feel like this year has been full of so much more just companionship with God, so much more friendship with God, just talking to him like he's my friend because Jesus is my friend, you know. But uh realizing that when I am doing mundane things like the dishes or cleaning up baby toys, or I'm awake in the middle of the night, just recognizing that God's presence is there and that he actually desires to sit with me and to know me just like I desire to know him. That's been a really sweet thing this year. I think I've just learned that in a new way. So I love that question. Thank you to whoever said that. Um, okay. Favorite
Favorite States To Perform
SPEAKER_00state you've performed in. Whoever asked this question, wherever you live, that's my favorite state that I've performed in. Just kidding. Um, I I have performed in almost every, oops, sorry, every 50 state in the United States. I have performed in 48 of them, I believe. No Alaska, no Hawaii. So if you live in Alaska and Hawaii and you want me to play a show, I'm your girl. Um, but I will say I have really, really loved going out west for shows. Um, I've done a couple of tours in the western part of the United States. I think it's because it's so different from where I grew up in New York, but I played a show in Oregon. It was called Grants Pass, Oregon. It was at this really beautiful church, just right in the middle of the mountains, and um the whole like back wall of the church was just windows, and so you could see the mountains, you could see the sun setting over the mountains um during the show, and it was just really beautiful. I've talked about that in many interviews, and I've probably mentioned it on this podcast, but I just think Oregon, Washington, Montana, that part of the country is so beautiful, and anytime I get to visit there, um, I really love it. Also, Colorado. Anywhere with mountains, I think, is my favorite state to perform in. Okay, let's see. Um
New Music Update On Holy Ground
SPEAKER_00when does Holy Ground come out? Okay, this was several of you asked this question, and I think um I wish I could tell you the exact date, but the truth is, is I don't know. I can tell you that Holy Ground has been recorded. It is done. Um, I sang the vocal. It has a featured artist on it that is so exciting to me. I cannot wait to tell you more about this artist. I mean, you know who this artist is, but I'm just I can't wait to tell you about how this all came about because it's so cool. But Holy Ground is on my new album, obviously, and the whole album is in the works. So we have, I think we have five songs pretty much done, and it's gonna be at least 10 songs. So we're probably about halfway through recording the album, hoping that Holy Ground can come out um first. We shall see. That's my hope. I'm just saying that to you as my hope. So Holy Ground is in the works. I promise it's coming out as soon as my record label lets me put it out, it'll be in your hands. Until then, I did an episode of the podcast. It's called Middle Mini, Your Home is Holy Ground. And at the end of that episode, I let you listen to the entirety of the song. I don't know if I was supposed to do that, but nobody's flagged it yet. So if you want to hear holy ground from beginning to end, it's there. That's not the version that's gonna be on the album, it's just like an acoustic version. But if you want to hear the whole song, listen to that episode. Okay, I think we have time for maybe two more. What
Owen’s Number One Birthday Party
SPEAKER_00did you do for Owen's first birthday? Okay, thank you to whoever asked this because listen, I gotta tell you what we did. So Owen turned one back in July. And if you live in Nashville, if you're familiar with Nashville, when somebody writes a number one song, you throw them a number one party. And so for Owen's first birthday, we threw him a number one party. And we so like at a number one party, you always present the songwriter with a plaque, and the plaque has like a record on it, and it says, like, this plaque is presented to the songwriter for your song going number one or whatever it is. Sometimes you have a plaque for like a gold record or platinum record or whatever. Anyways, so we made a fake record plaque and we presented that to Owen on his birthday at his party, and I had put all of his like monthly pictures through the year on vinyl records that we had displayed, and we had cookies that were records and guitars, and it was really fun. I had never been to a one-year-old's birthday party that was a number one party, and it's very, it's very Nashville, it's very songwriter of me and my husband, but Jason and I are both songwriters, and so I just felt like Owen's too little to really, you know, care about his birthday party theme, but we cared about it, and it was so sweet. I also made a Billboard Hot 100 chart, like a fake chart, um, where I put his top 10 songs of the year, which of course were This Little Light of Mine, The It'sy Bitsy Spider, um, a couple songs that Jason and I have made up over the year, but it was so fun. I just feel like every detail I had so much fun putting together for his birthday. So that's what we did for his first birthday. We were outdoors. It was very hot. Like, I don't know that we'll ever do an outdoor party for Owen's birthday ever again, but it was a really, really fun day. Thanks for asking. Okay, this is gonna be the last question.
Inbox Confessions And Listener Thanks
SPEAKER_00Otherwise, this isn't a mini episode, it's just like a full-length episode, and you're probably wondering how many more I can possibly do. Okay, if I can get this open. How many, oh my gosh, okay. How many unread texts and emails do you have currently? You guys. This is really embarrassing. Whoever asked this, I know you don't know me, but like somehow you do. I'm just gonna look. Okay, to be fair, I have four unread text messages. That's not too bad. I feel like I'm pretty on top of it with my texts. Unfortunately, I have 80,458 unread emails. I don't know if you can see that, but 80,000 is the amount that I have. And I am ashamed to tell you that, honestly. I'm ashamed to say it. I'm really bad at opening my emails. I do feel like I I tend to see them eventually, but if you send me an email, I'm so sorry. The odds of me seeing it are fairly low. So that's something about me that I'm working on. I feel like I got to a point where once it was like over maybe 10,000, I felt hopeless, like there was no turning back, and like I couldn't actually get them to be unread. Like, I feel like I just need to start over, like just mark them all as red and start fresh. Maybe that's what I need to do. I don't know, you guys. If you have unread emails, we're the same. And if you don't, I admire you. I really do. I I aspire to be someone that has their life together in that way, but it's just not who I am. So here I am.
Next Week Tease And Ratings Request
SPEAKER_00Anyways, thank you guys. There's more questions, but maybe we'll do a part two at some point, and uh I'll answer more. But hope you guys have a great day. Thank you for listening, and we'll be back next week with an amazing episode with a guest. You don't want to miss it. Make sure you turn on your automatic downloads. Leave a rating if you love this episode, if you love this podcast. Five-star ratings are so helpful in other people finding the podcast. Um, comments are helpful, yeah. All of it. Just thank you for listening. I appreciate each and every one of you, and I'll see you next time for in the middle of it. Bye.
