Earlier today Melanie and I decided to try to record a podcast, and lo and behold, our schedules cooperated. Then, on a whim, I texted our good friend Travis Cottrell to see if he could join us, and when he said that he could, I'm pretty sure that I heard some angels sing.

Or maybe that was just Hazel barking at the UPS driver. But regardless, it was a moment.

So. We discuss our thoughts about conveying tone in texts, the latest on Melanie's kitchen (complete with a coffee bar update), and then we cover a wide range of ground with Travis, including our favorite moments of 2016.

Also, in keeping with the theme of our delivery-heavy holiday season, Hazel barks a good bit. I'm just as sorry as I can be about that.

Enjoy, y'all!

(You can find show notes on either of our blogs - http://boomama.net or http://thebigmamablog.com.)

If you have ever thought to yourself, Gosh, you know what would be awesome? LISTENING TO MELANIE AND SOPHIE TALK ABOUT KITCHENS!, well, this is your lucky day.

Or not!

But listen. You can rest easy - even if kitchens aren't your thing - because we still have ourselves some laughs. And we eventually talk about what we've been watching and reading. Plus our Christmas plans. Plus maybe setting the bar a little higher when we (hopefully) record a Christmas podcast next week.

Enjoy, y'all!

(Show notes can be found on our blogs.)

Well, well, well. It's a Thanksgiving miracle!

We're so happy to be back with y'all after a too-long absence. We talk about our kitchens, the changing tides of bridal registries, Melanie's super-sunny new outlook, the Dallas Cowboys (heyyyyyy, Dak Prescott), skin care, and Christmas music. Plus some other stuff. Because we had a lot of catching up to do.

Also, Hazel makes a lot of background noise during the first ten minutes of the podcast, but that's just part of our podcasting charm. Or at least that's what we tell ourselves.

You can find show notes on either of our blogs: http://boomama.net or http://thebigmamablog.com. 

So Melanie and I were on the Skype a little earlier than normal for this particular episode, and before we started recording I was somewhat concerned because Melanie could not stop yawning (to be fair, she was completely un-caffeinated at the time). However, I have to say that she pulled through like a non-yawning champ, so KUDOS TO HER.

For the first 30-ish minutes it's podcast business as usual; we answer a few questions from y'all and talk about SEC Nation and why I love my hair dryer and how we don't want to wish the days away. And then, in the last half hour, Beth Moore joins us, and if that doesn't put a little pep in your podcasting step, then I don't know what will.

It was seriously one of our all-time favorite days - a total blast. We hope you get a kick out of it, too.

Well, let's see.

Melanie is cooking ribs during this podcast, and a couple of times she has to take a podcast break to flip her ribs.

I don't know what more any of us could ask, really.

But we also talk about college football, pro football, the color of the Cowboys' football pants, pop-up ads, an allergy I recently discovered (it's an allergy I have - not an actual medical discovery), and cotton pants (good job, GAP).

This episode is a little shorter than usual, but we were in a time crunch. We're going to try to do a repeat podcast next week, so if you have any questions for us, just leave them in the comments.

Did I mention that Melanie cooked ribs?

We're talking staggering new levels of excitement.

(Show notes are on our blogs.)

Well, we have us some new theme music, and it's pretty sassy if I do say so myself. Apparently at least one of us (me!) is destined to like loud saxophones for the rest of her life, and if they have a hint of a disco groove, then all the better.

We cover a whole bunch of conversational ground in this episode: the Rio Olympics, our summertime entertainment favorites, our fitness goals / struggles, the fact that Melanie draws the line at kale, and why she will never go deep sea fishing ever again.

It's an assortment of fun, you might say.

You can find show notes on either of our blogs under the 8/11/16 Big Boo Cast.

There are times when Melanie and I record a podcast and everything seems right in the world. The skies are blue, life is easy, and cheerfulness comes oh-so-naturally.

This particular podcast is not necessarily one of those times.

But here's the thing, I guess. After the last few weeks and everything that's been going on in the world - not to mention with our close friends and family members - well, we were feeling a little punchy. And while yes, punchy can certainly be funny, we probably weren't showing off the sunniest sides of our personalities the day we recorded episode 62. 

But you know what? It ended up being an oddly therapeutic conversation (well, I mean, I can't speak for Melanie, but it was therapy for me, at least). And we covered all sorts of topics: Tiny House Hunters, my great closet clean-out of 2016, the confusion over when a "dress" is actually a shirt, Melanie's lack of interest in a process, my unfortunate experience with a handkerchief dress, plus so much more.

Finally, thank you so much for your emails, messages, comments, and prayers during Mama's hospital stay and after she passed away. I said this yesterday on the podcast Facebook page, but the joy of the Lord really has been our strength. Please know that our family is so grateful for y'all.

If you have any doubts at all about the fact that Melanie and I covered a wide swath of conversational ground in this podcast, then just take a look at all the links below. I believe the phrase you're looking for is "ALL OVER THE PLACE."

We talk about coffee, summer snacks, lunch foods, whether the whole <i>Hamilton</i> phenomenon is already dead to Melanie, personality traits we enjoy in others, and the many reasons it's probably a good idea that the Shankles didn't get any chickens.

We also devote considerable time to a discussion of foods we don't necessarily care for.

And then there's a whole bunch of other stuff but who could possibly remember it all?

Enjoy, y'all!

(You can find a list of links from this podcast right here.)

In lo, this 60th episode of our little podcast, we cover a wide range of topics: beach life, skin care favorites, pet peeves, summer plans, and what preferences we have when it comes to speaking stuff. 

We also talk about summer plans (or lack thereof), including my upcoming trip to NYC ("ALEXANDER HAMILTON - just you wait, just you wait"). I believe there's also a minute or two in there when we talk about summer memories of yore, including bare feet on hot pavement. SIMPLER TIMES.

If you'd like to see links and/or notes for this podcast, you can find them right here. 

Enjoy, y'all!

We had to record this podcast in two installments, but by diggity we got 'er done. We spent the first installment marveling over Melanie's fancy new microphone, digging into my significant obsession with Hamilton, and then discussing the recent baseball match-up between Mississippi State and Texas A&M.

It's fair to say that the Aggies enjoyed some baseball dominance in Starkville.

In the second installment we talk about Hazel and Mabel, our summer Birkenstocks, my new favorite lipstick, and Melanie's dream curling iron.

So basically this is all the hard-hitting news you've come to expect from us.

Hope y'all enjoy it!

I think I can sum up this podcast nicely by telling you that we start off with a discussion about grackles and then move into a discussion about breakfast tacos. As you do.

We also talk about cooking, the <i>Downton Abbey</i> series finale, what's in style this spring, and how some part of our personalities rebels against rigid organizational systems.

There is nary a mention of mascara, our hair, or Amy Grant.

We will try to do better next time.

Melanie's blog: Big Mama

Sophie's blog: BooMama

First of all, I need to tell you that I mention in the podcast that there's going to be new theme music, but I didn't use the new theme music because I couldn't make it be anything other than SCREAMING LOUD and I wanted to make it fade out a little bit but ultimately lacked the will and/or determination and/or technical expertise. I did, however, add it to the very end of the podcast (IT'S VERY LOUD), so be sure to let us know what you think. We're a little tired of our evening newscast music. Just trying to switch things up a bit.

Second of all, I recognize that we're a little rusty in this podcast because it's been a while, but that didn't really do anything at all to diminish our enjoyment of the process.

Third of all, Melanie's had to bid farewell to her 2007 Logitech microphone about 45 minutes into the podcast. RIP, old microphone. RIP.