Crystal Paine Show

Latest Episodes:

114. An Honest Conversation About Faith with Angie Smith Mar 02, 2021

Show notes

We finally made it happen -- after having to cancel due to the snow and ice the week before. Angie Smith came over to record a podcast... and we covered a lot of ground in our short interview! Angie is one of those people who is always so honest and also hilarious. Every time I'm with her, she makes me think with her deep questions AND she makes me laugh until the tears come with her funny stories!

In this episode, we begin by recounting how Angie and I met at a blogging conference a number of years ago and her first words to me the first time we met actually played a profound part in our family’s journey. We also talk about how she was instrumental in connecting us with a group of people who became our lifeline after we moved to TN. (And don’t miss her funny story about the time we were on a cruise together and she forgot to pack the bottom half of her wardrobe!)

Angie didn’t grow up in the church and she shares really candidly in the episode about her faith journey, her struggles with doubt, how she is processing and wrestling through grief in her life, plus really practical advice for women who want to study the Bible but don't know where to start and feel like they don't have time to "do it right".

If you've ever had doubts about God, struggled to really believe that the Bible is true, or felt like you want to deepen your faith or grow closer to the Lord but you just don't know how to do so, I hope this conversation gives you a big dose of encouragement (and hopefully a few laughs, too!)

In This Episode:

[01:19] Angie is one of the reasons that we moved to Tennessee. Learn more about that.

[04:34] ...and then there was the time that Angie completely forgot the bottom half of her wardrobe.

[06:15] Angie shares a little about herself and her family.

[08:43] How Covid has impacted the way Angie is approaching her online ministry.

[12:44] Why did she wait so many years to release another book?

[15:36] Did she wrestle with some of her beliefs as she wrote this book?

[20:07] Angie’s words for those who are struggling with their faith in these difficult times.

[23:27] How is she processing through the grief of her twins getting ready to go off to college?

[27:51] Where can busy moms and women start to dive deeper into scripture?

Links and Resources:

Woven by Angie Smith
Angie Smith Ministries
Angie's Instagram account
10-Days to Be a Happier Mom
Sign up for the Hot Deals Email List
MoneySavingMom.com
My Instagram account (I’d love for you to follow me there! I usually hop on at least a few times per day and share behind-the-scenes photos and videos, my grocery store hauls, funny stories, or just anything I’m pondering or would like your advice or feedback on!)
Have feedback on the show or suggestions for future episodes or topics? Send me an email: crystal@moneysavingmom.com

How to Listen to The Crystal Paine Show

The podcast is available on iTunes, Android, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can listen online through the direct player here. OR, a much easier way to listen is by subscribing to the podcast through a free podcast app on your phone. (Find instructions for how to subscribe to a podcast here.)

Ready to dive in and listen? Hit the player above or search for “The Crystal Paine Show” on your favorite podcast app.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

113. An interview with Kathrynne Feb 23, 2021

Show notes

Last week, while the kids were off of school because of the ice and snow, Jesse and I sat down and interviewed Kathrynne, our 16-year-old.

She answered some of your questions that you'd submitted on topics like:

how parents can build stronger relationships with their teens
why she feels like she can trust us
her honest thoughts on kids and social media
how she feels most heard and understood (and what makes her feel like we're not listening/paying attention)
what learning to drive has been like, and more!

In This Episode:

[00:33] We were snowed in… and then we were iced in!

[02:52] Kathrynne is joining us to answer some of your questions.

[04:39] How does Kathrynne feel about my active Instagram presence?

[05:42] What makes her feel most heard and understood?

[07:15] She shares the things we do that make her feel like she isn’t being heard.

[09:57] What advice would she give other kids younger than her?

[12:01] How can parents try to cultivate trust-filled relationships with their younger children?

[14:59] Why parents shouldn’t pre-decide that the teenage years are going to be hard.

[17:13] Ways parents can reconnect with teens who seem really distant.

[18:44] Things to consider regarding social media during the teenage years.

[20:48] Teens want to be able to make their own decisions, especially regarding their time and interests.

[27:24] What’s it been like learning how to drive?

Links and Resources:

Love-Centered Parenting
10-Days to Be a Happier Mom
Sign up for the Hot Deals Email List
MoneySavingMom.com
My Instagram account (I’d love for you to follow me there! I usually hop on at least a few times per day and share behind-the-scenes photos and videos, my grocery store hauls, funny stories, or just anything I’m pondering or would like your advice or feedback on!)
Have feedback on the show or suggestions for future episodes or topics? Send me an email: crystal@moneysavingmom.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

111. Answering Your Burning Questions Feb 09, 2021

Show notes

It's time for another edition of Answering Your Burning Questions! About once a quarter, Jesse and I sit down and devote a podcast episode to your questions. In this episode, we answer these questions:

Is Jesse still doing CrossFit? (We also share a little more about current workout routines.)
What top three tips would you give to your pre-married selves?
When do you plan to retire?
What are your favorite activities to do with each of the kids?
Should you pay off your mortgage or invest the money?
Did you record your own podcast intro?

As usual, we also banter about other things: like the phrase "eat crow" -- which I recently discovered a lot of people have never heard of before, an electronic tool that is saving both of our lives (and I can't believe we waited so long to get this!), plus a book I recently finished.

In This Episode:

[00:43] It’s that time again! We’re answering your burning questions.

[01:30] What we learned about the phrase, “eat crow.”

[03:43] The same product is again saving our lives this week… a video baby monitor.

[06:20] We are having trouble finding the exact model to share but here’s a bit more about it.

[08:22] I just finished, The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer.

[10:00] First question, does Jesse still do CrossFit?

[13:00] The top three tips we’d give our pre-married selves.

[15:52] Stop trying to fix your spouse!

[19:16] Our favorite activities to do with the kids.

[22:56] Is retirement in our future? What would it look like?

[24:40] Does Jesse think it’s smarter to invest or pay off your mortgage?

[30:14] No, I did not do the intro to the podcast. Learn more about the process.

Links and Resources:

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
10-Days to Be a Happier Mom
Sign up for the Hot Deals Email List
MoneySavingMom.com
My Instagram account (I’d love for you to follow me there! I usually hop on at least a few times per day and share behind-the-scenes photos and videos, my grocery store hauls, funny stories, or just anything I’m pondering or would like your advice or feedback on!)
Have feedback on the show or suggestions for future episodes or topics? Send me an email: crystal@moneysavingmom.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

110. How I Got Over My Fear of Negative Reviews Feb 02, 2021

Show notes

“This was the worst garbage. I picked this up as an audiobook to listen to. Her voice is exceptionally annoying.”

This was one of many similar reviews of my second book. While there were lots of kind reviews, all I could hear was that I should not ever narrate an audiobook again because my nasally voice irritated people. I was embarrassed that I had ever considered doing it myself.

So guess what I did? I told my publishers that I didn’t want to narrate my third book and they hired a professional voice artist to record it.

Over the past 5+ years since my third book came out, God has done a lot of life-altering work in my heart. He’s helped me to stop living my life to please, appease, and perform for others. He’s taught me that I don’t need to chase after the approval or affirmation of others. That I don’t need 5-star reviews or glowing accolades to be enough.

I am enough in Him. He loves me for exactly who I am because of Whose I am. And I can stand confident in Christ and live as loved, because I am already pre-approved by Him.

And that’s why I stopped letting negative reviews stifle me in insecurity. Maybe my voice isn’t professional voice actor level, but I’m not going to let that hold me back from sharing the message God has laid on my heart through live video, Instagram story, and podcasts.

I want to improve and grow and work on honing my craft, but I’m not going to sit around and wait until I can please everyone to show up on video and podcasts. Because if I wait until I can please everyone, I’ll be waiting the rest of my life.

Recently, I had the privilege of recording the audiobook for my soon-to-be-released book, Love-Centered Parenting. As I spent hours behind this mic, I felt such quiet confidence, passion, and excitement for this message... and such gratitude that I no longer have to live in fear of what others will think. I am loved by my Heavenly Father and that is enough. Period.

This week on the podcast, Jesse and I sit down and have a conversation where I share more about this journey and why I'm not living in dread of the negative reviews I know will be coming for my new book. If you've ever experienced negative reviews or critical comments of any kind, I think this episode will encourage you.

Plus, we also talk about the Bible reading plans we are using right now, a 5-star book I recently read, being the parents of a newly-16-year-old, and a tip from one of our listeners on jalapenos.

In This Episode:

[01:10] We are now the parents of a 16-year-old. What??

[03:03] Some quick tips to make jalapenos less spicy from one of our listeners.

[05:19] The She Reads Truth/He Reads Truth Devotional Bible plans are saving our lives.

[10:51] I’ve been reading Something Needs to Change by David Platt.

[13:05] Learn more about the 10-day challenge that I ran for becoming a happier mom.

[14:56] We are talking about negative reviews. Learn why!

[17:37] Why I looked at the 1-star reviews of my past audiobooks.

[19:58] It’s so important for me to realize that we can’t please everyone and that’s okay.

[22:44] Don’t make it the goal to offend people but know that you aren’t for everyone.

[23:47] What to do when you get negative feedback.

[27:15] Negative reviews also do their job in keeping you humble.

Links and Resources:

She Reads Truth
He Reads Truth
Something Needs to Change by David Platt
10-Days to Be a Happier Mom
Sign up for the Hot Deals Email List
MoneySavingMom.com
My Instagram account (I’d love for you to follow me there! I usually hop on at least a few times per day and share behind-the-scenes photos and videos, my grocery store hauls, funny stories, or just anything I’m pondering or would like your advice or feedback on!)
Have feedback on the show or suggestions for future episodes or topics? Send me an email: crystal@moneysavingmom.co

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

109. 18 Years of Marriage: 10 Lessons We've Learned Jan 26, 2021

Show notes

Jesse and I celebrated our 18th anniversary recently (our marriage is officially an adult!) and we had fun sitting down and recounting 10 lessons we've learned in 18 years of marriage.

We talk about lessons like: if your wife says she's not hungry, still get food for her and why daily gestures are more important than celebrating Hallmark holidays. We also share honestly about a simple phrase that has completely changed the way we communicate and how I completely blew an opportunity when Jesse wanted to buy me a car. Plus, we share how forgiveness and praying together and choosing to love (even when we don't like each other!) makes such a difference.

Whether you've been married for 18 days or 18 years (or longer!) or you are planning to get married in the future, I hope this episode encourages you.

In This Episode:

[01:43] The first lesson we’ve learned in our 18 years of marriage.

[03:20] Ways we’ve learned to talk about feelings without being accusatory with each other.

[07:12] Laughter is the glue to a strong marriage.

[09:33] The importance of pursuing individual interests.

[13:41] Don’t assume that your spouse processes at the same speed that you do.

[18:49] Daily gestures are so much more important than big moments.

[22:39] We’ve learned to express gratitude in our relationship.

[28:28] Spouses don’t always accept and give love in the same ways.

[29:28] Love is a choice rather than just a feeling.

[30:42] It’s so important to ask for forgiveness often.

[32:50] Pray together!

Links and Resources:

Sign up for the Hot Deals Email List
MoneySavingMom.com
My Instagram account (I’d love for you to follow me there! I usually hop on at least a few times per day and share behind-the-scenes photos and videos, my grocery store hauls, funny stories, or just anything I’m pondering or would like your advice or feedback on!)
Have feedback on the show or suggestions for future episodes or topics? Send me an email: crystal@moneysavingmom.com

How to Listen to The Crystal Paine Show

Ready to dive in and listen? Hit the player above or search for “The Crystal Paine Show” on your favorite podcast app.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

108. How to Love Someone You Disagree With Jan 19, 2021

Show notes

Recently, on Instagram, I got asked the following question, "How do you handle friendships and disrespect in this political turmoil and pandemic." I shared the slide above to answer it, but I had so many more thoughts swirling in my head as I wrote the answer that I realized it would be the perfect topic to tackle more in-depth in a podcast episode.

So this week on the podcast, Jesse and I share what we have learned and are learning about how to love someone you disagree with and how not to ruin relationships because of differing opinions.

In addition, we talk about new recipes Jesse is trying using duck, granola and Greek yogurt, wearing real PJs, my habit tracker, a book I loved recently, a funny story about mispronouncing words, and what Jesse has been reading.

In This Episode:

[01:47] Duck poppers are saving Jesse’s life this week. They were so good!

[05:38] Granola and greek yogurt are saving my life these days.

[07:08] Why I’ve been trying to wear real pajamas to bed.

[09:18] I posted about my habit tracker and came to find out… Jesse was right.

[11:35] I have been reading/listening to We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter.

[15:53] A quick story about how I used to pronounce Yosemite.

[16:58] Jesse has been reading SOG by John Plaster.

[17:53] The question that inspired this episode.

[19:27] There is so much fear circulating in the world causing us to feel reactionary.

[21:06] Then to add on top of the fear is the nature of conversations on social media.

[23:28] We often lose so much context and empathy by not having face-to-face conversations.

[26:22] Why you need to listen with a heart to understand the other person.

[28:07] Don't make sweeping generalizations.

[30:00] Always remember to care about the person more than you care about their opinion.

Links and Resources:

My Habit Tracker
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
Libby App
The 52 Books I Plan to Read in 2021
SOG by John Plaster
Better Habits: 5 Steps to Start & Stick With Them
Sign up for the Hot Deals Email List
MoneySavingMom.com
My Instagram account (I’d love for you to follow me there! I usually hop on at least a few times per day and share behind-the-scenes photos and videos, my grocery store hauls, funny stories, or just anything I’m pondering or would like your advice or feedback on!)
Have feedback on the show or suggestions for future episodes or topics? Send me an email: crystal@moneysavingmom.com

How to Listen to The Crystal Paine Show

Ready to dive in and listen? Hit the player above or search for “The Crystal Paine Show” on your favorite podcast app.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

106. 10 Things We Learned in 2020 Dec 15, 2020

Show notes

My word that I chose for 2020 was SAVOR. Little did I dream how much of my year was going to be able to live that word out so literally!

From so much time at home and so many things cancelled, to so much time spent rocking and holding and feeding babies, to so much unexpected family time, this year was the perfect year to choose to savor the gifts right in front of me.

Our year looked very different in so many ways — and yes, there was loss and hard things — but I look back and see so much beauty, so much growth, and so much to be grateful for!

In this last podcast for 2020, Jesse and I shared 10 Things We Learned in 2020. Here was our list (I know there are more things we could add, but this is what came to mind as we reflected on the year):

God Gives Grace for the Present Not the Future — If we had known what 2020 would hold, we probably would have felt overwhelmed by it. But, as we learned, God doesn’t give you grace for the future, He gives grace for today.
Jesse Can Thrive on Less Sleep Than He Realized — Jesse has always needed more sleep than me. But this year, he got up every single night with a baby for months on each — and he realized that, when needed, he can thrive on less sleep. (I think it’s also connected to point #1, too!)
I Can Have a Baby Without Having Postpartum Depression — I’ve always struggled with pretty intense PPD and anxiety for months after having a baby. This time around, we approached things very differently and I had almost zero PPD or anxiety! It was amazing!
Foster Care is Brutal But Beautiful — This was one of the most emotionally stretching years we’ve ever walked through. Falling in love and advocating hard for a child only to say goodbye is brutal, but the memories and lessons we learned and how our hearts were forever changed as a family is so beautiful. Plus, we now have a sweet boy AND his mama to love — which is such a gift!
Turning 40 Is Not a Terrible Thing — Jesse turned the big 4-0 and he survived just fine.
I Am Not the Workaholic I Once Was — I worked a lot fewer hours this year and worried a lot less about all things running a business. And it was amazing! I realized that I used to spend a lot of time investing in and stressing over things that really don’t matter in the long run.
Jesse Discovered That Audiobooks Really Are Amazing — I’ve been trying to convince him of this for a long time, so this was a big victory… of course, then it meant that he ended up almost beating me in the number of audiobooks listened to!
I’m More Extroverted Than I Realized — Having so many things cancelled and spending so much time at home taught me to value and appreciate community so much more. AND, it helped me to realize that while I’ll always be an introvert at heart, I really, really love being around life-giving people. Zoom is just no replacement for face-to-face community.
Teaching a Teen to Drive is Not as Hard as We Envisioned — Jesse and I have both gotten to tag team together on teaching Kathrynne to drive and it hasn’t been as hard or as scary as we envisioned it might be. (Jesse has done a lot more of the teaching than me and he’s actually really enjoyed it!)
We Really Like Each Other — This might seem like a weird thing to put on our list of things we’ve learned, but with all the time we spent at home this year, we discovered anew just how much we like each other and how we just love hanging out together.

Listen in to the episode to hear us share our perspective and a lot more details on each of these lessons.

In This Episode:

[00:36] In this episode, we’re reflecting on 10 things we learned in 2020.

[02:12] The first is that God gives grace for the present not the future.

[07:26] Jesse learned that he can thrive on less sleep than he realized.

[10:13] I learned that I can have a baby without having PPD.

[16:14] Foster care is brutal but beautiful.

[19:57] Turning 40 is not a terrible thing.

[22:49] I am not the workaholic that I once was.

[26:29] Audiobooks really are amazing.

[27:45] I have found that I am more extroverted than I thought.

[29:25] Did you know teaching a teen to drive is not as hard as you might think?

[31:56] One of the greatest lessons we’ve learned is that we really like each other.

[35:29] A quick quote to close out the year.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

105. Holding Both Grief and Gratitude Dec 08, 2020

Show notes

In this week’s episode of The Crystal Paine Show, Jesse and I sit down and talk about what this last week has been like for us. We open up candidly about how the grief of saying goodbye to Champ has profoundly impacted us. We share what has been helping us, how we are processing this loss, what has been helping us, and how we are holding both grief and gratitude at the same time.

And because we didn’t want the whole episode to be heavy, we also talk about our road trip to Kansas, chocolate collagen, a book I’m reading to Kierstyn, a project Jesse recently finished, and a sweatshirt I am loving.

In This Episode:

[00:46] This week has definitely been heavy and we’ll talk about that, but first…

[03:33] We got to go to Kansas recently. Hear about the trip.

[08:43] We had an unexpected event happen on the road on the way home from Kansas.

[13:07] Chocolate collagen is saving Jesse’s life.

[14:33] Our new deck furniture has been saving my life.

[17:08] I’m reading Stuart Little to Kierstyn.

[17:40] So, let’s talk about grief and gratitude. We’re sharing the story behind Champ going home.

[20:40] Why I’m so grateful looking back over the last week.

[23:35] Tuesday night and Wednesday morning were very difficult. I was hit with deep grief.

[26:14] Jesse was hit hardest the first night. Hear why.

[29:41] Why it’s important to allow yourself to feel the grief.

[32:04] What has been most helpful when I feel the cloud of grief come over me.

[34:04] Learning to receive from others instead of always being the giver.

Links and Resources:

Baby Signing Time Series on YouTube
Chocolate Collagen
Goods & Better
Foster the Family Blog on Instagram
Stuart Little by E.B. White
Sign up for the Hot Deals Email List
MoneySavingMom.com
My Instagram account (I’d love for you to follow me there! I usually hop on at least a few times per day and share behind-the-scenes photos and videos, my grocery store hauls, funny stories, or just anything I’m pondering or would like your advice or feedback on!)
Have feedback on the show or suggestions for future episodes or topics? Send me an email: crystal@moneysavingmom.com