My favorite episodes from the Work & Play podcast

Today is a fun day — my first episode as a podcast guest (outside of work) debuts on my dear friend Nancy Ray’s podcast! Though I will likely always feel I’m better able to communicate in writing versus speaking, I was honored to be asked to come on as a guest and hope I did okay! We sure had fun either way :)

Recording live from the floor of my closet!

The episode is focused on camping, but don’t worry if you’re not particularly interested in camping – we touch on lots of other topics like friendship, slow parenting, how Nancy and I first met, the joint trip we hope to take for our 15th camping anniversary, and book and product recommendations. We also, of course, cover many nitty gritty adventuring tips. I hope you give it a listen! I’ll be hearing it alongside y’all for the first time later today – eek!

I mention in the episode that I am a super fan of the podcast, and I didn’t just say that to be nice – I really have listened to all 81 (and counting) episodes of Work & Play with Nancy Ray! I love it for a few reasons:

— Most of the episodes are bite-size – 15-20 minutes. Since I have a limited amount of time to listen in my week, I appreciate that she packs a punch in less time than it takes me to drive to the office.
— Nancy gets specific and practical in her episodes, walking you through, for example, exactly what she writes in her journals, what she does in her morning routine, or the rhythm of her work week. As an Enneagram 5 who craves information and real-life examples, I find this so valuable and instructive! I’m not always going to follow what she does exactly, but it provides food for thought and a different perspective. It reminds me of what I was taught in my poetry classes: that the most personal is the most universal, because we can often more easily see ourselves in the little details than we can in the broad strokes.
— As a host, Nancy is professional but not overly polished. Having had many conversations with her as a friend, I can truly say that listening to an episode is like… having a conversation with a friend :)
— To know Nancy is to love her and admire her. I have learned so much from her about faith, family, friendship, work, marriage, and more in our decade plus of friendship, and I love that listening to her podcast each week helps me learn in a new way!
— Every Tuesday, it’s kind of like spinning the roulette wheel of topics – I never know what’s going to pop up! But selfishly, Nancy’s definition of work and play encompasses everything I’m most interested in, so I’m never disappointed. If you love Em for Marvelous, you’ll probably love the variety of W&P, too :)

Today, in honor of my episode, I thought I’d share a few of my past favorites!

002: Rule of Life
012: 3 Habits to Put Social Media in Its Place
023: The Fear of Becoming a Mom with Katelyn James
025: Work Hard, Sabbath Hard
045: How to Journal
048: Update to Our Dave Ramsey Journey
057: 40+ Mom Hacks for Kids Under 5
058: Raising 6 Kids with Mary Lindsey Blanton
059: Growing Faith in Your Littles
067: Check In: Working One Day a Week
068: 12 Years of Marriage, Part 1 and 069: 12 Years of Marriage, Part 2
081: A New Look at Self Care

Find every episode of the podcast here and feel free to subscribe with your favorite podcast app!

I’d love to hear: if you’re already a fan of Work & Play, which episodes have been your favorite?

P.S. For more on camping, start here. For more with Nancy, check out our How We Do It series, starting here! And hey, if you’re new, welcome!! You can find out more about me and Em for Marvelous right here.