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Lighten Up with Melanie Dale

Author Melanie Dale is perpetually trying to figure out how we can all calm the heck down about parenting, friendship, getting older, and the world around us. Each episode she chats with a friend about ways we can let go and lighten up.
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Now displaying: July, 2018

Lighten Up with Melanie Dale

I use laughter as a coping strategy for life’s messes and this podcast to externally process everything going on in my mind, from books to the zombie apocalypse. Each episode I invite a friend to join me and we discuss hot topics, relationships, faith, trends, books, movies, and the latest developments on important things like Netflix and Twitter. I ask them how they lighten up and how they’re sharing the light in their communities. My goal is for you to feel like you’re sitting in the room with us while we eat Nerds Ropes, cackle hysterically, and solve all the world’s problems.
Jul 31, 2018

This week I've combined our Dog Days of Summer series with our monthly crossover episode with Sarah Bragg of Surviving Sarah! So as always with these monthly episodes, you can hear one half of our conversation here on Lighten Up, and the other half over on Surviving Sarah. Today Sarah shares her favorite dog story, and did she commit a crime or not? You be the judge. Then, we tackle back to school. Back to school. What the heck? How is it already that time?! Here in Georgia, the season in upon us so we might as well talk about it. We cover school supplies (Who IS Dixon Ticonderoga?!), our own back to school memories, the first time we sent our kiddos to school, and how it's changed as our kids have grown up. We share tips for navigating back to school, what not to do (ask us how we know!), how to have reasonable expectations about school involvement, how to partner with teachers, how to stay organized with all your kids' papers, and tackling the morning routine, ugh. So whether your kids go back this week, next week, or not for another month, listen in and lighten up!

Episode sponsor:

Today’s episode is sponsored by FabFitFun! FabFitFun is a seasonal subscription box with full-size beauty, fitness, fashion, and lifestyle products. It’s basically like getting a birthday present in the mail four times a year. It retails for $49.99 but always contains products totaling over $200, and they’re giving Lighten Up listeners $10 off your first box when you use code LIGHTENUP at fabfitfun.com.

Links from the show:

Jul 24, 2018

We're in the Dog Days of Summer and today's guest is my friend Jeannie Cunnion, author of Mom Set Free and teller of hilarious dog stories. I laughed until I cried during our conversation. And hey, if you have small children and aren't ready to to explain reproductive biology to them yet, you might want to grab some headphones. You've been warned. This podcast could also be titled, "The Shitzu Had Its Period." Today on Lighten Up, love is in the air...and the only thing stopping it is a very determined Jeannie Cunnion. Neuter and spay your dogs, listen in, and lighten up.

Episode sponsor:

Today's episode is sponsored by FabFitFun! FabFitFun is a seasonal subscription box with full-size beauty, fitness, fashion, and lifestyle products. It's basically like getting a birthday present in the mail four times a year. It retails for $49.99 but always contains products totaling over $200, and they're giving Lighten Up listeners $10 off your first box when you use code LIGHTENUP at fabfitfun.com.

Links from the show:

 

Jul 17, 2018

We are smack in the middle of the Dog Days of Summer, both literally and on this podcast, and today's guest is Logan Wolfram, author of Curious Faith and friend of the show. Logan has big dogs, and big dogs make big smells. My favorite quote from the show is when Logan says, "You just kind of sign yourself up for these weird things when you have animals." Also, I think this episode wins for most use of the word "humping." To prepare yourself for this episode, ask yourself this, "If your dog eats part of your sandwich, do you throw the rest away, eat it anyway, or serve it to your kids?" Ponder that, and while you do, listen in, and lighten up!

Episode sponsor:

Today's episode is sponsored by FabFitFun! FabFitFun is a seasonal subscription box with full-size beauty, fitness, fashion, and lifestyle products. It's basically like getting a birthday present in the mail four times a year. It retails for $49.99 but always contains products totaling over $200, and they're giving Lighten Up listeners $10 off your first box when you use code LIGHTENUP at fabfitfun.com.

Links from the show:

 

Jul 10, 2018

Today I'm kicking off a fun series called the Dog Days of Summer, and my first guest is the author of If You Only Knew and host of the popular podcast Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey. Jamie's a friend of the show and I'm so happy to have her back to share some dog stories. I love dogs, but sometimes they are a handful and we have some funny, funny stories this month of dogs getting into all kinds of trouble. Jamie shares about the first dog she and her husband Aaron ever owned, who she calls, "the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my entire life." Summer is the perfect time to kick back and share stories, so grab a glass of something cold, cuddle up with your dog or lovable hamster, listen in, and lighten up!

Episode sponsor:

Today's episode is sponsored by FabFitFun! FabFitFun is a seasonal subscription box with full-size beauty, fitness, fashion, and lifestyle products. It's basically like getting a birthday present in the mail four times a year. It retails for $49.99 but always contains products totaling over $200, and they're giving Lighten Up listeners $10 off your first box when you use code LIGHTENUP at fabfitfun.com.

Links from the show:

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