Welcome to the Mamas Living Happy Podcast. I’m going to introduce myself and this podcast. You will also hear from a special guest who will tell you her story. I hope you enjoy it!
Welcome! I’m going to introduce myself and this podcast. You will also hear from a special guest who will tell you her story.
After I had my first 2 kids, I fell into a depression and anxiety. I've been more open about it in the past year. I remember when my two oldest were little and just feeling like the world was caving in on me. I felt like I couldn't get anything done, and feeling like I didn’t know what to do with my life. I got some help, but I still deal with depression and anxiety on occasion.
I feel like that ever since my first son was born, that I have been a mom. I get called Mom, like 7 billion times a day. But, Mom is not my real name.
On this podcast, I hope that you will find inspiring ideas to help you find more peace, purpose, and joy in motherhood. Honestly, to be called mom is a badge of courage that we should wear proudly.
As a mom living with depression and anxiety every day, I know that life can get tough. And some days, I have just felt really really lonely. There have been days when I have been too weak to stand. so I have done the only thing that I could do and that is kneel. I'm so grateful for a God in heaven who is there for me… Everyday. Don’t get me wrong, I have amazing friends and an amazing husband. I have had to learn how to overcome and live a joyful life.
For my first guest, we are going to travel through the time/space continuum. Anne is a woman who is very dear to my heart. Listen to the story of my great-great-grandmother. She is such an inspiration to me. Because of her faith, hope, and perseverance, I know I can carry on.
The courageous example of Anne, and many others like her, can inspire us all to be better, to do better. When our hearts ache, our feet are tired, or we face a fearful future, we can remember inspiring examples from the past and those around us and carry on.
Being a mama, I know from experience it can be lonely. We need to be there for each other, and that is what I hope for this podcast and my Facebook group, Mama’s Living Happy Tribe. We would love to have you join us
I’m so grateful for my mom and her wonderful example, that she taught me to serve others. I am also grateful for each time that someone has done something for me.
At the end of each episode, I give you a challenge that will help you become a better mama and a better you.
Embrace your messy beautiful life and enjoy every minute of it. Remember, that mom is not your real name either.
Episode 1
Hey there! Welcome to the Mamas Living Happy Podcast. This is the first episode. I’m going to introduce myself and this podcast. You will also hear from a special guest who will tell you her story. I hope you enjoy it!
Hi, I’m Diana. I am your podcast host.
Welcome! I’m so excited you are here and about this!
I feel like God has been preparing me for this for a long long long time. Like years.
I want to welcome you guys and thank you for listening in.
After I had my first 2 kids, I fell into a depression and I started to have anxiety. Most people don't know that about me. I've been more open about it in the past year. And I have been dealing with depression and anxiety for a long time.
I remember when my boys were little, my two oldest were little and just feeling like the world was caving in on me. I felt like I couldn't get anything done, and feeling like I didn’t know what to do with my life. Because I was Mom. And that's all I was doing.
I got some help, I was on medicine for a little while, I went to a doctor about it. I had counseling. She totally understood where I was coming from and what I was talking about. A couple of years later I got off the medicine, but I still dealt with depression and anxiety on occasion. I'll talk more about it as I do more podcast episodes, but I feel like I'm finally, 20 years later coming out of it.
Right now I have a lot of great things that God has placed into my life to help me out. I have mentors who are helping me to become a better person, and to do things that are out of my comfort zone. Like this podcast.
I'm really really excited about life again. I've started things like this podcast which I'm really humbled to do. I feel like that this is a calling that it is from God to help other women with struggles like I have had.
Mama's living happy is a podcast for busy moms like me we're trying to balance every ball, let's be honest, everything. Oh my gosh, there are so many balls in the air it's not even funny. Balls that are in the air at all times going crazy.
A little bit about me,
I’m just an average American mom
in the craziness of #momlife.
I’m not an expert and I don't claim I'm perfect, in fact, I’m far from perfect.
As I have been preparing for this, I have been on a journey of self-discovery
I've been a mom for 21 years. My oldest is 21, and my youngest is 11.
I’m the mom of four amazing kids, we just live in the suburbs and I'm just an average mom.
I feel like that ever since my first son was born, that I have been a mom. Kids call me mom and that's what everyone knows me as.
I get called Mom, like 7 billion times a day. Right? Don't you feel that way sometimes as a mom? Oh my gosh, I totally feel like that. So as I've been on this journey of self-discovery, remembering who Diana is, and not Mom, this podcast was something that I decided to do. And it's coming to fruition, and I'm super super excited about it.
Mom is not my real name.
On this podcast, I hope that you will find inspiring ideas to help you find more peace, purpose, and joy in motherhood.
As I tried to decide the name of this episode, I decided on Mom is not my real name. Because, like I said I get called Mom so many times a day. My name is Diana, it is not Mom. Honestly, to be called mom is a badge of courage that we should wear proudly. I love having this badge, but I'm also trying to figure out who I am. And most days I feel like I don't have it together. Being a mom is really really hard, and it's really really enjoyable.
As a mom living with depression and anxiety every day, I know that life can get tough. And some days, I have just felt really really lonely. There have been days when I have been too weak to stand. so I have done the only thing that I could do and that is kneeling. I'm so grateful for a God in heaven who is there for me… Everyday. I am so grateful for that God who will help each one of us in our trials.
Don’t get me wrong, I have amazing friends and an amazing husband. Friends who will come running if I need them.
I'm blessed with the most amazing husband who is supportive of me and my crazy ideas, like created this podcast.
I have had to learn how to overcome and live a joyful life.
I hope to be able to share these things with you. the things I've learned, and the things I've learned from other moms. I am going to have guests on this podcast whose mom is not their real name either. And yet they have lived and loved the joys of motherhood.
For my first guest, we are going to travel through the time/space continuum. We're traveling to a time a long long time ago. We are going to visit a lady that I'm very excited to introduce you to. Anne is a woman who is very dear to my heart. Many of my friends have heard this story, and my kids know the story back and forth. I'll let her tell her story.
My name is Anne Margrette Ohlsen. I was born in 1819 in Norway. I came from a poor family. We mainly ate fish, potatoes, milk, and bread with a little bit of butter. I worked for a very rich family. They paid me one time every year. I got two dresses, a pair of stockings, two pairs of shoes, and $9 whole dollars! Can you believe it? $9 dollars! I was really good with my money and put it in the bank. While I was working there, I met Lars Jacobsen. He was so handsome. We fell in love and were married. We were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. We named her Mary.
When dear Mary was two years old, cholera broke out in our town. Lars got very sick and died that night.
I was heartbroken. I tried I could to have the disease to have it take me, too. But in time my heart healed and I married another man named Embreth Hansen.
Later, we Embreth and I decided to go to America. I had saved up enough money so we could travel very comfortably. My family was very angry and they tried to take my daughter Mary away from me. But, we decided to travel to America anyway. We were asked to give part of our money to another family so they could come also. When we got to Nebraska, we did not have enough money for a team or a wagon, so we joined what was called a handcart company. A handcart is pulled by hand. There are two wheels on it. Embreth and I, we pulled the handcart together.
My little Mary was only six years old and walked most of the way. After traveling for some time, my dear Embreth he became sick and could not pull the cart. I had to throw away many of my beautiful things so I could make room for him to ride in the cart. I pulled the cart, by myself, with him riding inside behind me.
One morning, I slipped quietly out of bed to make breakfast. When I tried to wake my dear Embreth up, I found he had passed away during the night. I had to bury him in Wyoming and finish my journey without him. I paused one last time at the grave of my husband to say goodbye.
Then, looking to the west, Mary and I walked on. We didn’t have much food, only about one tablespoon of flour to eat each day. My dear Mary would say, “Oh Mother. When we get to where we are going, can I have all the fish and potatoes I want?” I was heartbroken, as a mother, not being able to feed my child.
Eventually, we made it to the Rocky Mountains. Even though all my trials, I was happy to be gathering with other people of my Christian faith.
Every time I tell Anne’s story, I cry. She is such an inspiration to me. She is an amazing woman, with amazing faith.
Eventually, Anne married another man, named Rasmus Englestead, who is my ancestor. And is one of my great-great-grandmothers. She had more children and lived a long and productive life. Anne’s posterity now number in the thousands.
Because of her faith, hope, and perseverance, I know I can carry on.
The courageous example of Anne, and many others like her, they can inspire us all to be better, to do better.
When our hearts ache, our feet are tired, or we face a fearful future, we can remember inspiring examples from the past and those around us and carry on.
A wise man said: “It is good to look to the past to gain appreciation for the present and perspective for the future…to gain strength for whatever lies ahead.”
That's one of the intentions of this podcast, so we each can have examples of inspiring women to look up to. So we can gain strength for our future.
When I think of Anne, I imagine her stepping one tired and exhausted foot in front of the other. Slowly walking all day long, every day across the wilderness.. into the unknown. I’m sure she was tired. Bless her dear heart And because of her journal, we know she was hungry.
Sometimes I can imagine her looking up at the Rocky Mountains. Oh my goodness, her heart must have felt so heavy. She had traveled so far.
She must have felt so small and insignificant, standing at the base of those mountains. They are so big!
In life, we all think we want to reach the top of the mountain. It is like the goal, to reach the summit of life. We think that once we reach the top, life will be better.
If you can right now, I want to do something with you. If you can, close your eyes. Imagine yourself hiking. Hiking this tall, tall mountain and you finally get to the top of it. It took so long time to hike that mountain, and it was hard. You sit down to rest. What do you see around you? What do you see by your feet? Usually, there are rocks, with maybe a few trees. There is really a cold wind at the top of the tall mountains. It's freezing up there sometimes. Snow. Maybe you'll see snow.
What do you see further away? You can see a great view! Isn't that why we get to the top of the mountain, is to see the view?
What is in that view? Think about it.
A glimpse of your next destination! That is what is in your view.
Maybe you see the valley you are going back down to. Maybe you see another mountain. Usually, when you reach the top in the summit of life, you will see more mountain peaks.
Your next peak is just waiting for you to climb. It is usually higher and more challenging than the one you have just traveled up. Once you get to the top, there is no growth while you sit there at the top of the mountain. We must come off of the mountain and go through the next valley to climb the next mountain. It is in the valleys of life we must go through the weeds...the mud...the dirt...and maybe you will even cross a river. It is in that valley, as we trudge through this mud, that we learn and that that's where grow. We become who we are intended to be.
As you listen to these upcoming podcasts, you will hear stories from other mamas who, like my ancestor Anne, have been through tough times. I’m sure that when Anne was walking across the plains, she didn’t think “I’m doing this to inspire my descendants so that they will carry on in their trials.” She probably was just hoping and praying to get to her destination.
You will also find that I have been through a lot of valleys and tried to climb those mountains. Over and over again
Even though each of us might be crawling through the weeds and mud in the valley’s and wading through the rivers, we can overcome these trials and come out victorious on the other side.
I hope that you will find this podcast to be like talking to friends who can help you get through what you are going through.
Being a mama, I know from experience it can be lonely. We need to be there for each other, and that is what I hope for this podcast and my Facebook group, Mama’s Living Happy Tribe. E would love to have you join us
Before I close, I want to share one last story about my own mama. My mom is an amazing woman. She is a wonderful example of a woman who loves to do service for those around her. She is a christ-like.
My mom makes the best Gingersnap cookies you will ever eat. These cookies are so good! Soft, chewy, delicious. The best cookies I've ever eaten.
As a bonus, I’ll post the recipe on my website Mamas Living Happy.com so that you too can make them. Because they are so good.
Now, before I get into the story, I want to share that God does notice us, and he watches over us. Usually, he serves us through another person, and that's how he helps us out.
There are angels all around us.
Well, one day, my mom made Gingersnap cookies. They are so good! She brought them to a woman in our neighborhood who had just recently been divorced. This woman that she brought them too, was a mother of 5.
No one was home, so she left the cookies on the doorstep and ran errands. Later that day, the mom called my mom and told her that gingersnaps were her favorite cookie and she saw them at the store earlier that day. But, because of her tight budget, she couldn’t afford to buy the cookies and went home craving them. When she got home, the cookies from my mom were on her porch. She told my mom how grateful for the cookies and felt loved. My mom always says that when she makes cookies and asks God who to bring them to. and that particular day it was this divorced mother.
I’m so grateful for my mom and her wonderful example, that she taught me to serve others. I am also grateful for each time that someone has done something for me.
At the end of each episode, I plan to sum up the episode, and I plan to give you a challenge that will help you become a better mother and a better you.
So here are the ones for today.
I know that you have a million things today and I’m grateful you took the time to listen to today’s podcast. I truly hope you gained nuggets of wisdom that can help you in your life.
Please, don’t forget to subscribe, review and share This helps more mamas to find hope and inspiration.
Embrace your messy beautiful life and enjoy every minute of it.
I hope you have a good day and remember, that mom is not your real name either.