For this episode, we play a game called “Table Topics” and learn about what we think our Spirit Animals are, what we considered to be our Favorite Songs, and even recalled about a few favorites moments in our marriage so far. Enjoy the convo!
In this episode, we celebrate and welcome the new year by discussing some of the intentions we plan to set for 2021. Amanda shares how she wants to face doubts that come with her career path and I talk about what it means to feel more confident in my creative pursuits. Whether it’s a resolution, a theme or a mantra, we hope that you achieve whatever it is you want to achieve, however big or small. We’re rooting for you!
Kitchen Table Convos resume after being away for a few months. Amanda just finished her first semester of grad school so during this break after finals week, we found an opportunity to record this conversation! In this episode, we check in on Amanda’s experience and discuss the challenges she’s had to deal with so far on this journey to becoming a PA (Physician’s Assistant). With the amount of information and pressure, we found out that we’ve been grasping for some sense of balance in order to manage the stress. A manifestation of that comes in the form of seemingly meaningless Reality TV shows. If you want to hear Tito have a passionate rant about the current season of the Bachelorette, this might be the episode for you. Enjoy the convo!
Finding new skills and practices to implement in our lives is something we all try to achieve. Some of these things are more impactful and stick with us forever, and others are smaller experiences where you can just say "Oh yeah! I did that once!" In this episode, we share some of the things we've picked up over the years that have brought value in our lives. Enjoy the Convo!
Before we got married, we were in a long distance relationship for 3 years. In this episode, we share some moments of how we made the decision to be in a relationship despite living in different states. From the very jump, we really got to learn how we communicated with each and we found ways for us to be able to still be a couple despite this predicament of living over a thousand miles apart. It’s a story that we love to reflect on, and as thankful as we are to have gone through that experience, we NEVER want to be apart that long again : ) Enjoy the Convo!
This episode, we are celebrating our 9 year wedding anniversary so we thought it would be fitting to share stories about how our relationship started! Through a series of coincidences, fate somehow led us to each other. We talk about being on different sides of the world, ending up in the same town, but never really crossing paths until after high school. Sometimes, those small coincidences can turn into something special that we would have never expected. Enjoy the convos!
In this episode, the topic is all about coffee! In general, we wouldn’t consider ourselves connoisseurs of the craft, however, coffee has played a part in different seasons of our lives. In this chat, we go back down memory lane and attach a specific coffee drink to a certain period in our relationship. Whether it’s high octane beans, decaf or even tea, take an hour with a cup of your favorite hot beverage and enjoy the convo with us.
It’s certainly strange times for everyone. In this episode, we check in and discuss how we’ve been feeling as social distancing and sheltering in place has been put in place. Although it’s swinging back and forth from feeling at ease to super anxious within minutes, we’ve put a lot of focus about being intentional about certain routines that keep us grounded. We hope you enjoy the convos and hope that some of you relate to our experience!
A continuation from the previous episode, we talk about our "guilty" pleasures. We discuss some of our food indulgences like late night cereal (best thing ever) or our changing opinions about reality tv shows or unlikely songs we would secretly play in our CD players as kids. We hope that these last couple of episodes give you a temporary distraction from these uncertain times. Enjoy the convo!
In this episode, we talk about things we used to love as kids, and different activities we were involved in that you may not have known about us. From Amanda memorizing quotes from the movie “Titanic” or stories about Tito’s short lived powerlifting days, we hope that we provide you with a little escape from it all. Enjoy the convos!
In this episode, we play the classic "Would You Rather" game and ask hypothetical questions like "If you won the lottery, would you rather take the lump sum or take the installments?" or "Would you rather get unlimited sushi for life or unlimited tacos?" Let us know what your answer are for the questions we ask. Enjoy the convo!
After about week of battling the flu, we are back with more convos! In this episode, we didn’t really have a specific theme to discuss. We just recapped my experience about being sick and how I turn into a completely useless baby during it. It turns out, I’m not a superhero 😂. We also talk about a really cool experience I was involved in with speaking on a panel at an arts conference. We cap the episode off with some thoughts on our most recent date at the Grand Rapids Public Museum and got to see the “Bodies Revealed” exhibit. Enjoy!
We are on 3rd and final part of the “Nervous Nellies” series and on this episode, I share a story from a few years ago when I decided to take a step backwards at my job in order to figure out what to do next. I’m super grateful for the experience and the job I had in Orlando, and loved the people I worked with, but at that point in my life, I had to make a change. I hope this episode relates to people who are feeling stuck and not knowing which direction to point in their careers. Enjoy the Convos!
If we were being honest with ourselves, Amanda and I are afraid more often than not. However, we do have moments where we were able to successfully accomplish things that required bravery. No matter how big or small these “wins” are, we realize that fear and bravery are not mutually exclusive. Most times, they co-exist and we’re grateful that we have each other to help manage the stresses on a day to day basis so we can celebrate times when we can honestly say, “we did it!” Enjoy the Convo!
Anxiousness and nervousness is a standard in the Mendoza household. In this episode, we have a conversation about our tendency to worry about pretty much everything and find some of the reasons why we might act this way. From silly ,unreasonable paranoia to the obsessive need to control time and schedules, we both are at constant work to learn how to manage our nervous energies better. If you’re like us, know that you’re not alone! Enjoy the convo.
There's nothing like starting the new decade with another episode of the Kitchen Table Convos with the Mendozas! In this episode, we recap the holidays and share stories about being sick, traditions, and also Amanda's competitive gambling streak 🤣 We end the episode and discuss thoughts on the last decade. If we were to put the last 10 years of our life into a word or phrase, the words we picked were: Growth, and Bambi Legs. Happy 2020, and we hope you enjoy the Convos!
In this episode, we start introducing our backgrounds and sharing some of our childhood memories. In talking through our experiences, it really opened up more topics to talk about in future episodes. Whether it’s a more in depth look into my experiences as a young immigrant moving from the Philippines to a small rural city in Michigan, or Amanda’s childhood view on her surroundings, these stories ultimately inform the way we interact with our world even as adults. Enjoy the Convo!
We are back with some HEAT! For this episode we have a fun conversation about some of our pet peeves. We rant about those small and seemingly insignificant things that for some reason, gets under our skin. Although irritating, we completely acknowledge that we are really grateful for our life and we are only (semi) serious about our gripes. Find someone that you can have hilarious pet peeve rants with, cause that’s what life is all about. We hope you enjoy the Convo. Let us know if you have the same pet peeves as us or what little things get you going!
We are back with another installment of the podcast with the VERY important topic of Pizza! This universally loved food item has presented itself throughout our lives and have lived in our memories as some sort of nostalgic goodness. In this episode, Amanda and I recount some of our earliest memories about this beloved dish, and as life goes forward, we share some stories of others we’ve accumulated along the way. Enjoy the Convo!
Welcome back for part two of the series where we talk about Diabetes and the impact it’s played in not only Amanda’s life but also in our dynamic as a married couple. On part 1, we gave a basic overview of what the disease is and on this episode, we discuss the moments leading up to the diagnosis and also share stories about what it’s like to manage it on a daily basis. Enjoy the convos!