In-Between: Life Adjustments and Making Your Comeback

Surviving puppyhood, finding joy, and taking the pressure off - The In-Between returns!

In this episode, Elizabeth recaps June and explains how she's been overwhelmed adjusting to Iris, her HUGE, high-energy puppy, dealing with sleep deprivation, all while trying to build a routine. What else? Oh, just venting about the current Love Island USA season. She's been in her foodie era, giving shoutouts for a few new places around the city. Elizabeth is still in her hobby era, which now includes tattoos apparently. 

Outside of the fun catching up, she brings her usual "best friend" communication style and reflects on feeling depressed, how she even got to that realization, what she's learned in the in-between, and gives advice on how you could navigate feeling in a rut. Sometimes you've gotta release the pressure to perform or produce because you've been living and processing those life changes. 

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Transcript

0:05

Hey, hey, hey. Welcome back to another episode of The InBetween. I'm your host, Elizabeth Cheney. Here we are, about a month later Don't worry, we are working on it. I've just been going through so many... I hate to even say life changes, because that's what the past two years have been nonstop, but since getting Iris, my little puppy, if you listened to the last episode, things have been a little hectic. But that's okay, we love her. Sleep deprivation, we're finally getting better on a schedule, AKA your girl is finally going to bed before 3:00 AM. Hello, insomnia. I learned that no matter what time I go to bed, she wakes up at 6:30 on the dot. So I had to make some adjustments But anyways, um, lots to talk about, just kinda catch up, uh, what my June looked like, June recap. I just got back from North Carolina. I spent the last several days, what, four days, something like that, visiting my cousin, his wife, and their two little kids. I love my cousin Evan and his two children so much so they call me Auntie Liz. It is so fulfilling, and they moved, I mean, I think like two years ago, and I haven't been able to go visit them. So I made the trek, the six-hour drive, which, look, I'm grateful that I can make that trek. I'm grateful that I can, I have a car that will get me there. I have the the physical ability to get there. But y'all my ass was so sore. I would say like two hours remaining on the trip, so four hours in, my right leg was numb. It was numb. I could not feel it. So I was like sitting, I was trying to extend myself in the seat, trying to drive with like my leg is completely straight, which I'm sure isn't safe saying that out loud. But I was doing everything I could to get feeling in my lower body. I'm sure there's something else going on that I should probably be more concerned about. I think I've mentioned this, maybe I haven't. But over the past year, I have sprained both of my hamstrings Which I laugh at that, because of course I have. This is the girl who, at 13 years old at basketball camp, jammed every single finger and then had to have them all taped together like crab claws. Anyways, um, you know, What you go through grows you. Whatever the phrase is, I don't know. Hey, it builds character, right? So I think whatever was going on with my, my lower body has to do with the hamstrings. 'Cause, like, the first one, which was the left side, I hurt like a year ago, and I never properly healed it. I think that will do something to you. And then the right one, I messed up, like, just a few months ago, back in March. So yeah, lots of pain there. But you know what? I would do the drive all over again just to see my family, 'cause it was, it was so much fun. It was so wonderful. We had, like, a little rave. I bought all this little, like, rave gear, like, light up things for us, uh, 4th of July evening. We went to a baseball game. It was such a joy seeing the two of them get so hyped about the fireworks. I mean, heck, even I was hyped about the fireworks. Probably the best fireworks show I've ever seen. Shout out to the, what is it? The Durham Rams. They're not even, like, a Major League baseball team, but they had this huge-ass stadium, huge turnout, and then the most impressive firework show I've ever seen in my life. All right? And, uh, I've seen a lot of fireworks. Anyways, it was a blast. Am I exhausted? Yes, absolutely exhausted. But my heart is full. So June, of course, I had every intention to record. I've been journaling out points and bullets and things like that to talk about this whole month, but it's just, like I said, it's been, it's been a lot. And adjusting to puppy, has been wonderful. I, I'm, I wanna speak positively first. Paw, P-A-W. A-ba-da-bum-ch. Okay, she's a little rusty, but, uh, really, I think I bit off more than I can chew. Just a little bit. Like, I think I underestimated just how much of an adjustment getting a puppy would be. Like, don't get me wrong. I was not naive. I knew it would be a lot. Course it'd be a lot. It's a puppy. It's a feral little critter, okay? I get it. However, Iris is not only turbocharged in terms of energy, which again, I knew I was getting myself into that. But this dog is just... She is huge. She's not even four months old yet, okay? Wait. March, April, May, June. Yeah, she's not even four months old yet. I looked at pictures of Luna when she was Iris' age, and Iris is double the size of her. The size that Iris is now is, like, how big Luna was a year, year and a half old. It is insane how big this dog is. She is, she is so, so smart. Too smart for her own good. We're kind of in the toddler/teenager phase, so she misbehaves, but I feel like she does it intentionally, 'cause she'll make direct eye contact like, "I know what you're doing." So that's been fun. But we started puppy training. We're working on it. I keep reminding myself it takes time. Even though she looks like a full-ass adult dog, she is still very much a puppy. But when I tell you this dog is massive- She's so tall. She's probably as tall as Luna was at this point. Like, I, I don't know what I've gotten myself into. I mean, it's gonna be great. It's gonna work out great. But she is jumping on things, she can get on the bed now. Like, she's, she's a lot. But you know what? So am I, so we are a match made in heaven. Not me comparing myself to my dog. Uh, but my mom watched her while I was gone this weekend, my mom and my aunt, so that was, that was really nice. And it was really funny 'cause she's really into water and, I don't know, being a menace. So they got her this little kiddie pool, and they were... It was... I don't know. It's ridiculous. I think it's a cry for help that my mom just really wants a grandchild. But you know what? All in due time, Mom. Let me find a man first. Hmm. I will say she's been so creative with Iris. Like, she got her this, ball pit on top of, like, this little splash pad. They even got a little yard sign that said splash zone. Tell me that my mom doesn't want a grandkid, that my aunt doesn't want a great-niece or nephew more. I mean, I love it. I love it. Iris truly is spoiled beyond reason. Anyways, all that said and done, going back to the teenager, toddler stage, I was like, you know what? She seems to love these ball pits. I will spend $40 and get this stupid shit off Amazon. And let me tell you, I did it, and she loves it. This little thing, she gets in there, she lays in there, she plays in there. She brings all her toys into her little, ball pit. She goes through my socks or dirty laundry somehow this dog scaled my laundry basket, flipped herself into it, and then jumped out. I don't know how she can do it. She is so... the agility of this dog is insane. I definitely have my hands full. But she takes like socks or little things that she'll steal. She's a little klepto, and she'll take them into the ball pit. I'll be like, "Where is this?" Oh, it's in her ball pit. There we go. I learned that she stole my aunt's keys. Where did they find them? In her ball pit at my mom's house. So between... Yes, of course, I had a few social things going on, but really the past month has just been me adjusting to Iris and getting on a schedule. I would say for three-fourths of the month of June, I was sleep-deprived and just wondering if I'd made a big mistake. Not because I don't love her. Don't worry. She's not going anywhere. But I just was a little in over my head, not gonna lie. But I have to remind myself this too is just a season,, I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts. I'm gonna enjoy this little critter while she's a puppy, and I wanna, pull my hair out, but also, my God, she's so cute 'cause when she's really sweet and cuddly, I just wanna eat her and squish her and mm, God, even if she is a giant. But it'll pass. It'll be fine. Even though today when I picked her up she was so hyper and so crazy, and I looked at my mother and I was like, "Is she gonna be like this forever? Do you think she's gonna actually get trained? Is it gonna pay off? Like, what I'm doing and working with her." And like, I don't know, it's like give myself credit. I'm trying. I'm working with her. She's in training classes. Just because she looks like a full-grown adult dog doesn't negate the fact that she's actually still a puppy, so, uh, but that's my very long-winded way to say, "Hey, this is where I've been." I have been in the trenches surviving puppy, puppy-hood, and we are definitely not out of the clear yet. Anyways, let's see. What else is new? Um, Love Island started. You know, I don't watch reality TV. No hate, no shade, I barely watch TV as it is. There's so much I, I need to catch up on. But Love Island, I started watching the Love Island USA during season six, the one with Leah, Serena, and Janae, that epic season. So maybe I just was introduced to it and was spoiled because that was such an epic season. But I watched last year's, couldn't finish it. I was like, "Well, this sucks." And honestly, this season I'm just not here for it either. I'm really over it. Maybe it's because, I don't know, I'm 35 and all these people are, like, 22, there's a few that are a little bit older, but their maturity is still on par with a 22, 23-year-old. I'm over it. I'm over it. And it's, like, also really sad 'cause there's a couple of very toxic couples on there, and you just watch them making these dumbass mistakes the way Love Island works is it's, like, a n- a new episode almost every single day, and it's kind of like Big Brother-ish in a way, but then again I feel like this season has been heavily produced. You can tell production's, like, really involved with it, so maybe that's what's taken some of the appeal out of it. I don't know. I don't know why I care. It's Love Island USA. Like, I think it's real love. Ah, whatever. If you watch Love Island, I'd love to know your thoughts. I don't even really wanna get into, like, the brass tacks, tea, details, the 411 of what I really feel like, but I'll tell you this: fuck sincere. That is the one thing I'll say. Fuck sincere. Melanie, baby girl, you are so wonderful. Please don't be with that man. And I will say I think I'm Team Casey. I, that might be a little, um, problematic, a little divisive. If you follow, if you're caught up, I used to be Team E냐, Team KC, but I just haven't really appreciated his villain edit, and I like him and TT. I gotta say, I hate to admit it, but I like him. I do. Anyways, I'm sure most of you are like, "I don't watch Love Island. Why the f- are you talking about this?" And I'm like, "All right. I'll see myself out the door." shout out to my girlfriend Brooke. I know I've mentioned her on the podcast several times. She's my PR girly. Uh, very, very close friend of mine. Her and her husband opened up their restaurant, Firenze. Um, it is Italian. Jesse, her husband, is from Florence, Italy, so it's very, very, very, very, very good. I had the pleasure to go during their soft opening. Um, I actually got to see the space while they were building it and help out a little bit, but it was fantastic. So if you're local to Atlanta, please go up to Alpharetta and check it out because it's delicious. The food is just mm. And the drinks, I've never had an Aperol Sour, but it was delicious. Best espresso martini... Anyways, I was not sponsored to say any of this. I just have to give shout-outs where they're deserved, and it was delicious food. And then speaking of food, the past month I've been to two omakases, which It's like a special curated, like, sushi, raw fish type, type menu. the first one was at this place that me and Ashleighanna went to. Uh, it's like Michelin star. The most expensive meal I've ever paid for myself. I will tell you that right now. Like, it was almost $400. Um, if you can make that out. I am not bragging 'cause it was more just like, "All right. Tonight we ball." it's like one of those experiences where all the servers, like, anticipate every single need you have before you actually realize you need it. Does that make sense? And as nice as it was, it was a little overwhelming. Does that make sense? Like, I don't know, like pushing my chair in, pushing it out, pulling this away, cleaning this off. Like, it was just, "Do you wanna, do you wanna feed me too? Do you wanna..." Like, you know, "Mm, here comes the big spoon of food." I don't know. Like, it just, it was a lot. But then the other one I went to, which was, like, just a week or so ago, was with my girlfriend Blair, this guy called Jerome, the sushi guy. I've been to a few events where he's been a part of the, the menu and the chefs. Um, but this was his omakase at this really cute place called L- Larican, and it was incredible. It was maybe a third of the cost and, oh my gosh, top-notch experience. So again, if you're in Atlanta, I highly recommend you check out Larican's, Larican's, I don't even know how you say it, their omakase experience on Sundays and Mondays, and now Saturdays. And again, I was not sponsored for this. I'm just out here sharing the things that have brought me joy the past month, uh, with the exception of Love Island. Um, last time we talked, I tal- I told you about my, my hobby era. So in, I, I've, I'm currently in improv level two. Shout out improv level three. Are we gonna do it? I don't know, but I gotta say, I'm definitely getting way out of my comfort zone and having so much more fun in level two. I don't know if I was just, like, under a cloud for level one, which I kinda think I was. More on that later. Not so much related to improv, but I think I've been a little depressed. Go figure. Not like I don't have any reason not to be with everything that's happened, but, it, it's been a lot of fun, especially 'cause some of my favorite people from level one came to level two, so we have the same class together, and we have this, like, little group, and we're gonna go out and have fun, and I don't know. It's just been a... It's been really great, and Because I've been slow to get back in with the podcast and creating, improv has been this little outlet, this creative outlet that I have once a week. So I'm very grateful for it, and I'm getting something out of it, and I would like to do stand-up comedy, not like saying I wanna be a stand-up comic, but I would like to do some classes, so I think that's next on my radar, my, next on my list. We'll see. We'll see. But with that said, speaking of improv and the hobbies, I started Dungeons Dragons, like a campaign with some of my improv friends, and we are about to finish up our campaign. So sad, but let me tell you something. D&D is so much more complicated than I ever expected. I don't know why I thought it was like a card game. No, D&D is, like, a full-on, play skit game, but you are the player. I mean, the level and nuance to everything, the backstory, the communication, even the acting, and, and, you know, now I get why improv is good for D&D players because, like, you have to improvise on the spot in these campaigns. I'm not trying to nerd you all out and just go into it about D&D 'cause I'm sure a lot of you don't give two shits about that. But I just wanna say, it's, it's very interesting. There's so much more to it. There's so much more to it. But I'm having a lot of fun. So we'll see how the campaign ends. We'll see if we win. We'll see if we take over or, or s- win our quest. It's fun. It's cool. Um, I got a new tattoo, as you can see if you're watching this on YouTube. I have this really beautiful new tattoo. Um, it was supposed to be peonies flowers, which side note, I just recently learned it's peony versus peony. This whole time I thought it was peony. My nana has called it peony my whole life. So I was like, "Oh, peonies. Peony flower." No, it's peonies. Peony flower. Hopefully I'm saying that right even on this, and it makes me think of this episode I did, like, I don't know, maybe two years ago where I was... Was it two years ago? Maybe it wasn't even that long ago, where I was coming clean with other words that I've been mispronouncing, like ethereal. Thought I was etheral. Ascertain. It's ascertain. Or I thought ascertain was ascertain, which is so embarrassing to admit. But you know what? You can be 35 and still learn that you're pronouncing words wrong. So There you go. And that makes me think about this most recent Love Island USA season. Sincere, the, the dude that I loathe entirely, he's an idiot and a player and just a POS, but whenever they do their like, like one-on-ones with the camera where they're, what is it? Like their confessionals. He was talking about something and he was trying to say epitome, and he goes, "It's the epitome." And I was like, "You idiot." But then I was like, "Oh, but damn, I've done that kind of shit before." I mean, I've never gotten e- epitome wrong, but case in point, everything else I just said, so. Anyways, back to the tattoo. Uh, the peonies looked weird, so we did a chrysanthemum. But we're gonna get more detail on it this week, which will make it... You know, I think it looks amazing, but it's gonna make it pop even more. But I did the Birth of Venus on the vase, in the vase, 'cause as a triple Taurus, uh, Venus rules Taurus, and it just seemed fitting. Plus, you know, what is it? Venus represents, I think this is Aphrodite, and she's like the goddess of love, and we love love, and we want love, so we're gonna bring that into our, ourselves. Self-love, yes. All kinds of love. So seemed fitting. haven't been able to do much traveling if... I mean, really none at all. Like this trip to North Carolina was the first trip I've taken this year. getting Iris was my trip, not just financially, but also like time-wise. However, I think I might have a few trips that I'm able to pull off by the end of the summer, so fingers crossed. And I'm still gunning for a solo trip to Europe. Don't know if that'll be like September time or whatever, but I'm hoping I can make it work financially, yes, of course, but also like before this big leadership event that I have to go to for work. So there's that. At least work has been stable. It's been the one stable thing in my life. Even if it's crazy hectic, you know, fires that pop up, it's still stuff that I'm used to and accustomed to, so I can always count on good old work to, uh, pull me through and, you know, keep me grounded. Keep me grounded. So what else is news? Speaking of love, nothing really new at all to report on that front. However, I tell you what, uh, meeting people in the wild, which is always, what somebody might prefer, but let me tell you, like my luck has not been great. The last two people I've met in the wild, and I didn't go on dates with these people, I just meant like I met them and it was like, "Okay, yeah, this isn't gonna go anywhere," one was a 24-year-old model. No hate, no shade. But last summer was cougar summer. Not so much this summer. We are trying to find something with the stability, commitment, devotion, potential Just, I have, I don't know. I was trying to go with some deep metaphor and got nothing. I was gonna say, like, from the seed, it's born and it grows. I guess that works, whatever. Looking for a seed to grow into a tree, which sounds so weird. Anyways, rambling aside, 24-year-old model ain't gonna cut it. You're cool, bro, but it's not gonna cut it. And then this other guy that I met that was, like, visually my type for sure, uh, he was in an open marriage and a drug dealer. So yeah, don't think either of those are great traits for me to, find a partner in. H- no hate, no shade to the poly life. You do you. Just not my thing, not my scene. I'm not into it. I don't like to share, and I like to be the center of attention, and I love the idea of us just devoting ourselves to each other. You know what I mean? So yeah, not gonna work out. But we won't give up. We will not be jaded. There are billions of fish in the sea, as they say, And I know one is bound to show up in the little pond that I'm swimming in, so new tattoo, adjusting to puppy, getting a routine, which we are getting. We've, we've really gotten there, so that's good. So I think the podcast and the creating and getting the content out is, is coming. It's getting there. 'Cause,, if there's any message that I've been receiving loud and clear from the universe or just from things that keep happening or coincidences or messages, whatever, it's, "Focus on you, baby girl. Focus on you. Do you. Slow and steady wins the race. Commit to yourself. Focus on yourself and the rest will follow." And I know I've talked about this a little bit, I felt like I've been a little depressed. I've been lacking motivation and I had to come clean about that with, to myself. I've been unpacking a lot of heavy shit in therapy, and I was talking to my therapist I'm just lacking motivation. You know what? I think I've been depressed," which it's not the same kind of depression that I went through back in, like, 2020, 2021, but it's still something that I don't need to ignore. And my whole thing about mental health and being self-aware is, like, once you kind of identify what's going on, all right, it doesn't mean, oh, now everything gets better immediately, but at least, like, you have a framework, a foundation, to be like, "Okay, maybe this is why my inner narrative has been so negative," or, "Maybe this is why I've struggled to, you know, get this going or get that going or get running on my two feet." Maybe I'm, I'm still more at a walking pace, and that's okay. And as I've, I've been thinking about this, and, and I will say this, I definitely think I'm coming out of this depression. I'm feeling more motivated. I'm feeling more creatively driven. It's just adjusting to puppy was a humongous monkey wrench into that, and not monkey wrench negatively, just a lot more intense than I was expecting, life chapter, life circumstances. But now that we are at least in the thick of it and I know what I've gotten myself into, it's like, okay, the other things can start to follow as I've also been getting out of this funk, this mental funk. you know, with all of the stuff that happened the past two years and then my grandmother passing and, and letdowns and disappointments and poor choices and poor habits, AKA not sleeping, which we've been working on and it's amazing how much better you feel when you get at least seven hours of sleep. So I, definitely prioritizing sleep. Cause again, 6:30 AM, puppy wake-up call. It comes every single day whether I like it or not. But anyways- Coming out of this mental brain fog depression episode, this storm cloud over myself, I've been thinking about it, giving myself grace, working on, loving myself through the process 'cause that's, that's how you get through it. You meet yourself where you're at, and you don't go into the black or white thinking that, "Oh, my dreams don't matter. Oh, I don't care anymore," which again I say this to also point out I still struggle with that, and it's probably something I will always struggle with especially when I'm extremely overwhelmed in life and I feel borderline burnout or just flat-out burnout, I will get into that all or nothing thinking. It's like I'm trying to control what already feels like chaos, and it's just easier for my brain to go this or that, even though most often that mindset is very toxic and/or very limiting because everything is gray. Remember that. But it's important to recognize where you're at and know it's not permanent and that you will get through it. Even if you gotta grab yourself by the bootstraps, you will get through it. So anyways, all that said, I've been reflecting on it, as I do. You know, your little introspective queen over here. And I was, uh, I was getting my hair cut a couple weeks ago, and I love my hairdresser. Shout out to feral Merille. She said I could call her that, but her name is Merille Richards, and she's amazing. We were talking as you do with your, your hairstylist. I mean, gosh, imagine the tea you must get as a hairstylist. I'm sure you get all kinds of shit. But anyways, we were talking about depression and funks and creativity and all of the things that I'm basically talking about now, and I told her- I've been feeling negative about my productivity. I've been feeling negative about my lack of motivation, and like it finally hit me, eureka, I think you've been depressed. because when I was depressed, those kind of emotions were like extremely magnified, like times 10,000. So that, that feeling of, I must not be responsible enough, I must not care enough, I must not be driven enough to get this done because I'm a loser or I, I don't care enough," or whatever, whatever the scenario may be. I start noticing that trend, I'm like, "Mm, I am not okay." Like I'm not in the best head space. I don't necessarily mean I'm s- dark, doom and gloom depressed, but I recognize this is not normal behavior for me, 'cause I work really hard to have a good, positive narrative and s- like a, an inner voice. Because that's the thing that carries you through when you are having the negative inner talk. The negative self-talk, the negative beliefs. Uh, so all right, check self. This isn't normal. This isn't, this isn't the vibe. Especially because like w- we have a lot we're trying to accomplish and get back in the swing of things with. so I was telling her all this and I was like, "You know, I had this thought." I've been, in very hard on myself that I have not been able to get back into a regular cadence with the podcast. I, I know I've said this before. It blows my mind to think that I used to do this once a week, but the, the, the struggle, the, the climb that it's, it's been to even get to the output that I do currently, it's hard. And the pressure I put on myself I know limits me even more. I know that's part of why it's been difficult for me to get on the podcast. as I'm saying this whole story, this whole re- revelation, I want you to th- think about maybe your own dreams or goals, and it doesn't have to necessarily be you wanna start a podcast, you wanna write a book. I mean, it could be just, "Hey, I wanna have a better grip on my family time management. I wanna end work at this time, and I wanna be able to spend time with my family and focus on them, and then, twice a month we're gonna have like a, an excursion where we go out and do something fun and, and different than just at home. I don't know. Very specific example. Don't know why my brain went down that path, but here we are. but think about anything that you're trying to accomplish and it's just like, "Ugh, I am struggling because of life, because of myself, because of whatever" as I was talking with Meryl, the hairdresser. I had this thought with her. a lot of the content that I create comes from life experience, and it comes after reflection, after I've been able to dissect what's going on. Even when I did do it once a week, that was very much my content, right? I would journal out what I wanted to talk about. Maybe it was inspired by a book or maybe it was life experience, but it was, it was something that I was planning, And because I have been through so much change and just one thing after another, it's like by the time I've even reflected on the th- thing one that I just went through, thing two's already happened, and then thing three, and then thing four. And, and the things aren't always bad. I've said many times, the past two years have had some of the highest highs and the absolute lowest lows that I've experienced. but it's like, because it's been do, do, do, do, do, do, so much, so quick, so fast, and it's just been constant for the most part, I haven't been able to properly, like, reflect on not just the experience but what's going on with me, I mean, a good chunk of this has been survival. Let's be honest with ourselves. We have been trying to stay afloat and not drown, and at times we were taken under, and then thank goodness the, the current spat us back up. Took a deep breath only to get thrown back in. and so as I was reflecting and talking about this with Meryl, I realized It's hard to exist and experience in real time on top of the pressure to perform. For me, performing is a podcast. Performing is sharing my life experience. It's kiki-ing. It's being like, "Hey, what's up? Let's be friends and let's talk, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." And I care about that. I care about that connection. I care about connecting with you guys, like the audience. Like, I will never be phony or fake. I would rather do this once a month than give you some BS episode every week. I mean, A, I don't have time for that, B, y'all don't have time to listen to that You know what I mean? And so it being hard to exist and experience life in real time while balancing the pressure to perform, I'm confident I'd miss a lot of the self-development, the awareness, the for the plot of it all. As we all know, that is my mantra in life, has been for a while now, especially the past couple of years. For the plot So the main point of this that I wanted to acknowledge on this episode is maybe I'm, I'm not quite out of the let me just live and experience life moment, let me just live and experience life chapter. The podcast is not going away. I'm taking that pressure off myself. But I realize now that I've had to just live and experience. And thankfully I've been journaling a lot and have been the past couple of years, so I've been documenting a lot of these experiences and reflections and things like that And as somebody who has been quick to speak before they've, thought and reflected on things just in general, I definitely don't think it's a good idea for me to just talk about shit and, and give my opinion on some pretty heavy things on this podcast that I know a lot of people listen to without the proper reflection. So I think part of my being MIA is I've just been living life, and that's okay. for anyone listening who, like I said, is struggling with their own internal pressures, take a moment to reflect. Like, are you really- Not good enough to achieve this? 'Cause I know you are. So maybe reflect on some of the other outside influences. What's going on in your life that might be affecting that I know I'm not the only person to have major life change. I know it, I won't be the last, and I know that everything that's been going on in my life won't be the last of my life change, which honestly gives me the shivers just thinking about. But let me tell you something. I say that, but on the flip side of that statement is the strength and confidence that I have within myself because I've gotten through so much. And even though, yes, I don't put out an episode as often as I'd like, and I'm gonna work towards that as a goal for sure, and focus on me and just getting out of my head and, and doing the damn thing I also know how badass I am given what I've gone through, that I've made it out on the other side of so many oh my God moments, holy shit, not again, another effing lesson, ugh. You know what I mean? Another disappointment when it comes to dating, another life lesson, another like, oops, made a mistake. But I'm, I'm still rocking and rolling. I'm still moving and grooving. I'm still here, and you will be too. So take into consideration where you're at in your life, what you've been going through, and, and trust yourself. Trust that you will get to the, the, the end point. Whatever in between you're in, you're, you're a point A, or you're somewhere in between point A and point B, you're gonna get to point B. You're gonna get to that goal. Just be easy on yourself. Cause I think, like, once I took a step back to reflect on, okay, a little bit of negative head space, a little, little negative inner talk. Oh baby, we're depressed. Oh, oh, oh, perspective. Oh, observation. Changes the whole playing field. Changes the whole outlook. And now I'm like, okay, yeah, I'm still that B. I'm still that girl. Okay. I still may be single, but you know what? At least I'm not dating an openly married drug dealer. That is a win. Snaps for Liz. Anyways, I know this is a little bit of a shorter episode than I, I normally do, but I just really wanted to touch in, touch in. I can't even speak. Touch base. Say, "Hi, I love you. I hope you're shining. I hope you're doing great. I believe in you, and Go easy on yourself because, well, you matter, and your dreams matter, and whatever it is you're trying to achieve and, and go after and build and whatever the case may be, it matters. So do you. You got this. But anyways, I will be back sooner rather than later, I promise. Like I said, we've been getting better with our schedule and our routine. Puppy is still a menace. I call her a little gremlin, but also my little pumpkin. You know, she's s- she's sweet. She's like a Sour Patch Kid. Sweet, sour, watch your back, and your socks, and your hair. Gosh, she goes after my hair all the time. Very strange. we love her. And the podcast is going to continue to, to rock and roll, move and groove. I know I just said that, like, three minutes ago, but here we are saying it again. Ah. Uh, you can follow me if you're not doing so already, uh, on Instagram. My personal is @ElizabethCheney_. That's where you're gonna see all my life updates, cute pictures of Iris, cute pictures of my outfits because, I have enough vanity to express that my style has been killing it lately. Side note, getting divorced and rediscovering myself and just living completely, fully, authentically me, I did not expect my style to get so elevated. And I know this is a personal bias, because obviously it's personal style, but damn, do the life thing. Do the life change. I'm not encouraging everyone to get divorced. Absolutely not. I mean, if you think you should, obviously I'm gonna support you. But if you don't think you're on the right path or living to your full potential, do it because, mm, the glow up is real. Why do you think 24-year-old models are talking to me? God. Flips hair. Okay, I'm gonna shut up now. Anyways, catch me on Instagram there or @in.betweenpod for podcast updates, and then you can follow me on TikTok @theinbetweenpodcast, which is a little different than my Instagram because, well, it makes me less nervous because no one from high school really follows me on there, and that shit makes me feel awkward on Instagram. Baby steps. You can watch this episode on YouTube, so if you're not doing so already, you can follow me there, too, as well. And I think that's all she wrote. So I'm gonna scoot. Thank you all for listening, and I will see you on the next In Between. I'm Elizabeth. Bye.