S2 E5: Counting Moments, Not Just Scores: How Travel, Practice, And Gratitude Shape A Family

We rewind a full year of travel, tournaments, tough losses, and quiet wins to find the moments that mattered and the habits that actually stick. From Dallas to Italy to a cottage by the lake, we share what we learned, what we’re chasing next, and why hope still leads.

• first solo basketball trip to Dallas and early podcast milestones
• family time in Vancouver and 100 downloads in the second month
• Italy in March and the value of imperfect travel days
• cross-country work travel to New York, Nashville, and LA
• birthday tournament, meeting a favorite creator, and a great family dinner
• stepping away from dance after ten years and making space in the schedule
• Huntsville friendships, summer camp bonds, and a cottage reset
• Winnipeg reunion and the start of basketball season
• Blue Jays heartbreak and the case for 2026 optimism
• December travel wins, gratitude for listeners, and plans ahead

“Join us next time, next year in 2026 for more hoops and crumbs on Apple Podcasts... Spotify, Amazon Music, and everywhere else you can find your favorite podcasts”

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Transcript

Welcome And Year-In-Review Setup

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Welcome to Hoops and Crumbs with the Browns, the podcast where life lessons are baked in like chocolate chips. I'm Maria Brown.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

And I'm Esteban Brown. Together we're talking basketball life and everything in between. Whether we're dunking on the core or in the milk, there's always something cooking. So grab a snack and tune in.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

It is the end of the year. Everyone knows that we're so busy with uh our travels and just closing out the year. But we don't have any homemade crumbs in front of us, sadly. I do have a canned clamato Caesar. Um, but you do have some packaged crumbs, and we do have lots to talk about. So I guess we can just skip the crumbs for now, right?

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Yeah, but I'm still gonna eat my crumbs.

SPEAKER_02 1:01

You're gonna eat crumbs, and you're gonna make crumbs in the podcast room. Awesome. Ezzy, what are you eating?

SPEAKER_01 1:07

I'm eating a brownie. Where'd you get that from?

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Okay. Well, it looks kinda good, I guess. Uh passes.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Not as good as ours.

SPEAKER_02 1:23

No, nothing, nothing is as good as a homemade brownie, that's for sure. All right, well, you know, for our first year of podcasting, I thought it'd be great to talk about our favorite moments of 2025. I think it's really important to be able to look back on any moment and reflect so we know what worked, so we can do it again, um, and we know what we should work on in the future. What do you think? Uh yeah. Yeah, a little bit of a look back moment. We started this podcast. Um, our first podcast was mid-January. We're aiming to try to get 17 in.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

I thought our first podcast was like February.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

Was it February? I don't remember. It's been a bit of a ride, and it's been really fun working on this together because we do spend a lot of time planning it out, researching our topics, um, practicing, and you spend a lot of time editing. We do get a lot of bloopers out, folks. We're not we're not naturally this flawless, just so you know. Yeah, we're not perfect, we're not perfect, so that's something that we can definitely look back

Starting The Podcast And Early Milestones

SPEAKER_02 2:30

on and work on for the new year. But I am pretty proud of how far we've come. We have almost 700 downloads, which is pretty good.

unknown 2:39

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

In over 15 countries, which is pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

January 20th, you were right.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Generally, your mother is right. This is generally what you should always learn. Um, so we've done a great job, so congratulations, Ezie. Oh, on doing a great job with this podcast. But let's let's do some looking back. I'd like to know what your highlight for January would be.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Hmm. January. We did a lot in January. I did a lot in January, but I am gonna say Dallas was my big January highlight. I've never traveled anywhere really like far without my parents. And I've never I've definitely never traveled anywhere for, you know, uh actually, no, I'm lying. I've never traveled anywhere without my parents for sports. I've never really traveled anywhere far without them in general. I have traveled for sports, but not like so. Yeah, it was a big opportunity for me. And it was a lot of fun, you know, just being there with all my friends, balling out, you

January In Dallas And First Big Trip

SPEAKER_00 3:45

know, winning, winning against these Americans.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Yeah, you that was a that was a fun trip for you. We should we should send you away more often. No. Okay, well, that was a pretty good highlight. January came and went, and it's crazy to think that we're facing another January and just a few short hours. Um for me, uh, so you took January, let me take February. February was kind of calm, it was short. Jeff and I went to Vancouver to visit Baby Timmy and of course Sam and Hannah, but baby Timmy was definitely a highlight. It was nice to visit with other friends too, um, that I've known from different areas of life. So that was good. And then we did 100 downloads in February, which is kind of a big deal. Yeah, we I I'm I know that I didn't think anyone would listen to it, but that our podcast was downloaded a hundred times just a month after we started was is pretty cool. What about March? Do you have any highlights for March?

SPEAKER_00 4:47

I gotta really think about it, you know. We didn't really do a whole lot in much in March. No. Oh, right. We did go to Italy for 10 days. We did, yeah, I totally forgot about

February Family Visits And Growth

SPEAKER_00 5:00

that. Yeah, Italy's definitely a highlight of March. You know, I we travel a lot, but this was my first time being uh in Europe. Yep. So we got to uh see Italy, and that was very nice, and we also got to see a bit of Switzerland on our little connection area, but we didn't really see Switzerland. No, we were in Switzerland. You got you got some Swiss chocolates. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Would you say Italy would have been one of your year highlights, even?

SPEAKER_00 5:37

I think Italy is probably my year highlight. I think it was a really beautiful place. I love it so much. It was a lot of fun being there. And you know, sadly the weather did stop us from doing a bunch of things, but if we could go back, I would. Good to know. It is, it was nice uh being able to take you to Europe. Maybe we can go somewhere else before we go to Italy. Some were like curious?

SPEAKER_02 6:05

You never know. You never know what the future holds. Okay, March highlight for ESI, Italy, April for me. April was a doozy for me

Italy In March And Travel Reflections

SPEAKER_02 6:15

because I traveled to New York, Nashville, and LA for work. So that was uh professionally, it was very fulfilling to be able to do so much traveling and training for work. Um, personally, I was exhausted because that's so many different time zones. So we went from Italy back to Toronto, which is EST, to New York, which was EST, so that's fine. Nashville, which was a bit behind, and then LA going backwards and then jumping forward. So I did a lot of time travel, it felt like, um, in the first few months. But that would have been my highlight for April. I really, really loved visiting Nashville. I hope to visit Nashville again. I think you would love it because the air smells like barbecue and cotton candy. And who doesn't love those two things? That's my that's my uh that's my pitch for Nashville. I know you'd like to go to LA too, but uh but definitely Nashville was uh really, really fun to see. It was unexpected. So I'd say that's my April highlight. April. Yeah. What about May?

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Hmm. Maybe the day I was born. My birthday is probably gonna be my highlight for May. Did we do anything for your birthday? We well had a basketball tournament. That's right. That's right. So this year I had a basketball tournament. I well start to start to bottom. I woke up, I went downstairs, I had pancakes and grapes. My Lola Linda and Lolalita called me. And then um

Spring Work Travel And Nashville Impressions

SPEAKER_00 8:00

I had a basketball game pretty much right after all that. Uh I met I don't know if you got if you know who this is, any listeners. Maybe this is like a fun little quiz for the basketball listeners here. But um I met K Showtime, who's uh if you don't know, he's a very big basketball creator from Toronto. So I got to meet him at the tournament. You just like watching, so that was cool. But yeah, uh, I played a basketball game and then we went downtown to Yorkville and had dinner with my family, so you, Jeff, and Papa, and then my two best friends, Sachi and Alec.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

That was a delicious dinner. Actually, we should go back to that place. It was quite good. Alright, and Bulbay sounds pretty good. June was very, very sad for me. Uh, June is always nice to end to wrap up the year for you for school. It gets a little bit less busy for me, but it ended up being the last time you ever danced on a stage. After 10 years, you hung up your tap shoes, and we saw your last dance recital ever. So that was sad. Not a highlight, but a moment, a moment to remember. Do you think you'll ever go back to dance? Hmm, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

I don't know if I would anytime soon. I think, you know, especially now, my schedule's really hard. And um even though I like obviously I wanted to keep the hobby, uh, dropping dance made my schedule a lot easier. So I don't know if I'd go back anytime soon, but maybe, maybe someday.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Maybe someday. Well, it was I was I was happy to be able to be there. But it did make me sad. Uh July highlight Ezzy.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

July. Well, July, I was actually having some trouble because I had to decide between two big moments, which was going to summer camp or going to Huntsville and seeing my summer camp friends. So two years ago, I went to summer camp and I I met a bunch of dudes from Huntsville. Uh, they were all in my cabin. Most of them came together. There was one guy, Brady, who didn't, but we also became friends with him, so that was nice. But um

May Birthday Tournament And Community

SPEAKER_00 10:30

I met all these dudes from Huntsville, and they became some of my really good friends. And we kept in touch, and we go to camp with each other every single year now. And this July, I was I got the opportunity to go to Huntsville and stay with them, and we did all types of stuff like tubing and uh boat riding, and we played video games, we watched a movie, and we had pizza, and we they showed me around the town. It was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

Yeah, it's too bad we couldn't stay for longer, and it would have been nice if uh they came over into the city to visit, but maybe, maybe for camp again this year. Yeah, you'll be able to see them.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

All six of them.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

Yeah, yeah. Well, we've got room. It'd be a little cozy, but we we do have room. Um, so August, not not too much, which I was grateful for because it's hard to be busy all the time. We did a nice cottage getaway, and I think we talked about that on a past episode. We drove about five hours away from Toronto um to a place north of Ottawa and just uh sat at a cottage by the lake for a whole week, relaxed, kayaked as he swam, we sat in a hot tub, and being able to relax like that is definitely a highlight for me.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Yeah, it was all it was a lot of fun. Um, you know, if I was in August, if I got the August highlight, I would have said that too. You know, I really liked going to that cottage, and we are going again this summer or next summer, I guess. So excited for that. Uh September. So August, my school started. September my season started. I played we played our first game and actually wait. I totally forgot about something. We went to Winnipeg

Leaving Dance And Changing Priorities

SPEAKER_00 12:30

in September.

unknown 12:31

Did we?

SPEAKER_02 12:32

We did. Oh, that's right, for my uh 30-year high school reunion.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

So we got to go to Winnipeg and I got to, you know, spend a week with my family and uh, you know, just generally relax instead of stressing about school and practice, and I got to hang out, chill with the fam, see people, visit people, and you know, do a bunch of things in Winnipeg.

SPEAKER_02 13:00

That was a nice time.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Yeah, it was a really it was a good trip.

SPEAKER_02 13:04

Um, October well that was my birthday. My birthday. That was kind of a highlight, I guess. Um did you give me anything for my birthday?

SPEAKER_00 13:17

Um I'm pretty sure I got you um some really nice earrings. You did? Or was it a bracelet?

SPEAKER_02 13:26

I think you got me a bracelet.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

A bracelet.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

Yeah, I think it was a bracelet. My birthday unfortunately coincided with some baseball games. So there was no big fun moments except for watching some baseball, which takes us to November.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

You know, uh one more thing to add to that. Another thing that it coincided with was uh my buddies coming over. Who buddies? Don't you remember Jalen and Amari were here? For Thanksgiving. Oh! Totally different time. Okay, never mind. That was October. Um, okay, November was the worst month of the year for me. Uh I am a huge Blue Jays fan. I'm a big Jays fan. Me and my dad both are. We see like a bunch of games together, we watch them on TV, we support the team. I've got a abelian jerseys, I don't know what to do with. You

Summer Cottage Reset And Huntsville Friends

SPEAKER_00 14:30

know, I'm a big Jays fan, right? I'm a big baseball guy. But sadly, on November 2nd, 2025, the Blue Jays, Alejandro Kirk hit a ball, Dalton Varsho got caught on a double play, Kirk got out at first, uh Dalton Varshow at second, and sadly Los Angeles did beat us.

SPEAKER_02 15:04

That's so not a highlight, but it's kind of a it's a notable moment.

SPEAKER_00 15:09

Very upsetting that we lost on a double play, and the very night before we lost on the stupidest technicality of all time. A ball kind of gets wedged in a wall. Oh, the wedge. And it wasn't even wedged. Like a two-year-old could have grabbed that ball out if he had like the mental capacity to. Like anybody could grab that ball out, and you know.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

It's just another year, you know.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Hopefully, hopefully we can bring it home this year. But that was definitely a sad life for Toronto Blue Jay fans all over Canada, all over the world, all over Toronto. Yeah, you were really sad about that. Yeah, I was mad, like actually really mad.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

Yeah, there were definitely feelings. And that brings us to December. December highlight for me. Um, more work travel. It was really fun getting to LA with a different client. Um, I got to listen to some Los Angelinos taunt us a little bit about the Blue Jays, just to segue from your November not highlight, highlight.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Um so that was can Can I just bring something up? Sure.

Winnipeg Reunion And New Season Start

SPEAKER_00 16:30

The Jays pay like a billion dollars less on their roster fees than the Dodgers do. And they only beat us by one point in one game off of two technicalities, they narrowly beat us, and they spend so much money on roster construction. We did just dished out like a hundred million to a bunch of free agents, and we're not even close to like any sort of the any sort of taxes, right? Uh now that we have more funding, like realistically, you're not standing in our way. We almost put you, we put you in the blender for a seven-game series. You guys moaned and groaned about a technicality, got lucky, won a game, got lucky, won a second game. Cause it went to like 10 extra innings. Like, now we spend more money on our roster, we have better players. Like, it just shows like the more money you spend does not always mean the better team you are. Like, the Jays were playing a lot better. And can I let me add on one more thing? Who who was injured in that series? George Springer. George Springer was totally injured because you kept throwing baseballs at him. Like,

Birthdays, Baseball, And Tough Losses

SPEAKER_00 18:00

come on, like you can't be serious. You can't be serious if you actually think the LE Dodgers have better roster construction than the Blue Jays. We are definitely a better team than the Dodgers this year.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

Okay. Well, that's uh not a highlight, not a notable mention, just uh you heard it here first first, folks. 2026 will be the year of the Blue Jays. Uh December highlight still is a little bit of December left, but as I was saying, work travel was a highlight. We're gonna all be doing some personal travel, which will definitely be a highlight. Um and I think that's that's basically it. Good things happened in December and are continuing to happen. Uh lots of great things to look back on, lots of great things to look forward to, like the future future Blue Jays season, as Esteban mentioned.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

Um what else is there to look forward to, Ezekiel? Uh I mean the Raptors are also doing good, sports fans. I'm I'm not sure about those leafs though. I don't know. I I haven't heard much good from them. But yeah, I mean, lots to look forward to in the sports world of things. Uh we're going to if you didn't get the hint, March break we're going to carousal. So I'm looking forward to that as well.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Yeah. You've already got something on the horizon planned. And uh it can only go up from there. Um, alright. Well that was kind of a nice looking duck. I hope uh I'm looking forward to shaking that cough, because it really takes a lot out of you.

SPEAKER_00 19:44

Shaking this cough.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

I I'm looking forward to waking up in a hot, sunny climate. And I'm looking forward to coming back safe and sound and getting this all started again.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Cheers. Cheers.

SPEAKER_02 19:58

Cheers to you as

December Travel And Blue Jays Rant

SPEAKER_02 20:00

On this new year. Cheesy cheers to our listeners.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Cheers to the listeners. Um, you know, cheers to everybody who supports us, who supports the show. Uh, not only the listeners, but the people who, you know, have come into our household or have talked to us and you know have only had good to say about us and to us.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

Well, we're pretty grateful to everybody, and thanks to you, Ezi. And thanks to another beautiful year. Beautiful blessed year.

SPEAKER_02 20:34

Okay, well, until our next episode. Join us next time, next year in 2026 for more hoops and crumbs on Apple Podcasts. 2026. 2026, Spotify, Amazon Music, and everywhere else you can find your favorite podcasts. We'll continue to talk basketball, cookies, and share other random life musings. Happy New Year. And goodbye.