The Unplanned Podcast with Matt & Abby - Victorious's Daniella Monet Opens Up About Nickelodeon, Surprise Pregnancy & Child Acting

Episode Date: October 25, 2023

This episode is sponsored by HelloFresh, RocketMoney & Quince. Go to HelloFresh.com/50unplannedpodcast and use code 50unplannedpodcast for 50% off plus free shipping! Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and manage your money the easy way by going to RocketMoney.com/unplanned Visit Quince.com/unplanned for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. In this episode, we were joined by Daniella (from Nickelodean's Victorious) & her husband Andrew. Daniella opens up about her experiences as a child actress working for Nickelodeon, her surprise pregnancy, and her relationship with her husband. Make sure to rate our podcast and leave a review if you can, it really helps us out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My first four or five kisses were on TV. They kind of just walked me through like what kissing is like. It was miserable. There are things that happen every day that you would not fly in another work environment. But it's also part of the beauty of the industry. You become so close with your cast,

you become a family. Did you get slivered? Of course, it got slivered. Does it smell good? Like what is the sliver? She gets pregnancy test. It doesn't show pregnant. We freaking high five each other in the bathroom.

Let me go back to the tree. She goes back like 30 seconds later. Oh my. And it's like, ooh pregnant. What's up, dudes? And welcome back to the fun fun podcast. Yay! Today we are joined by Dan Yella, Monet Gardener,

and Andrew Gardener. Let's just give it up for them for making the trip out. Thank you. Thank you. Look at this. Very excited to have you guys on. How are you doing today? Oh, so good.

I'm doing great. How are you guys doing? Doing well. I'm excited to talk to you guys. I mean, you guys also have two kids. Yeah. I feel like you're a little bit further along in the journey of parenthood than us.

So I'm excited to learn from you and just talk to you. And you guys have a really cool story. So I'm excited to like learn from you and just talk to you and you guys have a really cool story. So I'm just, I'm very excited. Yes. I'm happy to be here. Is it cool if I intro you guys? Yeah. Tell people about you.

OK, so Dan Yelemone, who's best known for playing Treena Vega on the Nickelodeon TV show, Victoria is joined here by her husband, Andrew. Andrew is an XCPA, right? Yes. A certified public accountant. I actually almost went through with that. I actually, I was going towards a CFA.

So that's cool that you got your CPA. That's not easy to do. Nah, nah, but don't do it. Oh, don't do it. He's actually the X. That's right, that's right. Then, Yal has been in multiple different movies, TV shows, and she's even, this is, when I saw this in your credits,

I was like, no, what is it? This is so sick. You were in the Fred movie. Which, which, which, which, like, yeah, I always makes the camera this time of year, because it's the Halloween element. Okay, okay, I'll be honest, I haven't seen the movie,

but I watch Fred growing up. And like when I saw it, I was like, no way. You were in seen the movie, but I watch Fred growing up and like when I saw it I was like no way you're in the Fred movie You have a TV show they had one That's crazy are you gonna show your kids the Yes, all your all your like When do I do that you know because they would I don't know what they would even think. Like, I don't know if it'll register. Like, who is that?

Because I don't feel the same. No, they would. Didn't you show them the Chicago bit from Victoria? This was when they were babies. They couldn't even really, this was a joke. She would be all over the... Yeah, all the sound that's almost four would probably be like, what? But you look like the exact same.

And... Doesn't she? Truly. She does not a Believe it you guys I was just thinking today Literally today and I don't have this thought often, but I was like wow You know, I really committed to not like doing anything, you know like cosmetically and really got to ride that one out But there are things that I'm noticing that only happen. I think in your mid-30s just saying I'm interested that you say You didn't want to get work done because I feel like living out here, there's probably not that many people that commit to not doing that.

What was your like, the process? Yeah. The process and I have. I've done filler before and I had a really bad experience with Botox. So I learned from kind of having the experience and it was sort of like that. I was influenced. Everyone was doing it. Like it can't be that bad.

And then I came to this conclusion, I don't know, within like the last couple years where I was like, this is like, I'm such an open book. But I do not like take Tylenol. Like I never even, I'm not like a big like, nothing. Nothing. Literally nothing. Like I'm super clean with how I eat and how I like live that I just was like, wait a second.

Where did I like stop disconnecting that? Like what is this in the needle thing going in my face? Like no thanks. So I just was like, wait a second. Where did I like stop disconnecting that? Like what is this in the needle thing going in my face? Like no thanks. So I just was like, no, I don't think it aligns with me. Wow. And that's like really cool to hear because I feel like you as a, you know, child actress growing up in the limelight,

like I feel like you probably feel all this pressure to, you know, fit the mold and to change yourself and to, yeah, have this like perfect image because when did you start, like yeah, when did did you start doing films and like TV as a kid? I was probably about, probably commercial-wise, around like five. Wow. Or was your first gig? Oh my gosh.

I did a goldfish commercial. I did a Canes commercial. I was on a lot of Barbie commercials as a kid. Did a lot of fast food commercials, yeah, just kind of all those. And then eventually ended up getting into TV when I was probably about like 11 or 12. And so like starting at such a young age, like, were you the one that was like really wanting to get into the acting thing? Because I remember when I was, I never was like a child actor,

I never went down that road. But we were aspiring to act as a movie. We wanted a VU as a visitor. I love it. So what does that look like in Missouri then? Like school plays, yeah, community theater. Okay. We actually met at like a professional theater in St. Louis.

That was like the coolest, like the biggest thing in our area. So that's like how we actually met in like middle school high school. But we would watch like the Nickelodeon shows and we're like, mom, going to drive a fly ass LA. So I'm just so curious what that life is like because little child Matt wished he could have done that.

And I feel like little Abby wished he could have too. So I'm so interested what that whole experience was like for you. It was interesting. So I lived probably about an hour away from auditions because I kind of grew up just on the outside of LA. So I lived probably about an hour away from auditions because I kind of grew up just on like the outside of LA So I didn't like auditioning. I hated getting pulled out of school early Getting on the freeway sitting in the car. This was before like

Game boys and things like that could keep you busy I just remember being in the car looking at a Thomas guy trying to figure out where to park for this new audition place I didn't love that part, but I loved performing. Like get me, in the audition room loved it, loved being on set. My mom will even tell you if they called cut or rap or whatever I would cry. So she would be like, just don't say, say, say you again soon.

Don't say like, we wrapped like, because at the end of any like project, they'll do that's a picture wrap on Danielle Evoone or whatever. And any time I'd hear that it was like like the blood would rush out of my body like So I really just loved it. I don't know what to say I got really lucky that my mom was supportive and that by the time I got my license I was able to you know pursue it on my own and kind of stuck with it for a while

Wow, I mean that's a lot of work for your mom like as the parent to drive around because my I even I mean, that's a lot of work for your mom, like as the parent to drive around. Because even, yeah, we weren't doing like anything big, but like my mom would drive me all the time to auditions and to the plays and the show. So was your mom working or did she like fully like take you to every audition, take you to every rehearsal and shoot,

like how did that all work? She was a hairdresser at the time, and my dad built her like a little salon in our house like turned our garage into like a little salon and she would do clients around auditions. So she had a very flexible schedule. I got really lucky. My mom kind of is the same same sort of thing. Wanted to be an actress as a kid. Didn't have the chance to do it and saw that I had that same sort of itch and just capitalized on it. And luckily it was never like a forced thing. Like I will say I'm by that, I really just loved it. I needed a platform. Like it was either

I was gonna perform for my parents and my family until they were like bored of me or you know, let's make a little money off this. So she would yeah, have some flexibility. Best good to hear because I feel like there's like two sides to that point where like harsh like there's really not like a middle ground people like I hated doing it as a kid Like it was the worst thing ever parents took advantage of the money And you made and then the opposite which I'm so glad that's your experience. Yeah I think I think it like really boils down to like it either comes from you or it comes from the parent Yeah, it comes from the parent it could be unenjoyable, but it came from you completely. And honestly, like, nothing's changed. If she could just perform for us all day long, she would.

He's so word to me. That is her jam. Yeah, he'll look at me and be like, Do you have any little concerts in the kitchen? Yeah, no, I am quite ridiculous. Like, I never, if I'm not being annoying, then I'm probably upset about something. And your main song, you say it's like, yeah, no, I haven't really busted that one out in a while.

But yeah, happy to, you know, on the drop of that. I bet your kids are never bored. Yeah, I think that we've gotten to that phase where they kind of just know that this is who I am. They don't know anybody. I think everyone's moms like that. This is how she is, right? That's so fun. Did it feel like work as a kid?

Because like the shows that I did, there was one stint that I got paid 300 bucks to do 42 shows. Wow. Oh, wow. Yeah, it was $300. But like to me as a, I think I was 11, I was like, this is a me, I can make $300. Oh, I'm playing a kid in me. This is awesome. But like when you're doing TV and film,

there's like a lot more, significantly more money in that. You know? And so as a child, like, are you, do you feel like you're working? Are you aware of like, oh, maybe I should like invest this? Like how does that all work as a kid? Cause you're making all this money. Sure, there was definitely a time that I vividly remembered things shifting.

And it was on my first series, it was definitely a time that I vividly remembered things shifting and it was on my first series It was a CBS show and it was my first time being a series regular on a network show And the difference was that I was the only kid on the show I had an older brother on the show, but he was like a few years older and kind of just more mature And I was just that was the only kid on the show and I had a big role on this show. Like it was a lot about this father daughter, trials and tribulations type dynamic. And I remember feeling like, because on sitcoms, we would have these run-throughs for the network.

First, we'd have a run-through for producers, writers, like crew. And then the next day, we would have a run-through for the network. So the network is like all the big wigs from like CBS. And at the time, I think Fox was paying for our show It was basically anyone who was helping keep this show on TV basically paying for the show So your job is to hit your jokes get the biggest laughs you can possibly get like hit your marks hit everything because in comedy

Like timing is so crucial. Yeah, so like one step forward at the wrong moment kills the joke So it's like there's a lot of pressure. And I remember at that point, I was like, whoa, like I did not realize how much relied on this one network run because you would come to work the next day. You'd get a revised script from each network from each show. I'm jacking this up. Sorry.

You're good, Jack. You're so weird. It's such a weird term. That's exactly right. Okay, so basically every time you do a run through, the next day, you have a revised script. So they'll see what jokes land, what ran long, what they didn't think really landed. And then by the end of the network, you basically have the final script, and you don't want your jokes to go away.

If you didn't have the best impression or you didn't get the biggest laugh, like your joke will go away or like a storyline might change or whatever. And I learned that and I was like, oh, there's a lot of pressure riding on this, you know? And that was when it kind of shifted for me. But then I just think I like honed in and I was like, all right, well, this is, I do better under pressure.

Like I don't like to know a lot of details. I like to just read something, perform, and then do it. And that kind of taught me how to act quicker, like have a quicker response. And how over you at that point? I was 14 when I did that show. Yeah, I think it was like 13 to 15 years old around that time.

And were you still going to school at that time? No. I left school in the middle of eighth grade. Wow. And do you look back on that? Something like you miss that you didn't get like a high school experience? Or yeah, parts of it I do.

Like I think when it came to like things like dating, I realized, okay, I am a little bit behind. He's my first boyfriend. So like I just was like, okay, I don't know what I'm doing in relationship stuff, but a lot to learn. And then I think also just the idea of like experiencing things like going to a dance,

like walking on a stage and accepting like a diploma, like I just didn't have any of those experiences, but you know, I traded it for something else. Was your first kiss like onset or offset? Oh no, my first like four or five kisses were on TV, yeah. Wow, what show or what movie was that? My first kiss. When I think about it, I really get chills

because I was so nervous. I was only like 14. And I was not, because I kind of was in and out of school. And I was also maybe just prude to begin with for some reason. I was really nervous about it. It was on eight simple rules, a ABC show with Kaylee Cuoco and Amy Davidson, John Ritter. It was so great. And I luckily had been on the show a few times already. I was a reoccurring character. So I remember I was talking to the girls and I was like, Kaylee was

really supportive. Amy Davidson was really supportive and they kind of just like walked me through like what kissing is like. And you guys it was miserable. Like I cannot even watch that scene. Yeah, that was my first kiss. Yeah. Wow, I was actually watching this like, it was like a Nickelodeon rewind thing. And it was you like reviewing all these like past moments.

Oh yeah. Are you been on and it was a Zoe 101 kiss or something? Oh, that was my second kiss. That was your second one. That was my second kiss. And you were the thought that I like learned from the first like maybe practice in the mirror I don't know there was nothing I could do there's nothing you can do to learn how to kiss but to kiss You can use your arms. There's nothing there's no need back One of those we really embarrassing so Abby was was my like, like, real first kiss.

And I practiced. You like you practice? Let's go. I was like, pretending these were lit. Yeah. And like, practice. I like the YouTube videos on how to kiss. Did you do that too?

I wish I would, but I was, I don't even know if YouTube was a thing back then you guys, okay? My space, I don't know. Maybe. But like, then you might find something a little, you know, things, you know? So I kind of just, you know back then, you guys, okay? Nice face, I don't know. Maybe, but then you might find something a little, you know, things, you know? So I kinda just, you know what I did you guys and I will never forget it.

I remember thinking there's no way that tongues are going to come into each other's mouth. Like that was like, I couldn't imagine that for a second. So I think like I kind of told him or it got back to him that I was too scared to like have tongues go into each other's mouth. So what I did was, I don't know that he was assuming that. Oh, I don't know, but that's, but that's, it was supposed to be like a real kiss. Oh gosh. So I press the lips and I moved the tongue inside

my mouth. Like did you keep your teeth closed? Wow, yeah, cuz I was so terrified Yeah, I just I thought I that would sell it cuz see that is different cuz we not that we didn't crazy But we were doing theater so like there's a distance there But like with the camera right there you're like that makes sense that you were thinking about the details because they can see the detail Yeah, yeah, which like you know community theater and Nickelode because they can see the detail. Yeah, yeah. Which like, you know, community theater and Nickelodeon, like kind of the same thing. Yeah. Yeah.

Pretty much like same level. I mean, honestly, like, I would have been better off doing it on Nickelodeon. We decided like make it a bigger like thing, but ABC was like a network, same thing. You know, to do it for a run through. Yeah. Imagine doing that in front of all these adults that are just looking at you and your life. Yeah, that's the weirdest part. Thank you to HelloFresh, for sponsoring this portion of the episode.

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Back to the episode. Since your child actor and then one day you turn 18, isn't there like a thing, I first call it a coup. A coup in the count. Or like, are they just like, does someone just, I envision like someone in a suit just comes up to you like, all right, you can do it.

Yeah, great team. It was like, it you like, all right. Yeah. Great team. It was like, it's like, it's called the Noply Money. It says Cougan account on it and they just hand you your cash. Like, what exactly happens? Okay, I'm trying to flash back to 18 and to be honest with you,

you guys, so here's a little backstory. I am talking about the investing piece. So like, I knew I was making some money and only I think 10% goes into a Cougan account. So it's not like all of your money goes into a coup in account. There's just like a forced savings effect. And they did that because of the reason that

a lot of parents were taking their kids' money. And so when I was making money and I finally came aware of what was actually happening, because for a long time, my parents would just deposit into account. I just didn't know what I was making. I didn't care. I was like, I love doing what I'm doing.

But then around like 15, maybe even earlier, 14, I was like, no, what am I making? Like I want to know what kind of money I'm making. I started saving it myself and I bought a condo when I was 17 before I got the Cougan account. And I ended up having a short sale that a condo. And then when the money came in for the Cougan account, it kind of just helped keep me afloat. So it was sad that I like took a lot of what I made for all those years and like dumped

it into a property at the time where the market just crashed. Yeah, so it was really nice that I did have a Cougan account because it was almost like it all just like went away and then I got a little replenishment. Oh my gosh. Which year was that? 2007. It was like when all of the loans, yeah, yeah, they were just like selling crazy loans I was watching the movie the big short

Really really good because I heard sure that Michael Burry Place like this crazy big huge short on the S&P I think yes, yes Yeah, so like I was watching the movie again like I'm so curious that like what this guy's doing right now It's like 1.6 billion billion bet. No, exactly. Yeah. I don't understand finances. That whole movie honestly went over my head. So I'm just not, I'm gonna like the movie.

But speak it, Andrew, now that we're chatting, what were you doing at this time? Were you also acting? Did you watch the Tories? Were you also acting? No, no, not at all. Yeah, I was like the typical kid. I grew up playing sports.

My parents were really on me for academics. I always had good grades. I wanted to play football. I wanted to play college football. Okay. I wanted to play division one football. That was like my goal growing up. And I didn't get there.

So I ended up playing locally, like at a junior college in California. And then I transferred and I tried to walk on at Fresno State, which is where I went to school. Because my best friend was playing there at the time. Who ended up going to the NFL and blah, blah, blah. Oh wow. Some personal things happen.

I ended up not playing. So I just stayed there for school. So like I was just doing like the normal person stuff. Right? School, party, and work. I was working like five, six days a week through college, whatever. I used to go to this place called Lake Havasu all the time

with the buddy who I met at Fresno State who was from here in LA. Okay. We Havasu all the time with the buddy who I met at Fresno State who was from here in LA Okay, we would go there all the time and ended up going one weekend and we met We met up with some girls that were from LA that they knew and One of them in particular who now my buddy is married to okay. She introduced me to her But it was like so random. She just said like I don't know where she was like I know somebody for you And I don't even think that they were like that close. I mean, I left in eighth grade, so like,

I didn't do any of this partying stuff. She hit me up out of like the blue. Out of the blue. And then long story short, she connected us on Facebook, because that's how old we are. Hey, we had Facebook. Hey, yeah, I brought us on the board. Like, we're like old Facebook users.

Are you guys still using Facebook? No, I don't even have on my phone anymore. Really? It got to that point. We talked on Facebook for like three months before we even exchanged numbers, right? Yeah. Or maybe not that long, something like that doesn't matter.

And did you know that she was this actress? Yeah, I knew once she connected us, I could connect the dots. Oh no, I was like, well, that's super cool. You're like, washing TV and you're like, oh, that's the chick I'm talking to on Facebook. Oh, there was that moment. So I didn't see the show actually until,

we had been talking for like three months and I left to go finish school abroad in Australia. Okay, whoa, that's really cool. Australia, why Australia? I just, like I had never traveled and there was a program that Fresno State offered and I was like, yeah, I wanna do that. It's so sick to see some kangaroos while you're out there.

I did. Oh, that's awesome. And some koalas and all the things. But I was there and in my hotel room one night and one of like the 13 channels that we had was Nickelodeon and I caught the episode where she sung Chicago. Of all episodes. Of all episodes. Of all episodes.

And I was like, okay. Okay. That's what got, that's what got it. You said the love of a guy. You were like, that's the love. I was already there. I was already there. She could have done no wrong.

Except for, we hadn't really met in person. We had tried and she stood me up. I was nervous. And then while I was there, like I was on a full-on bender. I was in college drinking party and I drank for 40 days straight there, whatever, right? Wow. So in between now. Off the subtract.

Yeah, we were still, I don't do that anymore, but we were still talking and I was super excited because what had happened was I decided to move to LA. So I came down, I dropped my stuff at my buddy's house and I flew to Australia. And then when I flew back and I was living in LA as soon as I flew back. And so I was already expecting to meet her. We hadn't really met up yet, but we set up a video chat. I never had Skype. That's awesome.

I don't even know what to get on. I used Skype. I used to game with my buddies on Minecraft and stuff. Great on Skype. Like all chat through Skype. So I flew that. Okay. I think I had to pay for it and everything. I got great on Skype. You'd like all chat through Skype. So I feel that. Okay. I think I had to pay for it and everything. I got to book credits in there. And let me tell you this guy's conservative. I'm so frugal.

Yeah. Yeah. That's the CPA. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. AM my time in Sydney and I don't know what time it was for her and mind you like I'm going between all these days drinking

I'm like full on party mode this time So I have to like be mindful about getting to bed making sure that I'm awake and like I've I've set some time and I'm away from people because I think at the time I was sharing a hotel room with like Six people so it was just like I had to work all these things out. Wow. Anyways, I do it and she doesn't show. I ghosted. No, I gave her a second time. This is your first time you were, you ghosted on, because we were gonna be in person once before.

Oh, okay. And she stood me up and then we were gonna, we were gonna be okay. You're getting catfished at this point. That's an employee. No, I just thought like at that point, I was like, all right, she's not that into it. That's okay.

It's stung, but I was like, that's okay, that's okay. I'll keep trying. They fast-forward and I came back. How long was I here for before we met? Maybe like a week or two. And a week or two? Yeah, yeah. And we had plans to meet up again.

And she had her brother living with her at this time. And like her brother's been through a lot of stuff. And she kind of played mom for a little bit. And we had plans to meet up and night before her brother decided to go out, do some stupid stuff. And so she had to kick him out of her apartment. And so it was a whole thing. She wasn't in the mind space to come and meet me. And I said, I just like throw my hail Mary. I said, just come out for a little bit. I'll make you laugh. And then you can go home. But it'd be great to know. To Australia? No, this was when he was back in Australia. Really?

Yeah, yeah, this was the point of he came back from Australia. That was Australia. That was a big $16 to his name, so there was no way I was flying out to Australia. Yeah, zero money. Yeah, wow. Okay, so you're back. So he came back and then, yeah, we met in person,

and the rest is really history. Like, yeah, he's your first boyfriend. First boyfriend. Wow. First girlfriend. Yeah, right. Yes. Wow.

Beautiful. Yes. But you know what? It's better that it wasn't because I really have leaned on him. And also, I'm like, I'm so annoying because she was my arm to practice kissing on at the start. That's so sweet. You know, I believe on him for like insight, like how to to navigate like not that he'd ever been in a long-term

relationship. We've now been together almost like 13 years or something. Wow. 12 years. It was helpful. Yeah, but it was helpful that he had like been in line and kind of could navigate communication and things that I just never had any like experience with. Yeah. That's really sweet. So that's our story. 13 years. Yeah, 12 years. 12 years. 12 years. 12 years. I don't know. I was found up. Do you round up? I feel like since, early on our relationship, we would literally celebrate every month. Yeah, we got, we were, we have a foundation being very, very specific. I feel like with it. Yeah. Okay, so that's good. If you're good around, I was specific for a long time, but then now I'm like we're so like it feels so

We're in there and I'm like round up a little yeah 13 doesn't have so much time together. It's really like a dog ears like 47 right right and you guys just made it official Yeah, like this past December. Yeah. Yeah, okay Before Yeah, wow December. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So you're either of legend. You know, it's the four. Matt's blown away. You're not wearing it. Yeah. Wow. That's a long time. Wait. It was the whole least before you buy a thing. I don't know.

On her part. Yeah. There's a portion of that. Yeah. So that was your decision. You're like, I'm totally kidding. In some ways, it kind of was because I feel like the girl in a lot of cases like perpetuates the relationship like forward. Like all these markers need to be done and pressures the guy most of the time right yeah and I think for me it was really important

for me to be engaged at some point like I really did want to have that for some reason I also like the idea of like it's the one thing you can walk around the world and show that you're like in a relationship like it's something on your finger I was nervous to get married. I came from a broken family and I really didn't have a lot of great examples of what marriage looked like. And I think I just didn't wanna break it. I was like, no, this is like good.

And I just I'm scared that it's gonna change. And then at some point, it was very apparent that I was like, no, it's not gonna change. It's gonna get better. This is what I want. It's not going anywhere. Like we are a family. It's not gonna change. It's gonna get better. This is what I want. It's not going anywhere like We are a family like we need to feel like a family in every traditional way

Mm-hmm, and that was when we decided was it when you had kids that you were like yeah, it took yeah I think like yeah a couple years into having kids and made a lot more sent a few years and having kids a lot more How many how many years were you like acting on victorious and then you were dating and then this was after you You passed from Australia. She was probably still on the show for a year maybe a year now Year on victorious, but I kind of was in the Nickelodeon family for probably like five six years Yeah, and you want to one of those blimps like a kids toys to right. That's so sick I know that you get slimped that they like slime of course I love it.

What is that? Does it smell good? Like, what is this slime? It's magical. It's magical. It's magical. It's a magical experience. There was a time where I was like,

K, I've been there, done that. Like, please don't slime anymore. Like, it's got to the point where we were like, I don't want to be slimed anymore. But the first couple a few times, I was like, this is an honor. Like, basking in it. Oh, so So happened like like

So the Nickelodeon family there's so many different like avenues of like shows and things So we were on a lot of game shows like all these different games. I would get slimed all the time And then yeah, but the KCA's I'm sure I was slimed I honestly don't even remember now, but slime was a big thing. Wow, so cool. You've worked with some really like Crazy people crazy. Well Ariana Grande right? but slime was a big thing. Wow. It's so cool. You've worked with some really crazy people. Crazy. Well, Ariana Grande, right? I know.

This wasn't Jay on Victoria. Yeah. That whole cast is ridiculous. I know. That's crazy. I don't. I'm lucky. To you, she's probably just like, oh yes, like Ariana.

You just text her up, be like, hey, God bless you. Yeah, we keep in touch, not as much anymore. I mean, she's in London, I think, right now. Like, she's been like living there for a while. But I have talked to her recently, and I'm like so proud of her. I think like, huge fan, right now. She's been living there for a while. But I have talked to her recently, and I'm so proud of her. I think like huge fan of her makeup. Yeah, the whole cast is incredible. I'm really close with Liz, who played Jade on the show, and yeah, I feel really lucky to have had that experience. That's cool. I feel like that's a sign of a true friend when you see your friends succeed and you're like,

you go, I have a whole makeup too. You have a whole makeup too, right? No, I actually have a beauty subscription box. Oh, hi. And we have our own products that we officially just recently launched like Serums and different things like that, but makeup I haven't dove into. I'm not like a makeup connoisseur.

I just sort of like know what I like. Done need it. She has the best skin in the world. So sweet. So you do. Thank you. That's why I was like, I'm not like a makeup connoisseur. I just sort of like know what I like. Done need it. She has the best skin in the world. So sweet. So you do. Thank you. That's why I was like, I'm shocked that you haven't got any work done.

You're like amazing. Thank you. But so a lot of people, I feel like, especially with like Jeanette McCurdy's book coming out, like there's been a lot of criticism surrounding Nickelodeon. I didn't know if your experience was similar or you've had like moments where you could relate to that type of thing.

Yeah, I mean, the business is a weird world. I'll start there. It is such a bubble in a sense that there are things that happen every day that you just are accustomed to and don't would not fly in another work environment. But it's also part of the beauty of the industry. You become so close with your cast. In a lot of ways, if you were to do that with an executive or someone in your office or a coworker, people would be like, no, we don't

freaking hug and sit on each other's laps or whatever, it's just not allowed. I'm sure it's kind of like theater in a way where it's like you become a family. Totally. When you think of it in that way, yes, it's kind of like there are things that just maybe when it fly But like I feel really lucky that I got out unscathed. Yeah Sure Experiences people I worked with maybe not the biggest fan of some skis but like Generally speaking, I'm so grateful for every experience. I've been on like so grateful of all the the people that I've come across

Like I've learned so much and because I can like walk away and like continue on this path and look at it with like a good Like through a good lens like I feel lucky like I don't have anything to complain about. That's really cool to hear Do you think you'd let your own kids do something like this? That's a good question Thank you to Rocket Money for sponsoring today's episode So I got a notification from Rocket Money last week and our spending was, do you think it was up or down? Probably up. It was actually down.

Wait, really? Yes. With these months at the end of the year, I feel like spending goes crazy because of just the holidays and everything. Yeah, which I really need to check all our expenses. I've kind of like just been getting the notifications from Rocket Money and not like doing a deep dive into what we're spending in all of our categories.

I've just been busy doing the music and writing new songs so that's why I haven't done it. But I promise I'll get to it. I'll get to it like next week. Okay, well it's not just like our expenses but even those like subscriptions, I feel like everything is a subscription nowadays and I am always guilty of getting a free trial and then for getting

to cancel. So it's really nice. What did you do that was? I did that with clear. I had our four. Matthew James. Yeah. I just had rocket money cancel for me.

Oh well. Exactly. It's nice because rocket money is a personal finance app that finds and cancels your unwanted subscriptions, monitors, your spending and helps you lower your bills all in one place. There are over 3 million users for rocket money. Oh wow. Yeah and they save customers an average of $720 a year. Wow. What could you do with that $720? You could go on a vacation. A lot of fun things. Maybe not like a super fanciification but like we definitely in college we would we did a vacation for like

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Rocketmoney.com slash unplanned rockamoney.com slash unplanned now back to the episode That's a throw you on the spot. I would I would lean towards no Yeah, the only reason I would say that is because in a weird way It's like unavoidable now like with social media and probably me continuing to like, we're eventually diving back into it. Like, it'll always be a part of their life that I don't think that like they necessarily need to be a part of it. Whereas, I'm really grateful that I became a child actor and was able to like bring this element into our family.

Yeah. But if they wanted to, when they're older, by all means, I just really want them to have like, I want them to play sports and do the things that like, I kind of wanted to do because I did theater too and I freaking think that the theater experience is almost the same in a lot of ways of like working on TV and film. Granted, there's cameras and things like that. But like, you get the same rush, especially with half hour because a lot of the half hour like sitcom shows I did were in front of a live audience. So like, you get sort of that same experience. So it's like, get sort of that same experience. So, it's like, if they want that, then like, they can have that.

And then at some point, if they're, you know, wanting more of it, then they can figure it out. What's your fear, Andrew, with like, your kid being a child actor? What worries you? I think, like, if you get a platform, it's quite a responsibility. Like, and it comes with elements that maybe a child isn't really ready for, which is why I think, like, if you were to simplify it, why a lot of these people who are child actors have issues later on, or like, imagine having that much attention,

that much power, like, from my experience with her, these kids have power over adults, right? And anybody they come across, which is cool, but it's quite a responsibility for a child. And I think I'm not a doctor or anything, but I feel like a child's brain isn't necessarily ready to handle that. And it creates issues down the line. That's a unique perspective.

I mean, my brain just fully developed this year. I just turned 25. So I'm still working on it. I preferndsle cortex is finally developed, baby. I'm like a fully developed man. I'm a perfect man. I'm a working on it. I preferential cortex is finally developed, baby. I'm like a fully developed man That is science, right? Yeah, thank you Yeah, I agree with him. I remember specifically like this is just a testament to how different our walks of life were But I was doing the Fairly Odd parents movie in Hawaii and of course any time I got to do some really cool experiences

Or shows where we like got to travel I would say come come. So he was out there. And I remember they were very, very attentive on this set at one point. And he overheard or saw them saying, let me get you a straw for your water. Let me walk you to the bathroom. And I saw his eyes look at me like, and I told our PA at the time I was like, or ADI was like, I'm good. You know, I'm all good, you know, because I didn't want to, I felt embarrassed that like, that was so normal for me. Yeah. It was so normal.

So they just don't on you. They don't on you if anything you want. Like not to the point where it's like you can make your demands or whatever, but it's just very common. Like set etiquette is that the actor has their chair, they have what they need, if they're feet are cold, they wear uggs, if you need a heater,

if you need a drink or whatever Like they're there to like make sure you're comfortable. Do you get treated better if you have like a larger role or you're like a regular Yes, it's like a yes for sure Yes, like billing is very very Important what's your best treatment you ever got? Like what what did that look like? That's a tough question for you though She's queen of like making things easy for people. Yeah, I don't like all that. She's never been like oh, I need this and that special

Environment no, I have well, you know what I will say When I so I've been vegan for like 24 years. Wow and that's not rounding up and I Was doing fairly odd parents at a time where I was trying this raw diet It was kind of a fad for a while before you guys probably even were old. I remember hearing about it. Okay, so I remember the executive producer caught on to me doing that and she had a raw vegan chef come in like make food for me every day. A personal chef.

Well, he could, or he or she, I don't remember who it was, I think it was a she actually, she would make food for anyone else who wanted raw food As well, but like it was an option and I was like whoa Wow, yeah, yeah, that's really crazy. We tried to be vegan for like two days while we were living in Hawaii We watched you watch the movie see Spearsie and made us so sad we're like our oceans are dying Yeah, like I care about these animals and then like we yeah Actually, I feel like we did it for maybe a week, vegetarian. I don't know what it was, but we failed.

But we failed. We failed. And so that, yeah. We need to check out your recipe. We need to check out your recipes. I love to know how however I can. I, you know, my opinion on it has changed because I've been in this world for so long.

And I think I'm like at a point where any effort is like incredible. Like I think for the longest time And I think I'm like at a point where any effort is like incredible. Like I think for the longest time I so badly, it's like coming off the high of walking, watching a documentary and you're like, the whole world needs to be vegan. You're like, we need to fix this. Now I'm like, no, the whole world, it would be amazing. I guess if that's what's right for the world and like right for their health. But like, we could also just make really great steps in a direction away from being this very convenient, fast food nation where the food system is certainly broken,

in my opinion, but it doesn't need to be super extreme. But I do think that we're almost on the extreme of unhealthy right now. We need to find some sort of middle ground. Yeah, I think a small change I was trying to implement, I still, I'm not good about it, but like replacing one, like making one meal or making two meals of the day, vegetarian or vegan, to where it's like,

okay, I'm eating less meat, so it's like better for the planet, and maybe it's better than I'm eating more, like fruits and vegetables, and that's good for my body. And then it's also like less animals that are, you know, dying, so I have to eat meat. So I feel like that's good for my body. And then it's also like less animals that are, you know, dying so I have to eat, you know, meat. So I feel like that's a small change that. Huge. You know, people can be. But it's not small because it's huge because there's so many

statistics and I wish they just flew off the top of my mouth right now, but tip my tongue, that's what I was trying to say. But there's a lot where it's like even one meal, they were doing this thing. I did this campaign like Meat, Meatless Monday, we're in schools, they would implement like a vegetarian or maybe vegan Monday cafeteria options, and they showed like what the impact on this school or multiple schools would have on like, like, global way. I'm so bad at this.

I'm like, but it's, no, you're really good at killing me. I'm saying you. You're killing it, yeah. You guys are both very good speakers, but by the way, we got, like, sidetracked. I'm so curious, because you guys were engaged Was it five years?

Was it a five-year engagement? 2017 right yeah to 20 what was last year? 2022 we met in 2011, but we got engaged in 17. Yeah, so like and then married last year Yeah, how was that where you guys just like I can't decide we want the wedding in Hawaii or Mexico like That was the main concern. Yeah, can you imagine we have 300 400? Yeah, no, I think like I just was never the type I was not like a fairy tale wedding kind of person intimidated me I'm also like not even good at planning my kids birthday. So it makes a lot of sense It overwhelms me like big productions. I like being a part of a big production

But I don't like to be the one that's like the director. The director or even like the star of the show, oddly enough. It's different when you're being paid to be there. That's not what you're paying to have in. Like, no thing. So your saying is Andrew planned the whole wedding? Yeah.

Yeah, you got it. Our wedding was so planned, we showed up on a rainy day, a rainy Thursday at the courthouse. And we still almost bailed from that. And we almost bailed? And we almost bailed? Because I showed up and I looked it up online and it looked like this Spanish beautiful building.

Oh, this is the best. And we got there. It was a rainy Thursday in between Christmas and New Year's. I was like, this is the time to do it every other day is closed, whatever. And we get there and it's this, it almost looked like a prison. Actually, in fact, I think it was on the same campus

as a prison. It wasn't. It is think it was on the same campus as a prison. It wasn't. It is. But close, yeah. Just government building. Just government building. Yeah, and I was like, I'm not walking. It was really ugly.

That's how we were getting married. I was like, nope. The backdrop inside the room was pretty nice, though. The backdrop was like this, what would you even call it? It was like a friggin' mural that looked like you were on like a balcony across an ocean and it was not. No, it was a real one. Smaller one with like folding chairs. Oh, they painted it.

Oh, yeah, it was a mural. Yeah, that was beautiful. Did you get a picture there? I did, yeah. And you know what, it was amazing because I came around to it and we really had to like reconnect on like why we were doing this again.

And then I realized like now I'm doing what I don't want to do. Oh, yeah. Like that's not what this was about, you know? So I got to do this for all the right reasons and that's why we're here. And so then we walked in. Was it just you two or did you have family or kids?

Our son came. Oh, our daughter was like a little bit too young. I was like, you know, we'll bring our son and he gave us our rings. Yeah, he loved it. That's really, really sweet. I think it was amazing that we did it that way, because we waited so long and it got to the point where like,

if we're gonna do it, we're gonna do it only for us at this point. It may not be how someone else would do it, but like this works for us. And we still plan on having a big wedding, but I think like actually committing in that moment, that was just for the two of us. You know, so it didn't really matter like where we were,

what it looked like, or whatever. Yeah. And not like, I'm happy we finally got there. Yeah. Because I think we, what you're probably looking for is like, we're both just like non-traditional. We both come from divorced parents. Everybody's relationships are a little bit weird.

I think we were both scared of commitment. We probably both questioned whether or not we had the right one for a while. I've learned along that journey that it's like it's never going to be perfect and it's more about like choosing every day, right, and being willing to work on it. And for me, just transparently, like, when I got to the point where I realized that we were both willing to do that, that's when I was like, that's enough for me. Wow. Yeah, it like took it to another level.

But what's interesting is like, I used to say that I'm like more non-traditional, but I think that was a trauma response to like wanting to like go against what I thought was supposed to happen because those don't ever end up well. And you know, and now I would actually go on a limb and say we're actually both very traditional. I would say we're like, we're definitely going back.

Yeah, we're going back. But maybe the structure wasn't broken, but just like the people trying to fit into that structure that you hooked up to. Yeah, totally. Totally. Yeah, because I think a lot of this was done perfectly. And I think we got in the way of like it a little bit.

You know, like I think there is a reason for why these things exist like marriage and these beautiful traditions and just this like family ordinance that like I just think that's how I don't know I feel Really good about it. I think you probably feel the same, but I think it just took us a while to get to the stage of Believing that we can choose to make it whatever we want right? It's not just based on the examples that we've seen in our own lives. Yeah. That's really powerful. Did you tell your family before hand or was it a surprise? It was a surprise for some. No, we told our parents, but like it was tricky telling them because they wanted to be there,

you know? And it was kind of like, and my dad doesn't live here, he lives in Idaho. And you know, with people's schedules, it was like, it's not that we don't want you there. It's just more that we wanted nothing to get in the way of it being for what it's like what we wanted it to be And so we promised that we would do some sort of like party or ceremony for our family at some point But we just haven't gotten around you You still haven't done the night of your ceremony? You're like give us another five years Yeah, you know what? There's something about stretching it out. Like, I understand why people renew their vows. Yeah.

Because it's like this new little life that you're putting back. You're like in reinvesting into your relationship again. And for us, like, maybe we haven't renewed our vows. We just did them. But like, we've spread things out in such a way that it's given us like another little pick me up. And I like it. That's sweet.

You go out another honeymoon. Yeah. Did you ever go on a honeymoon? No. No. What? You guys need to go on a honeymoon? No. Well, we've had two kids and kind of been in the thick of it.

Yeah, and it's weird. I mean, you know, like imagine leaving your kids little, like it's so tricky. She couldn't leave the kids for the longest time. Like she refused. She just couldn't do it. No. I remember the first day Abby and I went on after having

our first son I feel like it was like a month after It was not even was it two weeks. I don't know whatever we got we're gone for an hour and like I Was like we're gone for an hour like it's literally one hour refined but it was just something in that They don't understand the hormones I was like you're inside me for the past nine months. Now you're expecting me to be separate from him. Like, it was like two miles away from our house. And I hop.

But I get to your world. I cried the whole time. We were eating. Do you remember this? We were eating. It was the despicable me pancakes at I hop. I hate those pancakes. They were so good.

You were like banana cream. And it was like, I was not even worth it. I think it was hot because it's been green teaers. Banana cream in tears. You went to eye-op for your first day. Yeah. Because it's a closest restaurant to our house. That's great.

It's like all he could get me to a tea. Maybe it was the second one. I think maybe it was the first. Yeah. Really? It's kind of amazing because I can see it from your point of view because there is at some point someone who needs to say, like, you're okay to leave.

Yeah. But it's really hard to like make sense of it as the mom, especially in those like newer months. Especially foggy. Yeah, foggy. Physically too, right? When you're feeding still. Oh yeah.

That's like you're timing it. Oh, and then you're feeling a little bit down. You're like, it's not worth it. Let's go home. Yeah. Yeah. Then you then you're mad at them. Mad.

Even though all they wanted was just to spend time with you and it was like so awesome and you're like you're evil. Yeah, so I've got to ask. So being together 11 years, engage five years, just getting married last year. Yep. And you guys, yeah, did things, you know, I guess you're saying now you're more traditional, but you did things in an untraditional way. Yep.

Like, were your kids, were your kids playing, were your kids unplanned? We are on the unplanned podcast. Great question. Oh, great question. Oh, I love this. You wanna share? It's a pretty simple answer. Yeah. So I'd like to say that Gio was, he happened to us.

Like it was meant to be. They were both unplanned, but we were so ready. Magio, I know we were ready. Like we were not being careful. Like we kind of knew, we're kind of the type, Andrew says it's so well, where he's like, we kind of need to be pushed off the ledge a little bit. Like it's hard for us to make really big decisions,

but if they happen to us, we're actually really good at figuring out how to make all that work. And Gio, our first was that, and I remember specifically a little TMI, but the next day after we conceived, if you guys go there, I said, okay cool. So I looked at my camera, my like period tracking app, and I was like, I knew it.

I was like, that was a baby-making night. And I told him. So I knew literally right away, but I kind of forgot, because like, I don't know if it was the same for you, but you almost think like, no. Thank you to Quinn's for sponsoring this portion of today's episode. I am so excited because I, first of all,

I do all the shopping for Matt for his clothes. You do. Thank you for doing that, but I don't like to shop for myself. And it's not like I do anything special. Wait, did you get me some stuff from Quince? I got you some stuff. You did?

Wait, what did you get me? First of all, I was on their site and I was like, how in the world do they have these fine, like almost luxury items at such an affordable price? They have cash mirror mat. I remember I taught you about cash mirror. Wow, wait, that's like a sweater, right? It's a really soft one.

You can get it in sweater, they have it in joggers, they have it in cashier joggers. I bet they have cash mirror scarves are a big thing. There's Quinn's Carey cash mirror joggers. They do. And they carry you for like 50 to 80% off what you normally pay because they partnered directly with the manufacturers

so they cut out the middle man. Okay, did you get me the cashmere joggers? No. You did not. I got you some nice pants for Christmas. I got a cashmere sweater. Now you're gonna have a cashmere sweater for Christmas. I cannot wait.

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Now back to the episode. We actually revealed on our podcast where we can see Darcia. I love it where. I need to know. Oh my gosh. You're gonna say it. It was Thanksgiving so we were Santa family. Yeah.

I love it. You're so thankful. Yeah. I love Yeah. I love it. Thank you. I love that. I love it. I think of our second baby the same way. We've been the first though. Like for us, we knew we were wanting to have a kid,

but we just knew some of the people that had like fertility issues or anything. But we were like, we wouldn't have baby for the first, second, it was shocker. But yeah, people that had been trying for a year and it took them a year to get pregnant. So we're like, oh, it have baby. Or the first, the second, it was shocker, but. But yeah, people that had been trying for a year and it took them a year to get pregnant. So we're like, oh, it's not going to happen right away, but for us, it did happen right away.

So it was like, oh, this is meant to be. And with the second, it was a surprise. And at first, we were terrified, but then it's just like, oh, this is meant to be, now we can have two boys that are so close to age. Because you guys have an almost four year old and then a two and a half year old, right? Yeah, so are there 16 months apart? And it was the same. It was, since you guys have an almost four year old and then a two and a half year old. Yeah, so are there 16 months apart?

And it was the same. It was since you guys are detailed. My first cycle back, like I hadn't had my period, because I was nursing and I had one. And then that cycle, we got pregnant. This is the best story. Oh, God. Where you go.

What is it? Geo, our oldest. He was like, he's amazing. He's so smart. He was hard in the beginning. He was a tricky baby. He was very loud. Sleep, really tricky.

Yeah, a lot going on. We weren't ready. And somehow she had a cycle. I don't even know if you told me. Well, I didn't know I was ovulating per se because I was trying to explain to him, even just recently, I'm like, I get it now. When you have your baby, it's like,

when you do get your cycle, it can come, it can go. It's like, I never thought mine back. That's what I got pregnant. Oh, so it doesn't even matter. So it didn't even matter. And you were just nervous. Oh, no, you just stopped nervous. No, no, I was nervous.

I was full of the shape. So I broke all the rules. So that's what I'm saying. That's what I'm trying to do. And it was shit. You guys, it was literally two times. Wow. Literally two times. And we have so many friends who are like, oh, yeah, we had literally two times. Wow. Literally two times and we have so many friends are like,

oh yeah, we had our two times. Everyone has their slip ups. Yeah, everyone has slip ups. And like they didn't get pregnant, but we did, you know? Yeah, yeah. It's different from one man. Six, six. So I'll just jump to the end.

So she thinks that she might be pregnant. So she gets pregnancy test, takes it. We're in our back bathroom. Oh, you're together. Yeah, we're in our old house in the bathroom together. I can like still see it to this day. And we in our back bathroom. Oh, you're together. Yeah, we're in our old old house and the bathroom together. I can like still see it to this day. And we're both super nervous. We're probably both sweat and like all the things she takes it. I totally know the feeling. We wait for a second and it doesn't show pregnant after like however long it was supposed to take two minutes or whatever.

And we both like it's like all the life came back into us. We freaking high five each other in the bathroom. We start we're gonna travel. We're gonna do all these fun things and it's gonna be fun. And then we go back to the she goes back like 30 seconds later. Oh my. And it's like boom pregnant. And we didn't say one word to each other for like the next two or three minutes. We just sat in the closet together and cried. And there was a moment of like, okay. Yep.

Okay. And my goodness you guys, like again, when I say we have to be pushed off a ledge, like nothing is more incredible than these two children, they're bond, like the just individualities about them. Like, I would not know what I'd be doing with them. Traveling. Traveling.

It's australia. Yeah, that's right. But the thing is this, like we said this earlier, I'm like, I just want to collect them all. Once you have one or two or three or four. What's a four? What's a four? You got the whole pack.

You're never not going to be a parent. You're never not going to have kids. You might as well just like throw them all into the machine and you know, you got an operation. That's how I feel That's how you feel Andrew and I feel Don't you think or not always but some people have been like don't you not want your second to know that he wasn't planned or like He's like that. I'm like no He's always gonna know that he's so loved.

And he's like the perfect addition to like our family. We just didn't know it at the time. And we didn't know that timing. So yeah, that's how I feel. I love that your story is like so similar. I think unplanned is also similar to like meant to be. Yes. Like exactly.

Sometimes we don't even know what's best for us. Meeting my wife was unplanned. I never know what's best for us. Meeting my wife was on the plane. Never know what's best for us. That wasn't planned, right? Like, I didn't plan to meet her and we met each other. That was an unplanned meeting and guess what? Now we're married and we love each other and have two babies.

So it's like, I don't know. There's a lot of really good things that come out of life that are on the plane. The best things I feel like are up. Yeah, because those are those surprises. That it's like, if you didn't have those kind of surprises, life would be really boring. I don't want to live like that. I think those little moments are so crazy. Like I get a bit like philosophical at times. I can go too deep, but like when you think back to like you guys meeting right maybe you made one little choice that was like yeah I'll go to this

thing or I won't go to this thing whatever. And then you meet and you fast forward how long now? Seven years. Seven years. And years and it's like you have this beautiful life. Two children, you guys are traveling, you have a podcast, like all the things. And it's like sometimes from one little decision and it's crazy in life to think about how one thing equals like what's going on today. It's pretty wild.

Totally. And you can't like plant, there's so much in your life that you have no control over at all. Like even if you tried to plan it, it would just get messed up. Yeah. Yeah, it's worse planning.

That's why I don't like details. I'm like, you know what, I like to just throw myself into it. I know I can always land on my feet and I like the spontaneity. And then you're not disappointed, never. There's no expectations. I think it's just like, oh, sick, that happened.

Yeah. I don't know. Do you guys feel, are you guys just like so much more in love now that you're married? Like did that, did that four house change? Yeah, crazy. Yeah, crazy. No, there's one something that changed for us.

I always say this because people were like, well, did anything change? You would assume after this long no. But it did because for the longest time, like I felt like we kind of operated financially very separate, even though I was always like, what's yours is mine. And I think he felt the same way, but like it was never like concrete.

And now I'm like, this is the account. Like you can operate, check it out, see what's going on. Like there's not, it's just really nice to blend it all. Whereas before I felt like we were very respectful of each other's like, financials. And now I just like the inclusivity of it all. That would be the biggest difference for me. Is there a big difference for you?

There was like a moment where I feel like things have shifted for us. It's been like once we've had two kids, once we've got married. I remember hearing something from this dude on Instagram and he said, he was talking about how your approach is marriage and one of the things he asks his wife is how can I love you today?

And I heard that and I was like, well, she shoot. He never asked me that. I never heard that before. I did ask you that one time. That one time. One time. You're right, you're right, you're right. But yeah, I know it's like not significant, but it was like a mind shift change for me.

And I was like, okay, like we can totally control what we want this to be. For the most part, right? You can't control everything. Like we can make this to be whatever we want it to be. And I just feel like there's been a shift. Like I can't pinpoint it, but there's been a shift of just exactly that. It's like, what can I do for you? What can you do for me?

Like, how can we build together kind of thing? It's great. That's cool that you say that. I was going to ask, was it super cool, like finally calling each other husband and wife, or was it just like, or did it took me a minute? I liked it, I still like it. I still like it for the, well, maybe for like a couple years

before I would refer to him as my husband once in a while to like a plumber or, you know. Yeah, I was gonna ask, did you ever just say it? Yeah, just to say. Yeah, it always felt kind of silly to say it. It still feels a little silly now, but it's the truth. So that's so funny. Yeah, how about you guys?

Well, so when we got married at 20 and 21, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was, it was a big shift for us because we didn't live together. We were in our hands. And I was nervous because like, I thought people would judge me for being this young guy. Like, oh, he's so stupid.

He got married at 21. What an idiot, you know, like, oh, yeah, so we would do the opposite. We'd be like, my husband. Yeah, it felt really weird to say it though. Yeah, people like people do so weird. What you hold yourself so you don't come off Is like as young and I would imagine even back then like you were more mature than like the average L.A. Maybe No, fans L.A. Maybe I think we were both kind of old souls in that way, but we both, I mean, different experiences our parents are still together, our grandparents.

So I think for us, it was, I don't know, we had really good examples and still have a good example of soul like up to, so it was very, we weren't scared, we just like jumped right in. And... Well, yeah, like my, well, my both sets of my grandparents split but my parents have always been together So I guess like that was a good example for me I guess so I we weren't as scared like like we didn't have as many and also know my grandpa that well literally in the Bible belt at the time so yeah like it wasn't as like imagine we were in LA at that time yeah

Yeah, the culture. They're so different culture, but even then still, especially we were going we had a public university, people were like this is odd. Yeah, of our friends, like none of our friends were even dating and like we got married, but we skipped the part of the stage. Listen, they started together. But no, that's really cool. I could when you were saying that thing you saw on Instagram in our marriage books, me and that we read was talking about how just showing gratitude to a spouse is so important. And even when you're like so mad at each other, like find, you can think of one thing that you can be grateful for that they did. So we were like practicing that this past week, like, hey, I'm grateful for you cleaning

the pumping parts that day or Abby would say, like, I'm grateful for you, you know, waking up to do this feed it. And just like just by expressing gratitude, that was helping us like, you know, find ways to- They're over the issue at hand. Yeah, that's amazing. That's amazing. Yeah.

Have you guys always been pretty good at communicating with each other? No. No. Not at all. I feel like- Oh, we're out of you guys. Are you guys getting a communicating?

No, we're still on ceremony. Yeah, we're learning. Yeah, we're still learning. Yeah. Do you guys do like therapy at all? Or have you like, we have? We have before. Yeah, there was like a noticeable shift, I think for me personally this last December.

I was like dealing with some family stuff and it kind of like pulled me in this interesting direction. I had never gone into before, but I ended up in a friends Bible study. And it was like the first time that I felt this like, I don't know, like this warm hug, but like I was curious about it, but a little like nervous about it all.

And it was around the time when we decided to get married. And I felt like I had like this interesting support system. And it helped me like communicate better with my like my understanding myself. And I I don't know I think from that point there's been a lot of little things that's happened personally where I just feel so much more in the driver's seat of my own life. Yeah and I don't know if it was just coincidental or what it was like that's really cool. Yeah. I think I think having community around you is like really important like the matter

You know what stage of life you're in no matter like what you're you know beliefs are whatever But because like for us when we've when we felt like very alone and didn't have like friends like when we've moved Because we've moved around a good amount. It's like hard when you don't have like people Backing you up. What do you guys do to create community in the different places you go? We've had that conversation a lot recently because we've been feeling like we are lacking it in a lot of ways. Yeah, we try to just like schedule hang out with hang out with friends. Yeah. And it's also been good with Abby's parents who have moved in with us.

So that's been good to have that community of like family. My parents, oh no. That's great. Living with us, we get to hang out with it. We hang out with them all the time, honestly. Yeah. And finding people that are in like similar stages of life, whether that's like same, like do they do the same job or like have kids, same age or, you know, been married for

a few years. How is having a two and a half year old and an almost four year old? Like, what is that thought you? Has it gotten easier? Has it gotten harder? No, it's the best. Yeah, it's gotten a little bit easier. It's the best in the world.

Like, I love it. Every second of it. I love it. I wake up just bouncy and ready to hang out with them. I love it so much. But it wasn't like that for a while. Like, in those earlier days, especially with our first, I felt really foggy, like you said.

Like, I was in a just a complete fog. And then my second got a little bit easier. And then I'd say, yeah, it's just gotten easier and better, more special. How did that affect you, Andrew? How did it affect me? You could be honest. Yeah, it was hard because she was in a weird place

and I would be in a weird place at times. And like I was trying to figure my own personal stuff out at the time and it's just challenging. It's, you kind of like always up against a roadblock, it feels like. Yeah, that's all that comes to mind. I will say though, what's changed for us recently is it just feels like things have lifted a little bit and it's gotten easier. And one of the things for me for a while with when they were a little bit younger was like,

this is just not enjoyable enough, right? And now it's like crazy enjoyable. It's so much fun. We still have our hard moments, but we're just like all getting into a better flow. Like she and I from a relationship standpoint, like we still fight it, but we get through that stuff way faster. We still have problems with the kids, but we get through that way faster. And we're just like finding our way back to the surface level way quicker these days. And we're like living there versus like always like swimming upstream if that makes a sense. Yeah, yeah. That's really encouraging.

Yeah. Maybe that means it's time for another baby. You're getting comfortable. Oh my gosh. And you're saying that? You're saying that exactly why I'm like, hey, I'm content with two. I don't wanna get into it.

But like, you're saying that's like that? It's like, man, there's light at the end of the tunnel. Cause it is hard. It is hard in the early stages. And I don't know, I'm gonna stop talking. Did I not? No. I feel you and I will say this,

up until like maybe a month ago, maybe two months ago, it was a hard no for me. It was absolutely done. We're gonna do it again. And like because things have changed, my mindset has shifted. And then you're gonna be right back there again. You're gonna be, right?

Like, aren't you gonna be like, right back where you were though? That's what scares me. I don't see, I don't like the newborn phase very much. But it was so different the second time. Like you just know so much more. Even though yours happened so quickly, like do you feel like it was a least easier? Way better equipped. Yes, so imagine the third, the fourth, then you have a kid that can eventually get you

your water. We need to have my parents moving with us too, and then it will be a fully equipped to just move in with us. Okay, wait a minute. Why don't we have some of that? I have a really lucky idea of communal living. Yes, yes, yes. I'm done for that.

We actually love it. People ask us all the time. It's just my parents, but people like, that's crazy. And I'm like, it's actually very natural. I feel it's normal. Now that working from home is so normal and that's like what we do with the nature of being creators. You need to see people.

You need to talk to people. You need to have a conversation with an adult. People are too isolated. That's not a one or two year old, right? So it's so important to... And then, I feel like it's also been really good for our marriage too, because I put too much on Matt as like to meet all my needs. Like you need to meet my needs as my husband, but also my social needs.

Your friend, everything. Like you need to listen to all of my thoughts of the day. And he's like, I cannot possibly sift through all those. And it's nice to just have other ear cells in too and other people to fill other needs. Who care about you, who like love you and look out for your best interests. That's like, that is the best.

I get it. I'm the boring one that's going back to like a regular job recently. Oh, no way. But in a certain way, like it's been so nice to be back around other adults. Right. And like have that totally different part of my life.

And then I come home to the family who I already spend like enough time with, you know, but it's just so nice to have that separation. Kind of the most amazing thing because I now feel like I am the CEO of operations, like COO. I'm also operations officer. And I love it. I love that I can like manage most of like the stuff with the kids. And then when Andrew's done with his work, he can play

with the kids while I make dinner. And then I get that time. And it's just the best balance. The other day I took both boys and we went on a walk and like played in the grass. And I had one strap to me and then our all this griffin was just like running around in the grass like having the best time. And I come home and Abby had one strap to me and then our oldest Griffin was just like running around in the grass like having the best time and I come home and Abby had gotten like clean alone Clean the home and listen to it like a tornado because there was no one stopping me. Yep, and she was so happy The best and I was like I would have never known it was joyful Joyful just clean as how often at this point in life do you get to be in your own home by yourself? I have not been in my own home by myself since June at that point.

So you just felt you were so, I was like, I can do this every night. I'm like, this, like dude, my wife's so happy right now. Like this was great. I just got to spend time with my kids and now she's like so happy. So yeah. I'm just realizing why I'm always overstimulated because I had not been alone for months at that point.

And returning to work, are you back being a CPA working in that field? No, no, I'm in sales. I sell software. Oh, cool. So yeah, just continuing the boring part of me or all of me. But no, I was a CPA and I left to go do sales for a little Fintech company. And then with Gio, our first was born. I was home for two weeks and it was like life smack me

in the face, and it was like, this is where you need to be right now. So I resigned. For like all of Gio's life so far, I'll just rest. Yeah, I just went back like maybe five months ago. And do you think you're gonna stay a CEO of the home? Yeah, she's going to get back into it.

Oh, yeah, I think I'm gonna be the CEO of the home for now, but I'm gonna be going back to traditional acting work soon. I just thought, yeah, not anything planned, but it's probably gonna move pretty quickly. Now I have, like, requiring my little team around me, and I feel so good about it because going back to navigating the business and how to stay in the light is how I like to say it, is like, now it is like now

I feel like I'm old enough and wise enough to really attract and align with the people that are of that and I know that I can have it all I know that I can be in this industry and have an impact and do things that feel good to me And I don't have to like sacrifice morals or ethics and still make family friendly content That's what really aligns with me. And now I feel like I'm the right people that can help me do that or come into my life. So I'm like, okay, now I can hit the gas a little bit. Did you ever feel like you had to sacrifice?

Yes, really. How so? Oh my gosh, the amount of auditions I would just turn down or do it to people please because I felt like I had to. The product, like I did like an independent movie that I kind of just did for fun where I would play this girl on house arrest who like smoked weed and cigarettes and was like flirting with this older guy and I in my body like literally it can make me feel cringey right now like I just it's not for me and I've done other projects where

like I knew it wasn't for me a horror movie and I ended up having to leave that set and like literally like the whole cast wasn't for me, a horror movie, and I ended up having to leave that set and like literally like the whole cast ended up leaving me. It was not a safe environment. There was just too much weird kind of like dark stuff that can happen. Really? And I'm just like, no, I know where I belong

and I know that I can do it all. Like I can make beautiful fun TV and I don't have to like, yeah. Was there a financial need in that moment because you're like, I need to make money. This is my profession. Like I need to like almost sacrifice to pay the bills to keep the lights on because this is what I do for my job.

And this, and these are the roles coming in. Little bit, but also there's just such a big ego attached in this business. Like it's something I'm constantly having to keep in check cause like, I've just put so much of like my, I don't know, my importance in what I do and what I'm constantly having to keep in check because I've just put so much of my, I don't know, my importance in what I do and what I'm a part of. And if I'm not constantly a part of something, even if it's not the right job, I feel lesser about myself. But that since has changed because I haven't really worked in traditional acting for like four years, maybe even longer. So it's like,

I've really gotten the time to shed that idea that I need to just work to work Mm-hmm, and really just do the things that I know that I can be really good at and not sacrifice anything else Was having was getting was like the coming pregnant was that part of what made that shift happen? No, it was like that before for years. Oh my gosh. Yes. I oh, that's why I mean I had an experience where I was with this big time agent And they said, you know, this is where we see, I had an experience where I was with this big time agent, and they said, you know, this is where we see you going in your career, and I was like, no, I want to do Nickelodeon and Disney, and they were like, no. And I was like, okay, well, I'm still gonna go and try to do

Nickelodeon and Disney, and I tested for Hannah Montana, and that kind of opened the door for like Nickelodeon and Disney. And I was like, nope, this is where I want to be. Family friendly, this is where I belong. And I had to like go against the grain of a lot of people who thought I was supposed to go in one trajectory. And I took a different lane and I'm really glad that I did. And then it was just a matter of me finessing like that like staying on that track. And now I feel like I've had the opportunity to look at it from the outside and go, okay, no, that track's there. It's Great American Family Network. It's hallmark. It's like the places that feel really like safe and cozy and sweet. And that's where I want to be, you know?

She loves a cozy moment. Love a cozy moment. I love that so much My favorite word What's next oh, sorry, yeah, what's next for you guys like my gosh great question. Hopefully more babies Yeah, and then making work and life just like finesse into that. That's my answer. What's yours? That's it. That's it. Her answer is my answer always from now. I would say with your words manifest it. Say it. Which part? What do you want next? Now, I think we want more children. Whoa, that's big. No way. I'm fidgeting. Wow. There's hope. That's crazy. It gets easy. I'm terrified right now. That there's hope. That's crazy.

It gets easier. I'm terrified right now. I'm so excited for you guys. No, that's not true. We'll stay in touch and we'll support each other in our far away communal living. Oh my gosh. I feel like I really can't actually do you guys.

I'm bummed that we live so far away. It's not too far and we'll come this way. Hey, we drove here. Yeah, we did drive here. Oh, come. We're good for you. We live in Phoenix. Oh, that's right. I didn't know where you're coming from before how long you guys been in Phoenix

We've lived there for a year and a half. Okay. Do you like it? Not in the summertime, but when it's not summertime. Yes, because of the weather's nice You guys just had like 30 days of a hundred degrees Nine months pregnant. Oh my god. Have you guys thought about moving to California? I thought about it in a hearty way. I would like to get like a second home here one day. I think that'd be awesome. If you do really think about it, hit us up

because we really understand the pockets that I think you'll really love. Ooh, okay. I told Matt I was like, I just want to sleepy town with like, it's like 60 plus. What? But we can get to the water still. Yeah, I know you sleepy town with like it's like 60 plus What we can get to the water still yeah, I know you're top shops. Does that exist? Oh, yeah That's like well, that's kind of where we live, but no yes also like on the way to Carpenteria

What's that area called right past it on the way whatever in the area of Carpenteria? She would love it in Santa Barbara. Yeah. Where everyone says there's like the antique shops and the new puppy shops. No, but over there. I know. I wanted to be similar where no one knows. So this is perfect. I don't even, yeah, I couldn't even remember this.

But apparently it's like perfect. And you guys are also starting a podcast? Yes. Well, I am starting a podcast. We had a podcast together that we really loved for the first like three years of Jio's life. And then we kind of went on hiatus, he's gone on to doing his career. But I have a podcast that I've been, you know, very, very cool.

And when does it launch? No idea. Oh, okay. Just be looking forward. Now, I don't even have an episode in the can, but it's in my brain and it's great. Or can they follow you to like find out when the podcast launches? Thank you. I'm on Instagram, just my name,omone. I also have an account called

Danielle's Digest. That's where I share a lot more of like my home and healthy living type content. Very cool. Very cool. And we're okay. And is that where we can find the vegan recipes? Yes. So Danielle is Digest.com is this like membership and there's also a blog and there will be other like free ebooks and stuff available, but there's a membership for $99 a year. You can join and get access to meal plans, thousands of recipes, tons of deals. I think our deals now are up to over $1,000 in savings on really great products that I love, things that I just got really good deals for. And there's coaching. So you can go on and there's like health coaches, food coaches that can really help you figure out

like what's best for you. And the way I like to describe it now is yes, it's all 100% plant-based, but you don't have to be 100% plant-based to be a member. I think that a lot of people should eat a lot of variety of foods. And I think the only way that you can have access to a variety of fruits and vegetables in a diet

is by cooking with them. So if you use my membership for that and then maybe have whatever you eat on the side or however you like to transition, that's what I think it's really best for as well. That's really wonderful. I love to cook. And so I need to broaden my horizons and try some new options. So yeah, I'm excited to check that out. Thank you.

Well, thank you both for coming on. Thank you guys. I know you guys have places to be. You guys have kids. You know, so many things happening, but. Thank you guys. I know you guys have places to be. You guys have kids. You know, so many things happening, but we appreciate you guys taking the time to come out here and really feel like we connect with you guys on this podcast today. So, thank you very much.

Likewise. Well, this is what we say, peace out, dude. You guys ready? We can't put books out here. So we say peace out, dudes. And then three, two, one, peace out, dudes. And in three two one