WHOA That's Good Podcast - What’s on Sadie’s Bucket List?
Episode Date: December 15, 2021Sadie goes behind the screens with popular travel vloggers The Bucket List Family to get to know their hearts and their backstory. Garrett and Jessica Gee tell Sadie about their love story, what they ...learned while traveling to 89 countries, what they originally thought they would do with their lives, and how they overcome fear in new places. They describe some of their favorite destinations on their journey, and Sadie shares what's at the top of her bucket list. - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The so excited for y'all to listen to this talk today is a talk that actually have with
the bucket list family.
If you don't know the bucket list family, they're just a beautiful family, Garrett and
Jess, who are taking their three kids and traveling around the world, literally checking
boxes off their bucket list.
I actually never knew if they were actually doing that.
Like, is this actually your bucket list,
but that really was how it started.
They made a bucket list and they went for it.
They're such a unique family, so sweet,
so genuine, so kind, and have the coolest stories.
So I can't wait for you to hear a little bit more about this.
Have a Wednesday, friends.
Welcome back to the Woollets, good bye guys.
Here's our conversation with the bucket list family.
Hey, hey everybody.
I'm so excited.
Here's another behind the screens where I get to talk to just some
amazing people who live an incredible life and get to know them a little
better and hopefully inspire y'all along the way.
We've had some incredible guests on this platform.
And last week I was doing it by myself.
So I'm glad to have some guests joining this week
and just get to hear more of their story and their life.
I think they just popped on.
We have the bucket list family,
Jess and Garrett, welcome to the show.
Hello.
We're here.
Yeah, I am so excited about this
because I said this to you right before we popped on,
but like from afar,
I feel like we've been friends from afar.
Like me and Christian love everything you do. Cheer you all on, but like from afar, I feel like we've been friends from afar. Like me and Christian love everything you do.
Cheerio a lot, even considered and wished we could have gone on a trip with
y'all at one point.
So I'm glad we're finally getting to actually have a conversation.
I know.
Totally.
I mean, I really, like even like seeing your face just now a second ago,
I was like, we're friends.
Like totally.
Totally.
You're like, I've seen that phase before. Yeah. No, I feel like, we're friends. Like we're friends. I don't know totally. Totally.
You're like, I've seen that phase before.
Yeah, no.
I feel the same way about y'all.
Well, I'm pumped.
Thanks for being on my Facebook show.
Basically, what we talk about here
is just a little bit behind the screen.
So people might know you, but more so
getting to know your heart and just your story.
And I'm personally really excited about that as well, because I followed followed along Yos journey and my siblings even got to go in a
trip with Yosso. Know you in a sense but I want to hear some of the backstory.
But before we get into the backstory if you would just kind of tell us some people
who might not know about your amazing life a little bit about your life and your kids
and just the journey that y'all are on.
Yeah, I'll give you like the short version. So when I was going, well, Jessica and I were both going to school at BYU in Utah.
And as a freshman, I created an iPhone app that I later sold to Snapchat.
And that just like shook up our lives forever and gave us the opportunity to kind of decide for ourselves.
What do we want to do next?
But do we want the next chapter in our lives to look like?
And we weren't really sure.
So Jessica came up with the brilliant idea
of let's do some traveling and get to learn more
from different cultures around the world.
And hopefully that will paint a better picture of what our future should look like.
So we started on a journey around the world that we thought would be like four to six months
and it ended up being, I mean, like four to five years over a few centuries together as a family.
I mean, we were what, like 29, 30 or something like that. And it just, it didn't feel right to like
buy a house and settle down. So a lot of our
Travels was like, okay, let's go see the world and kind of see some different cultures and ways of living and figure out how we want to
Raise our family and where we want to raise our family
So cool
Anyway, Garrett is he's always been a super avid journal keeper even from the day we met.
He wrote this journal every single day.
And so that journal, you know, he kind of moved that over to social media and picked up
editing and videography and photography.
And you know, we were sharing our journey with friends and family back home and it very
much evolved into what it is today.
Now it's, now it's our careers.
And I mean, I would say for myself for sure,
this is not my, like, never a million years, if you would have told me 10 years, that I would
be traveling the world with my family. I would never believe you. But I've just been proud of myself,
how much I've grown and learned and thrived in this lifestyle. And anyway, yeah yeah we've had some really really special
experiences I think we're what? 90 countries deep? 89 countries as a family.
Yeah that is like the coolest thing I've ever had but that would be like my mom's
dream life is like all of us just like packed up our bags and went around the world.
And honestly, maybe we should.
That's so cool.
So did it have you done a lot of traveling yourself?
Yes, so we have been all over.
I mean, not can birdie all over,
but we've been to a lot of different places.
I started traveling internationally,
I guess when I was about 11.
And it was really important to my parents that when all of us were 11, we went to a third
world country just to see the world and just kind of push us to how we can help people
who are in need and in different countries who don't live with the same luxuries in
life that we have, even just luxuries, meaning like a roof over a head, or like water to drink, you know. And that was like so good for us. And it's actually interesting because
people today asked me like the question, because if you heard my story like I, you know,
grew up very pretty normal family, just in Louisiana, small town, and then our family got a TV show, which
led us to become, I guess, famous, if you will. And then I got asked in this with
stars and kind of just led into this like trajectory of fame. And I kind of
asked myself, like, what is this even mean? Like, what do I even like want to do
with this? And it almost felt meaningless unless I had like purpose behind it.
And people kind of asking, how did you get to that point of asking yourself like, what is the meaning of
this? And I always say, I think it's because I'd seen the world. Like I'd seen
by that point in my life, even though I was 17, I had just seen a bigger world
than myself, you know, I think a lot of times our world can be so small.
And we can just see like what benefits us but because I had seen what's out
there as like man like how can I you know do something good for the purpose of the world and so
I actually was really interested in asking y'all like I'm sure traveling the world has really
shaped how it's perspective in life and maybe what are some of the things that y'all taken away
and say like okay when you don't when you take it all away like what are the things to y the things that you'll take in a way and do it? Okay, when you take it all the way,
like what are the things to know that you've found like,
actually matter in life, if you will?
One of the cool things is when you think of different cultures,
oftentimes it comes up like the unique religions
and the unique kind of like practices and other things that...
unique kind of like practices and other things that.
But when you'd probably more and more.
Researchers start to like blend together and you see people as just like humans and not so much setting apart for their unique
religion or unique beliefs.
Wow.
And yeah, it just has a really cool effect where you start to see everyone on like an equal playing field.
And these differences become less like dividing differences and more so just unique things that make us all like unique and
character and personality and background.
I feel like especially when we see, you know, our kids interact with like little kids, right? Like at our core, at our like childhood state, like the human race is all the exact same, you know,
like what kids are, you know, we were teaching an orphanage for a couple weeks in Bali,
and it was Dorothy's first time to school. She must have been three years old. And I mean,
she was just didn't speak the same language and believe
the same thing, didn't look the same. And they just laughed and played and played games.
And there was just so much joy between this little white girl, blonde girl and like these
little cute little bolognese kids. And it just that from the very beginning has just
been like, man, all over the world, we're all so different, but we're all very much the same in our core.
And that's just so beautiful to see.
That is so cool.
We experience the same thing.
You go to a place and you think,
we don't have anything in common.
And then you start kicking a soccer ball.
And it's like, oh, we all have it right?
A lot more in common.
We laugh at the same things.
We, you know, dance like no one's watching.
We sing.
We, you know, want to have fun.
We're competitive.
Like we're human and we care about each other.
And so we've experienced the same thing.
And it's just the coolest thing ever.
So speaking of childhood, what were y'all's childhoods like?
Like did y'all travel a lot?
And that's what created just the continual itch.
Or was this something that you'd always wanted to do
and started when you're older?
You know what's interesting?
It was cool to hear that your parents,
when you were 11 years old,
had that tradition of taking you outside the country.
Because I'd never heard of that before,
except for my own family,
had the exact victory.
Really?
That when we would turn 11,
we would get to pick a country and we'd go out there as a family,
but the 11 year old, I'm one of six kids, so a pretty big family.
The 11 year old would be in charge of like researching the country, coming up at the
plan, teaching the rest of the siblings and family about like the different cultures
and what to like watch out for and stuff.
And yeah, it was really awesome to have that tradition. That is so cool. That's really
crazy because I can't really have six kids do and I've never heard it when the 11 year old thing
they're so weird. Hey look at that. We do have more. What number the six kids are you in the lineup?
What number is the six kids are you in the lineup?
So we always kind of laugh about this because
three are adopted, three bell magical and so I'm like technically I was born second but I'm the third in the lineup now
because of the way adoption fell. Yeah, we ended up
adopting my sister which we never actually officially adopted and not many people know that.
People will think we officially adopted her.
But she was older whenever she came to live with us.
She was about 16 and she just came for a foreign exchange
student program.
She's from Taiwan actually.
I think I remember someone.
Yes.
And like then she just stayed.
It was just so funny.
But she was like, with, say with us, not in our house,
actually, she went to college and got married.
Lives literally my parents back yard.
Their house is right in some of parents.
But I mean, totally sister.
You couldn't even say she's not my sister.
So yeah, she's the oldest and then my brother, John Luke,
who y'all know, my self and then two adopted brothers
that are younger than me and my little sister.
And so big family, yeah, we love to travel to.
My mom is always wanting to go to the next country,
the next place, and she's traveled a lot
because her grandpa was like, I guess,
I think he was a manager, a singing band
or something that traveled across Europe and Asia
when they were younger and he took her with him.
And that kind of is what started it for my mom. So it's pretty cool. But what about you, Jess? Did you grow up traveling?
I did not. I was very much all-American girl next door. And my family, we were Disney people. We went to Disney World. I'm from Colorado.
We went to Disney World every single year. Same trip.
Like the same trip. We go to the kids. We were such creatures of habit. And I realized when traveling,
a lot of families are kind of similar, whether it's Disney or like Hawaii or like Powell, like a lot of
families. That's awesome. Hey, no hate to Disney World. Our family, we are actually going to
Disney World this December.
And this is actually pretty cool.
I think I'll enjoy this.
So my grandparents, on their honeymoon,
went to Disney World and it was a year open.
And this year is the 50th anniversary of Disney World
and my grandparents.
And so our whole entire family is going,
it isn't that cool.
So we're all going to Disney World.
So maybe I need some tips from your family
since you all know the area pretty well.
I really love it.
We work huge Disney people.
Don't get me wrong, I still need some Disney,
but I also think people need to go outside.
No, I want to understand.
I would.
I would.
That's awesome, that's so cool.
So I love how you mentioned you're like,
I didn't think I would be traveling the world
with my family.
And this is something to talk about a lot
because I'll my kind of main audience and group of people traveling the world with my family. And this is something I'm gonna talk about a lot because I'll my kind of,
may an audience and group of people that I work with a lot
and I'm even inspired by myself
and hopefully inspires at the college age group.
And it's really sad because in college,
there's almost just like huge anxiety around like,
what am I gonna do in my life?
And it's like they have,
they feel like they have to know exactly what they're gonna do
and what the plan is.
And I always tell them like, hey, like it's like they have, they feel like they have to know exactly what they're going to do and what the plan is. And I always tell them like, hey, like, it's okay to not know because you're probably not
going to know.
And you just kind of really have to take one day at a time and wherever God leads you,
whatever, you know, your next step is all of a sudden, you know, you'll be doing what
you love or doing the thing that you're called doing.
You'll look back and say, like, I don't even actually know how that happened.
It just happened.
And so when you were young, what did y'all think y'all would do with your life?
Garrett wanted, well, when you were like super young, what did you want to be?
Uh, oh my goodness.
I, I don't know.
I looked back at my younger self.
I was just a lost boy.
I had no clue what the future was going to all for me.
But you like growing up.
Gare was an artist.
And he's always had a great eye for things.
So I think, and then you started college wanting
to do architecture and then changed into product design,
which he still does a lot of that.
And he like, when we design products for the Bikeless
Downer, the Bikeless Studios, I get it.
Loves it.
This cool.
And then my mom was always really amazing at helping me
like figure out my strengths and play to my strengths.
I went to college and immediately knew I wanted
to do some sort of communications.
I started off in public relations
and then moved into advertising.
And I actually had wanted to do product placement in movies.
That was like my plan.
And now I just do it in my own life.
So it's actually kind of crazy how it's like evolved.
And I think too, like speaking to the youth or young people, what we did didn't exist
10 years ago, you know?
So I think if you like prepare yourself and follow your passions and your talents and what you're good at.
And hopefully, you know, the cool thing about the day and age that we live in is you can like
make a career out of anything. It's so true. And so true. I love that you all said that. And I wanted
to ask you that for the people listening who are inspired by it. You all and they're like,
the bucket list family, they're not heroes, they're not because inspiration to know like you might
be sitting here and you're like, I have no idea what I want to do in my life and they didn't either like you know
At first I point that they were like, I don't know. This is what I'm good at
And it is cool how you will see like when you start doing what you end up doing
You know with like y'all traveling and making all these incredible videos
I know you'll have a lot more that y'all do
Um that I've seen on your website, which I want to hear more about later. But it's like you kind of see like in your life,
it was like you were kind of being prepared for all along the way, the little things that you
learned here and there, the little things that someone spoke into, the little things that you were
working on, it all comes into play at some point. And so don't stress it, like let it all come
together at some point. But I love it. Thanks for sharing that.
Okay.
So back up.
Did you actually have a bucket list whenever you all decided to travel the world or is that
just kind of the fun name that you have?
No, we definitely did.
We had made a list.
I think on the original list was maybe like eight or so countries that we wanted to visit.
Garrett wanted to-
A few key experiences.
Yeah, Garrett wanted to swim with the whales in Tonga.
I wanted to go to Australia.
We wanted to do the Lantern Festival in Thailand.
Well.
But this is what I think is cool about a bucket list
or say travel in general is the more you travel,
the more you learn about more places,
and you'll meet different travelers on your own path,
and then they'll tell you about amazing places
that you need to check out.
And so it's kind of this like never-ending journey
to try to like cross off your entire bucket list
because it just continues to like grow and grow.
And sure enough, those six to eight countries
are now to 89 countries, and we just wanna keep on going.
Wow, that's so cool. Do y'all have like, I mean, I'm sure it's
hard to pick a favorite, but do you all have like favorite moments
that you've crossed off your bucket list?
Oh, goodness. First,
because it was the number one thing on my bucket list when we
first started, but traveling to the Polynesian islands and swimming
in the wild with the humpback whales was just life-changing
for me. I mean, we sense of gone, I think, back there like five times to do it every time we
bring different, like, friends or family with us because we just get to like, vicariously
through them, re-experience it for the first time. And I mean, the moment that somebody gets
into the water and sees a massive whale next to them,
there's kind of like one of the re-reactions. They either start screaming and cursing and freaking out
and just like losing their mind, or they'll start like laughing and giggling and you know,
just so like elated by it, or often they'll just get real emotional and start crying and uh,
guess what can I, we both went the emotional tears in the eyes crying
round. Wow. That is like the cool. I can't even
battle what that would be like. So maybe we need to come with you.
Well, someday we are going to take you and Christian and we are going to go
swim with the whales all together. I feel like
Garrett. Oh, go ahead. I was gonna say Garrett loves loves
the ocean. Like he he kind of chases whales like wherever he can find them and like the
tippy top of his like bucket list at the moment is swimming with the killer whales.
Woo. That's crazy. That's so cool. So like like, Christian would be like so for that. Like, he would think this is amazing.
He'd probably go with the like laughing giddy, like, this is so cool. I'm so excited. I'd probably be like, I'm so scared out of my mind, but like, That's one thing I love about y'all is that y'all
continue to encourage your kids to press past fear,
but you do it in such a loving and gentle way.
Like it's not like you make them get in the water.
It's like you do it with them.
And it's been a beautiful thing for me to even wise,
because I'm a person that tends to get more afraid
of things and timid by situations.
And my life I feel like has been a series of
overcoming fears and doing things that used to scare me or make me feel uncomfortable or
whatever. And I'm so glad that I have because it's open my life up to doing so much more.
But what is like, what does that look like for you? What's the importance of pressing past
fear and have you been on trips with people who are really afraid? How do you help them kind of overcome
that? I think on the topic of like parenth really afraid, how do you help them kind of overcome that?
I think on the topic of like parenthood and why we do it so much with our own children,
it's way less about trying to get them to just be like daredevils and do kind of crazy
things in that sense.
And it's much more about just the importance we feel that we should be teaching young people confidence,
like true, inner confidence that they can do things outside their comfort zone,
they can do hard things. And perhaps most importantly, like they can do the right thing in a difficult
moment when the right thing is not the easy thing to do. And that can be as something as simple
and basic as being at school and seeing a kid
that's being left out or being bullied or doesn't have a friend and being courageous and confident
enough to like step outside their comfort zone and be that person's friend. I think there's
like so many examples of that big and small in our day to day lives. And it comes back to like,
are you wanting to be confident, brave, and courageous enough
to make the right decision time after time,
again, big and small?
That's so cool.
That's so good.
I wrote this down to Ask Youll,
and you just kind of talked about it.
Do you all have like one of,
what comes to mind when you think of like
a proud parent moment with your kids?
Because I mean, the world's got to see
some proud parent moments that you all had,. Because I mean, the world's got to see some proud parent moments
that you've had.
And just I feel like the world who follows you
are proud of your kids for the things that they do.
Like I saw your little one, you posted the video
when he saw the shark.
And you thought he was screaming because he was scared
when he was screaming because he was so excited.
I was like, that is so cool.
I would have proud moment.
Oh my gosh.
And as a mom that taught him, you know,
to respect the creatures around you. And I just thought he was so cool. It would have problem. Oh my gosh. As a mom that taught him, you know, to respect
the creatures around you. And I just thought it was so cool. So what are some of those
problem moments like that? There was one just recently similar to that where we were in
the water in there in Africa. And all of a sudden this creature like this dark shadow
starts swimming up. and everyone in the water
started like screaming and running,
and my kids like put on their mask
and start swimming towards the shadow
because they knew it was some cool city.
Oh, I know.
Dorothy the other day was like,
there was a pretty hefty sand shark just in the shadows
in Hawaii, and all the other kids were like running
out of the water and Dorothy's like, oh, can I still go surfing that? Oh,
my goodness. You're like, Brad, just what you breached. No,
that is so, that's so cool. I mean, a vet that's just such a
cool thing to experience with your kids. And it's something like
my mom says to me, it's like, you know, she always teaches me
to be fearless
and to be able to say yes to things that scare me
and maybe I'm gonna be fearless,
even just do it afraid.
And one thing that she said that challenged her in her own life
is like leading with by example for us, you know,
like, you know, if something scares her
but she knows that she should do it
because it's a good thing for the world
or it's a good thing for our family or whatever
like she'll do it and hopefully she's leading by example and I think y'all lead like so well
for your kids and it's just the coolest thing. Also Jess I didn't get to hear what your bucket list
mount was that you that you checked out the list I wanted to go back to that and what was one
moment for you that you're pretty excited to check off. I mean I would definitely say my like
favorite place in the whole my wood
world. Garrett even says night
had some friends come out to
Africa this summer to join me
and they're like, yeah, just
is at her finest on safari.
Like safari, Jess is like the
most confident, happy person.
And anyway, yeah, I think
just being on safari is like so incredible to me.
But I would say,
something I did have on my bike list for years and years,
even as a kid was cage diving with the great white sharks.
Oh my gosh.
That was really, really special.
And so fun for me, we actually brought the kids with us.
We were in Guadalupe, Mexico.
And I, I, not super stoked on the head.
I don't know if the kids being in the cage, but they did great.
It was fine.
Oh, my goodness.
Like when Christian listens to this, he is going like we actually might be back here on the world because I'm Like, those have always been like his two things.
Since even before we started dating,
I heard him say that.
And so I know at some point in our very life,
have you ever happened to Africa before?
Well, we've been to Africa like,
I've been to Uganda and actually I went to Somalia,
which was really crazy.
A food drop, which was just amazing.
I'm so thankful I got to go,
because I know that that is a pretty dangerous situation,
and I was very grateful I got to go
and just meet people there's the craziest experience.
But so I've been to Africa,
but not the Safari Park, which would be amazing.
And since Christians never been to Africa at all.
And so we would love to do that.
So yeah, he's always said that.
And I'm like, okay, at some point,
I'm gonna get the courage up like, you know,
in our lifetime to do this.
But I mean, I would love it so far.
It's just the great white shark cage thing.
I was like, you know what I was saying?
Oh, I might want to say on the boat for that one.
But anyway, he's gonna be so excited when he hears this.
If you like, we have to go, but that's awesome. Well's going to be so excited when he hears this. We have to go.
That's awesome.
Well, absolutely.
Tell him to reach out to me and I'll give him all the tips
on the best way to do it.
Oh, yes.
Yes.
I definitely will.
And if I get the courage up to do it,
I'm going to need all the tips.
Oh, for sure.
Well, our number one tip, our very first tip
is going to be to do it together with us.
Let us come with you in this screen.
I can't.
It's so fun. I will admit I actually might be helpful to me because it's not that I have like bad
phomo, but if like everyone is doing it like my friends, I'm like, well, definitely do
it. You know, I went a little older together. So, and I have to say like, I went skydiving
and I was the only one on my friends that wanted to do it. And I was going to do it alone.
And in the last second, everyone decided to do it with me,
which kind of gave me some confidence.
I was like, okay, I can do things.
I can do things by myself.
If I had to in that moment, I was going to do it
because I wanted to do that so bad.
So the shark that I might need some friends.
So that'd be fun.
Well then, how about for you yourself,
like if you were to say your own bucket list,
whether an item or two that are at the very top of your own personal.
Yes, great question.
So I really want to go to Taiwan because that's where my sister is from.
And I've never even been to Asia at all.
Like of all the places we traveled and I traveled a lot of places in Europe,
different places in Africa, a lot of places in South America,
but never been to Asia.
And so I would love to go there and just get to see around.
And also, I really want to, so my family loves skiing,
which we're kind of like the family that goes once a year,
so I can't say we're like super good,
but I would love to go skiing in another country,
like, I don't know, and like Switzerland or something like that.
It's just like beautiful.
That's always kind of been on my bucket list.
So I got a couple good things about it.
We need to expand it.
We need to actually write it down.
So then we'll probably do it once it's written down
and make a plan for it.
What is some of your favorite things to do as a family?
I know y'all are all over the place, but it's so sweet that y'all do it together
Do you have something that's a little bit routine when you get to the place like we love to do this when we get there?
We're we're just water people and so it's kind of like because when we're traveling
We'll try to seek out places where we do have access to either a beach or a pool or whatever. And so it's definitely a tradition. Like, first thing to do is just go like test the waters
literally. Any body or water. I mean, I would say this is this is you. This is Garrett.
But the kids love it. And so whether it's a pool or an ocean or a lake or whatever, like
we're spending all our time there, Garrett, Garrett kind of absolutely fell in love
with surfing through quarantine.
And now he's really trying to push surfing on all of us.
And we all really enjoy it.
And that's been really fun lately.
Once a week or so to go out and surf as a family.
And that's cool.
Really fun.
There was a week this summer where we all went out,
even Callie just, you know, had a life jacket on and he was, you know,
Garrett had him up on all the ways. And being out there, I feel like our kids are really starting to get to the age
where we can do stuff as a family. We can go skiing as a family. We can go snorkeling as a family.
And it's so fun. That's so cool. Oh my gosh, that's so fun. Honestly, like whenever we go on this trip together, I will totally surf with y'all, but I,
y'all are gonna laugh out loud,
but y'all see, I'm like, I'm terrible.
And the funny thing is, like, I'm an athletic person.
Plates forced my whole life,
but we went surfing as a family,
like when was that? August.
We just went to California.
And I was the worst one there.
I mean, I could not figure it out. I mean, I cannot figure it out.
But that's so hard.
So hard.
So hard.
Like the timing and everything.
And oh, man, I got to practice.
So I'm going to be like watching every surf tutorial
before I come to make sure I don't completely
immerse myself with you.
I'm not that good yet.
I've been surfing for like two years now
and I feel like I still am just like catch it. Like me and the kids kids actually I think the kids passed me this year. Oh, they definitely passed you
But yeah, I don't think Callie or the worst of the family
Hey, I'll join you and Callie. We'll have a blast
So that's okay. Yeah, for sure
If we just I got I got to know because
Especially if people that follow me love a good relationship story. Everyone's
like, how did you meet your husband? And honestly, I'm a sucker for relationship stories. So,
how did the two of y'all wonderful people meet in life? We met in Vladivostok, Russia.
Wow. Garrett and I were both serving church mission in Russia at the time and
Yeah, that's where we meant you know and on our church missions. You don't you don't date you don't
Floor you don't you know really even spend too much time like
Thinking about members of the opposite sex you opposite sexy like really are dedicating those two years to the Lord Well, I'm like I said we were in Russia and one of the rules is you only speak
Russian, you don't speak English. So especially when you first arrive there, you go through this
really difficult process of like just throwing yourself into the language and doing your best to
forget English and only speaking Russian. And so when we very first met like first side each other,
that very first moment, I had already been in the country for like maybe six months or so. And so when we very first met like first sides of each other, that very first moment, I
had already been in the country for like maybe six months or so, and so I was speaking
Russian quite well, whereas Jessica had just arrived and she couldn't really speak or understand
Russian.
And so our meeting basically, if I were to translate, it was like, hi Jessica, I'm Garrett,
how are you?
How's it been here in Russia?
And she just looks at me completely.
I'm probably just like duh.
No, she just looking with a big smile and like couldn't respond.
And I was like, oh, well, you can't respond.
You don't understand me, but you're cute.
I'll talk to you later.
I'll talk to you in six months when you can understand me.
That is so funny.
You sing the jaw.
You didn't connect until after the six months.
Well, so we, I mean, so we were out there.
I mean, I guess another year.
So we were friends, we had worked together,
like we taught at English Club together.
Garrett had a really, really loyal girlfriend
back at home who was riding him every week.
Anyway, yeah, we just, we came back
and that didn't work out.
And I honestly, I was not interested in them.
Like I really liked him and respected him
as a missionary, he was a phenomenal missionary. And then I came home and we had a another buddy
who was in Russia with us. I was like, I want to take this girl out on a date. You guys should come
and we're like, okay, but like who should we go with? And he was like, we'll go with each other.
And we did. We went on a date and we went up like the canyon in Utah and watched a movie
in bean bags like in the back of the bed of a truck.
But the date started with us looking at each other like, oh, we're just friends, we're
just going on this double date to like do everybody a solid.
Like, there's no romantic feelings here.
And then we ended up cuddling that night.
But then we got really good chemistry.
And then I honestly, I had some cheesy when I say this,
but I honestly felt like it was this puzzle piece
that was meant to be together.
Like it just felt so right.
And anyway, we just started dating from there.
And then I think it was like what,
like our third date and I told Garrett,
I was like, I'll probably marry you.
No, it's our second date.
Jessica.
Hey, when you know, you know, right?
You know, you know.
Single Jessica was the most confident, aggressive,
forward girl I had ever come across.
I totally was.
I'm not afraid to make a move.
She put on all the moves and go after a guy.
And true story, yeah, it's our second date.
She looks up at me and is like, yeah,
I'm probably gonna marry you.
And I'm just like, red in the face and super not confident.
I'm like, oh my gosh, what is happening?
That is so awesome.
I love it.
Hey, I think more people need to be like that.
Confident and clear, clear is my confidence.
Like, no, these days like dating,
it is so confusing.
Like people are not clear.
And I think people are like scared they're gonna get ghosted every second.
So it's nice to be confident and it's nice to be clear.
And hey, you can't go watch a movie in a bean bag, wherever you'll wear a stargaze,
and not have a spark fly or two.
And so, it's awesome.
And there's something to, there is something to timing.
You know, waiting it out.
I have to say I love your story and how you're met in Russia.
Because I hear people say, like, everybody will say, well, you know, waiting it out. I have to say I love your story and how you're met in Russia
because I hear people say like,
everybody say, well, I don't wanna move to this place
because what if I like never finds the one
into small town or I don't wanna move there
because it's so big, what if I never find the one?
It's like, hey, if you're meant to be, it's gonna happen.
Y'all literally met in Russia, like on your church mission
and she couldn't even speak Russian so and you know
It'll work out and so that that's so cool. I love it
Well, I have one more question. This is kind of a silly one, but actually I'm genuinely asking for myself
So we just had a baby honey. She's amazing and we travel a lot with her
And I just personally need your best travel tips with
the baby because y'all do these crazy long flights and I'm sure you'll have some good
tips because we're trying to figure it out right now and how long she's now, she's five
months. Okay, so right now, she's actually like, she's like prime age, right? Where she's just so cute and like smiley, but
she's not going anywhere. Yes. Yes. But then I mean, I'll warn you that like eight months to 18
months, it's super tough. Super tough. Well, yeah, it's like a year to a year and a half is maybe
the most difficult,
but this is why it's awesome that you're asking us now
because perhaps our most important advice would be
to like travel now before she gets to that difficult age
because if she travels now,
then she kind of knows the system of like,
oh, okay, I'm gonna go on this plane
and I can't just like run up and down the aisles.
I need to like stay in my seat for the duration of the flight.
And the more that she can get accustomed to it now before she is that like year
to year and a half age, it's just going to make your life like a thousand times easier.
I mean, actually, as she grows, like you'll realize how like, how resilient she is.
I think so often, you know, like,
we kind of just, I don't know,
we don't expect much out of our children,
but we've learned that if you set high expectations
and they rise to them, you know,
and we're kids now learn, like,
I mean, for a while, we kind of would give them like shows
and now we're like, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no shows, you can sit at a dinner table for an hour
and quietly, like, participate or, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no that they got down. They got in there. And yeah, I think also I think is like new parents.
You're also always like, OK, what's the routine?
And how do you get the routine?
And like, the routine super helps.
But then when you do travel and take them out of the routine,
they go bonkers.
So for us, our routine was a non-routine.
And now our little ones, especially baby, like I can be like,
Callie, here's your bed and I lay down a towel and a pillow and he goes right to bed.
Yeah, that's awesome.
No, that is such good advice, honestly, because I do feel like the routine that the world
gives you, like, doesn't work for everybody, you know, like the way you're supposed to do it.
That's not how everyone lives their life.
And so, you know, this is pressure to like do the thing
that all the moms do, but it's like,
but what if our lifestyle isn't like all the other moms, you know?
And so that is really good that you have to like just adjust.
And also, I love how you say like set high expectations
for your kids and their rise to them
and expect more out of them because that's so true.
Like kids are resilient and they are the things
that come out of their mouth sometimes is like so wise.
Even if you're saying it and you're like, wow, I need to do
your that.
Obviously my daughter is a young, but we're around so many kids.
And you know, even in the Bible, it talks about having like faith
like a child.
And I just love that.
It's so true.
You can learn so much from a kid.
And so thanks for sharing, you know, y'all's family with the world because we learned so much from a kid. And so thanks for sharing y'all's family with the
world because we learned so much from y'all. And even just the bravery that your kids show and the
way that y'all parent is just so awesome. I did book come out a few years ago and it's called
Live. And the whole idea of it is that life was just given to us, but it's our choice and it's our, you know, choice and it's our kind of challenge to go live it, to not just exist,
but to actually live like it's a verb. And your life represents that so well. You know, you had
an opportunity after you invented the thing that you invented on Snapchat and sold it, to just,
you know, build your house and settle down and that would have been fine. That would have been great.
And that would have probably been what a lot of people would have done. But y'all chose to live. You chose to
not just exist, but to live your life like a verb and go out and do things that inspired people
and inspired your family. And the world is a better place because of it. And so I'm thankful I got
to have a conversation with you finally and get to thank you for all that you do and hear more about
your story. And I'm glad we got to do it with people listening. I hope they're inspired as well, but I look
forward to the day we get to do this in person and I'm so grateful that y'all were on my Facebook show.
Well, thank you. No, and likewise, the feeling is mutual. We know you put out so much good and I always
say, you know, especially when it comes to social media, you can put out good, bad, or nothing. And I honestly feel the Lord wants us to put good out there, you know, and just
the more love and kindness that we can share, it's just what the world needs right now.
You're more family, more authority, more everything. So, yes. Thank you as well for your beautiful
example. And we're so happy for you and your cute little family
and your new baby girl, she's got great hair.
Thank you so much.
So Honey Hi, tell Christian,
Hi, tell Christian that we love his TikTok dances.
That's super important.
And it's the best thing ever.
Oh, I will relay the message.
He's proud of that.
You're doing it.
Well, we'll do a TikTok dance together
and I appreciate you all so much.
I just wanna encourage everyone listening
just so that just that social media
you can put out good, bad, or nothing.
And I really do encourage all of you to go use it for good.
Every single one of you, if you're on this app,
that means you have a platform,
that means you have a voice,
that means that you have something that you can do well.
And so use do good well.
And so, use your words well, use your words wisely and use your words to make impact on people.
So, thanks so much.
Everyone have a great day and a great week and I'll catch you next time.
You too.
Bye guys.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. you