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The Challenge of Homeschooling When You Don't Speak English | EXHS #8

September 18, 2024 / 33:39

This episode features a conversation between host Jakeob Good and guest Julia, discussing their shared experiences in homeschooling, friendships, and personal growth.

Julia shares her journey of moving from Russia to the United States, highlighting the challenges of language barriers and adapting to a new culture. She recalls her early days of homeschooling and the pivotal role of her teacher, Mrs. Sanchez, who helped her succeed academically.

The discussion touches on their shared memories of group activities, including plays and band practice, which strengthened their friendship. Julia reflects on her transformation from a shy newcomer to a confident individual, particularly during performances.

As they catch up, Julia talks about her life as a stay-at-home mom with six children, her marriage, and the joys and challenges of parenting. She considers the idea of homeschooling her kids, weighing the pros and cons of different educational paths.

The episode concludes with a nostalgic look back at their high school experiences, including prom and group outings, and a desire to reconnect with their homeschooling community.

TL;DR

Julia shares her journey from Russia to homeschooling and motherhood, reflecting on friendships and personal growth.

Episode

33:39
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all right all right all right we are
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back in the ex- homeschoolers Club I am
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your host jakeob good and today I am
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joined with the wonderful lovely Julia
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uh we have known each other for a long
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long time uh I met her gosh I what did I
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say before I it was like a couple weeks
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after you moved here from Russia and uh
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we like were Sim grade in school we
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graduated together we went to prom
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together we were bands together we uh we
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did all of all of school together
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basically um so anyway uh thank you for
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coming on the show it's wonderful to
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have you yeah honored to be here it's
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really cool that you're doing the
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podcast well tell me a little bit about
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your homeschool Journey because uh from
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what I remember uh the first time I met
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you you hardly spoke any English uh you
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had just gotten here from Russia and you
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had we had one friend Luda who had also
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moved here from Russia and you guys yeah
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spoke able to talk to each other but to
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the rest of us like it was a foreign
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language um but I remember meeting you
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at group Solutions and uh and you just
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kind of like getting thrown in the group
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with everybody um and having to figure
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it out but tell me a little bit about
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that and like what that all look like
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yeah I think uh it's exactly like you
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said everything was going so fast too
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when um when I was younger because we
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were being moved uh from place to place
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being adopted and all that and not
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knowing the language um but it was also
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very exciting because we were in a
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different country and um nobody spoke
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our language and uh it was it was just
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so cool to have um friends and like it's
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it was sort of like a secret language
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you know because nobody else could
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understand us so that was kind of cool
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to look back on now and um I have a lot
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of great memories I think being
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homeschooled as well the one thing I
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think that a lot of people didn't get to
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experience is uh because being
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homeschooled usually like your parent is
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your teacher with it was not the case
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with my parents at all okay um my
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teacher was Mrs Sanchez you know and I
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don't think without her I would have
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ever done it like she she was she got me
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through it all so that was really cool
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yeah I was gonna ask you because I mean
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I've known your family for a long time
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and yeah your mom was always was sick
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she was battling cancer for a long long
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time and um and yeah I know that Mrs
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Sanchez was like heavily involved in
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your guys' schooling but I didn't know
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that she was basically she was teacher
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for you guys right for me that's how I
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remember it yeah for me she was teacher
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even when when I was like in a bad mood
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or whatever she would always like push
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me to do really really well in school
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and uh back then I totally hated it and
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I didn't like her for doing that to me
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was like you're a bad you're mean or
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something I don't know like being
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immature or whatever and stupid and
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dramatic but now I'm like looking back
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on it now and I'm so grateful and I'm so
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like I would never been able to push
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through that without her and I'm like
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forever grateful to her for sure was she
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also like doing that for your sisters as
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well not so much for
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Elena but defin a little bit for Christa
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here and there because like
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um uh Christa k kind of were like
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friends and stuff like that so me and
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Luda were friends so that's kind of uh
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how it worked out and sometimes like
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Kristal would go with me I think I don't
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know yeah so were you basically going to
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their house every day for school or or a
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couple days a week kind of a thing I
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think it was three times a week or
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something like that and then we would go
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to group
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Solutions and do like outside classes
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with other parents that were teaching
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and stuff like that yeah absolutely cu
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the Sanchez is really they were like the
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pioneers of group Solutions I remember
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that and uh yeah I'm hoping I'm hoping
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to get one or both of them on um at some
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point because like I would love to yeah
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I want to chat uh to them I'm going to
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do a whole season with just like parents
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um and get their perspective on on
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things as well um but yeah they group
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Solutions was fantastic because like it
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gave us kind of an outlet to be I don't
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know my first two years two three years
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of homeschooling were just so like stuck
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at home and no friends and like I had
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gone to public school before that and so
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it's just like I just needed friends and
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group Solutions like became that safe
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place of like it was like going to
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regular school for a day you know yeah I
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guess so I guess you're right I never
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wanted to go to real school my mom made
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me shadow like a private school somebody
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that went to private school and I
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actually went to visit I think it was
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Ventura High School and I was so afraid
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of going I was like no I'm GNA stick
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with homeschooling
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so that's what I did it's funny how that
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works too because like yeah by the time
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I was in high school I was like I can't
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imagine going to public high school like
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I my parents kind of gave me the option
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or at least it was like discussed a
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little bit and I was just like why would
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I want to do that I like make my own
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schedule I can I like work when I want
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to I can go see friends I can kind of
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like do whatever I was like an adult and
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especially once we got like old enough
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to like have driver's license and stuff
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it was like well you're just like you
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know you're in charge of your life go
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figure it out go get a job go do
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whatever you know I I can't imagine like
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giving that up I don't know to go to
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like a public high school I think it was
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more so like they were just giving me
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options yeah you know which they did
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with like extracurricular activities as
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well which was really cool to experience
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for me
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because um a lot of the things if you
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add up like kids sports and kids
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activities they can get really expensive
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over like
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a long period of time if especially if
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your kids are doing that you know and I
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don't know how my parents did it but we
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get to experience so many cool things it
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was insane what kind of like
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extracurricular stuff were you
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doing I did a lot of stuff I did like
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taekwan do I did uh ballet I did tap
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Jazz I did like the plays at the
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Mitchell's um uh which was was different
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but still I want to include that because
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it's so fun looking back on it no that
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was like its own it was that that was
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like its own thing and it's so funny
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because the the episode at the time of
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recording this the episode that just
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came out for the podcast was my
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interview with Nick and it briefly came
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up and I had someone comment who was not
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a part of our friend group at all just
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some Rando from the internet commented
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and was like these tell talk more about
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these backyard plays but um yeah it was
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basically like theater in the round
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their driveway in the in the middle of
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their driveway was like this dirt patch
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I think at one point it was grass but it
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became dirt because we were just walking
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all over it but yeah they did like
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Beauty and the Beast uh Lion King I
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remember you having a significant role
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in Lion King was that oh yeah oh yeah I
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had definitely a significant role I
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still remember to this day I was Rafiki
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the baboon you know and so I had like to
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chant in front of like a bunch of people
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and I remember like screwing up my lines
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pretty bad in the middle of all of that
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and then I was just like you know what
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screw it I already screwed up so I'm
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just going to keep going and then and
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the audience ended up lasing and it was
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such like a validating feeling for me
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you know yeah so I just kept going and
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it was great after that and oh man at
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the time I think I was a little bit
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embarrassed but now it's it's I'm so
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glad I got to experience it it's so cool
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it's so funny too because like I I don't
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know I feel like I've known you long
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enough that I feel like I've watched
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able to watch you like just become like
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a really confident person if that makes
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sense like yeah and like I I mean like
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and I mean this in the best way possible
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but like I remember you being very shy
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initially when you got here and I think
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it probably had a lot to do with like
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language barrier and stuff but like I
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remember you being very shy and not
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outgoing and then I don't know the
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longer I got to know you the the more
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more you just were you found like your
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voice as a person and um I don't know I
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just I don't know I'm remembering that
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play in particular and you had a lot of
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lines and yeah I remember you just like
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taking charge of them and being awesome
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at it so you know well thank you I
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appreciate that um yeah I think it's
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definitely the language barrier about
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the whole being shy thing because I feel
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like I was really annoying as like a
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younger kid I was very loud when I would
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go to
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aana and like stand on the tables and be
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very loud and scream a lot and like
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I don't know I mean to be honest like I
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feel like until about junior high high
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school we probably were a little bit
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more like surface level friends um I
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don't know I I don't know what the shift
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was where we became better friends but
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um the band was it the band it was
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theand it was the
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band that was you me and Derry right
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yeah it was I think it was just like I
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really wanted it to be a band but we
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weren't really gonna go anywhere you
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know but we were a band yeah I remember
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that and I remember like practicing at
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your house
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and I I yeah I don't know you would
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write songs I remember you'd send us
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songs and be like oh can you like put
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something put some music to this or
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whatever I'm sure they're probably
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somewhere I'm looking at my my guitar
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gear over in the corner it's probably
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somewhere buried in all that stuff um or
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saved on my computer or something but uh
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yeah you used to like write songs and I
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don't know we just like it was just fun
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we just noodled around on stuff you know
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if you have anything please send it to
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me oh my God I want to see because I
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don't remember it I do remember
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practicing like at at our house but it
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more turned into like we were just
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chatting about it you know and uh I
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still can't believe we had a band but I
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think that's what like brought our
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friendship closer you me and da started
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to like go out I think and I don't know
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we we had a lot of fun though it was
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cool and then also we went to church
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together yes yeah that's true as well
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yeah we all went to reality and so we
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were a youth group together and I don't
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know we just were around each other a
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lot I feel like it just kind of was one
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of those things it
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became I don't know we the same grade we
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graduated together um yeah which like
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that whole year too like what was cool
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with like achieve was that like we like
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our graduating class like they planned
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stuff for us to do like we got to have
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like senior ditch day and we got to have
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well I don't I don't know if we had
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senior ditch day but we had like events
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like I we go to people's houses and we
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do certain things and then we went to
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Disneyland all together and like just
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stuff like that we just got that was so
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that was so much fun I was looking at
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photos of that I I'm gonna proba you'll
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probably see it on Instagram but I had a
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photo of uh I want to say it was all of
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us but it was most of us at Disneyland I
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think we're in line for Space Mountain
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um Al together but I have very fond
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memories of that and what's cool I don't
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know if you remember this or not but Mr
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and Mrs y were the ones who took us on
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the Disneyland trip and we got there
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and I think all of us were a little
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worried that they were going to just
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like stick with us the whole day and
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they just said like go have your own fun
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don't bug us we're going to go have our
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own Disneyland day just the two of us
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and uh we'll see you at the end of the
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day at the car and they just kind of let
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us like go do whatever we wanted for the
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whole day at Disneyland wow that's so
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cool of them I didn't know not until now
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at least and I that's amazing I would
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have never let my kids go online like
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that too terrifying the other major
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thing that happened uh with us we went
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to prom together which uh I don't know
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about you I went to two H school promps
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I went with Carrie um and then I went
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with you and
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uh we I think ours was on a fairy boat
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if I'm not
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mistaken yeah I think um wasn't some
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school put it on yeah I think it was
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Calvary Chapel um the Calvary Chapel
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School which was like kind of homeschool
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adjacent was resp
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and um yeah we went was really fun I
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thought that was a really cool song I
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yeah I remember it being a lot of fun
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and I remember yeah going out in the
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water I danced with a lot of like my
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girlfriends there I don't think I've
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ever danced in my life before so that
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was a that was a fun experience I've
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been to like a lot of proms too and I
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think um that one was probably the best
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one um I think I went to like three or
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three different Broms or something I
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don't know I don't remember also The
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Homeschool dances we have to talk about
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those because oh my gosh uh I feel like
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everybody else's parents made them go or
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is that wrong I don't know my mom made
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me take dance lessons I think when I was
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about 12 maybe 13 and I didn't like it
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at first the first dance I ever went to
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was at the pet house I danced with one
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girl and it was because it they dragged
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me to the dance floor um to do it um but
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but after that I think I was pretty sold
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on the whole thing um so yeah I mean my
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parents didn't have to drag me there
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because I wanted to go but I do know
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some kids that got dragged there were
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you one of those kids no but you know as
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growing up I the impression that I got
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from like majority of the family is like
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oh you have to be here or something or
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that their parents made them go whether
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it was church or or like
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or um a d a homeschool dance or
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something like that and then my mom
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would always joke about going to the
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dances break all of the dress codes
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she's like yeah I'm GNA show up with a
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spaghetti strap and see what the mom
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say and we would just laugh about it it
00:14:18
was so great yeah your mom was
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definitely a a troublemaker type person
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yeah no for sure but you know that's
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what we love most about her yes
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absolutely absolutely so tell me a
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little bit about like post homeschool
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years and like what like what are you
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doing now what's life like I knew you're
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married you got kids you know what's
00:14:43
like what's going on what's going on I'm
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a stay-at-home mom now which is
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crazy um from anybody that knows me at
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least it's crazy because I like
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basically never babysat in my
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life so uh I have about like six kids
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wow so it's a lot of kids we have like a
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little Frenchy dog too and um it's a
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really beautiful family all the little
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girls and they always want to like
00:15:13
they're very affectionate and loving
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towards one another and towards like
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their
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siblings
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and and and to me and Dad obviously and
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and it's so cool to just watch because I
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I wasn't that I wasn't that little when
00:15:30
I first came to America you know so and
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it's weird it's honestly weird having
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kids and it's like a little piece of you
00:15:40
just walking out and about yeah and and
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um it's it's crazy to watch them grow up
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and I feel like I understand parents
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better now like my own parents and stuff
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and um there're it's so weird because
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like now I call my dad and ask him like
00:16:00
oh what do you what do I do about this
00:16:02
or what do you think and like ask him
00:16:03
for real advice when I would never do
00:16:06
that if I was like in high school or
00:16:08
whatever you know yeah so it's something
00:16:12
really special and yeah I got married in
00:16:15
like February so that was really cool
00:16:18
congratulations thank you um so that's
00:16:22
what I'm doing now what are the what are
00:16:23
the age ranges on your guys'
00:16:25
kids so the oldest is 13 that's my
00:16:29
stepson and um my other ones are both of
00:16:35
them are eight
00:16:37
so
00:16:38
um two
00:16:40
eight-year-olds and a five-year-old a
00:16:45
three-year-old and a one-year-old wow
00:16:48
wow you got you got the
00:16:50
gamra yeah but you know what I just take
00:16:53
them all to the park uh because they
00:16:55
have some amazing Parks here in San
00:16:57
Diego and I take them to like the
00:17:00
swimming pool and there's so much fun
00:17:02
there's so much fun to hang out with
00:17:04
they we always play video games now and
00:17:07
it's amazing I love it and I feel like
00:17:12
it's it's so much fun that's so cool
00:17:14
well and like I don't know what the what
00:17:18
are what the school is looking like but
00:17:19
you know I mean school is practically
00:17:21
back in session if not in session at
00:17:24
this point so but I'm sure like summer
00:17:26
is like super fun where it's just like
00:17:28
everybody's at home
00:17:29
and man that sounds like so fun oh my
00:17:32
gosh I'm I'm having flashbacks to I used
00:17:35
to babysit for a family and they I think
00:17:38
had eight kids if I'm not mistaken and
00:17:42
my sister and I we would tag team baby
00:17:44
sitting and she would handle the girls
00:17:46
which there was only two of and then I
00:17:48
got the boys which it was just like
00:17:49
Legos and Star Wars and video games and
00:17:54
movies and stuff but it was so much fun
00:17:56
to to do that and so I I can only
00:17:59
imagine um what your house be like we
00:18:02
have four girls and two boys but all of
00:18:06
them play video games nice we like all
00:18:09
do it together as a family too sometimes
00:18:11
that's so fun that's so fun do you guys
00:18:12
have like a game in particular that's
00:18:14
like the
00:18:16
game uh Call of Duty okay zombies yeah I
00:18:21
love that yeah we love it Call of Duty
00:18:23
anything pretty much but mostly right
00:18:25
now it's the zombies yeah that's awesome
00:18:28
oh my gosh that's so much fun the last
00:18:30
time my folks were in town uh we play we
00:18:33
got them to play video games and we
00:18:35
taught them how to play Mario Kart and
00:18:37
how to play Mario Party and uh it was
00:18:40
just so funny because they haven't
00:18:41
played video games in like so long and
00:18:44
so um we kind of got
00:18:46
them yeah like we it's funny because so
00:18:49
there's a retro arcade here that um we
00:18:52
took them to and so it's like all of the
00:18:54
old arcade games right and so they were
00:18:56
like crushing at Pac-Man and centipede
00:18:58
and like all of that stuff and I'm
00:19:00
sitting there going oh my gosh how can
00:19:02
you play these like they're so ancient
00:19:04
um it's fun but I'm like no good at them
00:19:06
and they're super good and then I was
00:19:07
like okay well now you got to play my
00:19:08
video
00:19:09
games you know um and so yeah but once
00:19:12
you put them into Mario Kart they're
00:19:13
like wait what do I do again how do I
00:19:16
turn the wheel you know all that stuff
00:19:17
but um no but video games are so much
00:19:21
fun yeah it is it's definitely awesome I
00:19:25
love it too I I'm so glad your parents
00:19:26
played with you that's amazing
00:19:29
so are you I'm assuming you're not
00:19:32
homeschooling your kids but um but did
00:19:34
you think about it or are you
00:19:35
homeschooling your kids you know I me
00:19:39
and my oldest daughter who is eight
00:19:41
years old turning nine
00:19:43
soon we talked about homeschooling she's
00:19:46
like I want to be homeschooled because I
00:19:49
want to spend more time with my family
00:19:52
and I was like yeah that would be cool
00:19:55
but and I think it would be great if I
00:19:57
had the patience to do it I will do it
00:20:00
because there was a period of time where
00:20:03
I was frightful for my like for my kid
00:20:07
and not that anything happened but like
00:20:09
you know when there there was like a
00:20:10
period where the shootings were
00:20:12
happening and stuff like that and so
00:20:14
sending your kid to public school and
00:20:17
like having them um I don't know go
00:20:21
through that that's fening and I don't
00:20:22
want my kid to go through that too you
00:20:24
know so I think that's when I was
00:20:27
thinking about homeschooling but then I
00:20:29
was like I probably couldn't do it you
00:20:32
know I don't know I maybe I'm just
00:20:35
doubting myself though who
00:20:37
knows I mean it's it's not for everybody
00:20:41
but also it's like I don't know I I feel
00:20:43
like it's so much different I remember
00:20:45
my mom I I was talking to her this week
00:20:48
about it because it was like how did you
00:20:51
pick curriculum like how did you decide
00:20:53
on that and she was just like you just
00:20:55
kind of you know you went to the the
00:20:58
conf confence and they had all the
00:20:59
different things and you just picked one
00:21:01
and you just hoped it was okay and then
00:21:03
maybe the next year it was like this
00:21:05
didn't really work let's try something
00:21:06
different kind of a thing but then you
00:21:07
you figure it out after a while you're
00:21:09
like oh this particular math works and
00:21:10
this science works and that you know
00:21:12
what history lessons work or whatever um
00:21:16
so I I don't know I mean I know she was
00:21:19
she was kind of freaked out when she
00:21:21
started home she started homeschooling
00:21:22
me I was 8 years old so I was your
00:21:24
daughter's age when I was when I started
00:21:26
and uh it was a rough couple years to
00:21:29
begin with because we just had to figure
00:21:30
it out
00:21:31
but I don't know I think there's some
00:21:34
pros to to public school as well and I
00:21:37
don't know you also it just seems like
00:21:39
you guys are so involved in like your
00:21:41
kids lives that I think regardless of
00:21:44
whether you homeschool them or public
00:21:45
school or private school or any anything
00:21:48
I think they're just going to remember
00:21:49
like Mom and Dad like loved us and were
00:21:52
involved and wanted to know what was
00:21:54
going on and like help us with homework
00:21:55
and stuff like that and I think that's I
00:21:57
don't know I like that's what goes the
00:22:01
distance you know what I mean like you
00:22:02
were talking about with Mrs Sanchez like
00:22:03
you just remember her pushing you to be
00:22:06
better yeah Mrs Sanchez was the one one
00:22:08
of the reasons why I went to Mrs Sanchez
00:22:10
and when my mom like
00:22:13
or I guess they made an arrangement or
00:22:16
something where she was my my teacher I
00:22:18
don't know um one of the reasons was
00:22:21
because me and my mom were
00:22:24
bickering oh okay yeah exactly and
00:22:28
that's probably cuz she didn't have no
00:22:29
patience for
00:22:32
me so I'm like relatable I feel you
00:22:36
there do you feel like uh do you feel
00:22:39
like you guys fought because I don't
00:22:41
know I hear this all the time where it's
00:22:42
like the people who don't get along
00:22:44
typically it's because they're so
00:22:46
similar that they like they Clash a
00:22:49
little bit like they kind of have I I
00:22:52
don't know well what what let me explain
00:22:54
this okay so like I'm whether you
00:22:57
believe in star sign not I'm a Leo which
00:23:00
means certain things yeah and I know our
00:23:02
birthdays are really close to each other
00:23:04
but yeah so like you kind of have those
00:23:06
like dominant leadership personas like
00:23:09
kind of exist within you which can make
00:23:10
you kind of strong willed hard-headed
00:23:13
kind of a person and uh and you pair
00:23:16
that with another Leo and sometimes it's
00:23:19
just like o it's bad or like even my
00:23:23
wife my wife is a Scorpio and like it is
00:23:26
it sometimes is head-on coll with that
00:23:29
one um but we love each other it's just
00:23:32
sometimes sometimes it's just you know
00:23:34
it's just those Wills you know get you
00:23:36
know they get in the way do you feel
00:23:37
like maybe that was like why you and
00:23:39
your mom were kind of like at each other
00:23:42
it's weird it's weird that you say that
00:23:44
and bring that up because like a lot of
00:23:46
her friends have mentioned the
00:23:48
similarities I never really
00:23:51
seen like I've never seen that before
00:23:55
but I have gotten that before from some
00:23:57
of her friends like they seen they have
00:24:00
seen certain similarities between me and
00:24:02
my mom even though we're not you know
00:24:04
I'm adopted
00:24:06
and and I take it as a compliment though
00:24:10
I think that there's definitely where I
00:24:13
can relate with my mom is the rebellious
00:24:17
side of her yeah that's where we connect
00:24:20
I think I don't
00:24:22
know I feel that where we have bonded
00:24:25
actually when I was
00:24:27
younger one of the ways that we bonded
00:24:30
was
00:24:31
um was we played a game called uh well
00:24:37
we called it it was just our own little
00:24:39
game we called it top that sin okay and
00:24:44
uh that was where she would tell me like
00:24:46
her stuff when she did when she was
00:24:50
younger like her rebellious phase or
00:24:53
whatever the stories that she would tell
00:24:56
me and then that was my way of telling
00:24:58
her what I did wrong like during the
00:25:00
week or whatever and that's how I would
00:25:03
confess to her so we would play this
00:25:05
game called top that soon I don't know
00:25:07
if that makes sense but no that totally
00:25:09
makes sense oh my gosh that's that's
00:25:12
hilarious I it's really weird that's so
00:25:15
fun so like if your mom was like oh I
00:25:17
don't know I snuck out when I was 16 and
00:25:20
went to my boyfriend's house then you
00:25:21
had to like top it somehow and be like
00:25:24
well I did that and did
00:25:27
this pretty much pretty much yeah it was
00:25:31
kind of
00:25:32
funny funny looking back I was totally I
00:25:36
think at the time I it was my my way of
00:25:41
like confessing to her and like feeling
00:25:44
safe like oh this is where I did
00:25:46
something wrong or I think it's wrong
00:25:49
like um what I don't know what do you
00:25:53
think or what do I do I didn't know what
00:25:55
to do so I was like panicking yeah well
00:25:58
that's interesting too cuz it was it
00:26:01
like what obviously I mean nobody wants
00:26:04
to tell their parent that they like did
00:26:05
something wrong especially because like
00:26:08
fear of punishment but like what did
00:26:10
like was there punishment involved after
00:26:12
that or was it like no this is like a
00:26:13
safe place and then we're going to like
00:26:14
talk about it and maybe how you could
00:26:16
have handled it differently like what
00:26:18
what was that like that's a good
00:26:19
question so another thing is with my
00:26:21
parents I didn't really get grounded I
00:26:23
feel like a lot even when I would do
00:26:26
something bad which I don't understand
00:26:28
but it was more so like let's sit down
00:26:32
and talk about it all together which
00:26:34
would would make me even more nervous
00:26:36
you know because then my dad would be
00:26:38
like Julia and then let's come in my
00:26:41
room and let's talk and then we talk
00:26:43
about the problem and it would be so
00:26:45
like awkward and we would all be sitting
00:26:48
there and actually like confronting the
00:26:50
issue and I was so not not used to that
00:26:54
you know yeah dang that's so that's so
00:26:57
different
00:26:59
my man I my family we talked but like I
00:27:03
don't know I just I have more memories
00:27:04
of like my getting in trouble and my dad
00:27:07
being like you're coming to work with me
00:27:09
and then he would hand me to like the
00:27:11
janitor or like uh one of like the guys
00:27:13
who worked in the mail room or something
00:27:14
and be like I don't know give him some
00:27:16
job to do and I would like scrub out the
00:27:18
the refrigerator at work that was like
00:27:20
caked and soda and moldy food and stuff
00:27:22
like that like there was like I don't
00:27:25
know like it's just so it's so different
00:27:27
I don't know like I love it though I
00:27:29
love it like I'm very like Pro open
00:27:32
communication and like hey let's discuss
00:27:33
it let's figure out like you know is it
00:27:37
makes a kid nervous yeah for sure if
00:27:41
both parents are like come sit down and
00:27:42
talk to me I think it definitely makes
00:27:44
it K
00:27:46
nervous oh yeah absolutely I can't
00:27:49
imagine I still get nervous my parents
00:27:51
are like oh we need to have a talk I'm
00:27:52
like about what like I know I can't even
00:27:56
say a bad word in front of my dad I
00:27:58
can't I just can't do it yeah the it's
00:28:02
oh my gosh my the first time I cussed in
00:28:04
front of my parents
00:28:06
like post I don't know being as being an
00:28:08
adult I remember kind of being like just
00:28:10
subtly like slipping like in there
00:28:13
just kind of you just test the waters a
00:28:15
little bit and then it was like they
00:28:17
didn't really say anything about it and
00:28:19
I was like okay okay and then the first
00:28:21
time I used the f word around them I was
00:28:23
like and and it just kind of test
00:28:26
the waters a little bit and and what's
00:28:27
funny is uh my mom my mom cussed at us
00:28:31
when we were kids um quite a bit and um
00:28:35
so I so I was like she's like I can't
00:28:37
deny like you learned it from me it's
00:28:39
not like it's not like we went out and
00:28:43
you know and then we came back and she's
00:28:45
like where did you learn this language
00:28:46
it's like she's like I know where you
00:28:47
learned how to talk like this um but uh
00:28:51
yeah so it's funny it's just one of
00:28:52
those things now we as a family we talk
00:28:54
about we're like hey sometimes you just
00:28:55
got to let it out you know you just got
00:28:57
to you know also there's studies that
00:28:59
show that uh more intelligent people
00:29:01
actually use cuss wordss so you know I
00:29:04
just tell people I'm a genius
00:29:08
so so using that next time that's
00:29:12
hilarious oh man I I do that too though
00:29:15
it's hard not to nowadays you know
00:29:17
because I feel like everybody does so
00:29:20
it's hard to avoid it it is hard it is
00:29:22
hard to avoid it but yeah you can just
00:29:25
yeah tell people you're a genius and
00:29:27
it's harder with little kids I'm sure
00:29:28
because you know we don't want
00:29:30
three-year-olds necessarily always
00:29:31
walking around saying certain things but
00:29:34
yeah but you know um anyway oh my gosh
00:29:38
well I I'm so like it's so great to
00:29:40
catch up with you because like I've
00:29:41
missed you it's been a long time since
00:29:43
we've seen each other I want to say the
00:29:44
last time I saw you was your your
00:29:48
8-year-old was like a baby like just
00:29:51
born kind of yeah yeah that's Jazzy was
00:29:55
like I don't know yeah she was probably
00:29:58
just like born huh probably I mean I
00:30:00
remember her being in like a stroller
00:30:03
wasn't your mom at my baby shower I
00:30:05
think so it's possible cuz you had her I
00:30:09
was in college when you had her and so
00:30:11
funny enough I remember when after my
00:30:14
freshman year talking to you on the
00:30:16
phone you I had texted you to be like
00:30:18
hey I'm going to be home for like the
00:30:19
summer or something and uh we should
00:30:21
like hang out and you were like I have
00:30:24
something like I'm excited to see you
00:30:25
and like I have something to tell you
00:30:27
and I was like okay and then and I was
00:30:30
like well what is it and you're like you
00:30:31
have to wait till you get here and uh
00:30:33
and I was like okay and then a couple
00:30:35
minutes later you text me and you're
00:30:36
like can I just call you I can't I can't
00:30:38
wait to tell you or whatever and then
00:30:40
you called me and you were like I'm
00:30:41
pregnant and I was like oh wow I was
00:30:43
like okay um and uh I don't know it was
00:30:46
so exciting and um you know I know that
00:30:49
was like its own uh thing of itself but
00:30:54
but I'm you know I I don't know I love I
00:30:57
love that you became a mom and you know
00:31:00
and you're a great mom so thank you H
00:31:04
thank you so much I really appreciate
00:31:05
that I'm
00:31:08
definitely uh still learning it's a
00:31:11
learning thing I swear and also
00:31:14
like oh man I'm so I'm it's so it's s so
00:31:18
challenging too it's crazy yeah yeah
00:31:22
people don't warn you about this at all
00:31:26
it's it's wild they're just talk about
00:31:27
about how cute babies are and stuff like
00:31:29
that but they don't warn you about
00:31:31
motherhood it's really the
00:31:36
hood yeah for real part of the uh yeah
00:31:39
the the motherhood gang um man that's so
00:31:42
funny um yeah I mean I I I answer I
00:31:48
asked all the questions I had for you I
00:31:49
didn't know if there was any stories
00:31:52
that you had thought of to to share or
00:31:54
anything like that but um yeah I no I
00:31:58
think I think we covered all the bases
00:32:00
yeah very cool well thank you so much
00:32:02
for coming on I've I've loved catching
00:32:04
up with you and I promise uh I Won't
00:32:07
Wait Another like nineish years to uh
00:32:10
Nish years to reach out um because yeah
00:32:14
and uh I know we were talking at one
00:32:15
point about doing a reunion um so
00:32:18
hopefully we can get enough
00:32:19
homeschoolers and do some kind of
00:32:20
reunion at some point and uh catch up
00:32:23
with everybody cuz that's like I would
00:32:25
love that I think that' be so much fun
00:32:27
but again thank you so much for coming
00:32:29
on and being just like open to to
00:32:31
talking and sharing and yeah you know no
00:32:34
of course of course it's an honor to be
00:32:36
part of your cool podcast seriously I'm
00:32:39
excited and um I can't wait to see where
00:32:42
it goes
00:32:43
seriously and I'm honored to be a part
00:32:45
of it it's a big deal of course you had
00:32:47
to be you had to be uh well yeah this
00:32:51
has been the XOM scho pod uh if you
00:32:53
liked what you heard um I would love if
00:32:55
you you know subscribe follow uh thumbs
00:32:59
up leave a review comment whatever you
00:33:01
got to do um or feel free to even shoot
00:33:04
me an email um it is at uh exhs
00:33:08
[email protected] uh all that stuff will be
00:33:11
in the show notes of course but yeah um
00:33:13
Julia once again thank you so much for
00:33:14
coming on and until next time later
00:33:24
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 60
    Most heartwarming

Episode Highlights

  • Homeschooling Journey
    Julia shares her unique experience of being homeschooled after moving from Russia.
    “It was also very exciting because we were in a different country.”
    @ 01m 34s
    September 18, 2024
  • The Impact of Mrs. Sanchez
    Julia credits her teacher for her success in homeschooling.
    “Without her, I would have never done it.”
    @ 02m 16s
    September 18, 2024
  • Memories of Prom
    Julia and Jakeob reminisce about their prom experience together.
    “I remember it being a lot of fun.”
    @ 12m 38s
    September 18, 2024
  • Navigating Homeschooling
    Discussing the challenges and uncertainties of homeschooling versus public schooling.
    “I don’t want my kid to go through that too.”
    @ 20m 22s
    September 18, 2024
  • Bonding Through Rebellion
    Sharing stories of rebellion as a way to connect with parents.
    “We played a game called top that sin.”
    @ 24m 31s
    September 18, 2024
  • The Reality of Motherhood
    Exploring the unexpected challenges of motherhood beyond the cute baby phase.
    “People don’t warn you about this at all.”
    @ 31m 26s
    September 18, 2024

Episode Quotes

  • It was sort of like a secret language.
    The Challenge of Homeschooling When You Don't Speak English | EXHS #8
  • I’m forever grateful to her for sure.
    The Challenge of Homeschooling When You Don't Speak English | EXHS #8
  • I don’t know, I maybe I’m just doubting myself though.
    The Challenge of Homeschooling When You Don't Speak English | EXHS #8
  • I think they’re just going to remember like Mom and Dad loved us.
    The Challenge of Homeschooling When You Don't Speak English | EXHS #8
  • It’s really the hood.
    The Challenge of Homeschooling When You Don't Speak English | EXHS #8

Key Moments

  • Theater Memories07:14
  • Language Barrier08:45
  • Homeschool Dances13:02
  • Parenting Reflections15:51
  • Homeschooling Thoughts20:21
  • Parent-Child Bonding24:22
  • Motherhood Challenges31:22
  • Podcast Farewell32:51

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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