Setting New Year Intentions: Why Writing it Down Works & the 42% Rule

Chris & Jen in the Morning | Season 2, Episode 1: New Year, New Intentions

Show Title: Chris & Jen in the Morning

Season: 2

Episode: 1

Tagline: Where Self-Care Meets Real Life

Hosts: Chris & Jen

Producer Referenced: Ace

🎧 Episode Overview & Key Topics

• **** Season 2 Welcome & 2026 New Year Costume Changes

• **** Heading to PodFest Orlando & Improv Class Challenges

• **** Season 1 Reflection: Difficult Conversations, Mortality, and Global Listeners

• **** Gratitude Moments: Team Growth & Chris’s 10-Year New York "Move-a-versary"

• **** Unveiling the New Season 2 Art and Tagline

• **** The Psychology of Intentions vs. Hard New Year’s Resolutions

• **** The "Do, Have, Be, Live" Quadrant Framework

• **** Creative Goal Setting: Intentional Vision Boards and Paintings

• **** Choosing a Word of Focus & Setting Personal Anthems

• **** Global Traditions: Ousouji (Japan), Lunar New Year, and the "Fresh Start Effect"

• **** Southern Luck: Black-Eyed Peas, Rain on Wedding Days, and Tying the Knot

• **** The 12 Grapes Tradition (Las doce uvas de la suerte) Under the Table

• **** The Power of Evolving Goals, Self-Compassion, and Stepping into Agency

• **** Listener Community Outro, Merch Details, and Contact Info

📝 Full Transcript

- Season 2 Kickoff & The 2026 New Year Glasses

Chris (00:05)

Welcome to Chris and Jen in the Morning.

Jen (00:07)

Where self-care meets real life. And I'm Jen and we are here for season two.

Chris (00:09)

I'm Chris. Season 2 and Happy New Year!

Jen (00:16)

Happy New Year! Chris has got the glasses! Does that say six or five? I can't really...

Chris (00:21)

See, I said the exact same thing. It's not as descriptive as you would think. I think it's this side or is it this side? No, it's this side. It's a six. It's definitely a six, but it kind of looks like a five. Yeah. Yeah. And if you don't like the blue, hold on. Let me do a quick costume change. You ready for this? You ready? Are you ready for this?

Jen (00:28)

That's the one. It is a six, but it kind of looks like it could be a five. Oh my gosh, you guys, he's got more than one. I am not surprised. Your favorite color. Did you guys wear these on New Year's Eve?

Chris (00:45)

We are here for it.

Jen (00:48)

2020 X, S, S, not X, S.

Chris (00:53)

2026, Jen, it's 2026, okay?

Jen (00:55)

Did you wear those on New Year's Eve?

Chris (00:56)

You know how you've said like, you feel like I have it all together and that I'm—yeah, I guess I play that part really well. Because in reality, I remembered all of it except the glasses. And then it wasn't until the day after, it wasn't until January 1st, I was like, "Oh my gosh, I had these glasses." But it's going to be 2026 for another 361 days. So I miss some number of days—300 and some. Is this a leap year? I don't know.

Jen (01:01)

Yeah, I do.

Chris (01:27)

Yeah, I don't know. So anyways, but I figure I could just wear them all the time and I would still be relevant and accurate.

- Road to PodFest & Season 1 Reflection

Jen (01:35)

I think you should wear them to PodFest in like two weeks. We'll be going a week and a half in Orlando, which by the time this publishes is like a week. So very shortly we'll be at PodFest.

Chris (01:38)

Done. We'll do it. 10 days. My flights have been purchased. I will be there.

Jen (01:54)

I'm super excited that we are here for season two. We did some work last night, kind of pulling together what season one has looked like for us. And man, like what a year. This is—it's been crazy. We reflected.

Chris (02:44)

Haha.

Jen (02:44)

Gosh. It's been a few weeks because I was out for the count with a back injury. But we reflected when we got together and talked last about all of the things that we learned. And we barely scratched the surface with that episode. Great episode. Ace did some great work pulling together a bunch of stuff. I've just still been thinking about all of these things that we learned. In fact, as I was looking at some of our episodes and kind of updating titles so that the internet actually understands what we're talking about, I was sort of in the back of my mind thinking about all of these lessons that we have learned over the past year. I mean, in season one, we talked about so many things. And some of the things that rise to the top for me have been like having difficult conversations without losing your cool. And how do you respect people and disagree with them at the same time? Respecting that kind of core value of everybody has value. We talked about death and accepting our mortality, which was a really good one. And I think—

Chris (03:13)

Yeah.

Jen (03:30)

And what I love about that conversation is not like you and I going, "We have the answers," but we're going, "This is something we're wrestling with. Let's just talk about it."

Chris (03:39)

Yeah, and it was really birthed from something that was personal and meaningful. And I think that's one of the things when I look back at our catalog of things, I feel like we started with things that we were comfortable with. And as we moved further into the year, it turns into this like... journey. Yeah, exactly. This journey of growth that we've been on both like in this podcast world, but also personally within our lives.

Jen (04:02)

How are we growing? Yeah? Yeah, imposter syndrome—tackling that as a topic. That's something we openly said during the conversation we struggle with. But having all of these conversations, what I love about it is our goal in this podcast was to take the conversations we have every day and package that into a conversation that not only can help other people, but invite other people in to participate with us.

And I feel like that's what we've been doing. We're still on this growth journey. We're not here to say we have all of this figured out, but just here are the things we're wrestling with and here's what we're learning about it. And we acknowledge that we're continuing to learn and evolve. It's amazing. It's incredible. I can't believe what we have been able to accomplish this last year within ourselves and then together as a team.

- Deep Gratitude & A New York Anniversary

Chris (05:03)

Yeah.

Jen (05:03)

Before we talk about the New Year and all of the fun, exciting ways to set intentions for the new year—which is what we're going to talk about today—let's talk about gratitude. And honestly, I'll start, because my gratitude moment, as cliché as maybe it is, is really about you both, Ace and Chris, and us as a team together making this podcast happen. How could I not just be like incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have this experience, grateful to myself for getting way outside of my comfort zone and stepping into this? And so incredibly grateful for the amount of growth and the experience and the ability to really like dive in and drive how we grow this last year, and then to like prove to ourselves that we are worth it and we're worthy and we have—of course we should be here. We have every right to be here. So just, I'm incredibly grateful. You probably have better words for that than I do, but...

Chris (06:10)

No, like I'm—I actually selected a different gratitude moment because that was going to be mine too. So I was like, "But if Jen says that, I want something different. Let's not have me be an echo chamber."

But I do agree. Like, I think this last year has taught us so much—like not just about the journey of figuring out the systems, the tools, the backgrounds, the lighting, the microphones, like all of those things, which has been great. Like it's definitely expanded our knowledge and our, I would say, our resiliency in the creation of quality content every week. But it's also been like we've pushed ourselves beyond our comfort zones of what we're willing to share, of figuring out how to tell a story from start to finish and how it impacts us and its purpose on us, as well as how do we package the content in a way to get it out there. Like we started two, three, four different social channels from nothing. Like it was from our base of what we tap into from family, friends, extended friends, like those types of things. And now we've grown into what we are, which isn't huge, but it's also something that we started for ourselves. And so—

Jen (07:20)

It was not small. I mean, what, like 13-plus countries? Some of the stuff we were looking at yesterday was just surprising to me how—

Chris (07:26)

Right? Like we're global. Yeah, Uzbekistan! Whoever's listening to us in Uzbekistan, thank you, hello.

Jen (07:38)

Yeah, we're—hey, this is pretty exciting. And we really hope that as we grow and we learn to get more vulnerable and we share what we're thinking about in our lives with you, you all will start sharing more about your lives with us and how this helps you or doesn't, and your thoughts. We're not saying we have all the answers; we absolutely would love your input. So if you're listening along as we're talking and you're thinking, "Hey, that was really great, here's how it relates to me," we want to hear. But also if you're thinking, "I actually would approach this differently," we want to hear that. So...

Chris (08:15)

Yeah. So my backup gratitude moment, if you will, is I have now lived in New York City for 10 years, which is like mind-blowing to me.

Jen (08:19)

You're a top top spot. I wrote that down on one of the pieces of paper here. Is it your move-a-versary?

Chris (08:34)

My move-a-versary, I believe, was like December 12th or December 14th, something like that. No, so it was in December. I moved out mid-December, was here for like a week and a half, and then flew back to Texas to be with my family for Christmas and New Year's, and then flew back. And that's like when the adventure kicked off. But it's been 10 years. It's hard to believe. It has been a journey to go from living someplace where your immediate family and friends are like right there and able to support you and help pick you up if you're feeling down.

This move has taught me how to survive far from family, how to build a community in a new place as a young adult. Like it is just such a different way of life. And when I look at myself 10 years ago and know all of the things between now and 10 years ago, I am so grateful for this journey, for the incredible people who have helped me survive it. I met my husband, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have not just met him, but you know, he asked me to marry him. We've been married for a couple of years now. Our adventure just continues and I'm excited about that. And 10 years—holy smokes! It does. And I have a nephew who's turning 16 in April and I'm just like, am I old enough to have a nephew that's 16 years old?

Jen (10:00)

It's crazy how fast that goes, isn't it?

Chris (10:11)

Am I? I don't know. I don't feel like I am. You don't have to answer that, but it's not a trick question. But that was my other gratitude moment.

Jen (10:14)

Yeah, you are. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes.

- Branding Upgrades & Going Live at PodFest

Jen (10:32)

I also want to just say, did you see the sign back there? A friend of mine gave that to me for Christmas. Is it not amazing? It's amazing.

Chris (10:32)

Absolutely love it. It is amazing. In case we can't get a close-up, it says "and Jen in the morning," which is us. And it has that we were established in 2025 because that's when we officially began. We recorded our first couple of episodes in January and we released the first ones in February.

Jen (10:57)

Oh my gosh. And can we just say, having no idea what we wanted to talk about, but just hopping in anyways and making ourselves do it because we would figure it out along the way? So the ability to trust ourselves enough—while we couldn't acknowledge it at the time—to know that that would happen. And then how Ace and I went out to eat after we recorded, and I couldn't even sit there and eat, I felt so sick. I was like, "I just have to go home." I think I laid in bed for hours because it was just too much. It was overwhelming. What I have learned about myself—I'm probably catching up with what others who know me know about me already, that's my life story. What I've learned about myself this last year has just been invaluable. And what we have learned about each other and how we have been able to work together in a way that like not only has been amazing, but really has brought me a lot of joy and happiness.

So, super excited we are in season two. This is our first episode of season two. We have new cover art, so we'll pop that up here. Let us know what you think. It's kind of pulling in some stuff from the past and then also kind of researching things. So I'm super excited about that. And then also we have a new tagline in case you didn't notice. Season one was "where it's always morning somewhere." Season two: "where self-care meets real life." So I'm super excited about that. We also hope we'll have some new merch with that season two tagline hitting the merch shop, so check that out.

And we'll be kicking off this year with a conference for self-development here in the middle of January at PodFest. So stay tuned for some of those fun little anecdotes. I am going to get Chris to go live while we're at the conference together. He's like really nervous about that. And what I think is going to happen is we're going to go live, and then Chris is going to want to go live all the time, and I'm going to be like, "I just can't. I'm not."

Chris (12:43)

That's right. Hahaha! I mean, are you going to make that a goal for this conference? I mean, for this year, but I mean, the conference is just in a couple of weeks.

Jen (13:12)

Yeah, it is a goal. It's already a goal and I crush my goals.

Chris (13:20)

So you're gonna crush me, that's what I'm hearing. Going live, going live.

Jen (13:23)

No, you're not my goal. Going live is my goal. So we're going to crush that.

Chris (13:27)

I think it is time that we try our go-live platforms and see where we net out. So keep a lookout for that in a couple of weeks.

Jen (13:35)

You have 1.5 weeks from today, sir, to prepare yourself. It's happening.

Chris (13:42)

It's happening. Okay, so like, I think the thing that concerns me about going live is we don't use like a fully vetted out script. We have bullet points. I know—

Jen (13:52)

No, we're not supposed to be scripted. In fact, when we're scripted, we look more awkward. Have you not noticed that?

Chris (13:57)

But I do like having an idea of a flow and what I'm trying to achieve.

Jen (14:03)

I know you are. But remember how you said to me when I was in New York last night, you want to take an improv class? Okay, well, this is your first session.

Chris (14:10)

Yes, I do want to do that. Who's my tutor? Who's gonna get me there? Yes, and so—so that's all I need to say then whenever we go live is just "yes, and."

Jen (14:17)

Here's the first thing you need to know: "Yes, and." Yes, and. So just start practicing that. And then you have to fill in after the "and." You can't just be the—look, I'm not the talent. We are the talent. Okay.

Chris (14:36)

All right, well, I'll get ready. I'll get comfortable. If Jen can do anything, so can Chris.

Jen (14:42)

I mean, I don't know if you can do anything I can do, but I don't know if I can do anything you can do. I think that's what makes us a great team. Yin and yang. But if I can do this, you can do this too. It's going to be our next step of vulnerability, guys. So hang on, because it's probably going to be hilarious. I mean, what did we get from improv? We got the Chris and Frank...

Chris (14:45)

Fair. Fair. Yang and Yang. Agreed. Absolutely. I don't know, I haven't taken the class yet.

Jen (15:10)

My "milkshake brings all the boys to the yard" video. That was a hit. What else have we gotten from improv this year? Some really funny stuff. Pretty much every short that is at my expense.

Chris (15:13)

That's right. That's right. I mean, just about all of our shorts. What can I say? I'm able to set them up really well.

Jen (15:29)

Right in.

- The Science of Intentions vs. Resolutions

Jen (15:29)

So let's talk about the new year now that we're 20 minutes into the episode and we've lost everyone's attention. Haha! What we want to talk about today is the new year and setting intentions for the new year, right? And there are so many ways that you and I both have done this in the past and things that we know about. And so I'm sure we're going to leave out some pretty cool stuff that you guys know about, so we would love to hear about that.

We intended on recording this episode and releasing it right before the new year, because if you're like Chris, then you're like planful and you want to do things on time. But if you're like Jen, then time is a mystery to you always. And I totally threw out my back, we just couldn't. Just the fact that we couldn't record this sooner because I couldn't even speak so coherently.

Chris (16:20)

Which has nothing to do with time, just the fact that you're—right. But I do think with the new year, it is setting up for how we're going to get started in this fresh year and really seeing it as that opportunity to hit the reset button. I do think it brings out a lot of—I know I've been to a couple of events over the past few weeks and people have asked those questions like, "What are you looking forward to in the new year? Have you set any goals, any resolutions?" And I was at a dinner with a friend and I really appreciated one of the questions that someone asked. They asked if I had any intentions for the new year. They didn't want resolutions. They didn't want to know what my big plans were. They just asked what I wanted to get out of 2026. And I appreciated that perspective of it because it didn't feel like this pressure of having to align the, "Well, I want to go to the gym X amount of times. I'm going to start a diet," all of those things exactly.

Jen (17:27)

"Set SMART goals that are actionable and measurable." Yeah, corporate Jen, corporate Chris. Yeah, I love that. So there are some different ways of celebrating the new year and kind of setting an intention or a goal or whatever, however you want to think about it, that we want to talk about today. There are goal settings, like New Year's resolutions—those are, I think, the most common, frequently talked about. There are vision boards. There are intentions. You talked about some quadrant thing that we're going to talk about, like a framework or a... maybe you could call that mapping it out.

Painting—like doing a painting for the new year, I've done that before. Word of focus, which I have heard as like setting an intention, but I could see how that's different, like choosing a word to focus on for the year. And there's also a tradition of cleaning for the new year. There's like the sage clearing out energy, and then there's like actual cleaning, which Chris is really confused about, so we're going to talk about that. And then there's some fun traditions too that we want to talk about, like eating black-eyed peas, and the thing you eat underneath the table for good luck.

So, we want to talk about all those things as we have this conversation today. Just a few things that I want to just get put out there to frame up the conversation. As OCD as I can be at times about things, I feel like you don't have to pen yourself in to like, "This is what I set for the year, so it's what I have to do for the year." That's why most people's gym goals start in January and die in January. So if you want to start going to the gym, start in March. It's a great time. Or February. I think you also don't have to pick just one way of setting your intention for the year, your goal, or your resolution, or your framework, or vision board, or whatever it is that you do. Do whatever it is that brings you the kind of thoughtfulness and energy. But what we do know is that when you write down—whether it's goals or a word of intention or art or a framework—when you write down your goals that you want to accomplish, what's the percent? I think it's 42%. You are 42% more likely to achieve them. And that's from a Harvard study, right? Pretty sure. Well—

Chris (20:01)

The one that I saw was from a university in California. But nonetheless, it's one of those things they have studied—that whenever you actually put that pen to paper, you pull that intention just from something that you're thinking about and you actually turn it into a physical thing that you write, that you create a piece of artwork from, you actually have more opportunity for those things to happen. And a lot of that goes into the neuroscience of it—that you start to create these new pathways so that your subconscious, that part that you aren't consciously thinking about, yeah, that it starts to create these ways of thinking and belief. And so you start to believe that you can achieve these things, which I just thought was absolutely fascinating because like—exactly, yeah.

- Perfectionism vs. Subconscious Accountability

Jen (20:54)

That is the subconscious. Yeah, it's like subliminal messaging for yourself. It seeps into your subconscious. If you want that like subliminal marketing, you're doing that for yourself. You're setting yourself up for what you want to accomplish. And I think some of the things that have held me back from doing this in the past have been not doing it at the very beginning, so feeling like it's ruined and I have to wait till the next year—which is just kind of not really logical, if we're being honest with each other.

I also have set a goal that then was going from zero to 100. And then you have to be perfect on it, and then you fail on it, and then all of a sudden you just throw it all out. Like, "Oh my gosh, I'm going to go to the gym every single day," when I haven't been going to the gym at all. And then you—

Chris (22:00)

I don't even have a gym membership.

Jen (22:01)

You miss a day. You do pretty good, and then you miss a day and you're like, "Well, now it's all trash because I couldn't complete the goal." So I think what's really good about thinking about it more like an intention or growth is that you're setting yourself up to take the perfectionism out of it. And honestly, I've been thinking a lot about this this last week as we've been kind of thinking about this topic. I kind of feel like subconsciously, maybe that perfectionism is sort of like me giving myself an out for not having to follow up on or complete the goal. Like, "Darn, I messed it up." You know, not like consciously thinking about that. But I do think it's a way of letting yourself off the hook. Holding yourself accountable doesn't mean perfect. It just means you're growing towards what you want to become.

Chris (22:42)

Yeah.

Jen (22:52)

And that's the beauty of all of this—is that these goals aren't about what anybody else thinks that you should be accomplishing. It's really about what you want. Do you want more happiness? That's always on my list, so it's always one of my intentions. Do you want to improve a certain skillset? Do you want to focus on relationships? Do you want to find more balance? Do you want to be kinder? Like, what are the things that you want to grow, evolve, see, do? Do you want to move? Like your goal is to get yourself into a place where you're moving. It can really be anything, but just what is it that you want to accomplish? And if you write it down, you are 42% more likely to achieve it. And if you don't achieve it that year, you can always just put it on the next year.

- The "Do, Have, Be, Live" Quadrant Map

Chris (23:42)

Move into the next year. I do think, as we talk about writing these things down, one of the methods that I saw for the first time this year—and maybe it's been around longer, I don't know—is this quadrant or mapping idea. And so you take the year that it's going to be, so like 2-0-2-6, and each one is its own quadrant. And then in each quadrant, there is:

• What do I want to DO in 2026?

• What do I want to HAVE in 2026?

• What do I want to BE in 2026?

• How do I want to LIVE in 2026?

And the idea is like, these aren't independent things that you're trying to achieve. It's like, how do you align all of this together to achieve what you want out of 2026? And I had never really looked at it that way. And it's not meant to be like a long laundry list of things in each of these categories; it's meant to be like three or four things that feed into each other. And I did not do it because, I mean, I found it as I was looking for things—it popped up, it's been all over social media, I've seen it in multiple feeds. But the thing that I liked about it is it makes it like digestible. So I haven't written them down, but this idea of Do, Have, Be, Live—

Jen (24:41)

Did you do this this year? Oh, you're 42% less likely to accomplish it! Let's write it down.

Chris (25:04)

Do, Have, Be, Live for me is like, those are things that actually you can put things behind. And then I think to the point that you were making earlier about how we continue to live and the challenges that we have throughout any given month—yes, exactly, life changes. Life sometimes throws curveballs at us. And if we have these goals or intentions written down, we can continue to go back to those as our anchor.

So if you lose your job—like, okay, well, what career am I looking for where I can be these things that will help me achieve these things? If I want to pick up a new hobby, well, what hobby is going to help me or fulfill me in the ways that I've identified? And I think for me, that's what I really liked about this—is like it is fully encapsulated yet still open enough for as life continues to come at us at whatever speed it may be that in 2026 we can adjust accordingly and still find that hope, that purpose, and that fulfillment in the things that bring us joy. Uh-huh. Mm-hmm.

Jen (26:28)

Okay, so what is it? It's what do you want to do? What do you want to have? Who do you want to be? And where do you want to live?

Chris (26:35)

How do you want to live?

Jen (26:36)

How do you want to live? I was like, "Where do you want to live? Is it about moving?" I don't think so. Maybe. I don't know. I love that. So that's something I'm going to noodle on. Maybe I'll—right now in the mental space I'm in, it feels very corporate-y.

I had a friend once, as I was talking to her—we used to work together—and I was talking to her about one of my goals. I don't remember if it was at the beginning of the year or whatever, but I told her I was going to try and be more "vegetable forward" because from a produce standpoint, I always gravitate towards food and I wanted to be more vegetable forward. And she said, "Jen, I'm going to stop you right there. I am not letting you corporatize your health plan here. This is not happening. You want to be more veg forward?"

Chris (27:26)

Ha ha. But I think you have to find something that works for you. And so if that is how you think and that is how you operate and that's going to be the things that help you achieve whatever you're looking for in the year, then make it your own. There is no actual law or ordinance that says we have to do this in a certain way.

Jen (27:34)

Well, yeah. Yeah. So, okay. So if I use this quadrant and think about that desire to have—to have more vegetables that I'm reaching for: What I want to do is eat more vegetables. What I want to have is more vegetables. No, this is not how this works.

Chris (28:10)

No, but like, what is the purpose of the new vegetables? What are you trying—is it a better diet? Is it a better... okay.

Jen (28:15)

Well, I want to be healthier. I want to have more energy and more vitamins. Better hair, better eyesight—is that carrots? And how do I want to live? I want to live in a way that I'm not like focusing on what I eat and can and can't eat, just more like naturally fueling myself in a way that is serving me better. Would that be a way to do that?

Chris (28:29)

Rumor has it. It's finding the balance. It's finding a balance in your diet.

Jen (28:54)

Yeah, because everybody knows that when you start the new year and you say, "I'm just going to eat a salad every day for lunch," there's like six people that can do that. And everybody else is like, "Screw the salad, I'm going to eat seven donuts." If I ate seven donuts, I would die. I think I'd be on that kind of sugar high that would not work for anybody. Like, I could not do it.

Chris (29:04)

And then everyone else gets to 11:30... Let's just say I wouldn't want to be around you if that's what you had. It's not the sugar high that I would be concerned about, it's that crash that I would want to avoid. But yes, so like that is one way to look at it and bring that holistic view because again, it's like taking that bite-size. How do I—what are the things that I can do to chip away at ultimately achieving how I want to live?

- Creative Visual Goal Setting & Vision Boards

Jen (29:41)

I love that. One of the things I've done in the past is a painting. And I didn't do this painting as like something that then afterwards I was like, "I'm going to display this," because I didn't like it—but that's a me thing. But for me, and I do think having a painting that then you are proud of and you put up and you feel like you can relate to as a reminder for the year—but just the act of doing the painting was a way to bring this energy into reality, sort of writing it down. And that was a really fun way for me to express, get my whole body kinesthetically involved and create setting an intention for the new year. So I really liked that. I may do that again this year. I've been, like I said, a little bit delayed because that threw my whole back out. So painting was not on my list. I've got to do the vacuuming first, we've got to work up to that.

Chris (30:37)

I think that brings me to another way of like, using a vision board. So I have a close friend of ours who went through the process of purposefully creating a vision board. And so I asked him if I could share the story and if we could share some pictures. So we'll throw some pictures up here, but this—he decided that he wanted certain things out of life that he wanted to achieve in relationships, in career, in like the self-talk that he was having. And so he purposefully booked a space to get him out of his normal day-to-day. He took a stack of magazines, he took a couple of canvases and some glue sticks and scissors, and he went to this different space. And for two—I think he said two days—really focused in on the things that he was wanting to achieve.

And he didn't do this in the New Year, because I specifically asked that question. I knew he had these vision boards that he had put together, and I asked if he did them at the beginning of the new year. He said no, but he realized that he needed intention in his life, and the way that he was going to do that was through creating these vision boards. And so he did that over a two-day period, went in, really focused on the things that he wanted. And "Why did I want them and how am I going to achieve those things?" and with that, created a vision board. And it's really funny to hear him kind of reflect back on the vision board because he has since met a guy, got married, the whole thing. And that was part of his vision board—is he wanted to meet someone, start a relationship, and ultimately get married.

And when his husband looks at these vision boards, his husband is like, "Well, I'm not that person. The person that you have on that vision board is not me." And it's funny, he and I were having this conversation, he was telling me that, and he's like, "But that's not the purpose. The purpose wasn't the person that was on the board, it was the feelings that come along with it and the connection that I was wanting." It's a good reminder that these things are personal. They don't have to make sense to somebody else. They need to impact you, you need to feel them.

Jen (32:35)

They're very personal. I love that he was able to take two days and go do this. I think that I would accomplish a lot of meaningless things in those two days with many side quests, but I could never spend two days making a vision board. Although I'm not throwing shade, because I think that's amazing. Even not in my space, I would get so distracted by so many things.

Chris (32:50)

Hahaha! But I think that's why he left his space.

Jen (33:08)

But I could definitely spend a couple of hours. And I have done vision—I like doing a vision board, the magazine cutouts. I saw Chris's vision board—Chris with a K—it's amazing. And it is something I would want to keep around for more than just one year, like, and keep.

Chris (33:22)

Well, and that was the other thing of it—is he said he never got rid of it, like he has continued to evolve it. So I think where a lot of people—right, I think where a lot of people are like, "Great, did it, done, achieved those things," instead he has chosen to continue to evolve it. So now it's like another canvas and he's added more stuff to it. So it's really great to hear him talk about it, to see that, to hear what it did for him is inspirational. And so which is why I wanted to bring it up and asked if we could talk about it here, because I think there are people who are more of that creative mind that that means more than writing down some words in a quadrant.

- Words of Focus & Personal Anthems

Jen (35:00)

I love that. Absolutely. And I don't think it has to be one or the other. I think that you can do as many of the things or any of the things. The point is about, in a meaningful way to you, setting an intention—whether it's spending an intensive amount of time, whether it is taking 15 minutes and pulling something together—it's just about carving out the space to give yourself the amount of time that you need to be able to really say, "This is what I want for the year." And a lot of times, like you're describing with Chris, that time is spent reflecting, becoming aware, listening to yourself, and figuring out what is it that you really want. That's like the hardest part.

But I do love a good exercise of scissors, glue sticks, a piece of poster board, and a stack of magazines. In fact, I once solicited unwanted magazines from my neighborhood and took them up to Colorado where we had gotten a house in January to celebrate my sister's birthday. And we all did vision boards together, which was a really fun way of just having an activity that we did together, but also all sort of thinking about what was it that we wanted for the year. So I love that. One of the other things that I really like is the idea of like, having a word of focus or an intention. Because to me, it feels like something that just sort of grounds the energy that you want to bring for the year. So it can be something that you feel like you want more of. It can be something you feel like you do already and you just want to keep focusing on. But just like, what is it at the end of the year? How is it that you want to feel? What is it that you want more of?

So for me, I think this year is kindness. Let this past year—though I didn't set it up this way—I think it really was happiness. Like this desire to really figure out what happiness meant for me. And this next year, I think it's just kindness. I really want to surround myself with more and more kindness and like to seek that out and to both offer that up and then spend more time with people that are, you know, seeking out ways to put out that kind of energy and to help bring more of that energy into the world. Now, look, guys, that doesn't mean that every single thought that I have that crosses my mind is going to be kind this year because as kind as we might be... I do think this year for me, that word is kindness—wanting to just experience, be in, sit in, bring more kindness to the world around me.

Chris (36:43)

Yeah, and I think words of focus or even we've talked about like the power of affirmations. I've also heard like, "What's going to be your affirmation for the year?" and working that into—for the very purpose of like, one, grounding yourself when you feel like you are being pulled off. Two, I think it helps you set that intention and it helps you create those pathways that then move you out of your amygdala hijack when things may be trying to pull you into this, you know, fight-or-flight mode. And then I think it also just helps provide that purpose. And it is those interactions that you have with people, but it is those—how even you want to treat yourself. Like in those moments where your self-talk may not be the most positive and you catch yourself like, "Hey, let's bring it back. What are we wanting to focus on? What is our affirmation? What is our word for this year and are we doing that for ourselves?" I think is so important.

Jen (37:08)

Yeah. Oh yes. Yeah, absolutely. I am excited to—though I don't ever want to wish time away—I know that likely we will make it to the end of the year and then look back and say, "Okay, do I feel like I manifested more kindness in my life and the world around me this year?" So I'm excited to see how that turns out.

Chris (37:59)

I've also heard a lot of people this year talking about having an anthem for the year—as someone who loves a good song to go back to.

Jen (38:04)

Yeah. What's your anthem?

Chris (38:10)

It is—I believe the 10-year anniversary because she just released her version of the song—Rachel Platten's "Fight Song." So whenever I was looking to move to New York, that was a song that when I was like, "My gosh, am I making the right choice? What am I doing?" and literally as I was having this, you know, mental spiral on my drive home from work, that song came on. And I'm not saying that that was the universe delivering a message when I was needing it, but I will say like, there was something like inspirational behind it. And even to this day—so she just like was doing this whole social campaign around releasing her version of the song—I've listened to it and it still brings me back to that moment of like, this is a choice. I'm not just out here bouncing around like—I have a purpose, I have a reason, and I am continuing to march forward and that's what I'm choosing to do.

Jen (38:37)

I do love that song. On April 17th of 2015, you sent me a text that said, "Good morning. Need you to listen to the song, 'Fight Song,' by Rachel Platten." And I remember that 10—well, I guess that was like 2015, so a little over 10 years ago—but I recall you sharing that song with me, and I have the receipts.

Chris (39:23)

Still a little over 10 years ago. Because Jen doesn't delete anything. But I do think like, something that was, you know, it's over 10 years old and it still today carries that purpose and that meaning. And I'm in a very different part of my life than I was then, but it's still this harkening back to being true to myself—that I have a purpose, that I have things that I need to achieve in my life, and I need to be laser-focused on those things. And there are going to be obstacles because things in life that are worth fighting for, you gotta fight for. This year, it is the year of the "Fight Song" again for Chris.

Jen (40:12)

I love that. When I think of an anthem, the song that comes to me is always Aloe Blacc's "The Man." I don't know, I love that. I will turn that song on when I need to like, get myself amped up and build some self-confidence. And so for me, it's about like that whole concept of getting comfortable with the space you take up and being kind to yourself and building your self-confidence. And you know, I love—he says, "Be a king when the kingdom comes. You can tell everybody I'm the man." And he just repeats that over and over. And I never experienced that song as like, you know, egotistical or anything like that. It's like, "Hey, I'm going to talk myself up. I'm going to boost myself up. I'm going to be ready to step into what I have created, what I have earned. I'm going to value myself. I'm going to believe in myself." And I think while different than Rachel Platten's "Fight Song," for me, it evokes some of the same empowerment energy that I super love. So I love that. I love that you've got an anthem that's totally Chris. That's totally Chris.

- Cultural Traditions & The Fresh Start Effect

Jen (41:21)

Okay, so let's talk a little bit about some of the other cultural traditions and things that people do to celebrate the New Year. Because I think these are physical ways of manifesting some of the things that we've talked about.

So there is this Japanese tradition—I think you pronounce it Ousouji, but I could be pronouncing that totally wrong. But basically, it's a big end-of-year cleaning, like a spiritual ritual. And it is about cleaning out all the old to make space for starting something new, something fresh, which I think is really fun and incredible. It's a great way of—say, people say a cluttered desk is a cluttered mind. I think I have a sign somewhere that says, I don't know, something snarky and opposite of that. Shocking.

Chris (42:15)

What? Now tell us about your desk. No, I'm just kidding.

Jen (42:22)

I don't see it up anywhere, but I feel like it's over on my art desk. I can't see it because there's clutter in front of it! Haha! "A cluttered desk is a lively desk." But I do think that there is absolutely something to kind of creating a space where you feel like there's a fresh start. I mean, there are seasons in life and this concept of season and something new and a new fresh start, it kind of gives you this like motivation. And if your space is totally cluttered, how do you have the space emotionally or physically or mentally to bring in some new energy?

So I love this concept and this idea of cleaning out the old and making way for the new, resetting. I think that's the whole thing with like Burning Sage, kind of cleaning out the energy, cleansing the energy, and getting a refresh. In Chinese culture, they sweep away misfortune before the Lunar New Year. And by the way, if you are one of those people that is just like, "I missed the new year and I need to start at the beginning of a calendar" or something, here's the good news: The Lunar New Year is on Tuesday, February 17th of 2026. So you actually have like a month plus to prepare yourself for the new year. So you can start doing all the things and setting your intentions and just go with the Lunar New Year.

Chris (43:43)

Hahaha! It's so interesting that you bring that up because I feel like this year more than in years past, I've heard about this term—and I'm not sure if you've heard about it before—but it's called the "fresh start effect." And it's around creating these temporal landmarks that allow us to separate our past selves from what we are looking to achieve. So it kind of goes back to, you know, why do we set goals or intentions in the new year. Through the studies, they've also found like milestone birthdays—they see that people tend to adopt these like new goals that they want to achieve. But also like whenever you decide on a Thursday like, "I need to start eating better, you know what, I'm gonna start that on Monday." Like, it's kind of the—it's the brain work of like, our brains need to assign like these clean breaks, right?

Jen (44:44)

Place to start. Yeah.

Chris (44:46)

And so it creates those opportunities. Just you saying that if you miss the new year, you still have the Lunar New Year to jump onto.

- Intention, Discomfort, and Personal Choice

Jen (44:54)

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's so true. You can really choose when you want to start and start today, tomorrow, whenever. Don't let starting tomorrow be an excuse for not starting, because tomorrow always has another tomorrow behind it. And really, not because you're going to let down anybody but yourself—it's just about claiming what you want in life. We get this one opportunity, one chance, one opportunity to live the life that we want to live. So make it your own. Take it. You deserve it. You have value. You are worth it. And it doesn't have to be painful. Growth is uncomfortable, let's just be honest. But it doesn't have to be painful. And when I think about this last year, I've done a lot of things that were really scary for me, and I have grown a lot, and it wasn't comfortable through the year—I think I've been pretty transparent about that. But it's been a really good year. I think that's—just don't feel like this has to be painful to grow and change into what you want and to step into what you want. And you are the only one that can judge yourself or give other people the power to judge you. So, I mean, they'll judge you, but whether or not it matters to you, you're the only one that gets to choose that.

Chris (46:14)

But I think that goes also back to this idea of, you know, "What do we, what do I want to be in 2026?" I want to be kind to myself because you're right, growth is hard and growth is usually change, and change is not something that our brains, our minds, our bodies love. And so when you are in that state of, "This is hard. Why am I doing this to myself?"—like if that's your self-talk, like remind yourself or ask yourself the question: "Am I thinking and feeling this way because it really is as hard as I think it is? Or is it because it's just..." right.

Jen (46:50)

Or is it really what I want? Is it worth it? Maybe—often yes. Maybe no. Maybe you're doing it because you feel like you're supposed to, not because you want to.

Chris (47:01)

And are you feeling this way just because it's something different? It's out of your norm, it's change, it's making you react and interact in a way that is not your normal. And if that was the purpose for you to choose that intention or that goal, then acknowledge that, and how do you remain true to yourself on that journey?

Jen (47:24)

Yeah, I think being able to have your brain move out of that auto-response area and get into that purposeful decision-making, you need to set some kind of separation. Because otherwise, you just kind of keep spinning on the auto. And some of the things that we do on autopilot, those are really good—that's where routines come from, it's where habits come from. And routines and habits can be good and healthy, but they also can be things that aren't healthy for you. And you're the one that has to figure—you know, decide that. Obviously, like from a physical health standpoint, a mental health standpoint, I look to the professionals I choose to consult with, the team of doctors I choose to consult with to help guide me on that. But at the end of the day, it's me that gets to choose what it is that I want for me. And that's what I love about the New Year's tradition—is that it is taking the time to really choose for yourself what is it that you want.

So don't get wrapped up in—look, some people love the Dry January. And if that's for you and you love that and you think that is a great way to cleanse your liver and reset your year, then I don't want to yuck your yum or whatever it is. But I also see no yum in that for me. Why would I pick January of all months to be dry? Wouldn't do it.

Chris (48:49)

Ha ha ha ha! Yeah, but I think like, that's also the other part that you have to do—is set up those boundaries for yourself and understand like, this is—I know, I know boundaries. This is—

Jen (49:04)

I love to hate a good boundary.

Chris (49:07)

But it's also not imposing on someone else or expecting others to follow what you are, and it's also setting yourself up for success. So if you set a goal of wanting to have better financial health this year, then don't put yourself in situations that are going to compromise that goal and that intention. Be mindful of those things.

Jen (49:29)

Or when you find yourself putting yourself in those situations, that's a good time to be aware and to say, "Maybe I need to change this behavior, this routine, this habit." You know, maybe you do need to move physically.

Chris (49:44)

Because let me tell you, in New York City, that's not gonna happen.

Jen (49:47)

I mean, I've said that like five times this year, this session already. Maybe it is! I'm going to get my tarot cards out that you got and just do a spread and see if it says I'm moving. I do want to talk a little bit about that—I know we weren't prepared to do that, but I do think there's a good little bit of new year there.

- Southern Good Luck & Grapes Under the Table

Jen (50:15)

But before we talk about that, let's talk about there's two other things that we had pulled together to talk about traditions that I think are kind of fun. So one of them is eating black-eyed peas. And I think this is something you've done or know about.

Chris (50:18)

Yeah. Yeah, so this is something that I grew up doing. So being born and raised in the South, it is very much so a Southern thing to do. I have my Aunt Linda—shout out! She has really been a proponent of this. Yes, we do.

Jen (50:35)

We love Aunt Linda. We love you, Aunt Linda.

Chris (50:39)

And she always like, asked, you know, "Did you get—did you eat your black-eyed peas?" But it comes from like, this very Southern cultural thing that I think started back in the Civil War era, where the black-eyed peas represented the coins that you would get. So it's about prosperity. And so if you had—it was like eating cornmeal for like gold, greens for money, black-eyed peas for coins... like, there were a couple of other things. We only really followed the black-eyed peas part, but I just found it like, it's something that has stuck with me as I've gotten older, as I've moved—like, you know, have those black-eyed peas around when January 1st starts coming around.

Jen (51:18)

I love that. I love that. It's like rain on a wedding day—it's supposed to bring prosperity and fertility and good fortune and all of that.

Chris (51:29)

Well, as somebody who got married in a torrential downpour, I will say I looked into this lore and it definitely talked about how—I think it's a Chinese proverb that talks about how a wet knot is harder to untie because it's slippery. And so we actually asked our officiant because the rain chances were yes and no. And so we're like, "Okay, if it does downpour, if you can just like work this into your—like what you share."

Jen (51:57)

Yeah, no wonder I was confused. It means a lot of things. But it is symbolic for good luck and a strong marriage, like you just said, tying a knot, cleansing and renewal, fertility and abundance, and tears of joy. So I don't know, you should have like 75 children based on how much it rained on your day, your wedding day!

Chris (52:13)

Why—why would you say such a thing? Go stay with Auntie Jen. We do not have space in this apartment for 75 children. Okay, that's true. Well, yeah, I don't think Ollie would approve. He's kind of a one-dog household.

Jen (52:17)

And I will love all of them! Some of them could be dogs. I think Ollie wants a new dog this year. I made Ollie's quadrant for him and he and Lola both came up with "additional dog for the year."

Chris (52:37)

Uh-huh. I think you were channeling another Ollie. Definitely was not mine. This morning, another dog ran onto the elevator with us and Ollie was like... [whimpering noises] like as it kept trying to get close to him and he would like run behind me. I don't think that's Ollie's intention for this—my Ollie's intention for 2026.

Jen (52:47)

No, it is. It for sure is. It is.

So this next one I have is—okay, I'm gonna totally mess up how to say this as well. It is pronunciation with Jen today: Las doce uvas de la suerte.

Chris (53:14)

I am looking forward to seeing how you pronounce this. All right, that's probably better than I would have done it. No, it's not "doche." I know that one. It's "do-say."

Jen (53:27)

Doche, doce... Las doce uvas de la suerte. That is the tradition where on New Year's Eve you eat 12 grapes under the table at midnight. And it's a Spanish tradition to bring good luck, love, and prosperity in each of the 12 months of the new year. Each grape represents a month and a wish.

Chris (34:49)

But why must it be under a table?

Jen (53:52)

Gosh, you ask these hard questions. It's often believed to bring romantic luck if you do it under the table and you eat it with the chimes of the clock. As it dings 12—12 grapes, 12 chimes. Like, you know, if you have a clock that dings—ding, ding, like Cinderella—eat one grape with each of the 12 chimes as the clock strikes midnight. And you make a wish with every grape that you eat. Make a wish for that month of the year.

Chris (54:25)

Okay, I feel like I would need to do some work before I could crawl under the table with my bowl of grapes. Wait, that brings a good question. What if I just take a glass of wine under the table with me?

Jen (54:28)

So for January: "I wish it not to be dry." And for February... Take 12 sips of wine!

Chris (54:42)

Done. I actually am pretty sure I did that. Not under a table though—I did not get the under-the-table memo.

Jen (54:47)

Yeah, get under the table. I guess you can try it on the Lunar New Year and see if that works. Why not? Try it any day. The thing about wishing—what does Disney say? "A dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep." I guess what I'm trying to say with that is that wishes and dreams, they're similar. And the thing about wishing is you can think of it like a magical intention, like somebody is going to come in and just swoop in and make all of your wishes come true like a genie. But really, I think making a wish is like setting an intention. It's listening to yourself. It's deciding what is it that you want.

And it can be as intensive as a two-day retreat by yourself or as kind of lighthearted as just sort of making a wish. But what I love about that is it's an opportunity to give yourself a moment to just go, "Okay, what is it that I want?" And oftentimes, there's this exercise that is done in therapy where it's just rapid association, where they say something and then what is just the thing off the top of your head, the first thing that you say. And they do that for a reason—because the way that you respond, what you initially think, probably has some meaning. There's something there to explore. So I do think it would be fun. Maybe we'll do this while we're at PodFest. We'll find a table, we'll sit under it, take 12 sips of wine, and we'll just quickly rattle off some wishes. Don't prepare ahead of time.

- Overthinking, Compassion, and Directing Your Evolution

Chris (56:22)

I don't know if I can... coming up with—like to follow the clock chime, to eat a grape and make a wish, like, that just seems like a lot happening within. But I think this is also like the difference between like what people may think as a wish versus an intention. Like, if I were to wish for more money—if I want more money, like is that really what I want? Do I really want more money?

Jen (56:30)

I could come up with tons of wishes. I mean, just what might your heart want? That's my point—is that it doesn't always have to be so exacting. This is my challenge. When somebody gives me a gift card, I hate it because I want to know every single possibility of what I could possibly spend that on and what might be the very best, the most wanted possibility. So what I end up doing is not spending the gift card because what they've given me is the gift of indecision and overthinking, which we both do really well.

Chris (57:18)

Mental note. Look, I have traveled with you, so I know. I know what this process looks like in real life. Hahaha!

Jen (57:29)

I can't imagine what you could be talking about! I can't imagine what you could be talking about. But they don't necessarily have to be... I think you have to think of them more abstractly, less literally.

Chris (57:31)

No, I agree. I think this is like where—for me, it's about like crafting that intention and setting that mindset. But I do think like, as we move into this new year—and you and I have talked about this a lot over the last couple of months—like becoming the person that you want to be, or even if you're just wanting to be someone different, you don't even know who you want to be. Just that you want to continue to evolve and become something more than what you currently are. It takes purpose, it takes intention, it takes putting in hard work and being willing to be self-reflective. But also I think a lot of self-compassion is necessary because a lot of this is like trying and failing and, you know, it's not a perfect science.

And I know that I don't just want to exist in this world and I don't want to just like bounce around and, you know, wherever the wind may blow—like I'm down for a good adventure. But like, I—I want, I want purpose. I want to—I want to put my stamp on this. In the small amount of time that I have here, I want to make a difference. I don't know what that difference is yet. Like I know it involves people, because everything that I ever have touched or am drawn to has to deal with impacting people. So I know that much. But it's one of those things that I think—to pull it back to the conversation that we're having around like New Year's intentions—it's having that intention and knowing that you have a direction that you are trying to move in, maybe not while truly understanding what the end looks like.

Jen (59:41)

Yeah, I think that's so interesting because I think for a long time, that is where I was very focused. And then for me, I needed to let go of trying to move myself in a direction so that I could just float in the ocean of life and see where it was going to take me. And I will say, I have really enjoyed Adventure Jen. She's come out to play a lot this year. And that's been fun for all of us, I think, to experience. I know for me. But I do think that wherever you are in your journey, it doesn't mean that's where you'll find yourself the next time you check in. And giving yourself the space for that. And it's really good to set direction, because if you just set out in your car to drive anywhere and you don't know where you're going but you needed to go to a certain place, that's a problem. But if you're always headed somewhere and you miss everything that's in between, that's also a problem.

So I think there's a time and a place and a season of life for all kinds of things. And I guess that's my way of saying: We're not here to tell you what your resolutions or intentions or vision boards or any of that should be or should look like. Just what we wanted to talk about is taking time, even if it's not on the very first day as the calendar flips over—taking time to sit down and really think about what it is that you want and put yourself back in control. And even if you don't have all of the answers, give yourself the agency of deciding what you want, even if putting yourself in control of it means you're trying to let go of control. Like, that is how you get more of what you want out of life.

Chris (1:01:24)

And don't consider—you're not stuck on it. Like just because you set this course right now, that doesn't mean that the opportunities that present themselves, that the challenges that may arise, that doesn't mean that those things—right, exactly.

Jen (1:01:27)

Yeah. Goals can change. Even if you wrote them down in a Sharpie marker, you can always just get a new canvas.

Chris (1:01:44)

If you wrote it in a Sharpie, just get out the magazines and start gluing stuff over it.

Jen (1:01:49)

Exactly. Layers, people, layers.

Chris (1:01:52)

Right, but I think that's the other important part of all of this—is not—I think whenever I was talking to my friend Chris about his vision board, I really liked his point—not a point of clarification, but the point of purpose—that he doesn't get rid of it, that he doesn't—

Jen (1:02:07)

Yeah, I love that. It's like a journal.

Chris (1:02:08)

That he doesn't push it away or throw it away, right? It's like he evolves it. It becomes like, "This is what I set out for. This is now where I'm at." And like, it's—it's that continued evolution. And I keep using that word, and I feel like it's going to become one of those like cliché like, "What's the corporate buzzword this year?" But I feel like it's one of those things that we, as we grow and as we change, like we have to be open to letting ourselves evolve into someone who maybe we didn't even think that we could become. I mean, looking 10 years ago before I moved to New York City, like that was a totally different human being that was living in Texas compared to who I am now.

Jen (1:02:54)

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, gosh, whoever thought that I would have quit my job and just spent time doing whatever I wanted to do? Nobody. Literally nobody that knows me ever thought that. Least of all me.

Chris (1:03:04)

Right? Figuring out life and what that means for you. So, right, so if you are on—like as you start this new year, don't get caught up in setting the resolution or making the perfect goals and making sure that you're hitting those every week. Like, be true to yourself and move with intention and purpose. Right, check in.

- Outro, Merch Shop, and Community Connection

Jen (1:03:29)

And reevaluate, check in with yourself. I think that's the journaling part of the exercise that we've talked about. And if you're looking for a good journal, we have a few for you in the merch shop, so check those out.

Chris (1:03:44)

My favorite being "Words Are Hard," because... words are hard.

Jen (1:03:47)

They are. We may say a lot of them. They don't always come out in the right order.

Chris (1:03:52)

Ha ha. See our shorts. All right, well with that, we would love to hear from all of you. Like Jen said, we're launching this episode a little bit later than we intended, so like... what are those intentions that you've set if you're willing to share? Throw them in the comments of the platform you're listening on. If you haven't been to our website, we do—we have chrisandjenitm.com and on there, there are ways to get in contact with us, so we'd love to hear from you. There's also our merch shop that you can access through that website.

Jen (1:04:18)

We have one! Yes, we'll be launching a new season two load of merchandise out there. So if you want to bring us with you in your daily adventures and channel some of this energy, we would absolutely love that. And we'd love it if you shared some pictures with us too.

Chris (1:04:50)

We absolutely would. You can also reach us via email at chrisjeninthemorning@gmail.com. You can call and leave a voicemail, because we're not going to answer—or text us at 940-278-8129. And it's not because we don't want to answer, I don't even know if that line actually rings. It may just—right, Jen does not... don't ever leave a voicemail for Jen at all. You're talking to yourself.