[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to The Fun and Games Podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host, Brittany Lapton, and let the games begin.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's up, fun and games family?
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello and welcome back to the fun and game podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: Where Wednesdays are our favorite day.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's your host, Brittany Lofton and may I just say it feels so good to say that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And to be back, I am so pumped for 2026, 2025.
[SPEAKER_00]: Goodbye.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are so happy to leave you in the past and it is perfect timing because it's the end of the year.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're ending it on a Wednesday.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are doing a fun recap and we are moving forward in 2026.
[SPEAKER_00]: Boy does it feel so good to be back.
[SPEAKER_00]: I truly have missed you all so much and I have heard you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have read the DMs, the messages, the comments.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know you all have missed this podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I appreciate all of the kind words and just love that you have around this podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: It means so much to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have not been in a place where I
[SPEAKER_00]: have been able to move forward with the podcast recently, and I feel like if you follow me on socials, you know what the heck has been going on.
[SPEAKER_00]: If not, tune in for a little recap of why there was a very long hiatus with the podcast, but this is just perfect timing.
[SPEAKER_00]: The very first episode for this new season of the fun and games podcast, the last day of 2025, we are so ready.
[SPEAKER_00]: to bring the energy, the revenge, the villain arc, the motivation, the discipline, all of the good energy into 2026.
[SPEAKER_00]: And before I get into all of the tea, if you don't already know, I just want to thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for your support, your words of encouragement, your patience on just having to put the podcast on such a massive pause.
[SPEAKER_00]: There has been a lot going on that I'm going to get very into a very detailed for you all just to kind of catch you up so that we can fully move forward in 2026.
[SPEAKER_00]: Drop this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Probably not going to talk about it again.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just really want to move forward at this point.
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's get into it.
[SPEAKER_00]: 2025.
[SPEAKER_00]: Where have I been what's been going on with the podcast?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why did I leave all my sponsors?
[SPEAKER_00]: What the heck has been going on?
[SPEAKER_00]: Look at this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: You guys had been about sacrifice for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I truly have been grinding for so long.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as Darien and I have been wanting to grow and expand our family, you know, it's been past two, three years.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've been trying to have another baby.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like back in 2023, we had a miscarriage and then we had an
[SPEAKER_00]: resulted in the removal of one of my Philippian tubes and because of that topic, we've been struggling getting pregnant again.
[SPEAKER_00]: So at the beginning of this year, we started working with my OB.
[SPEAKER_00]: We got up on your test stun and then later on in the year, we figured out we have to do IVF if we want to have another baby.
[SPEAKER_00]: So after more tests, doctors appointments, consultations, working with fertility groups, we finally were able to start this process in July and August of this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had an idea that like IVF would put a little hindrance on things in my own personal life and my work life and just kind of everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: I did not know how all consuming it would be.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had no idea.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it is, it's been overwhelming in the best way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I am so thankful and grateful we were able to even,
[SPEAKER_00]: have this as an option and to be able to try to do IVF, but it is not a straightforward as I thought.
[SPEAKER_00]: And time after time, we just kept hitting hurdle after hurdle.
[SPEAKER_00]: And let me just say, because I had no idea what IVF meant, or in tail, I'll give you the inside scoop.
[SPEAKER_00]: So IVF is, I feel like it's broken up into two parts for most people.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's broken up into the egg retrieval, which is where they're trying to stimulate and grow as many eggs as possible.
[SPEAKER_00]: So when you go into the egg retrieval procedure, they can get out as many as possible.
[SPEAKER_00]: That way they can make as many embryos and then hopefully by the end of the stage where the embryos grow and they split and they become a viable like embryo that they can transfer, that will then lead to a healthy good pregnancy.
[SPEAKER_00]: So step one is trying to get all the good eggs that they can as possible.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's with all of the daily injections, the supplements, the hormones, everything, is up front, just trying to get as many exits possible.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then the second part is the actual transfer.
[SPEAKER_00]: So you would have had to have a successful
[SPEAKER_00]: I agree to travel and then you make embryos with the males part and then after they've grown, it's like a week, two weeks, they'll get to a final stage, do testing, make sure everything is fine, genetically and then you can have a transfer, which is when they actually transfer the embryo and it's still supposed to implant on your uterus and you're good to go your pregnant.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that is how IVF works.
[SPEAKER_00]: There are a lot of hiccups that can happen along the way for many people in many different instances.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like it is not a straightforward process as what I thought it was.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, oh, this is great.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's an answer to why we can't get pregnant now.
[SPEAKER_00]: We can actually have a baby.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had no idea.
[SPEAKER_00]: that this is what it would look like six, seven months later, and even more detailed breakout into exactly what this looks like.
[SPEAKER_00]: So basically, when I start a cycle of IVF, I, the first time around, they started Man Birth Control, and I was on that for, I don't remember how many days, maybe it was seven to 10 days.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then I was on some injections that I would do every night, and the first round, my eggs were not even stimulating.
[SPEAKER_00]: My body did not respond to that process that procedure well enough to even schedule an egg retrieval.
[SPEAKER_00]: and every time you go in for an appointment they are constantly monitoring you and those appointments are usually between 7am and 7.45 a.m. and the offices there are a few but they are so far away like I'm driving 45 minutes to an hour every single morning and it is difficult because having Vinnie at home trying to find him a place where he can go because I'm not able to take him
[SPEAKER_00]: to the appointments with me so I've had to rely on a lot of friends, a lot of neighbors and just like wake him up extra early to make sure that he's already for school, drop him off somewhere and then take myself to the appointment, drive an hour there and hour back and I get back in just enough time to be able to take Vinny to school and with all this like I'm not feeling good during this time so it's just been extremely draining.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that whole first round of IVF completely like ripped my heart out because I was like oh my gosh like I've we've been through all of this we tried to do all the medications and like it didn't even work I was like we didn't even make it the egg retrieval like that step one and we couldn't even do that and I just felt so upset about that the second round
[SPEAKER_00]: We did a totally different protocol.
[SPEAKER_00]: I did many, many more medications.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, those medications messed me up pretty bad.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just feel so tired, so fatigued, bloated, you just feel like sick.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, fargic, like, it's just a weirdest feeling.
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of brain fog, like I feel like I'm just living in a dream.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's very hard to concentrate.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the second time around, we were able to get through with the egg retrieval.
[SPEAKER_00]: We got plenty of eggs, and we had a good number of embryos.
[SPEAKER_00]: but then we get a call a week later, and by the seventh day, the embryos hadn't continued to grow, so they had to discard them, and that literally broke my heart.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was on Halloween morning, and I'm like, are you freaking kidding me?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, how am I supposed to act all happy?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, Darren and I were getting ready to go to Vinnie's Halloween parade at his school, and we get the call.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like, we literally just stopped in the car.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I was like, we have to like get out of the car and show up for Vinnie.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I was like, how do we just like put on this face that everything is fine?
[SPEAKER_00]: And like talk to friends and talk to like other people that we know at this school function and look like my heart hasn't just been destroyed again after a second failed and my own, I'm like, oh my gosh.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that was just absolutely heartbreaking and difficult.
[SPEAKER_00]: These third time around, oh my gosh, same thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: As the second time, lots of shots, medications, supplements, all the things, still not feeling very good, feeling much more hopeful.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like at the beginning of a cycle, I feel so hopeful.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, oh my gosh, this is gonna work.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I'm doing it, you know, I'm actually like taking actions, I'm doing the injections every morning, every night.
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, as I'm going to these doctor's appointments, which consist of blood work and vaginal ultrasounds every single time, the third round that you guys I was in the doctor's office, like, seriously, every single day except Sunday, like, I saw the doctor in pretty sure 10 times in the span of two weeks.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I was always at the freaking doctor.
[SPEAKER_00]: It fully consumes my entire life, like every thought, every ounce of energy has been going
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, kudos to those of you who are showing up for your jobs, especially if you have other kids, and you're trying to go through IVF because it is not, it's just not easy at all.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was much more consuming than
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought it would be.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, same thing happened this last round.
[SPEAKER_00]: We had an egg retrieval.
[SPEAKER_00]: It went great.
[SPEAKER_00]: We had even more eggs.
[SPEAKER_00]: We had even more embryos.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, oh, for sure.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have nine solid embryos, at least like one to three of those are going to be able to be transferred.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like we're going to have
[SPEAKER_00]: Such good percentages, we were so excited and we were like we're finally going to be able to like end this year on such a high know of like knowing that we have embryos that we can transfer in the new year and really I was
[SPEAKER_00]: starting to dream.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, I can feel it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just felt so excited.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that let down was even harder because I started to like feel it in plan and hope and and when we got that call, which happened to be Christmas morning, you guys?
[SPEAKER_00]: Christmas morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: Christmas morning we got the news.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was just like
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh my gosh, how am I again?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, what's up with the holidays?
[SPEAKER_00]: How do we know Christmas?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, how am I supposed to just like act like everything's okay on Christmas morning, luckily we had already opened up, majority of the presents and we had already like how it could Christmas morning, but the rest of the day was just like off and it just felt like
[SPEAKER_00]: everything because we were so fortunate to have such great help with insurance, but that is the end of the benefits.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like they don't renew in the new year.
[SPEAKER_00]: We had used everything up and it's still extremely expensive using all of the benefits and having this insurance.
[SPEAKER_00]: But like now it's something where we have to seriously talk about and reconsider if we want to keep going
[SPEAKER_00]: tens and tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket now since all of our like we've used up all of the benefit and it's been really really difficult.
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, we've just been sad and and heartbroken and upset and confused and angry and frustrated.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's so easy to get caught up in the why, why me, why is this happening like
[SPEAKER_00]: Seriously, we have tried everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to get to into it and discussing what Daryne and I are talking about, what we've decided, it's very personal, it's between us.
[SPEAKER_00]: But we've just wanted this for so long.
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe it really isn't gonna happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: And how?
[SPEAKER_00]: how do we accept that?
[SPEAKER_00]: How do we move forward?
[SPEAKER_00]: Is that true?
[SPEAKER_00]: Do we stop at what point?
[SPEAKER_00]: Do we just have peace with where we're at?
[SPEAKER_00]: And like finding that peace with where we're at, but maybe we still want to try.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just a lot of emotions.
[UNKNOWN]: So
[SPEAKER_00]: We're all over the place and we still have no idea what's next.
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't know what's going to be in store for us, but we've really just been taking it day by day and Looking for all of the good and the positives and what can I learn?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like ways that we can still just be grateful and it makes me realize like it is
[SPEAKER_00]: Such a miracle, and I feel so grateful to even have Daryan in my life and to have Vinny, like I never want to take them for granted, especially going through all of this.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm just, we just feel very grateful and very close as a family, having gone through all of this.
[SPEAKER_00]: And obviously, going through all of this, there's just no way I felt comfortable.
[SPEAKER_00]: really opening up as I'm going through all of this, like I need time to be able to process before sharing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And also it is so consuming, like the only thing on my brain constantly is IVF and I feel like a broken record.
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like that has all I've been talking to you guys about for the past seven months.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm like, yeah, the podcast, like I just cannot, like even, like my brain just is completely fogged on all the medications.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's insane and I can't work out while doing the injections and then two weeks after the agriculture, so that's a whole four to five weeks that I am unable to work out.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's just like, I don't have any tips, I don't have any advice, like I just have felt very disconnected from the gem and from fitness and just everything looks a lot different.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I just knew that, you know what?
[SPEAKER_00]: I sacrificed a lot and I gave the podcast up and I gave a lot of things for work up because I knew this was worth it and we wanted to give this a real shot and there was too much on my plate so it was a really hard decision and I'm grateful that I'm able to jump back in.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wish the news was better.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wish that we had good news.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course I do.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wish this wasn't ending on such a bad note but you know what we're leaving it in the past and I'm looking at the positives and a huge positive is getting back into work.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love you guys and I love the podcast, I love
[SPEAKER_00]: just talking and opening up and feeling like I'm talking to some really good friends, I have missed being in this space.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have missed the gym.
[SPEAKER_00]: You all know how much I love the gym.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love the gym.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love working out and sacrificing that.
[SPEAKER_00]: for the last year, it really was a full year because if you have been to forget, if you happened to forget, seriously, I broke my foot, January 1st, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: January 1st, I broke my foot.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was four months off of that, and then six, seven months of IVF, that really left me to, I probably had about four decent weeks of working out this entire year of 2025.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I have sincerely missed
[SPEAKER_00]: pushing myself, pushing my body mentally, physically, I have just felt such a huge disconnect with that part of myself and with that, I feel like there's also been a massive disconnect on my socials because that's what I've been talking to you all about every single day, four years and years, and to not have that commonality that I can share and talk to you all about, I have just felt very lost.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because again, all this has been on my mind is, okay, my foot's broken, I can't work out.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't feel good.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't even walk.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, so there's, there's hard to connect in that sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then finally, I was able to heal from the injury and slowly start getting into it and start back from the beginning and I was like, okay, things are feeling better and then I jump right into IVF where I can't work out again and my emotions are all over the place.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is emotionally,
[SPEAKER_00]: draining mentally physically is just very demanding and I just felt like I felt like that's all I was talking about.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I was like, you know, let me just chill take a break and we'll regroup and I'm feeling
[SPEAKER_00]: As devastated as I am, with how this year has just sucked so much for me and our family, I'm ready and we are ready for a new year and we don't know what is headed our way, but we are excited and we are hopeful and we are bringing in all of the good lot.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I've really learned through this
[SPEAKER_00]: Challenge and others previously is as difficult as it is like it is all going to be okay and a massive thing is learning how to accept and move on Accept and realize okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is reality What can I take from this?
[SPEAKER_00]: What can I do and how can I move on and choosing to fight still I think
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of times where I've had to just completely disassociate and say, you know what?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just going to take some time and be sad.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's been a lot of that.
[SPEAKER_00]: There has been a lot.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am now feeling ready to fight.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I have a fire in me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am very hurt.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I have a lot of like anger.
[SPEAKER_00]: that I am excited to work out in the gym.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am very excited to break these these walls and these barriers and have some great breakthroughs in the gym because it has been therefore me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Through all of my hardships before, and I have missed that, I have missed being able to go to the gym and work through some aggression, some anger, push myself mentally and physically, and to be able to have that outlet again, is going to, I think, be a huge part of my healing process.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I am really looking forward to that, and I'm really freaking excited to take you all along on that journey.
[SPEAKER_00]: So,
[SPEAKER_00]: I have a few plans in 2026 and I am really looking forward to after putting pretty much everything in my life on hold this past year.
[SPEAKER_00]: It has been a long year but we are seriously leaving it in the freaking past.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to talk about it anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't care.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am moving
[SPEAKER_00]: So the first thing that I'm so excited about is I signed up for a Disney 10K with my mom.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is actually an opportunity that Disney reached out to me and I'm freaking out.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am like praising God because it is like exciting to actually have something to freaking look forward to.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I'm pumped.
[SPEAKER_00]: I might be walking some of this 10k because, again, haven't really been working out this whole year.
[SPEAKER_00]: I did finally get to do my very first two-mile run yesterday, which was so rewarding.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was actually really proud of myself that I kept at it.
[SPEAKER_00]: My my all time is like 11 minutes, 11 minutes for both miles.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, not pretty, not very good, but I am proud that I did it and I did not take a break and I didn't walk.
[SPEAKER_00]: And today the next day, I can feel it in my quads, like as I'm getting up and down off the floor, but I did it and I'm so proud.
[SPEAKER_00]: So 10k, I think it's like 6.5 miles or something.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm hoping to get up to that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've got about another
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is so special because growing up.
[SPEAKER_00]: My mom would fly with one of her friends and do.
[SPEAKER_00]: She's done a couple Disney races before.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just grew up and I was like, oh my gosh, like, that was so cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought that was so fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, you know what?
[SPEAKER_00]: That's on my bucket list.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've always wanted to do one.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've wanted to do one with her because she'd come home with these cool metals and all these fun stories.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like, that is just so cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I just thought my mom was the coolest person ever.
[SPEAKER_00]: When I was sent this opportunity,
[SPEAKER_00]: First of all, this is a dream bucketless item that I never thought in a world would happen because Disney races literally sell out so freaking early and fast and it's like impossible to get them.
[SPEAKER_00]: But too to be able to partner and kind of have a whole thing with them.
[SPEAKER_00]: It just gave me something to look forward to.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like it's a tiny, like miracle, or to me, I'm taking it as a sign from God of like, you know what, last, like this year sucked from January 1st.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you broke your foot, you've had a really hard time and I feel like having this be like at the very beginning of January, this race with my mom and like this really fun trip.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's giving me
[SPEAKER_00]: something to look forward to and it's really giving me just like a feeling of like, hey, this year's going to be a little bit better.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, I know there's going to be hard times, but I don't know something about it just like, just makes me happy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I'm really excited.
[SPEAKER_00]: This year, Darian and I are also celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary, which is so exciting.
[SPEAKER_00]: I cannot believe it's been 10 years.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, that is so fun that he's, I just am so happy he's been
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we're gonna probably plan a really fun trip around that.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just nice to have things to look forward to.
[SPEAKER_00]: Other things are partnering with new active wear companies.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been testing out so many.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there are two that I am really, really loving.
[SPEAKER_00]: One of them has extended like a light offer, which I'm very excited about.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's defined.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am so excited to work with them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And just like see.
[SPEAKER_00]: how everything goes, I love their clothes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like they are the first company I think I went to when Jim Shakenai parted ways.
[SPEAKER_00]: I freaking think their clothes are so just flattering and hot and I just love it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm very, very excited to be able to be working with them and the other brand that I'm shooting the moon for is on our active.
[SPEAKER_00]: When I tell you,
[SPEAKER_00]: Girl, girl, it's like, as soon as I put the clothes on I'm like, okay, this was designed by a woman for women in mind, like you can just freaking tell.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what the heck the fabric is.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what the heck the silhouettes are.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is so.
[SPEAKER_00]: Breaking, comfortable, soft, flattered eye, love it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So those are my two-body active-wear companies and I am utterly obsessed with right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am so excited that I'm gonna get like a code and everything with define and hopefully fingers crossed.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll be able to work with honor.
[SPEAKER_00]: Looter in this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm hoping that's that's something that I I want.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that's a little goal that I'm just kind of putting it out into the universe because I Really freaking love their clothes.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's gonna be exciting.
[SPEAKER_00]: You want to know what else is exciting that I get to look forward to in 2020 sex That's part of my goal is taking supplements again You guys I have not had pre-workout creatine any of it for a year
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, what the heck?
[SPEAKER_00]: If you have been here for a minute, you know that that is my thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: That is my ritual every morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: I take it, I go to the gym, I have my workout, like, I've lost that this past year.
[SPEAKER_00]: One was an accident, right, breaking my foot.
[SPEAKER_00]: The other one, I chose.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know, I chose it, but I am so looking forward to getting that piece of me back.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you've ever had to take a break from something or if you have gone through like postpartum and you don't feel like yourself, those feelings, like that's just how I felt.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I'm like, I am literally missing myself.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have felt so disconnected from myself
[SPEAKER_00]: The gym and working out has been such a huge identifier in my life and such a constant to not have that for a whole year.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like going insane.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm so excited.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I tried.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me see what did I buy.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I bought raw.
[SPEAKER_00]: I brought their pre-workout, pump, and creatine.
[SPEAKER_00]: I might have even bought their protein powder.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I might have even gone crazy.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, I haven't even had protein powder forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to try it, so I'm going to review that, see how it goes.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just have so much to look forward to and just fall back in love with working out, with work, with myself, with life, like enjoying the gym, pushing myself, and like not missing any session,
[SPEAKER_00]: With that, like, living my life to the fullest with my family as well, like being so utterly and truly grateful for what we do have, like, I am so beyond blessed to have Vinnie and to have Darian and that we are happy and that we're healthy and just really trying to hold on to the good and the positive, even though this year just really was horrible.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, maybe your year sucks too, or maybe you had the freaking best year of your life in 2025.
[SPEAKER_00]: Either way, I just want to say like, better days and better years are going to be ahead.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, some of your years are going to be great, some not so much.
[SPEAKER_00]: But regardless, I think there's good and bad in every single year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, even though there's been a lot of bad news and heartbreak and just like frustration this year,
[SPEAKER_00]: speed bumps, roadblocks.
[SPEAKER_00]: There has been so much good and there's been a lot of other ways and I've been able to grow personally.
[SPEAKER_00]: One of those is hobbies.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is like the first year that I have dove into hobbies and it has been very fun and rewarding in a new sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I have found how much I love doing puzzles, like the jigsaw wooden puzzles,
[SPEAKER_00]: I love them.
[SPEAKER_00]: They are so much fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love listening to an audiobook while I do them.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love just at any time I love those types of puzzles.
[SPEAKER_00]: They really bring me a lot of joy, and they help me be very present and focus on a task at hand.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, if I didn't break my foot, I don't think I would have ever really gotten into that hobby.
[SPEAKER_00]: Another one that has been really fun is reading that has been so rewarding this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: I did like to read previously, but this year I really honed in on it and I'm going to end the year with 70, I think I'm at 73 books, I really wanted to try to get to 75, but I'm realizing time is ticking.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I might be able to finish one,
[SPEAKER_00]: by the end of the year, so maybe 74 but still I'm so proud of those 73 books and there's been so many good ones and I feel like that's really helped change and shape me as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love reading books with like very strong female characters.
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like that helps.
[SPEAKER_00]: me see that fight in myself and that I want to keep going and there's just so much to learn in these books and I love it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've also recently gotten a little bit into coloring.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's very soothing and it's something that Vinnie and I like to do together.
[SPEAKER_00]: We also, again, love like doing walks and bike rides, but like that has been very rewarding.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll say like also friendship and like getting out of my comfort zone asking for help.
[SPEAKER_00]: That is something else.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like when someone helps you, do you not feel that much closer to that person?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I'm like, I literally owe you my wife.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would literally do anything for anyone who
[SPEAKER_00]: really goes out of their way and helps me.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I feel like that's really ground my friendships and that is something that I have been wanting to and needing to work on for so long is just like deepening friendships and like letting my guard down and talking to people about things and just really connecting and I feel like this year I have really connected with the bunch of really amazing people and that has been
[SPEAKER_00]: a huge plus for this year and I just have had a lot of help from those around me and I just feel indebted.
[SPEAKER_00]: And anytime I can then turn around and help others, it just helps me feel so good.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I just want to
[SPEAKER_00]: always pass that on as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's also been so many good memories.
[SPEAKER_00]: Trips we've been able to have in, you know, first with Vinny going to kindergarten, and it's, there's a lot of good in between, even though there's been a lot of bad in this year as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am just ready for this new year.
[SPEAKER_00]: grateful for all the lessons in 2025, but I do not care to look back on this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: any more than I already did.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm ready to hit some new PRs in the gym.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm ready to get this lift.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm ready to get the pre-workout.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am so ready to leave all of this behind and be the best version of myself in 2021.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am not starting over, but I'm continuing my story and I'm entering a little bit of a revenge stage.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've got some some fire that I'm ready to put to work and work really hard this upcoming year with work with everything coming up.
[SPEAKER_00]: So whether this year sucked for you or didn't, just no matter what comes your way, please know you're not alone.
[SPEAKER_00]: You are so much stronger than you think.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as difficult as it is to say and hear, someday it's all going to make sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it really is all going to be okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's get some fun and gains this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's grow mentally physically and destroy 2026 together.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you all again so much for being so patient and understanding.
[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously you understand a little bit more now.
[SPEAKER_00]: a freaking difficult year and honestly I'm pretty sure if I even tried to record a podcast I just be crying the entire time or talking about how difficult everything is and like nobody needs to or wants to hear that.
[SPEAKER_00]: That is not the purpose of this podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want this podcast to be a blifting and motivating and helpful teaching you some amazing health
[SPEAKER_00]: some fun entertaining gym stories like that's what I want out of this podcast and I am in a position where I can do that now and now you have a little bit of understanding and background behind it and you know that I am not giving up.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ever, I'm so, and you know that I am so happy to just be back with you all, and There's so much to come in 2026, and I'm excited to share with you all.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've got the whole podcast planned out and ready, so just know fun and games isn't going anywhere
[SPEAKER_00]: And with that being said, again, thank you so much for tuning in to the funnigames podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host, Brittany Laptain, and I'll talk to you all next week with some more funnigames.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bye!
[SPEAKER_00]: You are listening to the funnigames podcast with your host, Brittany Laptain.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening to another episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast, and we'll see you all next time for some more funnigames.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bye!
[SPEAKER_00]: Have a good day!