My Parents on Me Dropping Out of College & Finding Out I Had a Tumor
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- I could tell something was wrong when I came out of the MRI examination. I saw you and I knew immediately like, oh shoot, something's not okay. - He never wore shirts all when he was little. It was underwear and nothing else walking around the house. So it's not just for the camera now. - Isn't that scary, guys, when I dropped out of college to make TikToks? - Yeah. - Weird isn't the word.

Hey, before we get started, if you guys could please leave a review for our podcast. It takes literally 10 seconds and it helps us out so very much. You can do that on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. So do that right now. It would mean the world to us. Thanks. Now on with the episode. What's up, dudes? And welcome back to the Unplanned Podcast. We have a couple of disclaimers before we get started.

I'm ill. I'm also ill. And we're in a tornado. Yes, there's a tornado watch going on. So if you guys hear any like thunder. Wait, really? There is a tornado watch? It's a tornado watch. Yeah. Thunderstorm warning, tornado watch. Welcome to the Midwest. So meet John and Teresa.

Yeah. Hey, everybody. Hi. Or Papa John or Mother Teresa. Yeah. Or also Papa J-Dog. Papa J-Dog. And just Grandpa. Papa, Papa J, now Papa J-Dog. Where did you come up with that, Dad? I was being silly. I just wanted to be something different than just Grandpa. So I thought Papa would be cool. And then I thought Papa John would be cool. And then I thought, let's make a Papa J because that sounds even more cool. And then I thought, Papa J-Dog. That really sounds cool. Yeah.

And how does it feel? You guys are having three grandkids all in the span of one year. Oh, super excited. Awesome. That's insane. Heaven. It's going to be a lot of fun. So we have one boy, another boy on the way. Yeah. All John's wanted is a girl. We had a gender reveal at our house last Saturday. Yeah. And that was a lot of fun. Awesome. So that'll be one of these future podcasts.

- It's a podcast or YouTube's right? - Yeah, I think it'll probably go out before this podcast. - You just gave it away. - Yeah, but we're having a-- - Well, stay tuned. - Oh yeah, we're having a boy, if you guys didn't know that. Another boy, we're very excited. - That's all we can make. That's all the Howards can make. - Now do I tell them to hit the like button? - What? - Oh yeah, dad, tell people to hit the like button. - Hey, hit that like button. - Thanks, dad. - If you leave a review, it really helps us out a lot.

That's what he says every time. That's where Matt gets it from. Oh my goodness. No, but John, you wanted a daughter. You had three boys. Yes. Now you have two grandsons. Yes. But I got two wonderful daughter-in-laws. Oh, sweet. We couldn't be more blessed. We just love our Abby and Abigail and just super blessed. That's so sweet. Actually, that kind of leads into a question I was going to ask later on, but I might as well ask you now.

I was wondering what your first impressions were of me seven years ago when Matt first like, well, you knew of me before, even before seven years ago. Yeah. But not well. So I don't know. Matt had never taken a girl home before, right? No, you were my first ever girlfriend. Yeah. What did you guys think about Abby when I first started? I said, finally, he got something like him. Yeah.

No, we were super impressed. You know, we kind of knew you from the Muni, and Teresa talked to me about your mom, and, you know, Lori and Teresa would talk about it would be cute if the two of them would date. And I remember seeing who you were, and I thought, boy, she's a cute little girl, and you just got to be...

Now you're beautiful. Thank you. Yeah, so it's crazy. I was friends with Lori before they dated. My mom. Yeah, Abby's mom. Because the muni can be kind of scary, and Matt and I would look for new people and try to help them through things because it was –

I remember our first couple of years. So you, I think, reached out a little bit. I don't know. But I reached out to Lori and we did coffee every year and stuff. And then we were like, wouldn't that be neat if they got together? So we actually did an arranged marriage. You just didn't even know it. For those of you guys that don't know, the Muni is a theater in St. Louis that Abby and I met at performing when we were kids. And it was petrifying for me. It was scary for you. Yeah, which is odd. You're such a confident person. You're so silly and goofy. Well, that's also something. When I met you, though, you were super shy.

Yeah, and you know where else I was actually super shy? Your parents. No, yeah. My parents thought you were the shyest person ever, but you were just afraid to be yourself in front of them. I was so intimidated because I liked you so much and also your family. Everyone here...

it's not a it's not a secret they have big personalities yeah so like coming in i was kind of just like sorry i know no i love that about you guys we got with your family i'm like we are scaring them today they all just sit there like big-eyed looking at us like you're crazy it had more to do with me just like liking matt so much that i just like did not know how to behave and then i was like oh my gosh like i really want their family to like me too so i was like so stressed out for years

Really? Yeah, years. Really? It took a while for Abby to warm up to you guys. It took a really long time. I remember you started coming out of your shell and I was like, oh my gosh, she's got so much personality because you were very quiet. But you came out of your shell and it's like, man, she has got a lot of energy. She's really got a lot of personality. Adorable. Oh yeah, it was so fun. Well, you really can thank me for the first date because he was saying, I want to ask her, but this girl is saying she's dating somebody. And I'm like, okay.

tell me more and you tell me more. I'm like, that's what girls say when they like you. I think you should go for it. Oh yeah, my mom had a theory that the girl that told me you were dating somebody liked me. So that's why. She might have. That's what I'm thinking. But yeah, that's my mom's theory because she, the girl that told me you were dating somebody was like convinced that.

that, yeah, you were dating somebody. And so she was telling me, yeah, don't ask her. Don't even ask her. I'm like, what's it going to hurt? Just ask. Which, yeah, I don't know if there's any truth to that, but that was your theory. That was my mom's theory. In defense of that girl, I was like, not dating somebody, but like involved with another guy. No, the more that I found out, you were totally going on dates with someone. Like you were actually going on dates with someone. You killed him. I totally swooped in, not even realizing it. I had no idea that you were going on dates with some other guy. But here's the thing. I wasn't even like...

We weren't calling each other boyfriend or girlfriend, so I had no reason to be like, oh, I can't. Yeah. In my mind. Yeah. I find it so funny that you guys had three kids and are so stoked for grandkids because at one point in your life, dad, you didn't want anything to do with kids or family or a wife. You thought you were going to be single for your whole entire life, right? Yeah. Yeah. And how old were you when you made that decision? I don't know.

I guess I was in high school. I just wanted to kind of please John. I wanted to have my own money and do my own thing and travel the world and just enjoy doing things I wanted to do. And that just shows what a great woman Teresa is. What changed? I don't know about that. Yeah, like how did you guys meet? Like how did that... Oh man, that's a whole different story. She just got back from... Clean version.

She just got back from Florida, and my roommate was wanting me to meet this girl. And I kind of met her and really wasn't that interested. And then I went to the front door where my buddy Kenny was collecting money because we had this big party. You don't need to use names. Just...

So don't say Kenny Gash. So he's collecting money. And I looked out and I see this great looking girl with a short mini skirt on and she's all tan. She just got back from Florida and she's with some friends. And then she's talking to this guy and I just pretty much butted right in front of him. I started talking to Teresa and I said, hey, let's go for a walk. And she thought I knew the guy and the guy thought I knew Teresa. And I just seen her for the first time I thought. That's not true. Yeah. We had met each other at the pool.

Before. Before. But it really made a good impression on me. But the mini skirt and the tan legs, and she's beautiful. That's just wrong. That's just wrong. I had met him previously, but yeah, he didn't even remember because he was dating a friend of mine. Well, acquaintance of mine. And then the night that we met, I had been at a wedding. My sister Cindy had gone with me. I come home. Cindy's asleep. All the girls, all my roommates, I had three roommates. I run in and I'm screaming, waking everybody up, saying...

I met the guy. I met the guy. I'm going to marry him. I'm going to marry him someday. I'm telling you. And then my sister Cindy told that story at our wedding. She was my maid of honor. She goes, she was finally right once. She said you were marrying him and you did. So I trapped you. I didn't even know that had gone on until the night we were getting married and Cindy shared that story. I didn't know that story.

Really? Wow. That's so interesting because you guys got married and everything was good. But when I was a kid, there was always this, I want to say it was a picture of your boyfriend from college on the Christmas tree. No, no. I love to teach. I love to tease Teresa. So I found this ornament of her boyfriend and I put it on the Christmas tree in different spots.

And the boys would go, what's this? Oh, that's your mom's boyfriend. You mean the stocking of the dog? No, there's some picture of your boyfriend. Is there a picture of you and your boyfriend on a Christmas tree that we had growing up? No. What's with that little photo album? That sounds awful. No, wait. Maybe it was just an ornament that he gave to mom. Yes. And that's what it was. It was the doggy. What's that picture that was on the frame that he just took off? No, that was not. No, you're just making stuff up. She's got so many pictures and ornaments from him. I don't blame your mom. He was a good looking guy. No, I'm not.

Yes, making a big deal about it. It's an ornament, but you no longer put on the tree. No, no, you guys are doing this roast Yeah, oh my god when I know when you guys got engaged oh My gosh, there are is that in is that a warning? We have a tornado warning shelter now in a basement That's terrifying

Sorry, folks. Let's pause this. We're going to pause the podcast. National Weather Service tornado warning in this area until 7 p.m. Well, freaking crap. Don't cut this. This is good for content. Oh, yeah. This is great content. We will resume with you guys next week.

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Okay, and we're back. We survived the tornado. Yay! It's now 9 o'clock at night and my dad's about to fall asleep. So we need to wrap this up. I go to bed at 9.02, so it's getting late. Actually, that was also a topic we thought we should talk about. Oh, your narcolepsy. Dad, you fall asleep more than anybody I know in my life. Are you diagnosed with narcolepsy, actually? Well, I take medication once in a while that helps me stay awake throughout the day. But yeah, be careful with it.

But you've not been diagnosed with narcolepsy. No. No. He's gone in for the sleep studies twice. Yeah. Spent the night at the hospital, and they test you, and they just say what? They do the CPAP. I was doing the CPAP, but I get so distended with air in my stomach. Keep it clean. Then the next morning, I am just miserable. Yeah.

I've never heard of that. Ripping farts. He can't go work out at the gym. I get more in the corner. Because, you know, you're lifting a tire. That's disgusting. I feel like your nighttime sleep is less concerning than the daytime sleep because you have fallen asleep behind the wheel a couple times. You crashed two vehicles. Didn't you total two cars? Yeah, but that's when you were babies. He wasn't getting enough sleep.

Okay, but then also falling asleep during dinners, conversations. Church, church, standing. Standing up falling asleep. He can stand and talk to you and fall asleep. Yeah. Yeah, no, I've been talking to you before and you fall asleep. Well, like mid-conversation. Like literally you said something two seconds earlier and then you're asleep. It kind of freaks me out. It's scary, Dad.

Yeah, I don't know what it is, but it seems like it's getting worse as I get older. And it doesn't matter if you get four hours of sleep or ten. It still happens. Right. So I don't know what to do about it. It's not healthy. I know that. It's not good for you.

So your engagement, you guys got engaged. Switching the subject. Yeah, it was quick. Your engagement. Okay, hold up. People today do these crazy big, you know, engagement things, these big shows. They, you know, do some special way of asking someone to marry them. But back in your day, like, didn't people legit just over dinner, they're like,

Hey, will you marry me? Here's a ring. Isn't that what people did back in your day? Nobody would do any big way of asking people. It was dinner. Nine times out of ten. Literally over dinner. Yeah. My dad proposed to me when I went on a walk. Are you kidding? What? The big thing was in an ice cube. You take the ring and put it in an ice cube, give it to the guy at the restaurant the day before, whatever. When you're joking. Put it in a drink. No. And they said, there's something in your ice cube.

What? I've never heard of that. And they go, oh, there is something. Oh, it's a ring. And then he would drop down on one knee and put it on her finger. That's what everybody did. That's what a lot of people were doing. That's funny. I remember hearing about that from the Spider-Man movie. I would not trust that. I know. We watched this. Well, I watched Spider-Man as a kid, and I think that's what...

Peter Parker wanted to do with really yeah with his like his girl in the movie anyway that's funny that was a big thing back in the day but people were telling him don't do it all these guys were like no that's too over you need to explain though what can you tell us what you did dad like how did you ask mom to marry you well we've been dating for a while I guess about two years and the guy she was working with there was teasing her that this guy's never men never gonna marry you you know just teasing her non-stop

And we had watched the movie Pretty Woman. And in Pretty Woman, the guy shows up and

and proposes to her in front of all these people and the whisper off her feet and takes her out of the work at the office where she's at, not the office, whatever job she had. I can't remember. Yeah. So anyway, yeah, I thought that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to work out a deal with her boss that I can pick her up at work in front of all her buddies and proposed her right in front of all of her buddies and take her off. So I got ahold of her boss, Bill. I said, Hey Bill, here's my idea. It was a Friday afternoon. She gets off like at three 30. I said, I'm going to come down, uh,

with a limo and she was telling me where to pick her up in front of everybody like a half hour before the end of her day so that way she's not missing much work but everybody's still there. So we worked it out and the whole thing was videotaped and I proposed in front of all Teresa's coworkers. But my boss really went over the top. Oh yeah, really? I mean there was a ramp closed when you're going 64 westbound to go 270 south

The whole ramp was closed with barricades and barrels. Wow. There were no cell phones then. This was 91. So my wife works for MoDOT, which is Missouri Department of Transportation. She's an engineer. I did. So she's an engineer, and she's out there in the field, and they were building what's called Ramp 6 at this intersection that Teresa's talking about. Ramp 6, right? Yeah. So the whole thing got videotaped because Bill, her boss...

embraced the idea and he helped me work it out. So he gave me a walkie talkie and myself and the driver went up to the top of the ramp and they moved some barricades so I can come down this ramp. That would never happen today. You could not move barrels and barricades and let this limo come down. And I'm down there with like 30 men. But you dropped a string and went underneath the ramp

So here I'm getting ready to come down and Bill goes, okay, come on down. And Austin Treaser runs down to get the string under the bridge. And I was coming down the ramp. Luckily I got back up. I guess she got back up as I was coming down the ramp. People had came down it before. It wasn't all completed. We were, they were pouring concrete at the bottom of it. So here comes this car and I'm on the video saying, there's a crash.

person on the ramp. There's a crazy person coming on the ramp. Oh my gosh. And my boss and the other couple guys knew because they took pictures and videos of it. And then dad popped out of the moon roof with roses. And was like, Princess Teresa, Princess Teresa, it's your knight in shining armor. I hope our fairy tale comes true. That's what I... Wow. Wait, you said that? You said Princess Teresa? All the guys were like,

I was trying to figure out what to say, and the driver of the limo kind of helped me out. I said, I think I'm going to say this because, no, I don't say this. And we came up with, how about Princess Teresa, Princess Teresa? I'm the knight in shiny armor. Hope our fair tale comes true. So he's in a suit and tie. I'm in blue jeans, a jean jacket. Steel-toed boots. Steel-toed work boots. I was like, oh, this is embarrassing. Wow. Wow.

And then the limo could not turn around because it was so big. He had to back up the whole way back the ramp. That's so funny. That's pretty neat. So did you go together in the limo afterwards? Yes. Yes. Cute. Yeah. I mean, we called her mom.

to tell her that we got engaged. And I think your sister, I think you called her sister. You got a good memory, but that was in 91. I think they called my parents too, but I'd already asked her dad for her hand in marriage. And so he knew his comment, but I think we called him too. But your mom and dad were going through a divorce or got through a divorce. But anyway, we called to let them know that, you know, it's official and it went well. And I think your mom,

I don't know if she knew it was going to happen that night, but she knew it was going to happen soon. That was over 30 years ago. Yeah. Excuse my language, but mom, that's pretty badass that you were bossing all these dudes around on a construction site. I wasn't bossing them. She's still doing it. You were over all these men. Yeah, I bossed the house a bit. You were the OG boss woman. No, no. Now in our modern world, we call women boss babes or I don't know. Girl boss. Girl boss. You were the OG girl boss. No, no.

You were really ahead of your time, though, with that proposal. Yeah, it was. This is where Matt gets it, being so over-the-top and...

And my roommate said, don't do that. Just put the ring in an ice cube. Just put it in the ice cube. Be standard. No, but it's still the big story at MoDot in St. Louis. People started and they would all be told this story. I want to see the video so bad. I have a video. Oh, you haven't seen the video? Yeah. And pictures. Can you send that to me? Is there a way to like text me that video? Well, no, it's all on VHS. Wow. I think it's a DVD. We have to switch it.

We could record the TV. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I want to see this video. That's really, really sweet. It was very impressive. He did very well. Well, after this podcast, we can watch that. Cute. Oh, my goodness. He did a good job. So I thought we were talking about you as a little boy and the trouble you got into. And you probably can't see it, but right up here is where Matt... Oh, my gosh. When we first moved to this house, that was Matt's first stage. He climbed up on top of there and danced there.

I don't think they can see that. How did he even get up there? Yeah, that's so funny. He climbed the rocks. Yeah, I wish you guys could see it. There's a fireplace right here. Maybe I'll take a video on my phone. But there's a fireplace right here. And above the fireplace is where I would actually dance as a kid and sing and perform for my whole family. Before we decorated. When we first moved in. When we first moved in his house. It was empty. He looked at it and goes, that's my estate. Cute. Because he just turned four. Well, he'd been in his house for 21 years. Yeah.

Do you guys remember when I was obsessed with watching American Idol and I colored our whole carpet downstairs in the basement? I thought it was so cool that on American Idol they had that massive logo, like the American Idol logo, that was glowing on the floor of the stage. I was like, I want to build my own. So at five years old, I've got all my markers together and I drew this massive...

Yeah, I used permanent marker to make this massive American Idol logo on the carpet of our basement. And I think I about gave you guys a heart attack when I did that. Well, we thought they'd be washable because they were kid markers. What kid markers are not? No, they were permanent.

Yeah. So did you have to replace the whole carpet? No, we had this, it looked like a rainbow almost, what you did. It was all these colors, this little round circle. No, we had a carpet cleaner come out and we tried to clean it. And clean it, and clean it, and clean it. And then we've had that all this time until recently we replaced the floor. And he wanted to have a stage. So I thought, okay, I'm just going to get a sheet of plywood. So I got a four foot by eight foot sheet of plywood from the local Lowe's or Home Depot. Brought it.

Into the house, took it down to the basement, dropped it on the floor. I said, that's the thing you're going to color. There's your stage. He goes, no, no, no, no. When I dance on it, I want it to make noise. With his tap shoes. So then I framed it out with two by fours so it would be elevated so that it would make noise. He goes, no, no, no. It's got to have curtains and a post. And a pull string. I retrofitted that so I had posts on all fours.

And he goes, no, I want the curtains to move. I'm like, oh my gosh. So Dennis, remember Dennis? Yeah. Can we say last name? No. Okay. So Dennis, our friend Dennis came over and helped me make the retractable curtains. And he goes, yeah, but now I need a place where somebody can be over here, changing over here, changing over here and be able to go back and forth. So it's got to have a curtain on the back. So one thing after another, this thing became a whole thing.

Full blown stage. And Matthew would like to have shows downstairs in the basement. Every time there's cousins come over, he would have shows and he called it a circus magnifico. I mean, I put on all sorts of shows. It was funny. At Christmas time this year, we were watching back this footage of me and my brothers doing a circus show. Because I know we had gone and seen a circus. And anytime we'd gone to see like a show or a magician or a circus or anything, I was like, I want to recreate my own. And so I put on that show. I'm pretty sure at least one of you were in there.

your underwear we were like all in our underwear yeah we were all diving and we had we had like a hula hoop we pretended it was like a ring of fire and like jumped through the hula hoop into a beanbag chair honestly you were a little daredevil even from those videos i can see yeah

I just, I don't know. It was funny. I kind of walked the beat of my own drum. Like I really liked performing. I liked the stage and I liked directing, but then I also like did like stunts on my, on my BMX bike and skateboarded with my buddies. And outside there too. Remember the ramps? Yeah. We got in a fight one time because you guys were making me wear a helmet when I skateboarded and I did not want to wear a helmet. And I think you took me to the principal at my school. Like you literally got the principal involved. I love how you guys did not

put up with that you're like we're gonna take fourth grade and you're a great kid and made straight A's and very curious and everything but yeah we're really upset because you kept riding your skateboard and things without your helmet and we're like no this is unacceptable and I was talking to your teacher and she was wonderful um

Kayla, we'll just say Kayla. And she's like, you know, I'm a good person and all that, but I was the same way in fourth grade. She's like, why don't you take him to Spencer in the principal's office? It was my teacher's idea to go to the principal. Yeah. And we're like, yeah. And Spencer was like, yeah, you know, and Spencer was like six, six and this big man.

And it was like, it was a counseling session, but he was like, you know, talking to you about- He's a great guy. Great principal. We love you and your parents love you is why they want to protect your head. And that's how you do so well in school. We miss you, Spencer. Yeah. Well, can I tell you what? Matt is like the biggest helmet police nowadays. Like, he makes sure everyone is wearing a helmet. When were we recently? And you were like, where's your helmet? Well, I look like...

I like to do fun things. Who was that? Oh, I think it was Tanner. Our buddy Tanner like never wears a helmet. Oh, yeah. You're like, where's your – yeah. That's dangerous. But it's like I like to do fun things but why risk it, right? Right. You might as well – you can break your arm or break a wrist or break a leg and like that will grow – like it will fix itself. You'll have to have a sucky recovery which won't be fun. But like you hit your head hard enough and you could have permanent brain damage. You could die. Like it's not worth it. You saw the little helmet he got Griffin. Oh, so cute. The little bear. He got a little teddy bear.

Helmet. So cute. So cute. Riding bikes together. That's adorable. But yeah, that talk really stuck with him. Because we went twice to Spencer. And it was free, obviously, but it was like a counseling session almost. He just...

you know, talk to you about how important you were to him and to our school and such a great kid and how much your parents love you. And you're all about the look. You wanted to look good. Well, my buddies who are skateboarders too, they didn't wear helmets. So I wanted to be cool. They didn't have straight A's either. No. But like, what was, what was that like raising me? Like was, did Matt give you more trouble than your other boys?

He was very curious. He asked a lot of questions. And you know how he never wears a shirt? He had some type of, it's called tactile?

Yeah. So he had to have certain socks. He had a certain percentage of cotton. And he didn't know what the word was. He just says, I don't like these socks. He would feel like the sewing. The end of the sock, if it was sewn a certain way, it would bother his toes. So I'd get like four or five different brands until he'd find one that felt good to him. And we would just buy those socks all the time. And that's why you never wore a shirt? I just never liked wearing shirts. No, but that, you were always... Sorry. You were always hot. Yeah. You were always hot. He never wore a shirt...

- All these little, it was underwear and nothing else walking around the house. So it's not just for the camera now. It's always been that way. - You come home from school and you take that shirt off. - Take all your clothes off, pricey. - It's so funny 'cause that's like one of the most common questions I get on TikTok all the time is like, why do you not wear a shirt? - They think he's like trying to show off. - And I literally just have never worn a shirt. I've never worn a shirt my whole entire life. - For me, it's like so normal to see you like not in a shirt. But then I realized like we're having people over for dinner.

I've never seen their husband shirtless. Yeah, my husband's just killing it. I remember when people come over for dinner, I'm like, oh, I probably should put a shirt on. Probably. But if they're really close with us, there's a time where it's just like, you know what? If we're this close with these people, I don't think I need to put a shirt on anymore. It doesn't faze me anymore. Yeah. Wait till you're 58 and you got a belly. Sit up.

So Matt was more trouble to raise. I mean, it's just he was very smart and curious and never sat still. And I mentioned that to you earlier. I remember thinking, oh, I just wish he would sit still a minute. I'm exhausted. And then I might happen to see someone that was handicapped or something wrong. And I'm like, oh, God, why am I thinking that? That's...

He's just so smart and curious. That's why he never sits still and never quits asking questions. And we try to answer you after like 25, you're just like, because I said so, I'm your mother. Oh, yeah. Because you're just exhausted. Can we talk about the trip to Wisconsin? Oh, my gosh. Yeah.

He was asked by the birds and the bees. And he would not let it go. And we said, okay, when we drive to Wisconsin, we'll put a TV show on for Josh. Josh with a headset. And a headset so he could watch the show. He was in the very back. And your older brother wasn't asking any questions. It was Matt asking all the questions. In the middle. And you would not stop. So where did babies come from? How does that happen? I was driving and dad was explaining everything. Oh, I remember you telling me about his sweet question. Yeah. No, we are not.

going there. Oh my God. Yeah. Caleb just sat there like in horror, you know, like a deer in headlights. Like, oh my gosh, this is just changed the subject. I remember, I think I asked you guys like, so when was the last time you had sex? I think I asked you guys in the car and you're like, I'm not going to answer that, Matt. Matthew, you've always called me Matthew. Even when I decided that it was too lame to be called Matthew, I wanted to be called Matt. You guys still called me Matthew. They shut it down when it got personal. They were like, no. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And it got really personal. And we're like, oh my gosh. No, I'm not answering that. Sweet. Weren't you like fourth grade or something? I was in third grade.

Oh, my gosh. I remember that. Yeah. I was a nine-year-old. But he had already started asking us stuff, and Caleb hadn't. So we're like- We can't keep not answering his questions. I know. So we'll lock him in the van. He'll find answers somewhere. That's why it's- To Wisconsin Dells, right, from older kids at school, which will be the wrong answer. So we're like- I really applaud you guys for that, though. You're good at having tough conversations. He was the first one to figure out about the whole Santa Claus thing. Can we say that?

Yeah, I would hope that kids that young aren't watching this podcast. People watching the podcast are like in their 20s typically, 20s or 30s I would say. So Matt was asking about Santa Claus. He kept on telling me there's a Santa Claus and I guess you went shopping and said, hey, help me get the groceries and you bought something that was for Christmas and Matt saw it in the back.

And then two or three days later, it was underneath the tree. No, actually, that was Caleb. Caleb saw the stuff in the... I thought it was you. Caleb saw everything from Santa in the trunk of the car. For me, we had a debate for weeks at school. Me and all my, like... I think I was in second grade. It was the topic. There was a hot topic at lunch. Like, is Santa real? And then, like, one kid would be like, yeah, I saw footprints from Santa last year. It's a fact.

he's real. And people are like, oh, that's good. That's good. Only Santa has footprints. And I want to say, like, I was leading the debate. I was like, I was like the chief investigator, right, of like all my buddies. I'm like, okay, that's some good evidence. But like, hey, Blake, didn't you say though that like, you're pretty sure that you saw it was your dad's handwriting on the note from Santa? So we just like did this whole investigation thing. And then I just like, I had a confrontation with you, dad. I was like,

dad, tell it to me straight. Is Santa Claus real? And you're like, yes, he is. And I'm like, no, dad, tell me really. And then you said, you told me no. And then I nailed you right there. I was like, okay, so that means the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, you know, all these other people. That was a separate realization for me. I just like, boom, boom, boom. I got them all. Like every single mythical creature, fairy tale, whatever. I just like got them all listed out. I'm like, they're all fake too. And you're like, yeah.

And then that was it. I was so busted. I was so busted. So then remember you tried to ruin it for Josh? Or you gave him a bunch of coal? We wanted to prank Josh. My little brother Josh. Who's your big brother now? Well, he looks older than me. He's huge. But anyway, with Josh, I think Caleb and I really wanted to prank Josh one year and switch his presence out with coal. So we woke up in the middle of the night. We went downstairs, switched out Josh's presence with coal. And...

And it was so funny. He still believed in Santa. Yeah, he still believed. And it was going to be hilarious. Like, Caleb, my older brother and I, like, we planned this out perfectly. It was going to be hilarious. Caleb, like, five minutes before we walked downstairs on Christmas morning, is like, Dad, come here. I want to tell you something funny. We switched Josh's presents out with Cole. And I'm like. How old was Josh at this point? Obviously. Like, five, six. I don't know. Oh.

He was probably like six or seven. Yeah. Anyway, so. That's too young. Of course, my dad goes downstairs, you know, switches out the cold back with Josh's presence and the whole thing was off. That would have been mean. It was so lame. He was too young. We were about to get him so good. We were about to get him so good. He was a sensitive kid. I did not want him to be upset. Yeah, Josh. Josh.

He's so sweet. He does not deserve that. No. Okay. I actually have this question for you. When I was a kid, I was always doing theater and performing and singing and dancing and putting on shows at every family gathering. Did I just naturally, I guess, decide I liked that on my own? Because I...

I want to say I remember going to see a show, like, I think it was Peter Pan. Yeah, it was Peter Pan. You said you wanted to fly on stage like Peter Pan. You were three, and we have a picture, and I got in trouble for taking it. Really? Because you know at the Muni, you're not supposed to use a camera. Yeah. It hadn't even started. You and Caleb just stood in the aisle, and I got Peter Pan behind you at the Muni. And then an usher came up and was like, no pictures. I'm like, oh, really? Okay. But you were like, I'm going to do that someday. Yeah.

I'm going to do that someday. You almost did, but your buddy got the role. That's okay. He got to fly around the stage. You got to fly as a monkey. I got to fly too, actually. Abby was a flying monkey in a production of Wizard of Oz. So then we, yeah, you just, every gathering with kids, you would just take control of the room and be like, okay, we're going to do this show and I want you to stand here. You would just start directing and producing and everything.

I mean, from like the age of four. It's weird. Like I literally just had the realization literally a couple of weeks ago. I was like, oh my gosh, like just like I directed and produced shows as a, as an eight year old at family gatherings. Like that's kind of what I do when I make a YouTube video. Cause I, I go through all the footage and I'm like, what type of story do I want to tell here? And, uh,

It's weird how I get to do that same thing now as an adult, which is really fun. What a blessing. Matt, you really are an anomaly. And I feel like we've talked more and more, but you've always kind of had a harder time finding your people or people that understand you. But it's because you are literally so unique. You are a theater boy that loves snowboarding and skateboarding.

And also, like, really smart. Like, you're, like, kind of nerdy. But then also, like, you're just into it. I don't know. You're hard to pick. Very unique. Thank you. You're a unique guy. Yeah. He likes to try a lot of things, like skydiving. Curious. That scared the heck out of me when I found out you guys did that with Bella and Dallin. Oh, my God. We were like, oh, my God.

Oh, my God. Dad, guess what I just did? I'm like, oh, is it over? Are you going to do it? No, I just got done skydiving. I said, okay, so you're fine. You did it. But then, yeah, you're on the ground, right? Yeah. I said, okay. Yeah, we decided to tell the parents afterwards. Yeah, I'm glad you did. Thank you. But yeah, you know, because you were wanting to do these little plays. And then we started going to see some. And we went and saw our neighbors in the Kirkwood Community Theater. And you're like, I want to do that. So then you were like, stop.

you were the mouse in Cinderella. Remember Kirkwood Community Theater? And you did that like eight shows or something. That was really good training. Yeah. But then when you were eight, you...

Did I get in the uni when I was eight or nine? Yes. I think you tried out when you were eight, but you were turning nine that summer. You should have been like a baby, like child model, honestly. Dude, I wanted to. When I watched Disney Channel and Nickelodeon as a kid, I wanted so badly as a kid to be those kids. You begged me to go to New York. I was like, Mom, can we move to California? Can we move to New York? He was literally the cutest. I mean, I have a son now, and he's still a baby, but I literally...

I really think that was like probably one of the cutest little kids. You would beg me, but I'm glad you weren't a child actor. Yeah, I would have messed him up a little. And you wouldn't have met Abby at the Muni. You want to be like Justin Bieber, right? No, I remember watching, well, I posted a video of me singing Baby when I was 13 years old.

because I was hoping that I would get like recognized. I was hoping that the YouTube video of me singing would be like my big break, just like Justin Bieber. But I didn't realize at the time, like Justin Bieber, he had been putting out video after video on YouTube. And he also put out videos on YouTube at a time where YouTube was very fresh and new. And so you were just more likely to be seen back in the day because there wasn't as much competition. But when I posted my one YouTube video, that was when it had gotten more saturated. And if I had ever wanted to ever be seen, I should have posted, you know,

at least 50 videos or something, right? But I just didn't understand that. And so as a kid, I thought, okay, if I just post this one YouTube video, then someone is gonna discover me and I'll get to have my big break like Justin. I just didn't understand how the industry worked. - Yeah. - And mom took you to a bunch of those tryout shows. Then you go to Chicago and stood in line forever. - Well, I auditioned for The Voice and I didn't make it. - And I got to be with you. - Yeah.

Because you were under 18, remember? That's right. I got to go in the room. Did you have to get out of school for that? No, it was on the weekend. I don't know. But no, I auditioned for The Voice twice and I didn't make it. That's pretty cool of your parents to literally take you to that. I drove you to Chicago. Wait a minute, your parents were driving you from Quincy. Yeah. Which is a long way to go from Quincy to St. Louis. We both have parents that just like really supported our crazy dreams. Totally. Totally.

That's so sweet. You guys are both very, very fortunate. No, my mom would drive me to every single rehearsal and every single dance class, every single voice lesson, every single show. Like, thank you. Well, some carpools, but I had to figure it out. Yeah.

I think you did 17 shows. I did 17 shows at the Muny, which we reference the Muny a lot for our viewers. I don't know if you guys know what that is. But yeah, it's the oldest and largest outdoor musical theater in North America. It's this outdoor theater with 11,000 seats. 11,000. In St. Louis. That is huge. Yeah. It's awesome. And what a blessing you had that in your backyard. Yeah. Kids don't have that. And it's a summer theater. So like every summer in St. Louis –

a lot of talent from New York. Broadway comes in, does shows at the Muny. And it's cool to have programs for youth, for high schoolers, for middle schoolers. Like Abby and I were in shows when we were kids. And Abby, again, because she lived in a small town two hours away from St. Louis, would drive in to be in the shows. We stayed at the long-term hotel for like...

Three weeks or whatever it was. So Matthew was in Sound of Music. And so when he got this role, what's the name of the kid's name? Kurt. Kurt. Kurt Von Trapp. You can tell he really knows his theater. I was always going to the baseball games with his older brother, Caleb. He got Sound of Music, right? Yeah. Yeah, he got that. And Mom was taking him down to the shows at the Muny in California.

dance classes, all that stuff. And all of a sudden we find out he gets his role. I said, sound and music, that's huge. And he had to do a solo. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't believe this. We're like 20 rows back from the center stage. And I'm getting there, getting ready to watch my son perform. And I'm scared to death thinking what happens if he messes up? And you dance. And he did a great job. Yeah.

And did a fantastic. And right after he got done doing that, just a few weeks later, we found out he had a tumor on his spine. Yeah. So he had to get that taken off. But boy, is that scary. We should talk about that. I totally forgot about that. Yeah. I had a tumor growing on my spine when I was 12 years old.

During Sound of Music. And you were doing this all the time because of the pain. He was like pushing his hip. It was the weirdest thing because, yeah, the tumor was directly like on my spine, but it was kind of tucked in there. So it wasn't like protruding out from my back, but it was back in there and it was causing nerve endings to like...

I don't know, flare up and it caused a bunch of pain in my hip. And so I'd whack my hip all the time when I was 12. And Caleb, my older brother, would make fun of me for doing it. And so did the kids in Sound of Music. I mean, they were being silly about it. They were like, you were always doing that. And you guys just thought it was growing pains, right? Like I was growing a lot. I was a young kid. Were you saying it was hurting?

Yeah. Like people do, but like when you're a kid, there's pains that flare up all the time and you just assume it's growing pains. And I kept taking him. I probably took him three separate times and they're like, he's growing a lot. It's growing pains. Moms know. And then that when I took him in the first day of school, sixth grade, when you were like, mom, this is still hurting. I'm like, that's it. And I called the doctor. I'm like, we are coming in this.

afternoon. It's so good that you advocated for that because I mean he's like I think it is something I'm like we are doing every test because they couldn't see it with an x-ray remember they had to do an MRI. I remember you were you were like you were in tears essentially I can't remember if you were like crying or if it looked like you had been crying. Because you were with John you were by yourself at the doctor's office. I could tell something was wrong when I came out of the MRI examination or whatever and

I saw you and they had talked to you and I knew immediately like, oh, shoot, something's not okay. I'm like, do I have cancer? Like, what's going on? Am I going to be okay? Am I going to die? Like, it was kind of freaky as a 12-year-old. Super freaky. It was freaky for me to be alone. Yeah. Because I didn't want to tell you all that. You're so tough, though. Wow. Yeah. See, I would not – I would have just like –

lost it it would be terrible for your kid to like see but like you held it together and i was bummed too it was actually i just started playing football so i really wanted to like again like i like doing theater but i like sports too so i was trying to get into football and i had to quit football because i had to get surgery on my on my back and then you didn't know if it was cancer no they still had to test it yeah and then they said it could grow back

So we had to go for another MRI like after one month, two, six, a year. Remember you had to keep doing them and then they said we must have gotten it all because it's gone. I think the craziest part too is they literally – I didn't know they could do this. They took out part of my backbone. Like I'm missing – He's missing like a good couple inches. Like probably a fourth of my backbone. Yeah. Well, it's part of the spinal process. It's a –

It's there for a function, but they have to create this window to get to the spinal cord. Wow, I didn't even know that. It's gone. It's like a dent. But my spinal cord's still there. You can't walk without your spinal cord. Oh, yeah. So yeah, my spinal cord's still there, but my backbone, which is there, I guess, to protect the spinal cord, is just completely gone. And I got this big scar right there. So whenever I have my shirt off or people see me at the pool, people are like, whoa, dude, did you get stabbed? Like, what?

What happened to your back? It looks like it. How did you tell John? Did you call him right after that? Yes. Oh, my gosh. I'm like, I can't believe you weren't with me. I used to be a medical salesman. This is awful. And I was setting up for surgery for one of my knees, and it was a Friday afternoon, and usually...

Mondays, we have a lot of cases with this doctor. So anyway, I was getting it all set up and I was running late and I said, they're not going to tell us anything. You're just going to get the scan. They're going to read it. But when it's bad, they do. And they're going to get back to us. So I said, so I'm running late. I'm

get ready to go inside and I came out and my phone wouldn't work when I'd go into the hospital to the basement because of all the lead in that area of the hospital so when I'd go out of the hospital I'd get signals and when I'd go back down to the basement it would be gone because I had to take the stuff down to the lower level of the hospital so anyway I came out and my phone went off and it was Teresa and she told me what happened I'm like oh my gosh so you know I'm crying and you're crying oh I felt terrible that I wasn't with you because the doctor said oh I'm

99% sure it's nothing. You know what I mean? But I, but they told you right after the MRI. Yes. They never ever do that. They don't do that unless it's bad. And they're like, you're going to, he's going to need surgery in the next few days. You know, scary. Oh, scary. It didn't know if it's, we didn't tell him the cancer part or anything. I think when you're a kid, you just don't know what the freak's going on. So you're just trying to like think positive and be positive. But yeah, I mean, I was a little, I was concerned. Uh,

I was hoping that it wasn't cancer. And I think the coolest thing that happened at the time is you guys had reached out to our community and my school and the Muny Kids, which was a program I was a part of with the Muny. And your football team. My football team. Our community really came around me and our family and...

made meals for us and they gave us this like this gift card tree which with like 50 gift cards on it for like that was from the muni it was unbelievable like the muni kids which i was part of when i was a kid um that program for youth and the arts like they surrounded us and yeah we just had like free dinners because of that gift card tree and i got i got like they gave me they knew that it'd be bedridden for a couple weeks i couldn't walk and i had to like not relearn to walk but it kind

Like in a way, I at first I couldn't I couldn't walk for a couple of weeks and I did like not I couldn't run for three months after the surgery. So they got me an iPod touch and it was just like it was really cool. And your teacher came over, Emily, and had handmade cards from.

all the kids in your class and gifts. And yeah. Oh my gosh. The school and the church, we got meals. People brought us meals for months, months and months and months. And you were in so much pain. Remember when he came out of surgery and he was trying to... But then it was worse. It was a lot of pain. It wore off. So I guess the morphine...

Like literally, yeah, within like 30 minutes of the surgery wore off. I don't know if they did the wrong dose. I don't know what it was. But I was in so much pain. And I was like screaming, I think, for a little bit until they were able to get me more morphine. Oh, I was bawling. Yeah. And then a few days, not to be too detailed. No, I was like constipated. Constipated. And you were screaming and crying. Yeah, that sucks. Because you couldn't go to the bathroom. Did they not have you take stool softeners?

I don't know if I took stool softeners. I don't know what the protocol was there. But like when you have that much medicine pumped into your body, the constipation can be insane. That's why after my surgery, we were taking... I thought I just heard a fart. Was that the chair? That was the chair creaking. Oh my gosh, dad.

That's so sad. Oh, it was yeah, I was crying It's also a beautiful full circle moment though, too because wasn't it in that time that you started to video edit? Okay, that's actually the wildest thing so I don't know if we would have ever done tik-tok or YouTube or any of this if it wasn't for that surgery because when I had that surgery I

I was stuck in bed for a very long time. Again, I couldn't play sports. I couldn't run for three months. Which was like awful for you. I was so active. I was ADHD, which we need to talk about me having ADHD, by the way. That's why you're successful. But like, no, I...

I started editing. I started making videos. I was like, well, if I can't perform and act and sing, like even singing, like my lung capacity was like shrunk down after the surgery for a little bit. It was weird. I couldn't sing. But I started making videos. And so I decided then to like make videos for every single class project that I had. And that was a blessing too. My dad built me a green screen. Like we DIY'd this green screen in our basement so I could make videos. Why are you not handier than you are? I'm here.

Actually, he figured it out. He went on YouTube and figured out how to do it. We just paid for it. That's what I'm kind of learning. He's good at figuring out how to do something and then figuring someone else to do it for him. I need to find...

I need to find all these short films that I made as a 12-year-old because they are funny, dude. Oh, I bet your teachers, some of them have them because they were so impressed. They were keeping them to show for the next years. You did a public service announcement about drinking and driving after prom or whatever. Yeah, that was in high school. That was a little bit later. But I loved making videos and I couldn't stop. Oh, your book reports. You did book reports. Most kids just wrote out a book report. He did a video.

but a lot of schools, they're not, you can't do that because they're too, they have too many kids, the poor teachers, but luckily your school was smaller and the teachers a lot of times would say you can do a poster or, uh,

write a paper or whatever. Yeah, I went to a private school and we had a lot of projects and so I would, every single project we did, I was like, can I make a movie out of this? And they'd be like, yeah. And I thought it was so cool too because I would download these like muzzle flashes and graphics to make it look like if there was a war scene, I

I had my like airsoft guns and I was probably like, I don't know if this is illegal, but I painted the tips. They were orange tips on the air. They didn't leave the house. I painted the tips of my airsoft guns black to make them look like real guns. And I was like, I can make a war film. And so then I'd put like a muzzle flash on the end and a gunshot sound effect. But that's how you tweaked your work.

And isn't the software that was bought for that still used today? Oh, yeah. The editing software that I use for making YouTube videos today is the same software that I bought when I was 13 years old in seventh grade. Yeah, I was talking to my friend today at the ballgame about how you wanted to have Final Cut Pro.

Pro and it cost money. And I said, no, I'm not spending. How much is it? 300 bucks. Yeah, 200, 300 bucks. I said, I'm not going to spend that much money. It was my own money though. 14. Well, I think I used the money that I made from performing. I was a child actor. So I used the money that I made being an actor as a child to then buy Final Cut Pro. And so that's what I did. No, I thought I had to buy it. No, I think I thought I bought it. I thought I bought it.

I thought I bought it. No, I know I bought it. And I bought it on your iCloud. So every time I get a new computer, I'm like, hey, dad, can I have your iCloud? That's why you probably think he bought it because it's your... Yeah. Yeah, that was cool. Well, I wanted to say one more thing. Like what was so... You weren't just a regular kid. Like when you were in Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, your first show, you were eight. Yeah.

you like pick the brains of every one of Joseph's brothers. Like you would ask me, can I go? And I would just kind of stack, same back beside you. You would ask them, how did you get started? Where did you go to school? What did, did you, did you take dance? Did you take music? Did you, you would like interview every one of Joseph's brothers. You would ask them every question. Yeah. Both. If adults did that, they'd be like,

Shut up and get out of my face. But you were this cute little eight-year-old just like interviewing every person in the show. And they're like, oh my gosh, he's amazing. He's so like that. Yeah. He was just picking the information from them. Like, where did you go to college? How did you train? Because at the time, remember, you hadn't had any dance. Yeah.

So the head people came to me and they're like, he's a great singer. And, you know, some of the teenage girls would take you aside and teach you like the hand motions and stuff on the side. I did not know. I had no dance experience at all. Yeah. And they're like, if he wants to make it next year and he will, but he needs to take dance. And I'm like, okay. So then we started. Yeah. Or you started and I started driving. Yeah.

Sweet. So we can talk about all the trips you made to Quincy to see Abby and how you got into a box and surprised her. This is us. Oh, yeah. Well, I also wanted to ask you, did you guys ever consider getting me on ADHD medicine when I was a kid?

You never did? No. What I think is funny is you always made a joke. I remember you telling me this all the time. Like, your kindergarten teacher wanted me to get you on medicine for ADHD. And I laughed. You didn't laugh in her face. But you thought it was so silly that she brought that up. And I'm like, maybe she was on to something. Maybe I could have used some ADHD medicine. I still haven't been diagnosed. I talk about this all the time. I still have not gotten diagnosed and I need to. You've...

always made straight A's. In some years you had hundreds on your report card. Like how is that even possible? So we just thought why? I mean, you were being, I would ask, they'd be like, well, is he succeeding? Is he handling everything fine? Yeah. And I think that's part of your success. So that's scary. You guys, when I dropped out of college to make TikToks. Scary.

Scared isn't the word. Well, I wanted to be a professional athlete. And I know sometimes guys will sign and go play ball before they finish their degrees. And sometimes they do that because if you get injured, it's over. So he had all this momentum going. And I thought, well, you know, he's got this momentum going. Give it a shot. You can always finish his degree. But right now he's got this platform that's rising. And let's see where it goes. And here you are.

28 months later, right? How long ago was that? Yeah. I mean, we started TikTok. It was May of 2020, right? We started TikTok, I think it was April 4th of 2020, which is like three years ago. Exactly. And so it literally changed our life completely. Like completely. You both are super smart. So you knew everybody was home, everybody was on their phone, and you lost your jobs. And like, what can we do? And you have fun dancing and singing and climbing.

So H&R Block canceled your internship, right? I had an internship with H&R Block. They canceled it for the summer. In Kansas City. And you couldn't work. And I was with BKD. I was at BKD for a financial planning internship at the time. They fired all the interns, so I got fired. And then Abby was substituted. Fired's a little...

Well, they... Without pay, they were like, bye. They were like, see ya. Oh, but didn't you get some money? That was from H&R Block. So H&R Block canceled the internship. H&R Block. But they sent all the interns like a thousand bucks. That was sweet. Sorry that we canceled your internship. Here's a thousand bucks. That was really, really nice. That was good. Maybe it was two thousand. I forget what it was. But no, BKD was just like...

Peace out, interns. In the middle of everything. And I was honestly pretty frustrated at them for that because that was my... We were relying on that. We were living in low-income housing. I was newly married. And I was a substitute teacher, so I didn't have any compensation either because... But now, I mean, now looking back, getting fired from my job was the best thing to ever happen. I don't think fired is the word. I mean... What else would it be? I mean, they literally let all the interns go. They let everybody go because of COVID. And you couldn't work as a waiter, right? Because restaurants were shut down. Yeah. So then you went home and tried to...

do these TikToks or videos. Well, what it was is like, look, Abby and I had built up some savings because we were wanting to move once we graduated college to like maybe Hawaii or California, who knows where. And we just decided, you know what, let's

because I'd been making YouTube videos for a year. So I was like, let's just like try this, see if we can bust out like three or four YouTube videos a week while we're, you know, doing class online. We're not working jobs. Like maybe this, let's treat this as like a full-time job. And then we accidentally got on TikTok and that's kind of where things took off.

Well, it's perfect because you're actors, performers, dancers, and instead of going and doing shows with hundreds of people and having to kiss people of the opposite sex, all that. Remember, I mean, I would talk to you about that before you fell in love. I was like, this is not healthy. Like, this is going to be super hard. You don't understand this. But when you're in love, you won't want her to.

kissing all these men and she won't want you. And now you get to just do it together and be together. Yeah, no, that was definitely the vision for it. And it worked, which was crazy. I think I was really down because I

I, I tried to do the YouTube thing for a year and it, I put so much work into it and I was so frustrated because for the amount of work that I put in, the reward was like, it was nothing. I mean, I, wasn't there like a hundred people watching? I was posting every single YouTube video I made to like my Instagram to like shout it out. Like I told all my Instagram followers or my, all my Facebook followers, like go watch our YouTube channel. And I was, I had you guys, you guys were okay. You guys were awesome. I was going to say, give your

parents and props because they are so supportive of every random thing you've done. But even like us married now, like what we're doing, like so supportive. They were sharing your YouTube videos to their Facebook pages. You guys were some of our earliest YouTube supporters. That's why our neighbors like follow you. You shared all of our YouTube videos to your Facebook. And I was like, hey, mom and dad, can you please share my YouTube video? And you did. And after like a year of that. Yeah, I think all 17 of my followers. Yeah.

We had 300 subscribers after a year. And I was just like, is this stupid? Like, what am I doing? Like, is this even ever going to work? Yeah. And then TikTok happened. Yeah. Sweet. Yeah. Very awesome, supportive parents you have. Yeah. Thank you, you guys. You're very welcome. Thank you for being so supportive of me my whole life, really.

You guys are the great cheerleaders. Now that you have your own child, you find out how much work it is and you can really appreciate your mom. That's true. That is true. Yeah, but you did a lot more driving around for shows and things. Well, I think when you switched the one studio, which was really close to the other, that's when it was like challenging. You wanted to be challenged more, remember? And you couldn't drive yet. And it was like 30 something minutes away and you wanted to do two nights a week.

So I would take you down there and then just sit at the McDonald's for like two and a half hours. Oh my gosh. Yeah. And read and like do work and then leave. Remember that? Yeah. Did that for like- So I guess I was watching Josh and kid him. Yeah. And you were coaching everything.

Yeah. I guess you took Josh with you sometimes? Usually not. I can't remember. What did Josh do? I just remember that was the most challenging year when you were like 15 and you switched studios because it was so far away.

And you wanted to take a lot of classes. So, yeah. When... So, we talked about this a little bit earlier. But when I was, you know, starting to date Abby, Abby and I used to FaceTime till like 5 in the morning. We... I called her all the time. Were you a little worried? Like, were you worried that I was... I talked to this girl every single day for like an hour minimum. No, we loved her. And like, you had never done this before. And because you were waiting for all these criteria. I mean, that sounds...

Maybe bad, but it's good. People that know. Like, you had all these expectations. Someone, a quality person that was kind and sweet. Well, Abby had the same thing. You were very selective, too, right? Right. And I knew this was it. I knew this was the one. I knew she... Even in high school, you knew? Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Yeah.

I guess we were really serious or like really young. I thought after one month, I thought for sure you were going to get married. Really? I asked my mom after one month. I said, Mom, do you think you're going to marry Matt? And she was like, I think you might. And I was like, okay, for sure. Because I remember at Christmas time, I think it was, of 20 –

oh my gosh, was that 2016? December of 2016, it was Abby and I had been dating for like six months. And I told you guys, I think I just did this kind of just to shock you. You always do that. There's nothing new. I said, I said, I want to marry Abby this summer. And I was a senior in high school. You said when we did it a little later, we'd be happy that it was after your sophomore year. What was going through your mind when I said that to you guys? What was going through your mind? It's like, there's no rush. You know, we want you to marry her. And we knew you would, but...

You know, everybody just always says, wait till you're out of school. And I think for a lot of people, they have to financially do that. Yeah. But you guys were blessed to get some help, but then you both worked your buns off through school and everything. You both are very smart and have it together and...

made it work you want you worked hard to make it work you guys are so cute together that uh it was fun to kind of watch you this whole courtship and you're dating and Matthew was driving up to Quincy I mean he was what 16 years old he's driving almost to Quincy I was 18 I was 18 was it 18 yeah a couple times like we were like no you have gone twice this week or whatever and and

It's late. And then you did a couple of times. You disobeyed us. Remember? Actually. So I remember this. It was April of 2017, literally six years ago this month that you guys, I think I'd gone to Quincy maybe every week, like two weeks in a row or something. And I said, I'm like two hours. And I was like, I'm going up to Quincy again. And you guys said no. And I just went anyway. I,

I remember that. And it made you guys so mad. I feel like that's hard because, like, you were 18, but you were back – you were still living in their house as a high schooler. But I was like – in my mind, I was like, I graduate high school in one month, and I pay my own stuff. I mow lawns to, you know, pay my gas money. Like, I'm going. Like, I –

And that's why you didn't get in big trouble. But we just said... I think you told my parents that he wasn't supposed to do it. Yeah. You actually called and you told Abby's parents. And they didn't know what to do. They're just like, okay. Because I didn't want them to think like, wow, they don't care. He comes every other night. You know what I mean? Because I think my mom was like... What? Yeah. Yeah. Matt's parents just called. He's coming, but he's not supposed to be. And I was like...

He's in love. Why would he do that? So I guess you had a guest room that he'd stay at because we could have forgot. I didn't know what was going on. We started calling it Matt's room. Okay. But my mom would be like, that's in Matt's room. I'm pretty sure. We want to know if he's becoming a pest because Matthew is very determined. And if he's determined to do something, you can't stop him. So he's like, okay. That's such a sweet.

And we knew, well, okay, like, yeah, we were upset that he went against us. But he's not smoking. He's not drinking. He's not partying. He's making straight A's. Like, what are we supposed to do? You know what I mean? I miss him.

time that was a really fun time I was like love will make you do some crazy things but I think that's also why like you were so in love you are no it was like the infatuation was what happened infatuation was off the charts and I think that's why like young couples I tell people like you should be you should be dating for a

little bit longer you should you should date for a year before you get engaged because like the infatuation at the earliest will fade away after a year and for us i don't think the infatuation went away for about a year and a half to two years so like you're making a decision while you're basically i think it's because we were each other's first like yeah boyfriend or girlfriend everything so it like lasted so long it's literally a drug like you kiss somebody for the first time and you're just like i remember i was like shaking i was like even though it was bad right what oh yeah

Yeah. But it was just so excited. Yeah. It was electrifying. Yeah. Did you guys suspect that we were making out in the basement when we watched movies? Oh, my gosh. Matthew. Yeah, I figured there was stuff going on. Okay. Okay.

What was that time you had a box and you wanted to ask her to some... That was homecoming, right? Homecoming or prom? That was my birthday. And you got in a box. Oh, yeah. He scared the crap out of you. Yeah. I don't know why I thought it was in the box. And said, hey, there's a box on the front porch for you. And you popped out of the box. That was a school night. No, that was Abby's 18th birthday. My mom let me skip school the next day.

Yeah. So I drove up and I guess, did I skip school for that? Maybe I did. And Abby skipped school the next day too. But you never ever skip school. Is there a video? I have a video. We'll post it to the Unplanned Podcast Instagram. But I literally hopped out of this box, which was, I turned into a present and I told Abby that I was shipping her birthday gift to her. So that's maybe why I,

was like not thinking it was on your birthday and you were like wow this is a big box to ship it was a it was huge well i don't i wasn't clearly thinking yeah but and you had no idea i was in there you like i was so happy yeah and i started singing happy birthday while you while i got out of the box

That's adorable. For the last little bit of the podcast, it'd be fun if we did a little game, a couple versus couple. How well do you know your spouse? I only have like a few questions. When your spouse is upset, what's the first thing they do? Lash out, I guess. Lash out or lash out? Lash out, lash out. Eyelash out.

No, she'll... You're better about just being quiet. Yeah, if you're upset about something else, I mean, I catch the heck. I feel like, Matt, if you're upset, you like leave. Like you go on a one wheel, like go to one wheel, like just leave. And I think, yeah, I like to go one wheel. And if you're mad, I feel like you want to talk about it. It's the same here. It kind of depends on what type of upset I am. Yeah. Like if I'm sad,

I don't really want to talk about it. I kind of just want to take a bath and like leave. But if I'm mad, I want to talk about it. I want to throw it up. Throw up. Yeah. I want to smash things. And then you tell me that you want to wrestle me. And I'm like, I don't want to wrestle you. I'm not going to wrestle you, Abby. Are you kidding? Please. What? More than five. She secretly wants to be one of those WWF wrestlers.

Not when you were pregnant, though. You didn't say, let's wrestle. I don't know. What are you even talking about? You say all the time that you want to wrestle me. I'm like, why do you want to wrestle your husband? Sometimes I just want to fight you. Oh my gosh, that's funny. What's the best? But you never do it, by the way. Wrestle you? Yeah. Or give her back. Yeah, I'm not going to wrestle my wife. That's funny. Listen, I sound like an old fat ass.

You sound bad. Yeah. It's getting late. She's tired. She's sick. We've been through tornadoes. We had a tornado. Hailstorm. Okay, one more. Hail. This one's sweet and a great one to end the episode with. This is what's the best thing about being married to each other?

I think that I would not be where I'm at today if it wasn't for Teresa. Not I think. I know it would not be. I'd be a mess. You're the more emotional one of the pair. I never cry. Which is surprising. Dad, yeah, you cry during like... You were trying to get me to cry on this episode. You said, if I have, I want to see you cry. I wanted to get you to cry on the episode. We'll have to do it again. We'll have to have you back on. We'll do episode two, Unplanned 2 with mom and dad. Unplanned podcast two? Yeah. Yeah.

You cry because you get touched a lot, which is really sweet. It is. Yeah. And I'm touched inside, but I don't know. I just don't show it that way. I do cry. She's tough. She's a tough lady. This sounds awful. No, it's tough in a good way. So the question exactly is- What's the best thing about being married to each other? Oh, my gosh.

Children, have a great family. He's committed, and yeah, it's been over 30 years. Wow. So that says a lot. Yeah. Great father, great husband. We've been a good match, I think. Just a great person. Yeah. Good catch. Been through some trouble. Yeah, lots of ups and downs, but that's what makes you stronger, right? Right.

Definitely think so. So I'm blessed. Well, I am too. Very blessed. Super blessed. What'd you say, Abby? And we're blessed to have you too. Yes. And your brother and his wife. You guys are just, both of you guys are just awesome. Couldn't ask for better daughter-in-laws. I couldn't ask for better in-laws. Truly. Thanks. Very thankful for you guys. Here's a hundred dollar bill. I'm like, I feel like your parents are my parents. Like a lot of the time. Well, we love you. You know, I get so sad when you got,

sad like my parents I mean you guys are my parents in a way when you guys like leave when you visit us I'm pretty sure I cried the last time you guys left

I'm sad that, you know, they're all, everybody's going and we're not. And John's like, you're just jealous. I'm like, I'm not jealous. I'm just sad because I won't get to see everything. But maybe someday. What's that? Moving to Phoenix? Oh, yeah. See, I like green grass. Oh, my gosh. I like tornadoes and thunderstorms. Oh, my gosh. The deer. The three-legged deer. Yeah.

Yeah. We'll talk to my parents about moving to Phoenix and my dad will say, hey, look out at our yard. See those deer? You just can't get that anywhere else. Or the turkey. The turkey yesterday. Can't beat a turkey in the neighborhood. Oh my gosh. Post the turkey on the... Post the turkey. No, but I... Oh, you guys, go ahead. I think with Abby, yeah, just having a life partner and having a best friend, someone that I've been through so many ups and downs with and...

Yeah, I don't know. I think it's cool to talk about like those early memories of like dating and stuff because sometimes you forget about that. Sometimes you forget about how like sweet that time was. Especially since we have a baby now. It's like – Yeah. It feels like we're in such a different season now. It's like you forget the early season even though it wasn't that long ago. Yeah, I was going to say something similar like you really are my best friend. So it's like cool that we get to just be a teammate through everything. And yeah, it's like the craziest kind of best friend though too because it's like –

We do funny, goofy stuff together. We go through really hard times together. And I don't know. It's really cool. It's like the deepest relationship you'll ever have. So yeah, it's really cool. Yeah. You guys are fantastic parents. And we've had so much fun playing with Griffin. He's perfect. Okay, it's back.

But yeah, we're best friends too. And like, then when you sit on the phone, there really isn't like one person I talk to all the time. Cause you're my, if there's somebody I'm going to talk to, it's you.

Because you're my best friend. Sweet. Well, thank you guys so much for being on. And thank you for being. These were the easiest guests to get on our podcast. Thank you for being so supportive of our social media. Even when we had. Posted the most embarrassing cringy stuff. Yeah, we posted the cringiest content. And you guys were so supportive and shared everything on your Facebook. And like, it's really, it means a lot that you guys have always been so supportive. And we were cringy too. Not many people have that at all. So that's. Yeah. Aw.

We loved it. Well, thanks for not asking a whole lot of questions about sex this time. Yeah. Never have I ever, and every question was about sex. This was clean. I like it. There was a sweet question that you asked as a little kid. Oh, yeah. The sex question you asked your mom. You said, does it hurt? Does it hurt?

That's what used to be nice. Used to be nice? I'm kidding. That's such a sweet, wholesome question. Abby, do you think I'm more like my dad or my mom? Oh my gosh. You're so much like both. Really? So much like both. Sorry. Well, he does dad jokes like me. Lame dad jokes. And I have to tell you, every once in a while I do something, I'm like, Matt? Me and Abby say it both to Caleb and Matt. We're like, you just did a John thing. Freaks me out.

All loving. I promise you. But especially if he does something. Should I say? Yes, please do. If he does something at a really...

Just like not inconvenient time. I'm like, yeah. I don't have a good filter sometimes. No, like in horrible days before a gender reveal party. Like if we're having people over at our house and we need to pick up the house, yeah, I'm using that time to like go through our mail. Yes, that happens. It's like, Matt, let's pick up the house, not go through our mail right now. Yeah, I'll clean the garage or the basement. She says, what are you doing? People are going to be here. There's no party in here. And we got to clean up the kitchen. I said, yeah, but my garage is a mess.

Like that's something Matt has done. And then you definitely have more of your mom's like, I think temperament, like very determined, determined, strong willed, like hardworking. You're not super like your emotions are pretty stable. You know, I'm not as I'm not very emotional. Yeah, not very emotional. You are. So we bounce each other out. Gosh, what if we were both like me? Oh, gosh.

I feel like if we were both like you, we'd be okay. But both like me would be... When we have arguments though, I think what's funny is I'm truly a fighter. But because you're such a strong fighter, I have to become the fighter. Okay, why are we on here? Anyway... No, I think most women...

just cannot fight with their words like oh yeah words so much better than i am most she wins every argument i can run marathons with him when it comes to words she runs circles around me anyway thank you guys for being on the podcast we love you we enjoyed it kept you up way past your bedtime oh no it's past john's not mine it's an hour after 10 o'clock st louis time i should have been in bed an hour ago yeah my dad saturday night

My dad goes to bed at 9 o'clock sharp every night, so we need to get him to bed. But thank you, guys. If you haven't already hit the like button and hit subscribe, it really means a lot for us. For our listeners on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please leave a review. It helps us out so, so much. So thank you, Mom and Dad. Thank you. And we will see you guys in the next episode. Are we going to have our own podcast, you and I, someday? Yeah. Stop. No. You should. No, we don't have enough excitement. We love you guys. As always. Cameras. Three, two, one. Peace out, dudes.