Rick and Clancy are both mid-recovery and mid-appointment season, and this one gets into what that's actually like in our fifties.Between the two of them, this year alone brought a procedure Clancy had been putting off for years, a colonoscopy, and more skin checks than either of them expected to need yet. Some of it was elective. Some of it wasn't.Neither of them feels their age, but their test schedules keep suggesting otherwise. That gap between how they feel and what the doctors are asking of them runs through most of the conversation.They land on a distinction that reframes the whole thing: living longer isn't the goal. Staying able to do what they actually want to do is.📖 Our book is here! The Loud Quiet – Love, Laughter and Life in the Empty Nest. Get your free bonuses at https://www.theloudquiet.comIf any of this sounds familiar, come compare notes with people who get it.https://www.facebook.com/groups/theloudquiet🎧 Find all episodes, podcast apps, and YouTube links here:https://www.theloudquiet.comCHAPTERS00:00 Recovering From Recent Surgery00:48 The Original Mommy Makeover Story02:47 Implants Have An Expiration Date03:54 Choosing Not To Replace Implants07:57 Struggling With Recovery Restrictions09:32 Getting Caught By The Ring Doorbell12:05 Feeling Old And Sun Damage14:19 Daughter's First Pap Smear16:24 Living Better Instead Of Longer17:31 The Colonoscopy Experience And Prep18:56 Internal Fears Versus External Ones20:41 Get Your Screenings Scheduled NowWant to be a guest on The Loud Quiet - Empty Nest Living?Send Rick and Clancy Denton a message on PodMatch:https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/theloudquiethostDisclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests and should not be taken as legal, financial, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified attorney, financial advisor, or other professional regarding your specific situation. The opinions expressed by guests are solely theirs and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the host(s).

Communication breaks down in the same few places for almost every couple. This episode is about finding those places before they turn into a fight.

Rebecca Mullen joins Rick and Clancy to talk about the three roles inside a marriage, partner, lover, and friend, and how easily one of them gets neglected once kids leave the house. The conversation moves into why couples assume their partner can read their mind, why apologies so often fall flat, and how something as small as the way you say hello can set the tone for everything else.

Rebecca walks through her four steps to an apology that actually lands, the difference between a boundary and a punishment, and a simple shift in how you greet your person that took her over ninety days to see change.

Rick and Clancy bring their own real moments into it, including one that traces straight back to an argument they processed on a recent episode.

Want to dig into your own communication patterns? Come share what's coming up for you in the Facebook group.https://www.facebook.com/groups/theloudquiet

🎧 Find all episodes, podcast apps, and YouTube links here:https://www.theloudquiet.com

CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro

1:32 Partner, Lover, and Friend Defined

2:22 Why the Partner Role Crowds Out the Lover

4:58 A Childhood Wound That Became Her Calling

6:49 What Empty Nesters Lose When Kids Leave

9:38 Mixing Up Friend Energy and Lover Energy

10:39 Why We Hesitate to Say Sorry

11:20 The Four Steps to a Real Apology

15:40 The Black Hole That Causes Most Confusion

20:07 Surviving Family Gatherings Without a Blowup

23:53 What We Actually Want From Each Other

25:28 The Hello That Sounds Like Goodbye

28:45 How Boundaries Actually Strengthen Love

Here's where you can learn more from Rebecca. Get her free guide, 6 Steps to Better Marriage Communication: https://mcusercontent.com/4cf37118f97d708517b01dc3d/files/936bb894-d4c0-4ed7-2cdd-17843ccf7210/6_Steps_to_Better_Marriage_Communication_Additional_Resources.pdf

Book 6 steps to better Marriage Communication by REbecca S. Mullen https://amzn.to/4vxIi9C (affiliate link)

Listen to her podcast, Habits for Your Happily Ever After: https://rebeccamullencoaching.com/podcast/

Watch her TEDx Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/rebecca_mullen_the_vegetarian_the_hunter_creating_peace_at_the_dinner_table

Join her newsletter: https://rebeccamullencoaching.com/mailing-list/

Her website: https://rebeccamullencoaching.com

Want to be a guest on The Loud Quiet - Empty Nest Living?Send Rick and Clancy Denton a message on PodMatch:

https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/theloudquiethost

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests and should not be taken as legal, financial, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified attorney, financial advisor, or other professional regarding your specific situation. The opinions expressed by guests are solely theirs and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the host(s).

The stadium they've seen a hundred times looks completely different through a stranger's eyes.

Rick and Clancy talk World Cup fever in Dallas, from Rick's first match in 1994 to watching tourists fall for ranch dressing and a screen they stopped noticing years ago.

The conversation moves through ticket prices, FIFA's reputation, and how different the sport felt before the US started hosting. It lands on something simpler: hosting gave them a reason to look at their own city again.

📖 Our book is here! The Loud Quiet – Love, Laughter and Life in the Empty Nest. https://www.theloudquiet.com

Has the World Cup fever hit your city? Drop a comment and let us know.https://www.facebook.com/groups/theloudquiet

🎧 Find all episodes, podcast apps, and YouTube links here:https://www.theloudquiet.com

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome and Father's Day shoutout

01:39 Rick's first World Cup in 1994

06:54 Watching Dallas Stadium through European eyes

11:24 Ranch dressing and tourist food obsessions

17:00 Hosting changes how you see your own city

21:46 Other sports lost in the shuffle

22:37 Planning the Japan match with their son

26:42 Comparing 1994 expectations to now

Want to be a guest on The Loud Quiet - Empty Nest Living?Send Rick and Clancy Denton a message on PodMatch:https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/theloudquiethost

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests and should not be taken as legal, financial, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified attorney, financial advisor, or other professional regarding your specific situation. The opinions expressed by guests are solely theirs and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the host(s).

Three years into running a podcast together, Rick and Clancy are together constantly. That didn't stop them from arguing about cottage cheese, a dinner reservation in Spain, and a birthday gift for their son.None of those arguments were actually about the thing they were about.In this episode, Rick and Clancy walk through three real arguments unrehearsed, raw, on mic, in real time. What comes out underneath all three is the same: they hadn't been feeling heard by each other. And the deeper they go, the more they find the actual root cause. They've been going out, traveling, staying busy... but they can't remember the last time they went out alone, just the two of us. Proximity isn't connection. And the empty nest doesn't fix that automatically.📖 Our book is here. The Loud Quiet – Love, Laughter and Life in the Empty Nest. Grab it at https://www.theloudquiet.comIf the friction in your relationship has been showing up in unexpected places lately, come talk about it with other empty nesters in the Facebook group.https://www.facebook.com/groups/theloudquiet🎧 Find all episodes, podcast apps, and YouTube links here:https://www.theloudquiet.comCHAPTERS00:00 No Prep No Filter Just Us02:33 Argument One: The Cottage Cheese Incident06:13 When You've Already Asked Them to Stop09:33 The Real Theme: Not Feeling Heard10:28 Argument Two: The Spain Dinner Reservation15:58 Brain Fart vs. Not Listening17:50 Argument Three: The Spoiled Birthday Surprise22:08 Rick Takes the Hit on This One26:55 The Actual Root Cause: No Date Nights30:24 Clutter, Unsettledness, and What to Do NextWant to be a guest on The Loud Quiet - Empty Nest Living?Send Rick and Clancy Denton a message on PodMatch:https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/theloudquiethostDisclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests and should not be taken as legal, financial, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified attorney, financial advisor, or other professional regarding your specific situation. The opinions expressed by guests are solely theirs and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the host(s).#relationships #marriage #recreation #podcast #EmptyNesters #EmptyNesting #Lifeafterkidsleave #Transitiontoanemptynest #Parentingjourney #Reinventingourselves #Newchapterinlife #Emptynestchallenges #Findingpurpose #Rediscoveringhobbies #Relationshipafterkids #Self-discovery #Preparingforanemptynest #Reconnectingasacouple #Growingtogetherafterkidsleave #Familydynamicsafterkidsleave #Supportsystemsforemptynesters #Tipsforsuccessfulemptynesting

Rick and Clancy just got back from ten days in Spain with both kids. This episode is about what family travel actually looks like when the kids are adults.

The shared memories are still the point. They always have been. But the logistics are different now. The scheduling is a negotiation. The kids have opinions about destinations. And somewhere between the Sagrada Familia and the Picasso Museum, you realize their personalities have calcified into something very distinct and permanent.

Rick and Clancy get into why they have always chosen travel over stuff, what independence looks like when your kid is navigating a foreign city, and how you keep family travel alive when everyone's calendar is pulling in a different direction.

Our book, The Loud Quiet – Love, Laughter and Life in the Empty Nest, is out now. Find it at https://www.theloudquiet.com

If this episode has you thinking about family travel, come share where you're headed this summer in our Facebook community. We'd love to hear it. https://www.facebook.com/groups/theloudquiet

🎧 Find all episodes, podcast apps, and YouTube links here: https://www.theloudquiet.com

CHAPTERS

00:00 Why travel with your kids at any age

02:30 Learning to be a visitor, not a tourist

05:00 The incident at the Sagrada Familia

07:30 Travel builds independence on steroids

10:30 Bribery and the adult kid travel equation

13:00 How trip planning changes with adult kids

16:30 When their schedules run the show 1

9:30 How different the kids really are

23:00 Missing people back home

27:00 What family travel looks like from here

Want to be a guest on The Loud Quiet - Empty Nest Living? Send Rick and Clancy Denton a message on PodMatch: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/theloudquiethost

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests and should not be taken as legal, financial, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified attorney, financial advisor, or other professional regarding your specific situation. The opinions expressed by guests are solely theirs and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the host(s).

Almost sixty percent of Michelle Puccinelli's virtual assistant students are empty nesters. She didn't design it that way. They just kept showing up.Michelle runs Virtual Work Studio, a marketing agency with a training program that prepares women to work as specialized virtual assistants. When she built the program, she was thinking career changers and moms returning to the workforce. What she found was a wave of empty nesters who wanted flexible work, on their own terms, without the grind they'd left behind.The episode gets into what virtual assistant work actually looks like, what skills transfer in from careers people have already had, and what holds most business owners back from hiring one. Rick and Clancy also talk about where empty nesting and retirement get confused, and why that confusion matters when you're figuring out what comes next.Find Michelle at https://virtualworkstudio.com/ Instagram: @virtualworkstudio📖 Our book is here! The Loud Quiet – Love, Laughter and Life in the Empty Nest https://amzn.to/4rpo7rA (Amazon affiliate link)If this episode has you thinking about what work could look like from here, bring that conversation into the group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/theloudquiet🎧 Find all episodes, podcast apps, and YouTube links here: https://www.theloudquiet.comCHAPTERS00:00 Welcome and guest introduction 02:00 Why Michelle left teaching 04:50 What a virtual assistant actually does 07:20 Why empty nesters are drawn to virtual work08:52 Empty nesting versus retirement09:52 Soft skills that make a good VA 13:00 Building connection in remote work 16:22 Getting comfortable with the tech 18:21 How graduates get matched with clients 19:40 What business owners need to know before hiring a VA 23:17 Do you need marketing experience 25:25 How to find Michelle and Virtual Work StudioWant to be a guest on The Loud Quiet - Empty Nest Living? Send Rick and Clancy Denton a message on PodMatch: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/theloudquiethostDisclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests and should not be taken as legal, financial, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified attorney, financial advisor, or other professional regarding your specific situation. The opinions expressed by guests are solely theirs and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the host(s).

10 Travel Tips...This is a Greatest Hits episode. It originally aired as Episode 87 in May 2025 and we're bringing it back because the tips hold up.Ten travel tips from our trip to Germany. Not a general list. Specific things we did, tools we used, and habits that made the trip work. A lot of it applies well beyond Germany.The thread running through all of it is flexibility. The empty nest changed what's possible when you travel. This episode is about making the most of it.Resources From This EpisodeThe Points Guy: http://thepointsguy.com/Google Flights: https://www.google.com/travel/flightsGet Your Guide (affiliate link): https://gyg.me/Y9Q0XJGFViator (affiliate link): https://www.viator.com/?pid=P00252693&mcid=42383&medium=linkPointsYeah (affiliate link): https://www.pointsyeah.com/?linkId=lp_919533&sourceId=theloudquiet&tenantId=pointsyeahSchwab Checking Account: https://www.schwab.com/client-referral?refrid=REFERFD9HKNNDBuy The Loud Quiet: Love, Laughter, and Life in the Empty Nest at https://www.theloudquiet.comBuy the book and you get three free bonuses:-Empty Nest Bingo Card-Video series: Empty Nesting - Living The First Month-Live webinar in SeptemberAlready bought the book? The bonuses are yours too. Head to https://www.theloudquiet.com to claim them.If the points and flexibility conversation from this episode resonates, come share what's worked for your travel in the empty nest years at https://www.facebook.com/groups/theloudquiet🎧 Find all episodes, podcast apps, and YouTube links here: https://www.theloudquiet.comCHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome and Newsletter Announcement 01:20 Tip 1: Finding Flights with Google Flights 04:36 Tip 2: Using Points for Business Class 08:05 Tip 3: Maximizing Long Layovers 10:10 Tip 4: Using Technology to Plan Your Itinerary 13:14 Tip 5: Rail Passes 15:55 Tip 6: Walking Tours 19:52 Tip 7: Apps for Getting Around 22:03 Tip 8: What Food Is This City Known For 24:21 Tip 9: Go One Block Extra 26:42 Tip 10: ATMs and Getting CashWant to be a guest on The Loud Quiet - Empty Nest Living? Send Rick and Clancy Denton a message on PodMatch: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/theloudquiethostDisclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests and should not be taken as legal, financial, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified attorney, financial advisor, or other professional regarding your specific situation. The opinions expressed by guests are solely theirs and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the host(s).

Every summer, the kid who comes home is not the kid who left. And the house they're coming back to isn't the one they remember either. Rick and Clancy have navigated this seven times across two kids. This episode is what they've learned.They recorded this one mid-drive to Tucson, on their way to help Teagan move out of her apartment for the summer. Transition season in real time.The adjustments around time, roles, friends, and expectations don't sort themselves out. They have to be talked through.What to expect when your college kid comes home:-The house rhythms have changed. So have theirs.-Roles from high school don't automatically apply anymore.-Their hometown friendships may have cooled. Their college ones are running hot.If they call their college town home, brace yourself. It stings.Buy The Loud Quiet: Love, Laughter, and Life in the Empty Nest at https://www.theloudquiet.comBuy the book and you get three free bonuses:-Empty Nest Bingo Card-Video series: Empty Nesting - Living The First Month-Live webinar in SeptemberAlready bought the book? The bonuses are yours too. Head to https://www.theloudquiet.com to claim them.CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome and Recording from the Road 01:03 Seven Summers of Transitions 02:41 Set Expectations Before They Arrive 03:19 House Rhythms and Quiet Hours 04:03 Modified Rules for Young Adults 05:29 Roles, Chores, and Patience 07:29 Their Mental Snapshot Froze in Time 09:28 New Foods, New Interests, New Music 11:44 Hometown Friends vs. College Friends 14:56 College Trauma Bonding 15:47 When They Call College Home 17:33 Stories, Connection, Safe LandingIf this is your first summer navigating the return, there are a lot of parents in the same moment in the Facebook group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/theloudquiet🎧 Find all episodes, podcast apps, and YouTube links here: https://www.theloudquiet.comWant to be a guest on The Loud Quiet - Empty Nest Living? Send Rick and Clancy Denton a message on PodMatch: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/theloudquiethostDisclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests and should not be taken as legal, financial, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified attorney, financial advisor, or other professional regarding your specific situation. The opinions expressed by guests are solely theirs and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the host(s).