Hey friends,

So much has been going on behind the scenes in my life over the last two years, and while it's all been so wonderful and so exciting, it's also been hard, because I haven't been able to talk to you about any of it!

But finally, now, I can.

I came into this year telling you that I have three big secrets to share with you:

1. Introducing… Girls Night 2.0!

The first thing I've been so excited to share with you is that so much has been happening here at the Girls Night Podcast. We have a new network, a new look, new music (made just for us by one of my very best friends!), and a new focus. (I talk about it all at the end of this episode)

We're navigating big decisions and life transitions one girls night at a time!

The second secret — one that has been VERY hard to keep — is that…

2. I have a brand new book coming out on April 30th.

It's called Create A Life You Love: How to quiet outside voices so you can finally hear your own, and when I tell you this is my favorite thing I've ever, ever written, that still feels like an understatement.

Create a Life You Love is a guided journey of self-discovery, helping women in their 20s and 30s take the pressure off what they think their lives are “supposed to” look like by now and intentionally, confidently, and authentically build the life they actually want to live — a life that looks and feels like THEM.

I've spent the last two years writing down everything I've learned in the last 10, and with my whole heart, I believe that this message has the power to set women free in a season when we could really use some freedom. 🫠

You can hear all about the book right here — and you can pre-order a copy there too!

Note: Pre-ordering a book is the KINDEST thing you can possibly do for an author. It makes all the difference in the success of a book!

And that brings us to secret number three.

My hands are shaking as I type this — seriously — I've been dreaming about this for my whole entire life, and Carl and I have spent years working to make this happen. And now… it finally is.

Friends, we're moving to Spain.

🥰😭👏😍🎉🍾

Now listen, I have about a bazillion details I want to give you, pieces of the backstory I want to tell you. It was actually so cool because we were making our decision about moving to Spain as I was finishing writing this book.

I was writing about creating a life you love (and what to do when pieces of your life aren't working, or when you realize you need to re-create and re-imagine some elements of your life) as we were doing exactly that.

The full story is in the book, and so I'm literally counting down the days until I can share it with you. It comes out April 30th!!

But, here are just a few details I wanted to share today.

Where in Spain?

Granada! We were in between a few different cities, and so we actually went on a week-long vision trip without the girls in November to check out different cities, different neighborhoods, and different schools. It was a tough decision, but we are SO excited about Granada!

When are you moving to Spain?

We leave on July 5th — which also happens to be mine and Carl's 10th anniversary!

Wait — are you still going to be writing/podcasting?

Yep! And I'm so excited about it. My whole personal life is about to change, but I'm so thrilled that for both me and Carl, our work lives will be staying the same! (We'll just be on a different timezone!)

Why are you moving to Spain, specifically?

The beginning of my love-story with Spain is right here in my very first book, The Lipstick Gospel. But the full story of why Spain and why now, is here.

How long will you be there?

The short answer is that we don't know. We're starting with a year, and then we'll see how we're feeling then!

Did you sell your house?

No, but we are renting it out! We moved out of it in August of 2023 so we could get it all set up and ready to rent. It feels a little weird that another family is living in the dream home we spent so long working for and creating for our family — but I think it's actually one of the best decisions we've ever made.

Where do you live now??

We live in a rental house about 30 minutes north of Nashville. We actually left most of our furniture behind in our house. We rented it out fully furnished. So we have a random collection of furniture here at our rental house with us. It's been an adventure already! (But a really good one!)

Who are you going with?

This is maybe the most fun question to answer — we're going with my best friend Kelsey and her family! If you've read my book, The Lipstick Gospel, you've met Kelsey already. (Also, she's been on the Girls Night podcast about 1,000 times at this point. She's so wise. I love having her on the show!)

Our little crew is going to be me and Carl and our three-year-old twin girls, Kelsey, her husband Tyler, and their two boys (7 and 5), and their sweet pup, Buckley.

Friends, I am SO happy to finally get to tell you about this.

Now I can finally explain why our house looks different, why our mattress is on the floor, and what we've been up to for the last year +. 🤣

Moving to Spain from the US with my family (and one of my very best friends!) is a dream come true. Talk about creating a life you love — this is a version of life I barely even let myself hope for. I'm SO excited.

But also — some of our reasons for going are not quite as fun. We built a life we love here in Nashville and then about 9 months ago, realized it really wasn't working for us the way it used to.

We'd outgrown it, or maybe our life had outgrown us — but either way, the way we were living wasn't sustainable, and we knew we had to make a change.

That's one of my favorite things we talk about in Create A Life You Love.

We talk about how there's not one right way to build a life. A beautiful life isn't one-size-fits-all…

“We grow up thinking that life is a puzzle, with a right and a wrong way to put the pieces together. But the truth is, our adult lives aren’t puzzles to complete. They’re collages to create. Your life is like a big blank canvas, and how you fill it is up to you.
And here’s the best news: Once you realize there’s no right answer and therefore no wrong answer, making decisions about your life can be an incredibly beautiful, fun, and exciting process, as you create a masterpiece and a life that’s all your own.” – Create A Life You Love

But also, we talk about how our plans don't always go according to plan, and how to handle that:

“Here's the good news and the bad news: The process of creating a life you love isn’t a onetime thing.

You might wake up one day and realize that you need, or maybe just want, something different. Or maybe something unexpected happens just as you get things arranged exactly as you want them—maybe a pin falls out and all your hard work goes fluttering to the floor.

Life isn’t static. It’s not a destination we reach, it’s a journey we’re on—a journey of thoughtfully reimagining our lives over and over as we grow and change, and as the world changes around us.” – Create A Life You Love

Every time someone hears that we're moving to Spain (with twin toddlers, no less), their first question is, “WHY!?” and that's the answer. It's because we created a life we loved, and then we changed and our circumstances changed, and we found that we needed (and wanted!) something different. So now we're re-creating and re-imagining our lives — creating a life we love all over again.

(Again, I talk much more about what that looks like, and what exactly happened, and how we made this decision, and what stopped working, and more and more and more in the book).

I'm so so happy to have you finally know what's happening in my life, friends. I cannot WAIT to tell you more, and I'm so excited to get to bring you along on the adventure with me!

Sending you all my love,

Stephanie

P.S. I will be sharing about our move on Instagram, but my very best updates are going to be happening right here on my blog (which I'll also be sending out via email). So if you want to follow along with our story, make sure you're on my email list!