Baggage Claim

Greg and Jess
  • 4.9 (18)
  • RELATIONSHIPS
  • UPDATED DAILY

Baggage Claim is a space for blended families, marriage, and friendship.  Here, we dive into real-life conversations about the ups and downs of relationships, from navigating second marriages to unpacking the baggage we all bring. Hosted by Greg and Jessica, who both have rich experiences with love, loss, and family, this community is about sharing stories, learning together, and growing stronger as couples and individuals. Grab a drink and join us as we unpack, laugh, and claim our baggage—one conversation at a time 

  1. 1D AGO

    Moon Landings To Marriage Lessons In One Unscripted Night

    Send us Fan Mail We decided to do something risky: hit record with no plan and trust the conversation to take us where it needs to go. What starts as a fun question about conspiracy theories quickly turns into something more honest about trust, power, and why our brains chase stories that feel hidden. We trade our favorite rabbit holes, laugh at how deep YouTube can pull you, and admit there are some topics you can’t touch without people assuming the worst. From there, we get real about modern disagreement. We talk about social media, keyboard courage, and what it feels like to be misunderstood by strangers who don’t know you at all. We’re not asking everyone to agree. We’re asking for civil conversation, better questions, and friendships that can handle tension without turning into hate. If you’re tired of echo chambers, this one is for you. Then we shift into the personal stuff we don’t always make space for: hobbies and the ways they keep us alive. Jess shares how painting became a grief outlet and a path toward healing. Michael talks about music, songwriting, and how picking up a guitar with no agenda can be therapy. We reflect on loss, memory, and the surprising power of a playlist made from grandparents’ favorite songs. We also circle back to why we keep doing Baggage Claim: marriage, blended family life, community, and leaving something our kids can hear one day. If you like relationship podcasts, real talk conversations, and unscripted storytelling about grief, marriage, music, and community, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a table to land at, and leave a review so more people can find the conversation. Support the show

    58 min

  2. MAR 17

    Boundaries Or Secrecy? Setting Phone Rules In Marriage

    Send a text Your phone can be a calendar, a camera, a workspace, and a dopamine machine, but it can also become the loudest unspoken argument in a marriage. We go from joking about road trip snacks to a topic that hits a nerve for almost every couple: phone privacy, screen time, and what it means when your partner wants to look or when you feel the need to hide. We talk through the tension behind “I need boundaries” versus “I’m keeping secrets,” and why those two ideas are not the same. We also name the red flags that show up on both sides: the urge to snoop to calm anxiety, and the urge to guard a device so tightly that trust can’t breathe. Along the way, we connect digital behavior to deeper relationship issues like honesty, insecurity, defensiveness, and control. If you’ve ever felt your heart race when someone picked up your phone, or you’ve ever felt tempted to check a partner’s messages just to feel safe, we give you language to start an awkward but necessary conversation. Our biggest takeaway is simple but not always easy: the phone isn’t the real problem. Trust is. We share practical questions to ask each other about motivation and end goals, plus how to create a safe space to talk when emotions spike, cool down, and come back to finish the conversation instead of burying it. If this helps you, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review so more couples can find Baggage Claim. Support the show

    41 min

  3. MAR 10

    Opposites Attract… Until Someone Is Late For Church

    Send us Fan Mail What if the secret to a lasting relationship isn’t finding the right person, but learning how to change together on purpose? We dive headfirst into the messy middle of modern love: the difference between secrecy and privacy, the myth that you can “fix” your partner, and why small, consistent habits beat grand promises every time. We open with an honest take on trust. Privacy is a healthy boundary everyone can name; secrecy is a hidden behavior designed to avoid consequences. That lens reshapes common flashpoints like phones, passwords, and social media. Then we move into the bigger arc: seasons. Careers shift, kids arrive, parents age, and suddenly you’re not the people you were in your twenties. That’s not failure—it’s life. The couples who thrive learn to re-commit at each stage, updating roles, rituals, and expectations. We share practical ways to do it, from weekly touchpoints and simple date rituals to monthly money talks and quarterly check-ins that keep you aligned when life gets loud. Along the way, we talk friend groups and advice culture—how yes-men can wreck your marriage and how to choose counsel from people living the outcomes you want. We unpack the gym metaphor for love: progress requires reps. One book or retreat won’t save a relationship any more than one workout gives you abs. What does work is deliberate movement: naming what used to connect you, celebrating what connects you now, and choosing one small behavior to practice together for two weeks. Movement breaks stagnation; growth follows attention. If you’re ready to steer instead of drift—build trust, set better boundaries, and say yes to each other again—this conversation will meet you where you are. Listen, share it with a partner or friend, and tell us the one small change you’re starting this week. Subscribe, leave a review, and join us at unpacktogether.com and on Patreon to go deeper with the community. Support the show

    44 min

  4. MAR 3

    We Win Every Day When We Choose To See It. (50th live recording)

    Send us Fan Mail What if the real scoreboard in marriage and blended family life isn’t the promotion, the perfect trip, or the bigger house—but the quiet wins hiding in plain sight? For our 50th episode, we go live with friends, trace a personal history that came full circle, and share how redefining “winning” turned stress into momentum and gratitude. We start by naming how culture sells constant achievement and how that pace can drain connection. Then we pivot to a practical framework that keeps us aligned in busy seasons: tracking daily wins across three lanes—personal, professional, and relational. A calm reply instead of a snap. Kids home safe and fed. A class with zero time-outs. Two glasses of water and a short workout. When you count these without a “yeah, but,” your brain learns to spot progress, and your home starts to feel lighter and more hopeful. We also tackle a big friction point: money. One of us leans long-term and frugal, the other loves present-tense experiences. We walk through removing emotion from the math, agreeing on baselines, and setting visible milestones that trigger real celebrations. Joy doesn’t have to wait for “someday”—you can design low-cost fun now and still build toward bigger goals. Most of all, we share the pact that changed our mood swings: our bank balance doesn’t decide our happiness. That choice protects our relationship, keeps our goals shared, and makes wins easier to see. If you’ve felt stuck on an endless ladder, this conversation offers a calmer way forward. Define your own win, train your attention to notice it, and let small steps compound into a life that feels aligned. If this resonates, subscribe, share with a friend who needs a lighter load, and leave a review telling us one win you’re claiming today. Support the show

    38 min

  5. FEB 24

    Adoption, Infertility, And The Faith To Keep Going. Drew and Amber Mullinax story part 2

    Send us Fan Mail A weekend of “just helping out” turned into a love story that rewrote an entire family. We sit down with Drew and Amber to trace how respite care led them to Katie, how the foster system both stretched and refined them, and why adoption wasn’t the end of their story but the beginning of a deeper kind of courage. From navigating reunification policies and last‑minute case changes to building trust with foster parents, they share the real timeline—the what‑ifs, the paperwork, and the heart math of falling for a child you may have to release. Then the conversation turns to a long‑hoped‑for pregnancy and the kind of loss that few talk about openly. Amber and Drew walk us through the medical limbo, the silence of a final scan, and the night of miscarriage with the honesty couples search for but rarely find. We talk about how partners grieve differently, how distance can grow in the quiet, and the practical ways they found their way back: a chair pulled close, a hot bath, a friend who refuses to take no, a devotional left on a kitchen table, a laugh reclaimed on a golf course. Presence over platitudes. Honesty over avoidance. Small acts that stitch life back together. Threaded through it all is Katie—bright, funny, and exactly who she needs to be—whose arrival didn’t cover wounds so much as heal them over time. We reflect on the gaps in the foster care system, the hope within reunification, and the faith that holds when answers don’t. If you’ve walked through infertility, considered foster care, carried the weight of miscarriage, or loved someone who has, this story offers language, company, and a path toward connection. Listen, share with a friend who needs it, and if our conversation sparks questions, reach out—we’d love to connect you with resources and keep the dialogue going. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: what simple gesture helped you feel seen? Support the show

    1 hr

  6. FEB 17

    Two Families, One Pig Painting, And The Moment Our Daughter Found Us. Drew and Amber Mullinax story part 1

    Send us Fan Mail What if the sign you needed was hanging in your hallway the whole time? We sit down with our friends Drew and Amber for a warm, funny, and gut-honest conversation about fast love, hard choices, and the winding road that led them to their daughter through foster care. It starts with playful banter and a simple question—what joy do you never outgrow?—and opens into the real work of partnership: learning to paint a basement together, merging bank accounts before the wedding, and navigating a very human fight over a $60 dress while saving for a house. From there we step into deeper waters. Drew and Amber share how two to three years of infertility reshaped their plans, and how a foster and adoption agency talk at church cracked open a door they hadn’t planned to walk through yet. The details feel almost like fiction: a pig painting Amber’s mom insisted they hang and pray over, followed by a respite call for a one-and-a-half-year-old who arrived with a stuffed pig she couldn’t sleep without. That moment—small, tender, impossible to ignore—became a marker for the rest of their journey. We talk about what it really means to love inside a reunification-first foster system, how you hold hope without clutching, and why celebration matters even when money is tight and the future isn’t clear. You’ll meet Katie through their words: a bright, intuitive child who seems to sense feelings before they’re spoken and lights up every room she enters. Along the way we highlight the practical tools that kept Drew and Amber steady—clear values, honest communication, and a willingness to choose the relationship over the argument. If you’ve wrestled with infertility, considered fostering, or just needed a reminder that small choices can build a big life, this story will feel like a hand on your shoulder. Listen, share with someone who needs hope, and leave a review to help more people find the show. Subscribe so you don’t miss part two of Drew and Amber’s journey. Support the show

    42 min

  7. FEB 10

    Waffle House > Roses. "Put the Phone Down and Pass the Syrup"

    Send us Fan Mail February gets loud with glitter, cards, and big-price dinners. We go the other way. Greg and Jess unpack why hype-heavy Valentine’s pressure rarely leads to connection, and how simple, repeatable habits—naming expectations, choosing quality time, and putting phones away—create the nights you actually remember. With a little chaos, a lot of humor, and a Waffle House tradition that keeps us grounded, we show how to design a date that fits your real life instead of your feed. We dig into why expectations derail romance, how love languages change what a “win” looks like, and why planning intimacy doesn’t kill the mood—it protects it. From the origins of Valentine’s to the way social media and spicy book tropes warp our sense of “special,” we challenge the need to perform and offer a practical framework: ask specifically, agree honestly, and celebrate in a way that feels like you. Whether your heart wants a fancy steakhouse or takeout by the fire, attention is the luxury item. Along the way, we share updates on our growing community, the live 50th episode with giveaways and Q&A, and how you can hang out behind the scenes. Most of all, we invite you to choose presence over performance. Tag your date selfie, tell us what made it meaningful, and borrow ideas from other listeners. If this conversation helps you breathe easier about Valentine’s—or plan a night that actually fits—tap follow, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a quick review so more couples can find us. Your support keeps this community thriving. Support the show

    39 min

  8. FEB 3

    The Baggage Claim Method™: 9 Steps to Build a Stronger Marriage and Home

    Send us Fan Mail What if you could trade relationship chaos for a simple map you can actually follow? We break down a practical framework that moves from You to Us to Family, so you can stop reacting to fires and start building rhythms that last. No silver bullets, just nine honest steps that make real life feel more navigable. We start with You: knowing your operating system, naming emotion before reaction, and choosing response over reflex. Think of it like updating your mental software so new habits can run. Then we shift to Us, where the real magic happens—rebuilding the language of safety, clarifying expectations before they turn poisonous, and remembering why you chose each other in the first place. Tone, timing, and truth-telling matter, and small check-ins beat big blowups every time. Family brings the framework home. We talk about defining a culture on purpose—how you speak, rest, repair, and celebrate—then inviting your kids into that culture with age-appropriate voice and shared values. Finally, we show how rhythms like weekly huddles, state-of-us talks, and recurring date nights turn good intentions into muscle memory. Between ice storm cabin fever, a righteous gas-pump rant, and a few pronunciation battles, you’ll hear how everyday moments become practice reps for healthier connection. Explore the full framework and take our “Which step am I in?” self-assessment at unpacktogether.com. Join us for a live recording on Feb 21 with giveaways, and check out our Patreon for exclusive extras. If this helped, tap follow, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—what’s one rhythm you’ll start this week? Support the show

    44 min
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4.9
out of 5
18 Ratings

About

Baggage Claim is a space for blended families, marriage, and friendship.  Here, we dive into real-life conversations about the ups and downs of relationships, from navigating second marriages to unpacking the baggage we all bring. Hosted by Greg and Jessica, who both have rich experiences with love, loss, and family, this community is about sharing stories, learning together, and growing stronger as couples and individuals. Grab a drink and join us as we unpack, laugh, and claim our baggage—one conversation at a time 

Information

  • Creator
    Greg and Jess
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    56
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Baggage Claim
  • Show Website
    Baggage Claim