Fun Family in Florida

One of my favorite Christmas movies of all time has to be A Christmas Story. Every scene seems to be a classic… the leg lamp, the tongue on the flagpole, the bunny suit at the end… constant laughter! (We actually have a special A Christmas Story themed interview coming soon for Club K&J members — stay tuned!)

One of my favorite scenes from the movie is the “mama’s little piggy” scene, where Randy, Ralphie’s kid brother, is encouraged by his mom to eat his mashed potatoes and meat loaf like a piggy. Hilarious!! Check it out… to save you a few minutes, the scene is found at 6:20.

Well, you can imagine our delight when we saw that one of our favorite families had some potato fun, “Randy style,” on Thanksgiving this year. Melynda and Ryan Culbertson, from Florida, finished up their feast on Thursday with a little childlike hijinks when Melynda announced that they were all going to eat their mashed potatoes like piggies. Their kids couldn’t have been more thrilled! Melynda shared in her blog,

Seeing their mom dig her face into a pile of mashed potatoes made a positive memory. My goal is to give them fun and funny things to remember from their childhood, good memories that aren’t overshadowed by ‘stuff’. Silly traditions, goofball behaviors, and laughing create positive recollections that will stay with them forever. And honestly, we mostly just want them to come home for the holidays when they’re adults.

You can watch their video here. What a cool family! Melynda and Ryan are Club K&J members and it’s been a real treat learning more about their perspective on life, as we all encourage each other to live life with less stress and more fun! Jason and I had the privilege of interviewing Ryan recently and Club K&J members can listen to the interview in the clubhouse, right here.

Ryan (also known as “Cubby”) is a Navy guy and father of seven. He has routinely delighted us with his creative entries in the Thursday Giveaway. A few months back, Jason wrote an article outlining some important tips for finding your dream job. Ryan commented on the article with a hearty, “Here, here.”

A little while later, his wife Melynda chimed in to tell us that there was more to the story behind the simple comment. She shared that Ryan was beginning his dream job. For years, he had served in a mind-numbing job that he found boring and redundant. But he was good at it and it paid the bills. Eventually, Ryan decided to step out and go after something he really wanted to do: become a Navy pilot. Said Melynda, “Actually, he wanted to be Superman, but being a pilot is as close as reality can take him. For the first time since he was a teenager he loves his job. For the first time ever he wakes up excited to go to work.”

We wanted to chat with Ryan to hear more about the story in the hopes that it might serve as inspiration for others who have a steady job but yearn for something more. He shares his struggles and successes, as well as his infectious enthusiasm. He also explains what it feels like to fly and reveals one of the main things his family does to deal with Adultitis.

Listen to a 5-minute preview:

*Club K&J Members: Listen to the FULL interview in the Clubhouse

Club K&J members get exclusive access to Kim & Jason Radio, featuring entertaining and inspiring interviews and other cool audio content. (Learn more.)