Crush Cast with Jess and Steph
Husband and wife creative team discussing all things creative, rotten yet adorable cats, pop culture, community and life as creative team.
Crush Cast with Jess and Steph
Olympic-sized Dreams and Feline Schemes (aka: From Athletes to Antics)
Talking everything from Olympic glory to our super rotten yet adorable cats.
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Hello and welcome to Crushcast. I'm your host, Steph Lopez.
Speaker 2:And I'm your co-host, your co host, I'm the co-host, I'm a co-host Jess Lopez.
Speaker 1:And today we're going to be talking about some childhood memories and we've been talking about that a lot lately, but I think it's it's fun. Yeah, it's kind of fun to revisit. I don't know that we've talked about that a whole lot in the last few years, so it's nice to take a stroll down memory memory lane. I'm a good talker. That's the best talk I've ever. Those are the best words I've ever talked. You can tell we've been watching a lot of parks and recreation lately.
Speaker 2:Yeah, lots of references to parks and recreation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and now that I'm getting hungry, it's like I want to drive up somewhere and be like give me all the bags, the bags. See how well this is going. Hunger affects your speech. Let's get into it. On the last podcast, we discussed unexpected things and I feel like one of the most unexpected things for most people who know anything about me would be for me to discuss sports. Would you think that's safe to say?
Speaker 2:That's very safe to say.
Speaker 1:So, but I want to discuss them because I saw recently an ad or like a preview or something about the Summer Olympics and I had forgotten that we were there. You know that it's it's time and I have always loved the Olympics. I've loved watching them. I am a huge fan of the gymnastics especially. And then how much I want to go on a diet after watching the volleyball players, because, dang, those chicks look amazing and I've never really wanted to play volleyball and I still won't, but it'll make me think about it. For however long it takes them to get through a set or whatever that's called that they play, have no idea.
Speaker 2:I think there are some games you can play on the switch that are volleyball games.
Speaker 1:See that doesn't even sound appealing to me at all. No, the most sporty I'm going to get in a video game is going to be me driving like Mario Kart. But so I'm getting off topic. The Olympics. Then in the winter, it's all about the gorgeous outfits, and I mean the gorgeous outfits that they wear while they're skating. Anyway, I love it, I am a fan, and I especially like it when they use more modern music. That's just me.
Speaker 2:No, it's really cool yeah it is.
Speaker 1:Are you into any kind of? Do you enjoy watching the Olympics at all, or do have you just watched it? Because I do.
Speaker 2:No, I watched. I've been a fan of the Olympics as well. I'm probably not as big of a fan of it as you, but I still can respect and admire these people because they're like top tier athletes in their field, competing against the rest of the world, and that's really. That's really something.
Speaker 1:Well, we really did enjoy watching Michael Phelps in swimming. That was cool. And then also the what is that called? The snowboarding, or I don't even know what it's called, the one guy with the red hair I can't even think of his name, that's all I know. Oh, yes, sean White. Yeah, we enjoyed watching that. Yeah that was pretty cool.
Speaker 2:Those are always really awesome. My favorite Olympics are the winter Olympics. Why? Because of events like that and ski jumps and the slalom and the bobsled All of that is crazy and also curling. I'm a big fan of curling.
Speaker 1:What. Yeah do you even know what's going on? Kind of, I don't know anything about what's going on and I start to cheer about something and people are like I know what's that? About things I have no idea?
Speaker 2:It's always funny when they start yelling and screaming during curling, but it's cool. I enjoy watching that. So yeah, my favorite Olympics are the winter ones and yours are the summer Olympics.
Speaker 1:I think they're all of the Olympics, because really what happens is every Olympic season I end up having dreams that I am an Olympian. So usually I am a gymnast and like that one time and you actually put it in a comic strip where this is a true story this actually happened. I was dreaming that I was at the Olympics and I was performing my floor routine and I fell off the bed. Yeah, like I actually fell off the bed in real life, fell off the bed.
Speaker 2:That's, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:It was not awesome because we had hardwood floors and you're like I don't even know that you got up. Probably not, it's just like she's fine, I'm going back to sleep. Wow, okay, my dear lead foot. It almost sounds like little foot. I always associate things with other things, so immediately I started thinking about the land before time. But maybe it feels like it was that long ago for you that you played soccer.
Speaker 2:I played soccer with cavemen and a side note, I know that you associate things with other things. Yes, because whenever you're looking for something and you find it, you always sing what? When you find something, I do, you always go. I found it.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, more land before time, yeah, but what I want to know is did you play any other sports, others in soccer?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I played some football in junior high and then one year in high school.
Speaker 1:Really yeah. What position tackle I?
Speaker 2:always played tackle.
Speaker 1:Did you like tackling people? I did, I mean, you know yeah, I did, do you remember the president's test.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:I could never pass the president's test. You know why? The pull-ups, like that chin-up thing or whatever you had to do. We had to grab the bar and pull yourself up and you had to hold your chin like above the line. I couldn't do it.
Speaker 2:I remember that I couldn't do it. That was tough for me too.
Speaker 1:Really, yeah, yeah, I think there was like a rope climb to, or maybe that was just Another horrible thing they made us do.
Speaker 2:I don't think I had to do that.
Speaker 1:Maybe it was just something awful that happened In PE. My favorite thing, though, was it seemed like every time we had a fire drill Was when I was in my super cute PE outfit that just like said PE it. It was like they stamped it onto a shirt and it was just like. It just looked gross and like worn down and I don't know like it was from the 70s, I don't know. Anyway, it wasn't like cool, worn down, like vintage and cool.
Speaker 1:Just yeah, it was like oh no, I was distressed when I had to go outside In front of everybody in this. It wasn't the fact that I was in PE necessarily, although for some weird reason PE was kind of an embarrassing thing in high school.
Speaker 2:So what about you? Did you play sports? I?
Speaker 1:Mean. No, I I Did play sports, but I wasn't like on a team. I think People would be surprised to know that I actually did run cross-country in junior high at Gatesville. It wasn't like on the team or anything, but I was. I we had to run pretty far and I actually enjoyed it and I Don't know what happened after that.
Speaker 1:I definitely am not a runner now and it wasn't something that carried on with me once I moved to Waco. But yeah, I, I did that and I always really enjoyed basketball, but it wasn't good at it and I wasn't trying to get on a team or anything. And then, when I was in high school is when they actually started the girl soccer team, because I'm at Temple High and that was started from some friends of mine and, I think, their dad, and so that's how that whole thing began and they actually asked me if I wanted to be on the soccer team. I was like, not if you want to win, but also at that point I was just very aware of how long the soccer field was and how much?
Speaker 1:I was gonna be required to have to run back and forth and, yeah, that was just an absolute no for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my favorite part about playing soccer was half time when you got to get orange slices.
Speaker 1:See, that would not have been enough for me. It's like are those like those orange slices that are actually chocolate? That?
Speaker 2:are like oranges.
Speaker 1:You know that that's what would have done it for me. But it's funny because I Like very early on I think I might have mentioned this before my my sister was the athlete, my sister Becca. She was the athlete and so when we were little my mom put her in gymnastics and I really wanted to do gymnastics but I was afraid of everything, so like I wasn't even trying to Do like a cartwheel or barely even a somersault or whatever, and and my mom just kind of knew, and so I did not get placed in gymnastics. And looking back I think that's okay though, because I would have been Pretty scared to do any of that. So, but my sister, she enjoyed it and she went to cheer camps and all kinds of stuff and that's cool yeah it's pretty neat.
Speaker 1:So mom didn't put me in gymnastics but she did make me take swim lessons. Becca and I went to Ralph Wilson and I think probably the most Athletic thing I did was I played four square and I was good at it, and anyone who played four square at Ralph Wilson in the late 80s and early 90s will know that it was cutthroat. It was a very big deal and, yeah, I really liked it. And hopscotch, that was another thing. It was just all it was fun. But I had to take swim lessons back and I both had to, which was good, you know, it's good to know how to swim. And and the swimming instructor was like this 18 year old Brazilian dude and his sister also Taught there and and I loved them both because she was in the coloring class where we got to go and color and that was One of my favorite things.
Speaker 1:And then going to the swimming pool. I liked the swimming pool. I just didn't like the diving part, and so that was one of the parts that you had to do in order to pass the class and I he just wanted me to even just at least jump from the diving board and it was just a standard one, it wasn't like a high dive or anything, and I Becca did it, no problem. I think she actually did dive I, but I did not and I don't think I actually passed because I did not and I was very sad because I'd spent all that time Only to not jump.
Speaker 2:That's a boomer.
Speaker 1:Well, but then I redeemed myself when we went to Lions Park once and he was there, I think, as a lifeguard, and I Honestly don't know what happened where, all of a sudden, I just got all this courage and I jumped from the high dive. I did not dive, I jumped and I was holding my nose.
Speaker 2:You're trying to show out.
Speaker 1:No, I was, I wasn't. I was, I don't, I just wanted to. I Really think I just wanted to prove that I could do it and I felt like to yourself. I really think so, and Because, listen, there was no boy cute enough To get me to jump off that diving board. I think it was just, really, I think it was something that I just needed to finish, and because he was the instructor, even though he couldn't like give me a certificate or anything, it's like look, I did this, and so, to me, I passed.
Speaker 2:You wanted him to see it, so he could vouch for you exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, that was good enough for me.
Speaker 2:So this pool? Yeah, you were, you dove. I did not die if I jumped or you jumped. This was at the park right, the Lions Park.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:This is the same part where you were attacked by wild geese and ducks.
Speaker 1:I think they were wild but, yeah, that was the scene of their crime when they attacked us yeah, animals, animals are trippin Well their territorial. Yeah, well, except for like the sweet dogs and stuff that people would walk out there, and Maybe not so sweet dogs, but at least they were on leashes as much as we love dogs, it's weird that we don't have any.
Speaker 1:Well, I really like big dogs, but big dog means big poop and I don't want to have to clean that up. And my mom has told me for years Okay, just think about it, she doesn't really talk like that, but for some reason I always she was like okay, if you have big dog, and that means the big dog has big poop. So if you guys like to go and do stuff and the cats are, you know they can take her business While you're gone and you know they, they can fin for themselves. But a dog depends on you and a lot of places we go we can't take dogs. So but yeah, that is it.
Speaker 2:I do wish we had what more and more places are Allowing people to take their dogs now, which is cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it would be difficult. That's I want like a really big dog. I.
Speaker 2:Want either a gigantic like great Dane, oh no. Or however big, Well, whatever. The largest breed of dog there is I want either one of those.
Speaker 1:What would be to?
Speaker 2:or I want like a little tiny dog that will fit in the palm of my hand. Okay, either either or nothing in between.
Speaker 1:All I think that I can think of that would fit in the palm of your hand is Like a Chihuahua, and I do not want to own a Chihuahua. Mom and dad have three Chihuahua ish dogs and while I love them, I love them so much, but uh-uh, no Chihuahuas for me. They have so much personality, they, but they. A lot of times they choose one person in the house and I want to be loved by everything in the house. Yeah, I mean, it was my goal for the cats to to love me and I Kind of succeeded. I don't know, I feel like they love each other more than they Really care about us. But those are cats, right? That's just. That's the rule of the dice with cats, you don't know what you're gonna get our cats tolerate us.
Speaker 1:I mean all cats tolerate everyone. Yeah, it's true.
Speaker 2:That's true. I think they probably Like spraying their eyes, rolling them at us all the time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but they have cool names, so our cats are Fishy our cats do have cool names.
Speaker 2:I like our cats names fishy Is our female.
Speaker 1:She's like a, a Torby, and Then there's Jones, who is our ginger guy.
Speaker 2:Did we ever determine like their full names?
Speaker 1:No, but we. There were just so many different names that worked and I just don't really think that we ever agreed. But Jones, I really thought Jones's name was cool because that has like so many meanings. Like we thought Indiana Jones, yes, and then Jones from alien.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Which was a cat.
Speaker 2:Yep, did you know that was Sigourney Weaver's actual cat?
Speaker 1:No, actually I didn't know that I was today years old, just now years old. I was a newborn when I found that out.
Speaker 2:She brought it to this set and I think it was getting into a bunch of stuff and the director was like, well, just put him in the movie.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so, yeah, he ended up being an alien, and in the In the sequel I'm not sure if that was actually the same cat Playing the same role, but yeah, interesting.
Speaker 1:Jones was in the character Jones, yeah yeah so, like we, then we have fishy, and we adopted these cats from an acquaintance of mine, and Fischi already had her name, though Her name was fish cake. This is what the Teenage daughter in the house named her after something. It's an anime, something or other, or manga, or something.
Speaker 2:I still love that thing. I still really like fish cake.
Speaker 1:I think it's hilarious, but we did drop the cake. I, I did. I mean, I never dropped cake in any other circumstances, but I, for her name, we did. And then we started calling her Fischy. And it's funny because, like whenever we would set her up at, like, the vet's office and they'd be like, okay, what's your cat's name? Jones? Okay, and Fischy, they always love it. Fischy, a cat named Fisch. That's so funny Because really her name is Fisch, her name is Fisch Lopez, but we call her Fischy and actually we call her.
Speaker 2:Fischy, fischy, fischy. So many names, so many.
Speaker 1:Fischy, yeah, fischy the fish Fischy. She is a gangster Like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she's pretty hardcore Gosh.
Speaker 1:She's so bad. They're kind of like Yzma and Krok, yeah, from the Emperor's New Groove, where she is the one who comes up with all of the things, that, all of the master plans that aren't really all that well thought out, necessarily, but definitely evil and definitely she shouldn't be doing them. And then he's always like what are we doing today, fischy?
Speaker 2:Yeah, she instigates everything and Jones is the one who takes all the heat when things go south.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she frames him. Yeah, she does. But yeah, I don't think they could stand having a dog, because Fischy tried to hurt Becca's dog when he came and she was just a kitten but she was like I don't think so pal. But if we had a dog like we're pretty good at naming our animals what works for them.
Speaker 1:Like Fischy, does fishy stuff and that just works for her. She's also the only one in the house between the two of them, the only feline in the house that can eat tuna, fish or salmon, because our Jones is apparently allergic. So how crazy is that?
Speaker 2:But yeah, or at least super sensitive to it, and she's also very squirmy, like a fish.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's crazy, like when she hops on my lap and that makes me feel really good because she just doesn't do that. I have the best dad joke where it's like oh look, I caught a fish. Yeah, but what do you think we would name a dog?
Speaker 2:I remember we had a name picked out for an animal that we really liked and, for whatever reason, we did not use that name for Well, just made out of fit their personality, you know. Well, I don't think we would have known until this particular pet would have gotten older, because the name that we had, what?
Speaker 1:are you thinking Was the?
Speaker 2:name of a character from a show, and this character was an older woman.
Speaker 1:Oh, f O B R Slow, f O B R Slow. Well, that just I think that character would have. So she's from Parks and Recreation.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:So if that character, if the cat behavior was, you know what I think it would have. Any cat could fit Ethel Beavers because she's cranky, yeah, and she's like I do got a voice like kind of. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:I think Fushie would have fit the bill. She could have, yeah, but Ethel Beavers is a great name, yeah, I. Earlier today I was driving home from picking up breakfast and I made myself just randomly laugh because I thought up two great names for a dog.
Speaker 1:What, what Lay it on me? Let's hear it. The first one was. The first one was I cannot wait. Bob Barker man, that's awesome, and the other one was which is not as funny but still the other one was Charles Barkley I love Bob Barker, so here he is. That's kind of good job, lopez. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Now we have to get a dog.
Speaker 1:Have you ever thought about what the cats would sound like if they could talk?
Speaker 2:I think. Well, like you said earlier, I think Fushie would probably sound like Yzma.
Speaker 1:You think she would sound like her, or I kind of feel like she would sound like Regina George from Mean Girls.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's even better.
Speaker 1:But with a gangster attitude. That's actually her in the background, making noise that people can hear it. She's like I know I'm going to get in trouble, but I'm gangster and I'm going to do it anyway.
Speaker 2:And I think Jones would probably sound like Owen Wilson.
Speaker 1:How would that sound? Exactly like what we need to say? I don't know for sure. I can't do Owen.
Speaker 2:Wilson Wow, you would say wow.
Speaker 1:Wow Watch me jump on the fridge.
Speaker 2:That sounds nothing like Owen Wilson.
Speaker 1:Absolutely nothing. I'm really starting to question my abilities. I used to be able to do voices, but maybe not so much dude voices. I can do chick voices and singers, but yeah, you do a pretty good sling blade because our cat Max that we had for 16 years, or we had him for 15 because we got him when he was a year old. But yeah, let's hear a little sling blade.
Speaker 2:I don't know where this came from, but one day I was just, I guess, just looking at Max and I mean he outweard yeah, he did. People who have pets probably won't admit this, but they give their pets voices.
Speaker 1:Pretty sure most pet owners would admit.
Speaker 2:Would your dad.
Speaker 1:Oh, no, probably not.
Speaker 2:What were you guys going to name Now?
Speaker 1:I'm so curious if he would. I don't know.
Speaker 2:Your dad. When you guys first got Sophie, your parents were trying to think of a name for her.
Speaker 1:We were all trying to think of a name for her family name. Yes, and we were so excited when we got Sophie because they brought us like the food and everything and we didn't know and she wasn't a puppy, I don't think she. I don't remember that was ages ago, but I think it was either around Christmas or something. But and then here came Sophie and so, yeah, we're trying to figure out the name and we wanted to name her or mom, I don't think I did. Mom wanted to name her baby and I don't know why, because that's such a generic dog name, but she's mom and that's what she wanted to call her.
Speaker 1:And he was like I'm not going outside and saying come here, baby, or whatever. And he was like you guys, my dad is from up north, he's spent some time in Chicago, but he was, yeah, he's from Illinois, so he has those long as and you guys and Kyron Big and although he's been in Texas long enough now to where he's kind of dropped that, but because I messed with him for so long about his accent and I loved it so much that now a lot of times I have long as and people ask me where I'm from, and it's because, yeah, and it's not. I realize now it's, and I didn't make fun of him, I loved it Like I wished that I had that, but now it's kind of become, it's become part of how I speak. So, yeah, that's funny, yeah.
Speaker 2:So, getting back to Max, yeah, I don't know where this came from. He was in my lap and I was looking at him. He was looking at me and all of a sudden he said my name is Max Mm-hmm. And ever since then, whenever he and I interacted, that was the voice that I would hear coming from him. And so, yeah, he would be like give me some food, Jesse Mm-hmm. I don't think did Maddie ever have a voice?
Speaker 1:I don't think we ever gave her a voice. I don't know she had one, like we had that comic strip and she was very like. To this day, honestly, I don't really know what her voice sounded like specifically, but she was always putting him down and like, but in a funny way, you know, like she did love him and she did love him in real life. She did, but she just never showed it. It was just like yeah, no, yeah.
Speaker 2:So you have a birthday coming up.
Speaker 1:I do and I'll be celebrating all week, because we know how that goes.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, that's right.
Speaker 1:It's my birthday celebration Celebration. Good times, let's go. I like to sing wrong lyrics Me too, I do it, but that's a whole other podcast, yes.
Speaker 2:So what is the greatest gift you've ever?
Speaker 1:received the greatest gift, the greatest, I don't know like the greatest gift, but, like for my birthday, I don't know. But I can tell you, for Christmas one year I got a Barbie Dream House and that was the raddest thing I'd ever seen in my life. It was so cool. I remember walking down the hall and the Christmas tree lights were on and the Barbie Dream House was already set up, which I'm sure was an absolute non-dream for my mother.
Speaker 1:But that was one of the coolest things ever. And then, not to drag this down or try to make this sad, because it wasn't sad, but there was one year where we just didn't like we didn't have. We went through ebbs and flows of having money or not having money, you know, in different times. But I remember we got like I think I got a tape and I'm pretty sure it was rock set, and then we got, and then I think Paula Abdul and then like PJs, and I remember that that was super special. That's cool Because I knew that like my mom had work to give that to me and that was a really that was like a really special Christmas and honestly, some of the best gifts have been stuff like that people made for me For my 40th birthday, my friend Kim made me this poster that had, first of all, there was lots of chocolate on it.
Speaker 2:So that was amazing. Oh yeah, this was a great gift.
Speaker 1:It was so great, but it was like a little story and with chocolate bars as some of the words and I can't remember like the story, but it was really funny and it was really sweet and it was delicious. Oh and no, okay. And then that same year I'm sorry I had way more answers than I have a favorite I just have things that like really excited me. My sister gave me a Care Bear and when I opened it I was like, oh, care Bear, and I felt like I was like seven years old.
Speaker 1:It was so amazing. I loved it so much.
Speaker 2:I remember that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was so cool and I still have it. It's in the bedroom right now. I love that Care Bear. And then, yeah, I just I love, I love being surprised with gifts. I don't like being surprised like jump scares and like you know bad things, but I love that kind of stuff. We're just like super thoughtful things. There's and there's so many things that I know that I'm forgetting. But I actually really love my birthday because it's it's a level up. I don't love it like Michael Scott loved his in the office. I'm not like obsessed with it and expect people to drop things for it, but I do.
Speaker 1:I do think it's so cool that I've been on the planet that long, even though I definitely don't feel like it. But I think it's great. I think it's an awesome thing to say yeah, I've been here for this long and and I'm doing all right. So the cats are here to say goodbye. Now it's time to say goodbye. Fun fact that's how I learned how to spell mouse M I C, k U I M O U I C. That's how I learned and I remember in elementary school I think it was kindergarten that I spelled it and I remember singing the song so that I knew how to spell it.
Speaker 2:Is that when, like Ryan Gosling, and. Britney Spears and all of them were making mouse club or whatever that was.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and I was about it because they did like, they did skits and they sang and I mean I, I think my goal was to be on the Mickey Mouse Club.
Speaker 2:Thanks once again for joining us here on Crush Cast. It's always awesome to have you listen to us.
Speaker 1:I'm just leaving it in. We're just, we're just going to go rogue here. We're going to be the most imperfect podcast that there is and we're just going to have fun doing it.
Speaker 2:So I think hunger is affecting my speech also.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so thanks, guys, and if you want to continue the conversation, please consider joining us on Facebook or Instagram. You know what? Yeah, it's my birthday this week. I think that I'm going to maybe do a little something to step outside of my comfort zone. Do I know what that is? Yet I don't, but we'll find out and I'll let you know next week. But whatever you're doing out there this week, I hope that it's awesome. I hope that it's blessed, I hope that you will get out there and do the creative thing, or whatever it is that you are wanting to do, and that you crush it.