We’ve noticed that there are many misconceptions about what the term “refugee” means, and that there’s often confusion with the concept of immigration. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, a refugee is a person of special humanitarian concern to the United States who can demonstrate that they were persecuted, or fear persecution, due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Refugees are people who are in need of help when they are persecuted in their own countries, and they come to America seeking asylum, or protection. This does not include people who come to the United States illegally.

We learned that determining where refugees go within the United States, and how many go to any given state, is a major effort. Idaho, come to find out, is one of the best organized and most helpful states to participate in the program. Holly did a wonderful job of walking us through all the details of how the system works and what we can do to support this community within our community.

We are releasing this in anticipation of a particularly exciting event happening on February 29, 2024. The Idaho Office of Refugees annual Legislative Luncheon will take place from noon to 1:30 PM on the fourth floor of the State Capitol Rotunda. This is a FREE event for the community. We strongly encourage you to come and enjoy authentic food made by the Idaho refugee community and listen to some of their stories. We can’t think of a better way to build community and truly become neighbors than by breaking bread together with people as they share their stories.

To learn more about the Idaho Office for Refugees, visit their website at www.idahorefugees.org. We also recommend you check out Holly’s podcast, Mosaics, where she and her team interview Idaho refugees who share their amazing stories.

With all that said, we bring you a conversation with Holly Beech from the Idaho Office for Refugees.

First up, we talk about the notorious “man cold” and why exactly women get, um, let’s say, “annoyed” when their men start to stifle. And contrary to popular belief, it isn’t about the actual sickness.

Next up, just for funsies, let’s chat PMS, or as we like to say, “Code Red”. There is a delicate balance between women experiencing menstruation and PMS and their spouses being able to safely address it.

What you might not expect is that the Man Cold and Code Red have a lot in common. At least we think so.

Throw in discussion on expectations, resentment, and Gen-Z slang, and you have your next couples chat ready to go.

We have found ourselves in this position lately and decided to use this episode to discuss some of our current struggles, our plan to move forward into a better position by January, and how we can position ourselves to find some respite from stress and anxiety. Some of our changes are simple, and some of them are massive mindset adjustments. From toning down Christmas, to adding in simple health tweaks, we’re hoping we will be in a better situation by the new year. Or we might fail miserably- you never know. We will record a follow-up episode after Christmas for a New Year release to talk about how it went.

It’s a vulnerable conversation. It was valuable for us, and we hope it is valuable to you.