The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Happy Thanksgiving everyone from Matter of Facts

Episode Date: December 1, 2025

The Matter of Facts/ Raising Values crew is enjoying the holidays with their loved ones, but wanted to stop long enough to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, and talk about what we individually have to be thankful for.Get Prepared with Our Incredible Sponsors! Survival Bags, kits, gear www.limatangosurvival.comEMP Proof Shipping Containers www.fardaycontainers.comThe Prepper's Medical Handbook Build Your Medical Cache – Welcome PBN FamilyPack Fresh USA www.packfreshusa.comSupport PBN with a Donation https://bit.ly/3SICxEq

happy thanksgiving everybody me and phil thought we'd take a break from our regularly scheduled thursday night stream to record a little message about what we're each thankful for this year first off i want to thank the patrons the listeners you guys are fantastic you guys make doing this a whole lot of fun especially the guys in the patron chat um it's great hearing from me from you all the time it's like a big group of friends which is kind of phenomenal you. This has been a lot of fun, and I would really miss not doing it. It's been more, more entertaining than I thought it would be, and a lot more of the thing I look forward to than I thought it would be, which is pretty fantastic. I'm very happy that I got invited to come on the show with Phil and

Andrew, and I've been able to continue doing it with Phil here, even though Andrew's taken a bit of hiatus, we're hoping he comes back. That'd be excellent. Last I heard he's doing really well, which is great, glad to hear it. Work for me and my wife's been going really well and our real jobs. It's been a lot of big changes at my work. We went from being extremely slow this year and in a not so great spot to being in a very good place here towards the end of the year with big things coming in the future, which is fantastic. And everything's kind of looking okay. Our families have been very healthy this year, which is wonderful. we welcomed my niece earlier this year, which was earlier than expected, but she's doing

excellent. She's doing really well. She has six months. I think she's six months old now. And that's been really fun to watch. So I hope you guys are having as good of a year as we are and hopefully it continues to go well for you through the end of the year. Thanks for listening. Really appreciate it. Have a happy Thanksgiving. And we'll see you next week. Hey guys, Andrew here. Phil reached out to me and had a good idea for the whole, what am I thankful for and everything. I just want to start off by saying thank you to him.

He's been a great host to the show and starting this with him. We'll jump it on with him and having a lot of memories and meeting really cool people taking the avenues that we did and I never thought that it would have went the way it did Nick thank you to picking up the slack and I do hope to return sometime just dealing with some personal stuff on the outside but and it's all good stuff really I hope to share it one day with everybody but for right now I just had to take a step back. Currently,

just don't have the internet. Far out into the woods and don't really have the internet to sustain recording. So just waiting on hopefully, waiting on something to change on that side.

But other than that, just getting settled in a different life. And so hopefully I can share that with everybody. But I'm thankful for my girlfriend, her and her daughter, have shown me a whole different side of what to care about versus what I was before. You know, this is different. This is a different feeling that I've had.

It's a different world. And I'm thankful for them for showing me... that i can actually care about somebody other than myself so uh that's that's i love it and i love them for it um and you know i'm thankful for uh my family and you know and friends and everything um and thankful for the listeners and the patrons uh you guys have stuck by phil and i uh for years and you're continuing to help uh fund the show and keeping it going so that i can one day hopefully return. So it's going to be a wild ride. Again, hopefully I can share it down the road. I would like to return at some point, and I do plan on it. It's just a matter of timing and just trying

to get the time for it. The job is kind of crazy right now still, but hopefully one day it will free up. But thank you again for everybody, and hope to talk to y'all soon. but hey everybody it's me long time to see right i know they'll ask me if i wanted to be a part of the thanksgiving post that they're doing on matter of facts and for a couple of days i kind of went back and forth on whether or not i should because i haven't been around i haven't made any sort of show or episode for raising values in almost a year now and so i kind of threw around that option of whether or not I make this video or not. And today he asked me one more time, be sure you don't want to. And I decided, yeah, why not? Let me make a video and, uh,

answer the question of what I am thankful for. Um, that's a loaded question for me. What am I thankful for? I have been going through, um, some things this year. I think the last time, I spoke to everyone was the last episode when I said that my dad was going in for heart surgery and that was kind of the end of it and I was going to take care of him and we did he did it he came out successful and went into rehab close to our house and I was able to help him through that and then things kind of went off the rails after that as far as my family goes not so much Phil and Piper, but parents, grandparents, sisters, you know, we've dealt with a lot. We've dealt with some pretty scary diagnosis in the family that are rare hereditary genetic

diagnosis that will impact the next year of my life and possibly for the rest of my life, possibly Piper's life. We've dealt with death. We have dealt with death. We have dealt with removing toxicity and toxic people in our lives and what that looks like, but we've dealt with so much good. I can tell you, even though it is a loaded question, the first things that come to mind of the things that I'm thankful for, there's three. There's Phil. Phil is my rock. I am so thankful for this man who has saved me more times and not. I have been in his custody. I like to tell him, I've been in his custody for 20 years now. And he is, he's responsible for me. Not really, but sort of. So Phil, when you watch this

back, it's your fault. Everything's your fault. Not really. No, really. I am really thankful for Phil and the husband and friend and other half of my soul that, um, I'm, I'm, I'm, I get to spend every waking day with. I am thankful for Piper. If you follow me on social media, you will see that Piper has really grown into the person that she wants to be. She is an amazing, badass young woman who is ripping the Band-Aid off of life and making her own way. I admire her for that.

I can tell you it is such a joy to be her mom and this girl has really opened my eyes to my own personal beliefs my thought processes everything that I was raised on things I thought I knew about myself. Piper has challenged me there and she has really made me think about the things that I thought I knew. So I'm very thankful. that I have the capacity to allow a 13-year-old to challenge me in those areas because I feel like I have grown so much as a person, as a mom, I've grown as a wife, as a friend, and a sister, maybe not so much as a daughter. That's okay. But I have, I'm thankful for this journey of mental health that I've been on for this year. You know that I am a big proponent for mental

health and making sure that you do whatever is possible to make sure that you're where you need to be in your mental health and healthy and safe. And safe has been a power word for me this year, learning that the people that I thought I was safe with, I wasn't. and learning how to navigate that. Trying to grow in myself and realize who I am as a person. Because six months ago, had you asked me who is Gillian, I would have lied and told you some BS of who I thought I was. Therapy has shown me that I have to still create myself,

that I haven't done that in 41 years. So I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for my therapist. I'm thankful for mental health. and that I have the access to see those things and be a part of it. I am thankful for you guys, all of you who have tuned in and watched, and those of you who listen on audio, you know, on audio, I'm thankful for the people we've met through this podcast

and the group of friends that we have created who are more like family to us than you are friends. Had you asked me 10 years ago that we would be here, I would have said, no, absolutely not. I am not making friends with people from across this country and keeping in touch, whether that's on camping trips or social media or whatever, but I am so thankful for the relationships and the bonds that we've created through this podcast with all of you. I can't even think of a time that I would want to go back to with you guys and not. there so yeah so lots to be thankful for I do I guess have to talk about the show

raising values and that yeah I get questions often I get messages often Phil gets messages often about the show and are we coming back when will we record next are we gonna put out another show and to be completely honest with you I don't have an answer for you. I don't know the answer to that question. I have a lot of work to do. Raising values, I guess, is something I should be grateful and thankful for as well, because it opened my eyes to a lot of the problems that I was putting aside and not willing to face. And so that is still on the back burner for now. I have a lot of things that I need to address still. I still have to feel comfortable with creating a show that

is honest and giving myself to you and I'm not sure if I'm there yet so I will keep you updated I might do some little guest spots on matter of facts I don't know whenever Phil needs a co-host because Andrew and Nick are out then I might be there so yeah so I know that's not really an answer or an answer that you might want but that is the answer I can give you today. Yeah, so anyway, I hope you all have the best Thanksgiving ever and that your food is cooked to perfection and that you get really good naps in between your different visits

up to the kitchen to eat and you go into this holiday season with joy and finding the good. in your life knowing that curveballs are coming but you can face them because y'all are probably just as much of a badass as my kid um so yeah we will be in touch as far as raising values is concerned and i guess i'm guess that's it so love you guys thank you again so much for your understanding and your patience with me um again i hope you have a great holiday season and Thanksgiving and all that stuff, and I'll see you soon. Bye. Hey, guys. So this is one of those moments in time where, like, you know, me and the rest of

Matter of fact's crew take a rare, but I think deserved break from podcasting just for the week. I mean, our normal recording day falls on Thanksgiving Day, and despite me really enjoying this podcast, I do like spending time to my family too. So I thought Nick and I would instead take a minute to talk about what we're thankful for it's the cheesiest nonsense everybody can do around thanksgiving but it's you know if there's a moment for cheese this is it so i have to say that like for a starter i'm really thankful for my family my wife and daughter have been the absolute brightest spots in my life for the last 20 years some wife and i met um i would happily say that everything I've accomplished is in part or full due to them.

My wife has been, she's been there to motivate me. She's been there to encourage me, pat me on the head when things are going bad, whatever needed to be done. She was always there in my corner to support me. And my daughter has taught me more about patience and life than I thought a person of her age really would. I mean, she has, from the time she came along, I had to shift my way of thinking from one of doing into one of teaching. I began to realize that, you know, my individual accomplishments in this life are one thing that I'm proud of.

But what I can help her springboard towards will be my greatest accomplishment, as I think it would be for any parent. Everything she does in her life, no matter what she does with it, I would like to think that some small, part of that is going to be because my wife and I taught her what you need to know, taught her how to think, taught her to make her own opinions, taught her how to defend them. I've always worked really hard never to teach her to be me or to be my wife, but to figure out who she is. So as I said before, you know, if she charges off in a life and she knows who she is, what she's about, what's important to her, and she's prepared to fight for it, I've done my job perfectly. I'm thankful for the friends I've made doing this podcast, you know, a lot of them are patrons, they support the podcast monetarily, they keep the show financially solvent so that I don't have to chase advertisers, I don't have to chase money, I can just focus on doing the show.

And as long as they're there and they appreciate it and they're willing to help me flip the bill, I will continue to do this no matter what. I am thankful for my co-host The one that I currently have And the one who hasn't been with us for a while He might come back though There's that's still waiting in the wings Um Andrew and I I started this show by myself

Uh, it's 2025 So right about nine years ago this past August And I started it with, you know, This really simple premise that I saw the preparedness community in a different way than most people do. I saw it as a very normal part of being an adult and being prepared to deal with emergencies, prepared to take care of your family. Like, I didn't see preparedness as this weird thing that most people did, and I've worked really hard for nine years to try to get other

people to see it as something kind of normal. And along the way, I've met men and women who see it the same way I do and are teaching their families. That preparedness isn't, you know, a bunker in the woods and living off MREs, but preparedness is money. in your checking account in a 401k and an air in your spare tire. It's being prepared to deal with life's emergencies because none of us want to have to tell our family, sorry, because I didn't plan ahead, you have to pay for it. So Andrew, for quite a number of years, it was right there to help push me to push the show. He did a ton of groundwork behind the scenes, finding guests, finding people to collaborate with.

he also you know privately he spent some time trying to motivate me there were times i got very disheartened doing the show i got very frustrated with you know being censored with the the circus that is social media and there were times when i for a brief moment i considered just shelving it quit quitting giving up i i thought to myself this is going anywhere no one's listening and he was the one for a lot of years that gave me the kick the button said, no, Phil, we are reaching people. We need to keep going. So in those moments where I've faltered, he was there to motivate me. And when he had to take a step back from the show to deal with some personal things and some just adult life, I supported 100%. I have continued to tell him and I talk with him every now and then that if he wants to come back, there's a chair and a

microphone waiting for him. So that might be in the wings in the future, but it's down to if he decides to, if he wants to. But the chair is always open. And in the meantime, you know, partnering up with Nick has been fun. It's been a totally different experience in podcast with Andrew. Nick and I connect on a lot of different levels of me and Andrew did. It's honestly kind of morphed into a little bit of a different show, but it still revolves around a lot of the same methodology and the same ideas. We don't want to let our families down. We don't want to let ourselves down, our friends and our community. And because of that, he continues to push me. He continues to point me in different directions and say, this is something we should look at, or this is something we should

take to the listeners, or this is something we can make a topic out of. So, like, I have to give credit to my co-hosts for all the work they do behind the scenes. My wife's included in that with, you know, raising values to the show that she put on hiatus, she might bring back. We've talked about it a few times, and it's something that she hasn't completely given up. But again, like Andrew, she had some life things to deal with. So she took a step back from that show. We put it on the shelf. If time and energy allows, we'll bring it back.

But she's also been there to help push me along. And I'm very thankful to the audience. I mean, if it weren't for y'all, then this show is just a couple of guys talking on the internet. The audience has been my constant source of motivation. It's the little things. As cheesy as it sounds. It's the moments where I get an email or a message or something from somebody that says, hey, that thing you talked about, it actually came in really handy and useful.

Or it's the person that reached out to us because of something we talked about and can relate to it. And for a moment and time, they realized they weren't the only person dealing with that problem. It's those moments in time as a content creator that I get a little recharge. And I say, okay, I am reaching people. Maybe only a few, maybe only a handful, but there's people out there that actually do take stock and they get something out of the show. And as long as that continues, I am getting everything out of the show that I ever wanted. So I have a lot to be thankful for. I think we all have a lot to be thankful for.

I think that in today's day and age, it's really, really easy to focus on the fear and the media and all the things that are going on in the world that are, frightening to us or all the things that are frustrating to us, I think it's much more difficult to take a look at the things that are going well in our lives, the family, the friends, the children, the people in our little communities who are making our life better. So what I challenge you to all do for Thanksgiving is to, for a moment, just ignore everything that's going wrong in your life. And think about everything that's going right. Focus on those things, nurture those things. And remember that

those people in your life who are helping you get to where you need to go. Of course, I'd be getting text messages from the patrons in the middle of doing the show. But those people who are helping us to accomplish our goals, they need a reminder

too that the influence they have in our life is noticed and appreciated. So that's my challenge to all of you for Thanksgiving. This is not just a day to get fat and triple your carbohydrate intake. This is a moment in time to take stock of your life, figure out what you're thankful for, and be the thing other people are thankful for, be the person other people are thankful for. And as we continue

towards Christmas, we'll close out this year and 2026 will be another year with new challenges, with new things for us to overcome. But we're going to do it because we remember the people that helped us get to where we are today, and we remain thankful of them.