I love a good conversation with a friend. And I hope that’s what these podcasts are to you.

Emily and I sat down and asked each other a few questions this time — the deep, the not so deep — and we just had a good chat.

One of the things we talked about was flat-out the best thing I’ve heard lately: Input is key to output. We talk in the podcast about my experience playing piano for high school solo-and-ensemble contest earlier this month and how never have these words rung more clearly. Input is key to output, in life as in music.

If you don’t practice and you don’t learn the words to your song, you might forget them during your performance. If you sit down 48 hours before the performance and tell your accompanist that you’ve only played the song three times, unless you’re Mozart or something, we can all be sure this is likely not going to go well.

But. BUT. If you work. If you practice. If you learn and you tweak and you perform real music — not just attempt to get through it — you’ll have the most incredible feeling of accomplishment. You’ll have done it. And no one else can do that for you.

Input is, in fact, key to output.

Rest assured, the podcast wasn’t all that heavy. We also talked about our favorite snacks. And we have good reading ideas for you!

Also: No, I didn’t see "E.T." Yes, I knew movies existed. That’s about all.

So give this a listen. We’re talking food, family and farming … and podcasting. You can find us on Instagram: @emilywebel and @hspangler, and on Twitter: @emily_webel and @hollyspangler. And if you’re so inclined, leave us a little iTunes review, because that helps other people find us, too.

Links to stuff we talked about:

The Sound of Gravel

Beautiful Boy

Tweak

Rare Bird

Victoria

Erin Condren refrigerator planner pad

Sunmaid Dark Chocolate Yogurt Raisins