What’s Up Wednesday

Hello! It’s the last Wednesday of the month which means I’m linking up with Sheaffer and Shay for this month’s What’s Up Wednesday.

WHAT WE ARE EATING THIS WEEK:

We were spoiled by the sunshine this weekend, and now we are back to overcast and rainy skies…so I thought soup sounded good. Also, I always try to make something on Sunday that we can have leftovers on Monday. Mondays just always seem so difficult getting in the swing of the week, so not having to think about dinner on Monday evening is always a bonus.

Sunday/Monday: Taco Soup

Tuesday: Trader Joe’s Fried Rice with Honey Walnut Shrimp and Mandarin Orange Chicken. I love Trader Joe’s. What I love most about Trader Joe’s is that I usually just wander the aisles to plan a meal or two. Whereas, when I go to Kroger (or place my online Kroger order), I always feel like I need a list! This was a quick and easy meal last night that we enjoyed overall…but I didn’t love the sauce that came with the shrimp. I wish I had left it off. The chicken (& sauce) was delish!

Wednesday: Baked chicken thighs, bagged salad, and Bob Evans mashed potatoes.

Thursday: We now have a basketball game tomorrow night #tourneytime , so we’ll probably have leftover baked chicken with Trader Joe’s Roasted Potatoes. We’ve never tried these before, so hopefully everyone likes them. Every time I go to TJ’s, I pick up one or two new things to try!

Friday/Saturday night: I’m sure we’ll eat out.

Did you see my Monday Meals post with two quick (and easy!) pasta recipes? Both are delish!

WHAT I AM REMINISCING ABOUT:

I can’t believe we’ve had Homer for almost 9 months. He was about 12 weeks old when we adopted him. So….Homer is almost one! Whew! Homer is a handful…and I tell him every day that he’s lucky he is cute! This week alone, I’ve found him licking my facial cleansing brush, he snatched a glazed donut out of the box on the counter, and he ran around the house with the kitchen towel in his mouth. Also, my hairbrush is missing. He swears he’s innocent and Hadley denies borrowing it…so I’m still on the lookout for it! I swear he’s like having ten toddlers!

WHAT I AM LOVING:

At the end of the summer, I started buying the single wick candles at Bath and Body Works. I love that the three wick ones are more aromatic but sometimes they were almost too strong of a scent…and the three wick ones take up more space. So, for fall, I bought three single wick fall fragrances and did the same for the holidays. This way, I can place the candles around the house easier since the single wick ones take up less space and provide just enough of a refreshing scent. Of course, I always use a coupon (or hit up a sale) when buying the candles whether it’s the single or three wick ones. (I feel like I just used the work wick more than I should have. Sorry!) These three scents are my newest purchase for spring.

WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO:

It’s basketball tournament time, so that sports season is wrapping up. Hayden is prepping for baseball season while Hadley continues to dance two days a week. Both kids went to birthday parties last weekend which kept us busy on Saturday. Then, on Sunday, Hadley attended the Mardi Gras party at our church while Hayden had basketball practice. Next month, Hadley has Academic Team competition, so she’s been prepping for that as well.

WHAT I’M DREADING:

Honestly, I wasn’t dreading it but I was overwhelmed getting Hadley’s Girl Scout cookie orders out. She surpassed her goal of selling 350 cookies by selling 441 boxes of cookies! I just never want to mess up an order, and it’s a lot of money to collect and sort! I’m glad the bulk of the ordering is past us!

WHAT I’M WORKING ON:

I’m working on getting back on track with my eating and exercising. I was off to a good start in 2020 and then I got the flu. After that, my eating was ok but I wasn’t really working out. So, I’m back on my Lean intermittent fasting program combined with carb cycling, tracking my macros, and working out. This program works for me…when I do it! So, getting a handle on my eating window and exercise before spring break is a good goal for me right now.

WHAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT:

I’m excited about spring break! It will be here before we know it. We decided to go to NYC…but all we’ve done so far is purchase plane tickets. We are waiting to tell the kids once we firm up our plans/itinerary. What are some “musts” for us while there?? Give me all the ideas, please! I’ve always wanted to visit NYC in the fall, but we didn’t have our act together at that point to plan a trip. I’m excited to take the kids as I think they will enjoy it and appreciate it…and are able to walk/keep up with whatever we do.

WHAT I’M WATCHING/READING:

Y’all, I’m in a slump. Or a February Funk…I started two books this month and haven’t finished either. I like them…I just have been so tired at night, I go straight to bed. Plus, our weekends have been a bit busy, so I don’t know…I’m not off to a solid start with reading in 2020. The two books I’m reading are The Broken Girls (on my Kindle) and American Royals (hardback). Again, I’m really liking them and hope to finish them this week…and start fresh in March. Do you have any good book recommendations?

I’m excited for Good Girls Season 3. The show just started back, and I hope to get caught up on it this weekend. There aren’t many shows Travis and I watch together, but that’s one of them!

Also, I found a show Up and Vanished on the Oxygen Channel on Hulu and have watched a few episodes.

And…we watched about half of Jurassic Park earlier this week…It’s one of those I remember watching as a kid and thought Hayden and Hadley would like it…but when I looked over to see Hadley crying as the dinosaur tried to eat the kids, I started to think I must have been over ten-years-old when I saw it. 😂 Hayden wants to finish it, but Hadley will probably pass. We may not have time to finish it until the weekend anyway…maybe Hadley’s trauma will subside by then!

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO:

I still listen to a few podcasts when I can. I regularly listen to include Willie Geist’s Sunday Sitdown and then usually add other podcasts of interest based on who is being interviewed. I’m excited because Landyn has a podcast in the works. I’m excited to listen to it when it become available.

WHAT I’M WEARING:

I bought these slippers at Target right after Christmas, and I love them. I had thought about buying the Ugg version as I’ve heard great reviews, but didn’t feel like spending that kind of money on slippers. These have been the perfect thing to put on my feet when I get home! Nice and cozy. (One of my slippers has even survived almost being #homered!…so I guess you could say that they are good quality!) 😉

Also, I recently had to wear this pink gown…twice. Since I turned 40, it was time for me to have my first ever mammogram. While it wasn’t the best thing I’ve every experienced, it certainly wasn’t as painful as I expected it to be. As I left my appointment, the mammographer mentioned that it’s very common to get called back for an ultrasound especially to establish a baseline since it was my first mammogram.

A week later, I did receive a call to come in that week for an ultrasound. Thankfully, I was somewhat prepared for the call, so I didn’t panic. (Although, I am a worrier by nature!) As soon as the sonographer called me back to the room, she immediately told me she thought everything was fine, but they just wanted to confirm all was good. Her reassurance combined with the dimly lit room and the warm blanket she gave me, put me at ease. I had a couple of cysts as well as a fibroadenoma, which I learned is very common in women and benign.

I was actually relieved to have the mammogram scheduled. I’ve known women who have had breast cancer even in their early thirties. That being said, it was almost scary for me to be in the 35-39 years of age…where doctors say, “You are too young to worry about _____” when I know people who have had their lives changed in an instant at a younger age.

I’m thankful for a healthy report, and I’ll also be very grateful for that yearly appointment and peace of mind.

WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND:

Hadley has a tournament game on Saturday (and both could still be playing if they win), but other than that we don’t have too much planned. It may actually be a lowkey weekend which we haven’t had in awhile.

I think Travis is going to take Hayden to the UK basketball game on Saturday. I hope to read, get caught up on house stuff, groceries, etc.

WHAT I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:

March means that the Homster is turning 1! We’ve always gotten our dogs a vanilla ice cream cup from Dairy Queen, so he has that to look forward to. Since we don’t know his actual birthday, in the future, we’ll probably celebrate him (w/ the ice cream) on June 8. His gotcha day!

Also, March means St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve got a little bit of Irish in me, and grew up having corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread to celebrate March 17th. I make those recipes now for my family, and we always look forward to the tradition.

That’s it for this month’s What’s Up Wednesday. Make sure to check out Sheaffer and Shay’s posts too!

Take care,

Jen