What's Up Wednesday

I'm linking up today with Sheaffer and Shay for What's Up Wednesday.  

What We're Eating This Week...

I was doing so good with cooking and meal prep when this all started.  By this point I'm really over cooking!  

Breakfast - I usually make chocolate chip muffins early in the week and then eggs each morning after the muffins have run out.  

Lunch - quesadillas, dinner leftovers, muffin tray lunches, pizza pinwheels, etc.

Dinner - Steak & potatoes, Chicken Parmesean, Lobster pasta, fresh fish & rice, pizza, porkchops & potatoes, and popcorn & shakes {anyone else do this on Sundays?}

What I'm Reminiscing About...

Graduation parties, weddings, softball, I guess I miss all the things May usually brings. 

What I'm Loving...

Audiobooks!  And TypingClub.com for the kids.  Most of all, reading Harry Potter as a family before bed.  Oh, and online church!

What We've Been Up To...

 Lots of movie nights, game nights, playing outside, walks, bike rides, playing with chalk on the driveway, basketball, shuffleboard, book reading, Bible study time, and remembering all we have to be thankful for.  Oh, and cooking, so much cooking.  Why do we have to eat three times a day?!  haha!

What I'm Dreading...

I'm not sure "dreading" is the right word for this, but I met some new neighbors just yesterday and we didn't shake hands or anything like that but we said that whole, "We would shake your hand, BUT..." thing to each other.  I know things have to change for a while in order for us all to be safe but I dread the idea of a world that's still afraid to shake a new neighbors' hand or hug someone years later.

What I'm Working On...

Our school is officially closed until next year so I'm playing teacher on top of working my normal job, but after that I'm filling in these commitment-free evenings with home projects and photobooks.  I have one photobook left to do {2013}, and I'm waiting on the electric to be moved so we can then do the back splash in the kitchen.  Once I'm caught up on photobooks I'm going to start digital organization.  I have a mess of files and images on 5 different laptops and 7 different external hard drives -- ugh!

What I'm Excited About...

I'm just excited for summer.   Longer days so we can ride bikes, swim, have picnics, go fishing, enjoy campfires, outdoor movies, etc.

What I'm Watching/Reading...

Like the rest of the world, Adam and I gave in and watched Tiger King {not worth it!}  I'm reading The Sound of Gravel right now.  I just finished One Plus One and plan to read Open Book next.

What I'm Listening To...

Kids, non stop!
& the wind -- it's soo windy today!

What I'm Wearing...

I am so proud of myself, I haven't bought once piece of clothing for myself since the beginning of the year {I think!}.  If not January, it's been at least since February.  That being said, this lockdown has allowed me to wear my favorite leggings every.single.day {to be clear, I do own several pair!}  Right now I'm wearing them with this a gray camo aerie sweatshirt that must be discontinued.   

What I'm Doing This Weekend...

Since Adam and I were supposed to be at the Kentucky Derby this weekend, I'm going to try to convince him to dress up and sip Derby cocktails on the deck this weekend.  It's supposed to be sunny and 78*, so why not?

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month...Well May Day is always a favorite for me, and social distancing hasn't ruined that, so I'm excited to make May Day baskets with the kids and Ding-Dong-Ditch some friends. :)

2014 | 2016

Let's Look | The Coziest Spot in our House

JANUARY: The Coziest Spot in our House

Adam's favorite space...

the theater room.  He spends a lot of time in this room! ;)

The kids' favorite space...

Our guest bedroom that's filled with their 'box fort'.  This is only half of it.  I had to take the other half down when my parents came to town last weekend -- you can imagine how they felt about that!  Of alllll the toys they have, cardboard boxes are the most used.  Sigh

My favorite... 

I thought it was going to be this corner when we moved it, but I never found the rocking leather chair I was dreaming of in my mind and therefore don't spend as much time in this corner as I'd imagined. :( 

My true favorite spot...inside this room

Current status {I'm working from home today}

Just so you know where we came from, before we moved Adam and I shared a bathroom the size of this Jacuzzi tub, so we're all very thankful for the new bathroom.  The four of us all get ready together in this bathroom most days.  #Grateful

*All iPhone photos because I'll be lucky to get this posted before midnight as it is.  Someday our lives will slow down and I will be able to post thoughtful, beautiful posts again! ;)

How We Wednesday | Meal Plan Edition

I'm joining Mix & Match Mama & A Little Bit of Everything today to share how I meal plan.  

In our house, Adam does 95% of the cooking and I do 95% of the grocery shopping/pickup, meal planning, and cleanup.

Grocery 'shopping'

As we run out of staples I add them to the cart in the WalMart app {that link will give you $10 off your first order}.  Then on Thursdays I try to do a big pickup on my way out of the city for the week.  Fridays I go to other 'specialty' stores if needed.  Fareway or Dayton's Meat locker for meat {not often since we buy beef and pork every year}.  If I get seafood we go to HyVee {unless we're making sushi, then I get that a Waterfront since they fly it in daily}.  McNallys has awesome cheese and is only 20 minutes from our house.  For last minute stuff, we have a little grocery store 5 minutes from our house.  They don't have a huge selection, you have to watch their expiration dates, and they're pretty pricey but so convenient!  Also, they have a good selection of alcohol {excluding wine!} for a good price. Not that I need that right now {currently on a 30 day 'water only' streak -- Aquatober}

Meal planning

I make a monthly meal plan.  I insert any days we're out of town and then plug meals in from there.  Every Tuesday night our friend hosts us for dinner.  This started once we moved to the lake.  We call it Burger Night but it's evolved and now she makes all kinds of dinners.  It's incredibly sweet!  Plus she's a great cook and loves trying new recipes, so it's always a great night!  {Trust me, we don't take this for granted!}.  Other than that, we used to get pizza once a week {before we moved to the middle of nowhere}.  Also noteworthy, we just use this a a guide when we don't have a different idea, so we probably only eat 75% of these meals, and rarely on the day it's listed.  If it's cold we pull a soup or slow cooker meal from the list, if it's hot we will pull a grillable meal, etc.  It's mainly just some of our favorite 'go to' meals.  We're currently doing soup every Sunday in the fall and hope to start doing a big family style dinner every Sunday after football season.