What’s up Wednesday: April 2025

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 Hello!

Thank you to Shay from Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer from Sheaffer Told Me To for hosting this link party celebrating real and authentic life. 

Here is a little of what I’ve been up to this past month. I’ll cover food, clothes, books, TV, and some of our activities. 🙂

What I’m Eating:
 I’m always interested in being vegetarian, lately I got that last bit of motivation I needed to make it happen. Hopefully it’ll stick this time! 🙂



That said we’re eating a lot of plant based protein and I really enjoy chickpea bowls, vegan chorizo from Trader Joe’s, and impossible ground beef for burgers to round out our meals. Also all the compliments to whomever created soy bacon. It actually tastes pretty authentic as long as you like crispier bacon! 🥰

What I’m wearing.
I’ve slowly transitioned to a more casual wardrobe than I used to wear and so more hiking-style and work clothes have become staples for me. I’m comfortable in this and it’s fun to find ways to make it more feminine to suit my tastes. 



I still love a good tennis or athlesure outfit as it makes life so simple as an active mom. 🥰 And I have fun on Sundays with my more dressy outfits. 

What I’m reading.
Mostly beach read STEM romances by Camila Isley these days. 

 I did start the National Geographic book by the Bucketlist Family which has been fun. It’s cool to see how they’ve done things as a family of five traveling the world and, while I don’t anticipate that as our calling, it inspires me to find joy in experiences and as a family in our own way. Im grateful that our local library has such an extensive digital collection!

What I’m watching.

It should come as no surprise that Survivor is still our staple show. They’re through the merge and adding to the jury now and it’s INTENSE! 🥰😂😉
The boys and I are also starting to slowly watch through some of our summer movie list, mostly Scooby Doo, that was inspired by a post by Shay from Mix and Match Mama. Scooby Doo Camp Scare was a win for the thunderstorms this week!

What I’m listening to.
Mostly Spotify podcasts. I really enjoy:
- The Lazy Genius
- On Fire with Jeff Probst
- The Maximized Minimalist

I also really enjoy putting on YouTube Simple Happy Zen videos to listen to in the background while working on my computer. Watching hours of footage of wildlife camera traps to record data is very rewarding but having something on in the background that’s soothing and inspiring simultaneously is helpful to keep my brain focused.

What I’m Buying.
As part of my New Years Goals we are doing a “No buy” the last week of every month. So nothing right now outside of food groceries. 
We recently did have to get the boys new pants for school as they finally got to the point that we couldn’t just hold out until the end of the year and so we made sure that their tan uniform pants were a hiking style so that they’ll be versitile for the summer. We tried going through Once Upon a Child to minimize cost and impact, but unfortunately they had just cleared out their pants to make room for summer shorts inventory. 🤦‍♀️
The only other thing that I’m trying to find in the next month or so will be a new pair of hiking boots as I’ve officially broken the couple of pairs I own. The sole came off my lighter summer Columbia boots yesterday and my Salomon’s have the lace clips broken for over a year now and so I’ve just been skipping a couple of ties. It’s fun to do my research though and find the most sustainable brands that would fit my foot type for comfort and still look cute. (The Mountain Warehouse ones I got as a Christmas gift are sadly not going to work for longer movement as they’re really hurting my feet for distances.)
These are the ones I’m considering right now. 



I think I will likely go for the Timberlands as they have a great reputation as a company and of course they’re the brand that the Irwin’s use so you know they work in various situations. 🙂 

What I’m doing.
We’ve had a LOT of medical stuff lately for the kids so I’ve been taking care of that, but when they’re in school, after I finish up my work for the zoo, I’ve been managing to squeeze in about 30 minutes of trail time a day as my workout. I either ruck or use a weighted vest depending on how I’m feeling to give a little extra resistance. These trail walks/hikes have been so good for my mental health and activity and I love it!


That’s it for today! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

💛Jessie

Comments

  1. R's RueApril 30, 2025 at 3:53 PM

    I find walking great for my mental health as well. I love the idea of a no buy week. Thank you for introducing me to a new author. Have a beautiful evening.
    www.rsrue.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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