Chelsey Chats #4: April 2025 + The Grocery Diaries Conclusion
When I started this Substack back at the beginning of 2025, I wondered if it would fizzle out like some of my other endeavors have in the past. I’m as surprised as anyone that 1) people are still reading and 2) I’m still enjoying writing. Having this as a place to talk about books I love, my grocery budget, and sharing stories from the past has been a balm to my soul in the midst of a lot of chaos. Thank you for being here.
The Grocery Diaries Conclusion
I’m nestling this in here because this time of year is so busy, and I am barely keeping my head above water. I spent just under $200 the final week of April, so I beat my goal of $1000 by fifty cents! It was a good experiment, but by the end of the month the mental logistics of planning and shopping was pretty exhausting. I’m going to go back to our normal budget for May. Thank you for following along!
If you missed the posts, here they are all in one place:
Intro to the Grocery Diaries
The Grocery Diaries | Part 1
The Grocery Diaries | Part 2
The Grocery Diaries | Part 3
Things are holding steady in terms of subscribers and readership, probably because I haven’t been engaging on the Substack Notes feed. I took Substack and Instagram off my phone because they were causing me to spend way too much time scrolling. I’m the better for it but the algorithm likes it when Substack authors engage, so people on Substack aren’t finding me, and that’s OK! If you are reading this on the Substack app and have found one of my posts helpful, feel free to restack it in a Note, and maybe other people will find it.
I have not been posting quite as much, as my husband pointed out last Friday when he said he was surprised I hadn’t published anything. Maybe because of the extra grocery posts this month, or maybe because the stars just haven’t aligned, but I haven’t had it in me to write quite as much. I spoke to my friend Anna about this and she encouraged me that I should just write as much as I felt like I could without it feeling like a burden. That’s what I’ve been trying to do, and it’s been good. From now on you can count on at least one post a week, and if more come, it will be a treat.
This time of year is busy for us as a family, and it’s also busy culturally with spring break and Easter. We had a packed month that involved seeing a lot of people we love and celebrating several special occasions.
Christian and I were able to go to Orlando overnight for a Harbor Network Renewal Gathering. We made some new friends and got to see some old friends who we’ve met at previous events. It is always a blessing to be with other pastors and pastors’ wives, because there really isn’t anyone else who understands the unique challenges of ministry life. We also got to stop at Bucees on the way there and back.
I kicked off the month with a trip to Columbia to see two of my dear friends. I also got to go to church with my parents while I was there, which was wonderful.
Christian and I made it to *sixteen years of marriage* this month, and we celebrated by seeing Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit in concert in Savannah. We went to an amazing Italian dinner beforehand and then had the surprise of running into some good friends who were also at the concert.
The kids had spring break the week before Easter, so we ventured to Oatland Island Wildlife Center, which is about 40 minutes away. It’s several miles of walking and for the first time ever we did not take a stroller or a wagon, and everyone made it!
My parents came into town for Easter weekend, and I got to do one of my favorite things with my mom — a puzzle about books.
We had a neighborhood egg hunt and potluck the day before Easter and enjoyed spending time with our neighbors. We also celebrated Zoe’s birthday a little early so that all the grandparents could be there.
We got a family picture for the first time in forever and wow, my kids are all getting really big!
Zoe turned 8 at the end of the month! Instead of a party, I let her skip school and she wore her birthday sash and crown while we went out for a girls’ day.
The month has ended with a bang as we begin the flood of end-of-the-year events like band concerts and testing for the kids while I try to mentally prepare for the transition to summer. I’m excited about the break from the very early
April is a month that comes in hard for me. On one hand, it is the month when we celebrate our anniversary and when Zoe was born, two very happy days worth remembering. However, Easter brings with it a lot of painful memories from 2020, and I haven’t quite gotten over that year.
This picture was taken on Easter Sunday, 2020, while Christian was at our church building helping to livestream the service (which consisted of him and our other pastor). I had bought Easter clothes for the kids in advance of our move, but then there was nowhere to wear them. So I bribed the big kids with candy and had them get all dressed up and stand outside so I could take an Easter picture. They didn’t even have shoes on.
The picture itself makes me happy, but the sentiments behind it still cause me to feel deep grief. That was such a hard time. After Christian got home from church that day, he encouraged me to take Noah (who was one month old) and drive to Columbia to see my parents. The whole country was essentially being told to stay home, but I felt that my mental health was going to go off a cliff if something didn’t give. I went and spent a couple nights with my parents, caught up on sleep, and got to see them enjoying Noah. That experience is such a beautiful part of having a newborn—getting to see other people you love enjoy your baby—but it had been taken from me with the arrival of the pandemic and our sudden move.
Our bodies remember things, and Easter may still be a very tender time for years to come. Maybe there is something good about it, because on this side of heaven, the beauty of Easter isn’t all tied up with a nice bow. Yes, our Savior rose from the dead and defeated death and sin forever—but we still experience death and sin. And so until Jesus returns, Easter will never exist in a vacuum apart from pain and trauma.
Whether this Easter was a time of joy or sorrow or a mixture, be encouraged that we have a Savior who was well acquainted with grief, who never asks us to pretend that things aren’t painful. In our pain he draws near, he sees us, and he gently reminds us that he will always have the final word. Maranatha—come, Lord Jesus!
Someone somewhere mentioned about using ChatGPT to upload a photo of yourself and ask it to do a color analysis. I have no idea if this is accurate and no way of finding out, but I decided to assume that it’s correct because I love all the shades of green shown on this image. I will also continue to wear black.
If you want to try, just go to ChatGPT, upload a photo and ask it, “Please use this photo to do a color analysis for me and create a palette of colors that I can use for reference.” You can also ask it for outfit inspiration based on these ideas!
The following are just a few things that just made me laugh on the Internet this month.
As soon as we finish the show we’re currently watching, Christian and I will be watching The Last of Us, otherwise known as Pedro’s show. I love him so much and this comic and tweet both spoke to me.
I didn’t watch many movies with Christian this month, but I went to the theater three times with various kids. We almost never go to the movies, so this was a very rare month.
The Legend of Ochi
Zoe wanted to see this for her birthday, so I took her and Noah. The trailer had looked really good, but I’ll be honest—the trailer contains all the best parts of the movie. It was painstakingly slow; the dialogue was painful to listen to; the payoff at the end was lame. The kids liked it OK, but they also asked multiple times if it was almost over.
The Minecraft Movie
Our whole family went to see this over spring break. I had low expectations, and much of it was very dumb and cheesy. However, Jason Momoa and Jack Black both made the movie hilarious. Even if you don’t know anything about Minecraft, this was a fun watch.
The Wild Robot
The second graders at Zoe’s school all went to see this for a field trip, and I went along as a chaperone. I’ve read all three books and loved them, and Zoe has read the first book. This movie was beautiful and so well done. Of the three movies I saw in theaters, this was by far my favorite. Whether you’ve read the book or not, I think you’ll enjoy the movie.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
I’ve been reading through the entire LOTR trilogy for the first time in 20 years, and it has made me want to watch the movies again. (Note: I’m reading this edition and it is a delight.) I first saw the movies in theater with my dad, but now I get to enjoy the extended editions (available on MAX). There’s not much to say about these other than—they’re great.
Paradise | Hulu
This looked interesting, and overall I’d say it was pretty good. It’s about the president (played by James Marsden) and his staff as they face some kind of disaster. There’s a big reveal that is pretty obvious early on, and I feel like I’ve already seen some version of this when I watched Silo. But I liked the main Secret Service guy and it was an entertaining watch.
Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing | Netflix
Christian and I sometimes watch documentaries for date night and this one was a doozy. I didn’t know anything about this particular YouTube channel before we watched this, but the whole thing is a mess. Not just this channel, but any of them that are monetizing their kids.
Call the Midwife | Netflix
Christian and I finally finished watching all the available seasons (13!) on Netflix this month. We first started watching it last July, with occasional breaks to watch other things in between. It is definitely one of my favorite shows of all time.
Daughters of the Cult | Hulu
Another documentary we watched together for date night. I had already read the book written by one of the daughters, so I had some familiarity with the story. But other adult children appear as well and when you zoom out to get the big picture, it’s a pretty insane cult situation (and I’ve watched a lot of cult documentaries).
My post about my 39 Favorite Things got a lot of traffic and everyone really seemed to enjoy knowing things that I’ve already tried that were a good buy. So here are some of the things I bought in April that I’d give 10/10.
The houseflies are close to driving me insane, but these sticky window traps are still the best way I’ve found to combat them. I just bought a pack of *96* that I hope will last the summer.
Amazon Basics Digital Kitchen Scale
We’ve been using the same kitchen scale for a decade but it recently died. I found this one for less than $10 and it’s working great so far!
I have bought some version of these four times and just recnetly got a new set. These remain my favorite highlighters.
I managed to drop our chef’s knife recently and the blade broke right off the handle. We needed a replacement and this one has been working well (proved by the fact that I cut myself the very first time I used it).
Jansport Mesh Backpack (with 2 year warranty)
Our kids have to have mesh backpacks for school, but the durability of many of them leaves a lot to be desired, especially for the older boys who have to carry so much around. Stephen’s recently bit the dust, and then Cohen’s did, so I decided to spend a bit more on these Jansport backpacks and also paid $6.99 for a two-year warranty.
Zoe needed a new bathing suit and so we ordered several on Amazon to do at-home try-ons. This one was her favorite and I also loved it. It is a one-piece but has a tiny little cutout in the middle that she thought was cute. In an age when it’s hard to find age-appropriate clothing for girls, this checked all of my boxes.
Aside from the posts about our grocery budget, here are the other things I wrote this month, in case you missed them!
My 20 Favorite Nonfiction Books | April 28
An Interview with Myself | April 21
The Curious Incident of the Vase in the Ballroom | April 14
This is Either a Love Story or a Cautionary Tale | April 7
March 2025 New Christian Book Releases | April 4
That’s it for April. In a few days I’ll be sharing all the books I read in April—and it was a lot!