#25 Make a blanket for Christian

I was trying to think of what to get Christian for his birthday. There was no way I could get him something as awesome as a vacation like he got me for my birthday. So I thought it needed to be a thoughtful, possibly homemade gift. Christian had asked me a few weeks ago to make him a blanket. I was thinking at the time that I might make him a fun quilt with some old shirts or fabric with his favorite sports teams. Or something. I hadn't really decided yet. But I DID know that I didn't have enough time to make a quilt for his birthday. So I settled on the next best thing.

I made him a snuggie! We talked about snuggies before Christmas and he said he wanted one. I'm not really sure why.

I bought really super soft fabric. Cut it out and sewed it up at my parents house.

(I was going to insert a picture here but I won't. WAY too lazy to take a picture. Sorry!)

I'll still make him a nice blanket or quilt one of these days...

Side note: I tried his on while watching tv on my parents couch and loved it so much I went back to the fabric store and bought fabric for myself. The only problem is that I haven't had the spare time to cut it out and sew it yet. :(

This is officially my 27 Things Blog!

This is my list for this year. Things may change! There are usually 2 or 3 goals that either become too difficult with the very little free time I have OR I decide I really don't care much about it anymore. I have lots of backup ideas!

Some of these are not new things (I've done them in past years). Some of these will happen whether I work on them or not (like Emma learning to walk...I am choosing to help her instead of letting her figure it out on her own). And others will take a whole freaking lot of work.

#3 Make 5 new foods

1. My first new food to try was Gumbo...it did not go so well. But it still counts!!

My attempt at the roux. I burned it...that was the problem.

 I  kept going since I really wasn't sure if I had actually burned it yet.

This was my dinner that night. 

2. Yorkshire Puddings! I made these after tasting Carly's Yorkshire Puddings at the ward Christmas party. This feeds my England addiction, too!

3. Scallops. I have been afraid of these for a while because on the food network channel they always talk about them being too rubbery. They were actually quite easy to make, although mine felt a little bit on the softer side. I think they are supposed to be at least a little hard.

Scallops with a bacon and garlic butter sauce.

4. Eggs Benedict. I've never had Eggs Benedict, I've never poached an egg, and I've never made a hollandaise sauce. Firsts all around!

Pretty darn good!

5. Beignets (the New Orleans way).

Christian made the rest of the batches after my first one came out over cooked. His were much prettier. :)

#18 Visit the Temple at least 2 times

We did a sealing session the last day of April. Our last visit to the temple before baby Emma!

The second temple trip was a solo trip because that morning Christian woke up with a migraine. I did an endowment session on December 31st and it was the first time that I've ever went to the temple on my own. It was nice to take my time and not have to worry about anyone else, but I hope Christian will be able to make it next time. It was the best way to spend the morning on the last day of 2016.

It was freezing outside so I didn't put a lot of time into taking a selfie...and this is what I ended up with.

#11 Lose at least 10 pounds of baby weight

I changed this goal a little bit, too. I was so good (diet and exercise-wise) during my pregnancy with Emma that I didn't gain a whole lot of extra weight. After a week postpartum I was essentially back to my starting weight (within a pound or two). So I could have checked that goal off right away, but I decided I wanted to push myself a little more. I changed it to...see how much weight you can lose (without going to extreme measures)!

I tried a new diet and exercise routine in November, 21 Day Fix. And lost 5 pounds! That felt good!

And I got 21 Day Fix Extreme for Christmas so I have two exercise programs that I can continue into the next year.

#4 Finish reading the Old Testament

I did this! And I'm so proud of myself for doing it! I didn't understand everything I read, but I could feel the spirit as I went through the books. I'm so grateful for the time I was able to put into my person scripture study. Now I can finally say that I have read the entire standard works (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, Old Testament, and New Testament).

#1 Have entire house cleaned at one time

Bahahaha! This was an almost impossible task, but I came so close!! Let me show you how clean I got it. (It didn't last long.)

My kitchen is always cluttered, I'm going to work on that this next year.

The only thing that was missing was my own bedroom and bathroom. But getting the rest of the house cleaned like this was a huge success, so I'm going to count that as completed. No one sees my bedroom anyway...