To My 27th Year: Monthly Follow-Up

During my 27th year I decided I want to commit to writing a follow up to my post To My 27th Year the first Monday of each month. I hope that I'm able to follow through for the whole year, so I can look back and see how I've done.  Since I'm linking up, go check out Amanda's blog Marry Mint :)


Here's to the December of my 27th year...

1. Use Less Technology - I feel great about this goal.  I continue to leave my electronics in the kitchen overnight, but they have been sneaking back over to the couch during the day.  Since the new year has also come I've decided to add three parts to this goal.  One is that my phone and iPad need to stay on/near the kitchen island while Kai is awake.  If I want to use them during naptime that's completely fine, but I don't want them to be a temptation while I should be playing with my sweet little guy.  Two is that I need to be intentional about unplugging at night.  Since I have been unable to be successful at this without a reminder I set an alarm on my phone and my iPad for 8:30pm.  The last two nights I've actually turned off my devices before that time so I haven't needed the alarm.  In the future I might decide to lower that time to 8pm, but we'll see.  Lastly I have decided to only check my email once in the morning, once at naptime (if I want) and once before bed.  I check it a lot during the day and all I get is spam and it's a waste of time.  I hope that it will make me feel more intentional about the emails I sent and receive.  Hopefully January goes great!   

2. Bake My Little Heart Out - I baked a few different things during  December.  I made these three recipes (Chocolate Chip Blossoms, Brownie Peanut Butter Bites and Pretzel Thingys)  The choco chip blossoms had no recipe because I used store bought dough and put a chocolate kiss on top.  Super easy, not very good looking, tasted ok.  The Brownie Peanut Butter Bites were AWESOME!  Highly recommend, especially because I love using my mini muffin tin.  I failed at the pretzel thingys big time and ended up throwing them all away.  For this month I've been thinking about trying a few new recipes and being more strategic about meal planning.  For example yesterday I made an entire package of ground turkey.  I put part of it into the crockpot chilli for supper last night and seasoned the rest with our homemade taco seasoning for tonight.  Kai struggles between 4:30-whenever John gets home or we start eating supper, so the more time I have for him then the better.  I'm also hoping to try my hand at some freezer meals, but that might not be this month.

3. Take Advantage of Snail Mail -We delivered almost all our snail mail this month, but we'll get back into it this month :)

4. No Picking - Argh.  Some days are great, some are not.

5. Church - December was SO busy!  I believe we made it the first two weeks and then on Christmas Eve.  Not the best, but I'm considering it pretty good because the other weekends we were out of town at Christmas celebrations.  January should be less busy.... fingers crossed!

6. See a Friend - December was filled with family and friends.  I wish I could've enjoyed a longer time with some of the friends I saw, but I'll take what I can get :) 

7. Go Walking/Exploring - We went to the zoo with Grandma Karen and visited the Children's Museum in Omaha over Christmas.  As far as walking goes Kai has taken to walking on his tiptoes half the time.  Crazy kid!  It's been below 10 degrees the past few days, so we haven't even gotten out of the house.  Hopefully the rest of January will ease up a bit so we can go a few places.  We've already had some visitors so that helps.

8. Sew/Craft: I finished my Christmas crafts in December and that felt great!  I don't have any big plans for the new, but I have started organizing my craft corner in the basement.  I think having everything in it's place will feel good and maybe I'll start to tackle a big project.  

9. Savor - I've had some great savor moments the past month.  I've gotten to snuggle/hold/kiss Kai while he's been sleeping.  I've gotten to rock him to sleep too.  He's gotten quite a personality too, so I've been relishing the sound of his giggle and every new word.  He's just such a treasure.  I've been doing my best to savor my relationship with John too.  Some days we feel very disconnected from each other, but we've tried to be more intentional, even if it's just an extra hug or an extra I love you.  He's my best friend and I'm thankful for him every day and I just want him to always know that.

Thanks for reading!