2013 in Review

In less than 48 hours, we will be ringing in 2014. As always, here is our year in review & resolutions.

January: Christopher was still deployed. Sirius turned a year old and I made him wear a silly hat for a picture. He loves me. We also got to spend a day in Savannah with Jess, Shaun, and the girls! Fandom Mama (formerly Myrda Custom Prints) was created.

February: We got a little excitement this month! Started out with a visit from Susie & Bill during the Superbowl. Krissa & Gene (Nana & Poppy) also came down for a visit. They help me complete the big surprise for Chris, which was the garage overhaul into the "Bears man cave". Lucas hit the milestone of sitting up on his own.

March: The boys and I went on a retreat to Hilton Head, SC. We all had such a blast. Holly and Audrina were also there, so it was nice to have friends nearby. Holly & I got to have dinner without kids. *GASP* We also found some jellyfish and a live sea snail in a conch shell. Christopher's squad suffered their first and only loss this month. 

April: I made a last minute decision to drive to Illinois by myself with the boys to attend Grandma Judy's services. Aside from Nana and Poppy, this was the first time the family met Lucas. He also got his first tooth on the drive up! Our week long visit turned into 2 weeks when I developed food poisoning. Also, even though we weren't present, Cory & Tim got married and yay! 

May: The only thing of note, that I can remember, is that I hit my first major fitness goal of losing 50lbs. 

June: This was a big month for the Myrda family. The boys and I traveled to SC for a Thirty One party with Bethany. Shortly after, she and her kids met up with us in Savannah to help me shop for a homecoming outfit. Most of the month was spent checking the flight schedule over and over. On June 29, Christopher was finally stateside again and reunited with us. This was the first time he saw Lucas since was 13 days old. Conner was overjoyed to have his daddy back.

July: Lucas finally started crawling. We took some traveling time for his post-deployment leave. We took the boys to the Atlanta Aquarium before heading up to Ft. Campbell. There we spent a few days with Susie and Bill. With the help of Stephen and Kari, we managed to organize a surprise dinner. We said it was for his mom's birthday, when we actually we were hiding out in the back to surprise them. I got to visit with Katja and her kids. We ran the Run 4 Gus 5k in Chicago. The boys went to their first White Sox game. Got to visit with Nick and Archer. There was a homecoming gathering for Christopher at the Rochelle VFW to see many of our friends and family members.  While we were visiting, we found out about Stefan being KIA. We were heartbroken for his family. We took a day trip down to Jacksonville, FL to meet Ashley and her family and get some photos taken.

August: I organized a counter-protest against WBC, who planned to show up to Stefan's services. This was the second I have planned (one at Bliss in 2011). I assumed a few hundred would show, and it ended up being in the thousands! It was beautiful to see so many people come together like that. We had people from all over GA, and many from FL and SC. There was even a couple that drove from Ohio to help us. I participated in GISHWHES 2013 and had an absolute blast! I can't wait to do it again. Conner started school at Long County Head Start. And we got a new car.

September: Two big things this month. Lucas turned 1! All of my planning finally paid off with a huge Pirate party for Captain Conner and First Mate Lucas. It was so much fun! I am not sure how I will top it next year. We also went back to cloth diapers and I realllllly wish we had kept with it in the beginning.

October: Conner turned 4! It was nice to have Chris here for it, instead of saying goodbye as he went to the sandbox. Unfortunately, Lucas contracted RSV and pneumonia, which resulted in a 4 day stay in the ICU. Winn was great with him. Finally Halloween came along. We did a family theme and dressed as characters from Doctor Who. Conner was a red dalek, I went as a female 11th doctor, and Lucas was the TARDIS. Conner also dressed as Bilbo Baggins for storybook character day at school.

November: I turned 25 O_o. I did 25 RAOK to celebrate. I went back home for 5 days. It was only supposed to be 4, but my flight was cancelled due to inclement weather. It was nice to be back and not have to worry about anyone but myself. I got to see my best friend, who I haven't seen since 2011! Many thanks to the Pedersen's for putting up with me for a few days :P. Thanksgiving was very small. We were supposed to have a few guys come over, but they decided not to come last minute. No big deal. We still had an awesome day. Lucas also got his first haircut! He also went under some testing for CF, but I *assume* it came back negative since I never received any calls or stuff in the mail. We have a follow up in January.

December: Fandom Mama took our first outing to a flea market. It was a huge bust because it was raining. We doggy sat for a friend. My mom and Bob came out to spend Christmas with us. We took them to Tybee so that my mom could finally say she had been to the Atlantic Ocean. We just returned from a trip to Stuart/Port St Lucie, FL to see Aunt Gail, Cory & Tim, and Jeff & Trudy. It was really nice to get away from home and catch up with them. Lucas also started walking! He also learned to climb stairs. As for NYE, we don't have any specific plans. Maybe I'll figure out the permanent fix to our dryer problem. lol

Overall, 2013 was a busy, hectic, full of medical issues and I am glad it is over. I stink at making and keeping New Years Resolutions, but there are 2 that I plan to work really hard towards. 1. I want to get our savings account back up. With all of the traveling, birthdays and Christmas, we really let it dwindle. 2. To weed out negativity. This means taking toxins out of my life, as well as working on mini-goals, like less yelling and arguing, to reach the big goal. I know that these two things are attainable, I just have to stay on top of them. Being that I am starting school in January, I will definitely be put to the test on the second one. I guess I need to throw in a 3. Pass all of my classes. There is only one I am worried about, so that shouldn't be a problem. 

I know I say this every year, but I truly hope to keep up better on this blog. I have a list of recipes to make and things to do in order to keep it more active. I won't make this a resolution, purely because I have for 2 years and never kept it. C'est la vie. Happy 2014, everyone!

Teacher Christmas gifts

Hi there! This is the first year I have had the task of creating gifts for a teacher. We decided to make them for all of the staff. Both things were very easy to make.

Bath Bombs
1/2 cup baking soda
1/4 cup citric acid
1 Tbsp oil (I used EVOO because it's what I had)
Essential oils for scent
Silicone ice cube tray
Air tight storage container

In a bowl, mix together the baking soda and citric acid to be sure there are no clumps. Add in the oil and EOs. The amount of EO depends on how strong you want the scent to be. Mix. I found it easiest to press the powder onto the oils in the bottom and then break up, press again, etc.

I found little silicone ice cube trays in the shape of trees, snowmen and Santa, so I used those. Full then and press the mix down. Add another layer, press again. Repeat until mold is full. Let sit for a minimum of 1 hour. I left mine for 6 hours and they were much easier to remove. Place in air tight container for storage.



We Whisk You A Merry "Kiss"mas
Whisk
Hershey's kisses
Ribbon
Plastic treat bags (optional)

Fill the whisk with the kisses. That easy!

I will update with pictures later this evening.

RAOK: How I Celebrated Turning 25

It's been a while since I blogged, and there is a very good reason why. This month I set most everything aside and focused on putting a little more good into the world. I also went back to Illinois, which brought with it a cancelled flight, but that is a different story. Sort of. Illinois played a part, too.

As you all know, I participated in GISHWHES 2013. One of the list items I completed for my team was to video tape the reaction of someone I performed a random act of kindness for. After seeing how 3 out of 4 of the family members reacted (the 4th was indifferent), I decided I would celebrate turning a quarter of a century old by giving back. 

I had a very hard time taking pictures of all of my acts, mostly because I didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable. "Hey, I just did this nice thing for you. Can I document it in a picture that I will be sharing with the whole internet?!" Didn't sound very fair. It made it seem like I wanted recognition, and that I did not. However, in order to hold myself to completing the acts, I signed up through Random Acts, and was sent materials to pass out describing the whole RAOK thing. In return, I was to document, through video, pictures or blog, my random acts. I did not request any monetary grants from them. Everything that cost something came out of my own pocket.

Sometimes the "random" part is lost on me. I totally planned for most of these. Some of them happened randomly, but for the majority of them, I knew I wanted to do specific things, sometimes for specific people. Anyway, here is my list (and some pictures) of my acts. 

Amber's 25th Birthday RAOK:

1. Helped a mother with a stroller carry her items/held the door open for her at the UPS store.

2. Sent formula to a mother/infant in need.

3. Donated $25 to Cloth for Everybum to get items for their lending kits.

4. Paid for a car in the drive thru at Taco Bell.*

5. Donated art supplies to Long County Head Start.

6. Gave the director of Long County Head Start the ThirtyOne bag the items were in.

7. Donated a car seat to a child at Head Start that did not own one.

8. Donated $10 to a friend participating in NaNoWriMo.

9. Sent/delivered soap bits to 3 cloth diapering mamas.

10. Baked cupcakes for a friend who was having a bad day.

11. Donated household items to a (formerly) homeless veteran who had just gotten into a trailer.

12. Bought groceries for (formerly) homeless veteran.

13. Paid for the person behind me in the toll booth.

14. Bought a cell phone case for a friend, just because :)

15. Bought pizza for friends, just because :)

16. Left a gift card on a strangers table at a restaurant.

17. Tipped the pizza delivery guy 75%.

18. Returned loose shopping carts.

19. Got a friend a cloth diaper advocate (mini diaper) keychain.

20. Donated $25 to relief in the Philippines.

21. Cleaned trash up in my neighborhood after stray dog got into garbage cans.

22. Returned the neighbors garbage can to their house from the sidewalk.

23. Passed out cards with encouraging/inspirational sayings to strangers at a store.

24. Brought medicine to a friend in need.

25. Volunteered at our local Bountiful Baskets site.**

*I was inside Taco Bell and this act triggered a line of random acts that continued for 4 cars.

**I volunteer to unload the truck/distribute every other week, but stayed the entire time to help out the main volunteers as people came to pick up their baskets.

A lot of these things I didn't want to count, because they are things I do on a regular basis, but after searching the Random Acts site for ideas, decided to count them since others were. I completed 25 random acts in 23 days. There were technically more, but again, I do those things all the time and didn't want to count them. It was a very humbling experience. A lot of the acts I performed were either instantly, or soon after, returned by others. I realized how much I could change a life with a simple gesture. Something that I think is no big deal, but means the world to the receiving party. I vow to continue to do the simple things I do all the time, like returning carts people left out, holding doors open, and helping when I see someone needs it.

Not all of my acts were met with gratitude. One lady threatened to call the police on me for offering to help her unload her groceries so she could attend to her crying baby. I guess I came off as a creep, even though I had my kids with me lol.

There is that saying "Be the change you wish to see in the world." That is what I am doing. A small act of kindness can literally change someone's entire outlook on the day. I'm so glad I decided to do this. This was definitely one of the best birthdays so far.

Happy Halloween!

My Whovian family went all out for Halloween this year. I made my oldest a Dalek costume, which I was exactly pleased by, but it worked. My little was the TARDIS and I decided on the 11th Doctor. Our candy collection was very minimum, but we still had a lot of fun.

It was also story book character day at school for C. Our original plan, Peter Pan, went out the window when the store didn't have the green fleece I needed in stock. Instead, we hit up the costume section, on the night before Halloween, to scavenge what was left. There wasn't much, and absolutely NOTHING in his size, so we ended up with a size L in boys (big boys, not toddlers) and a need for getting crafty. Determination and a night of hand sewing ended with a pretty neat Bilbo Baggins outfit!

I've also got one more awesome announcement - the winner of the amber bracelet giveaway! Only three people commented the post, so random.org chose number 3.. Michelle! Congratulations and thanks so much for reading our blog. :)

Broccoli and Cheese Soup

I can't tell you how many times I have attempted a broccoli and cheese soup recipe that ended as an epic failure. Either it tasted terrible or it clumped and wasn't a soup, but instead the garbage can's dinner. My favorite thing in the world to eat is Panera's broccoli and cheese soup in a bread bowl. It is SO good! No other place I've eaten broccoli and cheese soup at has come close. I found a few "copycat" recipes on Pinterest.. and those were my epic failures. I started playing around with my own recipe and finally have one I think is good enough to keep! It's definitely not Panera quality, but close enough for me to enjoy and share!

Ingredients:

broccoli florets (about 1 head will do)

1 large carrot, diced

1 small onion, diced

4 Tablespoons of butter

2 cups of heavy whipping cream

3 cups of chicken broth

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon of each)

8 oz velveeta cheese, cubed (yes, I opted for processed cheese. sue me)

In a large pot, melt the butter. Add in flour and mix well. Add in the heavy whipping cream slowly, whisking until smooth. Add in the chicken broth, nutmeg, salt, pepper and garlic. Bring to a slight boil and then reduce heat to medium low. Simmer like this for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the broccoli, onion and carrots. Cook for an additional 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Using a ladle, scoop out the vegetables and put them in a blender with just a little bit of the soup. Puree the vegetables. It'll be a nice green color. Add back to the soup in the pot. Add in your cheese and stir until melted. Serve with an extra garnish of parsley and bread on the side. Delicious! 

Chicken Salad Stuffed Deviled Eggs

I'm back again with another deviled egg recipe! This time I was already making deviled eggs and was tired of the normal chicken salad sandwiches, so I decided to combine the two. This would be a great dish to bring to a party! My picky 4 year old didn't care much for it (though he will eat chicken salad and deviled eggs separately) but my 1 year old devoured it. Simple thing to make, delicious to eat.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

6 eggs

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 stalk of celery, sliced in .5" pieces

bacon, cooked and shredded 

To boil the eggs, place the eggs in a pan and pour in water until just covered. Bring to a rapid boil. Turn off heat and cover for 10 minutes. Once time is up, place eggs into a bowl of ice water. Shell should be easy to remove after tapping on counter to start a crack. Slice eggs in half length-wise and scoop out the yolk. Put the cooked yolks in a large bowl and break them up. Break out your food processor (I have mentioned I have a mini one from WalMart that was $10). First put your celery pieces in and pulse until minced. Pour the celery into the bowl with yolk. Next, put chicken into the processor and pulse until minced. Place chicken into the yolk and celery. Add your bacon and mayo to the bowl and stir well. Scoop mix into the egg whites. You can also cut a hole into the corner of a ziplock bag, add the mix and then squeeze it into the egg whites for a cleaner look.

Memory Shadow Boxes

Hey everyone! We've not been posting much the past week because we've been working nonstop on a HUGE project. I can't wait to share it with all of you! We are just waiting on some last minute things to come in the mail to finishing making the items.

I figured I would share an old DIY project to make up for it. These memory shadow boxes went up on my "Best of Times" wall that I made for my boys. Super simple to make and a lovely way to memorialize the moment that you became a parent!

You will need:

Shadow box

Scrapbook paper

Momentos from the hospital/birth

Tape

Scissors

The easiest way to get the paper the size you need is to the the back of the frame and trace it onto the paper. From there you can trim it down to size and tape to the frame back. I used a roll on tape that can be found in the craft sections. If you put the hospital bracelet like I did, you will need to secure it with glue (or tape if you may want to take it out later on). Place the items into the box how you would like them to be and put the back on. Now hang those adorable boxes up to show off to future guests! Here is our completed wall. I made some subway art with their birth stats and clocks set on their birth times.

We have gotten so many compliments on this wall when people visit. I find myself looking at the wall once in a while reflecting on those moments when my life completely changed.