I posted about our plans to stay home during the holidays and start new traditions. We did just that and we really enjoyed our Christmas together! Needless to say there were many moments where we all missed the big family gathering that was taking place back home, but cousins with new cell phones helped my kids feel closer. There was lots of tween texting going on around here! Our “home” phone is a cell phone that the kids can use, so they loved being able to communicate to their cousins all day Christmas day and the following week as everyone was still together. It helped them feel a little closer to the fun that was happening back home. My husband had a 4 day weekend for Christmas, so we promised each other that our only outings the whole weekend were going to be to the Wawa that is around the corner. If you don’t know what Wawa is, then I’m sorry! They are my new favorite gas station. Not that we get much gas there, but the coffee bar is delightful as is the amazing deli area.

Oh and don’t get me started on their Pretzels!!

We enjoyed 4 days of home cooking as well as Wawa coffee, soft pretzels, donuts, and subs.

We didn’t just eat those 4 days, we played board games (Ticket to Ride among the games), and watched movies!

The kids loved playing on the playground with the other neighborhood kids who were around for Christmas. Since there weren’t a ton of kids around, my kids formed some neat friendships with the other kids who were around that weekend. Now that we’re a few weeks removed from Christmas I can say we did just fine! There were moments where my husband was my hero and reminded me that we would be just fine even though everyone was together somewhere else, and for that I’ll be forever grateful! We made one more milestone as a military family, our first holiday season away from home!

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This week we have been making different treats each day. Monday we made a cookie I like to eat each year, but it’s not so fun for the kids to make. The cookies are just balls and half way through I was left alone balling dough. For yesterday’s cookie I had an idea. Why follow the directions and make all the cookies the same shape? They’re not your normal sugar cookie cause we don’t like frosting and I hate the mess of frosting. They’re a simple almond flavored cookie, that we smooshed out (Why use a rolling pin?), used cookie cutters then decorated all with dough! I colored the dough 4 different colors and let the kids have fun, like it was play doh. The only rule was the things had to be flat, no 3-D snowman that will never cook all the way through. I made a bell to show them what to do and the rest was history. 2 hours later they were still at the table having a blast, and my only job was manning the oven.

The cookies don’t take long in the oven if you want them soft. I think we found one of our new traditions.  I doubled the recipe so we would have enough of each color to actually have fun.  Now I have more cookies than is good for anyone!  We don’t know enough people to get rid of them all, so I’m making plates for some neighbors.  Maybe this new girl in town will make friends over a plate of cookies.  Now that’s one more tradition for our family to do each year.  At least it is a tasty tradition!

Here is the recipe so you can enjoy them as well!

1 Cup Sugar

2/3 cup margarine or butter, softened

2 eggs

2 tsps Vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

3 cups flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

Food coloring

1. Beat sugar and butter in large bowl with mixer at medium speed until creamy. Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond extracts. Mix flour and baking powder; stir into butter mixture

2. Divide dough into as many colors you want. Add food coloring and kneed until well mixed. Wrap in plasic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

3. Have fun! Use cookie cutters, or mold into flatish objects as if it were play doh. Decorate with accent colors, whatever!

4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or just intil set and slightly golden. Remove from sheets and cool on wire racks. Store in airtight container.

Makes 32 cookies

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This is our first holiday season away from our hometown. I was sooo nervous about Thanksgiving here that I was super bold and invited our family over to one of our neighbors house. I asked how military families do Thanksgiving and she said they were having people over, and without thinking I said, “Can we come?” She graciously said we were more than welcome. When I got home I was so embarrassed by my forwardness. I cooked up quite a few sides and my husband made killer cake balls to make up for us inviting ourselves! Glad to say Thanksgiving was a great day. We met a few of our other neighbors and had a great afternoon.

Now we’re officially in December. Christmas is creeping closer and closer each moment. We don’t know if my husband will be working Christmas yet, as his training may end just in time for him to have watch on Christmas. We’ll see how that all turns out. Our friends will be out of town visiting family, so I can’t impose again! We don’t have any other friends yet, so Christmas is looking to be quiet. I’m brainstorming now on all the traditions we should start. What will Christmas hold? I don’t know. What I know is I have these two precious kids looking to me to provide a Christmas they’ll remember. Last year Christmas was the only time we saw my husband, so that made last year the best Christmas they had ever had! This year will be full of phone calls to grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, and of course cousins. We’re on the hunt for the perfect Christmas morning breakfast, our old Christmas morning breakfast (The delicious Entenmann’s Crumb Cake) was discontinued last year. We’re taking this new side of the country and hoping to find some spectacular breakfast that only the East Coast offers! We may not be “home” for Christmas but we’re making memories that will last their lifetime.

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This week we had the privilege of being able to visit Washington DC. It was my first visit ever, living out in the Southwest, it was always a dream to visit DC. Thanks to the Navy and our most recent PCS to the area, we got to spend 4 days in our Nation’s Capitol. We got to show our children the rich history of the founding of this country that we not only live in, but that Daddy has the honor of protecting. It just happened that the days we could go were the few days before Veteran’s Day and seeing all that we saw has made today that more meaningful.

Today I want to celebrate those men and women who fight for our freedom, so we can have a Congress, Court System, and a President. I thank those who serve so that people have the freedom of protest, even if I don’t agree with the actual protests we saw, I saw people who have the freedom to disagree with our government. The freedom we have today is only because of the service members who fight for it every single day. Today and every day I sand proud next to my handsome Sailor. Today we bring him donuts and coffee in bed! Today we love him not only for providing for us, but for being a small part in this wonderful country’s military. Today and every day we remember all those who have served, who have seen devastation and horror that no person should see all so I can wake up and write this post. Freedom, it’s in everything we do and it came at the cost in many lives, but also in the invisible and visible wounds of those service members around us. I could never say thank you enough. Today I will celebrate my husband, brother, Uncles, and now too many friends to name who have served or who are serving. Thank you!

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Early on 30 Nov, our group of military spouses set off for New York City for an experience of a lifetime, to attend a taping of The Martha Stewart Show! They were so kind to invite our group as part of November Military Family Month, little did we know we would be part of Martha’s Holiday Show!!

Be sure to set your DVR’s for tomorrow’s Martha Show on the Hallmark Channel (1000am Dish Channel 185) to catch a glimpse of our group!!

Here are a few details of our amazing day:

After taking the train we arrived in Manhattan and walked to the Studio.

We found Macy’s and looked at all the wonderful holiday window displays.

Here we are outside the studio!

Finally we are inside the studio. It is filled with Christmas decorations and looks actually a lot smaller in person than on TV.

After Joey did an awesome job warming up the audience and listening to some cool hip-hop music, Martha was on set.

It was a fabulous experience! Here we are again outside the studio.

More photos of our adventure:

Unique facts about our group:

• Most had never met prior to the trip
• We had spouses from six boats, two shore commands and one IA spouse
• In our group we had Navy spouses, one Army spouse and even a Marine Corps spouse

Look for a more detailed post after “The Holiday Show” airs December 2, 2010 at 1000am Eastern (Hallmark Channel), since we don’t want to spoil the highlights by letting you know all the amazing items we received!

Thank you Martha and crew for a fabulous experience!

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Hello, and welcome to the new home of MyMilitaryLife.com.  We are happy you are here!

This new place will feature many things all under one roof.  We will have our blog and radio show posts in one location and soon our social network.  We’ll feature articles on deployment, communication, careers, relationships, travel and more.  Be sure to leave us your email in the box at the top of the site to receive an email when we update our blog.  All the latest, will be delivered right to your email box.  We just tested it and I’m thrilled it is actually working!

We will be working the bugs out and posting content over the next few days.  Just in case you happen to find us while we are making improvements, please excuse the dust.

Until our old blog posts (going back as far as 2007) are migrated over you can find them at   http://mymilitarylife.wordpress.com.

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