Lynn's Fried Rice

My mother-in-law, Lynn (or Lola), makes the best fried rice. Everyone that eats her rice always wants the recipe, so here it is! It is so delicious, you won't believe how easy it is to make.

First you start out with cooled rice. She usually makes hers in a rice maker the day before. She uses Mahatma rice. There is a difference in good Mahatma rice versus an off brand of rice, she will tell you! Then you break apart the rice so that there aren't any clumps. She says to break it apart by hand; I don't know why but this is just how things are done and I don't question it. :)

Get a skillet going over medium heat, and add some oil and chopped garlic.
Now... I know this is going to be hard to believe, but you have to add SPAM! *gasp* Don't worry, I am an avid Spam hater, and I ate this rice up like it was going out of style...and THEN found out she used Spam. I survived, and so will you. You will like it, I promise. The Spam adds the saltiness you need for the perfect fried rice. So, suck it up, and try it.



Next, you add your rice. The important thing to remember with the rice is to fold it over. If you do too much stirring, your rice gets mushy. Give it time to get a little of the fried texture on the bottom of the rice, then fold it over.

Now you need to add some soy sauce. I do not have a measurement.. just until the rice is a little brown.

You need about this much. It's an exact science, as you can see.

Mix it all together by folding it over until it looks like this. You won't get every grain of rice brown. It's okay to see some white rice.

Now, add your frozen carrots and peas; however much you want.

Lynn. She's pretty..and she can cook. :)

YUM-O! This is the perfect fried rice! She adds a scrambled egg sometimes too. When you do that, you just push the rice to the side, add a tad of oil (just enough so the egg won't stick to the pan), and crack the egg directly into the pan. Then scramble it up and mix it with the rice. You can also add chicken to the rice. She's even made this stuff for breakfast with bacon added to it. At first, it was a little weird for me, but who would turn down bacon fried rice?? Hello!

Addison loves Fried Rice. "Mommy loves rice, she eats rice everyday," is what she told her teachers today at MDO. I assure you that even though it looks like it, that is NOT true, even though this stuff is good enough to eat every day. Try it out and see if you like it!

Macyn Kate

Well, I officially have a mobile baby. :) Macyn is crawling everywhere and getting into everything. She is almost 8 months old (on the 6th of this month). She has grown so much, so quickly. I enjoy her so much. She is my cuddle-bug baby. She loves hugs, and kisses, and cuddling-which is nice, considering Addison never let me. Mamaw calls Addison "high maintenance." She always has been. She is my fun, rowdy girl and Macyn is so lovey and laid back. It's crazy how God can take siblings and make them so very different...and it is so apparent at such a young age! Who would have thought!
I took a few pictures of Macyn yesterday that I thought I would share!

Here she is ready for take-off!

She finds herself almost in a tee-pee position a lot nowdays. She's not really sure what to do from here though.

Sweet smiles

And if anyone had any doubt who her daddy is...well, I am pretty sure that you can rest easy. This is her daddy's look made over! She already has the famous Barber furrowed-brow down!

Loving the windy days!

Making Scentsy samples with my little helper

This skirt has become one of Addison's "staple" items from her closet. She wears it day and night if I will let her. She even wears it to the park! (Believe me, it wasn't worth fighting the battle, even though I didn't want her to get it dirty.) She is growing up so fast! She is convinced she is a Princess, which i have to agree with. I love the fact that she thinks that any time I wear highheels, that I am a Princess too. I also made my first set of Scentsy samples the other day. I have seen different ways online to create samples. This was my first experiment with it. I melted the brick of wax (Baked Apple Pie) in a glass measuring cup for about 2 minutes in the microwave. Thanks to my sister Heather, I now know NOT to grab the handle of the measuring cup without a potholder. It gets REALLY hot.
I lined a cookie sheet with foil and poured the wax on. I let the wax set up until it was hard enough for me to cut with a cookie cutter. I bought the cookie cutters at Hobby Lobby. They are the smallest ones that I could find. Anyway, after I cut the stars out, I placed them on another foil sheet so that they could finish cooling down and hardening all of the way.

I bought some small jewelery bags at Hobby Lobby to put the samples in. The stars were a little harder than the flowers to put in the little bags because of the points. So, I will be using the flower cookie cutter until I buy bigger bags! I had a lot of help bagging the samples up. Addison was convinced that she could get the stars in the bag, so needless to say, there were a lot of samples that were broken that I had to melt back down again and start over with. She had fun helping though, and that is all that matters.. :)

She had been watching me blow air into the bags to get them to open up. Monkey see, monkey do.

Now I need to put a label on them that says, "To Smell, Not to Eat" and the name of the scent, or something like that.

So, this was one experiment with wax samples. They turned out great. There were some that ended up thinner than others, so I may try the "Candy Mold method" for the next batch and see if that works better!

I also got my coffee bean tins in. Yay! I just think they are cute. I know, I am weird. After smelling so many scent testers, they kind of start to smell all alike, so in order to clear out your nose, you smell coffee beans in between. It really works!

The Rundown on my Jobs

In case you all don't know, I finished school and am now a working medical transcriptionist! I usually type at night when the girls go to bed, which is why I am such a stickler on bedtimes. I like routine, so you will rarely see me out and about because it will interfere with nap times and bedtimes and such.


I also started selling Scentsy...which I LOVE. And in case you don't know what Scentsy is, it is a collection of wax and wax warmers that operate off of a low-wattage light bulb. There are over 80 scents to choose from, as well as numerous fashionable warmers to go with any decor.

I am having so much fun selling it, it's ridiculous. Last month was my first month selling Scentsy, and I was aiming for $500 in sales. I thought that seemed a little steep, but I figured I would try it anyway. I ended the month at $2650.00!! Can you believe it?? This stuff sells itself! I am on track for this month too...I will reveal my total at the end of the month but I am hoping to surpass last month's goal!
Anyway, I became a fan of it after I smelled it in a photography studio. I decided to host a party and I loved the stuff so much, I decided to become a consultant. I figured I didn't have much to lose. I did not have to invest a lot to get started, just $99. I thought that if I didn't enjoy selling it, I could just use the testers of wax that you get and burn them in my warmer. Why not?? Well, it has proved so far to be a great little business for me. I am having fun..AND making money. It's not really like working when you get to go to parties! Truthfully though, I haven't had to do a whole lot of home parties either. People have been having basket parties for me. A basket party is where they take the scent testers and order forms and get the orders. All I have to do is put the orders in online, and when the product comes in, I bag it up for the hostess and give it back to her to deliver. So, really, my hostesses are doing almost all of the work for me. Thank you guys! :)


I have been working on an order tonight and here is what my house looks like on days I get a UPS shipment in.

I do have a Scentsy website www.amberbarber.scentsy.us if you are curious about the product. You can order directly online and have it sent to your house if you would like. I promise, once you smell this product, nothing else compares!

And above all, my #1 job is being a wife and mommy! It is the most rewarding out of all. I stay-at-home with my girls, so I get the joy of watching my girls grow. Macyn is getting her second tooth and just learned to crawl..although she still scoots some too. Addison is becoming less of a baby every day. I am so sad to see her grow up so fast, but I am also delighted in the progress she makes. We named her Addison Joy for a reason, she truly is a joyful little thing...and fills my heart with more joy than I could ever have hoped for!

So, I will try to make more frequent blog updates, which will probably be on the progress and activities of the girls!

Spring is Near :)

Spring is just around the corner..and I am not sure if it is time to plant herbs or not, but we did! :) It gave us a chance to get outside and enjoy the pretty weather.

Macyn Kate 7 months old

Addison showing me a "flower" (2 1/2 yrs old)
Doesn't she look cool in her glasses? :)

What a big helper!

I hope we actually got the seeds IN the flower pot instead of on the driveway.

Video Blog

Here is my first video blog. You probably need to scroll down and click "pause" on the the music player below before pressing play on this video, otherwise its just going to be a whole mess of noise.

Intro to video blogging from Amber Barber on Vimeo.

Husbands & Wives

This is an example of the stereotypical husband/wife dynamic. I thought it was too funny because, yes, I have been here myself many times.

"Over the years, Eric has developed the defensive tactic of selective hearing. I've seen this kind of evolution before --my father has the same skill. The benefits of this are obvious --much less time wasted in attending to every fleeting hysterical fit his wife induges in. I, however, have in response mastered a technique of incremental amplification that has proven most effective in breaking down his defenses. And once he is roused to a reaction, he is at a distinct disadvantage, as he has not heard much of my rant and therefore cannot accurately judge what piece of it he should best respond to in order to defuse it. Plus, because he was the one not listening to me, I gain the moral high ground. Darwinism at work, my friends."--Excerpt from Julie&Julia



Now come on..how true is this?

Addison's 2nd Birthday Party

Macyn is Here!

Well, as you all know, we have added a member to our family!

Macyn Kate

8/6/09 @ 1:46

7 lbs. 19"

Macyn and Mommy are both doing very well!

So far, Macyn has been a pleasant, calm baby for the most part. I am really enjoying having her around, although it is definitly an adjustment to our normal routine. Thankfully, Chris has taken off of work for a couple of weeks and is helping so much. I don't know what I am going to do when he goes back though!

Addison absolutly LOVES Macyn! She is jealous at times but loves to give her kisses and hugs. She wants to hold her all of the time (with help of course). She is very concerned with making sure Macyn has her paci, so we have to watch her closely. She can be rough even though she only wants to help.

We have had such great support from our family and friends too. My mom fed us for almost a week before Macyn got here..so I wouldn't have to cook..because I was NOT feeling like it. She also was in the delivery room with me and stayed with me in the hospital most of the time to help out with Macyn which was much appreciated!

And our home fellowship group from church (headed up by Karen) has brought us food for 7 days! It has made the transition a lot easier! We can worry about the kiddos instead of worrying about supper. Although, now we are spoiled! Especially since Karen keeps bringing me her famous cookies! Now though, I guess it is time to get back on track with the eating right. I've got to get back into my bikini. Haha, Ok, maybe not!

Here are some pics with our new little bundle of joy!

Macyn's Baby Nursery

Well, here it is!! An "almost" finished project! We only lack a few touches..mirror/shelves/photoframes, etc...and of course Macyn! But we are ready for her! I am getting so excited and anxious now that her nursery is ready. Chris has worked his tail off getting this room ready and I am so proud of him. It was the extra room/hair room/office. So, it had pipes and a shampoo sink sticking out of the wall, plus cables and cords from the computer everywhere. He meticulously painted one wall turquoise at my request..which meant making super straight lines so the paint wouldn't bleed onto the other wall.

Jo Slye made the baby quilt and pillows and bed skirt that I love so much!! Such a good job!

Chris even went to IKEA...by himself..and searched out the curtains and rug that I wanted. :)

Jo made the wall hanging which is reversible.

And my sweet mother-in-law gave us this dresser..which was already this color! Perfect!
Plus--she helped with my rug fund!

Origami Mobile.. I tried on several occasions to make these stars myself but gave up and ordered it. Origami is NOT easy!

I told you I could sew!! HA

Addison has developed a love for Elmo, as you probably know. She wants to watch Elmo ALL the time. I wake up hearing the theme song in my head sometimes..."La-la-la-la, Elmo's World."
Anyway, not too long ago, we were at my mom's house and she found an old baby blanket of Devin's (Who is 6.. I think??) that had an Elmo print on it. It was old, and very boyish..but she loves it. She has taken to carrying it and sleeping with her "covers."

She just started nursery school, so I decided to try to make an Elmo blanket that was kind of girly for her. We will see how she likes it... I don't know yet. Probably won't have anything to do with it but I thought I would try it out. It is a "rag blanket" which means that the edges are frayed on purpose. :)

I know I get stuff made for me usually but that doesn't mean I cannot sew. (Ahem...April :)) So here is proof! Now, it's not the best job in the world, I know...but it didn't fall apart in the washer...yet!! Haha
I didn't sew the name; I had that put on at William's Sporting Goods. But other than that--here it is!!

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