Hygiene and Snack Care Package

This package is full of snacks and hygiene items. I originally planned to only send one box, but I bought too much stuff and had to separate it into two. This list is separated by hygiene and snacks, although the final boxes ended up a little bit mismatched. I only decorated the mainly hygiene box though!

Hygiene Items

Toilet Paper

Body Wash

Air Freshener x 2

Razor Blades

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Q-Tips

Tweezers

Melatonin

Deodorant

Shampoo x 2

Lotion x 2

Shaving Cream

Butt Wipes

Foot Powder

Snack Items

Monster x 2

Tea Bags x 2

Beef Jerky x 3

Water Flavoring Packets x 2

Hot Fries

Hot Cheetos

Gum

Slim Jims

Gushers

Fruit Snacks

Honey Roasted Peanuts

Ramen

Sour Gummy Worms

Life Saver Gummies

Miscellaneous Items

Green Socks

Sand Undershirts

Laptop Charger

Speaker

Customized Zippo Lighter

Lighter Fluid

Word to the wise, everything liquid, put in ziplock baggies! It would be horrible if one thing of shampoo burst open and ruined the whole package!

The grand total for the snack items, hygiene items and the shirts/socks was just over $90. I used coupons and saved just under $30. The lighter, speaker, and laptop charger were things he already had and just forgot to bring with him.

I'm definitely not an extreme couponer, but every little bit helps! That $30 saved is a full tank of gas, or money to send these packages. My way of couponing is simple. I buy the Sunday papers and clip all the coupons in there. I then split them into 5 categories: pets, restaurants, hygiene, household and food. Then I make a list for grocery shopping or a trip like todays. After I have the list, I will go through my coupons to see if I have anything for what's on my list. The trick is to not be too picky with brands. My husband normally wears Arm&Hammer deodorant, but I had a $1.50 off coupon for the Gillette. There have been a lot of coupons this past month, so I had a coupon for everything in the hygiene list besides the razor blades, q-tips, foot powder, and melatonin. I got lucky and there was a store coupon for the foot powder! I already had the butt wipes and tweezers. 

All About Apps

Technology is a marvelous thing! I find it crazy to think just how much has changed in the ways of technology since deployments first started in the Middle East. When the war first started, couples mainly communicated through letters, and occasionally email and pay phones.

Now, I love letters! I love getting them, I love sending them. I still have every letter from when my husband was in basic, and I'm (not so) patiently waiting for my first deployment letter. But, I would not give up today's technology! My husband took his own phone and laptop, and pays for wifi weekly (a hefty amount). With his phone and wifi, the apps are endless! Here are my favorite apps to use during deployment. All free, and all work off wifi.


My favorite communication Apps:

Couple: An app for just the two of you. This app creates a "timeline" for just the two of you. You can send messages, pictures that disappear after a set time, share videos, send sketches, add important dates to the calendar, and the most adorable feature: The Thumb Kiss!

Viber: This is the app my husband and I use most frequently. With it you can text, send voice messages, make phone calls and video chat.

Skype: Skype allows for video chatting.

FB Messenger: A messaging app that works through your Facebook. When my husbands internet goes down, he goes to use the computers at the MWR. He can access Facebook through those computers, so this is how we talk then.

SnapChat: Send pictures and videos to your loved one, but they disappear after 10 seconds. Although, I'm very guilty of screen-shotting my husbands snapchats.



Other Communication Apps (that I haven't tried out):

Avocado: Seems to be a lot like Couple

Kakao: My mother-in-law instructed my husband to get it. I think it's just a messaging app.

Kik: Another messaging app.

WhatsApp: Another option for messaging.


Apps not related to communication:

World Clock: With such a big time difference, I can't always easily remember what time it is where he is. So I pull up my handy dandy world clock and it tells me what time it is overseas!

Doing Time: I'm all about countdowns! With this app you plug in the start and end date (or estimated end date) and it generates a pie chart showing how much time has passed and how much you have left. It makes it much easier on me seeing that 1/4 of the deployment is over rather than there's still 1xx days left.

Draw Something: I know what you're thinking "What is this, 2012?" But it's actually a really fun way to pass the time, and still feel connected to you SO.

Words with Friends: "Again, what is this, 2010?" My husband and I are big on board games, and this is a fun way to still be able to play against each other.

SpouseBox

I'm sure you've heard of subscription boxes, maybe you even have one. If not, I'll link the ones I'm mentioning. There are boxes for any and everything! Dogs, cats, makeup, wine, kids, you name it and there's probably a subscription box for it. I haven't found one that yet that I've deemed worthy of $10-$40 dollars. I don't drink wine. I don't wear make-up. My dog would destroy everything in the box in 10 seconds flat. My cat is too much of a priss to give anything in a box a second of her time (although she'd love the box). I don't have kids. My husband is too set in his ways to try out different razors. And I'm much too picky with food to even entertain the idea that I'd like more than one thing that comes in a snack food box.

I think subscription boxes are an awesome idea! I just haven't found the one for me. That is, until today. Today, I stumbled across SpouseBox. A subscription box by military spouses for military spouses. They're fairly new (just launched in January), and unfortunately their April box is already sold out. (booooo). But I can not wait to get my hands on one!

I've been so focused on care packages for my husband, (seriously, I have each and every one of his care packages planned out through July) I realized that I should treat myself every once in awhile too. And what better way to do that than with a subscription box?

One of the best things about this box? (Besides it's super affordable price of $24.99), it supports military spouse businesses and veteran businesses.

I'm already looking forward to the May box release!! I promise to review it once I get my hands on one.

Regional Flat Rate boxes, Y'all!

I was at the post office mailing my husbands Easter care package, and the postal worker noticed just how stuffed the box was. He told me about these magical boxes called "Regional Flat Rate Boxes". They're HUGE compared to the large Flat Rate boxes. The way he explained them is the price is calculated by region (think time zones).

Well, you can also use these boxes to ship to APO addresses (Which are zone 5, if you're curious). The "C" box dimensions are 14-3/4" x 11-3/4" x 11-1/2". The only stipulation, is it can't weigh over 25 pounds. AND, it only costs $19.78 to mail them!!

On the Right, we have the Large Flat Rate box (Yes, Large) 

On the Left is the Regional Flat Rate Box - C

Now, If you remember, the Large Flat rate box costs $15.90 to ship to APO addresses (normally $17.90). It can hold up to 75 pounds. The Magical Regional Box - C costs $19.78 to ship to zone 5 (APO) and can hold up to 25 pounds. You may say Only 25 pounds? But, really, that's quite a lot. That's a big bag of cat food! 

Now do you understand my excitement? I picked some up as I was leaving the post office, but you can order them here. Free as always to order supplies!

Sweet baby, Jesus...Thank you for Netflix!

A little over 2 weeks into this deployment, and I am eternally grateful for Netflix. It's funny how I choose not to watch a movie because two hours is too long, but I have no problem watching 10 episodes of Friends in a single day.

If you're looking for shows to binge watch, let me give you my list of shows I recommend.

-Hart of Dixie
-Grey's Anatomy
-Private Practice
-Once Upon a Time
-Revenge
-Dexter
-Supernatural
-The Walking Dead
-How to Get Away with Murder
-Secrets and Lies
-Friends
-How I met your Mother
-New Girl
-Downton Abbey
-Gossip Girl
-Sherlock
-The Following
-Orange is the New Black
-Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
-Criminal Minds
-One Tree Hill

Shows others may recommend, but I could never get into

-Sons of Anarchy
-Breaking Bad
-Pretty Little Liars
-Lost
-Army Wives (maybe not the best one to watch during deployment)

Here's my list of shows I plan on watching this deployment

-Game of Thrones
-Gilmore Girls
-Scandal
-Blacklist
-Parks and Rec
-Community
-Modern Family
-Wentworth
-American Horror Story

We'll see how far into this list I get!

Easter Care Package

Today I put together my husband's Easter basket Care Package. It was so fun to put together! I filled it with his favorite candies and a few toys.

TMNT Coloring book

TMNT bouncy ball

Ball on a rope toy.

Not Pictured:

TMNT Playing Cards

Colored pencils

USBs filled with a few of his favorite shows, pictures, music and videos I made for him

I also found this adorable Easter card at Walgreens and filled it with a few pictures we had taken before he deployed.

TMNT Easter basket

Filled with...

Chocolate bunny

Live Saver gummies

Sour patch kids

Air Heads

The eggs are filled with Hershey's Kisses

Here's the box decorated!

I got the stickers at Dollar Tree

The fake grass was from Walgreens

And... All put together!!

Operation Gratitude

Today I discovered Operation Gratitude. You can request for them to send a care package (filled with 50+ goodies) to your loved one who is deployed. They have a few stipulations though.

-Only the service member or immediate family can request the package
-The service member must be deployed in a hostile environment or on an unaccompanied hardship tour or at sea

You can also donate to them to help cover the shipping costs (Tax deducible!). Or you can order items off their Amazon wish-list to donate.

Their website is: https://www.operationgratitude.com/

You can find the request form here

You can donate here

You can find their amazon wish-list here

I can't wait for my husband to get this package, and see what all he is blessed with!

Thank you, Operation Gratitude!!

Care package número uno! (and how to ship it)

The first care package I mailed my husband was filled with mainly boring stuff that he didn't take with him, but decided he wanted. I didn't decorate it, or do anything special. It was a learning experience though! Here's what I learned about how to get free packing materials delivered to your door, and how to mail them.

To mail the care packages, I use the USPS flat rate priority mail boxes. You can order them online (here) for free. OR if you call 1-800-610-8734 and say 'Order supplies", it will connect you to a real person. You can then request the 'Military Kit'. This kit includes 2 medium flat rate boxes, 2 medium shirt box flat rate boxes, 2 large flat rate boxes, then it also includes 6 mail labels, 6 customs forms and a roll of tape!! I ordered 4, and they were here within a week! The Military Kit can only be ordered over the phone.

The medium boxes cost $12.95 to ship and the Large costs $15.90 to ship to an APO address (the normal shipping cost is $17.90!)

I filled out my first custom form for this! That was an adventure...

Here's the custom form blank (PS Form 2976-A) it looks quite daunting at first, but I'll try to simplify it! 

The highlighted portions are what you'll need to fill out. The 'From' section is pretty self explanatory, as it's your info and address. I'll explain the 'To' section in a minute. Be incredibly specific for box one. Instead of putting 'hygiene', put body wash, shampoo, razors, deodorant, etc. You can estimate the value in box 4 if you don't know the exact amounts. For box 5, choose gift! The post office will fill out box 7 once it's weighed. Make sure to sign and date it!

For the 'To' section:

Last name and first name are self explanatory. You do not need to include rank on the customs form. Although it is a good idea to include it on the address label. 

Business: the unit and company information. 

Address: FOB name. 

Post code: post code. 

City: APO/FPO/DPO 

State: AE/AP/AA

Country: Leave blank

And that's that! Definitely not as difficult as it first looks. It's actually quite simple once you know what to put where. 

I can't wait to make an Easter care package next! 

Why blog?

This first post is to explain the reasoning behind this blog.

This is my husbands first deployment, and I do not come from a military family. I'm learning all this as I go. I've spent many hours on the computer searching for what I need to know. I've found a lot of great resources. I've also been given advice from many people. My hopes with this blog is that I can put all that great information in one place. Then I can maybe, hopefully, help someone else out.

I'm also hoping that I will be able to put my fantastic packages on here! Well, right now they're all ideas. So we will see if they actually turn out fantastically...