SO Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
We had the Philadelphia Marathon/ Half Marathon this weekend and it went great! We stayed at our friend's house Friday night and then we were en route to Philly. We stopped and saw some Army friends on the way and finally arrived Saturday evening.

The race was Sunday morning and I felt great up until about mile 11. Dan said he felt good until around mile 22. I didn't let it stop me though just trudged through the last two miles constantly thinking about the WWP logo on my shirt and our friends name on the back.

I knocked 15 minutes off my last PR and Dan knocked a minute off of his.

I am thankful that we were able to raise over $2,000 dollars for this great organization and that there are so many organization out there that help returning veterans.

Not Only to Military IDs Get You Discounts....

They prevent you from getting robbed!

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/ap_reservist_id_stops_muggers_111109/

Veterans Day

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy (early) Veteran's Day! If you are lucky enough to have your veteran home with you, there are some free meals at Applebees ( Nov 11th) and Golden Corral ( Nov 16th) for them to get- just need to show proof of service.

Also from Nov 12-15 Old Navy is giving a 30% military discount instead of their regular 10%.

Thanks to every military member for their service to our country :)

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Wounded Warrior Project

In 18 days Dan I will be running the Philadelphia Marathon/ Half Marathon. We are raising money to support the Wounded Warrior Project which hits close to home for us as one of our friends spent nearly 18 months in Walter Reed Medical Center. We would like to give back to this organization for the many great things it has done for our friend and many other deserving warriors. We would greatly appreciate your support!
Donate Here

<3 11W

Old Navy Military Discount!!

This weekend (7/30-8/2) Old Navy is offering a 30% discount when you show your Military ID!

***Edit: It turns out they do this at the begining of every month, there is usually a banner on military.com!***

<3 11W

Warriors and Bunnies

I just found an article that says that the proceeds from Playboy's Halloween Party will benenfit the Wounded Warrior Project:

From Foxnews.com

Halloween night at Hugh Hefner’s not-so-humble abode will still be filled with all the usual suspects - scantily-clad costumed women, bopping blonde bunnies, a Haunted House and Hollywood’s hottest stars.
But while the 31st of October itself isn’t an official Hugh Hefner party, for this year its going to be even more special as the men’s magazine mogul is handing it over to help those who’ve served their country.
"Hef was kind enough to let the Wounded Warrior Project be a beneficiary on Halloween. Proceeds will help severely wounded veterans that have recently served in Afghanistan and Iraq," Executive Director of the Halloween 09 bash Jose Dominguez told Pop Tarts. (General admission tickets start at $1,000 and go up to $15,000 for VIPs.) "Halloween is the most sought-after night at the Mansion so it was a good opportunity to support our veterans and enjoy a great party at the same time."

We’re also told over 40 wounded soldiers will also attend the scary soiree.

They Lost It All

Many of you know about the 8 service members that lost their lives in a single battle in Afghanistan last week. What I didn't know is that many of the surviving men lost everything in this battle. Many men walked away with only the clothes on their backs.

The American Legion is raising money in order to get supplies, necessity items, and some luxury items (such as ipods and movies) to these troops that not only lost their comrades, but their belongings.
Their website The Burn Pit has all the details and how you can donate.
<3 11W

Army 10 Miler

Tomorrow we leave to go to DC to enjoy the weekend and run the Army 10 Miler. I am very excited for this race and hope the weather is nice! I think it will be great to see all the military members and their supporters at this event. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post afterwards (I'm not going to break any land speed records during the race so why not stop for a few photos ha). I wish everyone running good luck!

<3 11W

HE'S HOME!!!!! :)

Here are some homecoming pictures! They got a bit out of order when I uploaded them. I will upload pictures of the packages sometime soon also!
<3 11W

Almost There!

I get to pick up the love of my life on Sunday!!!!! I can hardly contain my excitement!
I will post pictures of homecoming and care packages "in use" once things get settled down.

<3 11W

Soldier's Angels

After reading Airman Mom's latest post, I decided to sign up for Soldier's Angels! I'm actually very excited!

He's Coming Home!!!!!!

So your soldier is finally coming home! yay!

Depending on his chain of command's rules here are some thing you may want to get or send to him:

• civilian clothes and shoes
• cell phone
• free banner from Build a Sign.com to hang at your house
• new underwear, socks and shirts (you know anything that went over there will never be really clean again)
• get him a few new outfits
• make sure his favorite foods are in your house

Last but not least, treat yourself to a day at the spa right before he comes home and go get a hot new homecoming outfit!

Congrats you survived this deployment :)!!!

<3 11W

Where to Go from Here?

Well my soldier will be coming home soon (yay!!!) so I will not have as much care package inspiration. So I have been thinking a lot lately about where to go from here?

I would really like to devote more time to military charities so I decided I would start to blog about that once I started that. i will still haev ideas for packages to post every once and a while and I will also post about general military topics too.

Look out for the new topics!

First I would like to start out with an article from RangerUp.com. Its an article about why once of its writers decided to join the military and I think its pretty neat.

http://rhinoden.rangerup.com/kellys-finding-hunter/

If you or your soldier has their story about why they decided to join please comment!

<3 11W

Red, White and Blue

The 4th of July is upon us and it is my soldier's (as well as my) favorite holdiay!
This package is filled with everything to help him celebrate (except the fireworks of course).
I ordered most of these items off of Oriental Trading.

• Red White and You Sweethearts Candy- proceeds go towards the USO
• Red, White and Blue (RWB) Leis
• flag bandanas
• RWB rubber bracelets (like the livestrong ones)
• inflatable Uncle Sam (they have been using their air compressor on the Stryker to inflate things)
• Patriotic Pinata
• "Happy 4th of July" Banner
• RWB glow stick necklaces
• mini flags on sticks
• RWB rock candy
• flag sunglasses
• RWB mini beach balls
• Flag koozies for their "near beer"
• RWB gum balls

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Memorial Day 2009

*** This contest has been closed*** This winner is a soldier currently serving our country in Iraq. Congrats!

In the spirit of Memorial Day, I have partnered with the great guys at Ranger Up to have a care package give away!!! To enter please email me at 11whiskey at gmail.com the name, address, shirt size, and branch of service of you or your soldier. The contest ends June 8th.

This package will include:

• Sweet T-shirts, hats and stickers from the guys at Ranger Up
• Pinata
• Boobie Stress Balls
• Gadsden Flag
• CD 4 pack from To the Fallen Records
• Squirt Guns and Nerf Dart Gun
• House to House, Generation Kill, and Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green
• Whatever else I come up with!

Please pass this along to anyone you think would enjoy this package!

Please take a moment this Memorial Day to remember those who have given their lives for our freedom.

Boys and Their Toys

This one is a little morale booster. Every guy has a little kid in them so I decided to send some toys to my soldier to play with. I got two of most things so that he could have a partner in crime.

Your soldier may or may not get in trouble for having playtime haha.

To get this stuff I just went down the kid's aisles at Target:

• Squirt Guns
• Nerf Dart Guns
• Extra darts- I'm sure they will get lost easily
• Water balloon Kit
• Light Sabers (the retract into the handle so they are only as big as the handle)
  
• Card Games
• Over the door basketball hoop
• GI Joes
• Slingshot Flying Monkey or Slingshot Flying Cow
  

<3 11W

Author's Note: I just wanted to make sure that people did not think I thought every thing was all fun and games. I realize most soldiers are very busy and I think that sending these fun packages would help make them smile and amuse them in the downtime they may have.

Fiesta!

Cinco de Mayo is coming up shortly so I figured it would be the perfect time to send a fiesta.

• Tortilla chips
• Salsa
• Queso
• Pinata- you know they will like hitting something with a stick
• Candy to stuff the pinata
• Sombreros
• Hot sauce
• Cardboard or inflatable cactus
• Maracas
• Ballons

To the Fallen

I stumbled across this site today and was really impressed. To the Fallen Records is a label that has artists who are veterans or active duty. I ordered the CD 4 pack and I can't wait to get it to send to my soldier. They have a CD for Country, Hip Hop, and Rock. The 4th CD is a mix of all three genres. They have some song samples(most of the songs are patriotic or military related) on the site and they sound great!

Update: They post new music on the 1st and 15th of every month.
Update again: I got the CD's! Overall they are great! I also discovered they are on iTunes too!
Here are some of my favorite songs:

Country Vol 1

• "Hero" by Keni Thomas
• "Send my Love" by Cliff Hudson- great song for anyone going through a deployment
• "Why" by Cactus Hill
• "Your Freedom's Not Free" by Bert Jones- the lyrics are great
  
• "Home Lovin' You" by Herb Walker- the song is a little bit old school but nice

Hip Hop Vol 1

• "Real Soldiers" by Logic
• "Combat Zone" by Dirty Boi Vets
• "My War Cry" by Bank- Roll
• "Soldier's Prayer" by Talisman
• "Overseas" by Syx Synce
• "For the Heroes" by FOX-1

Rock Vol 1

• "Fight for Me" by Citizen Reign
• "Sleeping Giant" by 10 Fold
• "Start Saving Me" by Mike Corrado
• My Wasted Year" by Dave Rucker
• "Come Over" by Joel Port
• "Bottled Rocket" by Stephen Covell
• "The Hardest Things" Dane Kaehler
• We'll be Together" Zach Johnson

Say Goodbye- Mix Genre CD

• "Say Goodbye" by Arez featuring Soldier Hard
• "From Here We Fail" by American Hitmen
• "Redneck Town" by Sean Bennett
• "Cut N Run" Dead End Echo
  

Hope you all enjoy as much as I do!
<3 11W

Kid in a Candy Store

This box is all about candy, especially candy you haven't eaten since you were a kid.



This site looks great for this type of package: http://www.oldtimecandy.com/

I basically went to the candy store and just bought everything I could find that I didnt think would melt HAHA.

Anyone with a sweet tooth would be sure to enjoy this one!

<3 11W

Favorites

Just wanted to let everyone know what the favorites were so far.

• Box O Boobies
• Mattress Pad, Sheets and Pillow from Home Sweet Home
• sexy calendar from If he thinks Iraq is hot...
• When Life Gives You Sand Make a Beach
  
• food
• pictures
• DVDs and books

Just wanted to note that even though they might not have time to use the packages right away they are nice to have around as a morale booster for when they do have time.

<3 11W

Easter Bunny

Here are some ideas for an Easter box.
Take a plastic bag (whatever size) put some Easter grass in it, fill up some plastic Easter eggs and place them inside the bag. It makes an Easter basket without the mess! If you feel like it make a bunch of eggs so your man can hide them around and let his friends find some too.

Other things to include:

• jelly beans
• peeps
• skittles
• gummi candy
• cookies
• granola bars
• Little Debbie cakes
  
• m&ms
• little stuffed bunny
• inflatable bunny
• cotton candy
  
• bunny ears
• find some pictures of you as a little kid at Easter so he can see how cute you were!
• have an Easter egg hunt with your kids a bit early and make a video so he can watch them find eggs
• put some bunny ears on yourself or your kids or pets and take some photos to make him laugh
• instead of Easter Bunny send him Playboy bunny stuff!

<3 11W

Keep In Touch

Everyone's Soldier is busy- so why not make life a little easier for them. Send them items that will help them keep in touch with family and friends.

• Pens
• Paper
• Envelopes
• Phone Cards
• Address Book or thumb drive with addresses and emails of family and friends on it
• Cards to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays- all he has to do is fill them out and mail them!

<3 11 W

Lean, Mean and Green

This is perfect for St. Patrick's Day or just because he likes green haha.

• green beads
• hat
• shamrock glasses
• green wig
• fake tattoos- to go with the real ones lol
• "Kiss Me I'm Irish" Shirt or other sayings
• Green M&Ms
• John Deere Items (they even make gummi snacks)
• light up pins
• "Blood Makes the Grass Grown Green" by Johnny Rico
• Green Boxers
  
• St. Patty's themed party cups just to spice it up
• a 4 leaf clover for good luck-if you cant find a real (if you find a real one laminate it my friend keeps one in her wallet like that and has had it for years) or cardboard one-just draw one on the package

<3 11W

You're Hot

Now this can be taken two ways- hot as in keeping warm, and hot as in spicy.
Both ideas are below.

Warm

• Blanket
• Hot Cocoa
• Soup
• Betty Crocker- Warm Delights (microwave individual treats-just add water)
• hand and boot warmers
• tea
• coffee
• instant oatmeal
• chef boyardee
• easy mac

Spicy

• Favorite hot sauce
• red pepper flakes
• wasabi dried peas
• buffalo pretzels
• salsa and chips
• red hots
• cinnamon candy
• big red gum
• war heads candy
• hot tamales candy
• spicy nuts
• spicy jerky
• can of spicy chili
  
• The Popcorn Factory has all kinds of flavors of popcorn
• if your soldier really likes spicy food check this out

<3 11W

Girl Scout Cookies

Its that time of the year again- Girl Scout cookies are being sold everywhere around us. Get your soldier a few boxes to share with his buddies. If you were a Girl Scout, maybe send him some old school pictures of you in your uniform lol.

<3 11W

If he thinks Iraq is hot,wait til he gets this!

** If you are easily offended this post might offend you**
Thanks to Kayla for the idea!

Are you feeling sexy today? If so send something to your man! We all know its hard to feel sexy with them not here to compliment you but it might lift your spirits to do you hair and makeup extra special and put on something cute. Take some pictures to send to your honey so he knows whats waiting for him at home! Here are some other ideas:

• pictures, pictures,pictures! you know he would much rather look at you than some girls in magazines-put them on a usb stick and password protect them if you want to be cautious
  
• hire a photographer to take some sexy pictures of you
• write your man a letter about what you would like to do when he gets home or about one of your favorite times with him
  
• if you arent that creative there is a website called Hoochy Mail that will write a sexy story for you- they even personalize it
• put on different lipstick and make him a sheet of kisses-you can laminate it to make sure it doesn't rub off
• spray your perfume on a shirt or other article of clothing so he can remember what his lady smells like- you can use this to scent the letters
  
• if you are feeling silly, get a big helium balloon and make sure it gets filled up a lot, and put lingerie on it- he will open the box and out it will float!
• x rated heart candy
• chocolate or candy vaginas or boobs (refer to previous post Box o Boobies)
  
• if you are feeling freaky send him a pair of your panties or bra
• sexy coupons he can cash when he gets home
• lotion or lube to help his "alone time"
• a cd with sexy songs on it- do a google search for sexy songs if you need some help

<3 11W

When Life Gives You Sand..Make a Beach!

We all know they have enough sand there, so to make it more interesting send them a beach!
Oriental Trading is a pretty cool site, here you can get pretty much everything you can think of to send.

• leis
• inflatable palm trees
• beach balls
• cheap sunglasses
• grass skirts
• coconut bras
• squirt guns
• water balloon kit
• flamingos
• sand castle making kit
• beach towel
• gummi shark treats
• inflatable parrot
• treasure chest
• send one of your old bikinis-you know someone will dress up in it haha
• inflatable tiki pole
• personalized banner from Oriental Trading
• string of lights (flip flop, tiki hut)
• Oriental Trading even has luau toilet paper!

<3 11W

Birthday in a Box

Send your soldier Birthday in A Box.

Go to the party store or Oriental Trading and get funny stuff like GI JOE, Hannah Montana, Spongue Bob, Over the Hill etc:

• cups
• party hats
• plates
• napkins
• noise makers
• treat bags
• streamers
• Oriental Trading has personalized banners
  
• pinata (and the treats to go inside it)
• cookies or cupcakes (keep the icing on the side)
• video of you, family and friends wishing him a happy birthday
• cake in a jar
• even a birthday cake!
• regular balloons
• helium balloons already inflated (tell them you are shipping it and to make it extra full)

Send this to him if you think he will "invite" his friends or send it to one of his buddies so that he can properly embarrass him on his big day!

Cute Little Things

Random Things to Do-this will be updated periodically

• Take a picture of yourself everyday-before you go to work or before bed etc and email or send it to your soldier once a week so its like they "saw" you everyday!
• Stars and Stripes Newspaper publishes free ads online and in print for different holidays- you can even post a picture!
• Hallmark Recordable cards-you can record your voice or anything you want for 10 sec
• Read Military Spouse Magazine's Tip of the Day- they have cute little ideas you may want to throw in your next package
  

<3 11W

Night at the Movies

** Thanks to Courtney for this idea too!**
Your man will miss lots of movies and tv while he is gone so whenever they come out on DVD send them his way.

• DVDs or TV show season
• "mystery movie"-burn a movie and dont label it, he will have to watch it to find out
  
• popcorn of course
• movie candy like twizzlers, sour patch kids etc
• you can make your own photo slide show, add music or your voice and burn it to a DVD

<3 11W

Music Lover

**Thanks to Courtney for this idea.**
Lots of people hold music near and dear to their heart. I think music can dictate your mood, help you through a hard time, or cheer you up.

• Make your soldier a cd with songs that remind him of you or you of him or songs that express how you feel
• if one of his favorite bands comes out with new music send that
  
• Buy tickets to one of his favorite bands for when he gets back and send him the tour info and let him know you both will be going
  
• itunes gift cards- thanks may or may not work depending on the internet connection- cd may just be the safest thing to send (thanks for the warning BT)
• write out lyrics to "your" song or a song that expreses how you feel, it will make it more personal to see it in your writing
• write a song for him and look for music online that goes with the words

If your soldier plays an instrument:

• customize guitar picks online
• get him new guitar strings
• make a cd of songs he would like to learn
• send a book of music
  

<3 11W

Knee Deep in the Hooah!

This package is all camo stuff.

I found these bars on amazon.com called Soldier Fuel and they were rated pretty high, they also make an energy drink. Check them out here.
There is also a product called Hoo Ahhs and they are also available on amazon.com
Another item is the Stay Alert Gum which was specifically designed with the military in mind.
Other items to include:

• camo blanket or pillow
• camo bandaids
• camo boxers
• t-shirts for their uniforms
• socks

<3 11W

Box O Boobies

Warning-if you are easily offended the following post might offend you

Everyone knows their guys misses them and especially certain parts of them haha. I have a sense of humor so I thought it would be funny to send him a box of boobies.

Go to your local adult store or research one online (Spencers has some funny stuff) and get all the ridiculous items you can, I'm sure your soldier will get a kick out of it!

• inflatable wife
• gummi boobs
• pepermint titties
• boobie ballons
• titty air freshener
• "titsbee" frisbee
• boob shaped stress balls
• vagina and boob shaped lollipops
• boob pillows
• boob or vagina shaped cookies
• some places had candy molds or cake pans or cookie cutters so you can make your own

Hope you and your soldier get some laughs out of this one!

<3 11W

Home Field Advantage

SPORTS! Most every guy loves sports so send them a package with items from their favorite teams.

• Team jersey or t shirt
• football, soccer ball, baseball, etc
• favorite tailgating foods- here is Pittsburgh the grocery stores sell black and gold tortilla chips and some football players have their own food products like hot sauce
• poster
• foam hat or finger
• pictures of you dressed up in their favorite team gear
• postcard picture of stadium
• stationary with team logo
• mug with team logo
• sometimes the local paper will put signs in it for the sports teams for people to hang up
• terrible towel (go steelers!)

<3 11W

Home Sweet Home

This package includes items to make your soldiers space more like home.
I got all of these items at Target-cheap but not crappy either.

• Foam mattress pad for their rack
• sheets
• a nice pillow (you could spray the pillow case with your perfume)
• air freshener (if you use a specific scent at home, send that)
• blanket
• pictures
• some of their favorite snacks
• a big fluffy towel and wash cloth
• plastic utensils
• tooth picks
• disposable plates,cups and bowls
• small detergent packages

Feel free to add suggestions!

<3 11W

Sweets for my Sweetie

Valentine's Day

I am sending this one along for Valentine's Day but it is perfect for any soldier with a sweet tooth.

I went to Big Lots and they have a bunch of stuff and its cheap!

• Stuffed animal or pillow proclaiming love lol
• V-Day card
• candy hearts
• M&Ms
• heart shaped cakes from Little Debbie
• heart shaped cookies
• gummi bears
• skittles
• pudding
• gum
• Box of silly valentines for your soldier to give out to his buddies
• I got a cheap picture frame that says i love you and put a picture of us in it. I wrapped it up in plastic bags to give it some cushion-hope it doesn't break!
• Any other sweet treats your soldier likes!

Also you can personalize your own M&Ms here: http://www.mymms.com/
They are kind of expensive but it looks fun and I'm sure your thought will be appreciated.

<3 11W

Sick Call Ranger

This is a package that should be sent within a few weeks of arrival but can be sent anytime. Its a box with every kind of medicine you can imagine so that when your soldier gets sick they will be prepared. Here is some stuff I sent in mine:
I just went to my local Target and got the Target brand of pretty much everything, I figured it works just as well!

• Advil
  
• a&d ointment is good for what i call a "man rash" (rash on inner thighs)
• Tylenol
  
• neosporin
• Aleve
  
• chapstick
• Band aids
  
• foot powder
• Zicam
  
• blister block from bandaid
• blister pads
• cough drops
• nyquil
  
• qtips
• dayquil
  
• eye drops
• vitamins
  
• chloroseptic throat strips
• immodium
  
• dental floss
• laxative
• icy hot patches
• kleenex
• peptol bismol
• tums
  
• moleskin to protect their feet when their boots rub
• benadryl
  
• burn cream
• vaseline
  
• athletes foot remedy
• bug spray
  
• hand sanitizer
• mini first aid kit
• flea and tick collars-these help with sand fleas
• bug bite relief
• lotion
• baby wipes

If anyone has any other suggestions please comment!
<3 11W

Shipping and Handling

Here are some shipping and handling tips that I have discovered.

Shipping:

You can get flat rate boxes mailed right to your house for free- there are specific APO boxes on the website you get a 2$ discount on the shipping fee. If the package you are sending is pretty light you may just want to use a regular box because it may end up being cheaper than the flat rate box. If you have something kind of perishable, make sure you send it priority either way. Also if you call this number 1800-610-8734 and ask for a military care kit they will send you free shipping supplies like boxes, tape and customs forms. As for the customs forms you just have to list what is in the box on there. Also do not mail anything aerosol this will explode in shipping. Porn, drugs,pork or alcohol is also not allowed. If you can get your flat rate box to weigh over 5.5 pounds (from PA) it will save you money,if not use a regular box to ship. Ask someone at the post office to calculate how much it would be to ship something in a regular box from your city to his APO. I would imagine that farther away you are from New York (where Army Post Office is) the lighter your box would have to be to save money.

Handling:

I was told is ok to ship chocolate through March but I’m not sure how accurate this is. Anything that can leak or explode or that has a fragrance you would like to preserve (or make sure everything in the box doesn’t smell like it) put in Ziploc bags.You can send fresh baked cookies and things like that. I have heard if you put them in a Ziploc or a air tight container with a piece of white bread they stay pretty fresh by the time they get there(maybe those new Ziploc vacuum sealers would be good-prob wouldn’t need the piece of bread then). Another tip I read was to wrap cookies like a log in bubble wrap or put them in a Pringles container. I know local news articles,magazines, funny articles or even a whole newspaper are nice to send and especially letters!

http://www.usps.com/supportingourtroops/

Discounts: (researching this will post more later)

Hickory Farms-ships free to APO

Military.com

4 Military Families- this site lists discounts on clothing, food, auto, services

Travel discounts

Armed Forces Recreation Centers- vacation spots that are for those in the military only

Army Times

Places to shop:
Big Lots
Target
Walmart

Please leave any comments with other suggestions!

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