Armed Forces Day is Tomorrow

which means I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!!!

Right now I feel like a kid on Christmas and I can hardly believe that this day has finally come.
Where I live at we do something called a "bridal dance". Your guests pay a dollar (or however much they want), get a shot, and dance with the bride or groom for a few seconds. We are going to donate all of that money to Soldier's Angels which I'm looking forward to! One of the groomsmen is a Wounded Warrior (hence our fund-raising for this in November) and also benefited greatly from Soldiers Angels so we would like to give back!

We are leaving for our honeymoon early Sunday morning but I'll be sure to post a few pictures and how much we raised when we return!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

<3 11W

2010 National Guard Half and Full Marathon

I know, I know, it's been a long time again but things have finally started to come together for us!

This weekend we traveled out to Lincoln, Nebraska for the National Guard Marathon. I did the half- he ran the full as part of the PA Guard team. It was an AWESOME course and I kicked my old PR's ass by 14 mins! I'm still on the slow end of things but it really felt great to see such an improvement. Dan did great as well and is now a proud member of the National Guard Marathon Team!

This team is comprised of both Army and Air Guard members who will travel across the states to compete. This means more half marathons for me too! I am really looking forward to this experience and will share it all with you.

The weekend in general was great. I flew in Saturday morning (stupid work) and was surprised at how nice our hotel was. We stayed at the Embassy Suites (as did the rest of the Guard runners) which was convenient because the expo was right there. I always look ridiculously bad in the pictures during the race so I'm always trying to figure out how to look cuter ha. I found these sweet headbands (totally got the fuchsia sequin) at the expo and was pretty pumped to sport* one the next day.

Afterward we walked around the town a bit and they were having a really awesome farmers market just a block away from our hotel. We picked up some great honey fresh from bee farm(?) just down the road. Also got some Nebraska wine which we have yet to try and a magnet for my cube flair at work.

Here are some photos from our weekend- enjoy!









*sport-I'm a bit goofy and believe that certain things you "sport" and other things you wear

<3 11W

Absurd!!!

Court orders father of dead marine to pay the legal costs for the Westboro Baptist Church who protested his sons funeral!

Read more about it here:
http://www.military.com/news/article/marine-dad-must-pay-westboro-court-fees.html?wh=news
and here
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-westboro-legal-fees0331,0,17549.story

There are no words to express how much is wrong with these people in this "church". They frequently protest soldier's funerals and hold signs that say "Thank God for Dead Soldiers". I don't know who their god is but I know mine would not wish death upon soldiers or the sorrow that their families feel for the rest of their lives.

This group was the reason why the Patriot Guard Riders was founded. They form a barrier around the funeral and hold American flags to keep the protesters away.

Please spread the word about this injustice and pray that this ruling gets appealed.

<3 11W

Easter 2010

As you can see the Easter Bunny stops everywhere :)

In addition to Easter 2009 ideas here are some fresh ones:

• if your soldier is religious you can send them items in order to help them celebrate this time of year
  
• they sell little egg shaped cupcake tins and you can decorate them like real eggs
• send items that your soldier can pass out to the local children and act as the Easter Bunny even though it is not celebrated overseas
• make a basket that does NOT include candy- think of other items that might be enjoyed like books, magazine, music, or a photo album

Any other suggestions? Feel free to comment! I'm a little rusty on the ideas!

<3 11W

Its Been Awhile- A Long While

Its been brought to my attention that Ive fallen off the blogosphere and I apologize! Life has been CRAZY for the last few months. Here is a recap:
bought a house
moved into house
car got totaled while parked in front of house
bought new car
work
wedding stuff
running a bit

but most importantly I will get back to carepackaging!

My soldier's angel has returned home and after the wedding i will sign up for a new one.

In other news Dan has made it on the PA National Guard Marathon team and will be competing for a spot on the All Guard Team 13 days before our wedding! I am very excited to see how this turns out!

Well I'm out for now and Easter is coming up... lets see what I can think of to spice up last year's package

<3 11W

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 :)

<3>

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

<3>

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.