Christmas Care Package: Part 1

It should be no surprise what comes after the Thanksgiving care package. But, of course, Christmas!

Now, it was a lot simpler to find Christmas themed items than it was for fall/Thanksgiving! I ended up finding so many, in fact, that I sent TWO boxes. 

So this one is the first.

I found some great scrapbook paper at Hobby Lobby. The 12x12 paper happens to be almost the perfect size for the box flaps, if you cut them in half. The papers I picked out had a lot of writing on them, so while they were pretty, they unfortunately made the words I added to each flap hard to read.

Here is the box as a whole:

See? Hard to read from afar...but I snagged some close ups so you could get the whole idea.

The words are lyrics from one of my favorite Christmas songs...which is saying a lot, because generally, I HATE Christmas music!

Merry Christmas, Baby by Brighten.
(Give it a listen while you read on...)

Merry Christmas, baby

The only thing on my wishlist: maybe you could come back home to me 

(still hard to read in the picture, but looks better in real life, I promise)

'cause it's the season for us to be together again

I also found the stickers at Hobby Lobby in the scrapbook section. They all happened to be 50% off as well, so that was a bonus!

And after cutting out the words for the Thanksgiving care package by hand, I decided a Silhouette (think Cricut--or if you're not familiar with that, a cutting machine...they are crazy cool...but maybe I'll write more on that in another post) would be a good investment. So that made the lettering much quicker! 

Now for what I put inside. Part one of my Christmas care package includes:

-- a Hickory Farms Meat and Cheese box

-- a plastic candy cane filled with Sweet Tarts or something of the sort

-- a box of Christmas Nerds

-- a box of Christmas (candy) Dots

-- a box of Christmas Fun Dip

-- A Christmas tin (also from Hobby Lobby) filled with Swedish Fish and Sweet Tart flavored candy canes 

-- Phase 10 the card game

-- a large package of Beef Jerky

-- a large bag of gum

-- a Polo Assn watch

-- a small Stocking

-- a set of Christmas DVDs (Elf, A Christmas Story, and National Lampoon's Christmas vacation)

-- a bottle each of his shampoo, body wash, and deodorant (not pictured)

And two of my personal favorites:

I found a small stuffed animal on Amazon...which happened to be a Bernese Mountain Dog. That way he can have a mini Gatsby! 

I filled a flash drive with new movies, music, pictures of us and home. And books for Scott's Kindle, since he really doesn't have enough internet access to upload anything himself. I also put episodes of his favorite TV shows that are currently in season on there...obviously he wouldn't get to watch them otherwise.

But that's just part one. Part two is still to come! 

Murphy's Law of Deployment: Lesson #1

There's a phenomenon, if you will, commonly experienced by spouses with deployed service members called "Murphy's Law of Deployment." Don't know Murphy? Allow me to introduce you. He's quite simple. His only rule is: "Anything that can go wrong, will."

And of course, when your other half is away...specifically, the other half that is known to take care of you know, the stereotypical problems handled by men (such as the mechanical, electrical, etc.) that's always the most opportune time for things to break.

I experienced my first run in with Murphy a couple of weeks ago. I have been moving Scott's truck among the "guest" parking spaces throughout the condo complex. We only have two assigned places to park, our garage and our specifically numbered spot. So with a roommate and 3 vehicles, of course the gas guzzling truck is the extra that just needs to be moved from time to time, because we can only park in the same guest spot for 3 days straight.

Anyway, I went to move Scott's truck a couple of weeks ago, and nothing happened. I couldn't even unlock the doors with the key fob. I put the key in the ignition, and it wouldn't let me turn it one bit. I figured it was just a dead battery, at least I was hoping as much. So I popped the hood. That's where problem number two came in.

I had tree branches in the way of my even getting to the middle to unlatch the hood. So after crawling under the branches, I had to strong arm the hood open past the branches. I probably looked like a bit of a maniac with my hair all crazy with leaves and twigs sticking out. But I was able to get it open.

I went and got my car, and luckily, because my dad had given us some when we hauled our car out here on the back of the Uhaul, I had jumper cables. What the picture doesn't show you though, is that there is a curb on and small grass area on the right side of the truck. And of course, the truck battery is on the right side. The parking spots next to the truck were open though, so I pulled the car beside the truck. Open the car hood, problem number three.....the car battery is on the LEFT side of the car. I tried to get the jumper cables to reach, but they wouldn't. But I was able to re-park the car diagonally, and just barely got the jumper cables connected to each respective battery.  

So as I'm trying to jump the truck, I see smoke starting coming out of the engine. Oh boy. Luckily, it was just due to bad positioning of the jumper cables. Apparently, electricity heats up metal and heated metal doesn't mix with the coating on the wiring in the vehicles. So I fixed that, and after a few minutes, went and started the truck.

I was feeling pretty relieved and somewhat proud of myself, until I went and tried to disconnect the jumper cables. I tried again and left them connected for about 20 minutes, trying to get the alternator to start doing its job, but the truck kept dying when I took the cables off. After about an hour and a half of messing with it, I was feeling frustrated and I really didn't need the truck for any reason, so I just decided to leave it be for now.

Skip ahead to yesterday, when I decided that calling a mechanic would be too pricey, and of course, after consulting with my dad, we both figured replacing a battery couldn't be that hard, so I might as well do it myself. So I went to Walmart, bought a battery and a ratchet set. It was too dark by then, so it had to wait until today.

Today, I got the battery and my little set of tools and went out to the truck. Having to repeat the whole process of getting the hood up through the tree again. It was surprisingly simple, and I didn't even have to consult with YouTube or Google. 

 Not that you can really see from the picture. But there is my dash, all lit up and working properly, truck running.

So thank you, Murphy, for teaching me that you really have no power. You don't scare me.

The whole minor set back was really a great lesson for me. As simple as it may have been to fix the battery, I never would have done something like that if Scott wasn't deployed. I am thankful for a God who made me independent and capable of keeping my head in uncomfortable situations. I am thankful that I had another vehicle so I wasn't late for work. And I'm thankful for being allowed to try something new (check!) and accomplish something such as getting my truck running, mostly on my own (thanks for the assist, Dad). Thank you Lord for making me much more capable than I knew and making me stronger through the process.

I'm sure there will be plenty more opportunities throughout this deployment for strength and growth. Who knew a truck that wouldn't start could be a blessing in disguise.

Deployment Bucket List

Going into this deployment, I was no stranger to my husband being away. We have been together almost 3 years, and maybe spent about 6 months of that time together. I was all too familiar with the sadness and loneliness that can consume you if you let it. I have to say, I wasn't so good at being away from my husband the first 5 months we were married and only saw each other on weekends. Now, while I don't think I'll ever be good at it, nor do I want to, I was at least a little more prepared this time around. I decided to make a list of goals--a bucket list, if you will--to give myself something to focus on and fill my time.

This time around, I do have a full time job and a new roommate to help keep me from moping around in my pajamas all the time. But I figure the more I fill my time and keep my mind occupied, the faster time will fly by and Scott will be coming home again.

So without further ado, in no particular order, my deployment bucket list (so far):

1. Get into shape and feel good about the way I look.
2. Sew a piece for every pattern I own.
3. Use my smash books
4. Get my teeth taken care of
5. Pay down our debt
6. Repaint and sell my desk
7. Make at least 1 piece of furniture
8. Get Ruffled Blues up and running
9. Blog more
10. Try something new.
11. Get a decent tan
12. Start learning a language
13. Read at least 3 books
14. Run a 5K
15. Learn how to surf
16. Repaint my dresser and nightstand
17. Buy bedroom furniture
18. Redo and sell tv stand
19. Plan a vacation for when Scott comes home
20. Get healthier looking skin
21. Train Gatsby
22. Send at least one care package a month
23. Decorate and furnish the apartment
24. Go to the beach at least once a week
25. Study the Bible
26. Build my relationship with the Lord
27. Start learning how to play the guitar
28. Go somewhere I've never been before
29. Build up our savings account
30. Have at least one day devoted to Random Acts of Kindness
31. Journal

It may be a bit ambitious with a full time job, but I am going to have plenty to keep me busy. May as well get to work now then, eh? :)