Deployments- Care Packages

Here is a more compiled list of do's and do not's for sending care pacakages..


What NOT to send:


Pork products, pork by-products, any alcoholic beverages, narcotics, munitions, and any material contrary to Islamic religion (porn, etc)..


Oh! Chocolate, unless it’s in cookies or something, will most likely melt, due to the high temperatures there, so I would steer clear of it..


All mail has to be addressed to a specific service member.. If it’s addressed to “Any Service Member” it will be returned to you.

Make sure not to put the country or base camp’s city on the mail, because it might go through the host country’s mail system.

When you drop it off at the post office, make sure you’ve put it in an APO/FPO flat rate box, and when being charged for it, you should receive a discount, because it’s military..

Make sure to wrap your packages securely.

Liquid filled containers tend to break if they’re large, so send travel size containers, if possible, for lotion, shampoo, etc.


Any liquids or powders place in a zip-loc bag, just in case.

Things to send:

Food:

• Any kind of prepackaged snack foods
• Apple Cider Mix Packets
• Applesauce in pouches
• Beef Jerky
• Beef summer sausage
• Breakfast and granola bars
• Brownies
• Candies that travel well, like gummy bears and licorice and trail mix.
• Canned chips, Pringles, Single serve bags of chips.
• Canned soup, any canned food they love - without pork
• Cereal, single sized boxes
• Cheese crackers
• Cheese in a can
• Chex mix, individual packets
• Chips, individual packets
• Chocolate drink mixes
• Coca Cola and other soft drinks in bottles
• Coffee, Instant and Flavored coffee mixes
• Coffee creamer and sugar, each in individual packets
• Cookies
• Country time lemonade and sweetened powders
• Cracker Jacks
• Crackers- i.e. Triscuits and Ritz
• Crunch & Munch
• Cup Of Noodles
• Dried Fruit
• Easy Cheese
• Fast food condiments (Hot sauce, ketchup, mustard, Salt and pepper packets, relish, Mayo)
• Fresh breeze or other throat lozenge
• Fruit Roll Ups
• Fruit, canned for one in pull back lids
• Gatorade
• Granola Bars
• Gum
• Hard Candies
• Hot chocolate, individual serves
• Jelly, individual packs
• Juice in pouches or boxes (i.e. Capri Sun,etc)
• Kool aid, pre sweetened
• Licorice
• Life saver candy
• Lunch box size-Jolly ranchers
• Lunchables (non refrigerated)
• Mini Marshmallows (for Hot Chocolate mix, or even just the fruity ones to snack on..)
• Non-melting candy, gum, marshmallows, lollipops
• Noodle packets-instant
• Pop Tarts
• Popcorn, Microwave packs (some units have access to microwaves)
• Powdered sugared drink mixes (Gatorades, Kool-Aid, etc.)
• Pretzels
• Pringles
• Pudding
• Raisins
• Ramen Noodle soup
• Ravioli, canned with pop top/pull back lid
• Rice Krispie treats
• Salsa and corn chips
• Shoe string potato sticks in a can
• Slim Jims
• Soup, instant or canned
• Spices
• Sunflower Seeds-individual packs
• Tea- powdered lemon tea or Iced tea mix
• Tea bags
• Throat Lozenges
• Tostitos snack packs
• Trial mix
• Tuna snack kits
• Turkey breast in pouch or cans with pop top/pull back lids
• Water- bottled drinking water.

  

Toiletries and personal items:

 *Travel Size if you can*

• After shave lotion
• Antibiotic cream
• Baby powder
• Baby wipes
• Big bath towel & wash cloth (dark colors only)
• Black Kiwi cream shoe polish (paste only)
• Blister pads
• Boot powder
• Breath mints
• Bug repellent & Mosquito Coils
• Charmex (tub style)
• Clorox/antibacterial wipes- for surfaces
• Combs, brushes
• Comfort bath body towellettes (1pkg. is 2 complete body baths)
• Cot organizer
• Cotton balls
• Dental Floss
• Deodorant, sample size
• Disposable cameras
• Disposable razors
• Dr. Scholl's footpads
• Dust masks
• Emergency toothache kit
• Eye drops
• Face cleaning wet pads
• Facial tissue
• Fly swatters
• Gel insoles
• Gold Bond (for feet)
• Hand warmers (little bag type warmers)
• Hand/Body lotion (unscented)
• Ibuprofen, aspirin, cough drops,etc.
• Insect Repellent
• Lip balm with sunscreen
• Liquid antibacterial soap
• Medicated foot powder
• Mouth wash (make sure it doesn't contain alcohol)
• Nail file and clipper
• Odor eaters (for boots)
• Parachute cord or small line for laundry
• Plastic bags, trash and zip lock
• Q-tips
• Rolaids or Tums
• Saline nasal spray
• Shampoo & conditioner, sample sizes
• Shaving cream-individual use sachets are great
• Shower shoes
• Single use cold compresses
• Skin moisturizes
• Soap or body wash
• Soap, for body and clothes
• Socks
• T-shirts and undershirts-white
• Solar shower
• Sports cream or ben-gay
• Squeeze breeze
• Standard bed pillow/ case (dark colors only) you can roll pillow-to squeeze out all the air and secure with shipping tape to keep it small for shipping
• Sunglasses
• Sunscreen/Sun block-even in winter areas, the sun can be harsh
• Toilet paper/tissue
• Toothpaste & toothbrush
• Vaseline skin care lotion
• Vitamins, multi, c, zinc, b-12, etc
• Wash cloth
• Waterless antibacterial hand soap
• Wet ones
• Wool/cotton blend or 100% cotton men's socks (dark solid colors)
• Zinc oxide
• Ziploc bags

Free Time Materials:

• Air mattress
• Balloons
• Bandannas
• Banners
• Baseball caps
• Batteries (like AA, AAA, etc)
• Battery powered fan for cot
• Birthday decorations
• Board games (chess, checkers, Monopoly, etc.)
• Books
• Crossword Books
• Dartboards
• Disposable camera – include a padded mailer with the appropriate postage so that they can mail it back to you for developing
• Electronics hand held games
• Envelopes
• Film
• Flashlight w/red lenses
• Frisbees
• Hackie sacks
• Joke books
• Journals
• Jump ropes
• Key chains games and puzzles
• Magazines (wrestling, boxing, fitness magazines, sports magazines, comic books, Mad, Field & Stream, Guns & Ammo, Outdoor Life)
• Mini hand held fans
• Mini or full size foam footballs and basketballs-- If you deflate these, they'll be easier to package; Make sure to include a pump & needle for it, though..
• Movies
• Newspapers
• Notepads
• Paper
• Pens
• Pencils (Mechanical)
• Phone cards
• Playing Cards
• Pocketknife
• Portable CD players
• Post cards from your home state
• Puzzles
• Radio headsets
• Sidewalk chalk
• Silly putty
• Single sheet sets
• Slinky
• Small Photo Albums
• Stamps
• Stress ball.
• Travel Board Games
• Trivia Books
• Walkman radio
• Word puzzle books
• Yo Yo's

That's it for now,


-Jeanne.

The Weddings

Just remembered that I promised photos of the weddings..

Well, here they are!

The family- Dad, Sharon, Ewerthon, his Mom, Dad, and Grandmother (I don't know their names..)

The first ceremony

After the second wedding

The happy couple :)

The Cake- Sharon made & decorated it herself..

She also did the flowers and decorations

A Few Words Can Make All The Difference

So, you know how I mentioned only recieving news from Josh via phone calls?  Well, yesterday, I got my first email from him..  It was only a few words, but still had me in tears.


I know I've really taken our time together for granted, growing up, but I've been trying to make every moment count.  Over the course of these deployments, the memories really help you, and while I have many, I still feel as though I don't have enough.. I intend to change that once he's home, though.


I'll be able to rest easy once he's home, which scuttlebutt says should be soon enough. 


That's it for now!


-Jeanne.

Whenever I start feeling sad because I miss you, I remind myself how lucky I am to have someone so special to miss.

River Run

So, for about the last 2 weeks, I've been in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming on my way to, from, and during the Lauglin River Run for 2010.  It was a 35 hour round-trip (from home to Golden Valley and back).

The River Run is like a huge get-together of sorts for bikers to come ride.. If I recall correctly, it's about 118 miles, from Oatman, Arizona to Laughlin, Nevada.

(Along side the Casino.. The boats providing transportation)

One of the parking lots.. It was hell trying to get back out.

It was hotter than hell in Arizona and now I'm back in Wyoming freezing to death. 

In other news,

My sister, Sharon, was married on April 17th!! I wish I could have been in Brazil for her wedding, but photos are the next best thing.. I'll get some as soon as I can. (They aren't loading)

MY MARINES ARE HOME!! They came home about 2 weeks ago, and are thankful to be home. :)  I'm so excited to have them back and we are keeping in contact.

I've also adopted 5 more Marines, and have begun to write.

If you guys know of anyone that would like to be written to while deployed (though they don't necessarily have to be in the Marines), let me know!

Thanks,

Jeanne.

It Just Takes a Little Thyme

So, who loves to cook?

I do!

Tonight, for dinner I'm making Spegghetti.  Simple enough, and delicious! :D

Here's some cooking tips:

Cook your noodles al dente, and if you over-cook them, drain the water, and then fill the pot of noodles with cold water and ice.  It may sound strange, but as long as your noodles remain warm/hot they will continue to cook, and cooling them down will stop that process.

Sauce.

I always make my own sauce.  An easy way to make this is to simply buy small cans of tomato sauce, and add your spices and herbs.. Whenever possible, use fresh ingredients.  To season a basic Italian red sauce, I use Marjoram, Rosemary, Sage, Garlic, Onion, Salt, Pepper, Parsley, Oregano and Thyme.  Oregano and Thyme are the most important seasonings- Oregano gives it good flavor, but be careful, because this is a strong herb; I use Oregano leaves.  Thyme gives it the classic Italian flavor; Try to use ground Thyme.

Meat.

If you're using beef in your sauce, you can do this a few different ways.  First, you can simply use ground beef seasonings, and brown it slightly before adding it to your sauce.  Or, you can make meatballs.  Either way is pretty simple, but it's important to remember to add seasonings & salt.  Salt is key, because you need to add enough so the flavors will soak in, but if you add too much, it will ruin the dish.  Test the sauce while cooking, until you can figure out a recipe that you like.  Honestly, I don't really write down how much I use.. I'm used to making it, and I can determine how much I need pretty easily by sight..

*I always add my seasonings to the meat, initially, to let it absorb the flavor, and then I add this to the sauce (drain the grease beforehand, of course).  After I've added the meat, I add more spices & herbs to the sauce, and let this warm over medium heat.

Serving.

Serve hot/warm (obviously) and I generally serve this with a side salad and french or garlic bread.  As always, I prefer to make my own.  Salads are pretty easy to figure out, so I'll give you a few tips for home-made bread.  When you're allowing bread to rise, make sure you've lightly greased the top of the dough, so as not to allow it to dry out (Olive oil works well for this), before setting a cloth over the top of the bowl.  It's best to keep the mixing bowl warm.  You can do this by setting it on top of your stove, while the oven is preheating... It will keep it warm, but not too hot.  Store unused loaves in a freezer bag (so it doesn't get freezer burn or lose its moisture), in your freezer, if you don't anticipate using them any time soon.

That's it for now.. 

-Jeanne.

Weekend

My weekend went pretty well.

For Easter, Melissa and I were using paints and dyes to decorate eggs and cards, although I'm pretty sure we ended up with more on us than the actual projects.. haha.

Not much has been going on.. Snow, Snow, and, you guessed it, More Snow!  Don't get me wrong, I love snow, but, honestly!  It's supposed to be Spring!

Well, I guess I should have expected as much- in Wyoming, we like to say we have 2 seasons: Winter and Construction.

For now, I have to focus alot on my schooling.. I need to get far ahead of my classes, because I'll be out of town for about 2 weeks, in Arizona, for the River Run. (Although I'm sure I'll go through shock adjusting to the warm weather, and then attempting to adapt to the cold again.. lol)  I don't want to have to make it up later.

For really good news, some of my Marines will be home soon!  (Obviously I can't say when, due to OPSEC)

That's it for now..

-Jeanne.

Winter Wonderland?

Ugh.  The weather enjoys taunting us, here in Wyoming.  We've had good weather for about a week, before it started snowing.  I swear this is a repeating cycle, but I'm always hoping that the sun will stay out a little longer.. Right now?  Right now there's a blizzard outside & I could hardly see where I was going last night, with the snowflakes whipping around in the wind.  Is the weather teasing you guys?

So much for helping Dotty out today..

I'm a volleyball player, and my sister-in-law needs help learning to do an over-hand serve correctly for one of her classes.. We had been planning on practicing out in my backyard, because the weather was nice.  Keyword: Was.

Actually, in all honesty, I would be surprised if she still came to town today..  I'm sure the roads are closed, although it's only 0600 right now. 

We'll see how things all work out.

No school or work today..  What am I going to do with myself?!?!  I'm going to have WAY too much time on my hands...

I ended up going with Ham Fried Rice, and I didn't burn down the house, so it went pretty well.

I'm not even kidding.. I've caught my stove on fire before (accident.. all 3 times.. I swear!)..  Yes, I'm very talented.. But, at least I've had lots of experience putting out oil fires, right?