Even More Carepackage Ideas

I've had many people ask me for more care package ideas. So here are some more! You can also view Carepackage Ideas and 10 More Carepackage Ideas for more. 

• Box of Sunshine: All things yellow. Cover the box in yellow paper and suns. Put in yellow candy, toys, chips (ex: Lays), etc.
• Halloween: Fill with Halloween candy, masks, glow sticks, Halloween toys, a card. Decorate with fake spider webs and spider rings, or ghosts, or jack o lanterns. 
• Hi Daddy/Mommy: Have the kids help decorate. Include homemade cards, drawings, foot prints, pictures, a card/toy with the kids voices recorded or a video. 
• Cold Weather Comforts: Include a blanket, thermal socks, thermal underwear (for your so to sleep in), hot cocoa mix, hot apple cider mix, a travel coffee mug, microwavable brownie bowls, microwavable soup, new pt cap
• Energy Boost: Include energy drinks (put them in a ziplock bag in case they leak or burst), instant coffee, protein bars, etc.
• Blue without You: Include everything with blue packaging. Examples: Red Vines, blue Monster, etc. Decorate with blue paper and write a note on the flaps.
• St. Patrick's Day: Include green bead necklaces, green sour straws, green gum, Irish Spring deodorant, and other green packaged items. 
• Orange Ya Glad _______: Include all things orange. Example: Orange slice candy, Reeses Cups, Goldfish Crackers, etc. Decorate the box with orange. 
• Starbucks Package: Include reusable Starbucks mug, Starbucks instant Coffee, Packaged cookies from Starbucks, etc.
• Space Travel: Decorate with stars, planets, moons, galaxies, etc. Include in it: glow in the dark stars, homemade galaxy slime, Mars bars, Milky Ways, Starburst, Orbit gum, star shaped candy and cookies.
• Harry Potter Theme: Include a toy wand, the Harry Potter movies and/or books, Harry Potter theme candy, and any other Harry Potter themed items. Decorate with the spells from the books, etc. 
• Murder Mystery: Include copies of Cold Case, NCIS, CSI, Bones, crime novels, any criminal movies, handcuffs (toy or chocolate) 

Recipes on their way!

As most of you know by now, I absolutely love to cook and to bake. Well, I got some family recipes and I've been trying them out. Let me just say these recipes are AMAZING. Tried and true.
Anyways, I'll be posting some over the next few weeks, along with some of my own recipes. So keep an eye out!

My Inspiration

A couple of weeks ago I ordered Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." I'm so excited to actually start working through this book.

Julia Child is my inspiration. She has such a wonderful story. She made such a big impression on the culinary world. If you don't know her story, you should definitely read up on her. She was such an amazing person.

Anyways, I'm so excited to try out the recipes in this book! I'll be sure to post about my experiences as I go. Just in case anyone is on the fence about buying the book :)

My Lazy Fun Day

The past week or so I've been kinda down. Not for any particular reason. I woke up today and decided that I was going to be happy. So I opened up the blinds on our windows, turned on some upbeat music. pulled out my canvases and decided to paint.

I'm by no means an expert painter. Heck, I don't think I'm that good at all, but sometimes people enjoy my completed pieces. Anyway, I love to paint. It's super relaxing to me, especially when I have some fun music to go along with it.

So I spent a good while working on my piece. At first I couldn't decided what I wanted it to be, so I just stared at this (please ignore my messy table)

I texted my mom and husband asking what they thought I should add. Out of the options I gave them, they both chose the Eiffel Tower. So that's what I painted.

This picture was taken while it was still wet. That's why it kinda looks funny. It's not perfect but I had fun doing it. That's all that matters right?

Shots Fired!

There have been storms pounding our country over the past few weeks. A couple of days ago a really bad one came through here. Anyone who knows me, knows that I absolutely hate storms.

Cody decided we'd watch a movie to help get my mind off the storm. It worked! At least for a little bit. All of a sudden we heard an extremely loud bang and pop (no it wasn't thunder) and a bright flash. We both jumped up, terrified. It seriously sounded like an explosion. Cody later told me he thought it was a bomb or some sort of explosion. I had thought it sounded like a loud gunshot.

We looked around the inside of the house making sure the source of the explosion wasn't inside. It wasn't. We went outside and our neighbor came out with her son and drove over. She was terrified too. None of us knew what happened. She had seen a ball of fire right after the explosion.

Turns out two trees in our back yard got struck by lightning. Most of the storm had passed when we discovered it. You could smell the burning of the tree. Luckily, nothing caught fire. But regardless, it
 was a terrifying situation. And that's the reason I hate storms.

Crock Pot Chicken Recipe

I have an addiction to my Crock Pot. It just makes life so much easier! You just put the ingredients in and let it go for a few hours and BAM! It's done and ready to eat. So I've been trying to come up with more recipes just for my Slow Cooker.
Here's one of my favorite Crock Pot Chicken recipes.

Ingredients:

•  1 8oz package of cream cheese
• 1 23oz can of Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 Packet of Italian Dressing Mix (Found in the salad dressing aisle w/ ranch mix)
• 2-4 chicken breasts
• 1 package of rice (I use chicken flavor)

Directions:

• Put cream cheese and cream of chicken soup in crock pot. Turn on low and let cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cheese and soup should combine and be smooth. 

I used crockpot liners. They make cleanup a lot easier.

• Once cheese and soup are combined, place chicken breasts in crock pot with mixture. 

• Sprinkle the tops of the chicken breasts with the Italian Dressing mix. Use the whole packet. It adds more flavor. 

  

• Turn on high and let cook for 6 hours. 
• Check and make sure chicken is thoroughly cooked.
• Cook rice according to directions on the package. 
• Serve over rice and Enjoy! 

Respect. It's Mutual.

A military relationship is a special type of relationship. It's one of those things where you don't completely understand unless you've been there. We experience things that most people would never experience in their lifetime.

Many times, those who are in military relationships tend to befriend others who are also in military relationships. It helps us to feel like we aren't alone and that there's someone who actually understand the obstacles that we encounter on a daily basis.

But now there are so many people out there who put down women (or men) who are in these relationships, or "MilSOs." There are military wives who look down on military girlfriends. My question is why? What makes the wives so different than the girlfriends? Don't we both face the reality of deployment and training? Don't we both experience the same things?

Then there's the whole "dependa" or military spouse bashing that is occurring. I don't understand why it's a bad thing for a wife to take pride in the fact that her husband is in the military. It should be seen as a good thing that she's supportive of his career choice.

We shouldn't be tearing each other down. We should be supporting one another. Sometimes, we only have each other to turn to through the difficult things that we face.