Boxes of Love

One perk of the hubsy being deployed is being able to send him care packages on the reg.

I honestly can say that I had so much fun sending him oodles of love via USPS. It makes me feel like I’m closer to him, and that a part of me has been sent to him in Afghanistan. Truthfully, I think parts of Darwin and Luella got sent over also…like their hair. I’m sure tons of it got stuck in the packing tape and box 🙂

Joe really didn’t say WHAT he needed, but I know what my man likes, and he gets what he wants. What can I say? It’s an Air Force Wife thing.

The day I found out his address, I was hauling it to Target to stock on some goodies.

I made sure to pick up things I knew he loved, and would be missing soon.

• Fruit leathers
• Goldfish
• Milano mint cookies
• Men’s Health Magazine
• French Press
• Coffee
• Travel Mug
• Creamer
• Jerky
• Playing Cards
• Hand written note
• Cadbury Eggs
• Wet Ones

The only thing that didn’t make it was the red vines. I packed that box as full as I could. There was 19.9 pounds of stuff in there!

The USPS is my new BFF. They showed me how to fill out my very first customs form, which is actually kind of confusing. I had no idea that I shouldn’t put the country or city in the form, but the APO AE portion of the address in there. Also, I didn’t know that when shipping to your airmen you get 2 bucks off the biggest flat rate shipping box, AND you get free labels! Yeehaw!

That brings me to another point. Shipping flat rate is the way to go. If I would have shipped without this option, it would have been ten bucks more. Not a whole lot, but it adds up when you’re sending care packages every other week. More money saved = more money to spend on things to ship!

I have to say, my favorite part aside from Joe getting his box, was decorating it. Oh my goodness gracious. If the USPS is my BFF, Michael’s and the Hob Lob must be like kin to me. I had so much fun choosing a theme for this box, and had a ton more fun putting it together.

Since it was just St. Patrick’s Day, and Easter is right around the corner, I went with those two holidays as my theme. It turned out super cute and Joe got a kick out of it. Like he would get something NON glittered from his wife. Ha! Fat chance!

Joe got his box in one piece, which was like a huge sigh of relief. I was so worried something would melt or break.

I made sure to freeze his Easter candy before I packed it inside of his French Press. I also made sure I used Easter grass as a filler to cushion the blow of rough handling. Anything that could spill out, I put in Ziploc baggies. To ensure the box was sturdy, I didn’t skip on the packing tape.

…which may or may not have been pink. Alphabetsoup buyers probably recognize my signature pink paisley packing tape 😉

The best part was literally hearing the smile through a Viber text message from Joe after he opened it.

🙂