25th Birthday Tea party!

A few months after I got to NJ it was Christmas. I was helping my Aunt take all the Christmas China from the cabinet; That's when I found the most beautiful tea set I've seen. That's when I decided to have a tea party for my 25th birthday. I started to look on pinterest and other tea party websites. this is what I came up with:

 This is the main food table

This is the other table in the living room

   
     My theme was rose color and a hint of Alice and Wonderland. The picture above, I bought Alice in Wonderland paper from the original book, door knob and key hole, the heart keys, and the aged cards I got off of Etsy.

The beautiful invitations I got off of zazzle 

Napkins:

Broach I got off Etsy.

Bar pins I got at Michaels

 

Hot glued the pins onto the back of the broaches

Rolled up the rose colored napkins I got off Amazon and

pinned on the broaches

 

I made about 10 of them

 

 

 

 

Table Cloth: 

 I bought Rose color solid table cloth and then put

a white lace cloth on top.

 

 

 Chairs:

I bought bows like you see at weddings; added the perfect pop to the chairs.

 

 

 

 

 

Strawberry Pizza:



Oil the bottom of the cupcake pan. Put a small ball

of sugar cookie and cook for about 5-7mins but

be sure to check frequently cause it burns fast

 

 Cut strawberries small, add sugar and put in the fridge for 24hrs

(optional)

add strawberry cream cheese, and the sugar covered

strawberries on top. Taste sooo good

 

 

 

Banana Pudding:

I found little appetizer cups and spoons at Party city.

Crumble pie crust, add a few thinly sliced bananas, then vanilla pudding,

then a few sprinkles of crust for the top. yum!

 

7 layer dip:

Bought tumblers at the store, perfect size for

individual portions of dip.

1. refried beans 2. guacamole 3. sour cream 4. salsa 5. grated cheese 6. olives 7. tomatoes 

 

Cucumber sandwiches:

In FL there is this grocery store called Publix. They make this bread

called Rainbow bread for back to school. Its just italian bread

with food die. we used cookie cutters to make flowers and butterflies.

inside is cucumber slices, mayo, cream cheese and garlic salt.

 

 

 

Other appetizers we made were croissants, strawberry butter, cupcakes, Pillsbury strawberry lemonade cookies, Pinwheels, chips, salsa, fruit, veggies, and tea

 

 

 

Strawberry butter:

   - Stick of room temp butter

   - strawberry preserve

 

mix the two together and wa-la strawberry jelly which tastes amazing on warm croissants

 

 

Here is more pictures of the layout :)

 

 

 lamp shades (David Tutera), candle holders, tooth picks, and lanterns I got off of Amazon.

Alice in wonderland Tea cup and saucer:
take a porcelain cup and saucer and draw on the dish with sharpies. put the dish in the oven and set the oven for 350* for 30mins. when the timer goes off turn off the oven and allow them to cool with the oven. now the markers are baked onto the glass. hand wash only to make the colors last :)




 Love you all,

 

The few inbetween

It's getting closer and closer till Zack comes home. Oh boy am I ready. In the beginning I felt excited because that's money to pay off our credit card (which is only for emergencies or plane tickets) our TV,  mattress and my student loan (which we did... cue the happy dance) but there is a lot of anxiety, what if's and the unknowns (HATE the unknowns) that you feel before they leave. I know for Zack and I, the past 2 deployments we would kind of distance ourselves a month before he left, and we would get into fights about silly things. This deployment I had to pack up the house pretty much by myself. He work 12 on 12 off (12 hrs of working straight, sometimes 13hrs) which meant when I got off work of my part time job I had to go straight into packing up our 2 story house, which was a fight all its own. On the weekends him and his friend would fix up his truck so he could sell it, which seemed like a month of them taking it apart, cleaning everything and rhino lining the bed of the truck. I was getting very annoyed, sometimes I even caught myself saying "will you just deploy already?", then leave to go to the gym or work. That sounds horrible but the hole situation was very stressful and this was his 3rd deployment; I was over him leaving me for 10+ months at a time... I just wanted HIM! The last week was emotional on another level... kind of felt like a break up. I was packing my stuff, he was hauling it all away, and we were hardly talking. My heart ached. After he left I was at the house cleaning up everything... again I was stressed out because not everything got done the night before and I felt like he left me with EVERYTHING, I just broke down and started crying while cleaning. It wasn't fair I felt, I had to clean the hole house, I had to make the last minute storage unit runs, I had to sign back over the house, I had to take care of the animals now by myself, and I had to move to another state that I've never been too (I was moving to NJ with my dad). I felt alone and miserable and no one in the world could ever possibly know how I was feeling.

*Let me tell you, everything you feel is perfectly normal even if you feel alone, there are thousands of spouses and significant others who are going through the same thing as you.

After I got on the road I was doing ok, I got to see my family and I was ready for this new adventure! As the months progressed I got a job, made a friend or two and hung out with all my family up here in NJ. I was having a good time, hated my job, but having a good time. I got on a new schedule day to day, visited my sister in CT a few times, and met up with a few military friends who were in NYC, so, we got to hang out all day and have dinner. I went on a train for the first time, went on the subway, took a million pictures, met a few celebrities, went to a live showing of a tv show, and saw time square... life was good

Such a beautiful city

Kelly Ripa

Michael Straham

 1st subway ride 

 Grand Central Station

 Christmas tree

 Time square

 My friends I met up with

 Fathers girlfriend and I on the FAO piano floor

Family friend works as the manager so we got to try all sorts of goodies :D

 

*Sometimes I felt guilty that I was having fun and couldn't email Zack right off the bat but that's perfectly normal too. They want you to have a life while they aren't there, they love hearing stories from you... they are living through you!

 I felt a few times I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs... I tried to pay the bills and one time I needed to talk to the company and they refuse to talk to me because I'm not on all the accounts just yet, So I couldn't get anything done that I need to because its a hassle driving 20 minutes to the library or staples to fax over my POA in a busy town. His 2nd deployment I was trying to buy a car and I faxed over the wrong POA (I faxed the housing POA first) and I got red flagged, so even when I faxed over the correct POA they wouldn't help me. When calling navy federal, your POA only last 24 hours so I had to constantly send them the POA. Finally, after yelling and screaming and calling them a thousand times I gave up and just drove with my sister in law to Miami (3 hrs away was the nearest navy fed from my house in FL) walked in, showed them my ID and POA and then got the loan right then and there.... I wish I would have done that first. That was a ruff week and my husband wasn't able to call because he was on a boat with 3,000 people and 2 working phones.

Coming up to the last couple of months of deployment is ruff again. I miss him like crazy and we only have a few months standing in our way. Today was my last day of work. My mom and sister are coming up from FL to help me move back to NC. Im so excited... the quicker we move back the quicker he comes home. I am so irritable right now; Everything makes me mad or upset. I am such a happy person so this isn't in my character to act like this. I just want to sleep all day and never get out of my bed.

Sister and I in central park

 

On the way home to NC we stopped at Washing DC for a few days. It was A LOT of fun!!

 



 

 

 Easter egg hunt at the White House

 Science museum

 Hope Diamond

 My beautiful mom

Pretty church with all the Cherry blossoms

 



*It is crucial to keep your self busy; the busier you are the less time you have to think about your situation. that's the key... ALWAYS stay busy, time will go by fast and you'll spend less time thinking about him. Its ok to not think about him every two seconds, I promise!

*Don't ever feel guilty for any of these feelings. This is all the process of deployment. When he comes back, its normal to say things like MY stuff, MY house, MY kids etc. you spend the last X amount of months fending for yourself, making a new schedule/routine, and doing things by yourself. Just remember that it will pass and you'll have a new routine INCLUDING your significant other. Remember he will be stressed and not the same when he comes back, just as you wont be the same to him either. It will take some time but everything will be ok! Keep your chin up and there are numerous way to fix that and people who are willing to help you and talk to you after deployments. Talk to your FRO (family readiness officer) and they will help you with any feeling that your feeling or any thought that you have. They've heard everything, don't be afraid to express your thoughts and feelings, they will help! Also, if possible try and surround yourself by family and friends during this time, even though they might not know what you are feeling, they will listen and that's what you need to do, talk about it, be open with yourself!


I found this online and it breaks it down for you

If you have any question, comments, or a story please let me know :)

Love you all,

Valentines day for the deployed

The holidays were hard enough with out our loved one... now coming up is the most romantic holiday of the year. Lets try and make them feel like they are home and with us on this day. So, what travels well? What's unique? What wont he hate? I have scoured through the inter webs and came up with a pretty decent list to start your valentines day package.

What travels well:

• Not chocolate. That's the one thing you think of when it's valentines day. I know, that puts a damper in all the gifts I was thinking of too!
• Hard candy
• Home made cookies- They will travel pretty well. they might be stale a few days after he gets them but if you seal them in a Pringles container or well sealed Tupperware, they should make it. On the upside, if they happen to not stay fresh, stale home made cookies are better than anything that they are eating out there, I promise.
• Cake- Mason Jar cake to be exact. Just make sure that you use bubble wrap and news paper and anything you can think of to protect that glass.... shard glass in cake doesn't sound fun.

What's unique:

• Anything home made. Cards, scrap books, picture frames, any pictures of your hometown, kids, and other familiar places and faces. If your not that creative Shutterfly makes this easy. Just upload all the pics you want, pick out the colors, theme, choose the picture you want on the page and it does everything else for you. Pages and pictures are of great quality too. 
• Calander- good idea if he just deployed. you can put every ones birthday, and special holidays or events to celebrate. They loose track of time out there so this will really help them out. Also, you can get on Shutterfly and add pictures to each of the months to make it extra unique.
• Pillow case. Find the highest thread count, and softest fabric, spray his fave perfume of yours on it (load it up). Place it in a plastic bag and tie it really tight so the smell stays on the pillow case. When he opens it he will get a wall of your perfume and should send him tons of memories of you!
• Teddy bear. Sounds lame but go to Build A Bear and you can add your voice to the bear and say cute sayings to him. If he's staying anywhere like where my husband is, its hard for him to call or Skype so all he will have to do is push the bear's paw to hear your voice :)
• Video- cant go wrong with a video of you telling him you love him and his family saying hi, kids playing in the yard, or your dog licking the lens. Edit them together and add his favorite song; it will defiantly bring a smile to his face. I did this for Christmas for my husband one year of the snow falling, friends that were home for the holidays that he hadn't seen since high school and us decorating the tree. He said that was the best present he ever got. :)
• Photo blanket of you and loved ones- I got one for my friend from Walmart online with a collage of her family. They are decently priced, really soft and warm.

What he wont hate:

• Anything he needs. i.e a new watch, sun screen, new sheets for his bed or a new camera
• Snacks- granola, chips, hard candy, gum, mints, microwave mac and cheese, Jerky, and his favorite cereal
• Recreating his favorite dinner. For Thanksgiving this year I did a recreation a turkey dinner which included turkey jerky, sweet potato chips, dried cranberries, Dole cinnamon apple crisp (its a play off of the Stoffer's cinnamon apple sides) and load baked potato Pringles

Mason Jar Cake Recipe:

• 6 mason jars
• Cake mix, and the ingredients on the back
•  Cooking spray (Pam) 
• Bamboo skewers
• A rimmed cookie sheet

- Preheat the oven as directed on the box

- Make the cake batter as shown on box

- Grease the inside of the jar with cooking spray

- Fill the jars to just below the one-cup mark. make sure you wipe down the jar real good so there isn't any excess batter

- Place the jars evenly spaced on the cookie sheet.

- Bake the cakes until a bamboo skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. They say 15 mins less than the box directions but I've read that it actually ends up being longer, just keep an eye on them. Mine took a lot longer than what the internet said.

- While the jars are still hot, place the seals and rings on the jars; the seals and rings should be at room temperature or warmer. Make sure not to tighten the rings too much. Within 15 minutes the lids should seal themselves so the center button can no longer be depressed. Add a cute scrapbook tag or decorate it and your done

 

 

 

 

As always; For every package:
Their favorite:

• Shampoo/body wash
• Colone
• Tooth brush/paste
• Snacks
• Baby wipes
• Pictures
• Playing cards
• Video games
• Movies
• PC computer games
• Powered juice (for water bottles i.e. crystal light, gatorade, mio)
• Vitamins
• Air activated heating pads
• Paper and pens (incourage writing letters instead of emails)
• Local news papers
• Magizines
• And anything else that will help them feel like home

Also, get creative, decorate the box.. with stickers, markers, construction paper... :)

-enjoy