Christmas Care-Packages

It's the most wonderful time of the year.....(are you now singing the song?? Good that's where I was going with that).  Anyways, the Christmas season is upon us once again and I'm sure I'm not alone in wondering where on earth this year has gone??  Seems like I was just in Hawaii bringing in the new year.  The good part about this year going by so fast is that means we are nearing the end of this deployment!

Speaking of deployment, this blog is dedicated to Ricky's Christmas presents!! (He already knows pretty much everything in there since he requested it, so this is no surprise to him).  When Ricky was home in October on his R&R (& Part 2), he told me not to send out any more mail because there was a change he would be switching bases and he didn't want lost mail out there.  So I've been waiting very patiently for his new address and was a little saddened that it took so long.  Mainly because he now won't have his boxes until after Christmas, and I know he appreciates them whenever he gets them, but who doesn't like to open a present on Christmas day? Especially a soldier that won't have many presents to open.  But anyways, I have his new address, and his list of requests and here is the final product!

Of course I went with a Christmas theme! I added some of our most recent engagement pictures so he could hang them up on his wall.  

Christmas candy! The only thing he requested out of all this were the sugar coated fruit slices at the bottom and the Life Savers.  The rest is just stuff that I added to make it more festive.  Notice the little camo stocking on the left? Saw that at Reasor's and HAD to have it :) I got a matching one for myself.

More yummy snacks.  He requested all of these things, even the Easy Cheese. Oh and the Oreo's had to be double stuffed :) 

Some essentials. Some of this was still from when people donated stuff for his boxes.

Here is box #1 filled to the top

And I had to make a box #2 because all the stuff wouldn't fit into one.  This one got some shiny garland in it too :) 

All ready to go!  

He still isn't at his new base yet but will be within a couple weeks.  And hopefully the boxes won't be too far behind him!

Baked Zucchini Chips

Do you love crunchy flavored things but are trying to watch your carb and fat intake? Give these a try! I found this wonderful little recipe on Pinterest and remembered I had a zucchini in my fridge that I needed to cook, so I decided to give this recipe a whirl.  They really met my expectations, of course they don't taste like potato chips, but they are still really good.  


Next time I would leave them in the oven a bit longer to make them even crunchier.  


Ingredients:

• 3 Zucchinis, rinsed
• 1/4 cup Parmesan, shredded
• 1/2 cup Bread Crumbs
• 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp. Onion Powder
• 1 tsp. Dried Parsley
• 1 tsp. Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Paprika
• 2 Egg Whites

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2.  Slice zucchini as thinly and uniform as possible

3.  Place on a paper towel for at least 10 minutes to let excess moisture drain. 

4.  Mix together all the dry ingredients. 

5.  In a bowl whisk the egg whites until frothy.

6.  Place the zucchini in the egg mixture, then coat in the bread crumb mixture.

7.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes.

8.  Pull out the baking sheet and flip over the zucchini chips.

9.  Return to the oven for another 7 minutes. 

6 months to go!

Can you believe it? I sure can't! It doesn't seem like long ago we just got engaged and I had 14 months to plan a wedding...and now we are down to 6.  The good news is I believe all of our vendors are booked.  In the last 8 months I (with some long distance help from Ricky) have:

*Booked the venue
*Booked the photographer
*Booked the DJ
*Booked the florist
*Ordered the cakes
*Booked a videographer
*Booked the photobooth (can't wait for this!)
*Picked out tuxes (Ricky did this wish his best man while he was home for R&R)
*Ordered and received my wedding dress!!
*Taken engagement pics, twice haha
*Booked the minister
*Booked the honeymoon!!! (Also done while Ricky was home)
*Save the Dates and Invitations are in the works

I think that's it....that's all I can think of off the top of my head.  All that's really left is the odds and ends and cute stuff that I would really like to add to showcase Ricky and I's personalities.  Most of it is crafty stuff, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE! My mom and I did some while I was home for Thanksgiving.

Fabric flowers

Paper flowers

I can't wait to do more things! Luckily I have 6 months to just complete the fun stuff.