My Love, My Valentine

Two years ago, Chris was deployed. We were "just friends". I sent him packages and letters and we talked all the time. One day, I opened the mail box to find a stack of pink and red cards, all addressed to me. Of course, they were from Chris. I flipped through the stack and found one was special...

...so I opened all of the other cards first. Some were goofy and some were super sweet. I loved every one of them. Then I got to the last card. Again, I read the note on the back: "This one's special. Open it last." Suddenly I was nervous. With shakey hands and a racing heart, I opened the card that would change my life, the card that told me Chris loves me. Less than 3 months later, Chris was home and we were engaged.

This Valentine's Day, it's my turn to do the surprising. Of course, nothing could ever top the card that changed it all, but regardless, husband deserves something special. So I got out my supplies and went to work on my masterpiece.

I cut. I glued. I shopped. I packed.

And I created the best surprise Valentine's Day box ever. The one that will greet husband with my love when he gets back to the sand after R&R. He'll open it and pretend it's cheesey, with it's pink paper and explosion of love. But secretly, he will love it. And when he gets to the card with the note that says, "This one's special. Open it last." he will smile. And he'll remember how our love began.

On the Ball

Chris loves Halloween. It's his very favorite holiday. Don't ask me why, because honestly I have no idea why anyone likes it. I am definitely not a fan. I'm the party pooper of all things Halloween. Sorry. Anyway, even though I'm a Negative Nancy when it comes to celebrating this holiday, I decided to be nice and send Chris the best Halloween box ever. And of course I had to send it at the beginning of the month because he's just so excited he asks for it every time he calls.

So, it all started when I found some adorable spider bags...

Then I had to find some candy to go in them. [Kit-Kat, anyone?]

But then I thought, "Why stop at candy? I think those boys need some cookies!"

So I made cookies...

Dozens and dozens of them.

Peanut Butter.

Sugar.

M&M.

Funfetti.

White Chocolate Chip.

But then I thought, "Why stop at cookies?!"

So then I made pumpkin muffins! [It is fall now afterall.]

And of course, if I was going to bake pumpkin muffins, they would have to be made in the cutest Halloween cupcake papers I could find!

[Isn't that little ghost so cute?]





So maybe Halloween isn't so bad afterall. I mean, I sure had fun baking all that stuff. Picking out the cute Halloween bags wasn't so bad either. And I'm sure Chris and the guys will have tons of fun trick-or-treating for cookies and pumpkin muffins with their spider bags. Maybe putting together this whole box was enough to change my feelings toward Halloween...but probably not.

Birthday in a Box

I found out Chris' address right before his birthday so I got to make him a birthday box. Granted, it was a few days late but he still loved it! Since I couldn't send him cake, I made him cupcake flavored rice crispies! I even put them in cupcake wrappers, just so he could get the full effect!

Unfortunately, Chris said that he didn't think they tasted any different than regualr rice crispies but he loved them all the same. Today, I actually found a site where you can order a cake that can be sent to a soldier at an APO address, if you're willing to pay $59.99 that is. I think my cupcake shaped rice crispies were more awesome than that though :].