Sending Care Overseas

Today was the first time I have been to my post office a few miles down my road since I was a young girl. I have passed it endless times, and never really thought much of it, that is, until this morning at 8:15 a.m.

My boyfriend called me on Sunday. The first time in 10 days, and the second time since landing in hell. We talked for about 15 minutes, about what has been going on over here, and what all he has been doing. Apparently cleaning big trucks is a 10 day ordeal. When the conversation ended, he told me some things he would like in a care package. A care package. Next to letters and phone calls to home, a soldier loves receiving care packages. Over the weekend I made my first care package of what I expect to be many.

I included the usual suspects that are enclosed: baby wipes, gatorade, toiletries, canned food, and snacks. I tried to make it special though, by placing some things in it that would separate my boyfriends care package from the rest.

I wrote him a letter about how I feel and also about what I placed in the box and why.

I sent movies that I thought he would enjoy.


I placed a box of Flintstones Vitamins,

because even though he is 25, he is still a child at heart, and loves them. I also placed a stress ball, and told him to use it when he is stressed. I gave him a nerf ball, to throw at the guys. I also sent him two books of facts. One was a book about facts of PA and another of just useless stuff. He would look at the fun fact books we have placed in our bathroom at home, take them and read them on our couch. I also put a rubix cube, and a fish bath sponge. The two best things I placed were things that I know he loves and misses back home: A huge, fluffy Pens blanket for the nights when it gets really cold, and a pack of cards, poker chips, and fake money, for when he has the urge to go to the casino.

I know that this is the first of many that I will send, so to not be repetitive of what I send, I found a website that describes different types of themed care packages to send. The site also tells you the rules and regulations as to what you are and are not allowed to send. The website is www.marriedtothearmy.com

The post office man told me that I am lucky he is in the military, because if I was sending it to him if he just lived overseas, the cost would be way more than it was. I just hope that he gets it!

Green Beer, Overseas Calls and Another Book

Last night while I was drinking my green beer for St. Patrick's Day, friends surrounding me and having a good time, I finally got the phone call I have been waiting since learning that my boyfriend had made it to Afghanistan. I constantly have my phone on me at all times, waiting to see his number from either here, in pa, or his new number he has for overseas. It was to my surprise, to see a number that was only 6 digits long call me. I picked it up, and heard my favorite voice :) We talked for a good fifteen minutes, with me filling him in on what he is missing back home, and him telling me about the new land he has seen in the past few days. I asked him whether or not he will be in any serious danger while he is there. I thought he would lie and tell me "no", and that he will be fine for the next 7 months, but my boyfriend being the straight forward guy, told me, "yeah, I'll be in danger sometimes". My heart sank, but I know that he is a strong and smart guy that will whether the storm he will face in the months to come.

We got to talking some more, and I had to stop conversation and remind him that today is not only St. Patrick's Day, but, that one year ago to the day, we had our first kiss :) We talked a little bit more on when I can start sending him care packages and when he will start writing me letters, and then he said he had to go and call his mom and dad. I miss him terribly.



After reading the book I mentioned earlier, I have moved onto the second of the three I have purchased. This new one is called "The Long Road Home". This book is different that the previous read, in that in follows not only the soldiers, but the wives and family of them as well. In this book, the soldiers are faced with an ambush in Sadr City, where many were injured or KIA (killed in action). I have about 100 pages left of this 300 some page book. I am proud to say I have only teared up twice in it. So far, I am up to the point where 4 U.S. soldiers have died, one with expecting his first son back home :( I keep on having to remind myself though, that this book is depicting real life stories, and that it isn't made up. It is sad to read, but something that I feel the need to understand more of what my boyfriend will be facing. I will fill you in on the ending when I am done.

Alrington Has a New Addition

The other day when I was reading the news, trying to update myself with that is all going on overseas where my boyfriends new "home" for the next several months will be, I turned to the local news and found an interesting fact: The last World World I Vet who was living, has died.

His name was Frank Buckles, and was buried within 50 yards of where the man he was under control, Gen. John Pershing.

My New Reads

I know that I will never know what all my boyfriend will witness and go through while he is in the war zone.  However, to try to understand a little more about what he will be going through, I went to Borders recently.  I picked up three books about Afghanistan, all ranging with different ideas and stories about the war and the soldiers that bravely battled through it.  The first book I read I finished within a day.  It is called Greetings From Afghanistan: Send More Ammo.  The author, Benjamin Tupper, was in the Army, and while he was over there, he blogged about his stories and what he all went through. This book is what his blogs consisted of.  It is a very interesting read, one that doesn't hold back what he and his fellow soldiers went through.  It talks about his good friends that made it through, and others that lost their lives.  He also talks about how it was hard for him to come back to the United States after being over there for so long.  In one instance, he states that one of his soldiers e-mailed him, saying to him after both returning home: " I would trade everything I have to be back over there."  Tupper talks about how it was hard to find the adrenaline he had experienced in Afghanistan, here at home.  He also goes into discussing the issue on why so many soldiers act the way they act when returning home.  The book opened my eyes to how I should think my boyfriend may or may not feel while over there and when coming home.  Earlier in the book, Tupper hit home to me in a sentence he said the phrase, "thousand-yard stare".  As soon as I read that sentence, I instantly thought of my boyfriend, who has shown that expression time and time again to me.  And thanks to Tupper, I now know why he would sometimes use it.

Holding Down the Homefront

Hello all.  My name is Jenna, and my blog is about my months without my Marine boyfriend home.  He is currently stationed in Afghanistan.  I know he isn't allowed to tell me much more as to where he is, so that is all I will say about his location, and moreso about how I am feeling, what I am going through, and counting down the long 7 months for his return home to the United States.

Below is a picture of him and I. We have been together for about a year.  He was in the Marine Corps when I met him, but he was on the reserves side. 

Since he wasn't active, there wasn't much thought as to him being deployed. However, this August he found out that his unit would be deploying to Afghanistan in the upcoming months. From October to February, he was more out of state than home.  For half of the month of November, most of all December, all of January, and most of February, he was gone to either Camp Lejeune, and out in California to 29 Palms, which is also known as the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center.  There, him and his unit would train for the upcoming months 8,000 miles away in foreign land.