Plebe Summer Care Packages

 

Out of all the emails with questions that I have received so far this summer, the “what should I send in a care package?!” has been the most popular question. So I thought I would throw together a few ideas for you all. I hope it helps!

Above all…send tons of letters! These were the best things they can receive during the summer…and believe me, they mean so much. Second, in each letter I tried to send pictures of something fun from before he left or even just pictures of what me and my family/friends were doing.

Food:

Keep it healthy! During the summer they are not allowed to have any sweets and such. During the academic year, send him whatever…but no candy or junk food during the summer!

 

• Power/protein/Granola bars
• Dried fruit
• Beef jerky
• Flavored drink mixes (Gatorade, sweet tea, etc.)
• Energy drink mixes
• Cough drops
• Gum
• Breath mints

 

Miscellaneous:

 

• Mini American flag (if there are more midshipmen than beds caught in a room, they could get in trouble…if they have an American flag…this somehow makes it neutral ground. Haha. Traditions.)
• White-out/Tide to-go pens
• Gold bond foot powder (even if they don’t admit it, they need it)
• Febreeze
• Their favorite deodorant
• Chapstick/Carmex
• Duck tape
• Holy cards/prayer cards (I also sent him a cheap rosary to use over the summer)
• Envelopes, paper and stamps (maybe even pre-addressed envelopes)

Make sure if you are sending both food and non-food items to seal them in separate zip-lock bags or something similar. You don’t want the foot powder to mix in with your dried fruit or anything! Blah.

Also, please remember that he/she will be receiving and probably opening these packages in front of their whole company…so don’t set it so confetti will fly in their face or cheesy sayings will be flashed to everyone within a mile-radius. Keep it simple and low-key. Don’t draw unnecessary attention.

Over the summer I sent two or three care packages, but I sent him a letter almost every day…and a couple pictures every few days. Seriously, out of everything you could buy and send them, the words and images mean so much more! ;)

 

Three weeks in…and three weeks out…

(3 Days until 2nd phone-call and 43 days until Annapolis visit).

Well, today marks exactly three weeks since Sean entered the Academy on I-Day and it is also the three week mark before Parents’ Weekend and the end of Plebe Summer.

I have received five letters from him so far (YAY!) and each of them were dated about a week or more before its arrival date (I guess it is called snail-mail for a reason). I have sent him many, many letters and pictures which he is hopefully receiving and I have been keeping myself really busy. Each member of my family has sent Sean a letter or two over the course of these three weeks. In the case of my 6-year-old sister, she has sent him a few pictures she has drawn for him (at his request). This Sunday his family and I will be getting together once again to share a phone call with our Midshipman. We are all looking forward to it!

Now as you may have noticed by my countdown at the beginning of each post, unlike most of the Plebe girlfriends, I will not be able to make the trip out to Annapolis for Parents’ Weekend for a few reasons of my own.

First off, Parents’ Weekend happens to fall less than two weeks before I am moving out of my parents’ house and into my dorm room at Franciscan University for the first time. Taking a five day trip which includes a 26+ hour drive right before moving would probably not be the smartest decision. While I am dying to see him, I kind of have to work on moving myself out and spending time with my family.

Secondly, it is called Parents’ Weekend for a reason. It is one of the last times that the parents will be able to spend some quality time with their midshipmen, and having me (the girlfriend) could potentially take away from that. Sean’s grandparents generously offered to drive me out there and his parents offered to pay for a hotel and such while I was there which was beyond kind, but they deserve to enjoy their time together as a family for the last time that they will get for a while!

Lastly, I am making a weekend visit to Annapolis on Labor Day weekend a couple weeks after Parents’ Weekend to see Sean, and I will not be able to see my family until near Halloween…so I’ve got to get in some quality time with them now! We have some family visits to make and I also have a few more shifts to work at my summer job. As I told another Plebe girlfriend recently, I haven’t been working my behind off so I look perfect for when I finally see him…I have mostly been working my behind off so I can afford to visit my Plebe (and afford college, and trips home, and food, and I think you get the picture…)!!

So in case you were wondering why this slacker was not posting pictures from Parents’ Weekend like the majority of other Plebe girlfriends will be…this is my explanation! Sean and I discussed this over a month before he left, so he already knew that it would be over two months before we could see each other once he left. We agreed that I would wait and not attend Parents’ Weekend on the conditions that he would call me as soon as he could get his hands on a phone that weekend and that I would visit him in Annapolis as soon as I got settled in Ohio! :) I am so happy for those of you who will be able to make the trip out to see your boyfriends! Be sure to tell me how crazy and awesome the weekend was! :)

I GOT MY FIRST LETTER!

(1 Day, 12 hours until first phone call, 56 Days until my Annapolis visit.)
I GOT MY FIRST LETTER FROM MY MIDSHIPMAN!  I did not think I would be getting a letter from Sean this soon.  Needless to say, I am ecstatic!  The letter I received today was dated June 29, 2013 (two days after I-Day and last Saturday for normal people) and it was postmarked July 1^st, which means they sent it right after the weekend.

We were given Sean’s mailing address about 2 weeks before I-Day.  As it turns out, the first address they sent to us was incorrect.  I found this out after I had sent my first letter of course.  Yet, according to his letter, even with the mix-up, he received the first one that I sent with the botched address.  They also told us that the midshipmen would not be able to receive mail until July 2^nd, and he received letter #1 on June 29^th.  So who knows why he got his so early!  Not that either of us are complaining about the letter getting there before it was supposed to arrive.

I sent my first letter on June 24^th, which was three days before Sean reported on I-Day.  I was not sure if it would reach him for two reasons.  First, I did not know if they would even be accepting mail for midshipmen who were not even on the grounds yet.  Second, I had sent the first letter with the company and platoon designation all wrong because of a mistake on the Academy’s side.  I think God was looking out for us! :)

Sean is doing as well as he can be under the circumstances.  He sounds tired and sad, but he said receiving my letter was an answer to his prayer.  He told me that while they were in formation right before bed, a detailer came and “plopped” the letter down in front of him.  Sean said that the letter from me was definitely needed…this of course made me feel all giddy and special.  He also included at the end of the letter a count-down for my visit to Annapolis at the end of August.

Letter #1 that I sent to Annapolis – June 24th.

Sean asked for two things in his letter which I think are probably pretty common requests: one, for me to send more letters about “the outside world”, and two, that I also include pictures.  So, send your midshipman lots of encouraging, fun, and sweet letters, and be sure to include some pictures in the envelopes on occasion!  From what I have heard, they are able to display pictures and such on a bulletin-board above their desks.

***Helpful hint: (I read this somewhere from a parent of a former midshipman, so I cannot claim credit) Mark each of your letters (envelopes and actual letters) with a number so your midshipman can open and read them in order. This will not only help them differentiate between letters easily in the little time they have to read them, but it will help you keep track of how many you have sent, which is quite fun also!  I mark mine on the back of the envelope and in the top right-hand corner of my letter right above the date.

Thanks for reading my post…and I am going to go and re-read my letter from Sean now! :)

I-Day + 4

(5 days until 1st phone-call & 60 days until Annapolis visit)

Well my version of Sean’s Plebe Summer has officially begun.  As you read in his last blog post, he and his family left town for Annapolis bright and early on Wednesday morning.  The time before the departure was a lot of fun though.  The short weeks of June were filled of great memories and lots of fun times.  We took tons of pictures, went to most of our favorite spots around our town, spent lots of time with our families, and tried to keep the mood as light and fun as we could.  The day before he left we were attached at the hip.  I cooked him breakfast, my parents took the two of us out to lunch, we watched a Disney movie, got him all packed up, went to Adoration to pray together, cried and talked things out, and just enjoyed being with each other during the time we had left.

The morning that he left, I was a mess of tears (it’s a good thing I didn’t try to do my make-up before I said goodbye).  We knew this was not the end of everything, but it was the end of this chapter of our lives that we have loved so dearly.  I was able to text him throughout the day as he and his family were driving and he called me briefly when he had a few minutes in the evening before I-Day.  Sean was able to call me one last time the morning of I-Day before he went to the Academy to report. It was a great five minute conversation, and it was nice getting woken up by my phone ringing and his picture popping up on the screen.  His parents sent me pictures throughout the day when they were able to see him which made things very nice since I could not be there.  He also recorded a video message for me which I love!  I believe that technology is going to make this time in our lives a little easier.

While he was swearing in and saying his last goodbyes to his family, I was on a plane out to San Diego to support a good friend who was getting married by being one of her bridesmaids.  While it was nice to be distracted, I thought it was going to be more distracting than it was.  I had forgotten about San Diego’s Naval Fleet and the fact that I would be staying so close to Camp Pendleton.  So really, I had just as many things there to remind me of his absence as my home did.  Weddings can also be quite a downer without your best-friend by your side.  The wedding was absolutely beautiful though!  Just, for future advice, weddings aren’t the best places to be if you are trying to keep your mind off of your midshipman’s departure…but that could just be common sense! :)

I have written Sean five letters so far, and he should be able to start receiving them tomorrow, July 2^nd (about five days after I-Day).  I have only tried sending him pictures and letters, so hopefully they will all reach him tomorrow.  Thank you for all the words of encouragement, and please keep the prayers coming!  Our next chapter has begun…

Goodbyes and Good-Times

So I-Day is tomorrow….

I’m leaving with my family on the thirteen hour drive today where there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Lauren and I may have hit a record of longest time hanging out together, with the count ending at a little over 22 hours straight.

I used to think that the last day with Lauren before Plebe Summer would be really difficult. I was right, but it was better than I thought. After much discussion and planning, I think that we have what it takes to make it through the four years. My biggest concern has been and continues to be the immersion of the Academy, and the incredible demand it takes on your time and energy. I know how a busy routine can be, and hope that ours won’t swamp us.

This is the last post I’ll actually be posting for a while, since I will soon lose my status as a human and will become that rare amphibian species called a Plebe for the next six weeks. With the wait finally over and the goodbyes almost said, the excitement is setting in. We can finally go get this thing, finally see why only 2% endure and if we make the cut. In the last few days a lot of Academy grads or spouses, all “two percenters”, have contacted us with encouragement basically telling us to chill out, it’s not that bad. Hopefully they’re right! In all honesty, if people have been doing this since 1845 with letters to their sweethearts, how hard can it be with Facetime, cars, and cell-phones?

These next six weeks are all a mystery to me but I know that they will be about as enjoyable as any other product of a cow’s butt. Hopefully they’ll get done and seem like a blur quickly…

Pray for us and wish us luck.