Who {we} Are

Although I only have two blog posts so far, I feel it is very necessary to give the explanation of whom {we} are.

{Kylie} I grew up here in the Lone Star State. Houston has been my home since birth and I do not see that changing in the future. Throughout childhood I tried to find what “fit” me best. I went through tumbling, karate, gymnastics and eventually dance/drill team in high school. I must admit that I didn’t care much to hear about our troops or affairs overseas until far after high school graduation. My support for the troops really began when I overheard a co-worker mention Adopt A US Soldier about two years ago. On a whim, I registered to adopt my first. I had no family or friends in the military so didn’t fully understand how much support meant to them.  Let me just say this, I found my “fit.”

{Mark} He grew up in the Buffalo, New York area, far from here. While he spent his spare time swimming and being the usual mischievous teenage boy, he already knew what it was like to have family in the military. Both of his brothers enlisted in the Army and have served a couple of tours each, in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Mark saw an opportunity to make a difference and really bring some issues to light. He decided to embark on a walk across America, where not only did he gain more support for our deployed troops and returned veteran’s, but also became a very large part of my life.

{We} are a team. This team was not planned or sought out, it just happened. I met Mark here in Houston, while he was on his Patriot Walk Across America. After hosting him and showing him around town, I found that we were drawn to each other and decided to continue my support for his cause. After taking several road trips and a few flights to different parts of the country, his walk ended three months later aboard the USS Midway. I was excited to learn that he would be coming to Houston for the holidays, and would be moving here permanently after his walk up the California coast.

Now that we are here together I can only imagine what we will accomplish. We fell in love with each on his walk across America, and I can’t imagine how different things would be right now if I hadn’t learned about this crazy guy! I can personally vouch for the fact that Facebook is definitely a great networking tool (perhaps secret matchmaker), and that very good people can “walk” into your life at any given moment, changing them for the better.

The Scoop

Not enough time in a day, just not enough time. I always find myself running into the same problem. So many ideas and goals but I feel like just when I get them all gathered it is time to clock back in on Monday. I can only imagine how much more I could get accomplished if I could simply spend all my time volunteering rather than having to go into work. One day, maybe, one day.

This weekend brought on a lot of accomplishments as well as some progress in Patriot Walk Around Houston. For those of you that may not be familiar with it, I will try my best to sum it up...here's the scoop!

Patriot Walk Around Houston is taking place on March 5-12. Mark will be walking approximately 150 miles, completely circling Houston. He is doing this to rally up support for Adopt A US Soldier and our currently deployed troops. This is an effort in which we are turning into a city-wide show of support. We are looking for organizations and clubs to get involved by collecting care package items as well as schools collecting homemade cards.

We started our Friday by picking up some care package items at WalMart. Our trip included typical items such as Q-Tips, shampoos and toothbrushes/paste. A few things here and there really add up and we want to chip in some, just as others are.

Hearthstone Country Club has stepped forward and expressed a lot of interest in a benefit for AAUSS. We met with a representative on Saturday to discuss our options. It is something that we really look forward to. After the walk, we may have hundred of care packages ready to go yet we still have to cover the shipping expenses. A benefit would allow us to get the community more involved as well as raise the funds needed to get any care packages overseas. It is somewhat hard to tell whether we will have 100 care packages, or as much as 1,000. Next step in this benefit, start lining up sponsors!

We took a drive on Saturday, about 30 miles northeast of where we are located, to meet with Jennifer Kirkham. Jennifer is an AAUSS supporter that saw our information on Facebook and stepped forward to collect cards from her elementary school students. The cards were amazing! Some of them brought me to tears! These kiddo's precious words will bring joy to our troops. Here is one of my personal favorites...

Sunday came with our usual neighborhood pick up. Throughout the week we distribute our information throughout the neighborhood and offer a two hour window for pick up on that Sunday. We had a wonderful turnout this morning and now have a total of 17 full care packages ready to go out. Looks like its going to be a busy week at the post office. Here's what it finally came down to when it was all done. All purdy and ready to go!

I am concluding today with how you can help!

• Are you a teacher or district employee? You can help by collecting cards or letters at your school. These can be homemade cards or we can provide blank ones to be filled out.

• Would you like to sponsor a table at an AAUSS benefit? We are looking for $250 sponsors that will have a half table (5 seats) reserved with your individual or company information shown. We are also looking for $500 sponsors that will receive a full table (10 seats) reserved up front, with your company information shown. As the event gets closer, we will be selling individual tickets.

• Do you have a product that you would like to donate for an auction? We are looking for items that can auctioned off at the benefit. This could be a service that you provide, or a material that you sell at your store. The skies the limit!

Contact us at patriotwalkhouston@gmail.com if you are interested, or comment below.

Team America

So, I caved. Decided that a blog might be a good idea for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I tend to have some down time here and there and would really like to have a ''journal'' type collection of cool (or not so cool stuff) that will be going on. Secondly, this blog is a way to help share my experience, feelings and motivation behind my volunteerism with Adopt A US Soldier. This motivation was recently boosted (even more!) due to Mark's spark for troop and veteran support.

Team America? The combination of Kylie and Mark. Cheesy, yes, but the truth. Between the two of us we have spent a good amount of our time trying to rally up support for several different military support organizations. I have been a volunteer for Adopt A US Soldier for a couple of years and he has now joined in on the force. How we met? That is going to take up more than this one introduction blog but I can tell you one thing...he "walked" into my life unexpectedly.

Soldiers and Folgers; the two things that "keep us going." We strive to support the troops as best we can, and the coffee is a little extra to keep us fueled. Well, to be honest, to keep Mark fueled. I am not a coffee fan myself. He is easing me into iced mochas. The majority of every day has the fresh aroma of coffee, whether it be actual Folgers or whatever chicory he can get his hands on.

The soldiers are definitely the large driving force. Our armed forces deserve so much support and there are never enough thanks given. Our troops are making the ultimate sacrifice and stepping forward to serve while we are back home with our family and friends. The least we can do is recognize and express our appreciation for their service.

On Facebook today and yesterday, there was conversation about the post office and the somewhat frustrating environment it may be. There have been numerous occasion's when I am standing at the counter with ten care packages. I hear huffing and puffing behind me, as if I am inconveniencing everyone by shipping ten care packages. I ignore every time, but think the same thing over and over again. Can they really not sacrifice twenty minutes of their time to wait? Our soldiers sacrifice much more than just twenty minutes of their time. Sometimes I want to just be overly nice (possibly sarcastic) and turn to them to say, "Thank you for your support of our troops. While our soldiers are overseas serving our country, you are serving a small duty by waiting patiently as we send big *hugs* from home, in the forms of care packages."