Military Themed Crafts and Fun Stuff

Aside from supporting soldiers overseas, I have a full time (and lately, VERY stressful) job, I have started the process of having a house built, I am an Ambassador for Adopt A US Soldier and I am always looking for ways to fund the many packages that we send overseas.

I look for local events that welcome us to hand out information and offer items in return for donations. The items usually consist of paracord key fobs and bracelets, and recently I have acquired some very cute military themed bows from another volunteer, Misty. She's awesome!

One of the neat things I have started recently (with the help of my very talented mother), are military themed bras. I know, some may wonder why bra’s?

It all started when we made two bras for a local charity event that raised money for breast cancer awareness. It was only appropriate that the bras be military themed seeing as to how that is our main focus. The two themes were Army and Navy.

I am going to be making more of these bras as well as two more branches, Marine and Air Force. I would like to have one from each branch made in time for a possible benefit for AAUSS in mid to late May. We will be auctioning them off to raise funds for postage costs.

Sat{hurt}day

Saturday was the first day of the Patriot Walk Around Houston. I had the honor (although my body disagrees!) to join Mark for a day. It was about 17 miles, which to me, didn’t seem that catastrophic. I eventually learned that it is quite a bit longer than it “seemed.”

We set out from Clay’s Restaurant a little after 11am. The rain had thankfully passed but boy was that wind something else. We walked north for the better half of the day so were quite wind burnt by the end. It mostly consisted of walking behind neighborhoods and the typical suburb. As the day progressed, the sun began to come out and the puddles drained, so did I. About 2/3 of the way through I finally really started to feel it and tried my best not to drag. I think I did pretty well myself, for no training or experience with walking across America.

Thankfully Mark was there to motivate me, and even held my back pack for a while when I recuperated. Yep, he had two back packs on at once! Pros of walking behind Mark: he definitely kept me going. I had no choice but to keep up, plus I could watch where he was stepping. Cons: he is fast! With his experience, and obviously longer legs than me, I had my work cut out.

Any complications? One. Construction! For a good while there was construction on both sides of one of the streets. This meant that there was no shoulder and the space to each side of the road consisted of orange barrels and mud. This definitely caused a little pain in my butt (which is nothing in comparison to the actual pain I feel in my butt today!).

To sum it up; a goldmine of dog poo (don’t ask!), gang vandalism, a few mud scares, a duck feeding, kolache stop, brief VFW visit, neighborhood tour, creek crossing and a huge interstate later…we arrived at our final destination.

Lesson for the day: don’t lay down immediately following this feat.

John's Story

Part of the importance of this blog is to share my experience with adopting soldiers, and their stories. They are each near and dear to me. I will be sharing a story about each from time to time. I will of course use fictional names. Here is John's story.

After adopting John, I sent a quick email as usual, as well as a soldier survey that helps guide me as to what his needs or wants are. Luckily he had a private email and was able to respond within a couple of days. He told me a bit about himself and after filling out the survey I was surprised to see his requests. He listed a few snacks here and there but it all summed up to be about things he NEEDED, rather than wanted. He requested a pillow because he did not have his own. He also requested a twin sheet set as well as a few toiletries that they had not had available on hand lately.

I went to the store and started collecting the items he requested. About an hour and $50 later I was packing up his two boxes. $24 for shipping costs and then his two boxes were in the mail and on their way. He received them very quickly, only 6 days later. I received an email upon his receiving. This is what it contained:


"I would very much so like to thank you for the well appreciated packages. They
both made my day they were the first packages I recieved so that was one thing.
The sheets with the fabric softner was so nice I haven't smelled anyting that
smelled that good in about three months. My soldiers were begging me for the
brownies but I told them I would share. The pillow was so thoughtful I really
needed that the store was out of them and toothpaste. Again I thank you from the
bottom of my heart the package made me feel like a kid again at christmas.
Please keep in touch PLEASE."


It nearly brought tears to my eyes after reading it. These are things that we take for granted on a daily basis. Can you imagine not having your own pillow? How about running out of toothpaste and not having the access to buy more?

I love how he pointed out the fabric softeners. I washed all of his stuff before packaging it and was sure to add extra dryer sheets so that when he opened the bags it would smell wonderful!

Two days after he had received the packages I had another email in my inbox:

"i am sorry inform you that all the things you sent along with all my stuff were in a fire in my room i lost everything ...i am borrowing things from fellow ssoldiers until i find out what the army is going to do again sorry to be sending you bad news but i needed to talk to someone because it could have been my life instead of material things or both" I am so THANKFUL that John is doing okay. The most important thing is that he was not there when this fire took place. I am also very happy that he knows that I am here for him if he needs anyone to talk to. That is what this organization is about. Being here to support someone when they may need a *hug from home*. We need to help these soldiers understand that they are not forgotten while they are overseas.

Approaching the Walk

I left off last with my horrible post office experience. That evening we began to go over every detail of the Patriot Walk Around Houston. The appropriate setting? $1.59 margaritas and .99 cent drafts at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Los Cucos. A few drinks and a page of notes later…we were ready to get back to work!

Yesterday we met with a sweet, sweet lady by the name of Alice. Alice is an activities coordinator at Treemont Retirement Community. After contacting her about our cause, she welcomed us over to talk a little about how their community could help. We left a few hundred blank greeting cards with her so that they could be distributed to all residents interested in dropping a few lines to our troops. She explained that this is a very elderly community and she was sure that they would be very interested in participating. She is going to set out a few examples of what they could include in their cards, but she did look forward to them speaking about their own service in the military. There are many veterans residing there and I hope to not only include them in this opportunity, but I would love to hear their own stories and memories they have from serving.

Now for something way cool! I received a call from the elementary school that I attended as a child. They are excited to participate and would like to meet with me to go over ideas. They want to get all of their art classes working on a neat project! It was humbling to talk with her and I may even meet with a few teachers that are STILL teaching there. Think they’ll remember me? GO Wilson Wranglers!

Today = press release. I was able to put together a press release about the upcoming walk so that the local newspapers and media are able to learn a little bit about what we are doing (and hopefully add an awesome article or story!). I have sent it out to about twenty different community newspapers in the surrounding Houston area. I knew Houston was big, but WOW, I am being reminded of just how big as I go through these steps.

We also released some information about possible sponsorships and donations. We are looking for companies or individuals that would be interested in making a small donation to Adopt A US Soldier and in return, Mark will be wearing their company shirt or logo for a day of his walk. The funds will be used to cover some shipping costs of some package we have ready to go. So far, there are 19 boxes! If you know of a company that would be interested, contact us at patriotwalkhouston@gmail.com.

We are in full swing and ready to hit the road! Mark will be walking this Saturday, March 5 through next Saturday, March 12. I am looking forward to being a part of it all. I will be walking three of the days with him. Wish me luck!

The Good, the Bad and the Worse

The good is what keeps everyone going. The good in supporting soldiers is the letter you receive in the mail, the smiles you see on their faces in pictures sent or even the quick one line email. That quick one line email may seem insignificant coming from a co-worker, friend or even family member, but when you receive it from one of your adopted soldiers it is completely different. Knowing that they sat aside a few minutes from their everyday hectic-ness (yeah I just made up my own word) to drop a line, shows just how wonderful they are.

The bad are those moments that get you down. Maybe it’s the fact that WalMart doesn’t have his favorite deodorant on clearance anymore. Perhaps it is the fact that you learned that your neatly packaged box was opened and sorted through by customs (or who knows who) along the way. Although these are setbacks, your soldier still received his second favorite deodorant. The box that had been opened while in route still made it to your soldier, even if it was missing a toothbrush or bag of chips (due to curiosity).

The even worse comes when others attempt to interfere with your support. These are the times when you feel like the odds are stacked against you. These are one of the days I have been having today.

After spending 45 minutes of my lunch break waiting in line at the post office, I was finally welcomed to the clerks counter with what I thought would be an accomplishing visit. I had one flat rate envelope, two medium flat rate boxes and I requested a book of stamps. He began by explaining to me that flat rate envelopes do not need any forms whatsoever since they are domestic. He angrily ripped up my customs form I provided and began to ring up a confirmation notice as well (which I had not requested). Although at this point I was already frustrated, I withheld and continued to be patient and courteous. He proceeded with my first medium box and was apparently not too happy with how I made out my customs form. He began scratching out items and re-writing them somewhere else. I couldn’t believe it! In my experience, I have personally had two boxes returned due to the fact that information was scribbled out on the forms. I learned my lesson and now NEVER cross anything out. Here is a play by play, give or take a word or two.

Kylie: Could you please not scribble those items out? Boxes have been returned to me due to the fact that things are scribbled out.

Clerk: Its okay, I am doing it so it will be fine.

Kylie: Please, let me re-do the form. I would hate to have it returned.

Clerk: No, really, it’s okay.

Kylie: I am not paying for both of these boxes to be shipped, knowing that there is a very good chance that they will be returned. It is a waste of money and I don’t appreciate the fact that you expect me to be okay with this.

Clerk: Well, you have done it all wrong, they will not make it there if you leave the forms like this.

Kylie: Really, so I have been filling out custom forms incorrectly for the past two years the clerks just haven’t informed me? I have filled them out the same ever since I remember and you are now telling me that I have been wrong all along…?

Clerk: Yes.

Kylie: Please give me my two boxes back, I would like to visit another post office.

Clerk: I am processing them now, they will make it fine.

Kylie: If you do not return my boxes to me right now I will need to speak to a manager or supervisor. I now have to re-do both of my customs forms due to your actions and I will no longer be mailing these today.

The cherry on top? The debit machine wasn’t working, and when he finally charged my credit card once, he realized he did not charge me the correct amount.

My advice: Hold on to that good. Take note of it more often, and show appreciation. The worse only rears its ugly face here and there but don’t let it get you down. By supporting our heroes overseas you are doing your own duty. It really shows your dedication and kindness to those who are making sacrifices that most people wouldn’t make. The truth is, most other people will not even set aside time to shop for a care package, write a letter or stand in line at the post office. You are going above and beyond to show someone else that they matter. It is our way of reassuring them that they are remembered.