Imagine being overseas away from your family and your home for months. That’s what most people think about when they think of soldiers deployed. But what they don’t normally think about is how the soldier also has to part with a way of life they’ve been accustomed to for decades in their home country. I’m not just talking about exciting things like their favorite restaurants or places to visit. I’m talking about even just the mundane things they don’t have access to: their toothpaste brand preference, their favorite shampoo, or even a good set of nail clippers. This stuff seems boring to us, but it’s a dream to military personnel stationed in a foreign country with no availability to purchase goods they normally would in their home country. One thing many small organizations decide to do is put together shipping boxes full of goodies to send to armed forces deployed in foreign countries. The organizations ask for donations of commonly used items that we often take for granted. These heavy shipping boxes are stuffed to the brim with goodies for the soldiers. Hair gels, combs, floss, socks, and even candy fill the boxes. Sometimes the locals even throw in things to remind the soldiers of home: pickled vegetables, popcorn, pictures, and newspapers. This is a nice piece of home for the military personnel to hold on to (or immediately consume if it’s something yummy).
Another thing many people add to their packages are cards and letters explaining their gratitude for the soldiers’ bravery. Little kids draw cute pictures and cards while adults write heart-felt thank yous to people who would quite literally give their life for our safety. This is a nice addition to the care package as often times the soldiers want to write back to the people who send thoughtful letters and gifts. Writing home gives the soldiers an extra connection with the people from the organizations who sent the boxes. It often feels like the war is something intangible to us because we do not witness it every day as these brave men and women do. They fly around the world to protect our country and many other innocent lives around the world. Often they endure many hardships and discomforts living in a foreign and many times desolate area. These little tokens of our gratitude show the soldiers how much we care and support them on a daily basis.
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Weddings. They’re expensive. And not even just for the bride’s family anymore. It seems more and more often that the groom’s family takes on some of the financial responsibility. Or even more common now is the two who are getting married are the two paying for the whole shindig.
You know who else has taken on a lot of extra expenses? Bridesmaids! Even before the wedding we have the engagement party, bridal showers, and don’t even get me started on bachelorette parties now. A friend of mine recently shared his thoughts about an app that was solely used to plan bachelorette parties. It was just texting, Yelp, and a calendar all in one application. You really can’t think you need to download that app. But, anything for the bride. You may do anything to make the bride happy. But an added expense you just cannot justify a $300+ bridesmaid dress. It's fine that the bride wants to spend thousands of dollars on her dress on a day when everybody is going to be focusing on her. That is understandable. But not the bridesmaid dresses. No one cares what color or fabric the bridesmaid dresses are! As long as it fits the overall theme of the wedding you can be sure it’ll look just fine. A solution. Online bridesmaid shops. You can choose a color and a fabric to stick to and you could instantly scroll through hundreds of gorgeous dresses priced between $80 and $140. It will be surely an exciting feeling for you to buy a dress online with custom measurements for just $80! You can have your spouse take your three measurements, plugged them in, and the dress is going to be ready in under a month. Each of the bridesmaids will get their dresses in shipping boxes in under two months. All without breaking the bank for some obnoxious dress that you surely would never wear again. The point of spending just $80 is that you are not going to wear that wedding dress again because this is just how it happens. With a few quick google searches you can find a website where you could resell bridesmaid dresses. Not only can you save money on a cheaper dress, but now you will be able to resell the dress for half of what you would have bought it for. And it will only be a loss of $40 on that sucker. You can even sell many of your dresses this way. |
Geovanni Melendez
I like to write about lifestyle and organizing.
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