Christmas in September

My in-laws told us that they put together a package for us, and after spending a ridiculous amount of money to send it (no REALLY, IT WAS SILLY $$$). It began to make it's journey across the WORLD (dramatic much?).

It came really quickly, which I'm not complaining about, just surprised about.
I am the type of person who, when gifts and surprises are involved, I CRAVE them. I think most of the thrill in getting gifts is seeing a wrapped, unopened packaged sitting there and knowing that there is something for you! You don't know what it is, but it is going to be awesome, and you can just feel it. Because you can only open it and be surprised once!

Ross picked up the package at school and I was pleasantly surprised that we didn't have to pay any dues or customs on it. Maybe the postal worker in the U.S. passed along the message that the Petersens had already promised their first born grandchild as payment for shipping, so they decided that would suffice. Sorry about that Gabi.

I asked Ross if the package was heavy and he shrugged and said, "Kinda." I guess he must have been trying to be tough because, it WAS heavy! :)

We had to wait a long time to open it. I went to a meeting/lecture on campus, met Ross afterwards, waited almost and hour for our bus, came back to the apartment, then ran over to an incredible friend's to use her magic bullet for a recipe for the swap Wednesday morning... then FINALLY came back.

Ross tried to open it before I left to use the magic bullet and I got a little crazy and yelled that we had to wait.
And we opened the box... it was like Christmas, Christmas everywhere! I got to work reading the note they included and throwing stuff around my un-made bed like a 6 year old.

They sent us a TON of popcorn, which makes me happy because popcorn just distinctly reminds me of both the home I grew up in AND the Petersen home. I got to work right away popping some popcorn.

And Ross got to work, getting back to work, but happy he had a buttery salty snack.

As I was looking through the package and figuring out how to ration it over the next months I realized that this package is full of all my favorite things. I'm not a female who is overly crazy for chocolate, instead I LOVE gummies. I absolutely love Red Vines and Mike & Ikes. It really touched me when I realized that my mother-in-law remembered! It feels good to be the favorite. Not just daughter-in-law, but also the favorite of all the Petersen children! ;)

I ate them all at the same time, boxes included! Kidding. I'm even rationing these, but I couldn't resist diving into one of the boxes of Mike & Ikes.
And they sent my favorite chocolate chips! Should I stare at them in the fridge? Or eat them plain? Or try and decide what to bake with them?
I'll just cuddle them at night with my teddy bear while Ross stays up studying.

I told Ross to hold up what he was most excited for in the package. Of course the Peanut Butter Kid would choose the cookie packet! And popcorn.

Also we got some pretty sweet magnets to decorate our boring fridge. We used them to hold up a card we got from the Petersens. Guess which magnets are my favorite... you only get one guess! Super awesome right?! :) They make me smile.

I love everything in the package and Ross and I talked about how we are excited to eat and use everything inside, except for maybe the Mountain House packets of freeze dried emergency food. We are absolutely grateful for them, but if we use them, we are probably in a pretty bad situation. Lasagna with meat sauce and Beef stroganoff? Mmm!

As you can tell, I am really happy and excited and grateful for the box. Thank you so much Petersens! We really appreciate it and the sacrifices and effort you made to put it together for us.
Life is good, Ross and I are happy and busy in our own ways!