Busy As a Bee!

Evening fellow snail mail lovers!

I am exhausted - Monday's are so busy where I work, most of the time it's non-stop go go go.

Had dinner with my husband's family - and now that I am home, I just want to go to bed early. Well, early for me. I'm a night owl - or maybe I just have sleep issues. Ha-ha! Who knows!?

Let's see - I'm playing around in EXCEL trying to make a fairly easy tracking system form. But, all I can really do is think about how busy my weekend will be.

It's my sister-in-laws birthday and we have a planned poker night with family...so much fun. We will be having steaks!! Yum....and the chef is said to have the best steaks...but I still think my dad wins that title, but we will see.

My husband wants me to make a cheesecake, now I accomplished this feat over the holidays last year and ever since then he loves when I make it.

Catch is - also over the holiday our glass oven door exploded. So, everything we have been cooking has been on stove top. I have a co-worker who is selling her old stove to us because she has bought a brand new one.

Lol - My DH has instructed me that we are too pick this "new to us" stove up on Friday - so that I will have plenty of time to bake a cheesecake for Saturday's poker night. Aren't they wonderful those DHs? I guess I should be happy that he just loves my cheesecakes so much.

Then I had two tutu order's come in on top of the two I already need to make this weekend. Yes, aside from loving snail mail - I make tutu's for a little extra cash. I placed a link on the right in case you care to look or might need one.

The only true exhausting part is having to drive about 45 minutes to the nearest town to get the colors I need.

It's really not too bad if I just plan it all right. But, I sure did love that "do nothing weekend" I just had. When can I have more of those?

Outgoing 2/28/2011

Check out the pic of tomorrow's outgoing mail!! I'm excited for them to receive my letters!!

I also - learned how to make envelopes out of paper and magazine pages. However, I'm not sure how the later will withstand the traveling.

Thanks to Missive Maven on the organization tips....I almost hate that I have to sleep so I can work tomorrow. Otherwise, I'd be working on my very own "system" TONIGHT!

All Around the World

Ok - so BLOGSPOT has this amazing "STATS" page that amazes me.

I clicked on it today and it is a section that shows where your views are coming from...THAT is amazing.

Can you believe that I have viewers from the US, UK, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Croatia, Philippines, and Malaysia!!??!! All in about a weeks time!

So, I just want to take a moment to say, "Hello" to everyone all around the world....and thanks for stopping by to my little corner of it. Wow!

I'd also like to take this time to mention a special hello to all my followers/comment posters/silent viewers - I appreciate you. I will be sending you all a little something!

Wanda D - has a SENDSOMETHING profile...check it out and well - send her something.

Marina - has her own blog. Check it out. I'm not sure I could go 365 days without sweets. She's a snail mail lover too - send her something....just no sweets! Ha-ha!

Felicity - has her own blog, I'm a follower you should be too! Beautiful artwork too!

Patty Davidson - also has her own blog, loves snail mail! Really nice.

Kimberly - has her own blog and a mail swap starting in March!

Speck - has blogs of her own, check them out here.

Indiana - commented on one of my posts - but not sure how to get your address to send you something - email me!

Karen Cameron - seems to be new to the blog world or just doesn't have her own yet, but she's still awesome. Would love to send something her way too! Email me.

Please check out their sites - click their names to view them. They would all love to receive any mail - and I'm sure they would love to send you something in return.

And - if any of my followers would rather not be linked here - let me know, it won't hurt my feelings...I promise. :o)

See you all later!!

Question for All My Snail Mail Bloggers

I really need to get a system down for keeping track of incoming/outgoing mail.

Any suggestions? Do you track yours? Or how do you keep it all straight?

Here's another question...if you make your own postcards - do you print them out from home? Or do you print them from an online site? And if so - which do you suggest? And if you print them - what kind of paper or photo paper do you print them on?

I was playing around with my Adobe Photoshop Program last night and while I don't use it that often - I did manage to create a 4x6 postcard and I love it....I just don't have a printing option as my printer is not up and running. I'm not even sure it works anymore. :o)

Anyway, get back to me. Any suggestions will be helpful. Thanks!

Two and Three

I got it! I got it! Some very fun snail mail today!

TWO postcards - one from Fast Eyes and the other from Ms. Laura Eilers, both from SENDSOMETHING!!

The one on the left is from Fast Eyes. Beautiful and I'm assuming she made it. The one on the right, equally as awesome - is from Ms. Laura Eilers. Both put my handwriting to shame. I love them both...and I will be sending something their way!

Fellow followers - if you want, click on their names above to check out their profiles and send something their way.

Thank you two!

A watched mailbox....

The anticipation is driving me nuts! Ha-Ha.

I guess it's like they say, "A watched pot never boils."

In my case, it is "A watched mailbox never gets filled."

Only a few more hours for the mail person to be here - in the meantime I will surf!

TGIF - but how nerdy are we?

Here is it Friday!! The day I have been longing for. It's 9:09 pm here and how nerdy are my husband I???

Instead of out living it up on a Friday night....here we sit in our bedroom...I've got my laptop and I'm blogging. What's he doing you ask - playing the newest Assassin's Creed on his PS3. WOOT! Way to to paint the town RED. Ha-ha.

You know what though, I wouldn't want it any other way. I am grateful for a king size bed though. It fits our WHOLE family...me, him, Buddy, Hurley, Wicket (our three dogs), Cali (our sort of adopted cat), and Ginger (our cat).

Lots of snuggles and feet warming going on. It's a good thing too b/c it's about 53 degrees here....a chilly night for us Texans.

Moving on....so....bad news....no fun snail mail today...good news...I was mentioned on another blog AND a couple of people received MY mail today!! So exciting!!

One being Misty Davis of The Pen Thief - thanks so much Misty, I really enjoy your blog and it was quite a treat to see my postcard pictured. Love the Amelia story. Thanks for trying to help me reach my goal.

I really don't have any plans for tomorrow....after the last two weeks - I plan on doing nothing but relaxing. I'll give the dogs a bath, do a little light cleaning/laundry and definitely some more snail mail writing. I really need to invest in some stationery. :o)

Signing out now to stalk some blogs and do a little writing.

*crosses fingers that tomorrow is a good mail day*

Another day...

Been super busy @ work - so glad tomorrow is Friday.

Had some issues with the laptop and I fixed it! :o)

Nothing super special going on ... about to find the time to write another letter to send tomorrow morning.

I am so tired ... need sleep ... must write.

Now off to blog surfing...see ya tomorrow.

Dancing again today!

Hey all my wonderful followers! All THREE of you!! I'm so excited just to have one more. Welcome to the blog Sammie - I hope you enjoy it!

Ok tonight's post will be quite short! I am going to try and stick with this and post EVERY day. BUT I do have to be up extra early for work tomorrow and I want to put in some time writing.

I am working on letters to TWO people from SENDSOMETHING tonight.

Sybelle Darling and Larissa Handeland be on the look-out.

I haven't received my first piece of mail yet - well not from any new pen pals...HOWEVER a few days before I started Project Number 1 - I did receive a postcard in the mail from my wonderful sister-in-law!

While this card was sent to me BEFORE the Birthday Wishes project...I think I will make it the first piece of snail mail in my project anyway. It was the first piece of snail mail that I received as a surprise in a long time and if I had to say it - it is probably that single piece of mail that gave me the idea for my blog.

I don't have a scanner here at home - so the closest thing you will get is a picture. We live in Jasper, TX and she has had to go away to training in Austin, TX. She was gone for about 2 weeks when my husband and I received it. I loved receiving it more than she will ever know.

Thanks Amanda for that card - in case you ever read this, I really did like it. 

I promise I'll do a better job at posting item #2. My camera needed to be charged and all I had was my phone camera.

I'm going to log now - but not before my "final thought" a la Jerry Springer. Ha-ha!

Ever since I started swapping and writing letters the past few days - I have been super excited to get home from work and check the mail...I can't wait till I start receiving mail from those that I have sent something to.

Then, I'm excited to log on to all my pen pal and postcard websites to see what's going on. I love curling up on the sofa with my lap top and my puppies all snuggled up with me - checking to see what's happening and finding more people to write to.

I am really glad to have found something to be so excited about, and although my DH teases me...he is truly excited for me. I needed this. Thank you to all my readers - those of you that follow and those of you that don't.

Happy mailing!

Hey Hey! What do you say!?

Ok let me just start by saying that I am SUPER excited about having not ONE but TWO comments on my blog already - by complete strangers.

ONE made me incredibly happy - but TWO just multiplied that by....well, two. Lol!

Not to mention - I now have TWO followers...when I saw that I literally danced a little jig with a side of the cabbage patch. All the while giving my DH something else to tease me about. Ha-ha!

So, shout out to Postmuse (who stopped in here AND on sendsomething.net) and 365Letters!

I have been really tired the past two days - mostly b/c I have been addicted to looking at all the swapping/pen pal/blog sites there are on this topic. Man, I had no idea how much of a hobby this is.

Looking at all these great blogs showcasing the wonderful items they receive...I just keep thinking, "I really need to get some better stationery." I mean I love all kinds of office supplies and papers - but there are some hardcore writers out there. It's amazing all the different things I have been seeing. I can't wait to see all the letters and postcards I receive. *clapping hands in excitement*

I made a trip to the post office today (to drop off my letters from last night and 2011 Letters Project package) and while waiting in line I looked to the left and saw the USA Philatelic (also never new this existed) and it was almost like a found a new little jewel. That will be my reading material before bed...hope I can wait that long.

Well, mostly I just wanted today's post to be a "thank you".

Thank you to my two comment posters, thank you two my two followers, and thank you to my friend on the postcrossing forum that will be sending a card to my real life friend. I can't want to send her grandmother something in return.

Thank you so much!

Today - with a Side of Random Act of Smileness.

Today, I took my first three random letters and 1 package to the post office. I get there and everything is dark and locked up - DUH it's President's day. A national holiday - no mail! Dang! I was really excited about getting my items mailed out.

I dropped the letters in the drop box and sadly took my package for the http://2011letters.blogspot.com/ back to the car. I have all kinds of goodies I wanted to get out there...oh well one more day won't hurt.

Not to mention - knowing that I had to go back to the post office tomorrow gave me a great feeling, BECAUSE I got to get more random addresses to send postcards and letters to!

So, if you are registered with sendsomething.net - I took a few addresses and decided to send you something.

J. Stone
Dawni Plaistow
Emma Peabody
Sheila J
Angel
Misty Davis
2011 Letter Projects

Be on the lookout!

I also - decided to create a random act of smileness. I have a former employer who is going through a very hard time right now and now to top it off - she has received news that her mother has cancer.

I sent her a random anonymous card - thanking her for everything thing she has done for me and wrote an inspiring quote in it. I'll be mailing that out to her tomorrow as well.

I posted this on postcrossing.com but if you are interested and want to send her a really uplifting note, letter, postcard anonymously - I think she would really appreciate it.

And since it is anonymous and she will not know where it came from - I will send you a little something in return as a "thank you" gesture.

Simply email me at snail_mail_friend@yahoo.com or just post that you are interested in the comment section and I will email you her address.

I think she truly deserves a smile in this hard time.

Thanks!

Project Number One - Birthday Wishes!

Well, here is my first post...and with this post I'm adding my first snail mail project.

I am a married 30 year old female from Jasper, TX (a small East Texas town). I was born and raised in Houston, TX (a much bigger city) and I moved with my husband to his home town of Jasper 1 year ago.

I turn 31 this year (May 16th to be exact) and this year I'd like to do something different. I love receiving snail mail as well as learning about other cultures and places. I thought....as a birthday present to myself...I'd like to receive something via the post office from all over the world.

Now here is the catch....I'd like to receive 31 items...whether they be postcards, letters, pictures of your country or culture related items. Tell me a little about yourself, where you live, or anything of that nature. I will not dictate what is sent to me....but I will promise that I will send you something in return as well. I will try to base what I send you on what info you place in your writings....say for instance you mention you like frogs...I'll be sure to mail you something with frogs in mind. I will also scan or take photos of what you send and place it here so that others may enjoy it also. After I've received everyones letter or whatever - I will make a scrapbook to keep it all in.

With that being said, here is catch number TWO. I'd also like to receive these 31 mail items no later than May 16th - but it's ok if it doesn't make it...as long as it doesn't exceed 12/31/2011.

Like I said, I really don't have any rules....just that it needs to me by May 16th. I'd like to make lasting friendships and pen pals out of everyone who writes...but if you are not interested in that please let me know you want it to be a one time mailing.

Don't forget to include your address, so that I can send you something in return as well.

Now on to the important matters - below is my address and can be written just as I have written it. I don't mind whether you send something from the US or internationally. I will appreciate and cherish each item.

Maria Medford
13244 HWY 255 W
Jasper, TX 75951
USA

And if you have any questions about anything that has been posted - please email me: snail_mail_friend@yahoo.com

I look forward to reading all your postacrds and letters. Let's keep those postmasters employed! Thanks!