Finally have some incoming and outgoing mail to share...

     First of all, thanks for stopping in again. Today I have incoming and outgoing mail to share. :)
 Incoming:
RU-1043779

 This card is from Kate in Russia. It is of the Altai region, where she lives. She says there are many places that look like this where she lives.

     Her envelope to the card made my day. The front was really nice but I forgot to remove the addressed so I'm not posting it. What a nice treat it was to get the "Have a nice day!" message as I was opening my mailbox. The green on the edge of the envelope is stitching. It's really cool!

        As an extra treat, Kate included these 2 Russian advertisements for these films. Kate, here is the American movie poster for Brave.



Outgoing:
US-1744506

This is on its way to Russia. 
US-1744514

 And this one is going to Germany. You can't really see it well in this picture but the corners of the postcard are cut almost like arrows. It's kind of different, which is why I bought it. 

The 366 project:
Received: 12
Sent: 34  

     I need to sit and write for a while over the next few days! 

Sent out International Food Swap to Wales...

     Yesterday was another great "mail out" day but nothing incoming....again.  On the other hand, it cost me $19.45 to ship my international package to Wales. I walked to the post office and was in a rush to do a few errands before Timmy's baseball game. We got the package all set and then I realized I had not brought any money with me to pay for the mailing. The postman took my package and told me to bring the money when I could. I'm glad they know me well enough. (I went home and paid him on the way to my next errand.)  

Mail out:

International Food Swap:



     Cheddar and broccoli soup, cornbread, Oreos, Teddy Grahams, Hidden Valley Ranch Dip, Reeses and Kool-Aid. I think I went over the amount I was supposed to send but hopefully the person who gets the swap likes it.

 US-1743997

    This is an illustration postcard of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen."  


The 366 project:
Received: 12
 Sent: 34


     I'm losing motivation. I thought tracking my mail here would get my more excited to keep on track but instead it's just making me realize how many packages are "not getting here." I have not gotten many letters but I was so behind that I completely understand that.  
     On another note, I finally shared my blog with some of my friends, family and penpals. It's nice to see that some people are actually reading what I write. :) 

I think my mailwoman is conspiring against me...

     Ok, in all seriousness my lack of mail and packages has been sad lately. So, hopefully more letters will come in.  Although picturing my mail woman sitting in her US postal truck eating my chocolate from Estonia, Turkey or Finland or wearing my Germany bracelet (Sorry Jenny, still not here!) is kind of amusing, I'm starting to wonder where all of these parcels have gone.

Mail out:
    Here is a postcard I sent to Oregon today. The Postcrosser mentioned that they liked "odd cards" so:
US-1741127

      To add to the odd factor, I told the user about my crazy night last night where 6 teens "escaped" from a drug rehab center, tried to break into a gas station and then ran and hid in the woods behind my house. The police and K-9 units came and searched the woods for quite a while. They got at least 4 of the guys. I was very impressed watching them take care of everything. (If you're an officer, thanks for your service and for taking care of the families of your community!)
     I also sent a letter to my penpal, Jesslyn in Denmark. (I'm hoping you haven't gone back to Singapore yet!) 

The 366 Project:
Received: 12
Sent: 34 

    Please feel free to share my page. If you're a letter writer and would like to write a letter to tell me a little about yourself, I would love that. If you message me I will send you my address or, if you'd rather I write first, send me your address. Thanks!

   My mail received pile is getting a little sad. Another day with no good mail. On a related note, I'm sending a package of American food to Wales. I've asked some of my international friends which foods they would suggest. I've gotten suggestions to send: peanut butter, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Hamburger Helper and Mac and Cheese. I also have some other things I have been told that people in the UK sometimes ask for, like Oreos. If you're from the UK and you see this before Monday, 6/25, feel free to write me some suggestions on what to send! 


Here is a postcard I'm sending to Germany. The user likes vintage cards. This was made in 1977, the same year I was born. 
US-1740567

     The 4 women in the postcard are Amelia Earhart, Elvy Kalep (1st civilian pilot in Estonia), Frances Marsalis (racing pilot) and Betty Gillies (commander in the Women Airforce Service Pilots in WWII). This picture was taken in 1933 after a benefit roller skating party to raise funds for a plane. I love that they are all in roller skates. I didn't notice it the first time I saw this picture.
    I found this postcard at a yard sale in Maine last summer.  It was old but in good condition so I picked it up.  I hope the woman I'm sending it to likes it. 

    I spent a lot of time writing today. Get this:
The 366 Project:
Received: 12
Sent: 33

  The good news is that I will soon be caught up. The bad news is that I will have no more letters to respond to.  If you are reading this and I don't know you yet, feel free to write me a letter. E-mail me and I will give you the address to send it to!  

Mail out:
     Obviously I sent many letters out today- The Netherlands, Ireland, France, Canada and a bunch of letters to my pals in the US. I also sent the "mystery envelope out."  I added a Boston magnet, a Hello Kitty letter set, and a Yankee Candle. (Macintosh... my favorite!)    

Mail in:
US-1733498

     This was sent to me from Jennifer in Mississippi. She lives near Tupelo, where Elvis Presley was born.  She recommended a Spanish band to me called La Oreja de Van Gogh.

    Today was a fun day, no good mail for me, but I got to bring the boys to see Madagascar 3. It was pretty fun, though I was surprised by a few racial comments in there.  I loved to watch my kids as they were watching the movie.

   Regarding outgoing mail, I have written a letter to one of my penpals in Japan. Her name is Akiko and she just had a baby in December.  I really enjoy writing with her. She has also sent me some beautiful Japanese stationary and some other great gifts from Japan.  I don't have any Japanese friends so I always learn new things with every letter. I'm so grateful to know her. I will mail out her letter tomorrow with a small gift for her daughter.

The 366 Project
Received: 12
Sent: 24

 

     Welcome to my first attempt at blogging! This year I made a resolution to write and (hopefully) receive 366 letters; one for each day of the year. Well, frankly, I'm failing miserably so I wanted to start this blog to motivate me to keep going. I also have many friends and family who don't understand my obsession to snail mail yet they frequently ask me about it. I thought it would be nice to share my progress on my project, show off some of the postcards/letters/packages I receive, keep everyone updated with life in general and get to know some other random people across the world.  So here goes...

The 366 project:
It's the 171st day of the year so I should have 171 letters received and letters outgoing, right? Wrong. The good thing is that I'm a teacher and I have decided to take this summer "off" from classes and working full-time. I'm out of school now so I have plenty of time to try to catch up.  (I'm hoping blogging will also give me a few creative ideas as I work on lesson plans over the summer. I might be getting a Smart Board in my classroom this year.)  Sadly, my real numbers are:

Received: 12

Sent: 23
    I'm only counting letters in my project. I'm also trying to make sure that the letters I send out are letters of quality, not just something mailed across the world for the sake of adding a number to my tally.  I get my letters from many pen pals that I have both in the United States and abroad. I also sometimes receive letters through the Postcrossing forum. If you've never heard of Postcrossing; it is a site designed to allow people to receive postcards from all over the world. Basically, you send a postcard to someone (and if you're nice  you check their preferences) and then you receive one from another random user. It's a great surprise to see what people send, what they write and where they are from.  Check it out: www.postcrossing.com.
Here is what I sent and received today for mail.

Mail out:

  Some of these postcards are rather strange. I like the Peep one the best. These cards went to Russia (3), China, Finland, The Netherlands (2), Germany, and the United States (specifically Maryland and Missouri).  next time I add postcard images I will link it with the Postcrossing number in case any of my Postcrossing friends stop by!
    I also sent a package with a few small gifts to one of my penpals, Miera, in Malaysia.

Mail in:
     I am part of the Mystery Envelope Round Robin on the Postcrossing forums. For people who aren't usually snail mailers, a round robin is when participate in something that will come to you and then be sent on to other people. In this round robin, 10 items are put in an envelope and then the envelope is mailed to the second person. This person can then take out any items they would like to keep, put in items to replace the ones they've taken and then sends it out to the third person. This particular envelope is traveling between seven people. The last person who gets it will return it to the person who started the envelope.  This envelope was started by verlustangst in Malaysia (she always puts awesome stuff in her swaps!) and continued to The Netherlands. I will send it to Jamaica tomorrow.  Here's the loot!:

 8 postcards from the new Avengers movie...

 Scrapbooking materials for Christmas; a tartan wallet that I will soon be using; a notebook; a vitamin E face mask; Winnie the Pooh origami paper, and a variety of stickers. The butterfly stickers are 3D.

Lastly, there are 2 Moomin tote bags. What is a moomin you ask? Moomin are characters from a series of books and comic strips by Tove Jansson.They are apparently trolls but they look a little like hippos.  My friends from Finland are usually the people who send me Moomins. I once got a sheet of Moomin stickers and used them at school. It was pretty humorous to watch the middle schoolers trying to analyze what a Moomin was. It was a nice opportunity for me to talk to them about having penpals, art and Finland.
     I am keeping the blue Moomin bag (David loved it!), the butterfly stickers and the wallet. I am unsure what I'm going to replace them with.