Rest of cards from 7/23 and week of 7/30

This card is from Joan in Taiwan. She is a university student studying animal science. She also played violin for 10 years.

Nessa in MD chatted with me about music. I love this quote.

Tarva in Finland introduced me to the band Nightwish. (Nessa, if you are reading- it might be "harder" than your normal music, but you might like them! Holy cow, check out their Phantom of the Opera!!!) I really enjoyed their songs.

Aliessia sends a Pixar card for the boys. I read a book called Culture Code that mentioned how Pixar works to improve their movies. I highly recommend it.

Then I also received a from Sheri in Az. (Sorry, I already filed this card away when I responded.) I was assigned to send her a card through Postcrossing and we decided to be postcard pals. This plant grows in her yard. The flowers of this plant only bloom once in the plant's lifetime of about 100 years. That's pretty cool. They started to bloom on her plant last month.

This card is from Thomas in Germany. It is a historic place called Hartenstein. I commented to him that it doesn't look too different from some of the houses in the US.

Dorothy in New York sent me this gorgeous card of the Williamstown Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge. She loves walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, but I think I would be nervous. I know there's a section for walkers but it's a little too high up for me :)

This card from Milena in Poland shows some Polish symbols. The national costume and sausages were the ones I associated most with Poland. I didn't associate lavender with Poland before. I love learning new things.

This card is from Shawna who just moved from Minnesota to South Carolina. This reminds me a lot of the river we stayed by in Wisconsin, but the postcard shows the St. Croix River and we were on the Wisconsin River at the Dells.

Ha ha... I had never seen these "pressed fairies" before. Lady Cottington claimed to take photos of fairies. This is from "Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book" by Terry Jones.  Thanks Cheryl.

Ludmila from Belarus sends this other fairy. Funny to get 2 fairies in a row. 

Can you tell I've been sending a lot of mail lately? It's great to see my mailbox so well-fed.

Mail goals week 1

    If you've been on this blog for a while, you probably know that I started this blog to challenge myself to attempt to send (and hopefully receive) 1 piece of mail for each day of the year. (It was a leap year that year.) After failing for 2 years, I finally reached my goal of sending 366 pieces of mail on the 3rd year. Because I have not been as successful at giving myself some time each day to connect with people, I've decided to reattempt this goal.  I will try to post weekly to keep myself on track. These posts may be short and to the point.

Letters in my "respond pile:" 10? (I just noticed that some of my old letters got mixed in there. Ugh) Letter writers- do you always respond in the order received? I do. Here's my problem. I started writing a letter months ago in a notebook I was trying to use up and I LOST IT. I was quite a few pages in and would hate to start over, but this has been the hold up. Seriously, I'm really OCD about this stuff and my books. Some day I will have an organized life. Until then... my reply pile has ten letters.

Mail sent this week 1/1-1/6): 5 postcards, 1 card
Received this week: 1 postcard and 1 card from the Secret Christmas RR. (1 card that is pictured I received before the new year so I didn't count it in my log)

From Italy. This card also benefits Unicef. 

 From Russia- I really enjoyed this card. It was so elegant looking

From Belarus- I got this one right after the one from Russia. Very similar and pretty. There was a great snowman stamp on the back too.

July mail so far

     Well, July has been pretty slow so far. We have had a few practices for Tim's new team and I've gotten some chores done around the house, but nothing exciting. Many of my friends are away so it's been a little lonely.
     Speaking of friends who are away, one of my best friends sent me a postcard from their family trip.  They went to the Hallmark Visitors Center in Kansas City, Missouri and thought of me when they saw the postcards. :) I love that they sent me a few and that their daughter wrote out the message on one. They have 3 daughters and their whole family is like family to us. It really brightened my day to get these. Thanks!

 This is The Four Seasons Mural. It's really pretty.

The Kansas City Spirit by Norman Rockwell and John Atherton. I have also seen it listed as "The Spirit of Kansas City."  This painting was commissioned by Hallmark founder J.C. Hall to commemorate the rebuilding of Kansas City after the Great Flood of 1951. (I learned all this today- this is one of the reasons I love collecting postcards and interacting with people from all over the world.)

 

     This next card is from Jane in Belarus. It's the first Postcrossing card she has sent out. Yeah for new Postcrossers! On my profile, I have asked about musicians from around the world. She has introduced me to Hurma, a Belorussian band. There seems to also be a Finnish band named Hurma as well. I listened to them both. I liked them. I wish I spoke more than 1 language fluently. Sometimes the sounds of languages fascinate me. I would share one of the songs, but I have no idea what the lyrics mean so I don't want to send something bad. lol 

Outgoing Mail 1/2-1/4, Chemo Angels

Outgoing:

 Postard to Latvia, card for a former ChemoBuddy

 Postcard to Sharon, PA. Letter to a current ChemoBuddy

Postcard to Belarus. I got this card at the New England Aquarium, isn't it beautiful?

The 366 Project:
Sent:8
Received: 0

   I mentioned that my One Word for 2015 is "create."  I'd like to create an opportunity for you! Another person will be the lucky recipient of this opportunity. I am involved with a program called ChemoAngels. ChemoAngels offer to support people who currently have a cancer diagnosis and are going through chemotherapy. The basic commitment is that you send your buddy something like a letter, card (or package if you can handle it!), or small gift once a week. This is not a penpal program. In fact, the "buddy" you are assigned to aren't required to respond back. After a month you can check in and get an update for the person. I have had 3 chemobuddies.  One ended up leaving the program because she had a bunch of encouragement from her family. I currently write to 2 people. One person I have not heard anything from. The second I have exchanged letters and cards with as well as become friends on Facebook. I'm greatly enjoying getting to know her. If you are interested in checking it out, look at the link above.
    I know that at least 1 of my penpals does ChemoAngels. Let me know if you get involved too!

End of the year mail haul

   Two days ago, I told you I would write and update you on my postcards. I thought about showing all of my mail but I got a ton of Christmas cards with pictures and I didn't know if my friends/family would mind me posting them. (They all are beautiful!)  I also got a great package from my friend Jenny in Germany that included a card a magnetic notepad and some DELICIOUS Advent chocolates (which I may or may not be devouring at an unhealthy rate...).
     Here are all of my cards over the past month or so. Being a musician in December has greatly interfered with me just sitting around and having time to blog.
   From Poland:  

 From the US- Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado... beautiful

 From Russia. Check out the sticker that was stuck on it. When the Postcrosser sent it to me, the sticker was not there. Anyone every see this sticker before? There's a close up under the postcard. What does it mean?

 From Germany:

China: A postcard of a stamp from 1997.

 From Germany- David took this out of my mailbox and was startled. I love it. I've developed a liking for owls.

 Taiwan:

 More owls from Plymouth, MA- less than 2 hours from me. I'd love to meet more local Postcrossers.

 Czech Republic:

 Russia: (art card. Isn't it pretty?)

 Belarus: More owls! Can you tell I updated my Postcrossing preferences?

 China- Confucius Temple.

 Finland- Moomin!!!! I also love that the proceeds from buying the card will help to build a children's hospital in Helsinki.

 Russia: This card confused me a little. I thought Konigsberg was in Germany. Apparently, after 1945 it is called Kaliningrad. It was the easternmost city in Germany until it was captured after WWII. (According to Wikipedia..lol)

 From Taiwan:

 China:

 From the US- Minnesota. I was telling the Postcrosser that I know the man who is currently renting Einstein's viola from a museum. I have heard it played. It's beautiful.

 These cards are from a Christmas card RR I did through Postcrossing. The first is from Ireland and the next 2 are from Germany, and the last is from the Netherlands.

Oh, I should also show you a gift from my Reddit Secret Santa. I sent a pashmina scarf to a Redditor in CA. I received this gift from a Reddit user in Oregon who didn't tell me their name. Thanks if you are reading this!

    

It is a kitten calendar, which David claimed, cookies and an art kit. I was especially excited about the art kit because I've wanted to try pastels but haven't wanted to pay for them in case I stink at it! lol

Outgoing November mail and random musings

Outgoing mail:

So far my mailbox has been very sad in November. As I read once, send good mail to get good mail. I decided to get ahead in my Postcrossing. Check this out! Outgoing to Sweden, Finland, Italy, China, Russia, Germany, Indonesia, Taiwan, The Netherlands, Singapore, Belarus, Ukraine and the US.  

  In addition to the Postcrossing cards, there is 1 to a student who has been out sick all week and 1 to a new friend who I have convinced to try Postcrossing! I also have a cards for one Chemo Buddy and an intro letter to another Chemo Buddy as well as a card for his mom. He's 16. I'm actually really excited to be paired with him. Lastly, I'm mailing Missy the book she won in my giveaway. 
    Tomorrow morning I'm going to set up a mail log, kind of like this.  Ashley, I'm still working on your letter. I haven't forgotten you. I think this will greatly help me in the management of papers that come in and our of my house. 

Random musings this week:

1) I while back I misplaced my journal. I don't keep a diary but I do a little work with my Bible reading and devotions in there. I find that I get off track without having it. I need to find it. I won't start a new one because I'm OCD about things like that. 

2) I also realized that I am not myself when I'm not penpalling. Apparently it is very therapeutic to me. :) I really miss feeling like I know what is going on with people. I am friends with many of my pals on Facebook but, truthfully, letter writing is a lot less shallow than reading something quick on Facebook- or writing knowing that every acquaintance you have will also be reading it. 

3) I am lucky to have my students. I ended my day with 15 8th grade boys today who are just truly good kids. There are a few of them that have given me a few gray hairs over the past few years but generally they are very gentlemanly towards me. I have also had some really great conversations with a few 8th grade girls this week. The younger students I have don't know me as well but their enthusiasm when they see me every day makes me smile.  Another student's family (She and her brother sing for me) got my family advance tickets to go see Big Hero 6. How awesome is it that they thought enough about me to consider giving my whole family a night out? I'm really blessed.

4) We had a lockdown drill at school today. I hate that kids in this generation (and teachers) have to get used to things like this and have to actually worry about the issues they do.

5) This week started off really badly. It reminded me about the importance of letting people know how much you care about them. We only get one chance in life. Sometimes the things that you don't say to someone or decide to wait to say might be the words that they have REALLY needed to hear- even if it's nothing important (to you).  Never pass up the opportunity to be the one who spreads kindness.

6) Do yourself a favor and read this post by Hannah Brencher. *Hugs*

    

Postcrossing cards so far for July

My mailbox has been very happy with Postcrossing cards this month. Here are some that I've received:



This one is from the US. It's the Oscar Mayer Weiner-Mobile. I have never seen this in person but I have seen a local one shaped like an LL Bean boot!



From Finland. I have gotten a few folk dancing cards recently and I really like seeing the traditional costumes.

 
From Germany, this town is a UNESCO town.


Another folk dance, this time from Spain.


Pretty card from China. It reads "Clouds come floating into my life from other days no longer to shed rain on wishes but to give color to my sunset sky. Stray Birds"



From Russia.



From Belarus. This town is kind of a symbol of sorrow for some Belarussians. The message on the card was really interesting to me as I don't know much about the history of Belarus.

     That's it for tonight! Hope you enjoyed my cards and if you are in the US, that you have a Happy 4th of July!