Happy New Year 2020!

Happy New Year!

     I was at Christmas this year and one of my sister-in-laws, Sarah, asked where I've been since my blog has been neglected for a long time. I laughed and told her that I haven't been updating because I think only 2 or 3 people actually look at my blog, but then I figured that if someone was asking about it, I should get back into being more disciplined about writing. Also, looking back on the blog, I'm seeing a ton of broken links with my pictures. I need to figure out why that is like that. New year, new start, right?
      So, there's a ton of news since I last wrote.  So, right after my last post, I got a call from my landlord to ask how my summer was going. In reality, he was calling to tell us that he sold the house our apartment was in. After some discussion, it became obvious that he had no idea what the new owner planned with the house and if we'd be able to stay. He didn't seem to care either. The good news is that we'd probably find out when they passed papers, 3 days after his phone call to us. Matt and I decided that we needed to take immediate action about the whole situation. The good news is that anybody who knows me well would know that I've been dreaming of being a home owner forever. Massachusetts is a pretty expensive state to live in so it seemed pretty unachievable to me- and it was until this year. We started looking for a house at the end of August and moved into our new home, in the same town we lived in before, on October 25th. 
      I've gotten dismally behind on my writing and reading (though reading had a huge increase over my Christmas break.) We're in good shape with being moved in and we love it here. It's so nice to live in a neighborhood, rather than surrounded by businesses. We've loved having friends and family come visit and hope to have many more visitors.

2020 Goals

      I was thinking of my goal setting over the past week and then realized I had lost track of my 2019 goals. I thought that I had written a blog post about it but, looking back, I think I was just so grateful to have survived 2018 that I didn't even care. I failed my Goodreads goal by a few books. I read 54 out of 60. I didn't do any reading challenges. I FINALLY BOUGHT A HOUSE! That's been on my goal list for about 20 years.  I also lost 20 pounds. 
      After some thought, these are my goals:

One Word- Some people like to choose a word to focus on for the year. I think I'd like my word to be "CONNECT" this year. I think I'm becoming a little more introverted in my old age (of 42), but I think I'm just sick of shallow. I want to establish better relationships and give myself freedom to walk away from people who seemingly suck the life out of me. Now, I know some of you are laughing and thinking, "Are you serious? You talk to so many people!" I'm okay with that. I like people. I like meeting new people and even sometimes being uncomfortable being surrounded by people that are really different from me. I just want to increase the quality of my relationships. In 2019 I made a few friends at the gym and in my book clubs. I took some risks and become closer to some families at the school where I work and even got to know some colleagues on a deeper level. I want more of this and now that we have a place I feel comfortable hosting, I'd like to connect more.  I have a few ideas on how to connect more. Some of these ideas I'm keeping to myself. One of my ideas is to host a monthly "thing" at my house and just inviting anyone who wants to come. I think January will be a game night. 

Letter writing- Letter writing is one of the nicest ways for me to connect with the world and my friends. I've actually started writing to all of my nieces and nephews last year and really enjoyed just sending them a little love through the mail. They all probably think I'm weird but I know at least 2 or 3 appreciated it. :)  Like the first year I did the blog, my goal is to send at least 1 piece of personal mail per day. That's 366 pieces of mail this year! I'll keep track of a lot of my incoming mail here on the blog so that will help me be disciplined.

Spiritual Goals- I tried to have a devotional with a friend once a week but it was inconsistent so I'm going to try to be more intentional with daily prayer and devotions. I'm keeping a prayer journal where I'm going to write down prayer requests and pray over them daily. I'm not a big "journal" person usual. I think this will help me to remember what friends and family have brought to me and helps me to be less selfish in my prayer life. It will also be great to read back and be reminded of God's faithfulness.  

Reading- I love crazy busy schedules, being surrounded by people and being mentally active. One of my problems is that I can sometimes be too mentally active. I need to unwind if I ever want a chance to sleep. Reading is one of my activities that give me peace. I have a few reading challenges I'd like to do.
       My Goodreads challenge is to read 60 books this year. I'll do it, especially since I failed this year. 
      I'll also be participating in the Keyword Reading Challenge. Every month of this challenge you need to read a book that has one of the keywords (or a variation of that word) in the title. I've done this challenge before when it was hosted by other people, but this year the original host, GirlXOXO is hosting. Thanks! I am looking forward to it! Here are the keywords this year. 
   There's one more challenge I'm kind of considering, but I might be going a little crazy.Ok, there are actually 2.  Maybe I'll update if I decide to do those too.

Physical- I've joined a gym and have been in the process of getting more healthy. Frankly, I have a ton of weight to lose- not literally, but sometimes it feels like it. So, to save you from passing out I'll spare you the amount of weight (just typed "weird" by accident but that fits too) that I'd like to lose, but it's quite a bit. Either way, even if the numbers are not as low as I'd like, I've lowered my blood sugar considerably, I'm stronger and I have more muscle. I'm committed to this gym until at least August so I'm already on the right track.  Feel free to leave me healthy recipes that actually taste like food :)

      Those are the main goals I've had. I was happy that this year made think a lot about what I can do to make myself a better person or to enjoy life a little more rather than feeling like I had to fix a lot of things that were wrong with myself.  

      Ok, I think that's it for tonight. Feel free to say hello or introduce yourself if you're dropping by for the first time. If you're in the Keyword Reading Challenge, feel free to share your blog so I can follow along with you too! Happy 2020!

     

July 22/23/24

     This week has brought a lot of errands as we prepare for our trip. My least favorite of these errands was bringing my two cats to the veterinarian. Did you know I have 2 cats? Penny is 15 and Emmie is nuts. She's one and a half.  She was the one sleeping in the lunch bag in one of my other blog posts. This is Penny. She was not amused. She's had a cyst like thing in her mouth for a while and they think it might be cancerous. We'll wait and see.

 

   I have also finally sat down to write a letter. My friend Marianne sent this awesome envelope (with a great letter) a few months ago. I wanted to share since it was beautiful. 

 

     I hope I don't ruin her surprise but her birthday is coming up so I tried to send something cute. I kind of love it. Sorry for the post it note, I had written her address before I took a picture. Who knew I could draw little kawaii things?

 

      I received this postcard from Germany in yesterday's mail. I've always loved castles. ("Schloss" is "castle" in German. Sebastian, the Postcrosser who sent the card, wrote in German and I could clearly understand his message. I'm glad I'm taking the time to try to learn more this summer.

Greetings!

     Hi! It's been a while, hasn't it? My sister-in-law, Sarah, mentioned my blog at Easter and it made me really happy to know that there's at least 1 person who occasionally reads this. Ha. Well.I've been busy since the end of January, especially with some letter writing projects, so I'll give a little update and hopefully blog more regularly.

        This February I participated in 2 letter writing events. Lettermo and InCoWriMo. Both events challenge the participant to write a letter (or more) every day of February. I was super behind with my penpalling so this caught me up and allowed me to write to a few new people. I had participated in Lettermo for a few years so it was delightful to reconnect with old friends. I like Lettermo because you create a profile and you can read through to find people you might connect with before you write. This was my first year doing InCoWriMo, where there is a list of random letter writers all over the world and you pick who you'd like to write to. I chose my recipients kind of randomly. I had each boy choose a few people I sent mail to and then I chose the rest based on location. It is warned that you might not receive any mail since the chances of someone randomly choosing you from the list could be pretty slim, but I got a lot of great letters. Some of the people I wrote too responded as well. In general, I get along well with letter-writers. They're my type of people.Letter writing has connected me with many friends that I may not have naturally connected with if I had encountered them in everyday life. I'm constantly learning and building friendships.
      March was filled with music festivals. It was so cool to watch both my students and my oldest son growing as musicians. My son and 2 of my students even got solos. I worked with a chorus of 100 boys from grades 6-9 from 65 different communities. It was a wonderful experience.

 
 
In April, we took a short trip to New Brunswick, Canada. I will write another post about that soon. I also took part in a letter writing campaign during National Letter Writing Month called Write_On. I learned about this from someone who sent me mail during InCoWriMo. I'm so glad I learned about this because I've connected with some amazing people online. I'm hoping to get to know many of them! Their mail is incredible. Everybody seems so interesting and talented. Fortunately for me (and unfortunately for Matt?) I have discovered many new snail mail related companies I'd like to try out too. I will share some of those with you too in future posts.  Here was some of my outgoing Write_On mail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

      I don't really have any talent with visual art, but the nice envelopes I made were from recycled calendars. (If you're a person who sees me regularly and you ever have a calendar you're about to throw out, consider saving it for me.Vintage stamps too!) I realized as I was writing this post that I don't often write many letters/cards/etc. to family and friends that I see often. Truthfully, some of the reason is that I know many of you don't "get" my "weird mail obsession," but if you'd ever like some postal joy, let me know and I'll send something out to you.
     I've been good about writing, but I've been awful about logging things. If I owe you a letter and it's been a long time, please let me know. I have a large "reply" pile but I'm less than a month from when I received your letter. If it has been more than that, please touch base.
      Ok, I have to head out to modify a quiz for my 6th grade music class. Have a great day!  If you're new to the blog, feel free to say hello and introduce yourself.
     

the letters

    In my last post, I wrote about 30 letters that I had found at a used bookshop.  Many people whom I've told about the letters have asked about the content of the letters. Here are some of the things that were written about in these letters:

      Bob seems to be the youngest son. He wrote 1 letter in this bundle. I know that he graduated from Annapolis in 1945, so I think that's why. His letter is a sweet letter written to his dad on his dad's 50th birthday. This letter was on stationery from the USS Lexington.
     Rick is the oldest, I think. He wrote a lot about rank in the Navy and his advancement plans. He was transferred a few times so there is information about multiple ships (and the pros and cons of each of them). I smiled everytime I read that he was taking some time to "cut you in on the straight dope" about what was going on in life. I enjoyed reading about what his bunks/ bunkmates were like, how he enjoyed the ship's library and that he felt a connection to their ship's mascot, a cute cocker spaniel named Squeegie. He wrote a lot about missing home and regretting not watching his little sister grow up in person. He was concerned about missing Bob's graduation and wedding and very concerned about how he was goign to obtain graduation and wedding gifts, despite the fact that he was looking everywhere he went for something that would be suitable. One letter told about a dream he had where his parents had sold their farm in New Hampshire. In the letter, he begged them to promise that they would not sell the farm until he and Bill were home from war because, even though both brothers tried not to say how much they truly missed their family, not only did they miss the people, but they also missed "home." One of the favorite things I read in his letters was that they had sailed very close to Catalina Island, which apparently had a bird sanctuary on it at the time. He mentioned that birds kept flying into the ship and were quite content there. They invaded the mess hall and the crews quarters. Many of the sailors would try to capture them to force the birds out but then they would fly right back in.  Rick mostly used plain, thin airmail paper, but used some cool USO stationery and YMCA stationery too.

   Bill is my favorite. He mostly used plain paper, but had one nice Navy stationery letter.

        I learned a lot from how the mail worked from Bill's letters. He wrote home almost daily. All of his letters were numbered and he seemed to ask his family to do the same for him.Almost all of his letters had been stamped by the censors and signed with his name and branch at the bottom of the page. He mentioned one time were it had been 6 weeks since they had received mail (and how he was one of the few sailors who had received ANYthing at all) and another time where the mail had come after a 50 day wait. So, he was often sitting and reading piles of mail. He cherished news from his family, especially news about home. The more news from home, the better and the faster he "devours" it. He was also sent some magazines from home. He did mention that the ships radiomen listened to the news sent over the wire and transcribed a short version of it. They "mimeographed" a few copies of the "Dots 'n Dashes" every morning for the sailors to read at breakfast. He seemed to send his pay home and was concerned about whether they received each check.
      He talked about his experiences with "the natives."  He mentioned houses (shacks) built on stilts to prevent them from sinking into the mud. He said that people and animals lived under the same roof and that people ran shops out of their homes. He mentioned that the children in these villages had little to no toys and he was curious as to how they play. One day, the sailors had a picnic on an island. He explored the jungle and saw some beautiful white birds (but no parrots or monkeys). The sailors ate and then stripped down for a swim in a lagoon. They met some natives who were "scantily clad, except for two boys who had sailor's hats like ours."  The natives were polygamous and they "looked healthy."  They mostly ate fish and coconut. The sailors gave them a hotdog.
     He liked to sleep above deck on the ship because it was too hot below deck. He had different systems for different weather. He spoke of not having Christmas Eve because they had crossed the international date line so they basically skipped a day.  Life on the ship was sometimes slow and he sometimes struggled to find news when he hadn't heard any news from home beforehand. He mentioned that if he was writing to a woman he could fill the page with mush, but that it wasn't really appropriate for his parents and sister. :) He wrote one really touching letter to his sister telling her how much he missed her and how he "met" a monkey on a beach one day and played with it for a few hours before it fell asleep on his shoulder. If he could've brought it for her as a pet, he would've. He also told her that he couldn't wait to hear her play "Starlight Waltz" on the piano when he got home. He promised to teach her to dance and to bring her out to a show and a soda.
       Bill was very expressive of his love and concern for his family. He mentioned all of his siblings, his grandparents, some friends and his parents. I'll close this with a bit of one of his letters. I love his writing. (It has inspired me to pull out my fountain pen for my next letter. (to Linn)

    I hope you can read it. It thanks his family for a branch that they sent him in a Christmas package. It says that it might seem silly, but the branch has become one of his most prized possessions. He mentioned that the smell of the branch reminds him of home (and describes home). He said that when he gets home, he would be happy with being able to explore the outdoors and that if he just had a good fly rod, sturdy shoes, a canoe and a camera, he'd be happy.
      
        Reading all of these letters, I kept thinking that it was a shame that these memories are not with their families. I have done some research and I think I found their families! Just last night I wrote a letter to Anne, the youngest sister, to ask if she would like these letters. I sent her my contact information so hopefully she will call or e-mail me.  I will update if the story continues.

My treasure

    This week my family took a trip to Freeport, Maine. We visited my mom at a hospital in Portland and then continued North for a night away.  We decided on our way home to visit a few sites.
     Our first stop was Wilbur's Chocolate. As a candymaker, Matt is always interested in seeing products from other places and seeing what other places are doing. Ironically, we ended up walking in right as a tour was supposed to start. So, we paid the $3 and went on the guided tour of their chocolate making "factory,"  We also got to meet the owner, who seemed like a really nice guy. He was making caramel that would be later covered in chocolate. The tour was very short, but informative. They also gave out a few samples. (I would highly recommend their chocolate covered blueberriesl not the blue ones, the normal chocolate covered ones.)    A really nice touch is that they give you a goodie bag at the end of the tour. They were quite generous. We definitely took home more than the $12 of "product." Then we went to the center. 
      We avoided L.L Bean since I knew I wouldn't be buying anything that day, but would be tempted to!    My mom asked me to stop by The Mangy Moose .We had a lot of fun exploring the store and I bought some really pretty notecards. We also visited Wicked Whoopies. I had a classic whoopie pie and the boys each got a mint one. They were delicious. We ate them on our drive home. Then, we ate lunch at a "highly recommended and reasonibly priced" sub/pizza place. It was alright. The pizza slices were huge but I was not a fan of the "toasty" I ordered.
       Here's the most exciting part, at least for me. #nerdproblems.
      We stopped a used bookstore that also advertised old postcards. When we walked in, Matt pointed out a giant bookshelf filled with boxes of postcards- written/unwritten, mostly older. I picked one for my pal Ashley (oops, hope I didn't ruin the surprise), one creepy looking girl for me and one for my son's teacher, who just did a postcard project with the kids. I also bought an antique pamphlet about Massachusetts.   I could've stayed all day going through the postcards. If I was super organized and had  lot of room in our apartment, I would buy a lot and horde  keep them for myself. It was overhwhelming and tempting to be surrounded by all of the ephemera and postcards. I DIDN'T EVEN LOOK AT THE BOOKS, which were stacked from floor to ceiling. I even let Tim and David  go explore without asking where they would be. lol. Oh my goodness.   I pulled myself away and paid for my purchases.  Then, I waited for Matt and the boys. I figured that Tim was probably building a fort out of books and planning a way to live in this house forever. Despite the fact that I can get impatient when I'm ready to leave somewhere, I was super gracious that my family has always been willing to put up with my postcard/penpalling addiction. Then, I turned toward the door and noticed something stacked on the top of a bookshelf. Here's what it was (I removed the addresses):

    It is a stack of letters from 1945 from 3 brothers in the Navy. (There was only 1 letter from 1 of the brothers). The other 2 were enlisted in the Navy. Rick wrote home frequently and Bill was pretty prolific, writing almost every day. The letters were sent to their parents and younger sister. On the back of some of the envelopes were some questions that their mom, I assume, wanted to ask them in her next letters. These are guys I would've gotten along really well with, especially Bill.
      When I saw them at the store, I was immediately saddened that these weren't with their family but the bookshop owner explained that he gets a lot of stuff from estate sales. I knew I would find them fascinating. I spent about 4 hours reading them yesterday. (I felt like Nina Sankovitch must've when she was opening the trunk full of letters in Signed, Sealed, Delivered.) I spent all day today researching the information in the letters in an attempt to find the families. I think I found them. I sent a few Facebook messages today but I think they're all sent to the dreaded "other messages" folder. I even sent 2 of them a friend request in hopes that they would see my message if they accepted.  I think I even found the little sister. Can you imagine re-reading a letter you got 73 years ago from a family member who is no longer living?
         I will write more in a later post. I did a lot of thinking about some of the things I read and might like to share. 

Lettermo 2017

     Month of Letters Challenge (Lettermo) 2017. Who's in?  The challenge is to:
1) Send at least one thing through postal mail for each day it runs in February.
2) Write back to everybody who writes to you.

      I love doing this every year. I'm a little behind on my penpal responses, so I'm responding to all of those first. However, one of the reason I do this challenge every year is to connect/reconnect with new/old friends.   If you would like a letter, comment here and add your address to my Postable account (only visible to me. I don't share your address with anyone).  If your name here is different than the name you've left on my address book, please let me know who to look for.

 

   I have already challenged a few of my friends (and one of my students too) to participate. If you feel like you've lost touch with friends/family or if you want to devote some time to building relationships with people, consider joining. I've met some amazing people through Lettermo. 

Lately

      This school year has been busy- a mix of feeling a bit overscheduled and personally doing a lot of things.  I anticipate my schedule getting  a lot crazier over the next few weeks, but it should be fine if I'm conscientious about my scheduling (and if everybody allows me to be a control freak regarding time. lol Sorry in advance.). At least there are some holidays in the mix so there is some planned relaxation too.
      Here are some recent endeavors of mine.
School:
    On the negative side, I usually see all of the students for the same amount of days per rotation. This year has made 5th/6th end together, 7th ends a different day and 8th grade ends yet another time. I have found that this change is throwing me off a lot it's taking a lot of adjustment.  Hopefully, after a bunch of correcting tonight, I will be caught up and be able to keep up from there.
     On a positive note, I have started my Thanksgiving tree project. These are some  background pages that I made from watercolor paints that will eventually be cut into leaf shapes that I will write my notes on. I really like the bottom one.  My sister-in-law, Sarah, graciously offered to use her Cricut to help me with a making leaves out of some gelli-printed paper. Thanks again, Sarah!

Personally:
     This past week was full of some fun events. I got to remind my kids that we are blessed enough to help others by donating to a local toy drive. While we were there, we were given tickets to go see The Pentatonix! (For those near Boston, this was Karson, Kennedy and Salt from Mix 104.1)

We saw Abi, who was not our taste in music, but she seemed like a nice girl. Then we got to see Us the Duo, who we loved. I had never seen or heard them before. Here is a song they wrote for their wedding. They performed it live and I really enjoyed it. Both of them are extremely talented musicians and I was impressed with the different styles that they performed.

   If you don't know the Pentatonix, shame on you... here is a link to their music too! Here is a cover of an Imogen Heap song they did. Again, incredible musicians.

Oh, and while I'm spreading incredible musicianship around, did I mention Kevin, known as the beatboxer of Pentatonix? Woah..

   Then, we had Veteran's Day off. (Thanks if you are a veteran who is reading this!) I brought the kids up to Maine to visit my parents.  It was a nice time, relaxing.

   When we came home on Saturday, Tim's team won their flag football championship:

     Then we went to Boston to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday! I also got to meet my newest niece, Naomi.


Penpalling:
    I received quite a few letters over the past few weeks, including a few secret letters from the Penpalling & Letters Secret Letter Event. I am sending this one out tomorrow. Then I have a lot of writing to do!!!

Now what?
     Next week I will start working on the musical. I am also auditioning kids for a few opportunities. It is a lot of work. I'm hoping for a week free of negative parent e-mails. 
      If you celebrate Thanksgiving, do you have any special plans or traditions? The week of Thanksgiving we do a really fun volleyball tournament with the students. It's a blast!

Currently 10/23

Watching:  

     Life has been pretty busy so I have not really been watching anything on TV. I have seen a few little Halloween specials with the boys. I have enjoyed watching all of the beautiful New England foliage. Our back woods are currently filled with gorgeous yellows, reds, oranges and even a few pretty browns. If it's not raining tomorrow, I will try to go snap a picture.

Reading:

     I am enjoying this book a lot right now. This year has felt a little overwhelming to me. I don't think I'm really doing anything too out of the ordinary, but I have just been mentally and physically tired for a while now. I choose my next "to read" book in a sort of random way so this one came at just the right time. I think I am going through a season of life where some former priorities and not as important to me and some things I felt I "had to do" aren't obligations to me. This doesn't mean that I'm necessarily taking more time for myself, which maybe I should, but that the time I am choosing to protect is spent doing meaningful things. Here are some quotes from the book that have made me think over the past few weeks:

     "Without conscious intervention, this pattern of chronically overscheduling ensures that the priorities you care about most will take a backseat to the urgent priorities of others every time." (Hear me, Sarah?)    I am guilty of this a lot- every day in fact. How often do I stay after to help a student or to chat with a kid who just wants to hang out for a minute while my own kids are home hoping I will have some "free time" for them? It's painful to think about- especially since I really enjoy my job too.  I have recently attempted to fix some of these imbalances.

      "Put more simply, one of the greatest blessings in life is to love your work, to be satisfied in your daily labors." Amen. My job is hard and has many challenges, but I feel that it is my calling so it makes the little stuff easier to deal with. It is also greatly rewarding to follow through what I feel God has prepared me to do and to use my gifts/talents for His glory.


     
     "Relationships, like every other area of life, require regular evaluation, pruning, and strengthening." Hybels says that there are 3 levels of friendship- circumstancial friends, true friends- for a season and lifelong friends. This chapter challenged me. There have been some friends that have hurt me recently. I thought they were lifelong friends, but perhaps they were just friends for a season. Again, they were good friends and I'm not quite sure what happened, but this chapter has made me feel more at peace. I also have some friends who probably feel the same way about me. Truth is, there are sometimes where people just grow apart- especially if they have different values or motives in life.  Examining my friendships and potential friendships has been a healthy activity for me this week.

Listening:
      My normal Pandora mixes. Lately I've been listening to a lot of Scala & Kolacny Brothers. I really like their sound.

Making:
      David and I just made Apple Betty- one for us and one for our neighbors. It is currently baking and I cannot wait to smell the delicious scent of the cinnamon-y apples.  *I may or may not let my kids stay up to eat a piece.

Feeling:
    Physically I have been struggling. I think whatever was causing the hives last spring is acting up. This weekend my whole body hurt. My feet are freezing. My knee and left leg are hurting a lot. (Remember that bursitis and plantar fasciitis? I think they are going to revisit me). It was so painful todaythat I laid down "for a few minutes" and fell asleep for 3 hours. I feel a little better now, but I'm hoping that things don't get worse before they get better. All of these things could be caused by the inflammation that was going on with the hives.  I have an appointment with the allergist in a few weeks. She will then take me off the medicine I've been on gradually. If things are going to return, it will be then. Wish me luck.

Planning:
   It's getting late tonight, but I would like to correct a lot and finish a letter to Monique in The Netherlands!

Loving:
    I'm loving being grateful for small things. Sometimes the small things in life are bigger than they seem. Here are some things that I've been grateful for: -apples, colorful foliage, dates with all 3 of my boys, a delicious latte I had (usually don't drink them) with creme brulee at a new restaurant, new friends, correspondence with penpals, success of students (especially the ones who don't actually like music but work hard because I have asked them to), talent of the next generation, random acts of kindness, film scores (some music is incredibly beautiful. How do these guys write stuff like this?), cool weather, hot chocolate, people who work with church education programs, previous students, sweet gifts from students (like a Yankee candle I just got- or the flowers sent to me for my birthday), my faith, all of the upcoming holidays.

    What are the "small things" you have been enjoying lately?

More Love Letters

     I wanted to just take a second to tell you about an awesome site I came across. It is called More Love Letters.   If you know me, you know that (sometimes, despite my crappy attitude) God made me to be an encourager. As a teacher, I love seeing the look in a kid's eyes when they realize that they can do something they didn't know they could do before. I love doing random acts of kindness. I love seeing people succeed, getting good things that they deserve, getting good things they DON'T deserve (grace- it's a wonderful thing!), or seeing my kids encourage someone. I'm so weird (as Matt calls me.. lol) that I even like seeing a stranger's day turn into a better day. Well, there's an amazing woman named Hannah Brencher who I think I would get along with really well. She began the More Love Letters site with the realization that she could bless other people through her letters- using encouraging words to lift the spirits of total strangers, using her own experiences to help people who are experiencing similar things, blessing others.  Since I found this site, I've been writing notes to all kinds of random strangers through their request section.
     I also thought that maybe I should write in to see if Timmy might be able to receive some encouragement for his upcoming school year. Last year he had a really negative year. Don't get me wrong, I love his school, but last year was just awful. Well, MLL chose him as one of the recipients of the letters.
     He has no idea about this yet, but he has over 20 letters so far from as close as Quincy, MA and as far away as New Zealand. As a facilitator of the letters, I have to read them to make sure they are appropriate, etc.  I cannot even tell you how touched I am by each letter. The encouraging words, the decorations and stickers, the art- they're all awesome and I CANNOT WAIT to give Timmy the letters. I know that these words will set themselves in his heart and give him courage. I may share some on the blog here after I have given them to him. In the meantime, I'd love if you'd go check out her site and maybe even send some letters out. If you're not usually a letter writer, it doesn't take eloquence, just a little time and effort to make someone's day a little sweeter. Spread this site around too.
     If you are reading this and you are a MLL writer- THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Pre-vacation post

    Hello! I am going on vacation tomorrow. I am so excited.  In the meantime, I've been writing like a madwoman. (mostly postcards but I have not forgotten about you my dear penfriends.)  Here is the outgoing mail for the past few days:

Outgoing...

 To someone who wanted a MA map card

 A few postcrossing cards

 A "scripture encouragement" card. I wrote Psalm 139:1-6 on the back

 You can't see it too well in this card but 1) that moon is a cutout and 2) the card is all glittery. This is the House of Seven Gables in Salem, MA. Showing some Salem love after a class I took there this week.

 I brought Timmy here a few weeks ago.

 More postcrossing sends...

      I also sent some Reese's Peanut Butter cups to my dear friend, Anita, in Hungary and a special package that I want to keep a surprise. (Sorry for the ugly packaging..lol) I'm also sending out 3 more postcards that I hadn't photographed.

Incoming...

One letter and 2 postcards since my last post. 

 This is a letter from a new pal. I look forward to getting to know you, Lisa.

 This is from a woman in China. She also sent me a recommendation for a song by Faye Wong, Red Bean.

This is a beautiful castle/hotel in Germany. I'd love to go there. Very pretty. Thanks! Any of my penpals live around here?

The 366 Project

Received: 41
Sent:104   <---- Woohoo!!! Over 100.

Other...

Look who lost his 1st tooth?  Very exciting.

 
We're also excited to be going on vacation. If I have my act together, maybe I can share our best picture from the day when we're there. 

     I hope you all are having a blessed day. I really appreciate all of the friends in my life. Write me a comment about what you've been up to this week.

Mailbox happiness!

Incoming...

     We went on vacation for a few days and I came home to a lovely stack of mail. Here it is:

 From a postcrosser in Belarus. I don't have many long cards like this.

 Timmy loved this pig card from a postcrosser in the Netherlands.

 Here is a winking gnome from Stefanie, a postcrosser in Germany.

 From postcrosser, Liyn, in China. They work for a chocolate company. The chocolate looks delicious. The top of the card says "Every piece of Choc Choco tells a story" My chocolates are usually screaming in fear.. lol.

 This is from a Lettermo friend from Georgia. I love postcards that are mail related!

 Another new Lettermo friend. Missy is from Arizona. I love the Mother Theresa quote. Missy, if you're reading this, you should check out a woman named Mama Maggie Gobran. She works with the street children of Cairo, Egypt and is the most humble person I have ever heard speak. If I remember I will add some of her quotes to your letter.

Mail from South Africa, Australia, Maryland and Virginia. The woman in South Africa is a fairly new penpal and the other 3 are fascinating new pals from Lettermo. I'm so excited to that I joined this year.
  Reading back in the blog, I realized that I needed to update a few other pieces of mail too.  This was from last week. Sorry I have not been good about updating this week. 

 Package from my friend, Akiko, in Japan!

 Ooooh! Exciting.

 Oops... this was out of order. Great postcrossing card. It's in the other room so I don't remember off the top of my head where it is from.

 Tea from Japan- this will make me feel beauty... good stuff.

 Nice postcard from Akiko

 Tsurago Castle in Japan

 "The Big Bad Wolf and the Seven Little Goats" Akiko, is this a story? We don't have this story here. You will have to tell me it.

 Tea!

 Chocolate- white, milk and dark!

 New Lettermo friend from Indiana. I love the card. She made the photo below as well.

       Lastly, I got a letter from Wendy (Lettermo) in Australia. I grabbed it on my way off for vacation so I didn't take a picture.
     I can't complain about not having any mail this week! Hopefully it keeps up like this and I can write like a madwoman to keep up!

Outgoing...

    Didn't take any pictures of mail on vacation but I mailed 3 of my soldiers, a penpal package (Melanie's) and a few Postcrossing cards. Here are my new numbers since it's been a while.

The 366 Project:

Received: 31
Sent: 59

     Today is the 52nd day of the year so I'm still on track!!! Woohoo! 

    Off to write some letters.  Today I saw that my page has hit 2000 page views. Yeah!