Ugh

Hey guys! I know I haven't posted in forever... November was such a hectic month for me, and December is looking to be the same. : (

For starters, I got strep throat TWICE in November!! Who does that?! I used to get it every year as a kid, but I'd never gotten it back to back before. And the 2nd time I didn't find out I had it again until I was half an hour from my Mom's house in South Carolina... sort of put a damper on our Thanksgiving plans. I ended up staying at her house while they all went to the big family lunch. But that was okay... I didn't want to get anyone else sick.

I finally started feeling better last week, but I still had a pretty bad cough. So I was really worried I'd cough all the way through the Charlie Brown play... But it went okay. I'll do another post on that soon since it's one of my 101 in 1001 goals. I'm just waiting to get a few pictures from some people.

I'm also behind on my book review posts... I have 3 to do and am already reading a 4th book. Plus I have a huge pile of mail to post! *sigh*

It may take me a while to get to all of those though since, aside from all the Christmas parties, decorating, and gift buying/ wrapping, I'm leaving for SC again tomorrow for several days. Mom had surgery yesterday, so I'm heading up to help out. My step-dad works nights, so I'll be sitting with Mom while he sleeps during the day and driving my little brother to school... stuff like that. (Her surgery went well but she's having trouble keeping food down now, so any prayers would be greatly appreciated!)

I'm also behind on writing my pen pals back, so I apologize if you're waiting on a letter from me. I'll get them out soon hopefully! I'll be sure and take some supplies with me to work on some nice long letters while I'm in SC. : )

And I guess I'll leave it at that for now. Oh, and I haven't forgotten about the giveaway either... I'm working on getting some cute stuff together for the prize. So be looking forward to that too. : ) Hope you all are having a great week!

Another Lovely Mail Day

I'm finally getting to the 2nd half of that last post... It's been a busy week!

So here are some of my latest incoming. My mailbox has been very happy lately, so I won't get them all on here. But I'll be sure and get another mail post up next week. I'm looking forward to a few days off to get caught up with everything!!



A letter from a pen pal in Italy




This was for a Swap-bot swap...




The cute, sparkly Halloween ATC I received : )




Some cool vintage stamps




A lovely postcard I received from Jasmine for Gracie's "A Special Postcard" swap. We were to send eachother a postcard a week for 4 weeks that had a quote or something inspiring written on it. : )




The inspiring message on my 1st postcard




The 2nd postcard I received




And the lovely message on it...




I got this from a penpal swap on Swap-bot. She sent me several wonderful pictures, including this cutie of one of her dogs.




And this one... Is that an albino turtle???

 

A pretty hand-made card I received from a swap




An adorable Ernie the Envie ATC. And it was the 1st one she ever made! So cute...




This was the packaging for another Etsy order I placed from LaPapierre




I got these 2 stationery sets...



... and these two. I can't wait to write a letter on them! Who wants one??

 
And I'll leave it there for now. I hope you all have a great weekend! : )

Another Lovely Mail Day

Well, I let all my mail pile up on me again, so get ready for a bunch of pictures! Maybe I should start doing a mail post every week... I may need to split into more than one post again. Oopsies! ; )

Here's all my outgoing:



This was for a Mail Art swap with a lady who loves cupcakes




And the back...




This was for another Mail Art swap. She loved butterflies, so I used these vintage butterfly stamps I had... Unfortunately it seems this letter got lost in transit. : (




The back of that one. I wonder if a butterfly-loving postal worker decided to keep it for herself... ; )




This was for a Halloween Mail Art swap. Don't you love the Dracula stamp? And I thought including the "petrified" wood stamp was funny. : )




I love these little see-through ghost stickers!




This was for a Halloween ATC swap




These next few were all Postcrossing sends...





And this was for a Swap-bot themed swap. I loaded her up with stamps based on her profile likes : )




And I made her a little Ernie the Envie ATC

And I think I'll stop there for now and post my wonderful incoming tomorrow... Hope your week has started off well!

Oh, and since I've now broken 50 blog followers, I'm going to get another giveaway together. So look for that soon! : )

Day 10 - 30 Day Blog Challenge

Day 10 - Something you're afraid of

When I think about things I'm afraid of, the first thing that comes to mind is...



SPIDERS!!!!!

I've never been a big fan of spiders, but over the years it seems my fear of them has gotten worse and worse. It may have started when I was around 12 years old... My home at the time was old and surrounded by big trees, so we had lots of spiders. I remember one morning waking up and finding a huge spider on the wall right above my door. I was terrified of walking under it, in case it fell on me, so I grabbed the only spray I had on hand, a huge can of hairspray, and emptied the entire can on the poor intruder! Instead of it making the spider move out of my way, however, I ended up permanently attaching it to the spot... It actually stayed up there quite a while. Long enough to scare anyone who entered my room anyway. ; )

I don't know why I'm so scared of spiders. Even the tiniest one will send me into a frantic get-it-off-me dance if it gets anywhere near me. They're just so creepy to me... I mean, look at this thing:

Ugh, just looking at it makes me cringe! I will say that there is one spider that I think is actually kind of pretty... you know, for a spider. That's the "banana" spider. Every spring you can find lots of them around here, and you shouldn't miss them because they're pretty big and make massive webs.

See, it's kind of pretty, right? Don't get me wrong though... I still wouldn't want to touch it! I prefer just admiring it from a good distance. ; )

So, are you afraid of spiders like me? Or do you have other phobias?

Day 9 - 30 Day Blog Challenge

Day 9 - A picture of your friends

Another Lovely Mail Day

Hey guys! I have quite a bit of mail once again... Isn't it wonderful! : ) Ashamedly though, I have much more incoming than outgoing. I definitely need some more pen pals. Anyone interested? ; )

Here are my latest outgoing:



I drew a few poppies for this Ugly Notecard swap on Swap-Bot



I was a little ashamed of this one... This was for a Mail Art swap that I waited until the last minute to work on. But then I had a death in the family. So at the last second I doodled these Peanuts characters since she liked them...

 


Of course I had to include Lucy ; )

 

This was for a Halloween Pringles Can swap. I filled it full of spooky goodies! : )

And now for my massive list of incoming missives:



How awesome is this hand drawn/painted postcard I got for the "Doodle a Dinner" swap? It put my sushi to shame!!!





The Edward and Bella ATC I received

 


A pretty ATC I got as an extra for a swap




Love the vampire stamp! : )




A lovely painted and stamped (and sewn) envelope for a Mail Art swap



One of the many goodies that were inside. Isn't it cute!?



The Halloween Pringles can packed full of presents for me : )



This is a much better picture of my order from Gracie's Etsy shop. The packaging was so sweet, and I loved everything!



This is the Umba Box order I received the other day. They are a new company that sends you a randomly selected homemade item each month. This was their 1st shipment, so they offered a cheaper trial rate. : )



And this is what they sent... A lovely infinity scarf. I love the fabric! I'll have to take a picture the first time I wear it. : )



A pretty tulip postcard I received




Isn't that little kid stamp the cutest?!?




And speaking of stamps, look at all these lovelies...




And these



This is the cute owl Ruby drew for me on the "Doodle an Animal" swap



The other side of that post card. What a view!!

Okay, I think I've bombarded you with enough pictures for now... I just got back from BOW, so I'll have a post on that up soon! Hope you're having a great week! : )