Hey, You! Remember Me?

Hey guys! After a blogging hiatus that hasn't lasted quite as long as my letter-writing hiatus, I'm finally back into the swing of things. At this point I'm as close to caught up on letters as I've been in a very long time, and with this relief has come a ton of inspiration.

I'm using that inspiration to get back on my penpalling "feet", and a part of this "starting over" process includes a new blog.

I'm now moving to my new "Daily Incoming & Outgoing" type blog, Every Day Mail (click to go there!). From there, I'll also launch a handful of blogs for any snail mail projects, swaps, etc. that I decide to host or join. Be on the lookout for projects featuring giveaways and other things! I hope to see you there! :)

13 Somethings Swap

Hey all! After participating in some of the great ones I’ve seen on other blogs, I finally cracked and decided to host a swap of my own. However, since it’s a little late and the postal service will soon be very busy with holiday mailings, I don’t think there’s time to get this done before Christmas- so instead, I’ve decided to do a swap based on New Year’s! 

13 Things: New Year’s Swap

For this swap, we’ll each send our randomly chosen partners 13 items to welcome the year 2013. These items will be prompted “Somethings”-(i.e. something round, something useful,etc.) The actual list will be posted on November 25^th, the day after sign-up deadlines. The deadline for sending items will be December 5^th and we’ll aim for a reveal day of January 1^st, 2013!

This swap is open to everyone international or regional and it doesn’t matter if you’re a follower of the blog or not. If you have a blog of your own, I ask that you re-blog about this swap and spread the word in any way you can!  The only requirements are:

-You must have some way to share the package you received via photos, whether it’s through a blog, a Facebook album, or emailing them to me if you have no way of posting them on your own. Whatever you have to do.

-You’re welcome to spend as much as you want on your partner’s package, but just for the sake of not having an incident where one person sends a $50 USD package and gets a $5 USD package in return, there will be a minimum pre-shipping spending limit of $13 USD.

As far as that monetary value goes, I’m not aiming to make this an overwhelmingly expensive swap. The “Something” prompts will be generic enough you can do almost anything you want with them, and the minimum limit averages each item at a dollar. There’s no need to drive yourself into the poor house. (Don’t worry, “Something heavy” will not be on the list!) Please do not send poor quality, damaged, or “junk” items. Send a package you’d like to receive!

To participate, send me an email at adinosaursaysrawr@yahoo.com with the word “Swap” somewhere in the subject line. Other information you can include would be:

-Your name and address*

-A brief paragraph about you. Share a bit about your personality and hobbies, whatever you feel like sharing- you can drop subtle hints about things you enjoy, but this is not a section to demand or hint for specific items.

-Any food, material, or other allergies if you have them. *

-Preference for national or international (I’ll try to be as flexible as possible with this, but it all depends on how many people sign up!)

-Email address and a link to your blog if you have one. *

Pardon My French, But...

No more screwing around. :| As I'm sure most of you have already noticed, I've been on a bit of a penpalling hiatus. I know it was uncalled for and that I didn't give anyone a heads-up before I dropped off of the face of the planet, and for that I apologize.

At first, I had the excuse of being new to the college experience and swamped with classwork to not keep up with my letters. Now, due to circumstances I'll likely explain is letters that I am going to write, I'm not currently a college student. I'm back home and working again and have been since October 18th.

So why the prolonged absence?

I haven't felt like writing. I know that's an awful thing to say and that it isn't fair to all of the people who have patiently awaited replies from me, but I honestly haven't been able to bring myself to put pen to paper since mid-September. I think part of it might have been because I've been ashamed and too embarrassed to fess up about dropping out of school, but now I've posted it all here and everyone knows. Here's hoping that with that off of my chest, I'll be able to sit down and tell you all about the rest of what's been going on  in my life lately. And I can't wait to get caught up on what's been going on in all of your  lives.

Hope all is well with everyone and that you'll all forgive me once again for going MIA. I'll try my best to post pictures of the enormous stack of mail I have waiting for replies in the next day or two.

Hugs,

Shelby

College Life and Incoming

Hello, all, and greetings from a college kid! I know it's been forever since I posted- for the past few days, I've been waiting for an opportunity to update. I finally got the motivation to do so this afternoon, thanks to the first incoming mail in two weeks. :) For some reason, everything that was supposed to be forwarded here from my P.O. Box... well, hasn't been forwarded. But luckily I go home every weekend and check it while I'm there. Here are some pictures of today's mail and what I found waiting for me last Friday!

A letter, postcard, and stickers from Anastasya in Russia!

A first letter from Joyce, who found me through a post on Penpaloftheweek.com. :)

Another first letter! This one comes from Marlea, who also found me through my quirks on Penpal of the Week!
With her letter, she sent me tiny envelopes and a lot of stickers!

A letter from Melanie!

A letter from Sophie!Bee, in response to my introduction letter.

A postcrossing card from Germany.

Another postcrossing card (also from Germany!)

 In addition to these, I still have quite a few letters to reply to that came either shortly after move-in day and (sadly) even before. I've had a hard time managing my time, but I think I'm finally all caught up on school work and should have a fair bit of time this week to write!

Here's a glimpse of life on my campus!

This is me zip-lining on the third day of the semester.
 

And this, as you can see, is a hot air balloon.
We got to take hot air balloon rides as part
of freshman orientation. Fun stuff!

That's all for now! I'm glad I got this chance to update! :) Hope everyone's having a great day!

Confirmed

So, I've spoken with the school and my new address has been confirmed- I can start using it whenever. I know I've spread around a few different dates as to when the switch should occur... Basically, it comes down to this.

Penpals in the USA: I would switch somewhere between the 14th and 16th of August. However, if you're not in as big a hurry to get a reply back and you want to send a letter to my new address a little early, it'll make my day to find mail waiting when I get there!

International Penpals: The same goes for you, if you want to surprise me and aren't in a big hurry to hear back. However, the latest date you should switch would be August 12th.

A reminder: if you DON'T have my new address, please leave a comment or email me at adinosaursaysrawr@yahoo.com and I'll get back to you as quickly as possible. Thanks!

Regarding the address change

Okay, I know this is becoming hectic, but it's been pointed out I've gone about this address-switch the wrong way. As I haven't checked with my college to confirm when we can use our boxes, I ask that all mail sent to me after the 14th (USA) or let's say the 10th (international) be held until I've checked to be sure it's okay to use the new address.

August = New Address

Hello! As you all know, I haven't been very active in my blogging lately. Or my letter writing, but I'm slowly getting back on top of things! Anyway, this is just a quick update to let everyone know my address will be changing soon as I'm off to school this month. I'm not comfortable displaying this new one on the internet, so if you see this, please either email me at adinosaursaysrawr@yahoo.com or leave your email and I'll contact you! Thanks!