Swan

I just love to read. Especially books that are based on a true story or non-fiction books. I read and write English and German fluently.

I'm on Postcrossing, sending and receiving postcards from all over the world.

I like singing in the choir and in the shower; listening to good music; stickers; bright colors like red, yellow, and purple; the fall season with its colorful leaves; wildflowers, poppies, sunflowers, dandelions; the smell of the air after rain; salamanders, butterflies, ladybugs, snails, squirrels; traveling notebooks, handmade postcards; sitting under a tree and enjoying the nice weather and the things around me; berries and bananas, good food; sunsets; taking photographs with my digital camera; close-up pictures; my hometown Luebeck where I grew up; watching a landscape from a plane; going to church on Sunday morning; cute socks; chocolate, filled gingerbread hearts; true stories...

I reuse packaging. It's fun to do and saves a lot of resources.

Handmade postcards, journaling(drawing, writing, stickers,...), traveling notebooks, ATCs. I haven't done crochet for a long time, but I'd like to try again soon... I love stickers - glossy, sparkly, textured or just any kind of special stickers are especially fun.

Classical (e.g. Bach); contemporary Christian (e.g. Keith and Kristyn Getty, Michael Card, Michael W. Smith); The Mamas and the Papas

Salamanders and newts, birds (especially the small songbirds and ducks), interesting insects, snails, sheep, and in general any wildlife.

Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury), The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis), Safely Home (Randy Alcorn), The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith; I've read the first, listened to vol. 2-4 as an audio book and would like to continue...), the Bible, Moomin. In general, I like non-fiction and fiction based on a true story. I like it if I can learn something interesting in an enjoyable way. I can read English and German fluently. For a list of books that I'm looking for so I can read them please check out my Bookcrossing wishlist and my Amazon wishlist (I'd be happy with anything in used condition, doesn't have to be new and of course you don't have to buy at Amazon).

Television: Monk, Star Trek Voyager, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Trading Spaces, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser

Movies: Ice Age, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Copying Beethoven, The Final Inquiry. Hayao Miyazaki's films, such as Howl's Moving Castle. Kung Fu Panda.

Colors: Red, orange, yellow; rich jewel-tone colors

Things to eat: Berries and other fruit, chocolate (good quality, preferably fair trade, no cheap brands like Hersheys...), filled gingerbread hearts/cookies

Shoe size 40-41 German, 9 1/2 US. Size for T-shirts: XL. Socks should be at least 50% cotton or other natural fiber, my feet sweat too much in acrylic. T-shirts cotton only, no acrylic mix. I'd be especially happy to get something made of organic cotton or other eco-friendly material.

Some items that would probably make me especially happy:

• state quarters that I'm still missing from my collection (2003: Missouri P; 2004: Florida P, Iowa P; 2005: California P, Minnesota P; 2007: Montana P, Washington P; 2008: Oklahoma P, Arizona P, Alaska P, Hawaii P and D)
• Any kind of handmade "book" (e.g. handmade notebook, altered book,chunky book, nice deco, art journal, travel journal, mini scrapbook)
• Books to read (see wishlist - used books are fine as long as they are in readable condition)
• Moleskine like notebooks (the real thing or imitations...)
• nice Lefthanded item (calendar, tool, ...)
• interesting paper, maybe with something embedded or a cool texture... (anything at least the size of an ATC is fine)
• Clothing made of organic cotton or other eco-friendly material
• fair trade items (e.g. coin purse, ornament, bracelet, small notebook) or even one you bought in a scratch and dent sale and fixed yourself. I love bargains and I love it when the person who originally made the item gets a fair price for it.
• Anything from my Universal wishlist on Amazon

Items my husband would enjoy:

• anything related to pinball
• large soaps (preferably 7oz/200g or larger; he especially likes fruity scents like strawberry and more masculine smells like mint)
• bar of shave soap
• good quality black liquorice (such as Katjes, Haribo, or Panda brands)
• pens that don't have separate caps (he tends to lose the caps)
• a pad of squared paper
• audio books on CD to listen to on his commute

• Please don't send me anything that smells smoky. It makes me sneeze and the smell is so hard, if not impossible, to get out.
• I don't have holes in my ears, so I don't wear earrings.
• I don't like any kind of coffee. And I don't like peanuts (I'm not allergic, so traces are fine, but please not peanut butter cups etc.).
• I don't really like Pooh the Bear very much...
• When sending craft supplies, used stamps and such are fine, but don't send me photocopies of mediocre quality on regular paper or something like that.