I decided to update my profile and basically start from scratch because tastes change and I felt like my old profile didn't quite fit me 100% anymore. Some of the crafts I'd listed that I liked doing, I don't like doing anymore and some of the things I collect. I no longer collect. hahahahahaha

Personal About Me:

I'm a 43yrs old Mom and Wife who lives in a TINY village in Ohio called Wharton. The last time I googled our town the Census said there are 350 people living in our town but I'm pretty sure they counted the dogs too in that number because they felt sorry for us.

I've been married to my husband Jim for almost 8 years and we have a 6yr old son. (As of 2018). We also have three dogs, a cat and two beta fish.

I am lucky enough to have a job that allows me to work from my home office. I do have a strict number of hours that I work. Four 10 hour days. But it saves me from all that nasty commuting and having to go out in bad weather. I also get to work in my jammies. That's a major bonus! Another favorite bonus is that I get to take a nap on my lunch hour if I wish. Naps are great!! HAHAHAHAHA

The downside of working from home though is that there are DAYS sometimes that I never leave the house. So this is why I love swap-bot. It is my only touch with the outside world sometimes. ha! I truly enjoy reaching out via mail to other people in different cities, states and countries.

I initially joined Swap-bot for the craft swapping but lately I've been in a creative funk. I don't know if my muse has gone on vacation or the crafty well has run dry but regardless I've not been doing much crafting swaps lately.

I find myself drawn to the writing type swaps. I've been doing a lot of journal swaps and I really love them.

Two of my favorite journal swaps are:

Shared Journal Experience hosted by @AmericanHeiress

Seasonal Diary/Journal hosted by @CraftyMommaOnABudget

I also like to participate in a lot of letter writing swaps like Long Letter, 10 Page letter and etc.

One of my all time favorite swaps that I join year after year is also hosted by @CraftyMommaOnABudget and that is her 12 Days of Christmas Letter swaps. If you click on her name you can go to her profile page and find the swaps she is hosting. These Christmas letter swaps are my favorite swap to be honest.

Other swaps that I enjoy are postcard swaps and random list swaps. I also really enjoying those tons of question type swaps. I do tend to like electronic swaps too and have joined the Electronic Swaps Group because I find those swaps easy, no pressure and help to increase the number of swaps you've done.

I've recently stocked up on over a 100 new postcards so if you want to do a 3 unused postcards in a envie then contact me. I'm always willing to swap for postcards (as long as my supply isn't running low). I just joined a Postcard Bag/Train swap and I'm having fun with that.

I also love recipe exchange type swaps and join these quite often. This goes a long with my love of cooking. See my "Other Hobbys" section below.

Some of my favorite crafty things I love to do are:

Crochet

Greeting Card Making

Swap-Bot Card Making

Interactive Mini Albums

Faux Stain Glass

(I'll Add more as I think of it)

If you are wondering on what kind of things I love getting I am going to try and keep a list here that I can update as I go along. These things may change so be sure to stop back from time to time if you are partnered with me. HAHAHAHA

Right now the favorite things on my wishlist are:

Washi Tape Samples

List Pad Paper

Mini blank journals

Pens and Markers Any Type

Tea Bags

Stickers ( I love stickers but I never have enough to swap)

Address Labels (that you've made for me)

Swap-bot Swap Cards

Notecards

Postcards

I love real stamps on letters in place of metered mail if able.

PLEASE DON'T SEND ME:

Floral scented anything.

Musk or sandalwood based anything (allergic)

Ephemera (unless swap says to)

Political stuff

Anti-Christian items.

No horror related please.

Green Tea gives me headaches.

I decided to incorporate the Favorite Books, Music and Movie section all under one heading to save myself a category.

Music:

I honestly don't listen to a lot of music. Usually only when I'm driving in the car. Then the station is tuned to the local country station just because it is the station that comes in clearest. I actually cancelled my Sirius XM subscription because we didn't utilize it enough. I don't even have a radio in the house. hahahaha All my CDs are in storage and I only have two Adele Albums on my phone. That's about it.

Books: Books are my obsession. I listen to a lot of audiobooks. Thanks to the SEO Library Consortium which is the digital version of the library. I listen to about three or more books a week. In addition to that, I probably read 10 or more paper copy books per month.

My favorite genre of books is murder mystery and psychological thrillers. I really hate romance novels of any kind. They don't make sense to me. I also love YA dystopian books. I only like sci-fi if it falls into the dystopian genre.

I really like when they combine mystery with cooking like in Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen's Murder Mysteries.

Some of my favorite authors are:

Dean Koontz

Janet Evanovich

Nora Roberts aka JD Robb

James Patterson

Patricia Cornwall

Sue Grafton

Joanne Fluke

Movies:

I love love love love movies! I'd love nothing more then to watch movies all day long for a living...hahahhaa. Unfortunately, they just won't pay me to do what I love.

Some of my favorite movies are: Jurassic Park (All), The Transporter (Jason Statham!!), Harry Potter (All), Practical Magic, The Mummy I & II, Men in Black (All), Anything with Will Smith in it, Anything with John Cusack in it. I have a not so secret crush on John Cusack....hahahaha.

Another actor that gets my heart jumping is Dwayne THE ROCK Johnson.... Hmmm. I would go watch a movie of him just sitting in a chair for 90 mins. hahahaha

I do like Romantic Comedy movies but I usually only watch them once and then I'm done. I prefer action movies or movies with strong leading women who can kick butt like Lara Croft Tomb Raider.

One of my favorite actresses of all time is Sandra Bullock. She is amazing, she can play almost any role from a ditzy knucklehead to a butt-buster kick butt woman! I really hate sport type movies but I think she did a fabulous job in The Blind Side. I've watched it several times because it was so good.

Now onto other favorite movies: I love love love old classic movies. Black and whites from the 30's, 40's and 50's. I love Cary Grant, Gene Kelley, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall, David Niven and many many more.

Whew! I almost forgot to add this section. I was actually reading over my own profile and saw where I noted for you to find this section. HAHAHAHA! I guess I should add it then, huh?

My newest passion/hobby is those food delivery boxes! I'm having so much fun with these things and I've subscribed to FIVE! Home Chef, Hello Fresh, Dinnerly, Every Plate and Marley Spoon.

Like I said, I am having so much fun with these boxes. I learned to make things I would have never thought of on my own, so I'm increasing my "tried" recipe collection. I love how you get a big box of food in the mail and it's everything you need to make three dinners for your family and for us it is actually saving me money because to be honest, we were spending a lot of money eating out because I was so TIRED of cooking the same things over and over again. Yes I had tons of recipes that I always meant to try, but it's a lot different having all the food delivered right to your front door and not having to go shop for it yourself. :) Some of the dishes I've made are:

Chinese BBQ Pork Chops w/ ginger scallion rice and crispy broccoli

Honey Glazed Chicken Cutlets with Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Zuchchini

Cheesy Beef Subs with Carrot Fries

Chipotle Mini Meatloaves with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Carrots

Apricot Pork Chops with Roasted Potatoes and Green Beans

Easy Chicken and Pepper Fajitas w/Zesty Sour Cream

Parmesan Chicken-Potato Roast with Carrots and Lemon Dressing

Green Pesto & Bean Shakshuka with Ricotta and Toasted Pita

Crispy Pan-Fried Gnocchi with Lemon, Mascarpone and Spinach

Ginger Caramel Chicken with Steamed Green Beans and Rice

Caramelized Onion Beef Burgers with Marinated Tomato Salad.

I have to tell you that everything has been GREAT. I'm going to keep and try these recipes again. If you want any of these recipes, let me know and I will share them with you.

Also, on a side note, I've lost 15 lbs since subscribing to these food boxes. Mostly because I'm not eating out and I'm learning proper portion control and eating more balanced meals.

Funny story... I HATE hate HATE carrots. But as you can see by the recipes above... We've been getting a lot of carrots. Well I've had to eat them because I can't expect my 6yr old to eat something that I don't. Sighhhh. Well, the recipe they gave for the roasted carrot sticks!! I am in LOVE WITH. Me, the carrot hating girl, ate TWO portions of carrot fries..hahahahaha. I sweart to goodness they tasted just like FAIR Fries!! I admit I've been converted to the carrot eating club. :)

Oh and I'm not getting all these food boxes EACH week.. OH MY that would cost an arm and a leg. I get one a week to supplement my normal grocery shopping. Basically these are about $60 per box. ( A box is either 3 meals for 4 people or 3 meals for 2 people, depending on the place. Home Chef, Hello Fresh and Marley Spoon are more expensive so I only get the 3 for 2. Dinnerly and Everyplate are cheaper so I get the 3 for 4)

I pick and choose and skip weeks between the 5 services depending on the menus. Sometimes if there is something I really want to try then I will choose two services one week. :) It may sound expensive but for us it is actually saving us money because we were eating out too much. I know when we went to pizzahut it cost us $60 with tip for dinner for the three of us. Now I spend that money and get three meals for the three of us. :)

Hey! If you want to try any of these services I have referral codes too!

Home Chef $30 off for your first box

Dinnerly: I have two free codes for a free box. If you want to try it let me know and I will send you the link.

Every Plate $20 off your first box

By the way, you don't have to try more then one box if you don't want to, you can cancel anytime with no hassle.

Let me know if you try it out and how you liked it.