jjcob

I am a 40+yr old mum of 3 gorgeous girls aged 9, 11 and 13. They keep me busy with their after-school activities! My husband and I own a sports shop and I also work part-time at a local gym. I love to be outdoors. I enjoy sports and keeping fit! In fact, I recently completed an Ironman event - a fact I am very proud of!

I LOVE food and love to cook. I love to try new recipes and have recipe books galore and folders filled with recipes ripped from magazines and photocopies. I have a small flower garden and like to spend time in it but mostly it is the vegetable garden that gets the attention! I also like to go hiking and love tramp new tracks. I also love to run, bike, swim (hence the Ironman!) and then for relaxation I love to craft.

I LOVE anything Italian and one day will visit that beautiful country! I keep promising myself I will learn the language one day but my oldest daughter is learning Spanish and I don't think my poor brain could cope with another language in the house! On that note, if anything Spanish is sent, my daughter will be rapt.

I love animals and would love to have some land where we could have a horse (as would my girls!!) We have a cat and a miniature schnauzer (dog) and are currently trying to convince 'Dad' to let us have guinea pigs but I don't think we will win that one!! I also love roosters and 'country-style' hens!

I love to take photos and will do a photography course one day to learn how to use my camera properly. I would love to take 'arty' black and white photos.

My friends and family are very important to me-I love nothing better than catching up with people over a coffee or a wine :) I also drink tea (and hot chocolate!) and have been reading about the tea swaps on here-I can't wait to do one and hopefully receive some 'different' things than what I usually have! I think that will be the best part abot swapbot-experiencing new things from places and people I would otherwise never have known about.

Favourite colours are blues and greens, especially turquoise and aqua.

My eldest daughter is very keen to join in some swaps and I have just found the 'Fun Kids Swaps' group so will add some details for her ow. She is 13 and loves writing letters and postcards. She has her own account on PostCrossing! She also loves making ATC's and cards. She collects stamps and coins. She isn't really a 'girly girl' so pink and purple aren't really fav colours-more into blues/greens but I notice a wee bit of pink creeping into her things now so who knows...!!! She is also a keen photographer but unfortunately got FLAKED on in her very first phot swap :( Aah well, a learning experience, I guess!!

I love to read-mostly thrillers and the odd chick-lit to lighten the mood! Authors I enjoy include James Patterson; Karin Slaughter; JD Robb (Nora Roberts) Jodi Picoult; Danielle Steel; Wilbur Smith and others I can't think of just off the top of my head!

I love to knit (mostly in winter!) and am able to do basic crocheting but keep meaning to learn more, just need to find more time! I have just discovered ATC's and have fallen in love with the concept! In fact that is how I found this site! My two older girls are very keen to get involved too! So much so that they now have their own 'stash' as they kept using all my stuff up!!! Beads are another item I enjoy crafting with but again haven't explored this as fully as I would like. PLEASE can someone invent a longer day??!! :) Journalling is something I have discovered since being on SwapBot and I LOVE it!! Actually I found it really difficult to give away the journals I completed in the swaps, lol, (but I did-I'm no flaker!!)

I belong to PostCrossing and love the variety of cards I receive. Prefer them naked and written on but hey, any mail brightens my day! I have just discovered the map postcards of the US and would be rapt to receive any - my aim is to collect every state! If you would like to do a private exchange of postcards please get in touch-I'd love to hear from you! I now have the following states: Alaska Idaho Washington California Arizona Vermont Conneticut North Carolina Oklahoma New Jersey Oregon New Hampshire Florida Michigan Texas Arkansas Maryland

(just in case anyone is feeling SUPER, EXTRA, WONDERFULLY generous)

I really feel awkward listing things here but I am getting desperate :).... I would absolutely be ecstatic! if anyone was kind enough to send me Composition Notebooks for journalling. So many of the swaps call for them and I can't find anything similar in NZ. Even the little 'mini' ones (a swapper sent me some a couple of years ago and they were put to great use, thank you, 'jeansjems'!) I do realise that they are 'big' items and don't expect them but it IS a wishlist after all.... :)