A massive update!!

Hey there everyone!   I know it has been a while since I have updated our blog.  I like having a group blog, and honestly, I would love a co-author.  Any takers??  Anyhow, there is much to tell.  There are a few contests going on and the     Member of the Month was decided.  Lets start with the question asked by Misty: Competition Question (Winner Will Be Announced January 31st): What is your favorite thing about snail mail? Cathy Wienke: I love getting to know people thru snail mail. Its a wonderful thing to know different people all over the globe. Simone Gunzburg: Getting to know ppl I wouldn't have the opportunity to...I love getting mail Jamie Marshall: Oh, awesome question, girlie Joyce Wright: getting to know people and learn about other places and cultures Sherri Johnson Akers :  Makin new awesome friends all over the world to share our lives with! Ashlie Yazzie:  Instead of getting bills and junk. Getting awesome mail ... Plus hearing stories from other people on how their day is going, if they got kids or not. Leontien Groenewold: sharing your life with friends all over the world and I just love getting letters in my mailbox Kerrie Foulsham: I just love reading letters and writing to all my lovely pallies  and using cute paper makes it way more fun. I love making new friends and knowing there are other people out there who like snailmail too Holly Vandver: I Love Reading The Letters And Learning Everything About My Pen Pals.. I Love When They Ask A Lot Of Questions... I Love When My Mailbox Is Full.. Everyday I Watch The Mail Man From 2 To 4:30.. So I Won't Miss Nothing Or He Won't Drop Nothing.. Cause My Mail Man Is Bad At Dropping Things.. I Love Hearing About My Pen Pals Day... I Love Making New Friends Cause I Have No Friends Here So I Tend To My Pen Pals..... DanaBear Marie Shepard: I love about snail mail is that it brings back the old days. ITs not about texting. Its about having fun and being creative. Its about having showing the true you. I believe that handwriting tells all. I love it. I always sit and wait when the mail gets here and so excited when I receive the mail. Jamie Marshall: It occurred to me that I haven't answered this question!! Well, what I like about snail mail because it fills a void in my life and allows me to be creative. I am also an "old soul" and I think sadly that snail mail is dying. With technology now, it is easier to write an e-mail than a letter and you can receive it immediately. And they are so impersonal! Today's world is in such a rush with everything and everyone. I mean, I LOVE my cell phone, but now people text instead of making a phone call. People are so dependent on their cell phones too; it's like "oh my god what would I do if I forgot it" and "what if I miss Bobby's call" Don't get me wrong, cell phones are awesome, but land-lines are dying too. If land-lines were still the only way of communicating I would sooooo get one of those rotary phones ( yeah, old soul here), but I would never get the chance to use it. What if cell phone towers died and we were unable to use them? We would have a massive panic! ANYHOW, sorry for the massive rant, but snail mail allows me to keep a dying art alive. I also don't have any friends here and this fills a void of emptiness I feel and gives me a hobby. You all should come over and see my side of the study!!! Nimmy Francis: snail even slow reaches its destination...we always wait for the mails from the dear ones with great excitement..I still remember my child hood when I was not having Internet connection at home and I used to wait for the letters from my dad working in Indian army and my aunty in Italy...I reckon that pleasure of waiting and personification of letters are the beautiful parts of snail mail...our own snail mail..person takes effort in writing..he or she is trying to pour out their emotion into a piece of paper..u cant just copy ND paste in those cute snail mails..I do have those mails even now with me..when ever I read it,I feel the presence of my old cute dad n aunty Desirae Vaccaro: I love putting love into each envelope I make and I love how personal letters are. Some of my closest friends I have made through penpalling Haley Hubbard: Getting 2 meet new people writeing each letter wiv love and sand out letters and gifts 2 all my penpals and getting letters in the post I love writeing letters xxx The winner to our lovely question is the fabulous Nimmy Francis.  Awesome answer to an awesome question.   GOOD JOB LADIES!!!! Okay, now onto some related crafts. Sandra Paz-Daniels made these:    Adorable! And now, introducing January's Member of the Month: Sherri Johnson Akers Member of the Month interview very soon! Jamie  "Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point." The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of

Hello all.

Sorry I have been away for so long.  With the holidays and then the massive plague that has been attacking my family has been knocking me off my feet. Today is the first day I actually feel pretty decent.  So here, is an update.

We have received some new members:  These are the most recent ones.  I am behind; in EVERYTHING at the moment!

Tammie Tackett

Jennifer N Matt

We have a new contest question apparently:

Competition Question (Winner Will Be Announced January 31st): What is your favorite thing about snail mail?

answers so far:  

Cathy Wienke: i love getting to know people thru snail mail. its a wonderful thing to know different people all over the globe.

Simone Gunzburg: Getting to know ppl I wouldn't have the opportunity to...I love getting mail

Jamie Marshall: Oh, awesome question, girlie

Joyce Wright: getting to know people and learn about other places and cultures

Sherri Johnson Akers: Makin new awesome friends all over the world to share our lives with!

Ashbash Yazzie: Instead of getting bills and junk. Getting awesome mail ... plus hearing stories from other people on how their day is going, if they got kids or not.

Leontien Groenewold:  sharing your life with friends all over the world and I just love getting letters in my mailbox 

and then there is The Member of the Month.  We didn't do December because of all the massive holiday craziness.  More news soon!

---Jamie. 

November Member of the Month: Jamie Marshall(me!)

- Tell us about yourself, your hobbies, personal life, and interests!
Hello all!  The name is Jamie Marshall(some where in the familyline is was Von Marshall but they dropped the Von(or Van—excuse my lack of German) and am a 30 year old girlie living in Arizona and was actually born here.  I live with my boyfriend of 7 years and I am crazy and work in the Childcare field

- Describe yourself in only 5 words!
Honest, respectful, random, thoughtful, creative

- How and why did you start pen palling?
Well, I don’t really have any friends so one night in 2009 I was searching around the internet, wondering if there was still such a thing.  Well lo and behold, I came across a website called interpals.net and am still paling with some of the girls who were my first pals.

- What do you like/dislike about pen palling?
I like that you can be yourself. Usually, well, I have found that when you meet a person they judge you, based on what you look like, how you act, etc.  And become your friend to see what they can get out of you.  I have had friends in the past that have written me e-mails saying that they hated being my friend. Yes, true story.  What I dislike about pen-paling is when someone is requiring rules.  I mean, sometimes when I have the time I will go all out on making my letter fantabulous, sometimes it may be a intro letter.  And then later on they’re like, “How come you haven’t wax sealed your letters in a while?”  Um… excuse me?  We are all living busy and hecktic lives.  I do not always HAVE THE TIME to wax seal letters, you know?

- How many pen pals do you have and where are they from?
at least 15 right now.   The majority of them are from the USA, a couple from Canada and Europe.

- What do you look for in a pen pal?
Someone who I have common interests with.  Someone who is loyal, and doesn’t write more than a paragraph.  Someone who doesn’t judge

- Where do you find new pen pals at? Do you rely on friendship books, Facebook, or other websites/blogs?
Well, I started out on the interpals site, but then I went to facebook  and then just continued to stay around there.  I am not to keen on FB’s because I don’t want any possible creepers getting my address

-          Do you keep track of your mail? Share your tip on how to stay organized.
I have my own 3 ring binders for those I write with often. I don’t have a binder for everyone,  I have a couple zippy large ones that I place possible “own folder” pen-pals.  I should create a fact sheet, but I haven’t done that yet

 "Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point."

The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of

new members!

Just wanted to give a shout out to our latest members of our little group here.
SHOUT OUT to:

Julie Siemen

Ashley Jo Will

Ashlie Yazzie

Andrea Meryl

Just to name a few..... 

if you are new, and I missed you, I'm sorry!!  

Question of the Week: November 24th

I am starting a Question of the Week thing.
From Saturday, November 24th, 2012 to Saturday, December 1st? (not sure of the date here)
If for some poopy reason you cannot view the video the question is:

What is the yummiest thing you cannot live without having on that Holiday table?????   YUM!
---------------------------------------
Answers:

Tiffany Keaster Mlsna STUFFING!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sherri Johnson Akers my Mom's red cinnamon applesauce!! To DIE for!!
jamie Marshall Anyone else?? Cannot live without the Italian dressing tomatoes. That and of course mashed potatoes. I get those at Chris's mom's events. Oh and when she makes tamales... Though that's an every other year thing. 
But yummy!
Misty Ann Ring During the holiday season I can't live without mashed potatoes! Ha-ha. And pecan pie.
Bre Aponi  Ummmm I love Honey Baked Ham.... so good.
Julie Siemen Pumpkin pie, yummy!!

October Member of the Month: Tiffany Keaster Mlsna

I'm a silly lady and forgot to post the interview questions from Tiffany for the Member of the Month for October!  I'm such a silly silly girl.  Well, better late than never:

- Tell us about yourself, your hobbies, personal life, and interests!
*waves* Hello! My name is Tiffany Mlsna... let me help you before you stumble over that Mlsna (mole-snuh) it can be quite the mouth full. I am 27 years old, I'll be 28 in just a few short weeks on the 20th of November. I have two delightful young children and a very wonderful husband. We have been married 4 years now. I am currently a stay at home mom, but I do work part time as an Optical Tech... and glorified Optician. My hobbies are quite simple seeing as I have very little free time or alone time... I love to read, write, listen to music and learn. Yes I love to learn. I am interested in the paranormal and I am attempting to write my own novel. foreseeing no more computer crashes that is. I enjoy life and I try to find something positive in everything.

- Describe yourself in only 5 words!
Honest, respectful, random, thoughtful, creative

- How and why did you start pen palling?
I started in 1995 when I came across a horse crazy magazine. There was a pen pal ad in there that described a girl much like myself. I decided to give it a shot. In 1997, French class, I was required to write a letter to this girl in France... It wasn't as much fun when I was required to write LOL, but I still enjoyed it. I was a steady pen pal all the way up until 2008 when I had complications with my pregnancy and decided to give it a break. Now in 2012 i decided to pick it back up again :)

- What do you like/dislike about pen palling?
What I like about pen palling is making friends from all over the world. I love the thrill of getting a letter. When I get a letter it feels like the person that wrote me is sharing their life with me. It's the simple fact that they took the time to write... me. What I dislike about pen palling is when I come across those individuals that put rules and regulations on your letters... "you can only use blue ink, your letters must be X amount of pages long and you only have 4 days to reply" That takes the fun out of it. This is a hobby, not a job. And I have two kids, a husband and a job... I can't always respond right away.

- How many pen pals do you have and where are they from?
I have about 30 pen pals. A majority of them are from the USA. I have a few from Ireland, England, New Zealand and the Netherlands. I wish I had more over seas pals.

- What do you look for in a pen pal?
What I look for in a pal is someone that I can connect with. Some one that has at least a few things in common with myself. I also look for pals that are interested in learning more about me, as I am interested about learning about them. I find it very difficult to write a one sided letter.

- Where do you find new pen pals at? Do you rely on friendship books, Facebook, or other websites/blogs?
So far a majority of my pals I have found either through face book or word of mouth from another pal. I do not do friendship books, the idea of having my address floating around to who knows where is a bit unnerving.

- Do you keep track of your mail? Share your tip on how to stay organized.
I have all of my letters organized by pal in their own folder. I organize them by first name. I also have a sheet that I have my pals fill out, or I fill it out for them, that has their information such as likes, dislikes and birthday. This helps me make sure that I don't forget any important detail about my pals.

Credendo Vides - Believing is Seeing ~ Tiffany Mlsna

Member of the Month and Photo Contest Winner

Hey everyone!  We all hope that everyone had a great Halloween if you celebrated.  How time flies so quickly!!!  Here we are at the beginning of November all ready.

All right, for starters to announce the October Member of the Month.  The winner is Tiffany Keaster Mlsna.  Congratulations!   Jamie loves this picture and that's why she posted it!  Of course this dress has to be from the Renaissance Era!  The interview for Tiffany will come very soon.


Secondly, we have the October Photo Contest Winner.   The theme, of course, was Pumpkin Carving.  What else would the theme for October be anyhow? Summer?  The winner for this little photo contest is Joyce Wright.

That's it for now!!

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail us at: friendshipforalways@gmail.com