Update on new 2013 stamps

So beyondtheperf.com is where I normally go to see the new stamp previews, but I'm also a "fan" of the USPS on Facebook and they also post the new stamps there. Except I recently noticed that they have posted a couple stamps on the Facebook page that are NOT on beyondtheperf. Unless I am missing something. So for those of you who don't do Facebook, here they are:

Outgoing Christmas & New Years Cards

The T-Rex is probably my favorite.

BLAAAAAAA

When are they going to resume 2013 stamp preview?????!!!???!!?
BLERG.

My log cabin

We got back home to Illinois yesterday after a nice trip to see family in Maryland.

I received an awesome pile of mail today! Just one of the great parts of coming home after a long trip. Sleeping in my own bed is another.

I wanted to share with you two things: 1) my dinosaur collection and 2) a painting I did with my grandmother when I was 6.

dinos atop the tv- my favorite on the right... parasaurolophus!

 and a close-up of the painting. This is the log cabin that I lived in for most of my life, 5 years old to college.  I was 6 when I did this with "Memaw".

and here is just one of the cards I got when I came home! This one is from my sister-in-law.

More to come soon.

Thanksgiving mail sent

Here's the card inside...

 this envelope!

For my cousin Aaron. When we had family Christmas parties at the log cabin where I grew up, my dad would sometimes use the tractor to pull us in a hayride. That was so much fun.

A Trader Joe's sticker saved from last year! :-D

I love Winnie the Pooh. The books are just so so funny. Actually I recently picked up a tiny rubber stamp from the Salvation Army of Pooh and Piglet hand in hand walking away. It was 35 cents. YES!

Maybe I'll be able to show you the Christmas cards I sent before we get to Valentine's Day. 

haha

Christmas Time!

First Christmas card of the season! from my mama

This is my first Christmas tree as an adult!! It's a fake tree that the previous tenant of our house left in the garage, along with a string of white Christmas lights.

I put the white Christmas lights up on our front window, but I'll wait to show you a photo of that because we want to put up our last string of lights, those big old fashioned ones, around the front door.




















Some Christmas-y mail I've sent:

A note about Christmas cards

Hello everyone,

The Missive Maven has a posting every year about how she doesn't do Christmas cards because she is Jewish and I wanted to share my stance.

I love Christmas and I enjoy sending Christmas cards, and I have a ton because it's easy to find them for sale in thrift stores.

If I correspond with you, PLEASE forgive me if I send you a Christmas card if you don't want one. I want to respect everybody's beliefs, but I'm kind of bad at keeping things straight and I write to a lot of people. So please forgive me if you don't want me to write to you on a Christmas card. Also with a lot of my newer penpals the subject hasn't even come up yet. Feel free to comment and tell me now.

That said, I won't send you a Christmas card with just my name signed, it'll be a letter. As happy as I am that people send more mail at this time of year, I do find it a bit disappointing that many people don't write anything in their cards!

Also, I'd be thrilled to receive any kind of holiday card from you, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid, Happy New Year, or Festivus for the Rest of Us! :)

Okay, and now here are a few letters from Rusty that I don't think I've blogged yet.