andev

I'm the mommy of two beautiful children - Joseph, who is 5 and Ella who is 3. My husband, Will, is my best friend in the world. We've been married for 5 years, 2 PCSs and a re-enlistment, and I'm looking forward to many more of all of those things in the years to come.

I worked (until quite recently) at the largest Brinker establishment in the world (Brinker owns Chili's, Romano's Macaroni Grill, On the Border and Maggiano's Little Italy) as an Expediter. I love being in and around restaurants, and food in general.

I co-run a website for military wives stationed in the KMC with about 100 members, and help organize events and playgroups for about 50 women weekly :)

I currently live in Germany with my family, and LOVE IT!

I love the classics, from Poe and Burns and Dickens to the newer tried-and-true's; J.K.Rowling, Dahl and Gabaldon. I like poetry and fables and fairy tales - most of the books I own fall into those categories :)

I like to sew once in a blue moon. I quilt occassionally. I dabble in cross stitch and peruse crochet. I've attempted scrapbooking, cheesemaking and polymer clay. I've failed at pottery, lacemaking and pastels.

The only hobby with which I am consistently successful is baking :) Unfortunately, I am also diabetic. :( My family has reminded me that I have also been successful with calligraphy and pencil drawings...I'm considering starting ATCs, but...I'm afraid I'm not good enough. So we'll see :)

I love pigs with wings :) Almost all of my FP (flying pig) stuff was lost in our last move, so I am slowly rebuilding. If it is funny, crass or rude, I will probably enjoy it immensely!

I'm a big fan of teal, brown, spicy smells (like cinnamon and ginger), owls, snowmen in the winter, jewelry, novelty items, dinosaurs, socks and glitter.

I dislike sugar (I'm diabetic), purple, cartoons, fruity smells, monkeys (I don't know why, really) and religious iconography.

I try very hard to make my swaps on time and awesome - but that being said, I do live overseas on a military installation. I don't speak the language here fluently, and sometimes finding just the right thing takes right up until the due date, so I rarely send early. If I'm late by a day or two, it's because I couldn't get to the American Post Office, or because I waited in line at the APO for forever and had to leave, or because I tried to put enough postage on the package to send it without going thru the line and I was $0.03 short or something :S But I've never purposefully flaked, nor do I intend to! If something is late, please also allow a slightly extended bit of time for it to arrive - I got one of my Christmas cards back in MAY for a wrong address. And feel free to PM me if you have any problems or concerns!!

Joseph is 5, just started Kindergarten and LOVES anything that goes fast - cars, trucks, planes, trains. He's one of those very organized children - his room is never messy, and he collects boxes for organizing his things in.

Ella is 3-almost-4 and is convinced she's a princess. She's your pink, ruffly, sparkly kind of girl, who loves elephants and jewelry.

Both of the kids have really been enjoying swapping - we have to travel to our American Post Office, so getting mail is always an adventure and a treat. They've also been having a great time creating things for their kids' swaps - stickers, recipes and pictures :)

Everything I wrote about the craziness of mailing things out here is true - ask any overseas American military wife :) But there's a little more to my day-late swaps, and I wanted to explain.

Several months ago, my dentist found two masses in my sinus cavities in a dental xray. The Endocrinologist is concerned that they could be insulinomas. Since then, I've been in and out of the hospital and have rescheduled the surgeries to remove them twice due to complications. I thought it wouldn't affect my swapping, but I seem to be always just a little behind - I always catch up, but a few of my swaps have gone out a day or two late because I just physically couldn't make it to the store or post office, or I had a hard time holding a pen or just needed to sleep. I've made excuses and tried to make it not seem a big deal, but the truth is that I just can't make promises at this point, aside from the promise that I WILL send the swap.

If any coordinators read this and would like to block me from their swaps, that is totally okay - I know it is much easier when things are on time, every time. But I really would like to keep swapping - twice in the last week, I've spent the day being stuck with needles, hooked up to IVs and poked and prodded and miserable, and checked my mail to find a truly exceptional swap package that really just made my day :)

Thank you so much for this site and the amazing swappers on it - you guys are great, and the reason I drag myself to the APO almost everyday.

UPDATE: Surgery was performed Wednesday, Dec 16 and seems to have been successful. I have had some minor setbacks and complications, but I am hoping to see improvement soon. I just want to thank you all again for your well wishes and amazing gifts.