soldiergrl46q

I am an Army journalist married to a fellow Soldier who is a chaplain assistant. We adopted our first child, a gorgeous Black Lab/Australian Shepherd mix, from the Humane Society on May 17, 2008. I am originally from Pittsburgh, PA, but have been happy to call the Seattle area home since joining the military in 2004. My husband and I are expecting our first non-4-legged-child in February. I will be hanging up my combat boots at the end of this year to be a stay-at-home mom for a while. I hope to do some freelance writing in the meantime and eventually begin writing full-time for a local newspaper.

I am fairly new to swap-bot (as of Sept. 15). I was reading the local paper when I came across an article about the site and decided to check it out. I recently participated in my first swap - the chocolate swap - and may have gone a little overboard with the package I sent. However, I think - or at least hope - my partner will agree it was well-worth the $$ and effort put forth! I was a little disappointed on the receiving end, however, as I barely received the minimum requirement in my chocolate package. I'm not usually one to complain, but was just hoping for a little more effort to be put forth in the package I received -- especially since it was my first swap and I went all out.

I love making people smile and hope to continue doing so. :)

• Candles
• Ketchup-flavored anything
• The Cross
• Butterflies
• fun stickers
• pink/neutral shades of lip gloss
• strawberry-flavored anything (what can I say... I'm a redhead) :)
• Palm Trees
• monkeys
• healthy snacks (low/fat-free, sugar-free, but with flavor!)
• super-soft socks (think "Heaven for feet")
• anything for my 4-legged-hairy-child
• Coffee, coffee, coffee. Decaf fills my cup more often than not, due to me being pregnant
• Hazelnut, pralines n' cream, pumpkin spice, caramel creamers