Wanna Be My Pen Pal?

 As a kid I was in love with sending mail to friends or cousins. I always named a cousin I would recently visit as my new pen pal. Fast forward a couple of weeks later and they would receive their first letter in the mail from me! It's so exciting that my cousin tells her mom and then her mom phones mine. My mom tells me that my cousin got her letter and she was very excited. Mission almost accomplished. Then the waiting game began... Days, weeks.. sometimes months go by.. no returned letter. Finally I would get that prized letter I had been waiting so long for!!! It didn't matter that it was four sentences long.. It didn't matter that it took two whole months to get to me! I had succeeded. We were now forever pen pals!

A sample of some of the letters from different cousins..

 I would instantly get out my Mickey Mouse themed stationary, or my personalized note paper that my step mom made me and I would set out to writing the best damn letter as a reply. But, what I didn't realize at the time, was that my cousins rarely wrote me back.. It was fun the first time, but it obviously didn't mean as much to them as it did to me. I still have the letters. I actually have every single letter that has ever been written to me in a box that I keep in my closet.

  I would recruit anyone and everyone to be my new pen pal. My dad, my step mom, my little step sister, my cousins as I mentioned before and when I went to the Ukrainian Village I made two pen pals there. Those two girl from the Ukrainian Village actually kept writing me the longest, out of everyone. We even sent each other school pictures. I know!! Pictures.. actual pictures were in the envelopes with the letters I received. This was beyond exciting to this little composing nerd. I loved getting letters..! I ended up finding a school friend that enjoyed writing as much as I did. Whenever we went anywhere in the summer we would write each other either with a postcard or a full on letter.

A pile of postcards.. a lot were from my dad. He traveled a lot with his band at that time in his life. So we got postcards from all over from him. Very exciting!

Now I'm just showing off my collection of letters...

 Even now, as an adult, I still have pen pals. I write to my Grandma Wirth. She is my step dad's mom that lives in the town I grew up in, in Alberta. She is from Germany and she writes like she speaks. So her letters sound just like her. I try to keep her and Grandpa involved with what is going on in my life as much as I possibly can. They are wonderful people but not always good at expressing how they feel. So the letters are a way for me to express my love to them. In return, Grandma does her best to write me back, with her own way of letting me know that she loves me too.

The last time I got a chance to sit down and visit with them, back in 2005.

 Rob's grandma called me the other day to confess that she stole a picture that I sent Rob's mom and dad of Alina. She actually called to tell me in her sheepish way, that she only had one or two pictures of our baby girl. So right then and there, over the phone I declared that from that day forward; she too, would be my newest pen pal. I had some pictures developed of Alina recently and made sure to get some doubles so that I could send some to Grandma Marlene, with a full letter of course.

Grandma Marlene in our backyard, the summer of our wedding.

 I am also still pen pals with my school friend I mentioned before. Morgan and I have always written letters back and fourth since we graduated from high school and moved our separate ways. She was the first to move away. She went to Toronto to go to school in journalism. She's actually been in school since we graduated, almost ten years ago. So, she is now getting her Masters degree in Edmonton and has a home of her own, that she shares with her long time boyfriend and their dog. I believe she is next for replying to my latest letter, but life has been busy for her, what with school starting this September.

Loving on Morgan a couple of summers ago!

  Today I set out to write Grandma Marlene her first letter. But instead, I bought some ad space on a fellow blogger's page. I made a few more pretty buttons for my page. Then, I read to Alina, then played with her and put her down for a nap. My computer started to act up on me and wouldn't upload the pictures I took on my camera. So, instead of writing that darn letter, I wrote a post about all of my letters instead. Fail! But, I think tonight once the little one settles in for the night, I'll get my chance.. Oh no! I won't. The t.v has become far too tempting to keep away from.. All of the new seasons have begun, the new shows are premiering and we are trying to catch all of the pilots so we can start watching new, exciting shows. (Like we need more shows to be addicted to!!!) Plus, I started reading my book again and have since become stuck on that as well. For someone that doesn't do a whole heck of a lot, I sure am busy!!

 So if you are ever looking for a pen pal, I am always, always looking for an excuse to receive a letter!

There is always room for more letters in my collection...