nevergiveuphope

Hi, I'm Barbara and I am 41 years old. I grew up an Army brat & have had the opportunity to live (& travel) in many states and countries. I love traveling!! I have lived in NC for the past 19 years where as a single parent I have raised my daughter, Ashley. She will be starting college in August and I am already feeling the empty nest syndrome. She has been my everything and our days were always filled with girl scouts, youth sports and FFA! She loves showing sheep at fairs and is planning a career in Agricultural Education.

I did corporate taxes for many years for a small accounting firm and then about a year ago I took a job as an office manager for a local government agency. I miss doing taxes. I also sell Avon for the extra income that will be needed for my daughter's college expenses.

I have two wonderful dogs: Corky an 11 year old Cocker Spaniel in failing health. My daughter named her after the Cocker Spaniel Beanie Baby. Droopy is a Basset Hound who showed up on my doorstep about five years ago and despite attempts to find his owners, he has never left. They are both easily persuaded to sit, speak and kiss for Canine Carry-Out treats! Until recently we also had Fred, a Goldfish who was with us for 7 years. Who knew the loss of a Goldfish could be so tramatic??

I heard about this site from a fellow stamp collector on wishuponahero.com. As I've scanned various parts of this site, I've noticed it seems to be more of a craft exchange site. I haven't been crafty in years, but I always enjoyed the Girl Scout swaps with my daughter, so this might be fun! Although, at this point, I have no idea what an ATC is. LOL I would like to assure anyone reading this profile that I will not participate in any swap that I cannot fulfill.

Having traveled to so many places, I have always collected cookbooks, postcards, stamps & coins from the places I visited. Unfortunately, my coin collection was stolen in a robbery shortly after moving to NC. Since Europe changed over to Euros, many were coins that couldn't be replaced! I was so devastated, I never got back into coins. Although, my daughter LOVES collecting squished pennies!

I also love genealogy and volunteering for various causes!

Things I'd like to learn: crochet, quilting & canning.

AC/DC, Boston, Cream, Def Leppard, Evanescence, Foreigner, George Strait, Hinder, Iron Maiden, Journey, Kelly Clarkson, Linkin Park, Metallica, Nickelback, Ozzy Osbourne, Pink Floyd, Queensryche, Restless Heart, Scorpions, Tesla, Uncle Kracker, Vertical Horizon, White Snake, Xmas Music, Yes, Zepplin & everything else in between!

Any Cookbooks. The "Left Behind" series. Books by Beverly Lewis, Wanda E. Brunstetter, John Grisham and Clive Cussler.

"St. Elmo's Fire" is my all-time favorite, but I like most comedies and movies based on historical or actual events. I'm really not a big movie fan....I can't sit still that long. LOL

The Unit, Law & Order SVU, Cold Case, Without a Trace, Ghost Hunters & One Tree Hill

Cross Stitch, Photography, Latch Hook and Scrapbooking

• Kitchen gadgets

• Wood crafts, country style

• Handmade quilts

• Haribo Gummi Cola Bottles

• German food, especially Rahm Schnitzel & brotchen

• Hot chocolate, Cello Chocolate Covered Cherries, Gertrude Hawk Orange Jelly w/ Dark Chocolate & Reeses Pieces (I'm not a big snacker, but these I can't resist! :))

• The smell in the air just before a hurricane hits

• A starry night

• Candles (the best is "For-Every-Body Blueberry Muffin" found at Kohl's but I like all baked good and ocean/rain/clean breeze type scents)

• Penguin & Polar Bear Ornaments

• Precious Moments

• Thomas Kinkade & similar style art

• Pictures & paintings (oil, watercolor, chalk, etc) of plantation homes, country barns/nature and European scenes

• Finding old family photographs to add to the family tree research, even if they are very distantly related.

• Colors: Forest green, dark blue, burgandy & earthtones

• Tea, Coffee and coffee flavored anything

• Sweets & candy (except those listed in my likes)

• Receiving mail with Forever or Flag stamps

• Cartoons & cartoon characters like Hello Kitty

• Sci-fi, fantasy & fairies

• Slow drivers in the left lane

New & Used Postage stamps from around the world (no "Forever" stamps please)

Foreign currency (especially obsolete currency, as in.....before Euro's)

Beer coasters/mats from around the world

Cross Stitch Patterns & supplies

Blank Recipe Cards

Food Coupons

Cooking Magazines

Cookbooks (Especially the fundraising kind from churches & organizations)

Office supplies & organizers

2 Pfaltzgraff dinner plates in Tea Rose pattern (to replace chipped/broken)

It appears I will need to find some one-on-one trades to get some ratings, so I have the following items I can send (I may have other things as well, since I try to recycle everything):

Used US Stamps

Books

Past Issues of "Taste of Home" Magazines & others

Coupons (Baby, Pet, Toiletries & Some Food)

Campbell Soup Labels & Box Tops for Education