mspandatrain

Hello, I am a celebrating my 26th year as a high school Spanish bilingual history teacher and joined Swapbot for a new adventure! Please do not send: anything scented or food items with gluten (sorry I have health issues). On a positive note, I have many favorites: pandas, Pepsi, good thoughts, my fave colors are royal blue and hot pink, generally I prefer happy and bright colors. Additional favorites, Harry Potter Gryffindoor (love Hermoine she’s brilliant) Disney (Goofy, Tinker Bell, Daisy Duck and Minnie) and most old time cartoons. I enjoy crafting, hanging out with family and friends, traveling, visiting our national parks and learning about new places. Due to my busy schedule I do not have pets and I can barely keep my plants alive. Tell me a bit about your part of the world. I think one of the best parts about swapbot, is a personal note with the swap, I enjoy hearing about your life too and am impressed with your crafting talents!

• I love to read audiobooks any genre. Send me a book suggestion.

• Working through 1000 "popular" Books To Read Before You Die. Update: July 2025, read 329 books.

• Fave movies: action, musicals, westerns, most Disney classic and recent movies, and inspiring true stories.

• TV programs, criminal shows, Hallmark Channel, PBS programs, and hours of home improvement shows. A girl can dream!!

• I have a great sewing room and a crafting room, which are both messy and full of creativity. I enjoy the challenge of a new craft.

• My Pandora plays music from the 1950's to today's country, rock and roll and Spanish tunes.

• Postcards, love them all, from purchased to homemade. Be creative.

• On the road again! I love to travel, send me a suggestion.

• THANKS SWAPBOT! My partners shared so many great talents with me. You inspired me to try new crafts and techniques.

Want to know more about me? Have more time to read??? then keep reading... see you in the mailbox…with happy mail.

Please do NOT feel you need to send anything in this section. I added it because specific swaps requested suggestions. I love your creativity!

• Coloring sheets, from a book or printed from internet. Once colored, I make envelopes or postcards.
• Coloring postcards
• Paper Napkins for notecards
• A kit of your favorite craft, so I may put it together
• Recipe from your kitchen
• Book recommendations
• Crochet patterns for small items (please, no amigurumi)
• Favorite link to a craft you enjoy
• Stickers, flakes or partial sheets (any style)
• Fuzzy socks to wear around the house
• Cotton Fat Quarters (Fabric) fun or pretty patterns
• Postcards
• Anything you're inspired to send
• Have a great day, thanks for reading!!!

Hmm...that one is tough. Lately I read Young Adult books, they are fun! I love series books: Harry Potter, City Spies, Lord of the Rings, Stephanie Plum and Westerns. I generally don't sit and read books but enjoy audio books. I can turn up the story and work on other things at the same time. I like fiction stories and will listen to almost anything, science fiction, mystery, military action stories, westerns and the occasional love story. I am still re-reading the old Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and Black Stallion series. Send me a book suggestion. In 2000, a friend and I decided to tackle one of the lists of 1000 Books To Read Before You Die. There are several versions, but we opted for the "popular" books, the classics would have tasked my brain too much :o) Update: July 2025, I am up to 329 books read. If you're interested this is the link: 1000BooksToReadBeforeYouDie

Spring 2025 I finally watched all the Marvel movies, in order, whew! Some of my other favorites are Lord of the Rings (extended versions), most Rogers and Hammerstein musicals and musicals in general. Most Disney movies (Peter Pan is my favorite movie, and Goofy my favorite character). I also like the old westerns: Tombstone, The Cowboys and John Wayne movies. Movie series can keep me entertained for hours: Back to the Future, The Hobbit, Star Wars, Transformers, Shrek, Jurassic World, Toy Story, Star Trek Original, The Next Generation and Voyager, and the Furious Franchise. Stand alone movies: Newsies, Wizard of Oz, It's a Wonderful Life, Meet Me in St. Louis, and The Sound of Music. My most favorite movies are inspiring true stories: Double Teamed, Remember the Titans, Miracle, A League of Their Own and McFarland USA.

I love most types of music. My online radio has a lot of oldies anything from the 1950's to 2010's country, rock and roll, Spanish cumbias, rancheras, salsas and Latin Pop. Generally, I enjoy music that tells a story.

I enjoy criminal type shows: original NCIS, SVU Law and Order and the original Law and Order. Action shows are always welcome, 9-1-1, Fire Country, Chicago Fire and FBI. I am also hooked on most Hallmark Channel shows. Some of my other favorites are on PBS, Father Brown, Call the Midwife and Royal Flying Doctor Service. Last but not least, I can lose hours watching home improvement shows. Property Brothers, Love it or List it, Married to Real-estate, Hometown and recently Renovation Aloha. I will have to find new shows since HGTV canceled several of my favorites.

OLD CLASSICS: I love the old cartoon shows, the Flintstones, the Jetsons, Looney Tunes, the original Transformers cartoon and the Smurfs. Classic TV reruns, MASH, Love Boat, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Perry Mason, I Love Lucy, the Brady Bunch and Fraggle Rock.

Now this is the section that will get me into trouble :o) I have a dream sewing room which keeps me quite busy...I am the queen of simple sewing projects: coin purses, grocery bags, composition book covers, bowl cozies and Kleenex pouches. In addition I have a separate craft room, with crochet, card making, painting supplies, and a cutting machine. I am improving my heat transfer vinyl skills and Gelli printing. My newest obsession is learning how to make watercolor postcards. Have you seen my "Easy Peasy Postcards" swap? I could spend hours in my sewing room or craft room listening to audio stories all day. Feel free to send me ideas or tricks of your crafts.

Thanks to Swapbot, I am in love with postcards - again. I loved collecting and sending them as a child and am happy to find them again. I am not picky about which postcards I receive because I like all of them. I enjoy seeing different places across the world, whimsical, cartoons, children's style, Did you know?, interesting facts, touristy, off the beaten path, and recipe postcards. I am often astounded with the talents of crafters and their homemade projects and postcards are no exception. If it makes you smile, then it will most likely make me happy too. I do keep them and enjoy reading them from time to time. Thanks.

My Swapbot partners shared so many of their great talents with me. You inspired me to try new crafts and techniques, I absolutely love flip books, homemade and chunk of cardboard postcards and napkin decorated envelopes and cards. You brought a renewed sense of creativity into my world. It is so easy to get into a creative comfortable mode, that we don't try new things. I was sent an ATC kit, in a swap and it was fun and so tiny. Bless those who make them regularly!!

Summer 2022, East Coast summer road trip! Final tally, Albuquerque to Acadia National Park in Maine and home again, 30 days, 6595 miles, 22 states and countless adventures. Thanks to my Swapbot buddies for the inside track and hometown secrets to Newport, RI, Lancaster, PA, Upstate, NY, Niagara Falls and Columbus, OH. The trip was amazing! Thanks again, I am so pleased you shared information about your state with me. Muchas Gracias! :o)

Summer 2023, southern roadtrip! Atlanta, Chattanooga, Pigeon Forge, Columbia, Charleston, and Savannah, it was a whirlwind of activity. Our rental vehicle was a brand-new neon green Toyota Forerunner, who I named Kermit. Final stats: 1996 miles, 17 days, nine national parks, historic sites, or battlefields, and 128 postcards. Some of our most interesting locations: World of Coca Cola, Ruby Falls, Rock City, Mayfield Dairy Farms, Dollywood, Bush’s Baked Beans Museum, Charleston Tea Plantation, Angel Tree, Savannah Ghost Tour, Atlanta Braves game with fireworks, Atlanta Zoo and Delta Airline’s Museum. Great food: 423 Tacos, Aunt Granny’s Restaurant, Gilligan’s Seafood, Lady and Sons and Mary Macs Tearoom. Once again, thanks, swapbot for the local tips.

Summer 2024, in the car again and headed West! Searching for more National Parks: Mount Rushmore, Badlands, Minute Man National Historic Site, Little Bighorn Battlefield, Pompey's Pillar National Monument, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Golden Spike National Historical Site, Arches, Canyonlands, and Mesa Verde and several state parks and regional museums. Most memorable were Minute man, the geology and geography in Yellowstone, John Wesley Powell River History Museum and Benson Sculpture Garden. The animals were spectacular, bison, brown bears, wolves, elk, big horn sheep, pronghorn and an eaglette. Total miles 3591, 210 postcards, 8 states and too many mountain passes. Great food: Beau Jo's Pizza, Bar T 5, Chuck Wagon and Mi Mexico. Thanks Swapbot for recommendations.

Summer 2025: Home Sweet Home. We toured through New Mexico and rediscovered many local treasures: Smokey Bear Historical Park (yes, he was real and came from Capitan, NM,) Fort Stanton, Roswell Alien Museum, Carlsbad Caverns, Very Large Array, Pie Town (yes they have yummy pies,) El Morro National Monument, Bandelier National Park, and of course Santa Fe and Albuquerque museums. Total stats: 1346 miles, 84 postcards and a lot of local restaurants: Garcia's Kitchen, Lime and Wecks. Also had time to clean a few closets and the garage!

Summer 2026: Route 66 turned 100 this year and we traveled Chicago to Albuquerque! We began with three days in Chicago lots of museums, Pullman National Park, the sky deck, great pizza, Chicago dogs, fireworks and $226 in parking fees. Headed home six states: IL, MO, KS, OK, TX and NM, 1891 total miles. Our rental chariot was a hybrid and we only spent $232 in gas, Yay! Countless “Michelin men” that’s what they call all the large statues along the route. We saw so many iconic locations! But along the route and off the highway were the real gems! A few faves, Ambler-Becker Texaco Service Station, Lincoln National Park, Old Capitol Building, Turkey tracks, (IL), Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, Wagon Wheel Cabins, Cafe & Station (MO), Little House on the Prairie, Cars on the Route (KS), The Sculptures in Tulsa, Acadia the Round Barn (OK), Amarillo Museum of Art, VW Ranch, Cadillac Ranch, Midpoint Route 66 in Adrian (TX), Blue Swallow Motel, Route 66 monument, bringing it home to Albuquerque, Old Town and San Felipe de Neri Church (NM). What an adventure!! If you’re nearby check it out, there is so much to see out there in our great country.