I am 33 and currently work as a manager within the health services but am pursuing my real passion to become a secondary school English teacher.

I love to read and have been really enjoying letter writing again this year. I am very busy between jobs, school and voluntary positions and so have promised myself to make time for things that bring me joy this year so have been writing a lot of letters - has been wonderful.

I am terribly afflicted by wanderlust and always have the urge to just get up and GO. I can't indulge that right now but it's fun to make future plans ;)

Because I am so busy, I may be a bit obsessed with my planner. I use a DIY planner/ bullet journal combo that I decorate with planner stickers and washi and whatever else I can find. I feel the prettier it is, the more I adhere to it and the more organised my hectic life is as a result.

I also really enjoy cooking and love the idea of collecting favourite recipes from people around the world for me to try out at home.

I love modern boardgames and have an ever-growing collection.

I am about to start my first smash book which will focus on my travels, I have been gathering some travel related items and can't wait to start after my holiday in May.

Random Favourite Things:

Colour - Green. All the green things! Music - old school rock, some country and that new old sound that seems to be happening in modern pop these days Jewellery - I love earrings and bracelets but only wear silver and unfortunately cannot wear costume jewellery :(

Random Things That Make Me Happy:

• mushrooms
• stickers
• stationery of all sorts
• interesting tea (black with flavouring particularly)
• cool paperclips (might be a bit obsessed here)
• board/card games
• label stickers
• mad socks
• rainbows
• small interesting containers (tins, bags etc)

• unusual meeples and dice

• Other peoples newsletters and Christmas round robin letters, If you are ever unsure about what to do with these please feel free to send them my way (redacted personal info if you want). I am weird and love to see what other people want to share.

Things I'm not so into:

• pink
• make up themes
• hello kitty
• perfume
• tourist postcards (unless these are naked with a note from a person who is actually at that place, otherwise I prefer non-tourist ones that I can use)

I love well-done fantasy, some historical fiction and crime thrillers. I have been reading a lot of young adult novels lately as I feel it is important to be able to recommend books appropriately as a teacher.

Paper crafts at the moment - am enjoying decorating mail and envelopes to send to people.

I am about to delve into the world of altering altoid tins and have been obsessing googling over the last few weeks - we shall see how it goes :)

I am guessing that I will probably be taking part in lots of tea swaps while I am here because, well, I like tea ;) I am happy to try anything once but my ultimate favourite teas are black with flavourings. The only flavours I dislike are blackcurrant, lavender and jasmine - anything else goes!

I also LOVE ice tea and it is very difficult to get here. I miss Crystal Light/Arizona Ice tea with a passion so would be very welcoming of any and all ice tea mixes also ;)

I love them all! In particular though I am partial to frogs and newts, I love both dragon and butterflies. turtles, hedgehogs and I am currently obsessed with red pandas!

Ok, so I have mentioned this before but I LOVE stationery. There are just so many pretty things and so many people to write to ;)

My favourite things

• Pretty A5 papers

• Cool envelopes (handmade or store bought am not fussy so long as they are interesting!)

• airmail stickers

• blank interesting address labels

• pretty/unusual memo sheets (not sticky) to write little notes on

• planner stickers

• thin but patterned washi

• interesting blank recipe cards

I don't have any major collections of any of these but themes/fandoms I enjoy are:

• Labyrinth
• Anne of Green Gables
• Doctor Who (the new series)
• Star Trek (DS9, Voyager, TNG and the JJ Abrams films - I have a girl-crush on Laneway)
• Gargoyles (the cartoon but also the architectural feature)
• Care Bears (the old ones)
• Rainbow Brite
• He-man and She-ra
• Faeries/gnomes and general 'magic forest' type things
• Robin Hobb
• David Eddings
• Raymond E Feist
• Postal/happy mail themes
• Sherlock Holmes (old and new but the new series is awesome)
• Star Wars, particularly woks
• Dr Seuss (especially The Lorax)
• Spiritual but non-religious items