MRShemery

Updated 3/17/19:

Hi, everyone, and welcome to my profile!

I was born in northeast Ohio in 1977, moved to southwest Georgia in 1991, and hope to wind up living out my future retirement years in the mountains. I met my husband in 2005 and married him in 2007. We have two daughters, both out of college and doing their own thing.

I like to keep busy, which is why I joined Swap-Bot. I've always enjoyed being creative. Sometimes I wish I were as creative as others, but this is all about having fun, meeting new people, and learning from what others' do ... at least that's what it's about for me.

My husband and I love to travel and try to go somewhere as often as we can. One of my goals is to drive the entire historic Route 66. We are not beach people. We've been to the beach several times but, if we have our choice, we prefer the mountains.

I am a Christian and usually lean Republican. While you may already be judging me for these two things, don't. While I may not agree with all lifestyles, that doesn't mean I can't love people for who they are. My past includes being involved in interracial relationships. My family includes members of the LGTBQ community. I love them for who they are and not what they do. I never judge a book (or person) by the cover/outside. Doing that could cause you to miss out on the most influential person of your life. How sad would that be?

Musically, I am all over the place. I listen to everything from classical, big band, blues, rock, rap, today's hits, etc. The only thing I don't recall ever listening to is opera. And maybe that's just because I've never sat down to watch or listen to one.

Favorite rap era: 90s and 2000s (i.e. Tupac, Notorius B.I.G., DMX, Jay-Z, etc.)

Favorite country era: 80s and 90s - thanks, mom! (i.e. Randy Travis, Alabama, George Strait, John Michael Montgomery, Joe Diffie, Confederate Railroad, Crystal Gayle, Lorrie Morgan, etc.)

I try to give all genres of books a chance. However, I have noticed I tend to stay away from most poetry and non-fiction. Every now and then, I may pick up a biography or another non-fiction book but it is EXTREMELY rare.

Favorite Author: Stephen King, hands down. Most people think it's because of how scary he writes, but that's not it. The man is an absolute genius and I would LOVE to meet him one day. I would die … and die happily, I might add.

Favorite Book: I have several but the one that's hard to knock down off my #1 spot is IT by (you guessed it) Stephen King.

IT is not just about a clown. As a matter of fact, the big, scary monster isn't necessarily a clown. It's a shapeshifter based on a child's fear. If a child's afraid of clowns, then that's what it becomes. If a child's afraid of werewolves, that's what he/she will get. If a person can read beyond the obvious, you can see that IT is about a group of friends helping each other overcome their fears. IT is about how powerful a child's imagination and beliefs can really be and how we lose the strength of our imaginations as we grow older. It's really sad, if you think about it. I just love it/IT.

I've always loved to read since my mom took my brother and I to the library as children. Once she started that, I read as much as I could get my hands on. I usually read way above my grade level.

I had a book review blog about 10 years ago. It grew fairly well. I had authors and publishers sending me free books in exchange for honest reviews. I even had three or four people helping me with all of the review requests that were coming in. The only issue with a book review blog getting that much recognition, especially when it's hard to say 'no' to a review request, is that eventually maintaining the blog starts feeling like a job rather than something you enjoy. When I realized my love for reviewing waned to the point of almost hating it, I shut down the blog. After that, I didn't read for almost a year. I've gradually gotten back into the habit of reading and my love for it is starting to grow again.

Other authors I've enjoyed: Nancy Atherton, Dean Koontz, James Patterson, Angie Thomas, Jodi Picoult, Fiona Davis, Scott Wilbanks, and many more.

The crafts I grew up doing were plastic canvas and cross-stitching. I also took a few art classes just for fun but I'm not especially talented.

About 5 years ago, I was looking to expand my craftiness and, with the help of Walmart and YouTube, taught myself how to crochet. I've made about seven afghans since then and even gave myself the name of the Afghan Hooker (yes, it's meant to be funny).

Once we moved into our new house and things settled down a bit, I wanted to learn new crafty things. Somehow, not sure how, I came across Swap-Bot and was intrigued. Since then, I've learned how to do pocket letters and am getting ready to do my very first stuffed envelope. I've started looking into ATCs and may try those one day soon.

I love to keep pushing myself in creative ways and Swap-Bot is definitely helping me to do that.

My husband has gotten me into the Marvel/DC universe. I love the Iron Man movies, as well as the Avenger movies.

Aside from the comic book movies, I enjoy scary movies (although I am hardpressed to find one that actually scares me), family movies, funny movies, dramas, rom-coms ... I'll basically sit through any genre of movie as long as I'm interested in the story it's telling.

Colors:

I'm a HUGE fan of black, but I do enjoy earth tones as well as bright, vibrant colors. I can do without pink. Not a fan of pink.

Coffee/Tea:

I like dark roasted coffees. Not a fan of Starbucks (shocking, I know).

I like black and green teas, although I prefer my green teas to be cold. I will drink fruity and spicy teas hot (think cinnamon-spicy, not jalepeno-spicy).

Animals:

I love dogs and cats, although I don't have any of my own yet. Birds and butterflies are beautiful and I love to watch them.

I don't do bugs or reptiles in real life, but don't mind them in pictures or swaps.

Holidays:

I married my husband on Halloween so I love the spooky, creepy ephemera and decor that goes along with that ... scary pumpkins, spiders, spider webs, witches, orange/black-themed items, etc.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because of the people gathering together but mostly, let's be honest here, because of the food. I always have new recipes I'm trying out and absolutely love all the leftovers so I can create even more new dishes the days after Thanksgiving.

Christmas is a favorite holiday because of the magic in the air. I absolutely love Christmas, especially while I was living up north. The snow just helps with the feeling of Christmas for me. I love all the reds and greens and whites of Christmas, too. It's just the most wonderful time of the year (yes, I sang that as I typed it).

I will rate no later than the following day I receive a swap. I try to rate the same day I receive it, but sometimes my schedule is a little wonky so it may take me until the following day.

I will not rate you lower than a 5 if you send me something that's not my taste. I can look at a swap and tell if the person has put some time and effort into the swap and that's what I rate on. If it happens to be something that's not my style, then all that tells me is that I may pass along those elements to someone else instead of keeping them.

As far as what I like and don't like for a swap ... I'm not entirely sure yet. The only thing I know for sure is that I am not a huge fan of anything pink. Doesn't matter the shade, it's just not a color I gravitate towards. I do realize if I join a Valentine's Day swap that there will be elements of pink in the swap. I am totally okay with this as it is part of the holiday colors.

As I become a more experienced swapper, I'll edit this section to things I like or don't like. Until then, though, feel free to create and send me whatever you want. Just pour your heart into it and you'll get a 5 from me.