I posted this in penpals about a week ago, but thought I'd put it here as well, as there seem to be some really awesome people as a part of this community- so here goes...

Name: Sharyla
Nicknames: You know, I always said I wouldn't be one of those people that dropped their nick name when they got older...but I guess I did. I really prefer Sharyla
Age: 26
Birthday: September 26, 1985
Zodiac: Libra...
Gender: Female
Location: Pennsylvania
Occupation: At this time I am a stay at home girl friend and rather enjoy it. My day is filled with household chores and such, but because my boyfriend works out of town I also do the majority of the out door chores. I hate mowing the lawn with a push mower but am in love with the rider. It's my boyfriend when mine is gone.
Language: English
Tattoos/Piercings:  10 tattoos, mostly small ones, but they are from chest to ankle. I have my tongue pierced as well.
Religious View: I was raised pagan but now attend a UU Church, which I love talking about (don't worry, I have no interest in converting anyone and if you know anything about UU you'll know why, and if you don't I'll teach you and you'll be happier for it)
Orientation: Straight
Relationship Status: Taken and thrilled.
Facebook: I don't like the idea of being facebook friends with pen pals, the whole point is to get to know a person through letters...facebook kinda kills that. Anyone been to a family gathering lately where you're whole family is active on facebook? There's nothing to talk about around the dinner table.
Twitter: mybooksmylove - but I don't do much with it.
E-mail: syeany85@aol.com
About Me:
I am 26 years old and live in rural north western PA. I love my state, but not in a 'git yer guns' sort of way. I just think it's beautiful. I enjoy spending time with my partner, my dog and my cat. I love books, photography, sitting on my porch with a cup of coffee, and the smell of a clean kitchen (though I can't seem to get myself keep it that way).  I like learning about American Politics and I love watching John Stewart. I'm a smoker, and I use to drink but just don't see the point in it as much anymore. I love cooking for my boyfriend but tend not to cook when he is out of town. I love listening to music, but seem to have gravitated towards Top 40 again, but I love the Fleet Foxes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and A Perfect Circle. I love when people introduce me to new music, it's exciting to me.

Main Interests: reading, many t.v. shows, being relaxed at home, spending time with my boyfriend, planning future travels that may never come to be, taking pictures

Favorite Sport: Hockey!

Favorite Animals: Cats, dogs, rats...

Candy: Lemon Jolly Ranchers

Favorite Color: Red. I love all things red.

Favorite Scents: Musky scents...like moonlit road (I think that is the bath and body scent)

Favorite thing to do on a boring day: Watch my guilty pleasure reality t.v. (if alone) if my boyfriend is home, I love to play cards with him.

Favorite Things: Well...I'm pretty attached to my cat...

Favorite Music/Artists: The Fleet Foxes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, A Perfect Circle, Brand New, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Maroon Five....I have an odd taste...

Your Idol/Inspiration: Abraham Lincoln

What you'd love to receive: Obviously letters, but I also love it when pen pals send me books they think I just have to read, also I would like to start exchanging photos (like little art pieces) and I love it when my pen pals go on a trip and get little things to send. I like to do that as well.

What you'd love to give: Everything stated above!

Will you ship overseas? Eventually yes

Penpal Info: to get info email me at syeany85@aol.com

How many penpals do you have? 0 :(

How many do you want? As many as come along.

Do you want email pals? Not that much, no. I've tried before and it never works out.

Do you want snail mail pals? Yes!

How long are your letters? They can get pretty hefty from time to time, usually never less than 2 pages.

How long does it take you to reply to a letter? It really depends, and I'd hope I'd get some pen pals who would understand.

What sex do you want them to be? Doesn't matter as long is it just for friends!

Where do you want them to be from? The US is fine, as are other countries. But if you are from another country please remember that it's a trip to the post office (which I am willing to make) but it takes some time. :D

What age do you want them to be? between 21-35 preferably.

What kind of penpal are you looking for? Someone looking for a long term friend. Someone who actually replies to the stuff I write in my letters, someone who is open minded.

Any questions you may have can be answered here. Just leave a comment and I'll get to it ASAP. :]

From now on, if you're interested in joining this group, just fill out this short form and leave it in a comment on this post. :] Once you're invited/accepted, create an introduction post so the comm can get to know you a bit.

Name:
Age:
Location:

Why you want to join the community:

Do you want to exchange mail locally or internationally or both?

I'm happy to hear that so many of you are interested! We have about 16 people interested in participating and 13 members. I've switched the community over to moderated membership and sent invites to those who expressed interest, but didn't join. To start things off and keep you all busy while I do other preparations, why don't each of you make a locked introduction post? A few things you can include, though you're welcome to add more~

Name:
Age:
Location:
Interests:

Why you joined the community:

Do you want to exchange mail locally or internationally?

I tried doing this before, but due to my lack of organization and planning, it died. So I'm here again after drawing up a little outline for me to turn to should I ever need it! For now, it's open membership, but the only entry will be this one. I didn't want to make things too complex too fast, so building up from brick one seems to be a fair idea. And I want to build it with you, so your input would be lovely!

The Specifics ~

[1] I'm hoping for this community to be a close knit one. Maybe after I find the first three or four members, I'll change the community over to moderated membership. After that, I think it'd be nice for the community to decide things together, like if they would like to have more people join and what kinds of activities they might like to do and whatnot.

[2] The willingness to exchange at least postcards and letters would be the minimum for participating, but anything beyond that such as small gifts, journals, and other projects would be optional. You don't have to participate in them if it would be an inconvenience, just comment on the activity post that you're going to opt in/out depending on what you feel like doing.

[3] As far as kicking this off, I was thinking that after the initial members got to know each other a little bit, we'd be able to exchange addresses. The first thing we could do as a real 'initiation' of sorts is to send an assigned person a postcard (which is like 27 cents if it's domestic) from where you are (or a homemade one if you wish). The sender would maybe make a post, notifying when it was sent, and then the recipient would reply or make a post once it was received. Pictures might be taken and comments might be made. I'm not exactly sure what the best way to go about this would be, though a notification of sending/receiving would be needed.

[4] Once everyone gets to know each other a bit, you're welcome to exchange mail outside of just community activities or the 'system'. I'm not sure how everyone wants to organize the mailings, but I figured we could say that you would have to send at least one letter out to four members every month... Or two certain members that month, if sending one to four members would be too difficult. @_@; A stricter schedule might feel too forced, so I wanted to leave at least that open to however you wish it. After that, the activities are there for those who wish to participate in them.

[5] Your participation is essential, otherwise this community would be completely useless. =[ If you might be unable to send out monthly letters or something, please notify us ahead of time. I'd hope that since I'm aiming for a modest, familiar community, not receiving letters wouldn't be too big of a problem. I think if it becomes a problem, it would be very noticeable and simple to deal with... though I hope we'll never have to kick someone out of the community.

[6] If anyone has a better name for our community, please let me know. Maybe this can become a recruiting ground for everyone to post on while we can create a completely private comm elsewhere.If you're still interested in participating, let me know! I'll set up another post for members to introduce themselves and then we'll be able to go from there. :]