Day 20: What I Collect

Years ago, I was a flight attendant and I had the pleasure of working for a charter company that did mostly military flights. It was such a pleasure to meet so many men and women of our Armed Services! The stories they had to tell were incredible and truly were some of the most incredible people I've ever met. That job allowed me to visit places I never dreamed and even two that I had never heard of! Very early on I decided that I wanted a way to remember all the places I went to and I was terrible at keeping a journal. And after visiting Kyrgystan (a country I had never heard of) and picking up a T-Shirt, I thought   - Hey, I can just grab a shirt from every gift shop we go to! Great idea right? NOPE - turns out T-shirts take up way to much in a 22" roller bag when I have to be packed for 2 weeks at all times! So after a visit to Hard Rock Cafe in Kuwait where I picked up a t-shirt (it was Hard Rock in Kuwait, who would have thought they'd have one there? - I couldn't resist!) I also grabbed a shot glass. And from there my shot glass collection began! Shot glasses were perfect. I could get them in different colors and with different designs on them. And they didn't take up precious space in my bag! In fact I often brought a few home for friends and family. Only bad thing was I wasn't at liberty to tell them where I'd be so I had to guess who would want one from what country! And once I left that job and began working the ticket counter for another airline, I continued collecting them. Unfortunately prior to leaving Nashville, my husband informed me of the limited space in our cozy 1st apartment together. And he was very clear that anything that didn't fit in my car was not coming with me. And the little box they were packed in did not make the cut. So I kept about 10 of them and the rest my friends took home with them at my going away gathering! 

I have ALWAYS collected books! I love to read and as far as I'm concerned books are the best thing ever. I have an e-reader and it's great for when I'm traveling because I can have 20+ books with me and not add any weight to my bag. But nothing can replace the feel and smell of books. I left many of my shot glasses at home but I did bring boxes of books with me! A few boxes were destroyed in the flood in 2010 so I didn't bring as many as I would have liked. And now that we're here, Husband appreciates that I love the library because we don't have much room for added books. So I only buy a few books each year (literally like 5) where I used to buy 30 or 40 a year. Now I have a LONG list of books that will be purchased during our first few years in our house where the office will double as a library (unless of course we have enough room that my library can be just a library! With big comfy reading chairs and books lining the wall! Talk about heaven on earth! 
And finally, thanks to my new obsession with Pinterest, I'm saving the greeting cards we receive and putting the date on them for a project at the end of each year. Thankfully they keep well in a photo box and will be ready for that project!
What, if anything, do you collect?

To see what the other challengers collect click HERE!