One of THOSE Days!

Well, it has been one of THOSE kinds of days for me. Seems like every thing I touch doesn't go well. And since one of those things that hasn't gone well is the TSG Newsletter, I am having to bow out again today on the blog. I was up last night until about midnight working on it, and was better than half way through with it when I went to bed. I guess I was a little TOO tired and I evidently forgot to save all that work (how in the WORLD did I forget to save it???)!!! So here I just logged on to try and finish the newsletter to find out that I have to pretty much start from the beginning again. And since it is already almost 8:30pm my time, I need to get off here and do some frantic work if I want to have it out tomorrow.

I will be back tomorrow, and hopefully with a more decent blog entry. Sorry everyone!

It's Me Again :)

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a nice, relaxing weekend. I will be your host this week on the TSG Blog. I'm really sorry about not posting anything until so late, but I am trying to get the TSG Newsletter together so it will be ready for release on Tuesday. So bare with me between now and then if I don't come back regularly. You haven't been forgotten!!

Hard to believe it is Saturday

I must say that I was nervous at the beginning of the week and now I can't believe it is over. I thought about what to tell you today and this is what came to mind. At one time in years past, my family could have had our own brass band. My grandfather was a bandmaster for the Salvation Army for 50 years plus, He taught all of us to play. I have always had a real passion for music. I stopped playing a brass instrument years ago due to a problem with my throat. I was told that if I continued to strain it in that way, I would not be able to sing. I love to sing more, and so I became the solist with voice. My sister plays the piano, and she has not played a brass instrument for years because of acid reflux which she has a seriously bad time with. She has GERD, and controls it completely by diet. Unfortunately for me, I am not that disciplined with my eating. I admire her though because she has given up any thing with caffeine, citrus and tomatoes, and anything that has citric acid added to it. She eats all low fat items and her husband does alot of baking for her. The one drawback she is finding now about being back in the US is the price of bananas. When she was a missionary in Micronesia she could be a whole stalk for $5.00. Now she pays $1.29 a pound.
My grandmother on my dad's side went to be with Jesus in 1970. But she was a true saint of God. Her love and compassion shined like the top of the Chrysler building, (anyone recognize the movie that is from),She taught me how to read and embroider by the time I was 4. She had patience that was out of this world. She played the piano at church. I remember clearly the day before she went to Jesus side her calling me into the hospital room and telling me that she was going "home" the next day. She affirmed that God had great plans for me and that she was completely confident that I would carry them through. A lot to lay on a little girl of 9, but it stuck with me and had a big part to do with who I am today.
I have enjoyed this week of telling you a little about me, my family, my church (The Salvation Army), and the awesomely beautiful place where I live, (Alaska). I have enjoyed reading your comments and giving you gifts. I hope that you have a blessed rest of 2008,and I look forward to seeing all your layouts in the gallery. I hope you have enjoyed coming and reading the blog, and that you enjoy the stickits. Don't forget to leave a little love for Lise Lotte Sunesen for her amazing kits that she allowed me to use for the stickits.
The last thing I want to say, is to keep your eyes on the forum. The fabulous birthday party of scrapping garden is coming up May 21st to the 27th. You won't want to miss this. We have great things in store for you. God bless each of you. Thank you for coming to the blog.

so sorry for being so late today

I first want to apologize for being so late. I got up this morning and started to get on the computer. My mom called and said her computer was having issues. I went over to fix it and to install the norton's update, A job that should take about 20 minutes was 3 hours and still not done. My mom's computer is only 256 ram and very slow at everything. After uninstalling, reinstalling, restarting, etc. there were still parts that had not completed. I had to go and get my winter tires off my car so told her I would finish the job later. Don't you just love computers!!!!
This is my LO for the petals of wisdom challenge take a look in the forum here.


if you really like my LO, keep reading for a surprise
Today is another beautiful day here in Alaska. The sun is shining and the temperature is average for this time of year. It is hard to sit inside and work on the computer. My husband just joined an exercise club so he is off doing a workout or sitting in the hot tub. He has this weekend off unless he gets called in, so he is taking advantage of the time. He works 12 hour shifts and so does not get much time to do anything, especially when he works the night shift of 7 PM to 7:30 AM. He is always getting called in for extra hours because he does his job, is never late, and does not ever call in sick. Tomorrow we are going to garage sales, yeah, I love to do that and it is like a family outing for us.
Well, I have a bunch of things to prepare for Sunday School on Sunday as it is the end of our Iditarod contest. I have had a lot of fun and they want me to write up the lessons and all that I have done to share with others. I have really enjoyed doing this one. Next we are going to play ball (baseball that is). That will be a new one so I have a lot to put together before the 6th Before I go, I promised a freebie. So to download the stickit of the LO above, click here (sorry, this link has expired)

what you thought you knew

If the title caught your attention then read on. I want to tell you a little about The Salvation Army today. It was started in East London by William and Catherine Booth. I know that many of you probably think of a thrift store and maybe disaster relief, but that is not the full picture. Actually those are things we do because of our love for God. The beginnings of the Salvation Army was to take the gospel message out into the streets to those whom the church at the time felt unworthy of coming in. From the very beginning women also played a vital role in the ministry.
The first woman general was Evangeline Booth, she was the daughter of the founders. She was also very instrumental in starting the Salvation Army here in Alaska, Canada, and the United States. She came to Alaska on one occasion and after much prayer led the notorious Soapy Smith in prayer. She was not afraid to stand up and make it known whom she served and loved.
Today the Salvation Army preaches in 112 countries around the world. We have schools, hospitals, rehabilitaion centers, orphanages, etc all over the world. All of those activities are because of our service to God. We also have summer camps, mission trips, and our officers are trained in our own facilities.
William Booth had 8 children, one of which, Ballington, left the Salvation Army after an argument with his father and started the Volunteers of America. He called himself the general of the Volunteers of America just as his father was the general of the Salvation Army.
We have had 2 woman generals. Evangeline Booth 1934 to 1939 and Eva Burrows 1986 to 1993. I met Eva Burrows on a few occasions and she was a very loving person who had a compassion for all. She even came to Alaska as did Evangeline Booth.
William Booth once said "my best men are women," and women has played an integral part in leadership and opening work of the Salvation Army in many places including the USA. A young girl by the name of Eliza Shirley came here to the states and started the Army, then later George Scott Railton and 7 Hallelujah lassies as they were called came and officially opened the work in 1880.
Did you know that the longest running participant in the Pasadena Rose Parade on New Years Day is the Salvation Army band? They have marched for 88 consecutive years. Here is a LO I did of when I marched, it was in 1977, (yikes that makes me kind of old.)
The Home League of the Salvation Army is our womens ministry program. We just celebrated its 100th birthday. It was started as a ministry to women who needed help. They would gather and go into the homes and clean, prepare food, teach women how to do things like sew and cook, so that they could care for their families properly. Now we meet together each week following a fourfold program of Worship, Fellowship, Education, and Service. We also have character building programs for girls and boys that go along the same line as girl scouts. We have Sunbeams and Girl Guards for the girls and Adventure Club for the boys. They have uniforms, earn emblems, go camping, and the main difference is devotions each week. The girls program will be 93 years old this May.
One last very important part of the Salvation Army, all though there are many more, is the disaster services. We are usually the first on the scene, but not in front of the cameras. My first service was in the Thompson Canyon Flood in Colorado in 1976. I remember vividly a worker coming from up the line and asking how much my sandwiches were. I said there was no charge and he couldn't believe it. There was another group there selling food to these poor workers that had been out in the cold trying to save people for hours. I also served in the Waitsburg WA flood and several fires. My father even got to go to Mexico after a hurricane and help out. It is always rewarding being able to serve others in their time of need.
Well that is quite a handful of information, I hope you enjoyed this little history lesson about the Salvation Army. It is near and dear to my heart, and I want everyone to know the Salvation Army is a church first and a social service second. God bless each of you, have a great day and don't forget to come tomorrow (for another freebie).

A little late, freebie to make up for it

I am late in posting today because I was waiting for the link for a freebie. But we will get to it in a moment. Today is absolutely beautiful outside and last night the northern lights were active. I went out to watch for a few minutes. It is such an awesome site to see. For me it is a confirmation of a God who truly loves us. I don't see how anyone could observe such beauty and think it just happens. Yesterday was one of those days when I had to really push myself to get anything done. You ever have a day when you just don't seem to be motivated to do what you know you need to. I spent most of the day just watching movies and trying to clear my mind of all the stresses and deadlines and such. I think it was a good thing to do, although I hope that it does not have to be done to often.
Today they did a test of the Tsunami warning for awareness week. I am glad I knew it was a test because they always scare you. The Alaska Tsunami warning center is only 10 miles from my home and we have taken our youth groups there. It is quite something. Alaska as you know had the 2nd largest earthquake registered in 1964 and it lasted over 3 minutes. The devastation was phenominal. It happened on Good Friday that year and measured 9.2. The effects was felt all the way in California when a tsunami hit hours later. It is kind of funny but the other day my daughter and I was watching Earthquake aftershock in New York and we felt a 4.2 one. Thats the way it goes here actually we have small ones like that in Alaska some where every day.
Well enough about the doom and gloom. I would not trade living here for anything though. I came to love Alaska when my parents were stationed in Haines at the Salvation Army. My daughter then not quite one and I came to visit them and fell in love. I went home and told my husband we were moving to Alaska and he said ok and we did. We lived in Haines for 5 years, went to Walla Walla, WA for 5 years and have been back in Alaska for 10 years.
I have created a stickit for you using Springtime by Lise Lotte Sunesen, you can find the kit here
Here is my LO using the stickit.

and now for your freebie, you can download it sorry, link has expired.
hope you enjoy your day and the stickit.

pics of Alaska

several asked about pics of Alaska so I added a few on a slide show. Hope you enjoy them. Will be posting later for Wednesday with a freebie.