Hello from SE Alaska!

[GinniG]

Hi!  My name is Ginni and my husband of 30 years and I live on a semi-remote island in Southeast Alaska about 30 miles from Ketchikan.  My husband grew up in Ketchikan and the property we live on has been in his family since a land lottery in the 1980s.  We purchased the land and have been here since June 2016 and what an adventure we're having!  I grew up in a suburb of Washington DC and since meeting my husband I've lived in Ketchikan, Northern California, Central Florida and South Florida where we spent about 20 years.  When we left to move up here we sold our house, retired and have been developing the land and building a 3 acre homestead since.  I have a daughter and he has 3 sons all in their 40s.  Between us we have one granddaughter and 4 grandsons.  We also have a dog, a 25 pound cat and 4 geese (one is a gander) that keep us busy and entertained.  I've been scrapping since our granddaughter was on the way as she was our first grandchild.  She turned 20 a couple of days ago.  I love all kinds of themes and subjects and I love challenges.  That's why I'm so glad I found ACOT!  We live what's called a subsistence lifestyle which means we hunt and fish and grow as much of our food as we can. The grocery store is 25 miles away over a mountain pass and the post office, pharmacy, etc. are another 10 miles farther.  We try to only "go to town" once or twice a week.  Since we're still building we sometimes can't do as much as we'd like in the way of harvesting, but we will get there eventually.  We freeze and can almost everything which has been quite the learning experience for this suburban girl!    Summers are pretty busy and winters are usually pretty quiet so I may not be on as much during the summer as other times of the year.  But I've met a lot of fabulous people on forums over the years and I see a few familiar faces here!  I'm looking forward to playing along with all of you!

[lesmitch]

Hello, glad you found us.  Since you like challenges, you are going to love it here.
Can't wait to see your creations.
 

[MTCanuk]

Welcome!!! This is a great place to hang our! Lots of fabulous challenges.


I Have travelled to Alaska several times and your state is beautiful.

[Art_Teacher]

Welcome! We are glad to have you here!

[DN in MN]

Welcome to the Board!  Can't wait to get to know you better  

[JAire]

So delighted you have joined us! Welcome!

[jcsmaestra]

Welcome, Ginni. You will love following this board, and all the great cherries on it.  I browsed through your gallery and left some love on your beautiful work. I really enjoyed your comments on each lo. So glad you shared the story of your adventure with us.    

 

[love2stamp]

Welcome to ACOT!! Alaska is on my bucket list. My husband spent most of his childhood in Wasilla. He would love to move back to Alaska, but I don't think I am Alaska material. LOL

[sherriscraps]

Hi Ginni,
Glad you found us here.  Such amazing products.  I just figured out the other day that they have quilting supplies too!!!!  I need a quilting ruler...

[Mathandlit]

Welcome!

[blbabe1234]

Welcome to ACOT! So glad you found us. Glad you love challenges because you can still catch some of the NSD ones that are coming up due on Sunday and Monday. But we also offer monthly ones! Looking forward to seeing your work.

[VALERIE 03/22]

WELCOME FROM WI..... ACOT IS A GREAT PLACE TO BE THE LADIES ARE WONDERFUL & THE GOODIES THEY COME UP WITH ARE AWESOME........ VALERIE

[shoorn]

Hi Ginni! Welcome to ACOT! Glad that you were able to find us. You will have a fun time here scrapping, chatting doing challenges!

You are on quite an adventure - homesteading in Alaska! I watch that show about homesteading - family from Alaska helps others set up their homestead. Quite a change from DC! I've moved around myself. Grew up in New Jersey, moved to upstate NY then down to Southern FL, a year in Alabama, 6 years in WA (state) then 19 years in Northern Nevada - back to FL (Space Coast) then full time RVing. Right now though we have settled in Kerrville, Texas.

Hope to see you around on the boards!

[aheatfan]

Welcome, glad you found us. I found this site a year ago and never left.  Homesteading in Alaska....hats off to you. My husband is obsessed with those shoes on HGTV and would love to do that. Sure he'll never talk me into it though. Looking forward to seeing you join the challenges, you're going to love it here   

[karensay]

Glad you found us.  I look forward to hearing more of your stories about Alaska.  And seeing layouts of Alaska from a person who lives there, and is not just touristing! 

[Jolly Holly Scraps]

Hey welcome!
I'm still kinda new here but I think I've found my tribe!
I think it's cool that you're homesteading, in Alaska no less! I have seen BEAUTIFUL pictures from people that have visited and I've ALWAYS wanted to go!

[GinniG]

Thank you everyone for the warm welcomes!  I'm trying to work my way through some of the NSD challenges.   

I thought I'd never move to Alaska in the first place but love brought me here.  I met my husband in Virginia through a mutual friend and we fell in love.  Then he took me up to Ketchikan which is in Southeast Alaska and the sun came out for a couple of days.  It's the kind of place you either love or hate.  When Steve realized I was in love with Alaska he asked me to marry him.  That was in March.  In June my then 9 year old daughter and I took off with everything we hadn't sold and drove all the way across and north to Alaska.  That was in 1990.  Five years later we moved south.  And in 2016 we moved back but to a different island. 

For those of you who think  Alaska is cold all over, it's not!  We are about 1,000 miles from Anchorage and even farther from Fairbanks.  Juneau is about 200 miles away.  We have much milder temps - rarely goes far below zero - and nowhere near as much snow.  We don't have dark for 6 months here either.  But we do have short days in the winter.  In the summer it gets light around 3-3:30 AM and doesn't get dark until midnight!  Needless to say we're quite busy in the summer and basically hibernate in the winter. 

I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you better too!

[Gail R]

Hi GinniG, I live not far from you - Wrangell.  I've never been to Hollis but have been to Ketchikan several times.  

[GinniG]

Hi GinniG, I live not far from you - Wrangell.  I've never been to Hollis but have been to Ketchikan several times.  

Howdy neighbor!  I've never been to Wrangell.    If you come down this way let me know.  Maybe we can meet up!  Glad to know there's another Alaskan here. 

[blfonty]

Welcome! So happy you have found ACOT and our fun message board. Join us in the challenges - there's a variety of themes and techniques for crafting. It is like a creative home for all of us Cherries!