time to celebrate!

official…..ten years in Alaska! To celebrate, I guess our state of choice decided to shower all it’s splendor on us. From a wonderful warm spring, cancer levels holding at bay, a fruitful summer and wonderful garden that led into a bountiful fall, and then…..the record of records of winter. We STILL have 5-7 feet of snow (are we going to be able to plant a garden this year or will it be a year of year ’round snow?!) The average temperature for our area in February was a whopping 4 degrees…..AVERAGE!  We have had snow on the ground since October, and several WEEKS of minus 20 to minus 40. But that doesn’t stop us from chopping wood, snowshoeing, snowmachining, and marvelling at the amazaing Northern Lights that we have been treated to this winter, due to the solar flare/storms.
This year also marks the one year anniversary my first book, Loose Screws and Skinned Knees: Turning Life’s Obstacles and Adversity into Opportunities and Adventure. This year we are working on speaking engagements at civic events, schools, keynote conferences, church events and being interviewed by several papers around the country. We hope to launch into Kindle/i-Book and Amazon in the next few months, so stay tuned!
We are also offering to ANY American Cancer Society fund-raising event around the country, not just Relay For Life,  that we will give $5 of every book they sell,  to the American Cancer Society, but you need to contact us first.  (contact us at [email protected]) Please share this with anyone you know who is involved with fund-raising for the American Cancer Society. This is truly a celebration sale, as we are blessed to continue to receive good reports from my oncologists. As any cancer survivor knows, we live often by 3 months to 3 months for the first 5 years, and I’ve made it 2 so far, LONG past what was anticipated by any doctor (but remember – it’s GOD who holds my days, NOT the doctors!!) 
We celebrated by no, not going to where I was TRYING to go (Arizona to warm up) but to Chistochina, Alaksa – where it was a balmy 14 below. I took my first Eskimo bath at 3am as I return from using the local “outhouse” – thinking I was on the trail, but stepped into a snow bank!!! Bill couldn’t figure out what I was doing in our little vintage log cabin at 3 am – I was drying off and putting new lotion and clothes on!! We had the most incredible time, with incredible hosts – it can only be described as a ‘Godcidence’. We even got to be on a “remote Alaska Bible Study” where people call in on conference call for folks who are remote and can’t get to or don’t have a church. It was AWESOME!  Go to Red Eagle Lodge to find out more – plus I have posted some photos of our time. Bill had done some work up at Chistochina and was anxious for me to meet Judy and Richard Dennis – and for good reason. The lodge is a historic place, and the cabins authentic from the old roadhouse on the way to Eagle, AK. It was worth the 5 hour drive each way – the St. Elias/Wrangell Mountain Range, the Chugiak Mountains, The Alaksa Range, The Talkeetna Range were all out in their glory either on the way up or way “home”……..yep…..home….ALASKA!!