Saying thank you.
Ever notice how sometimes saying "thank you" just doesn't seem to do an act, words, a gift, justice?
This weekend at Scraptacular, at the end of my last workshop, I was presented with a check for $1200 to be donated to an Autism foundation of my choice on behalf of the owners, employees and customers of the store.
For the last month or so they have been raising money through donations, make & takes, and a raffle all to benefit Autism awareness, education, research. As you can imagine, I totally lost it when presented with this check (actually I pretty much lost it when Pam asked me to come up to the front and just started talking about autism) - it totally took me by surprise. The thought, the energy, the time and the passion that went into the whole thing just blew me away.
So thank you Pam, Rick, Ricky, Val, Tricia, Jenn, Nicole, Jen, Erika, Stephanie, Janie, Tara, and anyone else I am forgetting at this early hour in the airport. Thank you for always treating me like family. Thank you for doing this amazing thing that has the potential to benefit so many. Thank you for doing good. I love you guys.
And as an extra little bit of serendipity, the raffle tickets being bought were for a grand prize to have me design a layout with the winners photos. I drew the winner (Sue) yesterday afternoon and we called her on the phone to give her the news. You will not believe what Sue is doing this month...she is running a camp for kids ages 2-teen with autism. Yep. Serendipity. She will be sending me a bunch of photos from the camp and I am going to put together an album for her.
And thank you to each of the women (and Ricky) in the workshops. Thanks for coming to play and for sharing your stories and taking a break and being open to doing something outside of your comfort zone. I had the best time. Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!
Today's post touched me deeply - thanks so much for the frequent posts.
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this made me well up--it is nice to know that people have big hearts. you are deserving of such kindness and so are the children who will be helped by the large donation :)
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What a wonderful gift and such generous people. Thanks for posting this, it put a smile on my face.
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How cool is that???? It's so awesome to read about the way this hobby brings out the best in people!
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Isn't it just amazing and wonderful how people connect with other people. How strangers and friends reach out to others? Loved reading about your experience and the fundraising. It is heart-warming to see how caring the human race can be! -Diane
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Count me in as having goosebumps after reading that story as well. So very moving.
What a wonderful thing for them to do. Wow.
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AMAZING ALI!! That is so wonderful! That makes me so joyful, that they would do that for you and for all the children! I must say, that after meeting you at Suzy's and chatting with you about our little ones, you are an amazing inspiration! You share so much and are so positive about everything, that it is contagious! Thanks for that!
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What goes around, comes around. How very generous of them, inspired by how very generous you are. Generosity begets generosity.
And, how cool is that about the winner,...serendipity at it's finest!
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cool ~ very cool.
i'm all about karma.
somebody said it perfectly ~ god is in the details.
mj
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wow wow wow--that is so cool!!
you inspire in so many ways--you are truly THE most amazing woman!!!!!
wow.
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How cool is that? Wow. I am so impressed by the generosity and depth of caring of so many people.
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oh Ali this got me all teary I can imagine how you must have felt. what a wonderful woman to do such a thing. And not a coincedence that you had sue as a winner, not a coincedence at all! just faith.Love you!
corinnexxx
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wow! ok, wow!! what a beautiful and generous way to say thank you, to you, as well! thanks for sharing that story. LOVE hearing about how things come back to those who do such GOOD stuff in LIFE.
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OMIGOSH! That is so great. How touching. Generosity like that is really a blessing and so very thoughtful. Thank you for sharing that.
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wow ali.. that is sooooo amazing :) makes you just feel good reading about it...
some special people for sure :)
enjoy making that album for sue :)
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Wow that is fab!
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I totally have chills. That is so wonderful. I love good people like this and I'm thrilled you shared with all of us. =)
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Ali--You will never know how many people you have touched and inspired. Keep doing what you're doing. God has a plan, and you're living it!
On a personal note, I loved taking your classes (as always) and enjoyed myself for the first time in a long time this weekend. Thank you for that. Can't wait til you return! Love you girl--Trish
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Ali,
Okay, so I'm gonna be a bit off topic here and let you in on one of my favorite bloggers (aside from you of course, LOL). She's Alicia Paulson on http://www.rosylittlethings.typepad.com. Now, the reason I'm telling you this is because I think her most recent post speaks to me as a scrapbboker and might speak to you too. She has recently come across about 100 letters at an estate sale and is piecing the lives of the family through the letters. What's inspiring to me is that bits and pieces of these people's lives have been immortalized by the simple act of writing and keeping letters. Though she had a bit of a guessing game in piecing the "story" behind the family's lives, she has put a few details together that illustrate life between 2 families between the 1930's and 50's. As a scrapbooker it made me realize how compelling everday details and "normal routines" seem of such great importance and interest to those who find such records in the far future. It also made me realize at the importance of stating factual info also in our scrapbooks. Tidbits like nicknames, favorites, people's realationship to one another, and so on. I have gained a whole new perspective on the importance of being my family's historian for the future generations. It's not that I didn't know this before, but it showed me that anyone, even strangers, can stumble across my scrapbooks and still find it interesting to know who we were behind the faces...I hope you take a quick moment to read her blog as she is such a personable person and just maybe, she might inspire in you the same as it has me today. Hope this wasn't too long but I thought you'd enjoy reading her post.
Always,
Paula
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Wow.
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that is awesome!!! :)
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First, hope you had a safe trip home! I wanted to thank you for an awesome time Saturday. My kids loved the small album I made and my 7 year old daughter wants to make one of her own. The best part was she was telling my husband she wants to be just like mommy and do scrapbooking. She is very creative already, loves to draw and write stories, so I am excited to have her interested in scraping with me. I loved the class and really loved just hanging out and scraping with you and everyone at the store. What an awesome staff! I am loving your book and feel inspired to do more with all my patterned paper. Thanks for making scrapbooking so much fun and being such a great person to hang out with (even if I was a bit intimidated : )! Hope to see you again soon in either Ohio or a CKU.
Stay cool, Ilona
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PS...I'm loving your new book...Kudos to you!
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Hey Girlfriend;
I am as always touched by you! Thanks for being there for everyone and putting yourself out there for people to connect to! I hope you had a safe trip home! Thanks for your your humor and the fun! TTYS! JB
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Ali-
Thanks for being so down to earth, so like everyone else...you are so awesome to be around! Your energy is contagious and I so enjoyed every minute of your class on Saturday! So glad Julie and I were able to get our books at the last minute, hope you got some cool crocs!
Until next time..
Robin
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