As I was sitting here on this very lazy Sunday, I was browsing the many blogs that I visit daily and I noticed that many of them have touched my life in some way or another.
Back in March of 2000, a Yahoo group, The Cropping Cactus was formed. Many of us had been friends through a scrapbooking website, called Jangle. Sandy had decided to start her own group and sent invites out to several of us. Shauna, I call her UCLA, was member #1 and I was member #2. The group quickly grew to outrageous numbers and by September a few of us drove or flew out to Arizona to meet Sandy in person. It was a crazy adventure for me as I was a back seat driver with two gals I had never met!! For all I knew, they could have been ax murders!! LOL Lucky for me, they weren't. Angie, from Indiana, flew out to meet us. Her poor husband was besides himself because his wife was flying across the country to hang out with crazy California girls. Arizona we never the same once we left. Even Arizona's finest police officers were affected by TCC. From there our friendship grew.
Over the 8 years we have meet in different states and enjoyed CKU's, expos, conventions and other events together. Our friendships are of a different caliber. We have members from all over the United States, as well as Canada and New Zealand. The amazing thing is that we all have stayed connected in some way or another. Although we don't get to see eachother often, some I've only met once, we still have this amazing friendship. We have all been through many personal hurdles together, such as; deaths, divorce, unwed pregnancy, illnesses, job changes, financial struggles, new babies and grand babies, childhood illnesses, cancer, weddings, man, the list can go on. The awesome thing is that we all encourage eachother and pray for one another. It is this wonderful group of ladies that has made some of my hurdles seem like little anthills.
This year we have promised ourselves to meet up again. It's been a while since we've actually had a "big" weekend togther. Many of us are feeling the impact and desperately need a TCC fix.
When I think of true friendship, my TCC gals are first on the list. Some of them have blogs, while many others do not. If you have a little time, check their blogs out. You'll soon find out why they are so dear to my heart.
Shanna, http://shananator.blogspot.com/
Shanna is our group cheerleader. She's always cheering you on and encouraging you to press on. Even when she's down and out, she will always be there to lift you up.
Shauna (UCLA), http://shaunaimmel.blogspot.com/
Shauna is a designer with HOTP. As long as I've known her, 8+yrs, she has worked there. You can find many of her wonderful layouts throughout HOTP idea books. Shauna is a fighter and never backs down to a challenge. Today she is fighting for her life...she is going head to head with cancer. This year is her year to overcome.
Ali, http://www.alimoll.typepad.com/
Ali is our crazy Utah girl. She is sassy and spunky and just so full of life. She embraces life, family and friends with such passion. She is very active in her church, children's schools and in her children's lives.
Angie, http://angieeverton.blogspot.com/
Angie is my friend from Indiana. My family loves her and her family. We have had some fun times visiting them. She is a full time mom that is forever on the go. She loves to wakeboard and boy is she impressive. I would love to one day be her neighbor!
Nic, http://nichoward.blogspot.com/
Nicola is our little New Zealand friend. She started out with not having any access to scrapping supplies or stores. We used to ship stuff to her just so she can get a fix. Now Nic is a big time scrapper that can be found in many magazines, on many design teams and contests. She even has her own book called, That's Life. She has made scrapbooking a career and a good one at that.
There are many others to name; Karyn, Linda, Jean, Lisa, Heather, Michelle, Heidi, Laura, Missy....the list goes on........They will never really know just how much they mean to me.
TCC has truly been a Godsend to my life. Without my TCC buddies my life wouldn't be so rich.
Cheers to all who have been touched by true friendship.
Back in March of 2000, a Yahoo group, The Cropping Cactus was formed. Many of us had been friends through a scrapbooking website, called Jangle. Sandy had decided to start her own group and sent invites out to several of us. Shauna, I call her UCLA, was member #1 and I was member #2. The group quickly grew to outrageous numbers and by September a few of us drove or flew out to Arizona to meet Sandy in person. It was a crazy adventure for me as I was a back seat driver with two gals I had never met!! For all I knew, they could have been ax murders!! LOL Lucky for me, they weren't. Angie, from Indiana, flew out to meet us. Her poor husband was besides himself because his wife was flying across the country to hang out with crazy California girls. Arizona we never the same once we left. Even Arizona's finest police officers were affected by TCC. From there our friendship grew.
Over the 8 years we have meet in different states and enjoyed CKU's, expos, conventions and other events together. Our friendships are of a different caliber. We have members from all over the United States, as well as Canada and New Zealand. The amazing thing is that we all have stayed connected in some way or another. Although we don't get to see eachother often, some I've only met once, we still have this amazing friendship. We have all been through many personal hurdles together, such as; deaths, divorce, unwed pregnancy, illnesses, job changes, financial struggles, new babies and grand babies, childhood illnesses, cancer, weddings, man, the list can go on. The awesome thing is that we all encourage eachother and pray for one another. It is this wonderful group of ladies that has made some of my hurdles seem like little anthills.
This year we have promised ourselves to meet up again. It's been a while since we've actually had a "big" weekend togther. Many of us are feeling the impact and desperately need a TCC fix.
When I think of true friendship, my TCC gals are first on the list. Some of them have blogs, while many others do not. If you have a little time, check their blogs out. You'll soon find out why they are so dear to my heart.
Shanna, http://shananator.blogspot.com/
Shanna is our group cheerleader. She's always cheering you on and encouraging you to press on. Even when she's down and out, she will always be there to lift you up.
Shauna (UCLA), http://shaunaimmel.blogspot.com/
Shauna is a designer with HOTP. As long as I've known her, 8+yrs, she has worked there. You can find many of her wonderful layouts throughout HOTP idea books. Shauna is a fighter and never backs down to a challenge. Today she is fighting for her life...she is going head to head with cancer. This year is her year to overcome.
Ali, http://www.alimoll.typepad.com/
Ali is our crazy Utah girl. She is sassy and spunky and just so full of life. She embraces life, family and friends with such passion. She is very active in her church, children's schools and in her children's lives.
Angie, http://angieeverton.blogspot.com/
Angie is my friend from Indiana. My family loves her and her family. We have had some fun times visiting them. She is a full time mom that is forever on the go. She loves to wakeboard and boy is she impressive. I would love to one day be her neighbor!
Nic, http://nichoward.blogspot.com/
Nicola is our little New Zealand friend. She started out with not having any access to scrapping supplies or stores. We used to ship stuff to her just so she can get a fix. Now Nic is a big time scrapper that can be found in many magazines, on many design teams and contests. She even has her own book called, That's Life. She has made scrapbooking a career and a good one at that.
There are many others to name; Karyn, Linda, Jean, Lisa, Heather, Michelle, Heidi, Laura, Missy....the list goes on........They will never really know just how much they mean to me.
TCC has truly been a Godsend to my life. Without my TCC buddies my life wouldn't be so rich.
Cheers to all who have been touched by true friendship.
4 comments:
Marlo,
I am proud to say that I was the "ax murdering" driver on that fateful trip to AZ and I could not be happier that we all took the chance! You are such a special lady and an amazing friend. I still remember asking you to sew a dress for Michelle, do you remember that? lol It turned out beautiful, of course!
You have been a source of support and love for me for many years now and I could not be more grateful. Like you, I would be lost without TCC and I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of this rare group of women that stick together through thick and thin.
To many more years together... cheers! Hugs and love to you, McBoing Boing. You are a treasure.
Shanna
amen to all you said about TCC.
loved reading your blog today! I agree 100% percent. I remember writing at TCC that everyone should check out the photos for layout by nightscrapper...She is amazing. I still feel that way about your creations, Marlo!!!
Hugs
Jean
Awwww! What a nice post! I consider my TCC friends, some of the closest I've ever had! I'm so happy I found TCC!
ali
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