Stuck in time

Since I gave birth to Jack in 2009, I've been pretty delinquent about scrapbooking (as friends who are moms themselves warned me might happen). I've spent some substantial time on it during days and weekends with friends but overall haven't been consistent enough to stay even remotely up to date. Jack's scrapbook, in desperate need of more attention, has him at just a couple months old. That's not to mention the "regular" family albums, stuck in time at Christmas 2007.

Since my goal is to make one baby book for each child (equal rights!), I decided to finish his scrapbook before our new little one arrives in early June (at which point I think I will be thankful just to shower and survive each day—and make sure my children do the same). In the process, I hope to also get at least a little bit caught up on my family albums.

I plan to do six page layouts a week to chronicle Jack's earliest days. For some of you, this might seem silly, but since I am an extraordinarily slow scrapbooker, this is a good (but not too lofty) goal for me.

So here's to finishing Jack's baby book and getting ready to open a cute new book for a brand-new little boy!

Yes, I still scrapbook

I have to admit that my scrapbooking goal (get caught up on my albums) did not so much get accomplished before Jack was born. My intentions were glorious, but all the moms who warned me that it was highly unlikely to happen were absolutely spot on. (Feel free to say, "Told you so!")

After Jack popped his little head into the world, I spent entirely too long making baby announcements (they weren't super fancy, but it just took a while); in fact, the last ones were sent when he was three months old. Then I made two mini albums for each set of Jack's grandparents that feature pictures of his grandparents holding him when he was fresh and new, and his one-month portraits.

Currently I'm working on one more project (a surprise for someone so I can't say). I hope to finish it this weekend.

And then, at long last, I will try to get caught up (currently, I'm on December of 2007) so I can get on top of Jack's baby book. My goal is to at least start on it by the time he is a year old—and I hope sooner (even if I'm not totally caught up on my other albums). I'll try again to use this blog as a form of accountability for myself so I won't sidestep my goal this time.

We shall see...

A new plan

It's time for a confession.

I was gung-ho about completing my outstanding scrapbook projects before my little boy's birth. Armed with a plan (and then, later, an accelerated plan), I was determined to snip and tape until my book was up to date.

Now, however, I am hopelessly behind. While I've worked on my album a bit here and there, I remain in November 2007. A busy work schedule, made worse by pregnancy-induced tiredness, has not been helpful. And my priorities have shifted away from stickers and ribbons to blankets and bears as my husband and I have shopped and prepared for our baby.

I'm a bit frustrated, because I want to be caught up on older photos so I can make a book of memories about my baby as he grows.

Enter: new plan.

I am resigning from my full-time job (although I hear motherhood can keep one quite busy, too!) about two weeks before the little one pokes his head into the world. If all goes well and I have the baby close to his due date, I will have several days of peace to focus on catch-up. If I'm not done when the baby is born (imagine that!), I'll work on his album alongside my photos of pre-child life with my husband.

Here's hoping my new plan works. Either way, I can't wait to take lots of photos of the little guy to treasure.

The 100-page mark

I must admit I am quite behind on my catch-up-on-memories scrapbooking goal.

However, I have made some progress. Since my last update in early July (thanks to the retreat!), I've made 46 pages, landing me within two layouts of completing September 2007. If I were in line with my goal, I would have made at least 60 pages and/or be wrapping up pages that featured photos taken in April 2008.

Still, I try to comfort myself with the overall good news: Since I set my goal this past April, I've scrapped through about 13 months of memories in 100 pages (or 50 layouts).

There's also renewed incentive: I want to be caught up before our little one is born at the beginning of May so I don't fall behind on some of the most precious memories in our lives. (Plus I imagine nurturing my tiny bundle—and sleep for me—will be more of a priority than hours of catch-up scrapbooking at that point. :-) In order to do this, I'll need to complete September and scrap October this weekend, and then create three months worth of pages per month through April 2009.

So, getting caught up is a little muddy, but being caught up will be pure sunshine!

A summer 2007 trip my husband and I took to visit some friends
in Washington State, including the Little Nuggets.

A tale of crazy women

This past weekend I innocently attended a scrapbooking retreat with two friends, thinking there would be a couple dozen mothers lovingly pasting down photos of their children and adding precious little embellishments.

I was so wrong.

About 50 people filled the log chapel, cutting, arranging, and gluing. These were no cute little mothers. These were die-hard women (and even one man). A few seemed desperate. Now, I can't say that everyone fit into the crazy-for-scrapbooking category. But several did, clad in pajamas and greasy hair protruding from under baseball caps, obviously forgetting personal hygiene and common courtesy for the sake of their beloved books of memories. Others stayed up until the middle of the night, reluctantly put aside their adhesive and paper cutters for a few winks, and were back to work in the morning. One older lady told us that she laid on the couch in the chapel (not sure why she bothered to pay for accommodations) for just an hour each night, determined not to miss a moment of opportunity.

The most classic example was a woman who followed me into the restroom when I woke up to use it in the accommodations area at about 6:45 a.m. For some reason, her desperation led her to believe that 1)It was OK to harass a complete stranger while she was using the bathroom, and 2)I was the fount of retreat knowledge. Keep in mind that I was in the stall the whole time, so I never even saw her face. Our conversation:

Her: "Do you know how I can get into the scrapbooking room?"

Me (sleepily): "No, I'm sorry, I don't."

Her (slightly wailing): "I can't get in and all my stuff is in there!"

Me (thinking she's had a family emergency): "Oh, dear. Do you need to go home?"

Her (higher pitched wailing): "No! I want to scrapbook!"

Me: "Well, you could try walking around the camp and see if any staff members are up."

Her: "I did! I've been walking around for an hour. Do you know how I can reach the director?"

Me (thinking: Let the poor man sleep!): "Hmmm...maybe there's a sign posted on the office with a number you could call."

Her: "I tried that already; I couldn't get any answer. Do you know what time the room opens?"

Me: "I think at 7."

Her (reluctantly): "Well, OK."

An entertaining weekend to say the least. And I got 20 pages done and spent some great time with my friends.

Sometimes sunshine comes to life in, er, rather unexpected ways.

Book of love

For romantic occasions, I usually attempt to think of something creative to give my husband. There are two reasons for this: 1) I want it to be more meaningful than something I can pick up in five minutes at the mall, and 2) my husband is very non-materialistic (a wonderful quality) and doesn't always have a long list of gift ideas for me.

So, this year for our anniversary, I covered a little chipboard book that I found in one of my favorite stores, Archivers. Inside, I stuck down little pieces of paper, stickers, and other embellishments, as well as one of our wedding photos, all designed to tell Bill 100 things I love about him. (Thanks, Marianne, for sharing this idea at Pickled Pear Lane!)

It was quite a bit of work, but I'd wanted to try this type of thing of a while, so I'm glad I did it, and—most importantly—my husband is pleased with the result.

Still scrapbooking

Amidst celebrating the Fourth with a family BBQ and fireworks, joining in the joy of some friends' first anniversary party (and losing at a newlywed game my husband and I were solicited to participate in—quite fun, but slightly embarrassing), teaching kids the essence of Romans chapter 9, and sleeping in, I worked on my scrapbook.

I had looked forward to this weekend (I even took a half day off today, just for fun) because I've recently managed to sidestep my scrapbooking goals completely. This weekend, I glued, cut, and created my way through 14 pages.

Since my last update in the beginning of May, I've made 34 pages, landing me within two layouts of completing April 2007. This is somewhat short of my 20-page-or-three-months-of-photos-per-month goal (I should have 40 pages done or be working on May memories), but I'm still pleased that I've made some significant progress.

Here's a layout I made this weekend about the fun my husband and our little nephew have together:


P.S. I must confess that my very first card (see previous post) had a spelling error. I discovered quite accidentally that yippee is spelled with two p's, and not one. My husband, being the sweet guy that he is, was content with his card, foibles and all.

Handmade Yipee

Today my husband had an exceptional work accomplishment, and I wanted to congratulate him in a special way.

But since I was supposed to be working, I had very little time. I thought of giving him a little card, but there was nothing appropriate in my greeting-card stash. I stared at my scrapbook supplies, still helter-skelter from my work last night on a Christmas 2006 page. And I thought, "Hey, I can make a card!" This may be logical to some, but I've never made a card from scratch and never thought I would. (I've always had the excuses that it was easier to buy one, and I needed to use all my craft time to get caught up on my scrapbook.)

So, here is my very first (and very quick) attempt at making a greeting card. I stuck it on top of his monitor with a few chocolate kisses and changed his screen saver to a marquee with a little congratulations message.

Yipee for Bill!

What I haven't done

It's been a while since my last post, and in that while I've been procrastinating blogging because I've felt I haven't accomplished much. I have had little time to scrapbook, and I haven't motivated myself to clean up the garden as I intended to do in May.

But as I reflected on life since I last blogged, I realized that life brings you little joys, even if you're not looking for them, and are swamped with work from two jobs, and are feeling stressed about certain aspects of your future. Here are some joys God has given me the privilege of experiencing recently:

• A good friend of my sister-in-law's, who has become a fun scrapbooking friend, had a precious little boy with a head full of dark, soft hair. He's adorable indeed.
• I visited my family and joined in on important celebrations—Mother's Day and my eldest brother's birthday—as well as the everyday delights of a picnic, stops at tourist attractions, and warm hugs.
• A conference I attended left me inspired to write more—perhaps even a book someday.
• I celebrated a friend's birthday with delicious food, deep conversation, and delightful smiles. And a party to celebrate more is planned for Sunday.
• I cleaned out part of my closet and various areas of my house and piles of paper that ordinarily don't get as much attention as they deserve—a great feeling.
• I taught Sunday school to second- and third-grade kids; the childlike prayers and innocent (but often humorous) questions and responses warmed my heart.
• I laughed and cooked and prayed and cleaned and lived with my wonderful husband.

Accomplishments are important to me. I like to have checked off a list and made progress in projects I've assigned myself. But sometimes it's important to set aside organization and calendars and perfect plans and be surprised by joy.

Onward toward the goal

One day short of a month ago, I mentioned that I had created a scrapbooking goal because I am so desperately behind in my albums. I also wrote that I wanted to use this blog as a form of accountability in my scrapbooking.

So here's an update: Since I penned that post, I have completed 20 pages. This accounts for some of August, and all of September, as well as the vast majority of October 2006 (I still have two pages to do).

My original goal was 12 pages or three months' worth of photos. I've decided to make the schedule a little more agressive and do 20 pages (unless I complete three months of photos in fewer pages), lest I still be working on my photos from my first years of married life when I've got a cane in hand.

Here's a recent two-page layout:

Gotta get a goal

This past weekend, I went to a one-day scrapbooking extravaganza. As I walked in, the 1,500 people in attendance—all busily cutting card stock and taping down photos at paper-covered tables—gave me the feeling that I was going to a convention for some kind of cult. (One of my friends likened it to a Star Trek Convention.) People were rolling in bags and bags of supplies; one lady I saw had a whole luggage set packed, I'm sure, with punches, pages, and embellishments of every shape and size. (It made my two medium-size bags look rather like tiny purses.)

I got 10 pages done; some of the five friends I went with got 25 or more pages completed. I'm not the speediest, I'll admit. But I still have fun—especially when scrapbooking with delightful friends.

While fun is fabulous, the reality is that I am only now wrapping up the pages featuring August 2006 photos. (This is in part because my first attempt at scrapbooking was to preserve memories of my August 2006 wedding; I made three albums containing dating and wedding photos, which took me almost a year.) So I've decided to set a goal: 12 pages or three month's worth of photos each month, whichever comes first. At this rate, I will at least be up to date by the time Christmas comes to town (in all its dozens-of-photos-from-many-parties glory).

I'll post about my progress and share one of the pages I like best each month. This, I hope, will keep me motivated and get all my photos neatly into albums.

Here's one to start; it's the first—and only—page I've made since the event. It's the final page in my wedding album; I've been procrastinating it for a while.

A new year!

It's been a long time since I've written, which perhaps wreaks havoc on the very definition of the word blog. It's quite past time to do something about my silence.

There has been plenty of sunshine and a bit of mud in my life—nothing too unusual. In 2007, I spent my first whole year as a mrs. You'd think I were a liar if I told you that it was all bursts of joy and laughter, so I won't bother. There were squabbles now and then to be sure, but I can honestly say that I am the happiest I've ever been. It is such a beautiful thing to be married, especially in the light of God's love and grace. He has blessed us indeed!

The day our lives began as one: August 5, 2006

Another ray of sunshine in 2007 was a new hobby: scrapbooking. I am not a crafty girl, and have never stuck with a single craft in my life. Sometimes, I didn't even wrap up the project I was doing. I've tried knitting, cross stitch, sewing, latch-hooking, potholder making, and other little projects my most crafty and talented mother dreamed that I would achieve. (Good thing mothers have high hopes for their children, or she would have given up on the first one.) So, naturally, I did not think scrapbooking would survive the craft-less life I live. I thought I'd try it out because I really wanted to make an attractive wedding album. Well, I didn't give up on it and I even completed (mostly) my wedding album and am off to the rest of our short married life. Further, I have so many supplies for such a short time engaged in a hobby that it is bordering on completely ridiculous.

My latest scrapbook page

Perhaps I will leave the mud for another time...the sunshine is too beautiful!