Never Say Never

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending an all day Scrapbooking event with my future mother-in-law, Steve's sisters and sister-in-law. A few months back I had been to a similar event for the half day (9am - 4pm). I figured I was up for full day (9am -11pm).

Yes - that's correct 14 hours of cropping and eating!

I have never been so exhausted in my entire life. When Steve woke me up the next morning, I was so startled I practically jumped out of bed.

How exactly does one find themselves scrapbooking for 14 hours?

First, you must be recruited by friends, family or future-in-laws. These scrapbookers are tricky - they casually mention these events to you and slowly peak your interest.

Second, you tell your fiance that there is no way you are ever going to get into the scrapbooking thing. You let him know that it would be really nice to spend more time with the ladies in his family - but you clearly are just not in to that type of thing.

What happens next is still a mystery to me as well. But in time you start to think how nice it would be to have all of that stuff you have been saving in boxes (movie ticket stubs, programs, etc) not to mention your pictures displayed nicely all in one place. Unfortunately, it becomes clear that you never were very good at the whole keeping the negatives organized thing and there is just no way you could cut your only copy of the pictures that have sat in boxes for years on a shelf.

But wait there is hope - digital cameras and scanners! Suddenly it becomes very clear that you can do this. It is just going to take a little organization, some time and maybe a few ideas from others that have undertaken similar projects.

If only there was a place you could bring all your stuff, see other people's books, use fun scrapbooking tools and buy some of the things you will need.....

And that's were I was hooked. The scrapbooking event seemed the perfect way to get started. It seemed innocent enough. I was in - but I wasn't going to turn into one of the ladies at Hobby Lobby who is spending all of her money on paper and stickers.

I started gathering the basics and found that I much enjoyed having something else to shop for. When I was still travelling to Texas, I frequented many of craft and scrapbooking stores down there. My new challenges were to find sales and to pack it in my suitcase.

Five months later I have accumulated more colored paper, stickers and scissors than I could have imagined. I am pretty close to finishing my first book which has 2003-2005 (The Dating Years). Unlike after my first scrapbooking event - I now feel comfortable putting my stuff away for awhile (Rome wasn't built in a day). I am also excited about the next book - Wedding and Honeymoon! A crazy thought popped into my head the other day about a mini scrapbook for the guestbook at the wedding - but I am still sorting out if it will be feasible given the timeframe. We shall see :)