Souvenirs of My Past

It's probably a little silly - that degree to which I love NSD. {I also think it's funny that it rhymes with LSD, which is very bad for you, whereas NSD is very good for you.} Of all the thoughts and memories and ideals I have imbedded in me from nine years as a Creative Memories consultant, setting to the side some lifelong friends that are the very best treasure, I would say that NSD was probably the best takeaway I gleaned from CM, and probably one of their greatest ideas.

National Scrapbook Day was initiated by Rhonda Anderson and Cheryl Lightle, Creative Memories co-founders, in May 1995 and it included an official proclamation by the governor of Minnesota. Of course, that made it officially national. ;-) I was a fairly new consultant at the time, and most importantly I was six months pregnant with my youngest son. Hauling CM inventory around to sell at home classes was one thing. Doing it pregnant was totally another. I guess that is why the first ever NSD is indelibly etched in my brain. And today, just like 21 years ago, women are gathering to celebrate NSD.

Oh, scrapbooking and I have sure come a long way in two decades of women gathering everywhere to scrap together on the first Saturday in May. Today marks that anniversary, and this 21st NSD finds me just as in love as ever with my beloved hobby. Just think - I have been scrapbooking for 21 years, and I have the wall of albums and scrap stash to prove it!  ;-) That's almost half of my life! I think what I love the most about my hobby, as I analyze it, is that I have passed the tipping point and can now say that I have been scrapping outside of CM for more years than I scrapped inside it. For over a decade now I have been just a regular scrapper, having tendered my CM resignation in May 2004 after 9 1/2 years of sharing how to create, preserve and remember. September 2015 will be the 21st anniversary of my starting to scrapbook. 

I can say that after all this time, even with the boys gone, and the shutter on the camera clicking less and less often, I absolutely love my hobby more than ever. I have a broad base of friends that share this hobby with me and I have an incredibly supportive husband, who never minds me piddling in my room, and I have my little bi-monthly allowance that hasn't been eradicated by tuition bills, and I have access to a plethora of incredible supplies, at both a store that is 66 miles from me, where I can go when I absolutely need to touch and feel a room full of paper and have three hours to spare, and an online store whose incredible service and free shipping options make "getting my fix" sometimes far too easy. 

I have celebrated NSD with both of "my stores". The Crafty Scrapper puts on an incredible weekend retreat each year on NSD weekend and Scrapbook Generation does an all out online event {and also an event in their store} that allows me to play along from the nook in my home that I have christened Scrap Central. There's just something fun and celebratory and slightly decadent about having a DAY that is earmarked National Scrapbook Day. If you want to roll it into a weekend retreat, or a week long online store sale, I'm down with that. What these two stores have in common, though, is that I found both of them through Two Peas in a Bucket.

Two Peas led me to Creating Keepsakes events, which led me to the Great American Scrapbook Convention, which led me to the booth that The Crafty Scrapper had there. I remember looking up TCS on a Saturday in April when Steve and I were taking a road trip, and we happened to drop into their store on their birthday bash. I can still remember the joy and camaraderie that day being palpable in the store, and I knew I wanted to be a part of that. Years of traversing the miles to the store for crops, classes, retreats, and card stock runs have been such a treasure for my heart. I even guest designed for them briefly and that was an added honor. TCS restored my faith in the sisterhood of scrapping, and taught me how to connect and create and craft and collect. I am so thankful for their store and all the lovely talent there. The owner, Carolyn, is just an energetic jewel and I never get enough time with her. She's an incredible lady. I still love TCS and just can't find enough time it seems to make that trek. I was able to go help them celebrate their 10th anniversary a few weekends ago, and I know I will be back there in a couple of weeks as I head south to retreat with my scrapping peeps.

Two Peas also led me to Scrapbook Generation. I don't think any of my online friends really can recall exactly WHO posted the first thread on the General Scrapping message board about the sketch books from Scrapbook Generation. But, I know that I bought my first two in January 2010, and started following their blog right around that same time. Shortly thereafter, I subbed to their Super Saver Sketch Club, and received my first ever SS kit for the March layouts on my porch in April 2010. Oh, those were life changing days! I can tell you that I was made for sketch books. I have that need for creativity...and order. The clean lines of the sketch books brought me back internally to my journalism/yearbook training and gave me a form that supported my going off the CM grid, and how to really have fun with a blank 12x12 canvas. So, this is my fifth NSD with SG. I keep hoping one year I can actually SPEND NSD at SG, but it will have to fall right on the calendar with work scheduling, because the first of the month is always full and busy at work. Now, I have been blessed to meet the SG team and crop with them several times. They are just like Lay's Potato Chips thought - you can't stop at just one! I love these ladies, marvel at their creativity, and depend on their inspiration. I am so incredibly blessed to be part of their CREATE team. 

It's funny that in 21 years of NSD that I have morphed from a gal hosting events for others, to a gal going to events with others, to a gal staying home alone, dependent on the internet for a little interaction and a ton of inspiration. I guess my scrapbooking journey is really trekking along the same path as society. The internet has changed us all - for good or bad - with it's opportunities to "connect" with others. I cannot deny though that the online crops and at home events are the easiest to pack for. ;-) 

I created this layout below in 2013 more than likely, if I do some detective work on the supplies used. It is an SG sketch of course, and I know I used my Silhouette to cut that title and the little cameras. The photos are from NSD 2011, the next to last NSD that I would spend online at Two Peas. {Who could predict their demise?} I am thankful that I snapped some photos that day - and that I had Steve take a picture of me sitting at my computer. As it turns out, I am looking at an ad for the Scrap 'n Easel on my computer, which seems fitting, since I do a fair amount of online scrap shopping. ;-) That year, NSD 2011, was the kick off of my scrapping our 2010 vacation for which I used Basic Grey Wander. I just love my paper. I just love my hobby. I guess you could say I am still crazy about scrapping after all these years. 

Happy National Scrapbooking Day to you -  whether this is your first NSD or, like me, your 21st. Take some time to document your scrappy life. You just never know what is around the corner, and it's always a good thing to create, preserve, and remember. I love the quote at the top that SG posted on Tuesday of this week. It's true. And I like to think of each one of my layouts as a souvenir of my past - a very special memory that I was blessed to live through and cobble together a story to tell of it. Happy Scrapping!

National Scrapbook Day ~ An Homage to Online Crops ~ May 2011

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation I think - confirming from friend - I did a lift for a challenge

Paper: October Afternoon

Title Font: Lavenderia

Editors Note: I changed the layout for this story because I realized this morning after I published this post that I had already blogged that layout. So, then!, I decided I needed to do another layout about NSD since I have only ever done that other one. So, I CAN do a layout in an afternoon - this proves it. And how fun to scrap about NSD ON NSD??!! Thanks Rona/Jaffa for the inspiration for the layout and thanks SnY Tink for the challenge to scrap lift a friend.

Auld Lang Syne

Why DO the years get faster as you get older? Here we are on the first day of another new year and with this one, I mark the "one year anniversary" of going public with my blog, of trying to intentionally regularly blog, of sharing for the first time ever in a public way my stories, of being courageous in my writing. I don't know if you know this personally from your own experience, but there is never a time or a moment when I write that I feel it is good enough, engaging, or even good. So, sharing is courageous. I have slogged through the first year, have zero more confidence than when I started, and still maintain that every time I bang something out on the keyboard that it could be better, that it isn't entertaining enough, and that there is little value in what I write. 

I don't say all of that for a pity party, or for a barrage of ensuing encouragement, but I say that to share simply the heart of what goes on behind the white page, and to say that even with the reality of those emotions, I am content to keep trying. What I have discovered over this past year is that it is enough for me to try, that there is enough satisfaction in my own heart over my efforts, and that while I do not always feel worth in my efforts, that I do have joy in the process and in the finished product.

Most importantly, thank you for being part of the journey. Thank you for being part of the joy. Thank you being part of the process. I pray that somehow something I have shared has enriched your life, reminded you of your purpose, inspired you to press on, revealed a deeper meaning, recalled to your own mind a memory, given power to your own story. 

As I look ahead, peering around the corner at the blank canvas of 2015, my heart is full of equal parts of contentment and uncertainty. When a year finishes, it is always remarkable to reflect back on it, to savor each moment, to recall the highs, to ponder the lows, to contrast the historic reality to the perceived expectation. I would say that 2014 was better than expected in many ways. We survived the emptying nest. We managed to adjust. We found good. We created new routines. We found, or recreated, joy and meaning to a table for two. 

But, as I look at 2015, I can predict none of what it holds. It does not owe me any promises. There are no big red letter dates circled for me on it already. It will be our first year - January to December - where both boys are in school full-time, and that is an assumption in and of itself. I am old enough to know that anything could change at any given moment. I am hopeful that I can adapt to what the year holds, that there are good and happy times ahead, that we are all kept safe and well and whole. I pray us all enough for the coming 364 days.

While my own life has changed over 2014 in major and minor ways (job change, weight loss, emptying nest), I am sure that your world has had its own set of changes. I think that as all things have changed and will continue to change, I find in myself an increased longing for the constancy of family. One bright moment in 2014 was my son's graduation party, and the presence of my brother at the party. It was a tender and sweet moment for my parents, my three siblings, and I to all be together for a few hours. 

I don't see my brother very often. He has three younger children and they are in many and various activities. He leads a full and busy life five hours south of me. What I do love about seeing him is that time never robs us of our connection. He and I go way back. Way back. Growing up, in our early single digit years, he and I shared a bedroom for a few years. I can still chuckle this day when I recall what an utter perfectionist he was at procrastinating on cleaning up anything. Mother sat on his bed many times, urging him to clean his room with the presence of the spanking tool. I am not certain he cleans any faster today than he did 40 years ago, but I do know that he is still impishly charming, incredibly funny, a gifted storyteller, a brother that cares deeply for me, and that he is a good and honest man. 

It has been seven years since they were here with us for New Years. We had the complete pleasure of having he, his wife, and his three children here for the holiday. It was in the waning months of my stay at home years, when in reality every day for me was a holiday and New Years Eve and Day on a Monday, Tuesday was no concern, and toward that end, entertaining was then so much easier. My house was picked up and clean and regularly devoid of piles of unattended mail and unfolded laundry. I love to entertain, as does Steve, and that is one of my working regrets. I feel that work crowds out my entertaining heart. 

But, in that moment, as we welcomed in 2008, we had five guests, and the world was as bright for all of us as as the sun on that New Years' day when we walked to the park. It was a wonderful relaxing holiday. I made snowflake sugar cookies for my nieces to enjoy, we played games, we enjoyed meals, we were together, and we shared stories.  We were simply embracing each other and taking in the holiday and all the hope and joy it can hold. 

Even though I don't see him very often, he is always on my mind and in my heart. I think that is the point of the traditional New Year's song Auld Lang Syne. We pause, we reflect, we ponder, we remember. Auld lang syne translates to times gone by, and it is our call each new year to remember the old, as we greet the new.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

And auld lang syne

For auld lang syne, my dear

For auld lang syne

We'll take a cup o' kindness yet

For auld lang syne

Wherever you are on this day, may your heart be light, your day relaxing, your hope renewed and your memories held dear. Enjoy the new year, and cherish the times gone by. Happy New Year to you, and blessings to you and yours for a happy, healthy, peaceful, and prosperous 2015.

Happy New Year ~ Grady & the Fam ~ New Years Day 2008

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation

Paper: Fancy Pants

Title Stickers: Doodlebug

Some of the Best Days of my Life

As a little girl growing up on the gulf coast of Texas, I was always aware of water - it's presence, it's power, and it's predictability...and it's unpredictability. I did actually end up packing for college in a home without electricity during the rain and rising tides of Hurricane Alicia. I guess my familiarity with water - with the coast - ingrained in me a deep love for the ocean, a love so intertwined in me that I almost need the ocean. I love rain equally. I have sat many days on my porch here in north Texas and watched and smelled and listened to the rain.

And I can remember taking Philip, our oldest son, to the beach for the very first time when I was pregnant with Andrew. I can see in my mind Steve "walking" Philip through the sand and the waves, and I can see Philip sucking in air, surprised as the tide would come up and tickle his ankles. That trip was just the beginning of taking the boys to the beach at regular intervals. We have lived in four cities in Texas and our first three cities were in close proximity to coastal waters. 

Moving to Dallas landlocked me a little. It feels sometimes like a lot. Getting to good coastal water from my home is harder now. And to add insult to injury, the boys have an annual trip with their church youth group. And when you can go to the beach with 100 friends, why in the world would you want to go with your mother? ;) Seriously, though, I had a span of a couple of years where my toes had not hit the sand and I was seriously aching for a week at the beach.

We were delighted, absolutely and sheerly delighted, when a family that we adore invited us to go to the beach with them. It was an easy and instant yes for all four of us. Steve and I began researching the neighborhood they were renting in and we booked a home right on the beach. Be still my heart. For five months I was aware we would be headed there, and my heart was giddy with anticipation and excitement. God was granting me a huge gift! A week at the beach, at a house on the beach, with my family of four, and with five other precious souls that we love! August that year could not come fast enough.

As the trip approached, it became apparent to me that this was also the last summer that I would have two high school students. It intensified my heart's investment in the week as the departure date loomed on the calendar. Plans were made and menus prepared and sunscreen and spike ball were packed. My friend and I conspired for family photo shoots. I would shoot her family and she would shoot mine. How perfect is that? {I should note here that she has three sons and I have two. I think we should get extra credit for getting five young men at a beach to clean up and dress in nice, coordinating clothes.} ;)

Beach Week came. It was truly a perfect week. A shower here or there was an added blessing for me. See, our beach house had a back porch with 7 rocking chairs on it. I was content to sit on that porch and watch the storms roll in and out, watch the cranes and seagulls soar and land, and even see the shrimp boats trawling with the dolphins in their wake. And that was just all in the early mornings, while the boys were still asleep, and I was sipping my snickerdoodle coffee.

We had separate houses, but ate our meals together. Steve did all of the cooking. I think he truly loved it. Our friends adore his cooking and there is nothing that makes a cook happier than to have their meals gushed over and devoured. Steve got check marks on both of those grids every time he put a platter on the table. I even ponied up for two peach cobblers. The first one just went too fast. Steve and I love to cook for a big crowd.

We played on the beach, we canoed, we rode bikes, we played spike ball, we played Euchre, we played charades, we read books, we played spoons, we told stories, we laughed, we cried. We had community on the beach. It was an amazing week. In the middle of the week, we did our family photo shoot. Their oldest son had an internship and could only be with us for part of the week. So, we had our big celebratory meal when all nine of us could be present, and it was our dress up night and our photo shoot.

I love how these pictures turned out. I love that they bring back memories of such a wonderful week for the four of us, and the nine of us. I love how our two families have shared stories over - at the point of these photos - fifteen years. I love how the four of us nestled together in that coastal cottage and had some wonderful downtime together, in the final stages of life as we had all known it.

Days when we are together and the ocean is involved are truly some of the best days of my life. I am not sure when we will all be at the coast again. I know life itself is like the tide. It is controlled by Someone with a mighty hand. It is predictable...and unpredictable. It is unwavering and relentless. It is refreshing and cleansing. It is mighty and destructive. I hope and pray that another beach week is out there for me, for us. In the meantime, I will savor these memories and trust in the Hand that rules the tide. 

Beach Week ~ Harbor Island, South Carolina ~ August 2012

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation http://scrapbookgeneration.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=213

Paper: Pebbles

Fonts: Pacifico

Keeping My Eyes on the Horizon

I talked about cruises for a long time. I hinted, cajoled, teased, pleaded. To no avail. So, I eventually went on my first cruise without my sweet hubby. I went with my mom and my oldest sister in 2006. And it was actually a scrapbooking cruise. There were some hiccups, but overall, I loved it. I then knew it was only a matter of time before hubby was going to say yes. By Captain Hook or by crook. 

I finally discovered the missing link. Disney! I knew he would not be able to resist a Disney cruise. I was right! We took our first Disney cruise in 2008, a 5 day cruise to the Bahamas. We four immediately fell in love with all floating things a la Disney. So, naturally, we cruised again in 2009, going this time for 7 days. There was just too much goodness on that ship to explore and take in and enjoy over a mere 5 days. 

Admittedly, in retrospect, back-to-back was probably not ideal, but like I said, we fell in love. And we're never great at deferred gratification. Consequently, after cruise number two, the boys were ready to go back and do "some cities", so in 2010 and 2011, we did San Francisco and New York, respectively. But, as our twenty-fifth anniversary approached, my eye was back on the horizon. That beautiful line where the sky meets the ocean and all is calm.

We had always talked about going to Europe for our twenty-fifth, but as it approached, it just did not seem feasible given us working around the boys going to England on a student ministry mission trip. So, enter Plan B: a Disney cruise to Alaska. It seemed like a foreign country, right? And it would get me back on that beloved Magic. So, how does one have a "romantic anniversary cruise" with two teenagers aboard? Enter Uncle Mark.  We booked two cabins and the three single guys were together in one, we were in the other and odd we headed into the setting sun on our Alaskan adventure.

It was a grand experience, it truly was. I'll remember it all of my life. And if I forget, I have 1,118 photos to jog my memory! It was just the perfect way to get a glimpse into the many beautiful parts of Alaska, and whet our appetite to all desire to someday return. {The youngest son asked before a year was up if we could go back!} And there was no dull moment to the trip. Every moment there was something to see, because even when you were on the boat, you were whale watching, or taking in the glaciers. Truly a stunning glimpse into creation.

There was one really funny, okay ironic, moment. Disney always does a PIRATE night on their cruises. It's usually your 3rd or 5th night at sea, following your first 1 or 2 nights at sea and your first formal night. It's a clever way for them to push the Pirates of the Caribbean hook, if you will, and you get to see pirate Minnie and Mickey. Peter Pan and even Captain Hook show up. And if you're actually cruising in the Caribbean, you might even spy Captain Jack Sparrow. 

The pirate night has a special menu and everyone gets scarves to wear on their head and the photographers troll around to catch your pirate faces, After dinner, there is a show up on deck 9 that involves a zip line and a duel between Mickey and Captain Hook. Mickey always prevails. You know, good over evil. And rum punch is served and at the end of the duel, fireworks light up the sky. It's always really amazing to see the fireworks over the ocean.

Now, I've never seen fireworks that rival Disney. And we've been on cruises where other cruise lines tail the Disney ships on firework night, so their guests get a free viewing. It's just one of Disney's iconic things. And at this point, I should interject that our anniversary is actually ON July 4. Yes, July 4. So many firecracker jokes over the years, and understandably so. We've literally had fireworks on every anniversary we've ever had. So, who better to set off our twenty-fifth anniversary firework show than Pirate Mickey himself?

Well, anyone reading this that has ever been to Alaska knows where I'm headed. Apparently, unbeknownst to us until July 4, 2012, Alaska is an entire natural preserve. And, you guessed it. Fireworks are prohibited on the inside passage. {And maybe everywhere. Who knows?} I only know that on our silver mega anniversary, our giant celebration of all things July fourth-ish, we spent our twenty-fifth anniversary firework free. It was really so funny that we had planned on having such a grand fireworks show...and the only fireworks we saw that night were pictures on the dinner menu and the backdrop screen of the family photo op!

It was funny, to be sure. Like any good character, we followed the age-old "the show must go on" adage and went with it. We loved pirate night all the same. And of course, even without fireworks, it was my favorite pirate night thus far of all our cruises. We all wore the silly scarves and even stumbled upon Pirate Minnie for an impromptu photo op. And we had our photos made in front of the photo op backdrop with the fake fireworks going off behind us.

As the boys get older, they are so much more fun than I ever imagined. They are funny, they are fun, they make me laugh. They are the best of us. And I wanted to capture just a little bit of that fun, silly nature that runs through all of our hearts. That silliness that let us all don scarves and make pirate faces and become excited over Pirate Minnie. If only we were in fact able to sail the ocean all the day long. Oh, that would be a little bit of heaven to me. I can just hear Captain Jack leading, "Yo, ho, yo, ho, a pirate's life me!" and I would be there by his side, singing right along with him. 

Yo Ho, Yo, Ho, A Pirate's Life for Us! ~ Alaska Disney Cruise ~ July 2012

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation http://scrapbookgeneration.blogspot.com

Paper: Fancy Pants
Title: Silhouette Cut File 9329