My story begins with one evening more than a decade ago, when our middle daughter, Sara, asked me to come to a scrapbooking home party. Having no real interest in anything but spending time with her, I traveled to her home in the state next door. There, a Creative Memories consultant was anxiously waiting to demonstrate how to scrapbook and was probably hoping she’d make a sale as well.

As the consultant modeled how to put together a scrapbook page for an album, my mind was busy whirring through a thousand thoughts: I didn’t have an album so where was this page going to go? Thankfully, I was told ahead of time to bring a few photos to the party; that part was easy. My husband, Bob, loves to take photos, and at the time we had lots of new photos of our two granddaughters. I had decided to bring photos of our granddaughter Haley’s first birthday party. After all, I was going to be in her mom’s home and we had just celebrated the big day, so it was the natural selection of photos to bring. As a fairly new grandma, it was not surprising that I would ooh and ahh over the cute photos of Haley eating her cake (with most of it smeared all over her face and hands) each time I would look at them. I took them out that evening, my mouth poised and ready to  croon over my granddaughter's photos once again,  when instead I heard a huge gasp  (a gasp that came from my mouth!) as the consultant kindly suggested that I crop my granddaughter’s photo. What? Crop, you say? You mean, cut her up? You’ve got to be kidding me! What nerve!

But, sighing, I resigned myself to following obediently. After all, I was there to learn something brand new. Besides, I took secret comfort from the knowledge that I had duplicates at home. So, I gulped, took a deep breath, held those scissors, and began to cut Haley, eating her cake, out of the photo. (Today, I would call that process an extraction! Ha!)

Next, I added paper triangles and birthday stickers to an absolutely stark white album page, used some funky things called photo mounts to adhere the photo to the page, and then chose a matching pen color to record the name, date, and place of the event. That part, I learned then, was called journaling. Oh, it makes me gag just to think about those early layouts I made! They were primitive at best. (Do you remember all those pre-made corners and borders and ridiculously cutesy stickers back then?)

When I finished my page, which probably took about 3 hours, I was just thrilled! Sara was equally giddy over the page she made too! I thought it was the best new hobby ever! My dear Bob said with more grandkids coming along and our youngest daughter still growing up, it would be just wonderful if I would scrapbook all the pictures of our family.

The Creative Memories consultant probably made her biggest sale ever with me that night. After all, I had nothing and needed… well, I needed everything! One huge check later, I had it all! (Hmmm. As I write this, I’m thinking: some things never change; at least not where shopping for supplies is concerned).

Well, the rest, as they say, is history. Over the next several years, Sara and I spent many hours together scrapbooking our photos. Our great delight increased in direct proportion to the progress we made in our skills and the number of albums pages we completed.

However, in time Sara became busy with three kids and a full-time job. Our scrapbooking times became much more infrequent. By then, however, I had already become quite passionate about scrapbooking. I relished looking at photos in completely new ways. I began telling stories through my layouts and albums. These stories were becoming increasingly important and were born from photos that reflected important and intricate parts of our lives. Not only did these images document major family events, they also provided a source of great comfort to us, knowing our lives were being preserved for the future. Bob and I, the kids, the grandkids, our siblings, nieces and nephews, our parents, and many of our friends have perused our library of photo albums and photo books over and over again. Always, they are a source of enjoyment. Afer all, it’s always fun to look back and remember a fun trip to the pumpkin patch or to see the graduation ceremony again. It is my hope now that when I’m no longer around (oh, I don’t like that thought), each of our kids and grandchildren will find that special album or two that I made and will want to take it home with them to remember our special times and enjoy reminiscing with their own families. The connections have already been made and these memories will have a chance to continue because of scrapbooking.

Lest you think this is the end, let me warn you. There’s more to this story.

As technology developed, it was only a matter of time until the computer bug bit me (and boy did it bite me hard)! I became absolutely enthralled with learning how to use a computer, how to work with photos on a computer, and then finally how to switch gears and start using a digital camera. Wow! Things were moving at rapid speed and the more that I discovered, the more I wanted to learn. I wondered about a program called Photoshop but had no earthly idea how to use it.

One day in the spring of 2007, I was reading through my Creating Keepsakes magazine which mentioned a new digital scrapbooking class that was coming up, to be taught by a certain Jessica Sprague. Well, I thought to myself, maybe I could take a class and learn how to scrapbook on the computer. How cool would that be? It would be another avenue to explore and a wonderful way to learn about Photoshop to boot! I found myself wondering about Jessica Sprague—who was she? Oh well, I thought, why don’t I just sign up and give it a try?

So that is what I did. I waited anxiously till the Big Day arrived: Registration for Jessica Sprague's first-ever digital scrapbooking class! I was beside myself with excitement. With my credit card in hand, I logged in to jessicasprague.com, clicked on the new class and…

And...

And nothing happened.

I panicked. I had to go to work in a few minutes. I knew there was no possible way for me to register at the school where I teach (we can’t use our computers at work for personal business). I also knew that there was only a small window of time to register or you wouldn’t get in. I grew more anxious by the minute as I pictured myself competing with thousands who wanted to get in the limited-slots course. I called our oldest daughter in another state knowing she was at home that day. I gave her all the pertinent information, including my credit card number, and crossed my fingers, hoping she could just register for me.

The morning grew shorter and shorter, and with each minute that passed, my daughter kept calling me to tell me that she couldn’t get in. I just couldn’t stand it! I used the computer at school (Oh, go ahead and fire me, I thought, I just have to get into this class!) And yet, no luck! I had a dinner party at my house that very night. I languished throughout the day. I was still trying to register as my guests were walking in. Oh, did I mention I was supposed to be getting a dinner ready? At that point, I knew that if I didn’t get into this class, I was just not going to be a happy camper. No happy camper in the kitchen  equals no dinner for everyone.

Lo and behold, when I clicked just one more time, a miracle! I got into Jessica’s class! Woohoo! (Picture me dancing and whooping). I was thrilled and couldn’t wait until the following week for classes to begin. As most of you know, there were so many of us persistent enthusiasts trying to register that day that we crashed Jessica and Jared’s server! It is a day that I’m sure none of us will ever forget.

Little did I suspect that that fateful day would end up bringing me much more than just a class in digital scrapbooking. That day was the beginning of incredible friendships with the “Beta Girls,” and the friendships just keep growing. That day marked the beginning of a new passion for the digi world and a wealth of knowledge that continues to grow, that continues to intrigue me, every day. It was the beginning of a journey that has given me a deeper value for preserving the memories and the history of my wonderful family and of our lives as we grow and change every day, every month, and every year. “Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are...”

Jessica has been a tremendous inspiration and friend over the past two years. I had the pleasure and honor of meeting her last summer in Chicago. I feel the same way about Liv, who has been an incredible friend, not only online giving inspiration and help, but a friend in the deepest sense. I also had the pleasure of meeting her in Chicago. All of my “Spraground Sistahs” that I had the privilege of meeting in Chicago will remain life-long friends! They are an incredible group of women, and every time I think of how we all first met through our classes with Jessica, I am just amazed! Who would have ever thought? My life has forever been changed by them, for which I’m forever grateful, and I know there must have been some divine intervention that played a part in our coming together!

So you see, the reasons I scrapbook have evolved over these past years that number to more than a decade’s worth. I now have a deep and intimate passion for scrapbooking my family’s lives and for learning all I can to take this passion to newer heights along the way!  I will continue to “grow my skills” as my addiction and enthusiasm for digital scrapbooking continue to thrive.  Like all of you, I love my family and my life. Like all of you, this love inspires me in my passion to scrapbook. And while this is no extraordinary story, it is my story, and I have loved sharing it with you.