Scrapbook Retreat was a treat

This past weekend I did something I've never done. I attended a scrapbooking retreat in Lakewood Wa. This group called Scrap Gals put it on and I wasn't really sure what to expect. Turns out it was exhausting and an absolute blast!

The two women who put it on Tracie and Tiffany, are the two who started the ScrapGals several years ago. Their following is large and they are scrapbooking celebs. I was so excited to meet them both and they did not disappoint.

Bright and early, ok not so early, on Friday morning I was packed and ready to go. I laughed out loud when I realized that my scrapping bag was larger than my suitcase. And let's not forget the wine. I posted that photo on the retreat FB page and I was from then on known as "The Wine Lady". I kid you not. Soooo many people mentioned the wine to me and just called me the Wine lady.

The retreat started Friday by my picking up my scrapping pal Anandi. It was hot and the traffic to get to Lakewood was no joke. At one point we put the top up because it was just too damn hot sitting in traffic.

We hit Lakewood around 4, I think. Checked in and refreshed ourselves before going down to find the room. They had just opened it and we found our spots right up front in the classroom. I wasn't expecting there to be as many ladies here and boy was I surprised. There were 80 women. The room was packed.

Friday night was pizza night, time to set up your space and just hang out a bit. There were several free give aways throughout the weekend and the first was on Friday night. Side note, the amount of free stuff we got on this retreat was ridiculous. Totally worth the $$ to attend.

Saturday Anandi and I were up and to Starbucks to get ourselves the needed caffeine to get through the day. We had two classes and a bunch of free scrap time.

Anandi had two friends from Sacramento come up too. These two ladies were SOoo much fun. They sat right behind us and another of her friends at just next to us. All three of them had me in stitches the entire weekend.

I should mention that prior to the retreat the instructors provided us a list of photos that we should bring to use during the classes. That exercise was ridiculously complicated for me. Still I had my photos and I was ready to go. So I thought...

Our first class was from a ScrapGal named Paige. Her style and my style are not the same. The papers and embellishments we got for her class are nice, but I'm not sure I'll use them all. We'll see.

Paige and one of her designs.

After her class was lunch and then some free scrap time. I was looking forward to the free scrap time so I could get through all my Ireland photos. I staged the remaining photos and had about 25 pages to work on. I was ready to make a dent.

Later that night was our second class, Crafty Girl put on by Tracie. This was my second favorite class. It was all about scrapbooking about your hobby of scrapbooking. Hah. I found it rather ironic that we rarely, if ever, scrapbook about scrapbooking. Finally a collection of papers and what not to do just that. This class got me a bit our of my comfort zone and we had to stamp a bunch of things on a page. A list of what we love about scrapbooking. For a first time stamper I think I did OK.

After this class, I was done. I was exhausted. I did not anticipate how tired this would be. Truthfully it was a couple of reasons that I was so tired. The first is the AC wasn't working too well in the front of the class. It was toasty. I think I was sweating from the first moment I sat down until we left. On top of that, I wasn't used to sitting in the same chair for 12 straight hours. Yes I got up every now and then, but still...a lot of sitting. You'd think with all the padding on my a$$ I wouldn't have a problem. I guess not.

Sunday morning, again, off to Starbucks.

Sunday morning was the one class where the photos really threw me. It was learning how to do a Traveler Notebook (the new rage) about me. This entire class really triggered something in me. In the telling of my story.

Tiffany, the instructor, had set up the first several pages for us and walked us through how we should set them up. She's an English instructor so this class was also a lot of English training. Which was great. She told her story. Heartfelt, open, no bull type of story telling. I fell in love instantly with Travel Notebooks. I have so many plans for what I want to do with some of them. I cannot wait.

I didn't get very far on the travel notebook from Tiffany because I want to use it about my life for the first 50 years. It seems like a good time in life to check in with yourself and really look at what kind of life you've lived and what you want to live.

Lunch was delayed, significantly, so Anandi and I ran out to grab lunch. We had a bunch of scrapping time that afternoon. I was just working my way through all the pages I brought with me.  Slowly at this point. One of my new Sacramento friends who was sitting behind me was teaching me all sorts of new things about the iPhone and how to take photos of the pages with ease. Super great tips.

Then the great group photo. Tracie is a drill sergeant when it comes to getting people in line. She's also very careful about placing people. I thought it was like herding cats, but she did a great job.

All in all I had a fantastic time. I met some new fantastic friends, learned some new fantastic scrapbooky type of things. And I think I may have a new found love in travel notebooks. Damn you scrapbooking industry.

I had to wear my glasses this weekend. My eyes were tired and I was having a hard time seeing. 

Me and the Fabulous Tracie

Me and Anandi's Sacramento friends who are now my friends. 

Sacramento ScrapGirls and I - Anandi and her friends.

The Fabulous Tiffany, me and Anandi. I should mention that we also got selfie instruction from Tiffany. 

Happy 8th of July

Since I missed wishing everyone a happy 4th, I figured a happy 8th is just as patriotic. My blog. My rules.

Work has gotten a bit lighter. I was officially promoted to Director level. The title is still being decided. I'm pushing for Director of the PMO (PMO = Project Management Office). It's a better title should I ever be in search of another job. The other option is Director of Professional Service. Which could, in and of itself, help me too. Who knows? I'm just glad it finally happened.

My team has decreased from 9 to 2 (3 counting me). There's a chance I'll manage the development team, but again, we'll see. The job description is still a bit loosey goosey for me. But the raise and the promotion are done and - in a sense - in the bank. Now the fun part begins.

I didn't do anything on the 4th - I planned it that way. I just wanted a day to myself. I did a little work, but otherwise spent the day up in the scrapbook room. I'm still trying to gather all these photos for this retreat at the end of the month. Almost there. The photos I have left are all photos of me. Blech.

I did try to BBQ burgers on the 4th. The grill wouldn't light. Neither by the lighter itself or by putting a lighter under it. I had propane so that wasn't the issue. I think the poor components had finally rusted out all the way and there was nothing to turn on.

And so I made a plan. Called Got Junk to have them pick up the old on Saturday the 14th. And then today I went and bought myself a new grill. I really wish mine could be under cover a bit more to help keep the wet off it, but alas, I don't really have much to cover. I'm going to try to rearrange it so it's MOSTLY under the eaves...if I can. The grill will be assembled and delivered on Saturday too. Home Depot tried to change me $50 to shorten the delivery time window to 2 hours. I either sit here all day for nothing, or pay $50 for a 2 hour window? I think I'll sit her all day. They're already charging me for delivery WITH Stairs. Every little thing costs these days.

I got a smaller grill this time. The last two I've bought were big grills with Sunday dinners in mind. I then realized that if in a year I use the grill less than 3 times for Sunday dinner, then the bulk of the time it's just me. Why pay for a bigger grill? It's big enough to fit two big flank steaks or two big tritip roasts on it.

In other big news, my real dad Don passed away. He and I weren't close at all. I'm sure he had regrets about it. I didn't, until he died. Then I started wondering if my pride had caused me to not have him in my life. I re-examined why I kicked him out originally, and while those points are still very valid to me, was it enough to not have a relationship. I'll never know now. And I certainly won't fret over it, but it did cause me to do some internal thinking about it. Despite our lack of relationship, he still is responsible for at least 1/3 of who I am (Mom gets a third and Dad -AL-gets a third). I frequently think about how different my life would have been had mom not asked for a divorce. I shudder to think about that actually. I've had and still have a pretty good life. Ups and downs for sure, but I had pretty awesome parents.

So I'll mourn his passing. And I'll respect the man he was. No idea if I'll be going to his memorial. Waiting to hear when and what it'll be.

That's about all. You're officially caught up in my "life".

July 1st...What?

I know it can't just be me being astounded that it's July 1st already...am I?  I bet if I look back over my blogs I'd see I start quite a few of them with "I can't believe its XYZ date.." Life sure does zoom by the older you get.

So...back from Scotland just two weeks and I'm already dreaming of other places I want to visit. Spoke with Janet over the weekend and she just laughed when I asked her about some of the trips... mind you we already have next years great adventure planned. I love that I have someone willing and able to travel. I'm not sure I would have seen half as much as I have without her.

Towards the end of July I'll be attending a Scrapbook Retreat. My scrap pal BeagleGal talked me into it. Ok, she didn't have to talk me into it too much. Anyhow, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to attend and now that it's approaching and I'm watching what's coming, I'm so excited to attend. It's in Lakewood...which isn't Seattle, but to be fair, there's nothing to do in Lakewood, so why not scrap?

There are three classes that will happen over the weekend.  And some free crop time. I've been staging some Ireland pages to have available to crop when we do have that free crop time.

Here's the thing though, each instructor has sent a list of photos to bring with you. Each class you will make 4 page layouts (or something similar).  One of the instructors photo list is killing me. I'm realizing I don't have that many photos of me through the years.

Here's what I need to gather:

• childhood photo of me
• A special place to me from anytime in my life (optional: photo of me now or an extra of me @ that special place
• A ritual or daily routine
• A collage (4X6) of items that are integral to my daily life, or members of my family
• Reality versus ideal of something in my life
• Current photo of me
• A photo of me and a mantra that speaks to my philosophy of life

So...yah. I don't really have a current photo of me. Guess I'll put that selfie class I took to work. The ritual/routine is easy...Starbucks. A special place will be a tough one. There are so many to choose from, and I'm not sure I have photos of that special place. Does the bottom of a wine bottle count as a special place?  The collage of items that are integral to my daily life I think I'm going to take photos of my remote control, my laptop, my nook and my phone. Those all seem pretty important. Oh and maybe a photo of my car keys. 

The second class is just asking for photos that match the colors of the paper collection. Not a problem for me. I'll just find some photos and put them in Black and White. 

The last class is about the "crafty girl" inside you. This one will be fun for me. It's ironic to me that I don't scrap about scrapbooking. Here's the problem...I have to find 12 photos for this class. Thankfully the instructor gave us some ideas. 

• Evidence of my craftiness (does an empty bank account count?)
• Where I craft
• close ups of supplies
• Pages I've created
• Bags of supplies
• Photos of a stack of done pages
• Your planner
• Me holding my favorite scrapbooking tool
• Favorite craft store or aisle (I guess I'll have to go to Ben Franklin for this...bummer)

So needless to say I have some homework to do. I did do some searching today and found a few items. And I made a list of photos I need to take. I have some ideas for current photos of me, but we'll see how those turn out. 

I spent the entire day in the scrapbook room today. It feels so good to be crafty and creative. It takes my mind elsewhere. I worked on mom's celebration of life gatherings we did. I haven't been able to scrap these and suddenly today I could. 

That's about it. I've got something yummy in the slow cooker and the timer just went off.