We Did It. (Part 2)

I Thought I Was the Only One

There are moments in life when you don't realize your world is about to get bigger.

You think you understand everything there is to know about something you love... until someone opens a door you never knew existed.

That's exactly what happened to me.

When we moved back from Australia, we eventually joined Ranch Country Club in Westminster. Tennis has always been a huge part of my life, so joining the club felt natural. Somewhere in passing, someone mentioned they had a scrapbooking club.

A... what?

A scrapbooking club?

I honestly didn't know those existed.

Looking back, it makes me laugh because I'd been scrapbooking for years, completely convinced I had discovered this wonderful little hobby on my own. I knew my friend had introduced me to it years before, but outside of that, I had no idea there were thousands of women gathering together, sharing ideas, teaching one another, and spending entire weekends preserving memories.

I thought I was the only one crazy enough to spend twelve hours moving photos around a page.

Turns out...

I had found my people.

Finally... People Who Understood

If you've never had a hobby consume you, it's hard to explain what it feels like to find other people who share that same passion.

My friends loved me.

My family loved me.

But they didn't necessarily understand why I could spend an entire Saturday deciding whether blue cardstock or green cardstock looked better behind one photograph.

They definitely didn't understand why I could spend three hours working on one page and call it a productive day.

These women did.

No explanations were necessary.

No one rolled their eyes.

No one asked, "You're still working on that?"

Instead they asked questions like,

"What paper collection did you use?"

"Have you tried this new cutter?"

"Oh! You have to see what I found!"

I didn't realize how much I'd been missing that kind of community.

Then I Met RonLexa

At one of my first retreats, I sat down next to a woman named Rhonda.

Most people knew her as "RonLexa."

Like Alexa... except RonLexa.

If you knew her, you know exactly why she earned that nickname.

If you had a scrapbooking question...

She had an answer.

Need a tool?

She knew it.

Looking for paper?

She'd seen it.

Trying to solve a problem?

She probably had three different solutions.

She completely opened my eyes to a world I didn't even know existed.

At the time, I was using three-ring binders with page protectors.

I loved them...

Until I didn't.

The pages were starting to sag.

The binders bent under the weight.

Photos would occasionally peel loose.

Albums became bulky and awkward.

I knew something wasn't working, but I didn't know there was another option.

RonLexa introduced me to Creative Memories.

Albums that actually protected your pages.

Products designed by people who understood scrapbookers.

Tools I'd never seen before.

It felt like someone had handed me the keys to an entirely different world.

I Signed Up for All the Wrong Reasons...

...and it turned out to be exactly the right reason.

People laugh when I tell them this.

I became a Creative Memories Advisor.

Not because I dreamed of selling.

Not because I wanted to build a business.

Honestly?

I just wanted the discount.

I wanted all the stuff.

Every new paper collection.

Every border maker.

Every tool.

Every album.

Every embellishment.

If signing up meant I could buy more supplies for less money...

Where do I sign?

I had absolutely no intention of selling to anyone.

But becoming part of that community introduced me to ideas I never would have found on my own.

The Conversation That Changed Everything

There was another woman at one of the retreats who looked through one of my albums.

She smiled and asked me a simple question.

"Where's your journaling?"

I remember staring at her.

"My what?"

She explained that every scrapbook page should tell a story.

Not just show photographs.

Who was there?

What were you celebrating?

Why was this moment important?

When did it happen?

Where were you?

How did it make you feel?

At first, I almost felt embarrassed.

How had I never thought about that?

I'm a writer.

I've always loved stories.

Yet somehow I'd been creating page after page of beautiful layouts without recording the actual memories behind them.

Someone looking through my albums years later might know what my children looked like...

But would they know why we were laughing?

Would they remember the joke?

Would they know who took the picture?

Would they understand why that ordinary Tuesday became unforgettable?

Probably not.

That conversation completely changed how I scrapbook.

Starting Over... Again

This is usually the part where people gasp.

Because after that retreat...

I went home.

I opened every single scrapbook I'd ever made.

And I took them apart.

Every one.

I know.

Some of you are physically cringing right now.

People have actually gotten angry when I've told this story.

"You let someone tell you your scrapbooks were wrong?"

Not at all.

She never said they were wrong.

She simply showed me another way.

A way that resonated with me.

A way that felt more meaningful.

A way that preserved not just pictures...

But stories.

So I carefully removed every page.

Organized thousands of photographs.

Bought entirely new albums.

Scanned precious photos so I'd always have digital copies after what happened in Australia.

Then I started over.

Again.

This time everything was chronological.

Every album had purpose.

Every page had intention.

Every story had words.

It was an enormous amount of work.

I loved every minute of it.

My World Started Growing

Once that door opened...

It never closed.

Someone told me they made one album for each child.

Another person had albums dedicated to vacations.

Someone else created albums for each grandchild.

Then one woman casually mentioned...

"I even have albums for my cats."

I laughed.

But then I thought...

Well...

That actually makes sense.

Until then, I'd been putting every memory into one giant collection.

Birthday parties.

Christmas.

Vacations.

School.

Everything.

How would my children ever separate their memories one day?

Maybe individual albums were a better idea.

Of course...

I have four children.

That realization suddenly sounded much more ambitious.

But that's what I loved about this community.

No one was telling anyone the "right" way to scrapbook.

People simply shared ideas.

Then you took what fit your life and left the rest.

Every retreat...

Every conversation...

Every table full of women...

I came home inspired to try something new.

Not because anyone criticized what I was doing.

Because creativity is contagious.

And when you're surrounded by people who genuinely love creating...

You naturally become better yourself.

Looking Back

As I sit here writing this from Outcrop Manor, I realize something that never occurred to me back then.

None of those women knew what they were helping build.

They thought they were simply sharing paper.

Teaching techniques.

Talking about adhesives and page layouts.

But they were doing so much more than that.

They were creating a community where encouragement came naturally.

Where ideas were shared instead of guarded.

Where asking questions wasn't seen as weakness.

Where everyone left inspired instead of intimidated.

That feeling stayed with me.

In fact...

It's become one of the biggest reasons Outcrop Manor exists.

I don't want this to be just another beautiful retreat house.

I want it to be the kind of place where you sit down next to someone you've never met...

...and leave on Sunday wondering how you ever lived without them.

Because sometimes all it takes is one conversation...

One idea...

Or one woman sitting beside you...

To completely change the direction of your life.

Mine certainly did.

(Continue to part 3)