SYW154 – A New Soundtrack for a New Year

Jennifer Wilson 0:00

You are just as worthy as a scrapbooker as a Memory Keeper if you choose to opt out of certain things, it needs to align with what you most want. And sometimes those decisions to say no in your scrapbooking and throughout our life are far more important decisions than the things you choose to say yes to.

Jennifer Wilson 0:19

Welcome to Scrapbook Your Way, the show that explores the breadth of ways to be a Memory Keeper today. I'm your host, Jennifer Wilson, Owner of Simple Scrapper and author of The New Rules of Scrapbooking. This is episode 154. In this episode, I'm joined by Kim Edsen to reflect on the past month and explore what's new for February. This is our monthly peek behind the scenes at Simple Scrapper.

Jennifer Wilson 0:46

Hey, Kim, how's it going?

Kim Edsen 0:49

I am excited to share with the world. I have been busy the last few months starting my own business.

Jennifer Wilson 0:59

Whoa, oh my gosh!

Kim Edsen 1:01

I know, of course, this is not a surprise to you. Because you're one of the first people I mentioned when I contemplated this. So um, I am launching a can photo management business called Photo RX. And you can find me at yourphotoRX.com or your photo RX on Instagram. But last summer, we were in the middle of our photos journey. And I heard from so many people just like frustration and confusion related to their photos. And we have information in the membership about how to go about doing that. And, you know, definitely like, are always available to answer questions and kind of help people along. But I think what I realized at that point is for some people, they just need like a fresh start and a clean slate to like help them get everything under control and then moving forward. And kind of along that same time. Miss Freddy, Casey Von Stein who you've had as a guest on the membership. And it will find you what episode number so we can put in the show notes. But she is a professional photo organizer. And it came up on her social media feed that she offers this mentorship program. And it was going to be starting in September. And basically she would teach students within the program how to start your own professional photo organizing business. And so it kind of was like on the backburner of my mind for about a month or so. And I like floated it to my husband and talked about it with some friends. And it was also kind of last summer, I had finished up working with Walgreens to do vaccinations. And so that kind of brought back to the forefront of my mind, this whole idea of, you know, the girls are going to be graduating and they're getting their driver's licenses. And so just that my world will drastically be changing within the next few years or over the course of next few years. So this idea of like what I would want for myself workwise or timewise, or whatnot. And I contemplated going back into the world of pharmacy. But basically what it came down to is the idea of freedom of scheduling. I've got really accustomed to kind of being able to accommodate my schedule. And I don't know where is, how it is in other states, but in the state of Iowa, if a pharmacist is not present, the pharmacy is not open. So there's not a lot of like flexibility. So if there is a blizzard, or if you are ill, or your child is ill or, um, you know, it's not always the easiest to get those shifts covered. Or if you want to take a vacation, like you're making that request, like months and months, even like a year out. So I was leery of returning to that sort of like work structure. But this whole photo organizing business, it kind of occurred to me that I already do a lot of these things. Like I've scanned like my personal photos, I've scanned my husband's or my dad's like heritage photos, my mom's heritage photos. I've been working with Ken and granted his photos are all scans now but you know, working through like all of his heritage photos. And another component, so it's organizing, scanning and digitizing custom photo books. Which you know, I've been, I think I've made like seven photo books in the last like two years. So I'm definitely familiar with that concept. And then also just like consults to help people if they want like one on one kind of conversation around it. So anyways, that's kind of how I got there. I just realized that I'm already very interested in this topic. I have a lot of experience already. I really value photos, and the stories that they can tell and how they connect us with you know, family and friends and over generations. Like I I know I talked about at my uncle's funeral this summer, that was like another thing. They had this slideshow of like photos throughout his life and it was so amazing to like see that and to think that if you have a loved one passed away, we if you're not organized, like how do you even go about putting something like this together as like a tribute? So anyways, I encourage people, check out my website or message me if you have any questions, but, um, I feel like you know, it's gonna be exciting. And so we'll see what we'll see what happens. I don't know.

Jennifer Wilson 5:38

Well, I'm just I'm so thrilled for your journey. I am, I think it's so important that you really considered the lifestyle aspects of choosing a new path for business or your work world. Because it's really important. And I think that's being home for two years. And, and obviously, you've been home for much longer than that, like really gave you an opportunity to think okay, now, what is it that I want for life in a post pandemic world and a post my kids graduating world, and to honor that flexibility is important. And if you can make a choice that aligns with that, that's probably a good choice for you.

Kim Edsen 6:19

I also think this is like a really good fit for my whole personality, like my husband is back in the office. And they were talking about the idea of how some people really enjoyed remote work and some people didn't, was not a good fit for them. And like that is like, my ideal world. Because I am very much like a self starter. I even like with the whole concept of like the photo organizing. I'm an Enneagram one which I've heard different labels. Like it used to be like the perfectionist, but anymore, I feel like it's called like the reformer because it's this idea of always like improving things. So anytime within Simple Scrapper, I've done different projects, where if you kind of take like a vast quantity of information, or you know, something that you need a system built around and like, gather it together. So it's organized and concise or whatever, very much appeals to me, I have a high tolerance for kind of tedious projects, because I feel like, you know, I create a spreadsheet, I work through it. And then at the end, like I find that end result, so satisfying. And I think that's why I love home renovation shows so much, right? Like, they take this kind of chaos, dilapidated structure. And then at the end, you know, they've made all these improvements. And so I feel like even for like the photo organizing side of things, or like for creating albums for people. You know, you can start with like, several 100 photos, and then to like, kind of bring it all together into like this cohesive story of like, your year, your trip, or, you know, whatever the theme is. I don't, like that is like just deeply satisfying to me. So even beyond the scheduling, I feel like personality wise, this is a super good fit for me.

Jennifer Wilson 7:58

Yes, I can totally see, even based on how the certain types of tasks that you do for me, because you're like, Oh, heck yeah, I'll do that. Because I'm like, I really don't want to do that.

Kim Edsen 8:11

Yeah, the sketches. That's what I was thinking about. Because I feel like that actually sounds kind of fun, like do you want me to do that?

Jennifer Wilson 8:19

And yes, because I am not an Enneagram One at all. So well, this is just yeah, this is so fun. And talk about your branding being so in alignment with, you know, past, present and future. I just love that idea of Photo RX. And so it's...

Kim Edsen 8:36

Yes, I thought it was kind of a fun take on the idea of like, your photos are in disorder, right, like a medical disorder, photo disorder. And you know, this is the prescription or the solution, the RX to, you know, solve the issue. But, and I do want to say I am not leaving Simple Scrapper, I'm still going to be there. And I would encourage members, you know, definitely if you have questions in the membership, like post them. I mean, you can tag me but obviously to like, our membership is, you know, hundreds of people strong. And, you know, everybody, that's the advantage of the community is we all work together to give answers, but you know, definitely, you know, tag me or message me or whatever the group to like. You know, I want to make sure people are aware like I'm not going anywhere from Simple Scrapper. Though, I will say I probably have been quieter the last few months because we were talking about this before we started recording, but like at the back end side of like a business, did not appreciate how much goes into that. But I think hopefully, like the hardest part is done now. And so like now I'm excited to just like go forth and do the work. So that's yeah, I'm excited about it.

Jennifer Wilson 9:44

It is no joke, that's for sure.

Kim Edsen 9:46

Mm hmm.

Jennifer Wilson 9:47

Yeah. So and I think that because of something that's so fits your personality, I'm just excited to just to have you as an additional resource in our community and an opportunity for those who who really do need the one on one support that that we can't do in the membership. That here's another option with you to be able to provide that and someone that they that they trust already.

Kim Edsen 10:12

Well, and I feel like there's so much to say, and I don't want to monopolize this episode. But I will also say one thing, I am offering a scrapbook coaching. So late last year, a member reached out to me in the group and said, Hey, I would really like to have like a one on one coach, just to kind of like, encourage me, maybe helped me like, you know, pick apart some obstacles that I have in my hobby. And just to make it more fun again, and honestly, I don't know of anyone that offers scrapbook coaching. I mean, there's life coaching and all that sort of thing, but not specifically to our hobby. So I asked her, like, would you be willing to meet with me, like, I'm, you know, in the process of starting this business, and, you know, I'd be happy to start meeting with you. So we have started that process. And like you said, to, like, the ability to like, go one on one with somebody is so fun. And it's so satisfying to see the progress that she's already made, and just, you know, the last several weeks, so, so that would be another thing. So again, obviously, if you are a member, definitely post within the group, and everyone's there to help you. But if you for whatever reason, just want to deep dive, dig in deep and like any particular topic related to scrapbooking, I would love to talk to you about it. Because I've been doing this, I don't know if you realize this, Jennifer, but this month is my five year anniversary with Simple Scrapper.

Jennifer Wilson 11:36

Whoa.

Kim Edsen 11:36

Yeah. So obviously, I've talked to a lot of scrapbookers over the years.

Jennifer Wilson 11:39

Yes, that's for sure.

Kim Edsen 11:41

You know. Hopefully, together, we could find solutions for whatever's ailing you. But yeah, so. So that's another thing. So like I said, so much goodness, so much excitement. So we'll just see where it goes.

Jennifer Wilson 11:56

Yes, yes. No, I'm so excited for you. And yeah, I just, it's, it's fun to see folks who are in that kind of edging on that next season of life. And thinking about my own journey, what that might look like, and it's just, you know, it's yeah, I'm just so happy for you.

Kim Edsen 12:17

Well, and that was the thing. And my, my first thought was, rather than do she does, Freddy offers the mentorship program twice a year, this was only the third round that she had done it. So September and January. So my first thought was, oh, we're going to be so busy back to school, the girls are starting high school, like, I know, that's gonna be a lot. I'll wait and do it in January and then or like, maybe that's something I would consider in a couple of years. And then it just kind of occurred to me that it's like an now or never thing. At some point, I think if I would have put it off, I would always have been left with the you know, what if I had had the courage to go ahead and explore that. And I didn't want to live with that. What if so, I just decided to jump in and, and make it work. So and so far, it's been really, really good.

Jennifer Wilson 13:06

Yeah, as I thought about something similar recently of what if I'd had the courage to start a public podcast when I started the member podcast instead? But I did 76 member episodes before I released this podcast to a public audience.

Kim Edsen 13:24

Yeah, I think, like with anything, there's two sides to it. Right? So maybe the benefit was you had all the experience those 76 episodes to kind of hone what worked for you. So you're able to, you know, produce a really quality public public podcast, so...

Jennifer Wilson 13:43

But I just, yeah, sometimes we have to, it's, we have to really encourage ourselves and trust ourselves that that that intuition hit that we're getting about where to go is that we need to take the leap and try it and see what happens and trust it will all be okay. And that the path will unfold before you.

Kim Edsen 14:03

Yes. And that can be, that can be hard. I told my husband, I'm such a hypocrite because, like I said that girls are starting high school and they were have been exposed to all these new opportunities that they didn't have before, like, you know, color guard and jazz band and speech. And when they would comment on the challenges of trying something new, I would always like, Oh, it's good for you. It's good to try new.

Jennifer Wilson 14:28

That's our job as parents, so it is true.

Kim Edsen 14:31

It's a little harder when you're 42 and trying new things I feel but um, you know, I definitely have learned a vast amount of information. So yeah, no matter where this goes, like, you know, I've gotten a lot of knowledge and experience out of it already. So, all right,

Jennifer Wilson 14:48

Oh, yeah 100%.

Kim Edsen 14:50

Enough about me. What do you have going on?

Jennifer Wilson 14:52

My personal update is not nearly as exciting, but it is interesting in its own way. At the end Last year, a friend of mine recommended this ready to eat meal company. Now I've done like HelloFresh and Blue Apron and Home Chef and Hungry Root, places that like send you stuff to make food. And I've been off and on for several years. And I've really liked it for the most part. But it did require some prep. And so some time we're like, oh, do I really want to like spend the time particularly for like, the Blue Apron recipes, I tend to be a little bit longer and even HelloFresh can sometimes be 45 minutes. And I just want to eat eat a meal. And in particular, I was using these for my lunches because my family does, on the whole, does not have an appreciation for a diverse palette of vegetables and flavors and things like that. And so we pretty simply eat dinner so that everyone's happy. But then I like to have my interesting stuff at lunch. So I was sometimes making HelloFresh in the middle of the day. And that's not, it's not always a practical thing to do to take the time to do that. So my friend recommended this company called Factor. And apparently they're owned by HelloFresh, which I didn't know. And they send you these amazing meals every week, I get eight of them. And you heat them in the microwave for two minutes. And I was a little skeptical on like all his stuff might be good. But they are they're healthy, but they're not dieting at all. It's not diet food. There's lots of vegetables, lean proteins, some like grains, but tends to be more like whole grains like quinoa. Ah, there's amazing flavor and like a huge like diversity of flavor profiles. I had one that was like a Korean something or other. You know, even to like comfort food, things like barbecue, and it's all just really fresh. I've only had one meal where when I microwaved it, the broccoli kind of turned overcooked. But it's like, you know, there's like green beans and zucchini and broccoli and carrots, like every single vegetable that you can think of. And it's all been just fresh and tasty. And I'm just like, Yes, I'm gonna keep doing this.

Kim Edsen 17:12

So you're eight meals a week, are they eight different meals?

Jennifer Wilson 17:16

You can choose.

Kim Edsen 17:17

Okay.

Jennifer Wilson 17:18

So right now I've been doing all different meals, because I want to try and figure out what it is I like, as I discover things that I really like, I'll probably order like two of the same particularly if it's something that I really like, because they do recycle some but then they're always having new stuff as well. So you'd have a total flexibility, you could order eight of the same thing. Or you could order you know, one, you know, one each of different things.

Kim Edsen 17:43

Okay, so what is how does this compare price wise to like HelloFresh and Blue Apron and some of those other ones?

Jennifer Wilson 17:51

Um, it is on the higher end, it's more in like the Blue Apron price range, I did their meal prep kits for a while. And it's actually pretty similar to that. It's more in like the $11 $12 per meal range. You know, there's lots of coupon codes and things like that. And I will include my affiliate link in the in the show notes for this episode, which I think gets you $40 off a box. I'm not sure exactly, but I will include what it gets you in the show notes as well. But you know, it's it's a little bit pricier, but it's certainly saving me a lot of food waste as well. Because when I go and like buy all the ingredients for these interesting meals that I want to make, sometimes like you don't know exactly how much you need, or I'll make a big batch of something and then eat like half of it, forget to freeze the rest of it and then end up throwing it away. Yeah, so I think from that perspective, it's reducing a lot of food waste, and it's just a force. It's just really fast and easy.

Kim Edsen 18:58

Oh, yeah, no. Um, so the reason I, I will have to explore this a little bit. So my husband is back in the office and he has the good fortune to tend to run pretty lean physically. And so he's like, the type of person that like, actually is always kind of had trouble like, not being underweight kind of thing. And not that he is I mean, he just maintains but I will say the pandemic when he was home in the basement, he could like wander up for like snacks and meals. But now that he's back in the office, he doesn't want to eat out every day or he doesn't necessarily always take, stop and take a good break for a meal. And so he's just kind of like, I don't know. So anyways, he realized after being back at the office for several months, he's like, Man, I miss having like the convenience of just like easily accessible meals so I talked about on previous episodes that I'd finally gotten like that American's Test Kitchen like bowls cookbook. So we did those for a while or sometimes I'll try to like make like an extra meal and Sunday that heats up well. So like he's got, like pre package like we got like the little meal prep type dishes. So like they're pre loaded, it's like so many meals, he's just grab it and go it is convenient or, or you know, he helps prepare the meals or whatever. But it is definitely a process to like you no plan it all and prepare it all. And like you said, like, are you tired of this particular item by like Thursday or in some things just don't heat up well, after a few days, and so I could definitely see the benefit from this type of service.

Jennifer Wilson 20:36

Well, and I really, I'm a variety person. And so I probably would never order more than two of one thing, because like eating something twice, like, is perfect for me, because I usually really don't want to eat it more than that. But it gives you the variety without having to buy ingredients, because I've certainly tried like you have like, Okay, this is the bowl, I'm going to eat all week. And by Thursday, I'm like, I don't want to eat this bowl anymore. And so that I'll make a different choice that maybe not as healthy, or I get takeout or you know, do something else. But this has been something that's been very easy to stay consistent with, I guess. And so I will say I they do have a couple different tags. Sorry, how do I say that, they have a couple different categories, and I get the calorie smart ones. And I think it means they're all under 550 calories per meal. But that's probably half the meals fall into that category. And then the other half have more than that. And so I think that'd be something that was definitely like hearty and satisfying for your husband as well. Or are those who maybe can can handle a higher calorie intake per day.

Kim Edsen 21:48

Yeah, poor thing. Cross he has to bear.

Jennifer Wilson 21:52

I know. Yeah, it's been just a fun convenience thing. And you know, a nice way to just like start the year, knowing that I have easy to access, variety of, you know, of healthier meals that are really like vegetable rich. And I don't mean to imply they're vegetarian, but they do have like a good number of vegetarian options, as well as like lean proteins.

Kim Edsen 22:18

And okay, so maybe this is a little indicative of my personality, but it sounds like it'd be something to look forward to at lunch, too, right? Like, it gives you the opportunity to like, take that moment or your day and be like, Ooh, what do I get to eat today? Like, look forward to that, anticipate it? I could totally see how like, That would be lovely.

Jennifer Wilson 22:39

Yeah, I get really excited when the box arrives on Monday. Yeah, so yeah. It actually, I because there's eight meals, like I ate one for dinner last night. Like I picked the first like a meal like which one looks the best. And that's what I had for dinner last night. Because my family wasn't even home at that time.

Kim Edsen 22:58

Well, and obviously it doesn't take much to get me excited. Like I feel like oh food. I will say I did like that Thankful 30 or 30 days of thankful, where I tried to post a picture to Instagram of something I was grateful for each day. And it struck me about how much my day to day life was dictated by like one, what we were eating, and two the weather. It's like, yes, it was like, Wow, maybe these things have greater weight in my life than they should have. But it is what it is.

Kim Edsen 23:29

You know, it's you have to honor who you are.

Kim Edsen 23:33

Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 23:34

And I'm a person who goes to bed at night thinking about what I'm going to have for breakfast. And I know there's we have a lot of listeners out there who will totally identify with that and others who are like, No, that's weird. But there are certainly those of us who, who do think about the next meal often.

Kim Edsen 23:49

Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 23:51

All right, on the topic of scrapbooking. What's excited you right now?

Kim Edsen 23:57

Okay. So I'm going to I'm going to do two things. One Bungalow Lane by Paige Evans is now available digitally. I got an email yesterday. And I am very excited to purchase that because that was, I will say sometimes see paper lines that come out and a little moment envy like, oh, I would really like to use that digitally. And I know since it's through American Crafts that it was eventually going to hopefully show up at AC Digital's and it now has, so I'm excited to get that purchased and put to use. And then the other this is probably the bigger thing is that I have decided that for 2022 for like my annual type album layouts. I'm going to go back to a square. I think with the aim of printing at 10 by 10 instead of 8.5 by 11.

Jennifer Wilson 24:52

You're blowing my mind here.

Kim Edsen 24:54

I know. I've been 8.5 by 11, I think since like 2015 I think. And I would still like dabble like I'll do six by eight for like a December album or whatever. But um, if I was doing like older, I went back and did like, filled in some gaps. And so then you know, maybe we do 12 by 12 for that, but as far as like my core scrapbooking has been 8.5 by 11 for a long, long time. But I had done a 10 by 10 of our Utah trip last summer. And I guess I'm kind of, not that I want to do Project Life, but I'm kind of feeling the pull back to those like grid structures, the products. Because yes, you can use pocket cards and journal cards and all those things on regular layouts, but there's definitely something to be said for the ease of just like dropping them into a slot. And I have done pocket style grid layouts in 8.5 by 11. But I know we've talked about this before how and digitally it's easier because you can shrink things, right? You can easily shrink things that's fine. But as far as just like the it's just extra steps, right. So um, so I am excited to like, dip my toe back into like the, the square waters, I guess. Oh, and I got for my monthly favorites, I'm going to continue that for 2022. And last year, I'd use a Simple Stories, kind of year long theme kit as kind of the basis on those layouts. So that just, I knew that that's what I be using each month. So I was able to get another one. Now, I can't remember, I feel like it was Echo Park that was at snap clips, Snap, Click, Supply, they had had it as like a one buck Wednesday. And it's not like the full kit. So I'm gonna keep an eye out. I think I have like the embellishments that are specific to like the first quarter of the year. And if I ended up having to like, not buy at a discount the other ones, that's fine. But so it is kind of card based, like a lot of that is so and then there's other embellishments and things too. But I think that was the kind of the tipping point is like, Oh, I really like these products. And I think this would be an easy way to put them to use. So yeah, back to square.

Jennifer Wilson 27:13

There's nothing more fun to me then setting up an annual project the beginning of the year, and like picking the products and kind of the structure that you want to use. And I was just so thrilled that they finally aligned the digital Stories By The Month kits at Ali Edwards with the physical products, because now I can buy the digital products and use them in my photo book. And so I have lots of month monthly themes. Yes, monthly things to go into my photo book this year. And so I'm just super jazzed about that.

Kim Edsen 27:49

Yes, I think historically, we've talked about this before, too. We don't have it tended to be very heavy on like themed products. But I definitely think for certain projects, I really enjoy using those types of projects. Like obviously, I use December products or Halloween products. So I like having that kind of nod to the different things that are kind of common with with throughout each month. Plus, it just gives you a starting point to you know, it's February let's what are the February products? And so I don't know, I'm excited.

Jennifer Wilson 28:28

Yeah, it's fun.

Kim Edsen 28:29

All right, how about you? Are you changing up any formats or new products?

Jennifer Wilson 28:35

You know, I'm doing a lot of what worked well, for me last year. So focusing on my Project life photobook, continuing in the 8 by 10. I am patiently waiting for a coupon code to order my 2021 book because it is completely done.

Kim Edsen 28:52

Yay.

Jennifer Wilson 28:53

Yeah, I powered through and I was just so thrilled to be done and so thrilled that I that I really kept up throughout the year because it's a totally different experience to document in real time versus in the past. And I really like I wanted this project to be in the moment type thing. And also I'll be continuing to do that this year. It really is I can I call it an anchor project. I think we talked about that the last time we were having this episode that it's really what keeps me connected to scrapbooking and connected to my photo management. And if I'm connected to my photo management that really just facilitates all the rest of my scrapbooking.

Kim Edsen 29:34

Yeah.

Jennifer Wilson 29:35

And then you know, I want to make a bunch of layouts. I don't really have a plan I just have a goal, a loose goal of I want to make 50 layouts of any size using my products that I'm either still acquiring or in my stash and just really focus on telling the stories that I want to tell. Like I don't have any like super structured goals around it. I'm doing One Little Word and December Daily and that that's really, that's really it. I think there will be another photo project coming from me. I want to do my Sweden book, once I really kind of get all the rest of this underway. But in terms of all the ongoing things, I'm trying to keep it very just like focused minimal. And doing what works for me. Yeah, but But yeah, in terms of what's exciting me. I am also I'm like, I'm excited. I'm a little tiny ashamed, but mostly excited. At the end of last year, I went whole hog with December Daily, I was all about it. I am, I would call myself maybe two thirds done with my album, and I have a plan for finishing, I'm going to finish. It will all be done by finishing day, which is next. When this let's see, I don't even know when this episode comes out. But they'll come on. This episode is coming out on January 31. So in less than two weeks on February 12, we're having our first finishing day of the year and I will be all prepped with all my photos. And I will be finishing up my December Daily that day alongside our members who will be finishing whatever is on their, their chopping blocks for things that need to get done. But I acquired a lot of stuff during that time, not just December products, but like tools and gadgets. And now I have dies. And I have a Minc and a manual die cut machine. And then I needed a home for all of these things. Because my Silhouette already had a problem of not having a home it basically lived on top of my printer until I had to use my printer that I moved it and then put it back. And it was not sustainable. So I had to buy another Hudson cart like the big white Raskog type cart from Michaels. That's the long one. But I bought two lids for it. So now I have a two additional surfaces one holds the Minc one holds the Silhouette and then my manual Die Cut and all my dies live in the bottom in like the bottom tray. So it's I don't know, it feels a little bit extra. But I was I having so much fun doing more techniquey things at the end of the year, and I want to incorporate that into the layouts that I'm creating this year. And I just, I just ran with it, because that's not something that's really been a big part of my process in the past. And that's that's where I'm at right now.

Kim Edsen 32:31

Well, I think having your things easily accessible, will go a long way to making them easy to use and and to incorporate. Because, like if you have any element of like block or frustration, then it's just going to lessen the likelihood that they'll actually be used. So if you have these products, you know, find a way to make them you know, fit within your your space and your process for sure.

Jennifer Wilson 32:58

Yeah, like I'm the one that had the Silhouette on my shelf for five years because I, it wasn't part of my process and getting it down was always going to be a thing. And you need to not, if there's things that you want to use, you can't put barriers in place to using them and so I wanted storage that was easy to access. We're actually working on my husband's gonna help me optimize all my, my electronic cord situation in here. Because between the computer equipment, the lighting equipment, and then all the tools, there's probably a fire hazard going on. So I need to streamline, get things in a safe place and also make it so that when I want to use one of these tools, I have a very easy outlet that I can plug it into I don't need to like crawl behind anything or unplug something else, I can just plug it in use it and then put it away. And so that's something that's just a really big priority for me right now, is that sense of of optimization I think that really connects with my One Little Word as well My word is release. But to me release is so much a continuation of strong from last year. So okay what, how can we uplevel this more, how do we just keep making things better and that's just the the space that I'm operating in. In general right now.

Kim Edsen 34:20

Well, I think there's something to be said about having a welcoming space to be in. So I have so much going on. So I did a thing, I in preparation for like beginning this business like I got myself a new giant oversized scanner that weighs 35 pounds. And I upgraded like my smaller format scanner and I got like a new Mac Mini and so I ended up doing like a huge deep clean of my office and I packed up all of my physical scrapbook supplies because I have not used them in really over two, two and a half years. As at this point, and I did not give them away, I still have a other storage in the basement and I can definitely see myself going back and dipping my toe back into the paper water someday. But for now, it felt really good to have just like this kind of clean slate in this fresh start. And I hear you on having horizontal services because that was a huge blessing. Because when I did, was paper scrapbooking, I ended up getting these two very large dressers and like a file cabinet. So I had all this I had like stand up workspace and sit down workspace. And really, the last few years, it's kind of not been like wasted space, but I have not been fully utilized. Because, you know, working on a computer is a lot different than needing all the space to spread out. So naturally, it was kind of a blessing, because now I am able to keep out, you know, said giant scanner and have it all be easily accessible. So there's definitely something to be said to having like a fresh start for your space that when you come in, like it feels good, and you know where everything is, and you can actually use it and access it. So I did my closet, I totally thought about you when I was like cleaning out my closet and like, like wrapping supplies and like random backpacks. And so the space that I'm in actually is just is another bedroom, like there's a full closet in there. So like I have empty shelf space. And so like that's my thought is like, okay, somebody sends me a scanning project, like it's could be in here and secure, separate and whatever. So um, yes, I hear you on having a well organized and easy to use space. Like there's, I think that has more of an impact than sometimes we give it credit for.

Jennifer Wilson 36:46

Oh, and I and I think that, you know, I think the beginning of the pandemic, of course, there was all this, like, let's declutter our stuff, and let's do these home renovations. But you know, that, like some people did that, and others just continued to not do that. And then now we're at this point where we feel a little like overstuffed. And I think my husband and I were talking about this, and we just like, we're feeling this huge sense that it's, you know, it's the dead of winter. But we're already in kind of spring cleaning mode, we need to let go all the stuff that's kind of piled up that we've ignored. And really, you know, start fresh, because we've been, you know, mostly home for two years. It's time.

Kim Edsen 37:29

Yeah.

Jennifer Wilson 37:31

All right, storytelling, what is on your Bucket List this month, Kim?

Kim Edsen 37:35

Okay. So this is a story that I have thought about saying, telling for a long, long time, which makes it perfect for a Bucket List thing. So I think my reservations with telling the story is, it's one of those things where it's like, Am I remembering this correctly. But it's this concept that my grandma and my brother backed me up on this, because it came up a couple years ago when we were talking about this. And it was the idea of always keeping a $2 bill in your wallet, because it is not likely that you will spend a $2 bill. Like if you have, you know, unless you absolutely need to. So, and it was something that my grandma had said, and so when so I have a $2 bill in my wallet, and whenever I see I think of her, and obviously, you know, she was born in 1915. And you know, kind of came of age during the Great Depression. So what $2 would buy back then it's a lot different than what it would buy now. But it was this concept of having that with you because you're not likely to spend it unless you need to. And then if you need to, you have something you have it. And granted that was even before, right, like credit cards and things like that, but I like it as kind of like a nod to my grandma and I think of her every time I see that.

Jennifer Wilson 38:47

You know, it's funny is that I was always told to keep $100 bill in my wallet in my house. Okay, because you never know, like, what random thing that's gonna come up and somebody like you or somebody is gonna need that. Yeah, but you know, just comes from a different generation too. So I think it's a similar type of concept of just feeling that sense of security that you have a resource when you need it, but you know, maybe you never will. So yeah.

Kim Edsen 39:17

Well, I mean.

Jennifer Wilson 39:18

I love that story.

Kim Edsen 39:18

I've been carrying around the same $2 bill for years now but it made me think of it again. Um, I think there's a family member that would send the girls $2 bills for like birthdays and things because they're kind of fun and unique and they are fun and unique. But for some reason Grace had like a pile of them and she's like I can you just like take these to the bank because I'm not going to spend them and I don't need them here anymore. And that made me think of that story again. And how I do I do really want to tell that story.

Jennifer Wilson 39:46

That's really special. Yeah, I love things that are really like that connect past and present of course. And mine does as well. So mine is going to be my piano story and this is like almost not even personal because I don't really play. I learned a few songs way back in the day. And I don't, I don't even really care that much. But we just got a new to us piano. After kind of a tumultuous few years, I would say five or six years ago, my stepsons bought my husband, a very used not in great shape piano. And I think I'm not even sure they paid for it, they might have gotten it for free. They got it from somebody who's emptying a school in Indiana, and their hearts were in the right place. And there's like, oh, it just needs to be tuned. And so we finally brought a tuner in and she's like, Yeah, no, sorry, it's totally broken. And without full restoration, this, this isn't going to happen. And so we knew we were gonna, if we wanted to have a functioning piano, we would have to get a new one. And so we did that just this past week. And it's really pretty. It's about 30 years old, it's a Yamaha. And it's in beautiful condition. And, you know, it's so interesting that so many of the new pianos really looked exactly like this 30 year old piano. And so it's, it's something that's so important to Steve. And so this is really a story about both of us. But I want to talk about our histories with that, that my mom didn't make me take lessons, his mom did. And that's part of why he still loves to play today, Emily's excited to take lessons. So it's very much like a past, present and future type story. And just I think it'd be fun to just put all that on one page, maybe a double page spread, and just have all these different aspects to it on one layout.

Kim Edsen 41:37

Yeah, because it's not even just like your past present. Future. It's also like, incorporates his story too. So that definitely have a lot of layers to it.

Jennifer Wilson 41:48

Well and it was just so cool to see Emily, who's been learning violin, realize, like that. Music is music. And so she brought her violin book up there and just started playing Mary Had a Little Lamb, and then Jingle Bells and just never having really touched a piano before. Just sat down and started playing. And it's like, wow, okay, I guess you know how to read music. That's awesome. Yeah. So I think in terms of those skills being like adaptable back and forth, it's only going to serve her well. And yeah, it's just it's, it's exciting. And it's also leading us to do some more like, tidying and decluttering in that particular room. So now it's the plant room, the piano room, and slowly becoming less of a playroom. As Emily is getting older, though she still does a lot of Lego stuff. So it's plants, Legos and piano.

Kim Edsen 42:41

That is multipurpose.

Jennifer Wilson 42:43

Yes.

Kim Edsen 42:44

Well, and this is one, I could always save it for another one. But it's a layout I've thought about. So like my office creative space. Started out as a playroom. And then it was a guest room. And then now it is what it is to. So it was like the evolution of that. So yeah, that's fun.

Jennifer Wilson 43:00

That tells a lot about different like seasons of your life. I think you could, like use photos from each stage to really talk about how your home has functioned for you. That's really fun. All right, let's talk about Simple Scrapper what is going on. Everything seems so like, bright, shiny, new, exciting right now. We had so many members join at the end of last year. And it's just been so fun this past month, to get everyone settled to see the excitement to see our Zoom crops just full of new faces and lots of great conversation. I'm just curious, like maybe what has stood out for you from all of our conversations?

Kim Edsen 43:43

Well, we just wrapped up the live portion of our Refresh Retreat, and kind of the theme was revolved around the idea of play. And I realized this should not be a surprise, but it's always very interesting to me how the idea of play looks very different for everyone. Um, but I would say that kind of is like a theme. Overall, I felt like a lot of people were commenting, it was the idea of sitting down to create without having an end goal in mind. And just for like the joy of creating. And I also really liked the idea of related to like habits in play where we talked about like, tasks that you don't enjoy doing, or you don't find playful like, and this could also apply to the habits side of things to the idea of how can you create a scenario or pair that was something that does make it enjoyable. So one of the things that got discussed was the idea of photo management. It seemed to also be a consistent thing that people did not find playful, but yes, somebody talked about pairing it with like a favorite TV show, or I suggested like we'll do like a spa day, right? Like, you know, like put on a face mask and settle in once a week and like how can you somehow tie that into something to make it something that you look forward to as opposed to something that you just got to put off and dread and that builds up feels like a lot of weight, I guess on your shoulders. So I think those are the things is this whole concept of one, I mean, not I guess not a big surprise again, like everyone perceives things very differently. But I feel like and we've learned this with Atomic Habits, like kind of these universal concepts that, you know, you could tweak and apply to make them more attainable.

Jennifer Wilson 45:24

Well, I think that's why our Monday night crop has kind of become the one where a lot of people work on photo management. If you can, like, look forward to the time to hang out with, you know, people you consider friends, and it just to having that space for it really makes it that much more fun, even if it's a task by itself that, you know, is not particularly exciting.

Kim Edsen 45:47

Yes, yep. So like, who you're spending time with, what are you doing, like the environment, you know, like, light a candle, get a mug of something like hot tea, or cocoa or whatever. Like, I think just kind of changing how we approach some of those things can make a big, big difference in how we feel about the task, and then your hobby overall, because if you're not always like dreading photo management, it makes it a lot easier to scrapbook. And it just kind of comes full circle.

Jennifer Wilson 46:14

Oh, yeah, I've been lighting a candle almost every morning, as kind of the signal to take this time for myself to to do my journaling and play with my stickers in my planner. And sometimes I even have to like almost say it out loud to myself, like this is time for you like you're choosing to take this time and lighting the candle just give such a beautiful ambience both like you know, with you that really uses the senses to not just the flickering light, but the smell of it and just makes it a little bit more cozy. And just helps to keep me connected to why I'm choosing to do this and choosing to get up early, so I can have that time in the morning.

Kim Edsen 46:57

Yes. Oh, so anything in particular that you took away from what we've covered so far, this one?

Jennifer Wilson 47:05

Yeah, there's a couple things one about during our play conversations that stood out to me as we were talking about this idea of Do you deserve play? And I feel like I'm the whole members said they feel like they do. But then we really started talking about are you acting in ways that demonstrate that belief? Or are you not? Are you saying, Well, I can't play until I finish these chores? Or, you know, there's there's sometimes a misalignment between what you feel deep down and then how you're, you're showing up in your life? You know, that goes for a lot of topics as well.

Kim Edsen 47:41

Mm hmm. Yeah, I thought that was a really powerful conversation, too. Because I, the group that I was in very much aligned with that concept of like, well, of course, we deserve play. But then yes, are you living that out in your life, it kind of comes back to the whole thing of, you know, show me what you spend your time doing that will kind of show, show your values kind of a thing, and not that you don't value play. But you know, it can be hard, especially if you're pulled in a lot of directions, and you know, you feel an obligation to others, and responsibilities with work and family and home and all those things to carve out that time. But I also think there's just a lot of value in that because, you know, taking, you know, like the morning time for you or, you know, whatever it is for people, like attendee and crop. Like, I think if you can kind of come away feeling uplifted and energized, that that just informs all those other aspects of your life. So like, it's kind of everybody wins. But yeah, that can be a hard, I think it's one thing to know it intellectually. And it can be another thing to actually put it into action. So...

Jennifer Wilson 48:43

Well, and I think there's always this, this tension, and we've talked about it for as long as Simple Scrapper has been around is that we have this desire to be productive, to get things done to have something to show for our investments. And at the same time, we want to have a great quality of life where things feel restful, and fulfilling and satisfying. And there's often a balance there. So it might look like in your scrapbooking that you choose to complete fewer projects, because you know, you want to reserve some of that time for play with no, no end goal. It's not about the productivity, it's about the experience of it. And that you need more of that balance to be able to not just have things to show for yourself, but to feel great along the way.

Kim Edsen 49:42

I think it also kind of comes back to people's why too, right. Why do you scrapbook? For some people, the whole creative side of things and so that very much aligns with the idea of playing with products with no end goal and for some other people like maybe they have a different goal and so that changes up what's playful for them. So...

Jennifer Wilson 50:03

Well and I think that you're still choosing to be a scrapbooker, versus a person who just who, who's not a scrapbooker, who puts photos in a in a in just pockets and doesn't do any thing with words, or supplies, or there's no added added-ness, they don't add anything to their photos. And so if you are choosing to be a scrapbooker, to think about, okay, what parts of that do I enjoy the most? And how can I find a more playful or fun experience with it, even as I proceed with a lot of intention and motivation to to get this project done, because it's, it's valuable from a legacy perspective.

Kim Edsen 50:50

So, I would say like, for me, I think what I enjoy, what I find really playful is the whole like planning process. Some people kind of find that funny. But I had thought when I began this hobby for me, I do I like the products, paper, like, I'm all in on the pattern paper, but um, when it came to doing like mixed media and like more wet things are just different. Fussy cutting all those things. It came down to like, what I actually enjoy the most is the process of putting, like the words with the photos and like, coming up with like, how that's all going to come together on the page. So I think that also can kind of inform like, one what'd you think about when you think about your hobbies as far as like, what, like, how do you just find it for whatever, you know, not that you have to label it, but whatever. Um, like so for me for like Scrapbooking is definitely like photos and words. And, you know, that's the part that I enjoy. And that's what I keep coming back to. So I think that could be very helpful. Because if you can kind of identify what parts you find most playful, that can also help kind of guide you when you're choosing your products and things. Like you said, like maybe pare back on some other things. So you have the room, you know, to make sure that you don't lose that playful aspect.

Jennifer Wilson 52:07

Well and I think one of the things that came up is that today, there's so many options that you get to really customize the hobby to your creative excitements to the time you have available. When when I interviewed Jana Eubank, we talked about the Simple Stories, those flipbook albums and how they're, they're less expensive, they're more compact, and they allow you to create something relatively quickly with a smaller footprint, both price wise and physically, to be able to share as a gift. And so there's just so many options out there that allow you to be a scrapbooker. But that may not be that one thing you have in your head of what scrapbooking looks like. And it's all it all counts. It's all awesome. No matter what you choose to do. And we get this chance to kind of customize our plates. So that we're meeting all of our desires, we're not like, we're not single focused people, we all have, you know, this, this beautiful mix of different interests and, and things that we like and want to do. And it's just about kind of finding some sort of balance between that so that you feel satisfied.

Kim Edsen 53:21

Well said.

Jennifer Wilson 53:22

Well and there's one more thing as well. And so this, this idea of your your worth, and I kind of just touched on that. But we also talked about opting out a lot. Because if you can only fit so many things on your plate, at a certain point, you're going to have to say no. And we actually really readily and frequently encourage our members to opt out of things that we're offering, because we don't expect that any one person could do everything that we offer. And we just we have you know, we're the buffet that you get to choose from. And so you are just as worthy as a scrapbooker as a Memory Keeper. As a member, if you choose to opt out of certain things. It needs to align with what you most want. And sometimes those, those decisions to say no in your scrapbooking and throughout our life are some of the far more important decisions than the things you choose to say yes to.

Kim Edsen 54:24

Yeah, for sure. Because you can't do it all and if you try to, I think you'll end up frustrated, disappointed.

Jennifer Wilson 54:33

Now Kim you have like a great pulse on everything that's going on in the community and I try my hardest but you know, that's part of your responsibility is to really keep tabs on some of the conversations and make sure that everyone is getting what they need. I'm curious if there's anything that's been like particularly awesome shared recently.

Kim Edsen 54:50

Oh, yes, we do have one. There was a post just last night in a group and I spoke with a member and asked to make sure that she was okay with us sharing this, but it was quite a meaningful post. So let me get that pulled up here. Because I mean, quite honestly, like I brought a tear for my eyes. So remember Terry who posted in the group last night? Last night I repeated a Soundtrack that used to be true, but apparently no longer is. I said, I don't have many women friends. And my son looks surprised. And he named a woman I work with that I still talk to regularly even though we don't work together directly anymore. And then he asked how many women in Simple Scrapper would I call friends, and then named a few. But I realized there were more than I can even count. This is literally the first time in my life, I just wanted to share my gratitude to this community, I think I can retire that soundtrack permanently. And I'm gonna get all emotional again, but.

Jennifer Wilson 55:48

I know, I know.

Kim Edsen 55:50

Like that just goes to show like the power of the community. And especially it's that whole concept of like finding your tribe, and you know, your people and, and how those connections can be made and how uplifting they can be to your life. And like I mean, my family definitely knows, I mean, I talk about our members all the time, like, um, you know, you know, someone so and, you know, DC, and so and so in Florida. And so it just, I guess it kind of shows that you're not alone, and you're part of a bigger place within this community. And it, it's pretty awesome.

Jennifer Wilson 56:32

Well and just, we all, it also highlights, as, as women as people, we often have this the feeling of aloneness. And I think we're all can feel lonely at times, or that we don't fit in, or that we don't have a community of like minded people. And, you know, maybe that was only in certain phases of life, or maybe that's been a lot of your life. And it's just it's so affirming for what we do so amazing, not just specifically for Terry, but for our whole community that we can offer this true friendship in the things that we do all surrounding our shared love of crafting with our photos, whether you're doing it on the computer or in real life.

Kim Edsen 57:20

Yeah, that's pretty awesome.

Jennifer Wilson 57:24

And so that obviously connected perfectly with our book club discussion that's coming up on February 3, we are reading Soundtracks by Jon Acuff and I'm particularly excited about these conversations. Because I've brought in guest hosts, we have members who are co-leading the conversation with me who read the reason, they are reading the books in advance and developing the questions. Because I thought it was really important to bring a fresh perspective to these conversations. I had developed all the questions for so many years. And I felt like I was being a little repetitive or just in my own grooves to guide the conversations. And we all have something really unique to share. And so I think that's just gonna change things up a little bit for book club. But Kim, I'm curious, what have you liked about Soundtracks so far?

Kim Edsen 58:13

Oh, can I say just like everything. I really enjoyed this book. And my family would tell you that as well, because I told them about it. Every step along the way, it is not a very big book, I felt was really manageable to read. I feel like his, Jon Acuff's writing style's really approachable. He's got a lot of humor in it. But really just like the bigger concepts of a lot of times you read these kind of nonfiction, self help type books. And yeah, it's one thing to like, say that this is an issue or this is something people experience, but then what are you actually going to do about it, and I thought he had some really actionable concepts or ideas. I liked the concept a lot about how like your negative soundtracks, it's not like they're ever gonna go away 100%. And as an Enneagram One, we kind of known for having this inner critic, this inner voice that is kind of constant. So it was this idea of like, that's never going to go away. That is just part of being human, but you can find ways to turn down the dial. So when, you know, it feels like those soundtracks are getting really loud, like how can you flip them? Or, you know, can you engage in other activities like scrapbooking or something that kind of can help you calm that noise a little bit. I also really, really like the concept of the antidote to overthinking is action. And I think that is a huge concept that we can apply to our hobby because I don't know how often like we'll see members in the group like Hey, I made this layout like this time and you know, months or years or wherever, and so instead of just like talking about or thinking about or buying scrapbook supplies, it actually scrapbooking. So I thought that was huge. I loved his idea of having a symbol like I immediately wanted to like go out and try it. Identify different symbols for aspects of my life like he talked about he had like these special shoes that he wore when he wrote so it was kind of his Mr. Rogers moment like I'm gonna put on the shoes I'm gonna write and and then also a lot of it aligned with other books that we read he talked about this idea of when you're making new soundtracks you want to gather evidence that support them. I feel like that was very much aligned with the whole James Clear concept of you know, every action that you take that is a vote for your identity, right. Like I am a scrapbooker, so I sit down to scrapbook. So...

Jennifer Wilson 1:00:34

Well also priming your environment for success too.

Kim Edsen 1:00:37

Yes. So I think a lot of that aligned with, obviously James Clear superfan, whatever, so um, so yeah, so I'm, I've got I've been listening to Jon's podcast and following him on Instagram now. Like, I'm sure someday Jon Acuff' gonna be like my new Gretchen Rubin. Not that Gretchen is going away. But anyways, I'm just gathering, gathering my my people. But I enjoyed this book a ton. So I highly recommend it. For anyone. I, my husband is reading a book for work right now. But I keep like, when are you done? Are you done? Do you want to want to read Soundtracks now? So...

Jennifer Wilson 1:01:10

That's cute.

Kim Edsen 1:01:11

Yes. So I can't wait to talk with him about it as well. Oh. And within the book, he talks about creating new soundtracks, and he has what he calls the anthem. So it's almost like a positive soundtrack affirmation type thing. And, you know, I printed that thing out is on my bathroom mirror right now. So I tried to say in the morning in the evening, and I mean, I don't know like, I'm like a week or two in but I figure it's not going to hurt me any. So I think it's a good thing. So yeah, big fan.

Jennifer Wilson 1:01:40

I'm super excited. That's kind of my plan for the next week. I have a terrible memory. And so it really works well for me to read close to the discussion date, so that I could contribute well, and so I'm actually just getting started.

Kim Edsen 1:01:55

Well, and I, I was like maybe four chapters in and I was like, I want to take notes on this. I have a Trello board. That's like my nonfiction wisdom is what I call it. And so there's a book that I found, had a lot of good takeaways that I wanted to, you know, have a place to reference them. So that's where I put it. So I actually went back and started taking notes. Because I just felt like there was so much goodness in there, that I wanted it to have a place so I could reference it. Well, obviously and I, I bought the book. So I own the book. And I can always refer there. But it's nice just to like have those like high level kind of takeaways to refer back to. So yeah, I think. I don't know if anyone can tell from my gushing, but I enjoy his book.

Jennifer Wilson 1:02:41

I love that. I've heard like a lot of like, a lot of positive feedback, and a few people who are like, yeah, totally not for me in particular, those maybe who don't struggle with overthinking just didn't, it didn't resonate as well. And I think that's always gonna be the case. But I know we have a lot of people in our community and people in general who do struggle with overthinking. So I think it will resonate pretty broadly.

Kim Edsen 1:03:05

Oh, yeah, I was like nodding along. Like, every, all these examples. I'm like, yep, yep, that's me, that's me. And I will say, I had read a review on I think it was Amazon about the book. And somebody was like, he talks a lot about the process of writing a book and blah, blah, blah. Like, he does have a lot of personal anecdotes, in them, I just found them humorous. So if you're looking for something that's really like, rigorous and scientific basis, you know, this probably isn't the book for you, though. He does reference, like he has a large following online and, you know, kind of carried out his own kind of like experiments with people and got information to inform his book that way. But um, yeah, so this isn't like, you know, Brene Brown, PhD, you know, type of a book so but this this is, I don't know what they call it, like armchair psychology like this is. That's my jam.

Jennifer Wilson 1:04:02

Oh, yeah, for sure. I like the personal anecdote. So those always really like, keep me engaged in in the message.

Kim Edsen 1:04:10

Well, and also helps give you an idea of how it transfers to real life because it's one thing for something to happen in theory, or within a study, but to actually think like, oh, so like, right, he puts on these running shoes every time he wants to sit down and write. And that's kind of his trigger or create that ritual or like for you, you're lighting that candle in the morning. So like maybe for me, it's like putting on a cozy sweater or making a mug of tea or like there's some sort of trigger kind of comes back to that kind of ritual or routine side of things. Or even just like visually, to have like a marker that kind of like a souvenir where it reminds you of that thing, but it's kind of like the next level where it represents something bigger than like that item itself. Like he talked In the book about a woman that she didn't like really rigorous hikes at the top of this mountain, or this peak or wherever, and at the top, she actually picked up a rock and then took it home. And it was this idea of, you know, like, the effort was worth it. And not just she applied it, you know, more broadly to her life, not just related, like hiking. But um, so I really like those those concepts. And I feel like, if it's really personalized, like that simple, then that's something that it's actually going to be effective, really. Because if you make it too complicated, like it's, you know, like, you're not going to maintain that. So...

Jennifer Wilson 1:05:41

100%, we see that there's so many things. And I would say that something we're doing right now kind of really fits into that in terms of trying to, to keep it focus, streamlined, and doable, we are have these new creative immersions as part of the membership. And they're basically short term member cohorts around specific themes. And so right now, we are doing three of them. One is on building a home for all your plans and ideas, one on photo management, and one on a page design. And they're just designed to be kind of short term containers to explore a topic, to dive in and make some progress to learn more, to improve. And be, you know, a kind of, it's the kind of semi formal, we're keeping them organized, we're having weekly accountability check ins, but they're really designed for you to get what you need from them. So whether that's a little bit of a dip, a refresher, a slight improvement to a complete overhaul, it's going to be up to you to determine what you need, and what you want to achieve with that each week. And so I like almost, it's almost like a sliding scale of investment that you can make into it in terms of your energy and effort. And that just makes it that much more accessible to a broader range of members. And I think, you know, from our functional perspective, and allows us to dive into these topics, particularly like photo management more than once a year by offering concurrent immersions. So we're, this is just getting started. And I'm loving all the enthusiasm for it.

Kim Edsen 1:07:18

And I say I would say to also, from like the community aspect of it, there's a lot of energy that can be gained with going through some of these concepts as a group together.

Jennifer Wilson 1:07:30

Yes.

Kim Edsen 1:07:30

So that's, like another level of, you know, establishing your own goals and your own pace, but also taking advantage of that energy of the group.

Jennifer Wilson 1:07:42

Well and I think, because, you know, we've always had the ability for anyone to choose any one of our topics to do that. But it's about creating the time boundaries, and this little container for it, that allows the group to feel more connected to each other and more connected to the work that they're doing. Because they feel just, there's an ingrained sense of accountability of having that. So yeah, I think it's gonna be awesome. I feel a little tempted by the page design, just because I do want to make a lot of layouts this year. But I know personally, I need to opt out of adding more to my plate, my plate is, you know, very nicely full, but not over full. And so maybe I'll like dip in and take some inspiration and make a page. But it's not something that I want to commit to right now.

Kim Edsen 1:08:35

I would agree, obviously, I'll be in the groups and around getting everybody but personally, I'm, like, I love page design can get super fun. But I think I've already talked about how I'm kind of being drawn more to like that Pproject Life style layouts are like these clean lines and the grids and really focusing on paring like words and stories. And so and then obviously, you know, I'm going to be finding my footing with this whole new Photo RX business. So I think for right now, I'm just going to focus on the plans that I already have in place. And then, you know, overall, just take energy from the group and excitement that way, rather than focusing on a specific immersion personally.

Jennifer Wilson 1:09:20

Yeah, but I'm loving seeing members comment what they want to do, there's even members kind of organizing little mini immersions little groups around separate topics. And yeah, it's just the community is such a fun place to be right now. And I think the excitement is going to continue, because particularly with Finishing Day coming up. So I already mentioned that that's coming up February 12. And this is really going to be a ah, my computer just went to sleep, okay. This is really going to be leaning on the processes that I teach in my class, the Finishing Project, which has been around for a long time now, but for somehow this, this content has remained so evergreen, so ever relevant. But we're going to be leaning on that structure to do it in a day. And while you may not be able to finish an entire giant project start to finish, you can make some amazing progress in a single day, and develop momentum to even continue on your own. So that I know as I mentioned earlier, I'm going to be prepping all my photos and getting ready to just tear through my December Daily. Just do all the fun things, bring it all together and close the book on that. And I know a lot of members are already thinking about their projects that they want to tackle, whether it's a lot of little ones, or one big one to to close the books on for themselves. Is there anything that you feel like you want to be finishing?

Kim Edsen 1:10:48

Well, I, thanks to Refresh, finished my December 2021 album just recently. So that's just waiting for a photo book sale, I can see two ways that I might take the Finishing Day. One and I talked about this way back during like Finishing Journey, the idea of filling in the holes in my 2019 album. And I did make some progress. I made a layout a week during that journey. So I have eight new layouts that go in the album. But what I encountered when I worked on that was this idea of there were a lot of stories that I wanted to tell and I ended up just like, Oh, that one and that one and that one. And it maybe was not extremely realistic. So I think I could revisit that. Start get like a base level to start at and then feel like you know, once I have that done, then we can review from there. The other thing is I have annual birthday albums for my kids. And then I have a Halloween album. They're like theme based albums with the idea of just adding one layout each year, that reflects either my children's birthday or Halloween. And I did not update those last year. So I think that would be a pretty easy one to knock off. And so I think that's probably where I'm leaning just because like, boom, boom, a couple layouts. And I think that would just kind of put a bow on that for me for another year, my kids their birthdays tomorrow. So maybe I'll have two layouts to do. Um, but and now that they're older, it used to be like, you know, this is a party, we had a theme and whatever. So they're another older that shifting a little bit. I think what I want to do this year is do like an interview type style layout kind of with them. Like you know who your friends are, what do you want to be when you grow up, and favorite color, like all those types of fun, because I really enjoy those types of layouts. But I think maybe gather that information and then actually do the creating on Finishing Day.

Jennifer Wilson 1:12:45

I love that, particularly with their birthday being so imminent, you can do both years, all at once and really feel a huge sense of satisfaction that you are caught up with that important project.

Kim Edsen 1:12:58

Yeah. And I think and again, like as they transition they get older we're not having like these big themed parties anymore. Reviewing kind of how I want to represent them turning another year older within each year. And maybe like what is the end point on this album as well, right. Like in my mind, I think I would go up until like their 18th birthday. And then like these are like the birthdays of their childhood. But yeah, the content and of those layouts is going to look different, obviously from, you know, age 18 from age 1. So kind of keeping it fresh and relevant. Because I feel like now that that has evolved, like if I don't make intentional choices, like I said, I didn't do the one last year. So it can be pretty easy for that just kind of fall off the plate. And it's not a difficult thing to keep up on at this point in the game. And I do get a lot of pleasure out of it like I have. My mom was a school teacher and my dad had made her a podium that she would use when she was lecturing. And she retired. They had it for a while and didn't really have a need for it or want it anymore. And they asked if we wanted it. And so I actually have that out my living room and I rotate albums. So they're out and like displayed. And so like this month for the girl's birthday, I've actually have out the birthday album. So I've just been looking at it recently. And it is I really like to see, you know, the transition of time and over the years. And so like I don't want that to go by the wayside. So I appreciate having, you know, the Finishing Day is like a marker to be like yes, like, identify that this is something that's important to me. And then I have like the time and the space to actually see it through.

Jennifer Wilson 1:14:44

Yes, yes. Well and I was thinking about this the other day so often we build these things up in our head as like something that we haven't done yet. And the longer that goes by the bigger the thing is, even though it's not any bigger than it was before you haven't done it hadn't done it like you know what it was still in the future. But once we could kind of find ways to get over that mental hurdle, it's never as like complicated or hard we remember Oh, yeah, I like scrapbooking. Used to be you know, it's like sometimes we build things up and it's it's, we don't necessarily need to even me like recording these podcast episodes like oh my gosh, my like, my week is so full, so many so much extraversion. But I love these conversations. They, they fill me up, they get me so excited about scrapbooking. They enable me a little bit. You know, I'm always getting new ideas from having these conversations even though going into the week. I'm like, Oh, my gosh, I have to do so much talking.

Kim Edsen 1:15:43

Yeah. Well, it kind of comes back to that antidote for overthinking is action. So...

Jennifer Wilson 1:15:48

Yes.

Kim Edsen 1:15:49

So what steps you take forward. What action can you take?

Jennifer Wilson 1:15:53

Mm hmm. What a great way to end it. Well, Kim, this has been awesome. We have talked for a very long time. We will let our listeners go now. But I always love catching up with you.

Kim Edsen 1:16:05

Same to you. Thank you.

Jennifer Wilson 1:16:07

And to all of our listeners, please remember that you have permission to the Scrapbook Your Way. Are you ready to start implementing the great ideas you hear on the podcast? The Simple Scrapper membership offers a welcoming space to connect with fellow Memory Keepers and find that creative accountability you've been craving. Visit simplescrapper.com/membership to learn more and join our community. It's the best it's ever been.