Publish or Perish, I'd Rather be Scrapbooking

Lately, I have been dabbling a bit in scrapbooking. Now, I am not an expert by any means but it is enjoyable.

This passion began with Fred, our first exchange student. I wanted to send him home with some memories of his time with us here in America. I began taking photos with my trusty Cannon Sureshot Camera, running to the One-Hour Photo for quick turn-around, and cropping the photos and pasting them along with cute captions into an album. By the time Fred went back to China, I chronicalled his entire trip with us. He really liked his album and will have a memory of his visit to America.

I enjoyed my scrapbook experience so much that when Lara (our exchange student from Spain) arrived, I was much more experienced. However, I found that developing rolls upon rolls of film at the One-Hour Photo was getting quite expensive. I finally succumbed to advancing into the 21st Century and bought a new digital camera. How did I ever survive without one!

Anyway, during Lara's visit, I chronicalled her experiences with photos and also made her a scrapbook to take home. She was quite surprised by the gift and shared with her family once she arrived home.

Since these experiences, I have been creating albums of old family photos, my baby photos, and current family photos. I am really enjoying scrapbooking and find myself spending free time working on my albums. It has become a great creative outlet for me. However, there is a bit of a problem with this, I am spending so much of my free time scrapbooking that I am neglecting my scholarly duties. As a professor, I must publish in order to earn promotion. Yes, I am one of those who face the inevitable "publish or perish" dilemma.

It seems we are always trying to find balance in our lives. Family, work, recreation, church, God, etc.... What is the key to balancing so many activities and responsibilities? Don and I have had many long discussions on how our family life will change once our adoption is complete. We have no answers just hope that all will fall into place and that we will be able to make wise choices.

The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17.

Blessings,
Elizabeth