Packing, Shopping, Packing Some More...

Well, I'm almost to a point where I'm not freaking out about all the freaking stuff that freaking needs to get done before freaking Tuesday.

Oh wait, who am I freaking kidding?

So.  Much.  Stuff.

I'm already basically done with donations to the orphanage for this trip -- though I do have $10 to Kohl's that I'd like to try to get some stuff off the clearance rack with.  The back to school sales have completely been my friend when it comes to scoring donations, by the way -- I've even scored Gymboree shirts for $5.

Luckily, Kohl's is right by the bank, and I need to go there to order foreign currency.  Bank of America can't get Kyrgyz money, by the way, and our agency advises that you travel with US money and change it over in Kyrgyzstan.

I also need to print, laminate, punch a hole through, and key ring some photos of our family, our house, Superpup, etc.  Originally, we'd planned to do a photo book from a printing service like Snapfish or Persnickety Prints but I was told that laminated is better in case the kids are more destructive.  Amazon had a great deal on a Scotch brand laminator -- it ended up costing about the same as a book from Persnickety.

And, of course, we still need to pack.  Right now, we have this great system where, when we find something that we know needs to go on the trip, we take it upstairs to one of the empty bedrooms.  If it goes in that room, it's going.  I also have sections of the room for things that need to be in our carry-on luggage.  Still, though, on Monday I will need to make sure that we both have all the clothes we need for the trip, and that all those clothes and clean, etc.

I also need to pack Superpup's bag, because he will be spending some time with my parents.

Plus there's printing out the question lists from our international adoption doctor, buying some first aid type stuff to take with us, and probably a million more things I'm forgetting.

But, honestly, compared to what's gotten done, this doesn't look half bad.

Scrapbooking the Trips: Part One -- Beginning to Build a Kit

Or, alternately...

Something to Do While We Wait.

Some of you may already be completely scrapbook addicted, while others might be exploring the idea of memory keeping for the first time.  Either way, I would like to share some products that I think would work well for scrapbooking the three required trips to Kazakhstan.  Some have a general travel theme, others have maps that clearly show that part of the world.  Other things are more generally family themed.  Because we don't yet know our children's exact ages and genders, I haven't purchased much (okay, just about anything) that is obviously "kid" or "baby" or "boy" or "girl."  I plan to add that stuff later, after we have a referral.  So, expect to see a lot more pink and/or blue in my final scrapbook than there is here.

Please note -- I'm not a digital scrapbooker, nor have I ever done the photobooks from printing services like Shutterfly and the like.  I like Persnickety Prints for photo printing, though, in case anyone was wondering.  Hopefully someone else in the adoption community somewhere out there has talked about digitally scrapbooking adoption trips.  I'm very paper and glue and glitter and pretty things.

I generally start choosing supplies by starting with the papers, but this time I started by thinking of the format I wanted my book to take.  I want to be able to use my computer for a daily journal, written with the intention of sharing it with others later.  I'm not big on long stretches of handwriting -- blame it on being forced to be right handed or on just plain laziness.  So my general plan is to journal on the computer and eventually print it out on 8.5x11 cardstock.  Now...where to put the pictures?  I usually like scrapbooking with a 12x12 format.  So my idea is to use a 3 ring album with both sizes of page protectors, interspersed with each other.  So pictures on one side, journaling on the other.  I will post pictures when I buy the album and the page protectors, which will happen a bit closer to our trip.

Other formats that would work would be dedicating half the page to journaling, or keeping the journaling and photos separate.  Or, even, bringing the paper you want to journal on to Kazakhstan with you if you like to have your own handwriting in your scrapbooks.  (I'm usually big on leaving your handwriting behind for your kids and all, but I also know that I'd rather compose long bits of text  on the computer -- I'm sure there will be handwritten captions and little "love notes" within this album.  Plus there's all the handwriting in every other book I do.)

Or you could abandon the page-a-day idea and just scrapbook what you feel like including in whatever order you feel like including it.  They're your memories, and it's your scrapbook.

After I decided on this format, I went through my "stash" of scrapbooking supplies and put the travel themed papers, including some I bought with these trips in mind, in an Iris 12x12 box from Michaels.  I also ordered a few things from Two Peas in a Bucket and threw them in the kit.  I have a feeling that it may end up becoming two or even more Iris boxes by the time I actually make the album.  But this is just a start.

I also know that there are certain reusable things -- like stamps and Cricut cartridges -- that I will wind up using on this album but that I also plan to use in the mean time.  Those things aren't going in my kit -- in my case, the kit is just for those things that I am "setting aside" so that I don't use them on other projects.

Is there anything anyone wants to know about scrapbooking, memory keeping, or anything else?  Please share in the comments.  :)