Getting to Know You: Karen

Karen (aka oswegograd) has a smile that really shines! I am delighted to introduce this lovely member of the Designer Digitals community to you! You’re going to love learning her story.

First, here’s a little background information Karen provided at the start of our interview:

I was born in a small town near Rochester, New York, and lived there until I left for college. My dad was a career police captain, so I grew up in a very conservative home. Nothing has changed there! I went to college at the State University of New York at Oswego (thus my oswegograd handle.) The campus is on the east end of Lake Ontario, and I seriously could throw a rock from my dorm into the lake. (Can you say cold winters???) In my junior year I came to Florida for a Disney internship, and it really changed my life and helped me to see a bigger world out there.
 
After graduation in 1993 I came back to Orlando to house-sit for three months. That was almost 18 years ago! I ended up getting a full-time job at Disney working as a VIP tour guide. (Really, it’s not as glamorous as it sounds.) In 1996 I got my first teaching job, teaching 7th grade language arts. After my first year teaching I met my husband and we got married in 1998. Katie came along in 2003, so I “retired” from teaching to stay at home with her. Sam was born in 2005 to make our family complete.  I really loved being a stay-at-home mom and gym rat, but the cost of Christian school went up enough that it was time for me to go back to work in early 2009. I was fortunate to get a job at Florida Virtual School, once again teaching 7th grade language arts. I work from home, so I’m able to take the kids to school and pick them up. 
Aside from scrapping, I love to read in my limited spare time. I also love to travel. Maybe I should clarify and say that I love BEING other places, but I don’t enjoy GETTING to other places. (I hate to fly.) New York City is always a favorite destination, and I can’t seem to get there enough to see all the great shows and eat all the amazing food! My new life goal is to visit all of the National Parks, but so far I’ve only been to two.  I’ll be able to retire in 21 years, so I’ll focus on the parks then, I suppose.

Karen, being that I am from a state where winters are very cold, I’m impressed that you were so smart as to land an internship at Disney World in warm, sunny Florida! It certainly was a fortuitous decision for you since that is where you now happily reside with your beautiful family. I am eager to know more about how it is that you became the daughter-in-law of Creative Team member, Linda (aka earlofoxford)

Linda and I actually met at a summer writing course for teachers in 1997. We immediately hit it off and became fast friends. During the course of the summer she kept telling me that I needed to meet her son. After a few weeks of her hint-dropping, I finally caved in and told her she could give Marc my number. He called a day or two later, and we talked for over two hours. We went on our first date the next week, and the rest is history. We were married a year and a half later. Now she’s stuck with me!  The blessing is that I have a fantastic mother-in-law who really is my best friend. It’s a pretty great arrangement

That is the neatest story! It’s pretty obvious from the layouts you both post, that your family enjoys good times with Linda and her husband. Were you always a digital scrapper, Karen?

I’m the one who got Linda into paper scrapping many moons ago, but when she started digi-scrapping I never thought I could get into that. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. (I wasn’t keeping up with my paper pages because it took too much effort to get it all out.) When I decided to get started, Linda steered me toward an online class to help me learn Elements, and I was hooked. I wish I had more time to practice, take classes, and just work on pages. One day I’ll learn to “scrap like a big girl.”


Well, you are impressing me with the photographs you scrap for your 365 Project, Karen! It’s not easy when you are busy being a mom and working outside the home, too, to fit in time for scrapping. What’s helping you stay on track with the project?

I don’t have much time to scrap, so 365 really helps me to get SOMETHING done. It’s far too easy to put up the computer and not make time for scrapping, and suddenly months (or years) go by without a completed page.  Been there, done that!  365 keeps me honest, and it also keeps me taking pictures. My kids will often tell me, “This can be your picture of the day.” Project 365 is one of my weekly responsibilities, like laundry and cleaning.  I just enjoy it more.  And I keep my eye on the prize, because that book that comes in the mail at the end of the year is a lot of fun to look at.

Do you print the pages out at home or order prints from a service?

I order prints of my pages, and then I put them in a traditional post bound album. (All told, I have about 25 albums, though the vast majority of them are from my paper scrapping days.)