Hello all!  I haven't updated my 'about me' page since this time last year, so I thought it needed a little freshening!  My name is Nicole and I have been using ebay for about 8 1/2 years.  I have used it for buying and selling just about everything under the sun!  It is how I got my extensive puzzle collection, it is how I sold off stuff that I didn't have room for and couldn't possibly use,and it is the current vehicle by which I buy tons of great scrapbooking materials.  I'm an arts and craftsy kind of gal...scrapbooking is my major hobby (and that is major with a capital M!).  I think I officially qualify as a scrap-a-holic.  I started scrapping eight years ago and I have been going strong ever since!  I haven't been doing very much scrapbooking at all lately...not really since the beginning of last summer!  That is almost a sin for us scrappers!!  LOL  But I really got into a bunch of crocheting projects over the last 6-8 months and that took up a lot of my free time (most of them were Christmas presents for my family members).

As far as my scrapbooking projects go, I pretty much take pictures of everything and that makes for some thick scrapbooks!  I have tackled the nasty job of organizing all my photos (5 creative memories power sort boxes have done the trick!), so when it comes time to scrapbook, I don't have to do a lot of prep work.   My simple goal right now is to catch up on what I call my 'digital age' pictures.  I got my first digital camera for Christmas in 2004, so I am working on becoming current with the pictures from then to the present time.  I do my books chronologically, so each year has its own book(s).  I have all of 2005, 2006, & 2007 finished.  I had originally intended to scrapbook my little heart out all last year and get my 2008 album done, but that obviously didn't happen.  I have gotten up through July 2008 done, so only a couple more months worth of pics to work on.  Unfortunately for me there are a ton of pictures from August through December.  It will probably take me a while to get them done.  But I think if I can work steadily on them, I could finish up my 2008 albums in the next 3-4 months.  So my revised goal is to finish 2008 by the end of April (or sooner!).  Then it will be on to my 2009 pictures!  LOL  I'm hoping, though, that this is the year that I get current on my digital pictures...I have always been about a year behind.  We'll see how it goes!  Besides...even if I do get current with my digital pictures, I still have all of my old 35mm pictures to get done!  My only saving grace is that there are less of those per event than with my digital camera....I seem to take gazillions of extra pictures with my digital camera simply because I can!!  No 24 or 36 picture limit like with a roll of film!

**UPDATE** -- This isn't a real update as I am typing this while editing my page.  But last year I used this to let you all know how I was coming along on my albums.  So look for this every so often...I am hoping to have several of these inserted over the next few months!  That will mean that I am making excellent progress!! 

**UPDATE** -- Here is my first update on my scrapbooking progress.  It is 1/18/10 and I have been scrapbooking quite regularly since I edited this page on the 1st.  I have completed up through August in my 2008 album.  I have moved on to my September pictures, which should be finished by late in the week.  I am WAY ahead of schedule and LOVING it!!  It is looking like I will be done with (or at least most of the way through) my October pictures by the end of the month.  If I keep on this pace, I will be finished with my 2008 pictures sometime in February!  What an accomplishment that will be!  Well...back to my scrapping table I go!

Anyway...not only do I love to scrapbook my pictures, I'm pretty concerned about preserving them for the long run.  So all of my digital pics get transferred to my computer, backed up on an external hard drive, and stored remotely on a photo website.  For Christmas I got a PanDigital scanner that scans pictures and negative strips.  I'm so excited to see how well it works.  I have tried a few photos through it and they look immaculate on my computer screen.  I have yet to scan my negatives, but I am hoping it works just as well.  Then I will have all my older pics stored and digitized, ready to re-print if needed!

Other than scrapbooking I love to crochet and do needlework.  I am also planning to learn how to knit and how to sew.  I can't see myself making a whole wardrobe of clothes, but I'd like to at least have some basic skills!  I am also an outdoorsy person...love to hike, camp, kayak, and such.  I have gotten some of the most amazing pictures while being out doing those things...I have kayaked on the Hudson River while a tugboat pulled a barge past, I have hiked in the Catskills and in various other state parks and preserves, and I have snowshoed on untouched trails after a beautiful snow.  There isn't anything more beautiful than getting away from all the hub-bub of everyday life and getting back to the basics in nature. 

     Speaking of everyday life, I have master's degrees in both Clinical Psychology and Applied Sport Psychology.  I am a sport psychology consultant and sport performance specialist.  I work with athletes on achieving better, more consistent performances.  I address topics such as Leadership, Motivation, Communication, Injury and Rehabilitation, Stress Management, Balancing Personal & Sport Life, etc.  I am currently re-working my website, so I will post a link to it here when it is ready.