A FEW NEW LAYOUTS...

Wow, where do I begin? I can't believe I haven't posted to the blog since early November. Life has a way of really throwing you some major hiccups. Let me back up just a bit. On November 8, 2009, my husband came home and told me he had just lost his job. The job he had for the last 12 years! They didn't offer a him a severance package or extended our health care benefits, it was literally, "thanks for your service" and a hand shake. Being so close to the holidays, Woody and I tried our best to hold life together. We prayed, updated resumes and took odd jobs. The enormous generosity of friends, family and complete strangers was overwhelming and totally unexpected =) By early January 2010, my hubby had found employment with a nice company and begun working again. Gods grace is all sufficient!

If employment issues weren't enough stress, the state of Virginia has experienced one of the coldest, snowiest winters since 1942. Our boys actually didn't have a regular day of school for the first 2 weeks of February! While I did enjoy playing in the snow with the kids and all the fabulous picture opportunities a snow day brings, being employed part-time (me) I don't get paid days off. At the same time, my beloved iMac completely stopped working and our downstairs heating unit seised putting out heat - ugh! Once again, financial stresses loomed overhead.

I truly believe that this difficult time in our family's life has made each of us stronger. We have all learned the TRUE value of a dollar and have actually enjoyed finding ways to make that buck go farther. God's ways never cease to amaze me!!

I did manage to muster up some of my lost mojo, and used it to put together the following two layouts.

"A Taste of Winter"
Matthew, February 2010

"Dream Summer!"
Disney Vacation, 2008

I promise to try and stay on top of the posts and bring you all some more fun layouts. Thanks for taking a moment to look at my work!