Goodness Gracious

Wow! It's been too long since last I posted. I feel like It has been way longer than it has been, but a lot has happened. I am not going to try to catch you up right now, but just realize that the entire month of February was consumed with a scrapbook challenge called LOAD, which is an acronym for LayOut A Day. The challenge was to do one layout every day, based on the prompt. I thought it would be easy for a veteran scrapbooker like me. I thought it would be simple, to find, and document my story. After all, I am the one who lived it. Boy, was I wrong!! It took way longer to decide what to do, and then to find the photos I wanted to use, and then choose paper, embellishments and then lay it out. But the journaling was the real time consumer! Then March went by and I'm not sure what happened to it or to April. And here we are in May and yet another LOAD!! Why oh why do I do this to myself??? Because I have a story to tell that no one else can, and maybe someone else someday will want to know these things. Well, I wasn't going to do this LOAD. I thought, "I'll just wait for the one in October" but as it got closer, I got more excited, and decided, "What the heck? What have I got to loose?? And if I only get one page done, it is more than I had done when I started."

So here is my first page.    

My description in the Flickr gallery says: I had a mini retreat at my home this weekend, and this is the photo we took during the 15 minutes that it wasn't raining!  We started with a tea party, and if you knew me, you would know that this is such a depiction of who I am. Tea and I just go together! And I love having women in my home for whatever reason. After the tea, we played some games, watched a few videos, had some great discussion, and did some crafts. My event was part of a world wide event honoring the community of women who do so much for so many.I love making people, especially moms feel special and loved, and pampering them with gifts and relaxation. Serving others with my gifts from God is who I am. I hope that He is always seen clearly in my self-portrait. I want my life to be "Jesus with skin on" showing Christ's love to others. I plan to do an album with all the photos we took, documenting all the fun. This will be the first page.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!! I will write what the journaling strip behind the page says tomorrow. Right now, I am headed to bed!