Well, Hello!

It's been four months since my last blog post. I'm so glad to be back - I have a lot to share with you!

So where have I been? I've been out of the groove. I just haven't been feeling it. In February, my Uncle Butch passed away. He'd been really sick for several months, but I just didn't think he was going to die. He led an incredible, honorable life. He was a husband and father of two. He volunteered to serve in Vietnam, was a Huey pilot and received two purple hearts as well as many other honors. Some of his fellow soldiers drove across several states to attend his funeral. He was a lawyer (I worked part-time in his law office while I was in college). He worked for the Sheriff's Department as a liason between drug offenders and treatment facilities. He loved to hunt. He loved to hang out with my Aunt Syl at his camp. He loved his boys, Tom and Paul. He loved his dog, Sammy. He would do anything he could to help out someone in need. I'm sad that he's gone. I'm sad that my aunt doesn't have her husband anymore. I'm sad that my cousins don't have their dad. I'm sad that he didn't get more time to do whatever he wanted.

Alos, my beloved 98-year-old grandmother hasn't been doing well for several months now. She had bronchitis in November and went from living on her own to having 24-hour help to being in a nursing home. Her quality of life has declined so much. She's still very sharp - she hasn't declined mentally. But I really think that she's had enough. I, of course, want her here with us for as long as possible, but I don't want her to be miserable. My Maw-Maw is all about her family. She and my Paw-Paw raised four children - two boys and two girls, just like me. She lost her youngest child in a car accident when he was just 17. I don't think she was ever the same. She loves us and she loves her great-grandchildren. Her family is everything to her.

I haven't felt much like being creative, but I do have a couple of things to share with you.

Matthew's school holds a silent auction fundraiser every Spring. I was asked to contribute two projects. Since the school's mascot is a panda, I die-cut two different pandas and framed them in simple black frames with wide white mats. All the children in Matt's class and in my sister Peggy's class signed their names on the mats with thick black and red Sharpie markers. The end results were pretty cute, and I think each one sold for a couple hundred bucks.

I'm taking an online design class through Big Picture taught by, you guessed it, Cathy Zielske. She's the best! Anyway, here is the first assignment that I completed. It's a digital hybrid created in Photoshop 10. It was definitely challenging, and I was so excited when I got it finished.

We are going to the beach soon for our annual vacay. I love the beach, and I love taking pictures of my family on said beach. I put together this layout a few weeks ago. Very simple, grid-based, photo-heavy, embellishment-light. My favorite way.

For a long time now, I've known that I need to lose weight. I've always been up and down with my weight, but mostly up. The last time I lost a lot of weight was right before I was expecting Matthew. I weighed 116 lbs. when I found out that he was on his way. Needless to say, that was a good while ago, and the weight crept back on. On March 18, three months ago, I decided to join Weight Watchers. I'd tried it before and had limited success. This time, however, something clicked, and I've been making steady progress. I'm down 27 lbs. in three months, and I'm not stopping now. So send me good weight-loss vibes! I'll be forever in your debt. :)

Look, Ma! No double chin!

I promise not to disappear for so long again. I have TONS of Project Life to share with you. I'm tearing it up this year! Thanks for sticking with me. Y'all are great!