LOAD ~ Day 8 ~ twofer

Today's prompt was "I Miss...."

Damn if I don't have a lot of material for that prompt.  But having material and actually being mentally able to deal with that material are two different things.  At first, I thought "I miss being able to talk to my Mom on the phone" but I knew there was NO WAY I could do it.  I couldn't go through photos, I couldn't journal that story...I just couldn't.

So I kept thinking and then I thought about Schuyler.  And I thought about his smile.  And I knew, "I miss your smile" was do-able.  I guess I've spent so much time looking at photos of Sky that I felt like I could do it without turning into an emotional wreck.

I love how this page turned out...it makes me smile.

When I uploaded the layout I scanned through the other group member's submissions.  I found a layout that was of a phone with small photos of the scrapbooker's Mom underneath and the journaling was about missing being able to talk to her Mom on the phone...the lightbulb went off.  Inspiration had struck.  I found the envelope that my brother Jeff had sent me a few years ago with photos from the funeral memory boards.  Not only did it have the photos, but a disc where he had scanned them all in.  Bless him!  Here's what I ended up with...

I love how this one turned out also...I miss them both, but these pages make me smile, although through a few tears.

So, shocking as it is, not only have I done a layout every day, but now I've done two for today.  I'd have to go back and count to be sure, but I'm fairly certain that I have now completed more layouts in February than I did during all months combined of 2011.  I'm learning a lot about the digital scrapbooking software, but I'm also finding the process therapeutic.  I've scrapped a bit about myself, and now on some emotional topics.  At the end of the day, it's been a good experience for me.

If you're interested in the LOAD Challenge, click HERE to view Lain's website.  She does the LOAD Challenge a few times a year (3 or 4...can't remember which).  I've had a great experience thus far, and can't imagine her future "classes" will be any less helpful.

See you tomorrow...back with another layout!