It’s pretty sad that it took my mom having back surgery for me to go back to the little town in Oregon where I spent a couple of my ‘teen’ years. OK, so I’ve been back for a wedding and a baby blessing, but had NO desire to visit the old houses I’d lived in or the high school or the various places I worked in town. BUT….I was very inspired by Stacy Julian’s layout on page 60 of the latest issue of Simple Scrapbooks where she placed a photo of a house she’d lived in the center of the page and journaled around it about the things that she remembered about that house and her life while living there.

So I decided to go around town while my mom was drugged up the day of the surgery and snap a few photos of places I remember…good and bad! I think I’ll be doing an album inspired by Stacy’s layout as part of a personal history project. To give you an idea of what I’m up against…here are a couple of photos of places I have to work with:

The best part about the trip was getting to see family. I don’t know when the last time all my siblings and I got together. It was great to see them and their families.

I also got to see my grandma who has been an inspiration to me since I was little. She is the epitome of love!! I love snapping photos of her while she’s talking and laughing.

And here’s one of the ‘girls’. It was fun to spend time with my mom and sister.

And a special thanks to Sherri for letting us crash at her house!

AND…WHILE I WAS GONE…A FRESH START

Digital Scrapbooking Magazine (presented by Simple Scrapbooks) started shipping to subscribers!! YAY!! What an exciting time for digital scrapbooking! This is just the beginning. The SS Digital team has so much in store including the website which will be a huge resource for information, tutorials, reviews, expert advice and more. DigitalScrapbooking.com is the place to go if you’re thinking about going digital or if you’re looking to hone your skills or keep up on the latest.

So, in a couple of days after you’re done devouring your copy or heading to the site to subscribe…come back HERE for a TINKERING INK digital giveaway!!! FUN STUFF!!