Where did the time go?

Wow....my little girl turned 22 today. How is that possible? I can still remember so clearly riding home from the hospital in the back seat with her because she was so tiny that she was sliding down behind the support straps of her car seat. Still remember that first little smile that melted my heart. First steps, first words....so many many beautiful memories of this girl growing up. Such a beautiful child....



even more on the inside than out.





This is the girl who cried brokenly after seeing a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk eating from a tin can (her first realization that the world can be a very cruel place for many people less fortunate than her)



The same girl who a few years later as a young teen gave up her free time to work in a local soup kitchen and also as a high school student helped to organize Valentine dances at the Senior center. Who in her senior year of high school started her own mitten drive and amazed everyone by the incredible amounts of mittens, gloves & scarves she was able to encourage people to donate for those in need. Truly a wonderful, loving, compassionate young woman she has grown to be.



And now serving her country in the US Navy aircrew and hoping to one day be a pilot. I guess it would be no surprise then to know how incredibly proud I am of her & how lucky I feel to have been blessed with such a special daughter.

Happy Birthday Mand !!! I miss you & love you so much. (p.s. - you're stuck with me!)

I'll close with this simple layout I did of Amanda when she turned 21 last summer & we had our girls weekend away to Cape Cod together that was part birthday celebration & part goodbye (she left for boot camp a week later).

Sometimes less really is more isn't it? Especially if you have a great photo & a great background paper. This patterned paper is from SEI. All I did was add a patterned paper covered chipboard circle, painted chipboard numbers, small circles punched from the same green patterned paper to add a bit more detail to the background. The one photo and a thin black line drawn coming down the right hand side of the layout for my journaling to travel along. Simple...and I love it because the colors tie in so well with the picture but yet do not take focus away from it. Also a perfect example that a portrait does not need to have the subjects the whole head included for it to still be striking.

Journaling reads : Old enough to drink, old enough to be on your own, never too old to be my little girl