Hi all! Lydia here with my very first blog post–Woot! To those of you who are celebrating Halloween today: I hope you have a super fun and safe day. My kiddos are looking forward to going out tonight and raking in all the candy they can get their grubby little mitts on. Anyone who knows me very well also knows that I don’t love Halloween. I could pretty much take it or leave it. But, I know the kids love it and look forward to it, so I try to make it fun for them without going too overboard with decorations or parties or any of that other stuff. Luckily for me, I have another great reason to celebrate today, and it’s the birthday of this amazing woman right here:

This is my maternal grandmother, who turns 93 today. All year, she’s been telling everyone that she was turning 94, and I believed her (silly me). But, my sister told me the other day that Grandma always tells people she’s a year older than she really is. And, after looking through the family history documents, sure enough, Grandma was born in 1918, which makes her 93 this year. So, although, she really is one of the most remarkable people I know, she’s also a liar. Hee hee.

Anyway, just to let you in on how fabulous this woman is: She was orphaned at a fairly young age; she was widowed at a young age (my grandpa was only 28 when he died–my mom was eight months old); she raised her two daughters by herself; and she worked full-time until she was 80 years old, first as a teacher and then in the School District’s Media Center. That is the super short version of her life. But, basically, she had a pretty tough life and somehow managed to come through it all with a happy disposition and a desire to help everyone she possibly could, especially her grandchildren.

Of her 10 grandchildren, eight of them have lived with her at one time or another. She lived in Provo, Utah from the time my Grandpa died until just a few years ago, and many of us moved there to attend BYU. I lived with her for almost three years while I was in college, and that is what enabled me to get through school without racking up student loans. What a blessing! When I was living with her, there were 12 people living in her house, including some of my siblings, a cousin, and some of their little kids too. It was a crazy, chaotic place, but we all appreciate her so much for helping us during those years.

This year, Grandma instructed all of us NOT to visit or call her on her birthday. She wants our kids to be able to go out and have their Halloween fun without having to stop to talk to a deaf old lady. So, I took the opportunity to go visit her a few weeks ago and introduce her to my new baby girl. She wouldn’t hold Kaylin because her shoulders hurt and she was afraid she would drop the little one. And, she wouldn’t let me take her picture (I begged), so I don’t have any documentation of the visit except my own memory of it. She talked a lot about my Grandpa and about her last husband (who she married when she was 80 years old and nursed for two years until he died). She talked a lot about what she has learned about her adult children since she’s been living with them these last few years. She talked about my husband and my kids and how much she loves them. I’m so grateful to have known this amazing lady. And, I’m even more grateful that she’s still around for my kids to know and love. So, happy birthday to Grandma Andreasen! I love you!

You may have noticed the fabulous collab kit that Allie and Susan released this week. It was perfect for me to create this layout about my Grandma. What great timing!

And now . . . Layout of the Week! I’ve heard others say so many times how hard it is to pick the Layout of the Week. And, it turns out that it’s true! There is so much amazing talent here at SSD! In the end, I settled on this layout by Beth Swann:

I love the simple design of this layout, the beautiful clustering, and the heartfelt journaling. Make sure you stop by and leave Beth some lovin’. Congrats on Layout of the Week, Beth! I’ll be sending you a PM with a coupon code in just a little bit.

And, with that I’m off. Everyone have a great week, and be sure to be here this weekend for all the fun DSD festivities! You won’t want to miss a minute of it!