I'm not even sure where to begin, except to say thank you.........from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
I'm not gonna lie to you....yesterday was a really hard day. My lay-off took effect immediately, so yesterday, Bartley went to work without me. It was an extremely emotional morning for us both. For us, it's not JUST the loss of my job. It's also the loss of time together every day and I know, I know that most people never even get to work with their spouse. Heck, a lot of people wouldn't really WANT to work with their spouse, but we DID and for a really long time. We met at the office 10 years ago and got married two years later so for the last 8 years, every week day of our married life, we have driven to work together. So when he had to get ready for work and go in without me yesterday, it was not only hard on me, but it was so hard on him as well. We've both LOVED working together. Have loved being able to see each other at any point during the day if we wanted or needed to. Have loved walking by the other one's desk or office and winking at each other. (I've personally just loved it when my hottie hubs walked by PERIOD! You know how hot he is! Hee.) :) We've loved those car rides to and from work, getting to talk or just BE. I feel as though I was really grieving the loss of time with my sweet husband yesterday and it wasn't easy. And as I read literally hundreds of comments from you, my dear sweet FRIENDS, I cried and cried, dried the tears and cried some more. I cried partly because I felt heartbroken and partly because I felt so loved and encouraged and cared for by each of YOU. Some of you told me about how you've come thru trials in the past and are better for them now. Some of you shared your own stories of lost jobs -- know that I'm praying for you. Some of you opened up your HOMES to me, offering to let me (us) have a little getaway stay at your house -- how sweet is THAT?! Knowing that so many of you were there for me, praying for me, sharing encouraging Bible verses with me and giving me cyber hugs......well it blessed me more than I can even say. To know that so many of you are cheering me on, even encouraging me to pursue my dream of designing from home made me feel so totally overwhelmed and amazed. I think some of you have more confidence in me than I do. *smile* If you are someone who's struggling with something in your life, I would encourage you to read thru the comments on my previous post. There is so much encouragement to be had, just in reading those comments and they don't just apply to me!
I just really want you all to know how much I appreciate you. I tried to reply to as many of you as I could and I know there are still so many that I didn't get to respond to personally, but please know that I read every single comment and I appreciated each and every one. Thank you for being the best cheering section a girl could have. Thank you, THANK YOU for praying for me.....for us. We need those prayers. I know this is not a surprise to God. I know this isn't more than He can handle. And I know that I am one BLESSED girlie.....because I have so many dear sweet friends who are so much more than just my 'readers'. You have connected with me in so many ways. You have blessed me abundantly and you have taken this blog-o from being a one-sided place where I post and wonder if anyone is out there reading to a place where we can share and interact and encourage one another. Thank you for reminding me of a couple of my sentiments from stamp sets I've designed.... "Cheer Up, Buttercup!" and "Don't Fret, Dearie!" :)
I'm sorry to have not posted yesterday but I've been trying to sort of process everything this weekend. I'm sure next week will be difficult, being home during the day when you're not sick is certainly different! :) I've experienced quite a range of emotions in the last few days but I just wanted to let you know that next week, we'll have some fun around here again. We have quite a few things to look forward to here at the blog-o including the Magazine Giveaway winners, the Spotlight feature, another color challenge, a blog hop or two and even another FUN giveaway so stay tuned for all of that. In the meantime, if you'd like some entertaining reading, check out the Magnolia Grace blog where the super sweet Brooke Smith has posted an interview with me along with some of my cards. (Thanks again, Brooke!)
Thank you to those of you that are praying for us. We'd so appreciate your continued prayers.....especially those first few days next week. I don't expect them to be easy, but hopefully they won't be too difficult. Lord knows I have a big enough design to-do list -- I certainly have plenty of things to keep me busy. ;) And thank you to those of you that stop by and visit me here each day.....whether you comment or not, you mean more to me than you know.
See you soon, dear ones....