One Little Word!

Good morning everyone!  Welcome 2015!  I am so sorry that I have not been to my blog in a month.  It has been a very busy holiday season for us, with lots going on every day.  I hope you all had a wonderful one!  And I would like to wish you all a very happy and blessed new year!!

I have a special reason for being here.  Today is reveal day at Challenge YOUrself.  And Lynn has an amazing challenge for us- it's One Little Word as follows:

"Challenge YOUrself #14: One Little Word
Choose a word that you will focus on and reflect upon all through the year and create a layout that celebrates your chosen word.
Remember to include YOU in the photo :)

One Little Word was created by Ali Edwards and is defined as a word that you invite into your life and let it speak to YOU.  You focus on and reflect upon this word as you go about your daily life.  There's no right or wrong word.  The main thing to remember is that it is YOUr word."

This year I picked the word RELEASE.  

Here is my layout:

 with some close-ups:

I saw that this month's "One Little Word" is RELEASE so of course I am entering my layout there, too. Check out their blog here!

I used a photo taken by my daughter, Katie, of Karen and me with our cameras on Christmas day.

I love this photo and thought it was perfect for my layout.  I also used more paper from the "All that Glitters" collection from Webster's Pages.

Finally, I used a new stamp that was part of my winnings from last month's Once Upon a Sketch challenge - it is a rubber stamp made by Designs by Ryn!

In addition, I am very excited to be taking a new year-long Life Book class!

I did my first warm up lesson using my new one little word:

 . . . and I will leave you with some photos that I took during a magical photography class that Karen and I attended in Bethlehem, PA during the month of December.

Under the bridge:

Bethlehem, PA, at dusk:

The police on horseback:

A beautiful church:

Photographer Karen(my twin sister!!) in the Hotel Bethlehem:

A welcoming staircase:

The Moravian Stars:

The Hotel Bethlehem sells Creamery ice cream!

The Hotel Bethlehem still has it's old phone:

Apples for the guests to enjoy:

And you could take a magical carriage ride:

And a view of the Hotel Bethlehem by night:

That's it for now!  I have lots more photos to share, so stay tuned . . .

Have a wonderful day everyone!  Happy Wednesday!  Thank you all so much for stopping by my blog!
HUGS!!!