With so many wonderful posts in this thread (nearly 400!), I have not been able to keep up. I couldn't participate this time. But I'm getting back (slowly) to a more normal pace of life. So many things going on with family issues, all rather time-consuming and exhausting (and completely beyond my control).
I somehow have held the opinion that layouts need to be happy and upbeat (flowers, butterflies, unicorns, etc.) to celebrate all the big things in life. But I see layouts on many sites and, while many are like that, others are more mundane, and some are quite sad or soulful as they express darker emotions which are part of daily life too.
Everyone who has posted in this Workshop has done a great job. You've sure kept Carole busy keeping up!