Welcome!! You're going to love the community here & everyone is very knowledgeable.
I have PS Elements & I like it. I think that (for me), the biggest function missing is an easy way to select part of a picture. If I want to separate people from the background, I have to use the l***o tool, or eraser. This works, with practice, but I think it is supposed to be much easier in PS 7 or 8.
Now, there are many other features in 7 & 8 that I don't even know I wish I had....
Can't wait to see your layouts!