tigermom
I don't know how long since you checked on LL rules but the biggest change in the last few months has been LOR's 24 pics minimum and 1200 total rule for pics.
I think that if you ask a lot of LL owners how long before a FS is removed you'll get a lot of blank looks! My advice would be just sub to the LL's you want to, both big and small. Most free sites will stick around for a heck of a long time.
