In the Storm

July Stories 2020 | 6

The Chatham County Aquatic Center finally opened back up to limited swim times and limited lanes, plus we have to schedule our lane times. The scheduling of lane time is a big positive for me. I means I can't bow out of swimming that day. It means no one will be cutting me off in my lane. It means taking my time (they are 1.5 hour blocks of swim time) and not worrying about being asked to switch lanes because - whatever. They are taking everyone's temperature and masks are required until you get in the pool. The locker room is only available to, basically, use the restroom - no showers. We have to come and go in our swim suits. But, I swam!

Finally, after at least a year and a half, I swam. 

My goal, because I was being realistic with myself...it has been a year and a half since I swam...I set at 500 yards, 10 laps.

The first 250 yards were brutal. Seriously, brutal. My atrophied muscles were screaming bloody murder and I didn't think I could go any further. Just when I was about to quit, the next lap smoothed out. And, then the next.

When I pulled myself out of the pool after an hour of swimming - not straight through but, I'm okay with that - I had swam 16 laps.

Instead of 10 laps.

800 yards.

That's a win - WIN!

31 Sunrises.

31 Sunrises.

Jeff will, on occasion send me his sunrise photo taken, usually, as soon as he gets to the Riverworks jobsite. We're about 8-9 miles apart as the crow flies, so he could easily have a different sunrise. But today, because of the towering cumulus to the east we were both able to capture the sun gleaming off the clouds. Pretty sight to behold - wherever we were.

July Stories | 5

I picked up some expertly designed templates by Cathy Zielske at CZ Design who recently updated her shop to include all her digital products. I've been a longtime fan - and purchaser of her products, especially her templates. She is a graphics designer and truly knows her stuff. You can not go wrong, design-wise, with her templates. 

Jeff and I went out to Tybee Island earlier this month to catch the sunrise for my 31 Sunrises project - and for breakfast at The Breakfast Club, so I pulled out a clean and simple template by CZ Design and simply inserted my photos. Then, I turned to Ali Edwards' Story kit, YOU for the journal card and embellishments. Simple and clean. This is a 12 x 12 page, thus will not go into my 4 x 8 album but I will probably create another page, only in 4 x 8 so I can include this story into that album. Besides I already have the words.

Speaking of words...

I used the title of the template, You are really something, as my starting off point, my journaling prompt to tell my story, beginning each sentence with that prompt You Are Really Something. I love how this turned out.

July Stories 2020 | 4

Jeff and I had tickets to see Hamilton on stage at the Moran Theatre in Jacksonville, FL towards the end of March 2020. However, due to COVID-19 quarantines all showings were cancelled until further notice. We were informed recently that our tickets would be honored at the later dates - which are not until September 2021. Needless to say, we are totally bummed! Thus, when we heard Hamilton was coming to the Disney + channel we were ecstatic. Disney + channel actually opened a theatre version, using the original cast members (which we would not have seen in Jacksonville) and made for the big screen and began offering the movie on demand beginning July 3. Jeff and I had a date night on Saturday, July 4, and because it was not a typical July 4 celebration of our countries Independence Day, not in the least we decided to eat out. After dinner at the Driftaway Cafe, (I had an amazing Reuben and Jeff had Shrimp and Grits, although he said Crystal Beer Parlor's Shrimp and Grits is way better!) we came home and watched, along with John who reluctantly joined us, Hamilton on Disney +. Fitting musical to watch on July 4th, 2020, and for such a time as this in our countries’ story. Beyond blown away by how truly amazing Hamilton, the musical is!!! 

John may have been reluctant to join us, but Hamilton changed his mind!

For this one-page spread, which I am super excited how it turned out, I downloaded a Playbill for Hamilton from the internet and changed the name of the theatre. I added journalling and printed out the page at home, 4 x 8 size to fit into our July Stories album. Then, I used a digital brush from Ali Edwards, a hand-drawn Hamilton quote, perfect, which I printed on vellum to make a see-through cover for the page.

July Stories 2020 | 3

I have been loving seeing all the fresh flowers pop up on Instagram; people going to flower farms, or farmer's markets, or even ordering flowers from farms and having them delivered. Of course, several are growing their own gorgeous blooms. Recently, in light of all the blooms, and to give myself a boost, a bit of self-healing, I checked out local farms who grow flowers and came across Wilmor Flower Farm located in Metter, GA. Pretty much to far away to drive to just to pick up flowers - although I've done crazier things. But, I've been stalking them on my IG feed, and kept seeing they regularly deliver to various venues in Savannah.

Score! On Saturday, after driving home from Tybee Island to catch the sunrise and eat breakfast at The Breakfast Club, we drove into Forsythe Park. Our purpose: pick up local fresh honey for Jeff (and the boys for their allergies), Georgia fresh-picked peaches, and bring home bunches of Wilmor Farms fresh cut flowers.

A week later and half the blooms are still blooming strong and their fragrance is divine.

For these pages, digitally, I, again, kept it clean and simple with lots of white space. It's how I feel this summer. I need to breathe, and how I design pages reflects those feelings. I have a mix of Paislee Press and Ali Edwards going on here with these pages. 

31 Sunrises.

31 Sunrises.

July Stories 2020 | 2

We have eaten well this month! Unfortunately, our waistlines have paid the ultimate price. However, it isn't going to stop me from trying new recipes. I created these July Stories - pages - to document the new recipes we've already tried so far this month. I imagine I need to add another page to highlight other new recipes, too. 

I was so in the mood for clean and simple scrapbooking with lots of white space. I'm also loving circles these days. Pair the two and I adore these pages! I created two 4 x 8 pages and a back to back 3 x 8 insert that breaks down the new recipes we tried and how we liked them. I've been sharing recipes lately here on the blog, so you might have seen those already.

These are the two 4 x 8 pages (I'm using a 4 x 8 album by Citrus Twists for my July Stories album). I used a mix of digital product: those letters are from a Week in The Life kit by Ali Edwards. I love them! They are actually 3-inch letters (the physical product), but digitally I reduced their size to accommodate my pages. The Summer Treats is also an Ali Edwards from a Stories By The Month digital kit. Lastly, I used In a Creative Bubble digital pages from her 'food' collections. Perfect for these pages. 

 

These last two pages are the 3 x 8 insert, slightly smaller that simply hold a journal card and documentation of the recipe particulars. I love how these pages turned out!

Recipes | Peach Cobbler

When Jeff and I visited the Farmer's Market at Forsythe Park one of my must haves were fresh, Georgia grown peaches. We brought home eight peaches with one sole purpose. Peach Cobbler. This cobbler was everything I wanted in a peach cobbler: slightly tart, but sweet peaches, cinnamon as a highlighted spice, a moist cake-like crust with a cinnamon crusty top golden brown. The peaches were amazing! We bought some Breyer's French Vanilla ice cream to go with the warm, not-long-out-of-the-oven peach cobbler. Of course, Chef Jarrod did the honors. One of his last contributions before finally heading back to work - for a second time around.