I've been posting a lot this winter about thriving, not just surviving. My inspiration came from Elise at Enjoy It who made an album to commemorate how she tried to thrive while her husband was deployed. Now I know winter does not equal spouse disployment, but it takes a lot for me to enjoy the long winter months, and I thought documenting my efforts to thrive in a photo album sounded like a fun idea. I decided to make an album with the Instagram photos I had taken from December to March. Yes, I am a dorky blogger who decided her winter Instagram photos deserved their own photo album (and no, I still have not made a photo album of our Europe vacation photos).
I only added text on the first page, and I'm planning to go back through with a Shapie to add handwritten notes on some of the pages. I thought it would give a cooler finished look. Sometimes the text in computer made photo albums just looks awkward.
I've just included my favorite pages here; the actual book is 8 x 8 and includes between thirty and forty pages. My favorite pictures got their own pages, others got grouped in three to four per page. I kept all the photos in their original square shape, and I love how cohesive it made the book feel.
Even though this album is totally dorky (and arguably completely unnecessary), I absolutely love it. I felt a big sense of accomplishment going through all my photos and receiving my finished book in the mail. The best part of this book is that it showed that I really lived this winter - I didn't just survive. I painted, I baked, I knitted, I made ice cream, I went on dates with Paul, I started roller derby, I drank lots of tea, I cuddled with the pups, I bought beautiful flowers, and I travelled to St. Louis, Portland, and Richmond. This book will be a great reminder that winter isn't just a season to get through, it's a season to live and enjoy.