Second Xmas

On By Nick HughesIn JournalLeave a comment

I love Christmas, I swear!

What’s better than one Christmas? Zero Christmases. But alas, I somehow end up having have two Christmases each year. I don’t hate the Christmas season, in fact I enjoy it, but I don’t like the present aspect. Why must I purchase gifts for an adult who most definitely capable of purchasing their own things. And I can here you saying it’s the thought behind the gift. Well next year, I’ll ship my gift to whoever and not worry about the thought of being with the ones I love. Never the less, I still participate in buying gifts, or more specifically LeAndrea buying gifts.

There are usually about a dozen of us, depending on if everyone is with someone or not. Buying gifts isn’t grueling, since half the time the person, or someone closest to the person, gets asked what they want. But that doesn’t always guarantee someone will ask. And that typically means maybe some thought has gone into the gift you’ll receive. Either way, I don’t support it.

Krista’s House

My sister, Krista, is your picturesque white girl and I love her for it. She’s a dog mom of two, loves Starbucks and Chick Fil A (who doesn’t though), and is committed to her boyfriend, Jake (an awesome guy). At the end of last year, they purchased their first home. After they closed on the house, Krista immediately called hosting second Christmas. Everyone being excited for her, happily obliged to this. Fast forward to the weekend of Jan 20th, everyone who lives out of town starts to arrive on Friday, including LeAndrea and I.

Upon our arrival, we walk in and are welcomed by several of my family and then swept to the kitchen where everyone else resides. It’s nice seeing everyone, it’s been a few weeks or a month or two, I don’t recall. As we exchange “hello’s” and “how are you’s”, we ask what’s the plan, which someone answers with drinks and games. Now this is my idea of a great night. I grab myself a drink, proceed to the table where games are being played.

The game they were playing wraps up and a new game is brought out. The point of the game is to work together, collect keys, and get to the gate. As we start, we’re figuring out the rules, and then what seems way to quickly, the game ends. We lost, to no surprise, but say we’ll play again tomorrow. We didn’t. The night wraps up with those living local leaving and the rest of us going to bed.

Actaul Second Christmas

We awake to a bright Saturday morning, still excited to see everyone. LeAndrea gets ready before I do, and heads downstairs. I follow shortly behind her.  Once I make it downstairs, we all head to Costco to pick up a few things for the day. Since there are to many people to fit in one car, we take two cars. Our car has LeAndrea, zack (he’ll be important to many other stories soon), and myself. We decide to go to Trader Joe’s and Starbucks first, to get coffee of course and stuff from Trader Joe’s (we don’t have a Trader Joe’s in Savanah). LeAndrea and I love Trader Joe’s, because everything is so reasonable priced and of good quality. The other car goes to Strossners and then to Costco.

After we’re done with Costco, we start back to Krista’s and wait. The three of us, waiting, and waiting, and waiting. It begins to seems like the other car of people wont show, but eventually, they do. Through the rest of the afternoon, everyone else who is supposed to be here, slowly trickles in.

Krista produces a stunning charcuterie board, that tastes as good as it looks. We open a bottle of wine and begin some board games. I the blink of an eye the day passes and dinnner, reluctantly, is made. I say reluctantly because charcuterie boards always keep me full for so long and I never feel the need to eat anything else. But alas, a low country boil is made, and I eat a portion that doesn’t look out of the normal.

After everyone finishes up dinner, and dessert is on the table, Zacky (my brother) and Erica (his wife) have an announcement. With very few hints and little suspicion, they declare they’re pregnant. Of course, everyone is excited and we all ask immediately the gender, name, etc. They tell us that’s what the cake from Strossners is for. As everyone is waiting in anticipation, they eagerly slice into the cake and reveal a color only half of us were expecting, pink. They’re going to have a girl! How exciting! They did decide to withhold any baby names until the baby is born, weird but it’s whatever.

After everyone has had a moment to process the baby on the way, we start Secret Santa and White Elephant. The Secret Santa gifts are passed out, and I receive a pour over kit from Zacky. We do White Elephant immediately after, and I chose one of those white girl letter boards for LeAndrea. Overall, not to bad of a second Christmas.

Krista has a game she wants everyone to play about getting older or being a millennial or boomer or something, I don’t exactly remember the point of the game. We all expect our oldest brother, Brett, to lose. I think he was cheating but he ended up not losing the game, but definitely lost because he fell asleep during the game.

Near the end of the night, all of sudden and kinda out of nowhere for me, Krista blows up, mad as hell and declaring all sorts of things and upset the second Christmas wasn’t going the way she wanted and nobody listens to her, etc. She comes back down a while later and apologizes for the outburst. Everyone apologizes to Krista and this basically wraps the night up for everyone.

The Day After

Sunday morning we awake to the same bright sunny room, unsure of how the morning will go. We head downstairs and LeAndrea and Krista begin to prepare breakfast, bacon and eggs and toast and cinnamon rolls. All the good stuff you want for a breakfast. We sit to play some card games, Pirate King and Cover Your Assets. These are great, relatively quick games that all enjoy.

Early afternoon arrives and half of us have to drive home. We all pack our stuff up, say our goodbyes, and head to our respective homes. Good times.

Art Talks, Everything else Walks

On By Nick HughesIn JournalLeave a comment

Day Dates

The morning begins at a new coffee shop, The Gallery Espresso, nestled in downtown Savannah. As I walk in, the smell of coffee envelopes me and the aesthetic is quintessential coffee shop. The decor is eclectic, inviting you for a cozy conversation or solitary musings. I advance from the entrance to the counter to order. Being our first time here, both LeAndrea and I opt for familiar drinks, a white chocolate latte and a chia latte. But it’s the pastries that steal the show. We split a blueberry scone that crumbles just right, a bacon and cheddar croissant that exudes flavor, and a Nutella croissant that’s decadently delicious

Afterwards, we walk over to the Telfair museum. We stroll leisurely through the museum, starting with the Telfair employees favorite work on display, moving through to the “Of a Feather: Birds in Art” exhibit, and then the interactive light and sound exhibit, featuring impressionist works. One of our favorite pieces of art is the “Garden Umbrella” by Frederick Carl Frieseke. This piece is serene and calming, calling back to a simple time that’s persevered with rushed brush strokes, capturing that moment in time and how the artist was feeeling. There are several pieces in the birds in art exhibit that we both enjoy, but I can’t remember what they’re called. So if you feel the need to see the art we saw, I recommend you go see it for yourself.

Expressing Ourselves

On Sunday, the museum has a studio area where you can create your own art. Usually this is reserved for kids, but all ages are welcome. On prior visits, we’ve walked by and the room is filled with smaller kids creating their own master pieces. But this time was different. The room was devoid of kids and sitting alone is another art enthusiast, the museum worker. She beckons for us to join her, stating all are welcome. We are hesitant at first, but LeAndrea seems interested and I thought it could be a good time, so we join our fellow artist. We take a glance around the room to see what it offers. Drawing, some scrap booking stations, and what LeAndrea decides on, watercolors.

She dives in, starting out with some purple, dabbing it precisely on a page with an idea in mind. With each new dab and stroke, her vision comes to life, creating the familar image of wisteria. She quickly becomes my muse, inspiring me to begin my own artistic journey, but the blank canvas in front of me feels unfamiliar and challenging. Hesitantly, I pick up a brush, chose a color, and put paint to paper. My imagination kicks in finally and I start adding more colors and switching between techniques. Clusters of purples, reds, pinks, and whites appear, creating a cosmos. I want to add depth, so I clumsily paint in mountains. They’re a far cry from being good, but are a fond reminder of the beauty in everything. With that being said, I did end up wondering if the absence of the mountains would have left me feeling more accomplished, but you live and learn and maybe one day I’ll be better at painting.

At this point, LeAndrea is finishing up her painting and I can’t help be impressed. Her wisteria looks so good! And more impressive is the confidence in which she started painting. Sure, there are technical aspects of art, but confidence and putting yourself on the canvas is what shows in your art. I’m ecstatic that she put herself out there. I want her to feel confident all time, it’s one of the thing I admire about her. When she has the courage to try new things and is confident during the process, she seems happiest and it’s the essence of what makes her remarkable.

As we leave, paintings held gently to dry in the wind, I can’t help but feel accomplished. I realize it isn’t just about the art, it’s the art of living. Trying and failing, and finding joy in process. Painting at the museum and writing this blog, opening up to the world, is a frightening thing, but the introspection is rewarding. It allows me to be a better person and grow. So I’ll keep on doing what I’m doing, week by week, trying new things, redoing some great things, or maybe nothing at all, remembering the good times and growing into a better human.

So here’s some advice: find your own museum, whether it’s in Savannah or elsewhere. Let it be a place where you can share, explore, and grow with someone special. Because in those moments, amidst the art and the act of creating it, you’ll find reflections of yourself, your someone special, and the world in ways you never imagined.

Drifting Away on a River Most Peaceful

On By Nick HughesIn JournalLeave a comment

Findint nature again

There’s nothing like truly enjoying nature. In a past life, I’ve enjoyed and connected with nature by going to the Blue Ridge Mountains, or sounding smaller mountains, and hiking. From taking a stroll on an easy trail to practically climbing vertically up a mountain to lugging backpacking gear (or two if you count my beautiful wife’s gear) on a multi-day trip, I love it. All of these trips have amounted to a staggering number of spectacular views, often times being places we frequent, but yet they never cease to surprise me. I must say the camera quite loves them too.

The daily absence of these gorgeous mountains and spectacular views is something that’s left my heart feeling incomplete and lost. Since driving several hours one way on a regular basis isn’t something I yearn to do, I tried to replicate that connection by doing outdoor activities in Savannah. This went about as well as you can imagine.

We started we the tried and true, some hiking in the wetlands and beach. But there’s something about hiking, if you can call it that, without mountains. I yearn for the views mountains give to me, but these walks felt pointless, the heat unbearable, and bugs the worst.

Next, we tried going to the beach. I’m not a super big beach person anymore, primarily because the beaches, more specifically the oceans, are disgusting. Give me clear and blue waters, I could get on board, but murky waters you can’t see to the bottom and resemble post taco Tuesday, hard pass. And in all honesty, there’s only so much time sitting on the beach that I’m going to enjoy.

After a journey of trial and error, a serendipitous discovery rekindled my bond with nature: the graceful art of kayaking. I have always wants to start kayaking but I never did. Didn’t have the kayaks or the ability to get them to the location they’ll be used or stored. But here in Savannah, there’s nothing else to do, so we had to make the means of travel and now, we kayak. After the first time several weeks back, I knew there was nothing in the southern Georgia area I’d rather do.

Feeling like I do the weekend backwards

Saturday is the day to get everything done and Sunday’s are there for relaxation. But I’ve never understood how someone is supposed to work all week and then keep working on Saturday. It doesn’t make sense to me, does it make sense to you? I mean, I don’t want to do anything, especially if there are things to do. So, often times on Saturday, nothing happens until late in the day and it’s great! I do feel like it’s a waste, but I need the recovery. But Sundays, they’re for all the things!

LeAndrea is the oldest of three sisters, Sophie being one and has become insistant on making plans to go kayaking with her and her boyfriend Austin. I was ecstatic, because it means I get to share the joy of kayaking with more, so we planned for Sunday. This would be our first trip together, and not knowing their ability, I decided on a relaxed and easy river would be best, Ebenezer creek. LeAndrea and I have been there once and enjoyed it so much. This enchanting waterway, a tributary of the majestic Savannah River, offers a tranquil escape. With minimal traffic, its gentle currents promise an effortless and peaceful paddle.

We all get to the launch point, get the kayaks unloaded, and set out down the river. The river is slightly higher than before but it’s a leisurely paddle as we bask in the joy of shared company. Slowly we start to form 2 groups, Sophie and Austin, and LeAndrea and I. I recognize the struggle that occurs behind us, so I tryobe conscious. We relax even more, drifting regularly, and take pictures so we can still be a group.

I enjoy the drifting. I enjoy the paddling. Immersed in nature, I capture fleeting moments: the dance of birds above, the ever-changing faces of the water, the stoic beauty of trees, and all the wonders that unfold before my eyes.

About a mile before the halfway point, Sophie and Austin ask if we can turn around. I was slightly caught off guard, because I thought Sophie and Austin were a little more capable. So reluctantly, we agree and turn around. With the tide testing us, our return journey was a gentle challenge with nature, slowing our pace back to the launch point. This was no issue for me because it allowed me to enjoy the banks and eat some of my trail mix, walnuts, almonds, cashews, dried cranberries, and dried blueberries (delicious!).

Better than I realized

Connecting with nature again has made a world of difference to me. It’s a necessity for me, just as important as having LeAndrea there with me. One thing this trip made me realize, is how wonderful my wife is. Though the rhythmic dance of paddling feels intuitive to me, I recognize it might not resonate with the same ease for everyone. And the fact the LeAndrea is capable, and even more important, willing to kayak, along with all things outdoors, with me is the best. I mean, I get to do all the activities and I get to have my best friend and wife there with me. How does it get better than that.

Magnificent, Mundane, or Most Likely In Between

On By Nick HughesIn Journal, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Tavel journal and New Year resolutions

As the new year begins, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the memorable moments from the past year. As I think back, I start to find myself struggling to recall the details, even though there were certainly highlights like trips to France, Saint Martin, and a birthday in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the rest of the year blurred into obscurity. Why’s it so hard to remember!

To remedy this, I’m starting a weekly journal, sharing my life’s happenings, big or small. It’s a new endeavor for me; I’m not one to write leisurely or keep detailed notes, relying mostly on photographs to record my life. This journal will be a testament to the magnificent, mundane, or most likely in bewteen.

A bit about me: I’m thirty years old, happily married to my wonderful wife, LeAndrea. We have been together over a decade. She’ll be a recurring character in my stories, because we do almost everything together. We don’t have kids but share our home with our dog, Willow, and a foster dog, Mia. My hobbies and interests will unfold naturally in these entries, so be sure to follow along and find out more about me!

My personal journey in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge


The year kicked off quietly. LeAndrea and I spent a leisurely morning in bed, enjoying each other’s company. Eventually, we got up – she tended to the dogs, and I prepared our morning drinks and breakfast. Our day remained unplanned until LeAndrea couldn’t take it anymore and spurred us into action.

She suggested a beach trip or a visit to a national refuge. I chose the latter – Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The journey there and back was a mix of the usual chaotic highways and euphoric back roads.

Okefenokee was a surprise. I’ve learned to keep my expectations in check, but it was delightful. My passion for photography came alive here, capturing the essence of nature, from an alligator’s antics to the tranquility of sun streaked paths.

A personal victory was photographing LeAndrea in a way she actually liked, a rare feat for me. It’s usually a struggle to take good pictures of people, I often times capture them with their hair a wreck or their eyes closed or mouths agape, but this time it worked out.

So, my first journal entry and day of the year conclude with a spontaneous adventure, enjoyable moments, and successful photography. But most importantly, it highlighted the joy and inspiration LeAndrea brings to my life. Her presence made the day – and this new journaling journey – possible. Here’s to discovering what this year holds. Till next week, have a time.