Join Me For a Coffee?

I love flowers. I love looking at flowers. I love taking pictures of flowers.

They are so pretty. Glorious and vibrant.

They always brighten my day. I don’t like to smell them – I have allergies. But I sure love lookin at them. Did I already say that?

Problem is I rarely take the time to enjoy them.

As I get older time flies by so much faster. And faster. And faster.

The days, weeks and months pass by and I can’t remember what I did with all that time. I need to slow down and enjoy the moment.

I’ve been doing much better – living in the moment that is.

I am always in the moment with my granddaughters. I smile. I feel my heart swell. My whole being sits in peace and joy.

I need to do this when I’m not with them too.

I thought you just might like to slow down with me. Just for a little white. And enjoy being present in the now. So let’s take a moment to stop. Look at the flowers. And just be. In the moment.

Grab a coffee and join me.

Ahh. What can I say. This Black Eyed Susan is stunning. The colour soaked petals pulling your eyes to the center where you can get lost in the minute details we would other wise miss.

I love the composition of this photo. My eye is drawn into the image on the bottom left flower then up to the center cluster of blossoms. I pause to enjoy the sun rays dance on the petals before I glance down to the bottom right flowers and back to the left where I began to repeat the whole process.

These delicate white bell flowers stand at attention all in a row but it’s the cluster in the foreground that demand you to stop and appreciate their beauty.

The colour of these flowers is just amazing. I tweaked the pictures just a bit to add warmth and make them stylized.

Are you still with me? Bored yet?

This flower makes me laugh. This little cutie is right smack in the middle.. Saying Hi. Look at me. I'm right here.. Smile.

*******************************

Well thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. 

And don't forget to stop by my Etsy Shop, Little Shop of Treasures or check out a few other posts.

If you would like to receive my blog updates please subscribe via email or follow me on Twitter, Pinterest or Blog Lovin.

I look forward to reading your comments. Make my day and leave one! We all learn and grow together when we share!

How Gratitude Changed My Life

Hi. I am so happy you decided to stop by for a visit. I hope everything is good with you.

I'm actually feeling pretty excited today. I have a guest blogger here. Her name is Nicole Nemeth but she prefers to be called Cole.

If you haven't guess, Cole is my daughter. Isn't she beautiful? She is here to talk about gratitude and how it has changed her life.

Cole has her own blog. It's called Peace and Chaos.

Please give her a warm welcome. Yahhh Cole!

*******************************

Hello and Welcome!

My name is Cole. I am a journalism student, and a mother.

I hope to be able to inspire, encourage and support other young moms. 





Life can be hard, and it can be much harder once you have a little one depending on you for everything, and even harder when you’re not quite independent yourself. Without my family and friend’s support I don’t think I would have made it even this far. 


But I believe we can have it all, and deserve the best for not only our children but ourselves, too.

I had my daughter Sidney when I was 17 with my boyfriend Nick. Over the past few years we have grown and matured a lot. Even through everything we’re still growing and maturing every day.

Chasing dreams, and achieving goals; my blog is about what it’s like to be a young parent through the struggles and successes we face every day.

Being a parent is the most difficult, and the greatest thing I have ever experienced.

*******************************

Here is my gratitude story.

Gratitude is something I've been exploring for more than a year now. It's been a life changing experience for me and so I want to share how I first started learning about the benefits of gratitude and how it's helped me.


Last summer while I was working at an art studio I fell into a pretty bad depression. I had a ton of support from my co-workers, supervisors, friends and family but if you've ever experienced depression you know that other people just can't help you. 

I ended up seeing a doctor and got antidepressants which kept me neutral, but I wanted to feel happy, or even just content, not neutral. Sometimes neutral is worse than sadness, it's like you don't feel anything at all. You're just numb.


Finally, I realized that if I wanted to feel happy again I was going to have to do something about it.

So one day after work I went over to the public library and wandered around the self-help section. The first book to really jump out at me was The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. 

I had heard about The Secret before. I knew there was a DVD, and my mom tried to get me to listen to the audio CD a couple of years before, but I had brushed it off. 

All of a sudden I found myself curious about it. Reading The Secret helped me to view life a little differently. 

Mind you, I don't believe that just thinking things will make them exist. I truly believe in working for things and such, but I took what it had said and applied it a little bit differently to my own life. I started thinking that things were possible.

But I needed more than that.


Then one day I came across another book by Rhonda Byrne called The Magic and it was exactly what I needed. 

This book talks a lot about gratitude! It's the reason I got into writing gratitude lists. It has 28 exercises for you to do in 28 days. Things like; writing gratitude lists, feeling thankful for what you do have and appreciating the people who are in your life.

For months I carried The Magic everywhere with me along with a journal and a pen. 

After I completed the 28 days I would still flip through my copy of The Magic whenever I felt I needed some inspiration, or if I was having a bad day. It was my reminder to feel grateful.

I used to be the most pessimistic person I know. I'm not even kidding!

Now I'm optimistic most of the time.


But learning gratitude can be really difficult for some people. At the beginning I felt like I would never be able to apply it to my daily life and I constantly had to remind myself to be grateful every time a negative thought popped into my mind, which was often. 

Now feeling grateful comes naturally.

Do you practice gratitude? Isu it something new, or have you been doing it for a long time?t


Thanks, Cole


Connect with me on:

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Etsy, Youtube, Google+, Bloglovin

*******************************

This is just too awesome. Thank you Carol and Linda for featuring this post.

This is what Linda has to say, "

Darlene Nemeth's daughter, Nicole, talks about gratitude and it's beautifully written."

*******************************

I am doing my happy dance.

Thank you ladies for featuring my post.

Check out all the features HERE.

*******************************

Well thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. 

And don't forget to stop by my Etsy Shop, Little Shop of Treasures or check out a few other posts.

If you would like to receive my blog updates please subscribe via email or follow me on Twitter, Pinterest or Blog Lovin.

We look forward to reading your comments. Make our day and leave one! We all learn and grow together when we share!

Today I Choose To Live With Gratitude

Hi. I am so happy you decided to stop by for a visit. I hope everything is good with you.

I'm actually feeling pretty good all things considered. I've had a few rough years and 2012 was the worst.

I lost my job from restructuring. My husband was diagnosed with PTSD and can't work. We lost our home of ten years to the bank. And I lost my mind. Well, maybe I still have that.

It is gratitude that helped me cope because with everything bad that has happened I still have so much to be grateful for. 

When I practice gratitude I feel different - optimistic - happy. 

Today the sun is shining. I have a roof over my head and food in the cupboards. I'm healthy and alive. And so is my family.

I choose gratitude.

Yes, it is a choice. It's true. So today I choose to be grateful. I choose to live with gratitude. What about you?

I wonder why more people don’t choose to live their lives with gratitude in their hearts. The world would be a better place if we did!

Don't you just love flowers.

***************************

Well thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. 

And don't forget to stop by my Etsy Shop, Little Shop of Treasures or check out a few other posts.

If you would like to receive my blog updates please subscribe via email or follow me on Twitter, Pinterest or Blog Lovin.

I look forward to reading your comments. Make our day and leave one! We all learn and grow together when we share!

2014 Calendar Printable - Start Each Day With a Grateful Heart

An attitude of gratitude has made a huge change in my life. Unfortunately I have a little bit of trouble remembering to be grateful each day. A little reminder will go a long way for me. How about you?


Let's make each day of 2014 fantastic! 

Start each day with a grateful heart!

Feel free to copy and print this 2014 calendar at a glance.

***************************

Well thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. 

And don't forget to stop by my Etsy Shop, Little Shop of Treasures or check out a few other posts.

If you would like to receive my blog updates please subscribe via email or follow me on Twitter, Pinterest or Blog Lovin.

I look forward to reading your comments. Make our day and leave one!