2013 Flower Full Year Calendar

Hi everyone out there in vintage land. This year is quickly coming to an end and very soon we will be welcoming in 2013.

I look forward to the new year because all new beginnings bring limitless opportunities. 

I love bright colours and flowers. They lift my spirits and bring me great joy. I adore this picture of a purple cone flower that my daughter took from our garden. I played around with the colours, added a calendar and viola - a constant reminder of the beauty all around us. I hope you enjoy the free printable.

I wish you all happiness, health and prosperity in the year to come.

Seven Paths - Lesson 3

Today's lesson from Curtis Rivers' free course, Seven Paths to Freedom, is called Focusing the Image. I definitely need help with this one. 

I can create vague images in my mind and enhance them by adding emotions. I FEEL happy. 

But the images are  still vague to me. I wonder what I have been doing wrong or is there something I am missing?

Lesson two answers this question. 

More practice.  Practice makes perfect. Use or lose it. Well, in this case, you may not have used that part of your brain; that part that creates vivid images in your mind so you need to work at it and with time the images will become clear.

Using all your senses. This will sharpen the image in your mind.

• What do you hear? Are they kids laughing? Birds singing?
• What do you smell? Cookies baking? Flowers? 

Unfortunately or should I say fortunately my sniffer is broken. Intense scents, I can smell, otherwise it is a blank. A couple of weeks ago, for some reason, I could actually smell just about everything. It was so weird. I did not like it. How can people go through life smelling all these odors and fragrances? They were leaping out at me from everywhere. Invading my senses. Much of it was not pleasant. Made my stomach turn. Not good at all. Thank goodness it didn't last more than a day. What a relief it was to be back at my odor/fragrance free life.

• What do you touch/feel? The warm sunlight on your skin? Cold metal in your hand?
• What do you taste? The fresh, hot out of the oven cookies? 
• Lastly use your sense of awareness.

I will try again.

I am getting out of my red shiny Impala. I love that car. I hear the sound of my feet hit the driveway.
I take a deep breath of the fresh air and look up at my house. I hear the car door close and I walk up the sidewalk to the front door. The sound of my heels click click click follow me.

I reach out and grasp the cool metal door handle and give it a twist to the right. The colour on the front door matches my car. I don't know why that colour brightens my spirits but it does so I have it sprinkled throughout my house.

The foyer is brightly lit and I have a smile on my face as I anticipate my granddaughters rushing to see me. I call out, "Hello."

Sidney comes running and collides into me as she yells, "Grandma!" Her little arms wrap around my legs and I lean forward to try to squeeze her.

Just as Sidney loosens her grip on me, Faith, comes running up to me and gives me a great big hug. "Grandma, I missed you." "I missed you too."

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I kick off my sling back shoes and step onto the cold ceramic tiles. I love the way my bare feet feel on the smooth clean floor.

Actually my little piggies wish they could always be naked in the fresh air. Socks are so confining.

My little angels have already run back to the kitchen. 

With each step towards the kitchen, the sound of my daughters talking and laughing gets a little louder. I can smell the banana bread baking in the oven. As I enter the kitchen we exchange hellos. I look around and FEEL so blessed.

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I notice some white fluffy towels on the floor because the girls were swimming again. One of our favorite past times. We have an indoor heated pool - a dream come true. I can't tell you how many wonderful hours we've had in the gorgeous pool. 

I promise to go for a dip after supper.

I walk upstairs to my bedroom and change into some casual clothes. My room is so relaxing - a true retreat for unwinding. I love, love, love my room. That colour again that brightens up my day.

After taking a few minutes for myself, I work my way downstairs to my art studio/home office/rec room/exercise area.

 I check emails and stop myself there because I know time flies once I get on the computer. It is the weekend and I promised my girls to spend time with them.

I look around and feel so grateful. I have large canvases holding paint that I put there. Someone has already bought that picture. 

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Over in the corner is a work station that my girls and I sit at and create all kinds of fun items. 

In the opposite corner is a area dedicated to exercising. Everyone in the family takes advantage of that space.

My heart leaps as I scan the walls which are covered with pictures of my family and the trips we have been on. 



There are awards and letters of gratitude for my volunteer work and donations to various charities. My daughters insisted on framing and hanging them. 

I go back to the kitchen and they are cleaning up. I look out the window at the four nearby houses that belong to Beth, Nicole, Christina and my Mom. 

Its fantastic that my granddaughters can run over to see me whenever they want.

Some of my fondest memories are of my maternal grandfather spending time with me. He made me feel important, loved and accepted. I wish I could have seen him more.

I walk past the great room. It is a warm welcoming space which I enjoy everyday with my girls. Another wave of happiness flows through me.

I go through the patio doors that leads to the deck and garden. I give a quick wave of my hand to Gary. He is sitting there with my son-inilaws doing whatever guys do.

From picasaweb.google.com

I have a huge garden filled with large blossom flowers. The colours are so vibrant and the fragrance mild and beautiful. I stir up the scent of mint as my fingers gently run over the plants.

I look up and admire the cyan blue sky and fluffy white clouds. I savour the moment because I feel so grateful and happy. A rush of inner peace overwhelms me.

I glance back around the garden. 

My granddaughters get so excited when they see a fruit or vegetable ripe for the picking. 

The cucumbers are doing great this year.


This time was a little easier. I included the six senses. Nope. I lied. I missed taste. Tomorrow I will taste the banana bread. Yum. Can I have mine loaded with chopped up walnuts? 

If I am going to be completely truthful, I have to admit that once I stepped into the house, I felt a pang of anxiety and I wondered how am I going to maintain all of this? I let the thought roll by as suggested in the lesson and continued with my vision. The self doubt was there haunting me. I don't know why.

Maybe someone could enlighten me. What could that barrier be?

How have you been doing with the lessons?




To read the today's lesson, you can sign up for Curtis Rivers' Seven Paths to Freedom Course at http://www.curtisrivers.com/products.html.

Seven Paths - Lesson 2

This lesson from Seven Paths to Freedom by Curtis Rivers is called Planting Seeds in the Subconscious. Lesson two is pretty long. There is a lot of reading but is boils down to a couple of concepts: how to delete the barriers/negativity in your mind that prevent you from reaching your goals; and how we must empty our minds of all the day to day activities that are distracting us from our dreams.

"The only true way to change your future" he said, "Is to learn how to use your mind correctly in the present.

In order to use your mind as it was intended, you're going to have to learn how to quieten the mind - get rid of the noise, the internal chatter, and the constant distractions fighting for your attention.

The first step - is relaxation. Through relaxation and correct breathing, you can quieten the mind, ready to transform your life."

Excerpt from Lesson 2

I have tried to meditate in the past.   

Relaxing is not my problem. I can close my eyes and block out the sounds and commotion around me. I get so relaxed that I nod off and my muscles twitch. 

I  imagine a beautiful vibrant blue sky and the clouds drifting by. This image is immediately soothing because it brings back fond memories.

I can clear my mind for a few moments then a thought pops into my head. I shoe it away and get back to the meditating only to have another thought intrude.

I become annoyed with those interruptions and frustration overcomes my serenity. 

Blurry Image in my mind of my future home.

I of course am too hard on myself. Apparently everyone has the same difficulties when they first start to meditate. I just need more practice.

My other problem is the fact that I become annoyed with the interruptions when I really should "just let those thoughts drift by the screen of your mind, like you watch the clouds drift by over your head. They are not spoiling your view of that beautiful sky, they were not invited by you, but are just there, passing by - they just 'are'."

Armed with that helpful tip, I will try - no I will successfully meditate this evening before bed. And, I will add mediation, twice, on my list of daily routines.

To be honest, I never even thought to use meditation to quiet my mind to use the law of attraction. I use it to rid myself of stress, remove negative thoughts and regain my center - my happy place. Although, I can see how it would be helpful to enhance the law of attraction- after all it's about being clear isn't it.

Curtis Rivers says in Lesson 2, "We form a thought, we give it power, we intensity it in our minds, and we do so often. These are the first stages of creating the life of your dreams. These two aspects, of quieting the mind and forming a clear picture and feeling of what you want, are like the match lighting the kindling in a dry wood.

Over the coming lessons, I'm going to teach you how to fan those flames, so the small kindling fire becomes a raging, unstoppable forest fire - eliminating all self doubt, all perceived obstacles and fears, and clearing the way to the life you're ready to live."

Are you ready? Yes I am Ready.

Have you tried meditation? When and how do you meditate?



To read the today's lesson, you can sign up for Curtis Rivers' Seven Paths to Freedom Course at http://www.curtisrivers.com/products.html.