Chocolate Jam Thumbprint cookies for Valentine's, Yum!

I really like  the Friday bliss list. It helps me remember and give thanks for the moments that fill my heart. Liv Lane says,

Every Friday, the Little Bliss List provides a chance for us to celebrate the little things that brought us hope and happiness this week. I do believe when we focus on the sweet stuff of life, the sweet stuff multiplies. And by sharing those small gifts in our lives, we help others notice the gifts in theirs.

So please share your bliss moments in the comment/reply section below! I would love to hear them. Here are mine.

1. Having my husband Bob here for Valentine’s day. It was an emotional day for me.  I so appreciated Bob giving me a hug when I needed it.

Bob getting hugs from little Hank

2. Gorgeous blue sky on our nature walk.

3. Smelling apple turnover fresh out of the oven…mmm

Yummy apple turnover

4. Puppy Lucy’s ” I love you” looks. And it just tickles me that Lucy has her own badge now. I can imagine the smiles it will bring to people everywhere!

Cute Lucy with her wide eyed, "I love you" gaze.

5. Taking Liv Lane’s Build a Blog You Truly Love class. The course was fantastic, plus I connected with so many amazing people around the world. Stop by the Bliss List party for more inspirational Bliss lists.

 I appreciate YOU and connecting here on the blog! Have a great week.

Love and blessings,

Nancy

]]> http://rainbowlightangel.com/2012/02/sweet-bliss-moments/feed/ 8 http://rainbowlightangel.com/2012/02/puppyangel/ http://rainbowlightangel.com/2012/02/puppyangel/#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:22:45 +0000 Nancy http://rainbowlightangel.com/?p=582

Lucy making me laugh. She just tried to eat the flower.

Who is the dog angel with wings as the Rainbow Light Angel logo? Meet Miss Lucy, who arrived in my life last year on Valentine’s day. When she looks up at me with sweet love in her eyes, it just melts my heart. She has been a dog angel through my grieving process. Here is the story of how Lucy came into my life.

I was dreading Valentine’s day last year. My daughter Marie’s heart was breaking. It was the first Valentine’s after witnessing her fiancee get killed by a hit and run driver. She was struggling with post traumatic stress and grief. Marie had moved in with a couple of friends and I had been back home for only a few weeks. Being home gave time for my own grief to surface, so I was a crying, sobbing mess. On top of all that, my husband Bob, who is my rock and strength, was going to be out of town for Valentine’s day. Ugh!

When I was living with Marie in Florida I had her puppy Hank to keep me company. My husband decided I needed a dog of my own. Having a small puppy in the middle of winter didn’t seem like a great idea to me. But we started looking. In the ad photo of Lucy she was leaping in the air and looked full of joy. When we saw her, we fell in love and brought Lucy home with us the day before Valentine’s.

Puppy Lucy on Valentine's 2011. She likes her pillows.

Lucy is a happy dog. She would make me laugh and bring me out of grief for awhile. Having her snuggle on my lap seemed to ease that hurt, worried place in my heart. Even multiple outside potty trips was helpful, as it took me into nature more often. I found out  stars are very bright and clear in the middle of the night.

Lucy is a year old now. She still likes to jump for the sheer joy of it, or kick up her heels as she runs. If Lucy thinks I have been on the computer too long, she will scratch at it and bark so I come down on the floor to play. When I am doing yoga, Lucy sits on the yoga mat to give me kisses. Lucy is my little buddy. Plus Lucy is just very cute!

Lucy keeping me company on my yoga mat

Here is an interesting part. Lucy was 12 weeks old when we got her. The owner did not sell Lucy with the other 8 week old puppies because Lucy had a minor heart murmur. She wanted to make sure Lucy grew out of the heart murmur before selling her. Hmm, perhaps the angels knew Lucy and I needed to be together. Lucy’s heart is just fine and I am so thankful she is part of my life.

I hope seeing Lucy’s picture makes you smile and warms any tender spots in your heart. Lucy loves to spread joy! And I am delighted that Lucy has her own badge now too.  Thanks to my web designer Laurel, at Flying Imagination Ranch for creating the Lucy angel logo and badge.

If you would like to help Lucy touch more hearts, feel free to add her badge on your blog. Lucy thanks you!

Much love, Nancy and Lucy

Silly Lucy biting a flower

From my heart to yours

Wow, I have so much to be grateful for this last week. Friday bliss list will be easy.

1. My husband arrived in Florida so we will be together for a few weeks before he has to go back to our farm in Minnesota. ( For those of you who are new, I am living with my daughter in Florida as she heals from the death of her fiancee.) The little doggies were so excited to see him I though their tails would never stop wagging.

My husband Bob with puppy Lucy

2. My shy little buddy in Sunday school finally danced in worship time! Previously in the kid’s worship service he would plug his ears or just sit in my lap while all the other kids danced to the songs. Last week this little guy danced and twirled the two of us around. I loved seeing him come out of his shell and be so joyful! It makes my heart feel full just thinking about it. A bliss moment for sure.

3. I added a colorful welcome page to my Rainbow Light Angel Facebook site. Take a look at Rainbow Light Angel Welcome and let me know what you think . Oh, and I also added my new Lucy puppy angel logo to my Facebook site. She represents the love angels and animals give us.

4. I loved my Photowalk trip to the Naples Zoo, which I shared on the last blog post Being a Kid at the Zoo. There was just something about watching that magnificent lion and the wisdom in his eyes that really touched me.

Magnificent Lion

5. I am 8 pounds lighter and getting used to eating plant based foods. Yay!

It was amazing week! I am very, very grateful to God and the angels.

You are welcome to add your bliss list to the link party at Liv Lane’s blog. Or stop by for inspiration.

Feel free to share any moments of gratitude or bliss during your week in the reply section at the bottom of this page.

Blessings, Nancy

Magnificent Lion

A trip to the Zoo! Two of my favorite things, animals and photography. This Saturday I went to a photowalk event at the Naples Zoo in Florida. I felt like a little kid, waking up at 5am, even though it started at 9am. I wanted to jump up and down and giggle. I haven’t felt that childlike joy in awhile.

It was wonderful! I stood and watched this magnificent lion for about half an hour. It was fascinating to see his combination of grace and power. He even roared…very loudly. I am grateful to the animals who live in a zoo and allow us a glimpse of their beauty and wisdom.

It made me realize how uplifting it is to participate in something I loved as a child. Perhaps I am just a kid at heart, but it felt like an adventure that filled me up. Here are a few favorite photos I took so you can enjoy them too.

Green parrot tucking his head in for a nap.

Beautiful blue and yellow parrot. I like the markings around his eyes.

Spotted Leopard, so graceful. She is grooming herself, just like the our pet cats.

A huge tortoise, looking ancient and wise.

It was interesting to stand so close to a giraffe. They are even taller than I imagined. Their long legs step out gracefully.

This camel was available for rides. A strange looking creature. His hat is cute.

This female lion jumped up to play with the ball. You can see it under her paw.

My favorite of all was the male lion. We were fortunate he was awake in the daytime to watch his expressions and movements.

Thanks to Photography Naples for hosting the zoo event. 

If you have a chance to participate in something you used to love as a child, go for it! I am very glad I did.

Have a great week. Blessings, Nancy

Hanging Out with Lucy..Bliss

Friday bliss list time! I decided to look up bliss in the thesaurus. Bliss also means, “blessedness, joy, delight, and exaltation.” I love that! In yoga class, there is a pose where we exalt, raising our hand towards the heavens. I use this pose as a time to remember to exalt God and give thanks for the gift of my body.

So this week, as I gather thoughts for my bliss list I also give thanks for my blessings and blessedness.

Oh, and stop on by Liv Lane’s Bliss party to read more inspiring bliss lists.

My Bliss List:

1. Baking with my daughter and she gives me a big hug and says, “I love cooking with you”. It melted my heart. The cookies are vegan chocolate thumbprint cookies with fresh strawberry jam in the middle! From Isa’s Vegan with a Vengance cookbook.

2. So it was pure bliss eating these cookies. Yummy! Can you tell I love chocolate?

3. Lucy keeping me company while I work on the computer. She is my cute little buddy.

4. Finding tiny little oranges on my walk. I am not sure if these kind are edible but they are very colorful.

5. Having quiet moments to read. I am enjoying the book One Thousand Gifts.

6. All the people with beautiful comments and support on my blog post Being Vulnerable. Thank you, thank you!

7. My husband will be flying here to spend Valentine’s day together. He gave me puppy Lucy for Valentine’s last year, who brings me joy every day. I am blessed to have him.

Have a great weekend. And I would love to hear what brings you bliss!

Blessings,

Nancy

]]> http://rainbowlightangel.com/2012/02/bliss-list-and-blessings/feed/ 19 http://rainbowlightangel.com/2012/01/being-vulnerable/ http://rainbowlightangel.com/2012/01/being-vulnerable/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:10:49 +0000 Nancy http://rainbowlightangel.com/?p=435

You can’t experience life without feeling life. What I’ve learned is that being vulnerable to somebody you love is not a weakness, it’s a strength.”~Elisabeth Shue

I like to be the uplifting, positive, strong one. When Liv Lane asked us to write on our blogs about something that makes us feel vulnerable, it made me nervous.Yet I appreciate others who share the challenging parts of their journeys. When the pastor’s wife at church cried as she told how hard it had been to leave her home, her friends and family to move to a new church, it touched my heart.

So, here it goes. I’m taking a big breath and sharing something from my heart that makes me feel vulnerable.

Last summer I started having moments of intense anxiety and fear. As many of you know, we had a lot of family crisis over the last few years. I wrote about this on the blog post,  Goodbye 2011. Finding Hope in the Challenges.  The short version is three family deaths, my daughter’s depression and my Dad moving into a nursing home.

Ironically, my exhaustion and anxiety started after all of the crisis settled down and I was back home on the farm. I thought to myself, I just need time to rest. I kept clinging to that illusion of being the strong one, being Ok, being used to taking care of others. After a few months of resting and still feeling too exhausted to even go see my friends, I went to see my doctor. All the tests were fine but she suggested grief counseling. I cried through every therapy session. Even though I felt like I had cried a river over the last two years, apparently I was still holding a lot inside.

I also started having panic attacks. I didn’t want to admit this, even to the therapist. I am known as the angel lady. I believe in God, angels, goodness, divine timing, healing naturally, prayer, thinking positively. Why couldn’t I just get on top of this? One time I was driving and the sense of panic was so bad I started hyperventilating. It scared me and I finally decided to ask for help. Hmm, writing this makes me realize I have a lot of my Mom’s stubborn streak!

Yes, I wish I would have asked for help much, much earlier. It would have saved me many sleepness nights. The therapist actually laughed when I told her the story of Marie wanting to hang a shelf above her bed and I freaked out thinking it could fall and kill her in the night. The therapist asked, “Did you just think it, or did you say it out loud”. Yes I really said that out loud, and meant it. But anxiety isn’t rational.

The therapist shared some techniques to keep worry from escalating into panic. For me, the key was to start early, before anxiety really set in. If you worry even a little, try these out to see if it makes a difference.

1. Notice and describe your surroundings, in great detail wherever you are…sights, colors, textures, scents. This brings you into the present moment. We have all heard about living in the present, but I liked that this was a specific method.  For example, when I was driving and starting to worry, to observe… “The sun is shining. The leaves are a lighter green than the grass. The breeze is making the leaves flutter gently. The pine tree is about a foot taller than the poplar tree next to it,…etc.” 

Taking photos also created a similar effect for me. Noticing the intricate details of a flower would bring me out of my worries about the future and into the present moment.

2. Count your breath. Inhale, 1, 2, 3, 4. Exhale, 1, 2, 3 4. Put your hand on your stomach and take deep breaths, feeling your abdomen move in and out. This prevents hyperventilating.

3. Repeat something comforting. I would repeat the Lord’s prayer over and over. Especially at night when I couldn’t sleep.

4. Ask for help. Ok, this was a biggie for me. But in my state of exhaustion, my body didn’t give me a choice. I had to surrender and ask for help.

Now I had some new tools. It wasn’t easy. It took more therapy, lots of rest, time out in nature, asking for support from my family and even medication for awhile. Six months later I am glad I can look back at the gifts of the anxiety. And I am very grateful to be feeling better!

So, in case you struggle, are grieving, or worry too much, I share the lessons anxiety taught me:

• You have permission to ask for help.
• When a friend asks if you are Ok, you have permission to say “No, I am struggling today.”
• If a friend asks if you need anything, it is Ok to say “Yes, I do.”
• Breathe, just breathe.
• Focus on the present day, moments or seconds.
• You are not alone.
• There is always hope, even when it is hard to see.
• Don’t be too stubborn to ask for help ( My mom is probably laughing in heaven.)
• Lean on God, the angels, family and friends.

Thanks for listening to my story. Love from my heart to yours. Blessings,  Nancy

Radiant light in the sky just before sunset

I love Liv Lane’s idea of creating a bliss list every Friday. Liv at Choosing Beauty writes, “It’s like a gratitude list, but rather than just being thankful for the things I have…I want to be thankful for the way I feel – even if it’s fleeting – and celebrate whatever brought me to that bliss.”

Today Liv invited others to write and share their own bliss lists, scattering joy and uplifting each other. I’m in! 

It is a blog hop, so feel free to join us.  Other people have written and shared their bliss lists, so check it out for lots of inspiration.

Here are some of my moments of bliss, joy and wonder this week. I would love to hear yours! Yours can be a regular list. I just enjoy adding the photos.

Noticing the reflections of my daughter and I. She looks like my little girl here, but is a beautiful young woman!

Treating myself to a Joyful Yoga mat. Lucy likes it too! It is an extra thick mat, which my knees appreciate.

My blog post with a mosaic of photos led to connecting with a woman in Australia who loves photography and angels too. What an amazing connection across the oceans!

Seeing fresh raindrops glistening on a leaf.

What brings you bliss? Have a great weekend!

Light and blessings, Nancy

Vibrant food, health and pretty reds

When I choose the word “light” for my 2012 word the priority in my own mind was to have more energy and feel lighter emotionally. I really wasn’t thinking about food. But it must be where I needed to start because all of a sudden I am attracted to fresh veggies, fruit and cooking lighter. And by attracted I mean almost obssessed! When I look at how much color and vibrancy these fresh foods have, it makes sense that would be a foundation to build back up my energy levels. It is interesting how setting the intention to have a light year led me to food. Our mind may not know, but our body, heart and our angels know what we really need. It is about following those nudges, feeling and passions.

I found this cool website that promotes creating a monthly mosaic of photos. The themes for January are health and the color red. I like creating mosaics, or collages because they tell a story with pictures. Here is the story of my journey in January with vibrant foods, health and the color red! Starting with the upper left hand photo and going across:

1. Salad so pretty with fresh fruit , 2. Strawberries in the sunshine at the market, 3. Quinoa veggie stew in our new colorful bowls, 4. Our jar corner for nuts, pasta…and sugar, 5. Nancy ( me) on a nature walk where we found Florida fall leaves in January, 6. Fresh tomatoes, 7. Yummy french toast, vegan style, 8. I love adding color to our kitchen with pretty measuring spoons and cups

Enjoy the photos and colors! By the way, I am not trying to change anyone’s eating habits. The nudges of your heart and angels may be totally different. I am just sharing the interesting process of following those nudges, even when they don’t make sense rationally. It is fun later to get the aha moments..saying, oh that is why! Like me thinking I am just eating lighter to lose weight and figuring out it is supporting my wish to have more energy. Starting to feel better already!

Dipping My Toes Into Blogging

I recently dipped my toes into the blogging world with the Rainbow Light Angel blog. Why do I blog? What is my blog’s purpose?  These are questions Liv Lane asked us in a fantastic course called “How to Create a Blog you Truly Love.” 

In case you are like me, kind of new to the blogging world, a blog is a form of an online journal where articles, photos, inspirations, etc can be posted. One of the cool parts is blogs allow interaction from the readers. Liv Lane encouraged the class to use to dig deep into the reason why we blog. When I get up in the morning, why do I want to write in a blog? Sometimes the simplest questions can be more challenging than they seem…but interesting!

Reasons Why I Blog:

“It helps me notice and treasure the wonder of life. I love creating inspirational feelings using photos and words. It helps me express the thoughts in my head that just want to be written. To share the beauty of nature. To be an earth angel for God. To uplift and bring hope to others. To help those who are grieving. To share funny, sacred, loving moments with my animals. Writing and taking photos is like meditation for me. To meet and connect with others on this journey of life.”

The next step, is refining the purpose.

I would love to have your feedback. What types of blogs do you like? What words would you use to describe my blog and how it makes you feel?

Oh, you can go to the reply section at the bottom of this page to enter your comments.

Welcome! I am so glad you are here.

Many blessings! Nancy

Eating nutritious food supports us in living lightly and energetically within the body. In taking care of the body, we take better care of the spirit. ~Marianne Williamson.

Along with choosing Light as my word for 2012, I also wanted to start eating lighter. In yoga class, the teacher asks us to set an affirmation for class starting with  I am moving towards…, and ending with and I am so grateful.  Recently, my affirmation has been,  I am moving towards vibrant health and I am so grateful. After getting to the point of exhaustion last year, I am still building back up my energy levels. Feeling vibrant sounded good!

It is interesting how many signs and common themes started to appear. I love when this happens! I can imagine the angels saying, “oh, she want to eat lighter and have more energy, let’s show her how.”  Have you heard of the angel rule of three? If you get three ( or more) signs, the angels are trying to get your attention. Here were my eating lighter signs.

Sign #1: Last fall I attended a workshop on ancient Ayurvedic principles of taking care of your body. It is based on body type and is quite complex, but one of the overall principles is including more plant based foods to increase your energy levels. I must not have been ready to hear that message  because instead I went on a major comfort food and sugar binge the whole month of December. And felt very tired and yucky after. My body was not happy with that plan.

Sign # 2: On New Year’s day, I recieved an email offering  an e-course called becoming a Radiant Goddess. It says,” How to stop feeling sluggish + start feeling radiant in 21 days!” I signed up. ( By the way Goddess Leonie has a way of making courses very fun. This is about your radiant inner goddess. If it sounds interesting,  you can check it out at http://www.goddessguidebook.com/affiliate-redirect/?w=radgoddess&p=nancylennon .)One of the suggestions is to add more whole, raw foods into your diet, choosing foods that have Radiance. Normally I live in Minnesota where hot, cooked food is so good in the cold winter. I don’t feel ready to go raw, but the idea of choosing more fresh food sounded appealing.

Sign #3: Over Christmas break, my daughter Marie was visiting a friend who recently switched to a vegan diet. Marie tried eating vegan with her friend for 4 days and loved the way her body felt. Marie had more energy and was sleeping better. Her friend has lost weight and also felt like she had a LOT more energy. Marie decided to try vegan and asked if I wanted to try it with her. We looked at some recipe books together and I could still make soups and stews, which I love in the winter. Even in Florida. And dark chocolate is ok… a very important criteria for me.

Ok… three signs. Time to pay attention. I decided to give vegan a try, which means no dairy, eggs or meat. I have never liked milk, so that part was easy. It is very strange to be the wife of a natural beef rancher trying out vegan! But I haven’t found any beef in Florida that tastes as good as ours back home in Minnesota, not even the organic stuff in the grocery store.

I am going to try eating vegan for a month and see how my body feels. It is a perfect time to try it while living in Florida where there is an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. It is fun to go to the local farmer’s markets and choose foods based on their radiance. Here is a few pictures of the beautiful food.

Is there anything you are receiving signs to incorporate into your day to day life? Have a radiant day!

Local Honey

Peppers of every color

Choosing red peppers

Fresh tomatoes