When I was a young girl, my mom tucked my arms under the covers when she tucked me in for the night. It was an act of love to make sure I was warm and secure but I hated it. I immediately pulled my arms out accidentally hitting her in the face in the process - I didn’t like to be confined. This memory stuck with me.

These days, I have my own daughters to raise and I’m seeing the early signs of rebellion coming from my almost eleven year old daughter. I have to admit, it was causing me strife the last few weeks. I initially pushed back but it only made me more worried, frustrated, upset and feeling like I was starting to lose my daughter to the teen years. This got me thinking back to my earlier years and my desire to be free and less confined.

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Meet Haiku, a sweet and joyful deaf and blind double merle border colli, owned by Theresa Tenpas Herron and her husband in Michigan.

Below is my conversation with Theresa on what it’s like to have a deaf and blind pup as a pet!

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What little thing brings you happiness?

For me, one of my little loves is flowers. They make me happy from their beautiful colorful blooms to their lovely scents. I really admire people that have a green thumb and can grow and put together amazing floral arrangements. I have to admit so far that has not been me! Every year the little slugs, pesky rabbits and overly friendly deer (just to name a few) seem to find a way to eat away at mine!

Since February is the month of love, I’ve decided to take this month to focus on something that brings me happiness. Therefore, I’m setting out to take some time to plan and learn about creating a “simple” flower garden. On these winter days, I’m envisioning gazing out at my colorful new Zinnia flower garden with fresh bouquets filling my house this summer.

Someone that inspires me with her beautiful garden designs and flower arrangements is Alissa Thompson of IndieGrow Flowers, a local gardner and floral designer in my home town of Traverse City. I love her work so much that I’ve reached out to Alissa to see if she would be willing to talk with us about planning a garden and the secret to creating perfect arrangements. We’ll be sharing our conversation with Alissa later this month. In addition, I will be working on a painting a series of flowers featuring some of her beautiful bouquets.

This mini painting (above) is called “Flower Power.” It captures the beauty and color of one of Alissa’s beautiful bouquets. I hope the painting brings you as much happiness as it did for me to paint and that you find yourself doing something this month that you love too!

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We open doors countless times per day, often with no thought whatsoever. It’s just an instinctive step in the process of getting us to where we want to go or inviting someone into our home.

But those are physical doors. What about metaphorical ones? Those that lead to our hopes and dreams. Why do those doors seem so hard to open, let alone step through?

For years, I held close my hopes and dreams—not sharing them and certainly not acting on them. I held them so close that I shut out all the light and almost smothered them altogether. Then one day, I cracked the door, not wide, but just enough to let some light in and let some of me out.

Little by little, it became easier to widen the door to show what was within. And as I did, I became happier. And as I became happier, I shared it with others and on it went.

This painting (above) is called “Within.” It shows how beautiful our “messy” can be when we are brave enough to open the door to it. I hope you enjoy the bright, happy colors, and maybe even get inspired to crack a door to something that you are holding close.

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