Adult Coloring Books or Free Coloring Pages

Adult Coloring Books are all the rage now. Is it worth the money?

By far the most popular book out there.

If you like to color with your kids, or just because, or if you liked to color as a child, then you will probably enjoy coloring these. The pages are more difficult with intricate designs, not simple shapes as with children's coloring books, especially the younger ones. Some children's coloring books can be quite intricate, however! Adults might feel strange coloring cartoon characters, and you won't find any of those in books labeled adult coloring. You will find patterns, mandalas, animals, and plants.

You want to try before you buy? Feel like an entire book is an investment? There are plenty of free pages. FREE FREE   You can search for images and copy paste them to Word and print them out. Here are a few I tried.

You could also make your own with programs that allow you to take your photos and modify them with black and white outlines. photoshop    adobe photoshop elements 
Download fotosketcher 

Coloring provides benefits for kids.. AND adults (Huffpost) (LifeHack).

I know for me coloring provides some down time to relax and think. As an introvert, I need space and quiet time to get inside my head. Coloring doesn't help me work out all the problems. I am too focused on the logical elements of colors and creating to allow myself to completely imagine and discover solutions to problems as when in a dream-like state. It does lower my stress, by providing a relaxing tone. I can better think through problems afterwards. Coloring can take place while watching movies or shows, especially re-runs or movies you've seen before. You can pause to watch the best parts. Besides, it hurts your hand to color for a full 2 hours! Coloring to music may help relax you even more. We used to paint to music in my college art class, to encourage us to really listen and interpret what we heard onto the paper.

The best part for me is, coloring puts me in a 'zone' much like writing. It's the same fountain where stories come from. Sometimes coloring can evoke a story to appear.

Hiking in Turkey Run State Park

It's Spring Break! I really needed these 12 days off..

While many people head toward the beaches and overpay for hotel rooms unless they know someone who lives there, we stayed home. I decided that one of the days I would take my boys hiking through one of our many State Parks. Turkey Run  (pdf. file scroll down and tilt your head to the right to see map) has by far the best hiking trails. It also has a long suspension bridge and plenty of exciting terrain. I knew they would love it and it would be a LOT of exercise.

The plan was to take trail 6 to the cabin and trail 11 to the old church and then come back to the van for lunch. We did trail 6 and decided that was enough hiking before lunch.

Cabin is made of poplar wood.

Lunch break!

We next went to the Nature Center, Alex's favorite part. We digested our lunch and watched some critters through one-way glass, Alex explored the touch table, (mostly the feathers because I showed him how the breaks in the feather fronds can sometimes go back together with a soft touch), and the live snakes and snapping turtle in the exploration room. (I should have changed camera settings more often to get the best lighting.)

Then began the hike. At first, the almost 9 year old claimed to be afraid of heights, but after he realized part of the trail was higher than the suspension bridge, he wasn't afraid any more. We crossed the bridge and Max decided we were going to go on trail 3. He wanted to do the ladders as well. So we took off. Little did I realize this trail was all ravine at the bottom and walking in the creek, then all stairs at the top! I was happy that though my knee grew sore, very sore, I was able to make it the entire way without extreme pain.

The bridge is moving!

One of the smaller sets of stairs. So. Many. Stairs.

We climbed this waterfall.

Smugness.

Finally got to the top, but then there were stairs! 140 of them.

Wet sock. No fun.

Stairs are exhausting. Especially after the hike up the ravine and waterfall.

The ladders! 3 of them like this. We went down. We survived.

Selfie.

Smile!

He kept laying on all the benches..wonder why?

Alex took this picture of the suspension bridge.

He took this one, too.

We were slightly muddy, sweaty, and tired when we finished our hike. We ended the day back in the Nature Center for a rest. Then I promised the boys some fun in the Game Room in the Inn. They enjoyed pinball, skee-ball, air hockey, and the motorcycle game. I let Alex buy a bag of shiny rocks for 3 dollars.

I slept really well!

Post Valentine's Day Post: Relationships, Frequency of Contact

In keeping with the theme of finding out what people need and being generous,  you can't expect to be told up front by a new acquaintance, or even a new friend, that they are needing something. It may take time to build that kind of trust where they will open up.

No matter what kind of relationship you have: familial, friendship, marriage, acquaintance, spiritual, to maintain that relationship takes frequent contact. Let's talk about these relationships.

FAMILY:

I know some of you may not have a family member to call, or would rather not contact either of your parents. Childhood can be rocky. I get it. Maybe there is a sister or favorite Aunt or long lost cousin you can contact. In order to maintain that connection with them, you have to talk to them some way sometimes. It's easy to use facebook, text messaging, Skype, or an old fashioned phone call to simply say 'Hey, I'm thinking about you. Maybe we should get coffee." You can skip the coffee if that is too much commitment for family.

FRIENDS:

Perhaps you have a lot of friends. I used to mingle among several circles of friends in high school. The groups didn't co-mingle because someone in one group hated someone in another, but I was fine with all of them and they were fine with me. I loved being able to chat with all of them. Little did I realize that this kind of relationship was not one that ended with a best friend who would follow me into adulthood and be there forever.

MARRIAGE:

So I married my best friend. I think this is the best advice I can give anyone. It's not that you cannot live without them, it's that you want to share everything with them because they are your best friend first. Be friends so that you can stay together even if you are mad at each other. Not every relationship is perfect. There are rocky times where you don't see eye-to-eye. If you can love them but not like them right now and weather the storm together, then you can last together forever. Well, until death do you part.

ACQUIANTENCE:

That business connection you just made, and the card in your wallet mingling with all the other cards? If you want to connect with them later on, you have to make a contact soon in order for them to remember you. Same goes for a new facebook friend. Sure you just met due to new life circumstances, and they can see your posts and stalk your wall, but if you want to build anything on that, you have to send quick chats every once in a while.

SPIRITUAL:

I don't talk about religion very much, but I do go to church. I believe that if I want a deeper relationship with my God, I have to commune with Him. No matter what God, god, goddess, or spiritual being you believe in, in order to maintain a relationship with them, you have to reach out and seek them. This is also good practice for small talk with real people. If you are one of those reluctant to chit chat, or like to practice in the mirror, and you are spiritual, do some small talk with your religious figurehead. It also helps you sort out things in your own head. Sometimes the answers come when you pause and think things through.

It's not like Valentine's Day, that comes once a year. Relationships need frequent contact to stay. Sure, it's possible to reconnect to a good friend whom you haven't seen in years and it would be like it was in old times, but sometimes people change and in the meantime, you need to make new friendships to keep you going.

Frequent contact is the way to do that. It makes you vulnerable, having to open up and share some things with others, but your time with them in invaluable. It might just be the 'generous' thing that they needed most!