July 2023 Calendar

July in Minnesota looks vastly different than July in Arizona. The kids and I were able to escape to Minnesota, for many fun adventures, while Bryce stayed in Arizona to keep the house full of pets up and running. Well, our summer days there look like flowers growing on the side of the road, spending days outdoors running around at the lake, and hiking. One of the flowers that is on the sides of the road, and all over the yard, is the bird’s-foot trefoil, a clover-like plant, and it certainly adds a pop of color to the green everywhere. Minnesota is green and lush, but I see all of this with the desert of Arizona's eye, yet I know that they are also in need of rain. It makes me so happy to get to see a totally different type of flower that doesn’t grow around Arizona, and to get to share it with you!

Summer in Minnesota/A Garden Variety

A photograph of a bird’s-foot trefoil.

How to Download

Save the calendar to your desktop by right-clicking and saving the image, or clicking and dragging the image to your desktop.

Would you like to have a reminder delivered by email every month to download that month’s calendar? Just sign-up below with your email address!

Father's Day e-card

It’s that time! It’s time to wish that special dad, your own dad, your friend, your uncle, or any special dad in your life a very happy Father’s Day!

How to Download

Save the e-card to your desktop by right-clicking and saving the image, or clicking and dragging the image to your desktop. Then just send on the e-card by email.

June 2023 Calendar

June, the month when we get to relax and not rush around getting the kids to school. In June we officially start monsoon season here in Arizona and we all know that monsoon showers bring flowers! Which means that the desert will be alive with color again. Before I get too far ahead of myself, right now it is saguaro blossom season and I couldn’t wait to get out and find some that were short enough that I could capture the beauty without a ladder. I am stunned at how many flowers each cactus has and how each one takes its turn sharing its beauty with the world. May the saguaro brighten your screen and bring a smile to your face this June.

Infinitely Angelic/A Garden Variety

A photograph of a saguaro blossom.

How to Download

Save the calendar to your desktop by right-clicking and saving the image, or clicking and dragging the image to your desktop.

Would you like to have a reminder delivered by email every month to download that month’s calendar? Just sign-up below with your email address!

Mother's Day e-card

It’s that time! It’s time to wish that special mom, your own mom, friend, your sister, or any special mom in your life a very happy Mother’s Day!

How to Download

Save the e-card to your desktop by right-clicking and saving the image, or clicking and dragging the image to your desktop. Then just send on the e-card by email.

May 2023 Calendar

Last month I showed you one of my photographs from Picacho Peak, when my family joined me on an outting, to see the wild flowers. This month I am excited to share a different flower from that same trip. This photograph is of a white tackstem, which is part of the sunflower family, and is native to the southwest and northern Mexico areas. White tackstem isn’t a very large plant they typically grow between 2 to 11 inches. Next year I want to grow some of these in my own garden! I hear that they are great in rock gardens and xeriscapes, and best of all they are a great food source for bees and other pollinators!

Spring Breeze/A Garden Variety

A photograph of a white tackstem.

How to Download

Save the calendar to your desktop by right-clicking and saving the image, or clicking and dragging the image to your desktop.

Would you like to have a reminder delivered by email every month to download that month’s calendar? Just sign-up below with your email address!

April 2023 Calendar

Over springbreak we had a quick get away down to see the wildflowers at Picacho Peak and let me tell you, they are a beautiful sight to see! The blooms typically begin in late February or early March, depending on the rain that we have been getting, and can last through April. Arizona has been getting a lot of rain this year and so the wild flowers were blooming like crazy! Some of the most common wildflowers at Picacho Peak include lupine, brittlebush, California poppies, and even red ocotillo blooms. The wildflowers provide a colorful contrast to the green and brown hues of the desert landscape.

This month you get to bring a little bit of Arizona spring time into your room! Enjoy the lupines and California poppies!

How to Download

Save the calendar to your desktop by right-clicking and saving the image, or clicking and dragging the image to your desktop.

Would you like to have a reminder delivered by email every month to download that month’s calendar? Just sign-up below with your email address!

Small Wins, Big Results!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we all said and focused on the things, with child-like energy, that we are good at?

The other day, as I dropped off my kids at school, I heard a kid tell their dad that they were really good at jumping up on curbs. I didn’t see the kid’s face but I knew it was glowing from being so good at jumping up on the curb. It made me think about how honest and real this was for this kid. They are good at it and they were just letting their dad know that they should watch out for this goodness. Then I thought, if this kid, as with many wise kids, can recognize how good they are at something like this that I as well should be more childlike and embrace this as well!

So, this time in my birthday month I thought I would focus on my small wins and encourage you to also focus on the small things that you do that are as simple as being good at jumping on curbs!

I started running a year ago or so and at that time I was not running very far at all. I was running from power pole to power pole, then I would walk to the next one, then run again. I increased in distance and how long I was running the longer I kept with this new hobby. I would message Bryce, my husband, to tell him I was off to run and today I was running three five-minute runs or two eight-minute runs. Time kept adding up and I would see the next run would be longer and I would think to myself, how will I ever do two ten-minute runs? But, you know what, each time I attempted it, I achieved it!

I was just thinking how I could have NEVER run this far a year ago, but, by taking small steps, just a little bit at a time, I am now running over two miles without stopping or walking! This isn’t a small thing by any means but those small steps led up to something BIG!

So, here is my invitation to you. Take small steps and look back at those small steps and you will see that you have really accomplished a lot! Be like the kid who is good at jumping up on curbs! Celebrate yourself and all that you are doing! Leave a comment with what you are celebrating or what small steps you have taken that have added up to a big result!

March 2023 Calendar

There is a park that I like to go running at after I drop off my kids at school. Late last summer/fall, after all of the wonderful monsoons we had, these exquisite flowers started to pop up. I didn’t recognize them by name and so I did a bit of googling and found out that they were Arizona poppies. Arizona poppies are not actually a poppy plant at all and are thought to be called that because of how they resemble the California poppy. Nonetheless, I love the discovery of different flowers and bright and cheerful they are. May this Arizona poppy brighten your screen throughout March on our journey toward spring!

Coming Home/A Garden Variety

How to Download

Save the calendar to your desktop by right-clicking and saving the image, or clicking and dragging the image to your desktop.

Would you like to have a reminder delivered by email every month to download that month’s calendar? Just sign-up below with your email address!

A Walk in the Desert

I May Be Dreaming/Pointed Elegence

I haven’t always paid attention to the desert and the beauty that I have been surrounded by most of my life. Somehow I missed the gorgeous desert blossoms and blooms and would see only the sharp pointy bits that could hurt me. Then something changed, and I can’t quite tell you what made me take notice, but I finally woke up to the secret that I missed that was all around me. There are times, like now, when the desert puts on a show of color and then there are times when the only green is the green of the cactus.

Now that I have finally taken notice of this beauty I am enjoying taking adventures to the surrounding desert and learning all about the types of cacti that grow in our desert. I know that I knew, long ago, that saguaros grow only in the Sonoran Desert but when you take time to really stop and think about the fact that this desert, which stretches across parts of Arizona, California, and Mexico, are the only place in the world that this plant grows. That is mindblowing and gives you a reason to pause and really take a look.

On this walk I discovered the desert putting on a show with its new growth with this cholla cactus. As I told you, I am just learning about these cacti and so I am unsure if the burgundy will turn into flowers or if it is just new growth. If you know, please tell me, I have been looking but can’t find the answer.

Even though they are beautiful you still want to keep your distance, and see the wickedly sharp spines that want to lock into your flesh!? Yeah, I kept myself clear of the pokie bits and snuck in just close enough to capture the splendor of these cacti.

These guys are sometimes known as “jumping chollas” but they don’t actually jump. They just like to catch a ride on your clothes or skin, ouch, and that is how they reproduce all over the desert by humans and animals taking them from place to place and redistributing them elsewhere in the desert.

Spring Intrigue/Pointed Elegence

Contented/Pointed Elegence

For too long I missed the beauty of a cholla being backlit, no matter the time of day, the sun shining through those white spines is magical!

So, this makes me wonder, what else is right at my fingertips that I have overlooked for far too long? What is waiting around the corner that I am going to start to notice now? What about you, what is something that suddenly came to life for you?

Discovering an Artist

Art by Violet

A couple of days ago Violet walked out of school and was telling me about her art class that day. She handed me her art, while we walked to the car, and as soon as I opened it I knew who the artist was, that they were studying, but I didn’t say anything, as I love to hear about her experience and let her tell me about what happened.

She said, “We were studying an artist today that lived in the desert, she painted images of flowers, and she painted other desert things.” She paused and then said, “But I can’t remember her name, I think you would like her though.”

When I opened up the artwork and I saw a large beautiful flower that Violet had painted. I smiled and said, was her name Georgia O'Keeffe, and she grinned, yes, that was who they had been studying. I told her about my love for O'Keeffe's work, how I had studied her work in college, and how I would LOVE to get to go and see O'Keeffe's museum in Santa Fe, NM.

I love the conversations that we have and love the art that has been part of the kids' lives. We are so lucky to have had some really great art teachers in our kids’ lives. So, thank you to all the beautiful artists and art teachers that make a difference in our children's lives!