This magical adventure started as an experiment to create a coloring book using the innovative AI technology, Midjourney. Each generated image was carefully curated and refined over two months to align with my vision of a mystical and affirming coloring experience. The result? A collection of 30 unique and captivating designs that are perfect for both adults and kids aged 8 and up.

The “Mythical Affirmations” coloring book takes you on a voyage through an enchanted world where every creature is a source of inspiration and every scene is a testament to the beauty of our world. It pairs these captivating designs with uplifting affirmations that are sure to leave you feeling inspired and energized.

But the magic doesn’t stop there! This coloring book comes packed with features that add to your coloring experience:

It’s also suitable for a variety of mediums like crayons, colored pencils, alcohol markers, pastels, or gel pens.

In this book, the journey of coloring is just as important as the finished masterpiece. It’s a world of tranquility and boundless creativity, inviting you to relax, create, and grow through a beautiful symphony of colors.

So, are you ready to dive into this magical journey and awaken your inner artist? If your answer is yes, then click here to grab your copy of “Mythical Affirmations” today and embark on this mystical and transformative coloring adventure. Happy coloring!

The post Unleash Your Creativity with “Mythical Affirmations” Coloring Book appeared first on Natasha's World.

For those of you who may not know my story,  please allow me to back track a little…

After graduating from college in 2003, I did some freelance web designing for about a year. After not getting paid fully for a couple of projects, I decided that I needed a break. Weeks later, I ended up traveling to Foxtail Farm where I spent a couple of months doing an organic farming internship. It was there that I learned about Heifer International. The following year, I spent 6 months doing volunteer work at the Heifer International Ranch and Learning Center in Arkansas.

While I was away, I found out that my mother stopped taking some of her meds. Back then she was on about 15 different medications a day. Needless to say, she was experiencing some severe side effects with some of pills and wanted her doctors to wean her off. Being that she was going to a free clinic, her requests fell on deaf ears. She then grew impatient and decided to take matters into her own hands. Sadly, this decision led to some serious consequences. My mom would soon learn how fatal it can be to stop taking certain drugs incorrectly.

On August 26, 2005, 2 weeks after I came home from Arkansas, my mother suffered a cardiac arrest and I watched her die in the ER. Although she was resuscitated, witnessing all of this was probably one of the worst experiences of my life. To make matters worst, I was carrying guilt for all the years of bad attitudes that I had towards her. Even that fateful night, I remember being so annoyed that she made us wait until the last minute to take her to the hospital for the breathing problems she was having. She thought it was asthma and kept putting it off. When she finally couldn’t take it anymore, we ended up having to drive through hurricane Katrina.  We would later learn that my mother’s heart was failing and pumping fluids into her lungs the whole day, hence the breathing problems. I still sometimes wonder if things would have turned out differently if we had acted sooner…

After mom had the cardiac arrest, her prognosis wasn’t good. She was without oxygen for too long and ended having quite a bit of brain  damage. The doctors weren’t hopeful and didn’t expect her to live more than a few days, if that much. Fortunately, mom would prove all of them wrong and live for another 10+ years.  Unfortunately,  she was no longer able to walk, talk or do anything on her own. Although she had a wake/sleep cycle and showed signs of awareness, she was said to be in a persistent vegetative state.

Despite all of this, her health was pretty stable for the next 8+ years. She needed total care, but was able to breath on her own. Then, about 2 years ago, her health started to deteriorate rapidly. She started going in and out of the hospital, almost on a monthly basis. At first I thought it was negligence from the nursing home, but then with each hospital visit she would come back with a new problem. Eventually one of our worst nightmares became a reality – mom needed life support.

After my mother was put on a respirator, everything went downhill from there. Between 2014 and 2015,  mom was in and out of the hospital for pneumonia, developed folliculitis,  and even started to have some kidney problems. The whole family felt helpless as we watched her suffer.

At this point, I wish I could say that things got easier after a while, but they didn’t. As I mentioned in my last post, on February 5th, I got laid off. It was rough, but at least I was able to visit mom more often since I had more time on my hands. Then 18 days later, my mom passed away, surrounded by me and all my siblings. My dad, who apparently was sick and kept it on a down low, would soon follow 2 months later.

Fast forward to the present, it’s been hard. Yet, things are finally starting to quiet down a little. I’ve had a couple of scary mommy moments, which I’ll write about in a future posts, but overall, life is slowly getting back to some level of normal. The holidays were/are rough without my parents, but I’m getting through them.

So, what happens now, you ask? That’s where blogging comes in. I know this sounds like a cliche, but I have some goals for 2016. My hope is that by writing about them down, I could be held accountable – even if it’s from just one person reading this post. It’s a lot easier to quit when no one is watching.

With that said, here are my 2016 goals:

1. Limit Eating out – Most people who know me think that I eat a pretty clean diet already. What they may not know is that I don’t like all the clean up that happens during/after cooking and eat out quite a bit. My goal this new year is to limit eating out to no more than twice a week, if that much.
2. Limit Combining Carbs with Fats – Another thing many may not know about me is that I love foods that are both rich in carbohydrates and fat – 2 things that don’t go well together when one is trying to trim down. My goal for this new year is to limit carbs to less than 10 grams a dish if I’m eating fats and to limit fats to less than 10 grams if I’m eating carbs/starches.  If I need to eat out, I’ll stick with foods that require little to no cooking with fats, such as salads or uncooked sushi. Most restaurants use soybean or canola oil in their dishes anyways, and those fats are about as bad as drinking plastic.
3. Focus on Losing Inches and Fat Rather than Weight – I have absolutely no idea what my ideal weight should be. Even when I was 40 pounds thinner than I am now, I still felt like I was what some would call “skinny fat”. So, instead of focusing on a number on a scale, I’m going to focus on 3 things:
   • Amount of inches lost
   • How I look in the mirror
   • How my clothes fit

   Once a month I may weigh in to track my progress, but the number on the scale won’t be my primary focus.

4. Have a normal Pap Smear at my next OB/Gyn Appointment – To my male readers, I apologize if this is TMI. The OB that I’ve been going to has recently “fired” me as a patient, because I chose to deal with my abnormal pap smear naturally rather than following her advice. I know it’s a gamble, but it’s one that I’m willing to take, for now. I will do whatever procedure is necessary if my next visit is it still abnormal, but all I wanted was the opportunity to try to improve my health my way before allowing a doctor to mess with my body. Maybe it’s because giving birth naturally to my son was so traumatizing, but the last thing I want at this time is for any doctor to come near me with any sort of invasive procedure or sharp instrument, unless it’s absolutely necessary.
5. Improve my credit score – There was a time where my credit score was so amazing, I could walk into a car dealership with no money and leave with a brand new car. I want to be able to have that “buying” power again. I plan on and have already started doing the following:
   • Live beneath my means
   • Cut down on expenses
   • Pay off some hospital bills
   • Stay current with student loans
   • Stay current with credit card bill until I pay if off completely

And that’s all I have for now. For those of you who are still reading, thanks for hanging in there! You are appreciated. I would love to hear from you. How was your 2015? What are some of your goals for 2016? If you hold me accountable, I’ll return the favor. Blessings to you and Happy Holidays.

The post I’m back, for now appeared first on Natasha's World.

Speaking of holidays, this past Thanksgiving reminded me of how much I have to be grateful for. I have been blessed with awesome and patient friends, supportive family, good health, all of my basic necessities and then some, and a job that helps me pay bills and provides me with many opportunities to learn about myself.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

In addition to being grateful for my blessings, I have also made the following 3 realizations about building friendship with men:

1. If I just meet a guy and start falling for him,  maybe what I’m falling for are the character/physical attributes he has that I would want in a future husband.
2. Upon considering Realization #1, I should make a running list of these attributes.
3. If after Realization # 1 & 2  I still have warm and tingly feelings for this new guy,  then I should be careful not to quickly throw my heart at him. Instead, I could consider allowing the relationship to naturally develop into what it’s meant to become.

The three realizations above seem so simple, yet it’s amazing how many women I meet who never take the time to consider any of them, especially # 2 and #3 – and I have been guilty of this before myself. After applying the three realizations above, I find that I have so much more clarity and my friendships are full of depth while being light and fun.

On that note, I will leave you with the words of one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite Disney movies, “Rodgers And Hammerstein’s Cinderella”. This song was sang by both Cinderella and the Prince while they danced the night away. Enjoy and Happy Holidays.

——————————–

Do I love you because you’re beautiful,
or are you beautiful because I love you?
Am I making believe I see in you
a girl too lovely to be really true?

Do I want you because you’re wonderful,
or are you wonderful because I want you?
Are you the sweet invention of a lover’s dream
or are you really as beautiful as you seem?

Am I making believe I see in you
a man too perfect to be really true?
Do I want you because you’re wonderful,
or are you wonderful because I want you?

Are you the sweet invention of a lover’s dream
or are you really as wonderful as you seem?

——————————–

The post December ’08 Updates and a Song appeared first on Natasha's World.

On the same day as election day, I also recieved my Gohonzon, an object of devotion in Nicherin Buddhism. I was introduced to this form of Buddhism by my friend Ricardo weeks prior and haven’t turned back since. As time goes by, I will share more about what I’m learning. In the meantime, you can click here to learn more.

Last but not least, I’ll leave you with the lyrics to one of my favorite songs from the early ’90s. These words describe some of what I’ve been experiencing lately. Until next time…

——————–
Save the Best for Last
sung by Vanessa Williams
——————–

Sometimes the snow comes down in June
Sometimes the sun goes round the moon
I see the passion in your eyes
Sometimes it’s all a big surprise
’cause there was a time when all I did was wish
You’d tell me this was love
Its not the way I hoped or how I planned
But somehow it’s enough

And now we’re standing face to face
Isn’t this world a crazy place
Just when I thought our chance had passed
You go and save the best for last

All of the nights you came to me
When some silly girl had set you free
You wondered how you’d make it through
I wondered what was wrong with you

’cause how could you give your love to someone else
And share your dreams with me
Sometimes the very thing you’re looking for
Is the one thing you can’t see

But now we’re standing face to face
Isn’t this world a crazy place
Just when I thought our chance had passed
You go and save the best for last

Sometimes the very thing you’re looking for
Is the one thing you can’t see

Sometimes the snow comes down in June
Sometimes the sun goes round the moon
Just when I thought our chance had passed
You go and save the best for last

You went and saved the best for last

The post November ’08 Update and a Song appeared first on Natasha's World.

Anyways, I also had my own health scare a few weeks ago.  I was at work when I started experiencing chest pains on my left side. I jokingly told my coworkers that I thought I was having a heart attack and they all bust out laughing and soon I joined them. However, the next day the pain was still there. Then the following morning at 5:30am, I woke up sweating and having a hard time breathing. I knocked on my brothers bedroom door to tell him and he quickly rushed me to the ER .

As soon as I mentioned chest pain, the ER staff did not delay to rush me to the doctor. They drew a lot of blood and injected me with this iodine thing that made me feel like I peed myself.  Then they did a CT scan to make sure I didn’t have some type of clot.  After what felt like hours of waiting, the doctor finally came in to tell me that they found nothing. He gave me a prescription for pain killers and had me take one with some crackers and apple juice. I burped, felt better and it all suddenly made perfect sense. I had bad gas.

As for my weight loss efforts, I have lost about 20 pounds since I last wrote about wanting to lose weight. Most of my success is due to me incorporating more raw foods into my diet and getting more physically active. Eventually, I will write more details on how I was able to achieve this.  It hasn’t been a walk in the park and I did reach a plateau as a result of straying off the wellness path. Good news is that I have been able to maintain my weight and am now ready to pick up where I left off. My goal is to lose the remainder 20 pounds by December 31, 2008.

Well, that’s all for now. Be safe.

The post Updates, Hospitals, Car accident and Weight Loss Success appeared first on Natasha's World.

I have been dealing with a lot of personal dramas, one of which I wrote a little poem about. I normally don’t write poetry, but I was up most of the night and felt this intense desire to share my experience with others. This is the first poem I’ve written in years, so keep that in mind as you read this. Peace.

——————————-

Temptations
by Natasha Pierre-Louis

Your are so beautiful,
Why didn’t I notice you before?
You are delightful,
Your presence moves me to the core.

I want to touch you,
but that probably wouldn’t be fair.
You don’t belong to me,
your owner’s standing over there.

But I don’t mean no harm,
I have no intent to steal…
No need to sound the alarm,
I simply wanted you to feel…

I promise I won’t take
something that doesn’t belong to me.
I promise I won’t break
someone else’s property.

Alas, I better go,
The temptation to steal you is so strong
That person doesn’t know
but my intentions are so wrong.

Maybe one day you’ll be
free to come home and live with me.
Till then we’ll wait to see
if you are truly my destiny.

The post A Poem and an Update appeared first on Natasha's World.

To start off, Happy Independence Day everyone!! I hope you have a safe and fun weekend. The development for this site had to be put on a temporary hold as I had a bit of a stomach issue the past couple of weeks. This weekend, I feel better then ever and am ready to pick up where I left off.

Yes that’s right, while you all over do it on ribs and barbecue chicken, I will be at my computer, working on my site. But I do have every intention to not miss any fireworks tonight. Be safe.

The post July 4th Update appeared first on Natasha's World.

————–

One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me. I was maybe 2 1/2 years old and had just recovered from an accident. Someone had given me a little ‘tea set’ as a get-well gift and it was one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought Daddy a little cup of “tea”, which was just water.

After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was “just the cutest thing!”. My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up. Then she says, “Did it ever occur to you that the only place that baby can reach to get water is the toilet?”

The post An Update and a Cute Story appeared first on Natasha's World.

Now on to the changes. I’m constantly thinking of how I can improve the flow of this site and the user/reader experience. For that reason, I’ve made the following updates:

1. I removed the long colorful buttons that once lived beneath the subscription form. I replaced them with cuter and smaller square buttons.
2. I enhanced this site with Snap Shot. Just in case you’re not familiar with it, Snap Shot enhances links with a visual preview of the destination site. In this way, you get a sneak peek to where a link will lead, without having to leave the site.
   If you should decide that you’re not into this Snap Shot feature, just click on the Options icon and select “Disable”. Cool huh?
3. Last, I removed the the 125×125 ads, in exception for the World Vision and Second Life banners. I’ve decided that I’m going to create a Links Page, where I’ll list cool resources, quality products and services that I believe are worth promoting.

Well, that’s all for now. As I make more changes, I’ll post about them so that you won’t be confused when you stop by. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to drop me a note. Be safe tonight and party responsibly.

The post New Years Greeting & Changes to this Site appeared first on Natasha's World.