Make the Harder Choice Easier!

 In my last post, I talked about needing to get in the basics. How do we make it easier to choose those things when there are options that have so much more appeal?

Imagine with me- think of a favorite go-to pastime of yours and  now compare it against a dreaded must-do chore. Read a book or clean the floors, sit and eat a cookie or fold the laundry If that’s your choice, you’re putting an easy against a hard so choosing the hard option is going to be really, really hard. It’s like the late-night choice of watch another episode or go get ready for bed. Which are we more likely to choose given that easy-hard choice. 

So how do we bring our options into balance? 

We have to prep for success. If we get ready for bed before we sit down to watch the show it makes the choice watch another episode or go to bed. That’s a more balanced easy-easy choice.  

To take it a step further, we can make it easy to choose the harder option by making the easy option hard. For example- using the same choice- to make watching another episode HARD we could put a timer on the wifi so it shuts off at 10:30 or 11 pm every night. Then getting another episode going becomes harder than just going to bed because we’d have to go override the timer, wait for the wifi to kick-in again and the show to load. So if the choice is do all that or go to bed it switches it to a hard-easy choice. If it’s eating junk, don’t buy it when you’re at the store and then the choice between eating something nourishing and eating the yummy junk can be an easy-hard where to eat that you’d have to go out and get it. Prepping the healthy food ahead also makes that an easier choice. 

So try to set up your life to make the need-to’s the easy choice. Today I was thinking about exercise and had the choice to hit the treadmill or do a work-out video. I didn’t want to do either but my choice wasn’t treadmill or not exercise so I was able to think of exercise that sounded more enticing- I found some youtube line dance videos to dance along to as a change for a lower-mood day. To get my morning prayers in, I used to have the choice between stopping everything to get in a prayer-if I remembered- or moving on with my morning- now I’ve made the choice- stay in bed and say morning prayer or get up and start the day. It’s an easy-hard. I enjoy that time kneeling in my bed under my covers praying before getting up! Find ways to make the choice easy! 

What if we started prioritizing our needs? 

Brooke Snow from the Brooke Snow Podcast said the following,

“The Lord knows we have need of these things. Your physiology comes before your psychology. Take care of your body and you’ll have an easier time taking care of your mind…Do all you can to take care of those basics for you and for your family every day. Is there some area in those basic needs that you can optimize? Can you work on getting more sleep or better sleep? Can you work on getting more real nourishing food into your diet? Can you work on moving your body in a way that connects you to yourself or connects you to heaven and to earth? Watch how it naturally prepares the way for those other needs to come into place! When you’ve taken care of your body you create space to receive the other needs in your life. Those needs of love and belonging and optimally being your best self. There’s wisdom in order.  By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Imagine your life taking care of your body first so you can take better care of your mind.”

Our physiology comes before our psychology. As a therapist, we are trained to ALWAYS, ALWAYS rule-out any medical problems that may be manifesting as mental health problems or medications that may be causing symptoms, etc. Physiology before psychology.

So what if we took responsibility for our own lives and made any changes we feel are needed. What if doing these basic things became the easy choice for us?

We can prepare ahead to make the harder choices easier and the easier choices harder. We can try to bring more balance to our choices so we’re not defaulting to the path of least resistance or the biggest dopamine hit. We want to avoid making these basic needs a hard option that is going to be really, really hard and instead make our fun options with no reward a little harder. Because again, taking care of ourselves is the best investment we can ever make and allows us to then make our biggest contribution in every worthy endeavor we pursue including our family, our community, our work and our church endeavors. 

May even your hard days be filled with good things! 

Where to Focus on Hard Days

Last month we talked about being present, which was great for me while I was away on vacation with fun, engaging things to be involved in and PRESENT at. Now I’m home and I find myself wanting to shift away from being present now that I’m back to the quiet life and facing some challenges. Being present is SO MUCH HARDER in the midst of trials or negative emotions. So for others going through the hard stuff, I want to connect it to this month of taking responsibility. 

When we face the hard things, we need to shift our focus to the basics. We need to make sure we are looking out for our incredible bodies and our amazing Spirits. Ask yourself: 

• Am I getting enough sleep? 

• Am I praying? 

• Am I reading my scriptures? 

• Am I moving my body through exercise? 

• Am I connecting with other people? 

• Am I engaging in meaningful work? 

• Am I eating for nutrition? 

• Am I drinking enough water?

• Am I getting out?

Think about a time when you weren’t getting enough sleep, or didn’t have meaningful prayers, or weren’t reading your scriptures, or weren’t exercising, or weren’t connecting with other people or doing meaningful things with your time, or weren’t getting out or were just eating junk! How were you feeling? I know when I get off with more than a few of these, I   feel it. This past year, I’ve gotten better at some of these things- like exercise- and before that, I probably would have told you that not exercising doesn’t affect me. However, since being more regular with it, I notice when I haven’t been doing it! I feel it. On my trip, I wasn’t exercising and I FELT it! I felt restless. I felt like I had less energy. I didn’t feel productive or as proud of myself. :) It’s the same with all of these things. Not doing them affects us more than we realize. Also, you may have any different core things that YOU need to do every day. Those are the things to move your focus to on the harder days. Get the basics in! 

Greg McKeown, who wrote the excellent book, Essentialism, and who is also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints addresses this topic in his book. He says, “The best asset we have for making a contribution to the world is ourselves. If we underinvest in ourselves, and by that I mean our minds, our bodies, our spirits, we damage the very tool we need to make our highest contribution. One of the most common ways people damage this asset is through a lack of sleep.

Sleep is what allows us to operate at our highest level of contribution so that we can achieve more, in less time. By “protecting their asset”, they are able to go about their daily lives with a reserve of energy, creativity, and problem-solving ability to call upon when needed.” (1)

You’ll need to clear out some of the clutter in your life- the extra things that make you have to choose between them and these basics! How many of you have heard the quote “If you don't have time to pray and read the scriptures, you are busier than God ever intended you to be.” (2) I found that quote attributed to Matthew Kelly, an author, speaker, and many things (see below for link to his bio). I think there’s a lot of truth to that. I feel like over the past 5+, our church leaders have been encouraging this back-to-the-basics life where we, as a recent bishop I had said, make what many of us refer to as “the primary answers” of primary importance, rather than secondary to some other lower pursuit.” (Bishop Adam McDonald of the Valencia Ward of the Tucson South Stake).

Some days are harder than others. On those harder days, we’ve got to shift our priorities and be gentler with ourselves. We need to find space to take care of the basics- getting sleep, eating nourishing food, drinking water, praying, reading the scriptures, meaningfully connecting with others, getting out, and perhaps doing something with our time that is meaningful in some way. On those days we really need to allow ourselves to get rid of the excess. Those things that drain our time and energy and keep us from choosing the things that are needful. Getting the basics in help us stay afloat, even in the midst of our difficult days.

1. Essentialism by Greg McKeown: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18077875-essentialism

2. About Matthew Kelly: https://www.matthewkelly.com/about

Psalms FHE: Make Your Own Psalm

 Make Your Own Psalm

We had so much fun putting phrases from Psalms together to write our own for FHE last night!

I copied a few dozen phrases I had marked in my reading this week and printed off a few copies, then cut them into strips and let my kids choose what phrases they wanted to use in writing out their own Psalm. It was SO fun, some of us did 2! I was a little surprised how much my kids (12, 10, 6) embraced it. We glued them onto cardstock using white liquid glue.

The printable file is here. It was SO fun, some of us did 2! These phrases are from Psalms 1-36.

The Rise of Anxiety Among the Young

This past fall I crawled into the tent I was sharing with my daughter, my niece and nephew and my nephew was fast asleep but the girls were still up chatting. This was my 2nd or 3rd time tenting with these two and it was not uncommon for them to be up late chatting. This time, however, their conversation was different. They were talking about REAL LIFE struggles instead of the usual light chatter. They related that my niece had told my daughter she’d been struggling at school a lot with anxiety! My daughter had told her about my job and tried to teach her the trick I’m going to teach you today. I loved that they were having that conversation and especially that my daughter had actually sort-of listened as I have tried to teach her this cool trick.

Over the rest of our trip, I spent some time teaching my niece a few of the shortcuts to success that I love for anxiety and was reviewing them with her while we were in the hot tub on one of our last days. My nephew came in and asked what in the world we were talking about so we told him and he said he actually feels a lot of anxiety too sometimes! It made me wonder how many kids would agree that they are actually struggling with anxiety sometimes too! Would it be the majority? Would it be half? 

This camping trip was a week or so after our Ward Primary Program and I’m in the Primary Presidency, so was heavily involved with the program. It was the first in 2 years because we weren’t attending together in 2020. The kids weren’t as used to the programs and some have a hard time with it regardless, but I was sad to see SO many REALLY struggle with feelings of apprehension or even anxiety about participating or being in front of the congregation or even just their peers. But it makes me wonder, again- How many would admit that they struggle with anxiety too??

I know I have also shared that my daughter struggles with anxiety. 

The picture this illuminates for me is alarming. Anxiety is on the rise and our young people are experiencing it in a very real way! A definition I read for anxiety from a New York Times Article entitled,  “Why Are More Teenagers Than Ever Suffering From Severe Anxiety?, states that anxiety is simply ”The overestimation of danger and the underestimation of our ability to cope.(1) So what can we do about this other pandemic, the pandemic of anxiety? I hope to teach you some of my shortcuts so that you can use them and teach them too!

So first, does fight, flight or freeze sound familiar to you? This is what kicks in when our brain is in emergency mode. We enter a hyper-alert state where we are ready to jump immediately into action solving for an immediate threat. But people are spending more and more time in this hyper-arousal state, which is meant to be only for true emergencies. Like forgetting our homework? Or a change in our routine? Or running late? Are these true emergencies? Our brains seem to think so these days. Our bodies get flooded with stress hormones which prep us for action. This takes us out of thinking mode and moves us into doing mode. It takes our focus and energy away from healing, relaxation, digestion, and higher thought. It is the opposite of rest and digest. It is the opposite of contentment and peace. That hyper-arousal state is exhausting and difficult to maintain outside of the rare, occasional times it is meant for. Hopefully this can inform why kids come home from school sometimes exhausted or why they are sometimes misbehaving in class. 

Anxiety is on the rise. Our brains are misconstruing everyday minor stressors as major emergencies, triggering fight, flight or freeze mode to kick in. We can start questioning our thinking. Try asking yourself this question- Will this matter tomorrow? or even, Will this matter in a month or a in a year? These questions can help us override fight, flight or freeze mode. Later this week, I'll also share my two favorite hacks for switching over to rest and digest mode.

1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201905/longer-exhalations-are-easy-way-hack-your-vagus-nerve

Can I Get a Validation Please?

Have any of you seen the Youtube video called Validation by Kurt Kuenne from 2015 with over ten million views? It begins with people lining up for parking validation in a parking garage and instead of just validating their ticket stub, the character takes his job of validation literally and validates each person in line, saying things like,

“You. You are awesome!...Someday people are going to see you for what you really are. You are great!”

and

“You work so hard! What you do is so important!”

The people being validated are always so surprised, returning his compliments with “Really? You really think so?” or things like  “That’s so good to hear. Most times I feel like people don’t recognize that.” Check it out!!

Isn't that the best?!

A Healthline Article gives this great insight, “Support doesn’t require you to fully understand a problem or provide a solution. Often, it involves nothing more than validation. When you validate someone, you’re letting them know you see and understand their perspective.” ((healthline link)) As I've mentioned previously, validation is not agreeing, teaching, correcting or anything more than simply letting someone be heard. It could change a life which could have far-reaching ripples.

One practice we have in our home for validation is when we begin our weekly Family Council, we start it off with Positive Feedback and recognize each other or demonstrate that we SEE each other and recognize efforts and positive activities by each person throughout the week. I LOVE seeing my kids recognizing each other, having them routinely giving us an extra thank you for the things we do for them, and having that space where they are used to us highlighting their triumphs.

So many are simply seeking validation. Let's try to notice this in the people around us and take the step to validate when we feel able to do so.

Ever Feel Like No One SEES You?

Being a young mom with little kids was really hard for me. I loved it! But it was hard. Can anyone relate?

We moved out-of-state for grad school away from our whole support system- everyone we knew- and I had a 10-month-old and a 2-year-old. We moved again just over a year and a half later. Those days were hard. Those moves were hard. Upon arriving, I didn’t know the areas or anyone and felt isolated and stuck inside with two little kids. Not knowing anyone meant very few breaks. My husband at the time was in school and then in a demanding job. He was great to help out when he was home, but the days were long. In the midst of this time I read a blog post of a mom with older kids remembering those days- something similar to this post I found that says, 

“For you moms who are in the trenches with little ones, I See You, and I Remember How Hard it Was!”

She painted the picture of the daily struggles in a way that felt very real and extremely validating. And she gave encouragement similar to this in the same post, 

“Your babies will grow up. They will need you a little bit less. And you will someday get to gather your thoughts, think for yourself, and use your brain for things that you’re passionate about (outside of your family). (https://justhomemaking.com/tired-mom/)

Hearing those similar words back then made being that mom of little ones suddenly feel lighter just by the simple act of having been seen by this complete stranger. 

Have you ever experienced something like that? I think seeing and being seen would BE the change needed in the world to stop the loneliness, isolation and anger that drives people to commit violent acts or take lives including their own. As you join me today, I want you to seriously consider if you think you can help me in this effort?

In 2017 I posted to Facebook these words: “What would it be like if we all SAW each other. Instead of walking down the street and ignoring other people or avoiding eye contact, what if we truly looked into everyone's eyes and wordlessly said I see you! I see you momma with those young kids and their incessant needs. I see you homeless person who is hungry and has given away the last of their dignity to hold up a sign on a corner. I see you person who is new. I see you person who is crying. I see you person who is arguing with someone you know. I see you and I can't solve your problems or take them away, but I'll see them and carry a little of that weight with me in hopes it will make it the tiniest bit lighter for you. I see you. Thanks for seeing me too.”

What are your first thoughts as you hear that? Does it sound easy? Does it sound hard? Most times it is probably both. We worry how we will be received. We worry, the person does not want to be noticed. And maybe that’s true sometimes but I want to take you back to my first story- even if we are inclined to hide, having been seen is so validating. We used to live in Tucson, Arizona and because of the mild winters there were a lot of homeless people around. Have you had the experience of being stopped at a stop light with a homeless person on the corner? Do you look away? Do you avoid their eyes? I try to see them. Even if I have nothing to give them, I try to meet their eyes and let them know they are seen and I feel for their situation. I try to give them a compassionate smile. 

One of the responses I received to that Facebook post was from my sister-in-law, Amberlee. She replied, “This is so inspirational! It seems our world has forgotten this very basic concept. Wouldn't it be great if we all took a step back to really understand and withhold all judgment. Our energy is all connected and even sending love and compassion through our thoughts I believe can be felt by others. Thanks for sharing.”

I love that response- It would be great if we all took a step back to really understand and withhold all judgment!

Sister Jean B. Bingham said in the October 2016 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “One of the most significant ways we can develop and demonstrate love for our neighbor is through being generous in our thoughts and words. Some years ago a cherished friend noted, “The greatest form of charity may be to withhold judgment.”4 That is still true today. (1)

in 2015, Inside Edition highlighted special education teacher, Chris Ulmer, who “starts each morning a little different than most educators. He takes the time to compliment each and every one of his students at Mainspring Academy in Jacksonville, Florida.” It talks about the difference that makes in the lives of his students. (2) These individuals are doing the service of seeing people.

I have a unique job where I get to meet one-on-one with people who come for counseling and invite me into the space of seeing them. I feel like it is a sacred experience to be invited in like that. I have the opportunity to allow my clients to share all their dirt and not be rejected or judged because of it. Doesn't that sound like something we'd want to bring into our every day lives?

We've used the Reading for All Learners beginner readers to help our kids learn to read and the first few books just have a few words that are repeated over and over and one of the phrases is see me. SEE ME! See me? Over and over. How many of us are giving out that cry? 

Are you taking the time to SEE and RECOGNIZE the people around you? Do you give the gift of withholding judgment? Do you share the burdens you see just a little?

I invite you to make this a practice. Try to SEE someone today. Let them know you see them by a compassionate smile, a word of encouragement or praise, or a kind gesture.  

Works Cited:

1 ://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2016/10/i-will-bring-the-light-of-the-gospel-into-my-home?lang=eng

2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UZ_lWr028o

When you feel like Every Parent Should Know How to Help Their Child- Yet You Don't

Do you ever feel like you should have all the answers? Maybe as a leader, or a parent, or a teacher, or in receiving revelation? I know I have.

            A recent time I was really struggling was a few years ago when my youngest child as a toddler had special needs- he wouldn't let me leave him anywhere. My husband didn't believe there was something ACTUALLY wrong with him because it wasn’t severe, but it was crippling for me. I felt like I couldn't get a job to help support us through my husband’s PhD. I couldn’t leave him with a babysitter. Nursery was absolutely not happening despite valiant efforts on my part and the part of an incredible nursery leader! This made fulfilling my calling on Sundays in the Relief Society Presidency extremely difficult. My daughter was also struggling at this point with anxiety that was showing up in a few different ways. And you guys, I have a degree in this! I felt like, as their mom AND as a mental health professional, I SHOULD be able to help them or at least know what to do. But I didn't! And I didn't know where to turn. I shared my concerns with others I regularly interacted with and finally with their pediatrician who was able to point us to resources. And guess what, the people at those resources didn't know what to do either. But we explored solutions together and discovered that one of the things we were dealing with was Sensory Processing Disorder! It was a long process but it was so validating and helpful to finally have an explanation and reason for what was going on. That would not have been possible if I hadn't talked about our struggles and admitted that I did not have all the answers. And guess what!? None of us have all the answers! Zero. And that's okay. I would really love you all to say "I don't have all the answers, and it's okay!!" The big secret is, we're not supposed to have all the answers. Sometimes I feel like God intentionally gives pieces of the puzzle to a few people who he brings together to be able to see the big picture--because he does not want us to have to struggle alone.

           
As member's of Christ's restored church, we sometimes feel like if God gives us a responsibility or calling, we should have the answers we need to fulfill that responsibility. We feel like he will just endow us with all the know-how we'll need or give us direct revelation for everything. Sometimes he will do that and he is certainly capable of doing that, but good revelation is based on good information as President Nelson so beautifully taught us when he was called to be the Prophet. We have access to information, people, and resources in an incredible way in this time-period with knowledge being shared instantly around the world.

            Every parent needs help knowing how to help their children. Every married person needs help knowing how to help their spouse or how to even be married. Every member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints needs help learning how to access God and live the gospel. Every leader needs help knowing how to lead. This is why we routinely have trainings and conferences. This learning can only happen as we meekly admit that we don't have all the answers.  

            So some of you may be thinking, but what about the whole revelation/answers from heaven piece. And we don't want to miss that vital piece. Well, revelation and answers often come as we COUNSEL with others. Unless we have a conversation about the myriad of things I have experience with, you may not know I have information and resources to share about those things. YOU might have information about a myriad of things I am needing information or guidance on and I won't know that until I start having conversations or seeking that information. And here is the piece on revelation- God will help us know WHO to talk with or WHERE to seek out the information we are looking for. Has this ever happened to you? You are pondering a question and someone comes to mind or you have the thought to listen to a certain podcast or conference talk. Or you have the thought to go to a certain event where there's a certain person who knows exactly what resources you need?

            One of the reasons we have struggles is so we learn how to help others who may go through something similar. And one of the reasons we are given responsibilities- within the church or as a parent or employee or leader- is to learn and grow. We're not supposed to have all the answers.

            I was able to get help and support for my children. I had people helping me muddle through the possibilities until we figured out what was going on. I had actionable steps and tools to use to help them and find my life again! It wasn't all about what they were struggling with anymore. And I wasn't feeling so alone or overwhelmed anymore.

            So my challenge for you today is Find Your Help! Open your mouth and talk about your experience and problem- not with the intent for sympathy or to complain (maybe that's a bonus) but with the intent to figure out who you need to talk to. Search the internet. Search the library. Search podcasts. Youtube. We live in an age of information sharing and someone out there is having an experience like you and has made a breakthrough! Pray to find those people! Search to find those people. And along the road, you just may have the blessing of being that person for someone else. 

If you are already on the other side of some trials, which I think applies to all of us, be open about those as you feel able to do so. I promise as you do, it will bless those around you. You will have deeper and fuller relationships and even if you don’t feel like you have any answers, just talking about the experience can help others not feel so alone. 

Reyna Aburto has said, "when we open up about our emotional challenges, admitting we are not perfect, we give others permission to share their struggles. Together we realize there is hope and we do not have to suffer alone."(1)

1. Reyna I. Aburto. Thru cloud and sunshine, lord, abide with me! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved June 14, 2022, from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/10/31aburto?lang=eng

We Have Been Called By God

God has chosen us as a people to share the good news of the Gospel with the world. What else do we have to share? Will they see us as distinct and different in happy ways? Can we be part of those who save–within our own families and beyond? People are literally dying out there right now. Hope is frail. It needs fuel. It needs you. 

Three years ago I felt called back to work to help those who are struggling yet STRUGGLING to find help. I heard the waitlist to get into the church’s Family Services at the time where I was living was 9-months- long. I KNEW that those people had already been struggling for MONTHS to finally have had the courage to reach out for help or to be finally noticed as needing help. It felt like sudden unrest or discontent with doing the same things- like my time for playgroups was over. I could not enjoy them in the same way suddenly. And feeling unrest with not using my degree when people needed my help. I had felt peace with that for years and then it was gone.

. 

This is happening everywhere right now. Our young people especially are struggling. Now I am feeling a need to shift more from counseling to coaching so I can reach more people without the big financial burden of one-on-one mental health counseling. This has felt like a silent pull and consistent ideas- it's frequently what occupies my idle thoughts. I can't turn from it because it's always before me in some way. I’m comforted by the prospect of being able to help more people faster, but I also realized it does not take a Mental Health Professional to support these people! YOU can learn the tools that will help your family, your friends, your stewardship within the church, and beyond into your communities. You can learn the tools that will also help YOU.

So how can we be an influence for good when we struggle day after day within our own families or sometimes within our own head or heart? I recently heard that the Lord loves effort. With each of us making small daily efforts, the compounding effect is huge!

We are all needed. We have been chosen to bless all the families of the Earth. We can be a happy people. We can be gentle, and long-suffering. We can look forward with faith and optimism knowing the Lord is on our side and he will consecrate our afflictions for our good and it will all work out according to his great and merciful plan. We can do this! We need YOU to be strong and we need ME to be strong. We need to ALL work on becoming stronger together.

Sacred Grove Painting Tutorial

Ready to paint? I read a book last night with my son where Pete the Cat had done some drawings others didn't like and so he decided he couldn't draw. They helped him remember that art is for everyone, it should be fun and it's about the joy it can bring. So remember that as you begin any art project. Try to have fun and it's okay to laugh at yourself!  

Here is an alternate tutorial with a different look. I did this tutorial a few times to practice up and never liked how it turned out. We did this with the Young Women in our church group.

YouTube Tutorial Sacred Grove

We also did this tutorial as a Relief Society but stopped before adding the couple with the umbrella. This one was a lot easier but I decided to try it again with color and what I had at home. I wasn't able to get the same effect with so many different colors but could be fun to try as is or play with the color more.  

Alternate Tutorial

So for my friend who is wanting to try again and add color I documented my process to share-

I didn't end up using the knife except for removing or moving paint and only ended up using 4 of the brushes and the sponges. 

I ended up needing almost double the white. I used my 1/2 inch brush. Crisscross downward strokes work well. Spread the white alone first and then start moving into the blue slowly and then continue moving outward getting more blue gradually on your brush.

I dipped the tip of my paintbrush in my water to help me blend.

I dipped into the water again and just used what was left on my brush to blend straight across the horizon and then bringing it down to make a path. You can choose if you want a path.

Start dabbing the paint starting with the lighter colors and getting into darker trying not to blend them together much. 

Try to shape your path a little more and shape shadows curving down from the outer edges toward the middle of the bottom. 

Again adding a little water to the tip of your brush, begin to clean the brush as you create edging on the path and move up the horizon with the lighter green. Rinse your brush.

Add yellow and green paint to your palate which can be a plate, piece of foil, or whatever you have to use. You can pull apart the sponge a little to make a bumpy surface. You can substitute a bundle of q-tips or crumpled foil if you don't have a painting sponge/sea sponge like this. Tap color onto the canvas again starting with lighter and moving darker.

I used a brush half the size as the one I used for the sky. I dabbed some green and then I created a mix of white and green with some water and dabbed the paint onto the canvas/paper.

You can continue to clean your brush onto the canvas adding a little water if needed. Note if you're using a canvas to keep the water to a very minimum if you want the color to last. Finish the background leaving a line of sky.

Using dark brown or a mix of black and brown, dip a new brush or rinse your brush and dab on the sponge or a paper towel to get rid of excess water.  We will start forming the trees. Darker trunks are closer to the bottom and span from the lower canvas toward the top. I like to have an idea where my darker trees will be and then do the lighter trees behind first. These go lighter and shorter as you move up the canvas. A little water on your brush and a skinnier brush make forming the smaller trees and branches easier. If you want to get into more detail, the trunks would be darker on the opposite side of the white spot in the middle of the canvas. Skinny trees can be difficult so you may want to practice on a different paper first. 

*Note paint can be darkened by adding a tiny bit of black and lightened by adding white. You can create a huge variety of color using just the original color and degrees of black and white.* 

Work in the shadows and I cleaned my brush on the path making it darker in the middle. I had to fix the back part of the path at the end so work carefully. You may want to note the change I made in the coloring and the back of the path at the end. You path can be in any state of upkeep with a more natural path or a maintained, brush free path. I included another example of a path I did that has different coloring. It can also be as skinny or wide as you want!

Example of a prior path.

I added more shadow behind the trees and angling down.

I then worked on adding the foreleaves on the trees. I added a brighter green to make these lighter leaves called shamrock green and mixed it with the ochre yellow for a variant. Make sure you do this in patches so there is a lot of variation and negative space. 

Add lighter color to the top of the leaves again remembering where the light is toward the middle.

Add some blending and detail to the foreground. Make sure the placement of everything makes sense- foliage either behind or in front of the trunks closest and branches to trees in the front also in front. You can make the grove as dark and dense as you want and bring the foliage up the trunks as much as you want as well. Add darker leaves around the outer edge to bring the focus toward the lighter horizon and frame your painting. Decide when you want to be done and stick to the timeframe because you can continue to play with it forever. :) Embrace any imperfections because that is what makes nature interesting and what makes your painting more realistic.