First Challenge

                                         

First Challenge

I recently found myself side lined by a very bad cold, which left me spending more days in bed than out of the bed. I surrounded myself with a few of my must haves, my Daily Bread booklet, magazines, cell phone and of course my (paper) notebook. As I was leafing through one of my magazines my thoughts began to turn to the warmer days of spring and summer, days being spent at the beach and entertaining family and friends. This particular magazine had a great recipe for shrimp scampi linguine which looked so delicious. Hence this recipe became my first self challenge for 2012.

I must admit I have never been a real seafood cooking aficionado. But after reading this shrimp recipe I decided to challenge myself to try a new seafood recipe as often as possible this year. Especially with me now residing in a beach resort community where fish, crabs and lobster are in abundance. So for all of my family members and friends your visit will not only include rest, relaxation, and fun in the sun but some delicious seafood dishes prepared by me!

Bon Appetite!

Trish


Thank, God for caring husbands who know how to pamper and care for a sick wife. I am truly grateful that my husband is among that group! Nick thank you for nursing me back to health!

Hey, what’s your in the bed must haves?
Email, Tweet or Facebook me with your special list of must haves.  I would love to hear from you!
*PhotoTljn21@hotmail.com
*PagN721@twitter.com
Trish Nicholas on Facebook

                                         

Maryland Food Bank: Until Hunger Ends
http://www.mdfoodbank.org/


March: Making a Difference
Imagination Library
Founder: Dolly Parton
Please log on to http://www.imaginationlibrary.com/
to find out how this program is making a difference in the lives of children everywhere.

shrimp scampi linguini Photo by Luca Trovato

Trish Nicholas Photography@www.wix.com/TrishN/Trish-Nicholas-Photography

To Purchase Photos Courtesy of Redbubble@ http://www.redbubble.com/people/tmeian
*Please feel free to contact me with any inquiries regarding commercial use of my photographs.

Psalm 145:5
I will meditate on the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works.


See you this summer!

To the ones we LOVE

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and there is so much love in the air. Florist are working overtime, dinner reservations are at a premium, boxes of chocolates are flying off of the shelves, the really great cards are almost gone and jewelry purchases big and small will be presented to the ones we love. When I thought about the many different ways in which we try to express our love on Valentine’s Day I also thought about another way to say I love you.

The month of February has been deemed “American heart” month by the American Heart Association. The American Heart Association would also like for us to take the time this month to remind our loved ones to know their health numbers and to know what to do if a loved one thinks that he or she is experiencing a heart attack... with the focus on love this month I could not think of a better way to say I love you and to say how much I care about you.

For anyone who has lost a loved one to cardiovascular disease or to a stroke we know how important this heart information can be. So have a healthy heart conversation with the ones that we love this Valentine’s Day.

Trish

“For it was not into my ear you wispered, but into my heart.
 It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul” – Judy Garland

Visit the American Heart website to learn more about cardiovascular disease and stroke. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/

Also Shop American Heart @ https://shop.heart.org/
and celebrate National Wear Red Day everyday!

In Loving Memory
Ross Berry Nicholas II
August 12, 1934 – February 6, 2011

February Spotlight:
A unique way to give and to help others in need. If you know of someone that needs a helping hand then check out Givelocally.net!
http://givelocally.net/


The Company Store’s Buy One Give One Program
Buy one comforter and The Company Store will donate one to a homeless child.
http://www.thecompanystore.com/Buy-One-Give-One


Velvet Ring Box (Photographer Unknown)

Trish Nicholas Photography @ www.wix.com/TrishN/Trish-Nicholas-Photography

To Purchase Photos Courtesy of Redbubble @ http://www.redbubble.com/people/tmeian
*Please feel free to contact me with any inquiries regarding commercial use of my photographs.

Happy Valentine's Day! XOXO!

The HGR Method…

What an opportunity to be able to begin again, to start off fresh with new hopes, dreams, goals and aspirations. The goose pimples are forming on my arms as I am writing this… Wow! Yes, we are all excited about the thought of a New Year and what it may bring, but the $64,000 dollar question is how do we keep up this blood rushing through your veins excitement throughout the New Year?

Well, by applying what I call the HGR method, this application is the key to keeping that New Year excitement Alive and Well. HGR is simply this; to Help others in need, Give freely, and Repair relationships especially within our own families. If you have ever experienced helping someone in need, the excitement that you have felt from your actions is priceless. To experience what it really means to give freely leaves the giver feeling just as blessed or even more so than the receiver… blood rushing excitement! And last but not least when you truly seek to repair broken family relations you will open up the door to becoming a whole and healthy person… after all everyone deserves a second chance.

So if you would like to keep that New Year excitement get out there and help someone, make a donation, volunteer your time, run that awareness marathon and say I love you, please forgive me, and give me a second chance. What are you waiting for this is a brand New Year… go on and get out there! You can have an exciting year from start to finish with the HGR method just download it into your brain today!

Trish





Together we can

Feed a village

Raise a Roof

And repair a relationship

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

Lord You love the cheerful giver,
Who with open heart and hand
Blesses freely, as a river
That refreshes all the land. – Murray

*Throughout the New Year…

Featured January Product and Blog:

*The HopeFULL Gift Pack @ http://www.thehopefullcompany.com/


HopeFULL Blog @ http://hopefull.businesscatalyst.com/_blog/The_HopeFULL_Muse


Have a Happy New Year! And enjoy the winter beach Photos by LJN!

*Helping Photos (Photographers Unknown)

Photos: Annual Run & Married Couple by Trish
Trish Nicholas Photography @ www.wix.com/TrishN/Trish-Nicholas-Photography

To Purchase Photos Courtesy of Redbubble @ http://www.redbubble.com/people/tmeian *Please feel free to contact me with any inquiries regarding commercial use of my photographs.

What Is Family?

What is family? Was I asking myself this question because of the eminent holiday season, a time in which so many of us find ourselves gathered together with our family members? And for some it can be a time in which it is “for better or for worst”. For many of us it is not TV’s Cosby family, the typical Hallmark family or even the Blue Bloods’, Regan family. This fictional cop family clearly demonstrates what their family is all about. Each show ends with the family having dinner together on a Sunday at the home of the patriarch.  This act of praying and breaking bread together is a reminder of what family is all about.

Too often we get caught up in what was said and not said, or what we think should have been done or not done by a family member. We lose sleep over it… we stop talking to one another and can’t even remember the last time we uttered a civil word to each other... because of what? over what? And now the holidays are here and just because it is Thanksgiving or Christmas we are all of a sudden suppose to be this big happy family? Well, as anyone who has ever experienced a ‘dust up’ over the holidays knows, that the “suppose” to be, holiday family doesn’t work.

What does work is supporting each other, listening to each other, sharing with genuine truth and honesty, not having the fear of being judged; knowing that in a spirit of love you can be told that you were wrong. Each one of us who is a part of a family unit knows the areas in which we need to work on to strengthen our family and ourselves. May we strive to pray and break bread together and always have the ability to cry together and to laugh together like only a family can do. Not just as ‘Seen On TV’, but also in the real world.

Trish

To Families everywhere have a Wonderful Christmas!
And may it be filled with Love, Joy and Peace
Throughout the New Year!

Trish Nicholas Photography @ www.wix.com/TrishN/Trish-Nicholas-Photography

To Purchase Photos Courtesy of Redbubble @ http://www.redbubble.com/people/tmeian

Please feel free to contact me with any inquiries regarding commercial use of my photographs.

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35 NIV

http://feedingamerica.org/

http://www.toppsinc.org/

http://www.rescue.org/

http://www.stjude.org/

A Gift of Rebirth, Renewal and Hope

Gift – Something given, something that you give as a present, the act of giving something to somebody.

My December Blog posting has always been somewhat of a challenge for me, since December is such a special month. It is a time for giving something and receiving something that is given. The greatest gift that we have ever received gives us the power to have rebirth, renewal and hope. This month is a buzz with new energy, strength and enthusiasm because of a single gift that was given many years ago.

I celebrate this gift throughout the year and take the time at Christmas to remember the gift that was given and received by me and many others. It is a beautiful gift that can not be torn, or ripped or lost or stolen. So as we think about “getting” ready for Christmas, shopping for presents, time away from work and merriment with family and friends, consider the gift that was given. The Bethlehem story is more than a Christmas story it is about receiving a gift.

Trish

St. Luke 2:10-11 And the angel said unto them, fear not for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

The greatest Christmas gift of all
Was never placed beneath a tree,
But lay within a manger
Beneath a star, for all to see. Unknown

May you have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends and a blessed New Year!

* Photo: Winter Street by LJN
Trish Nicholas Photography @ www.wix.com/TrishN/Trish-Nicholas-Photography To Purchase Photos Courtesty of Redbubble @ http://www.redbubble.com/people/tmeian
Please feel free to contact me with any inquiries regarding commercial use of my photographs.

http://www.harmonyproject.org/

http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/

http://joiningforces.uso.org/

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

Stand Still

One day in late August I was outside puttering around in my garden, before I knew it my puttering around turned into working up a serious sweat. It seemed that at the very moment that I needed to cool off an ocean breeze came out of nowhere.  I stopped what I was doing stretched out my arms, tilted my head back and embraced the cool breeze… if you stand still you will feel the breeze.

For many of us our calendar of scheduled activities and events run our lives and dictates how we spend our time and with whom we spend it with.  Well I am here to advocate that we sometimes stand still and feel the breeze whether it is individually or together. Start off by penciling in your or our feel the breeze time.  And for all of those married people please don’t write down the usual dinner out or movie night… boring! Instead think about writing down something new and different this time.  When you open yourself up to trying something new you will find it to be interesting, exciting and very memorable.  Ok, for singles put down what ever it is that you say to yourself that you don’t have time to do or what you would like to do if you had more time to do it… make a commitment to yourself and set aside some time to do it.

Trust me I am not trying to tell you how to run your life. I am simply suggesting that you try something that works and which I have discovered will only enrich your life. So if you stand still you will feel the cool breeze.

Trish

Every day, take some time for yourself. Love yourself. Honor yourself. Give priority to your physical, mental and emotional wellness. – Unknown

Life is a beautiful song that God is teaching us to play. – From Our Daily Bread November 26, 2011


Have a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends!

http://www.philabundance.org/

Trish Photo: Courtesy of LJN Archives

Photos by Trish: @

www.wix.com/TrishN/Trish-Nicholas-Photography

Photos for Purchase Courtesy of Redbubble @ 

http://www.redbubble.com/people/tmeian

Also please feel free to contact me with any inquiries regarding commercial use of my photographs.

My Photography Journey @

http://hubpages.com/hub/A-Photographers-Journey

Reach For the Stars- And Follow Your Dreams

I woke up a few Saturdays ago to an overcast sky followed by rain all day.   A perfect day to be lazy, which in our home on a September Saturday meant watching football games or catching up on reading, that particular day I choose catching up on some reading.  I looked at the various magazines displayed on my end tables in the living room made a selection and settled into a comfortable chair.  I am sure that you can surmise that I had selected a woman’s magazine.  I have been reading this particular woman’s magazine for quite some time and the one thing that has been consistent with this publication is that it continually inspires women to reach for the stars and follow their dreams.  One article in particular just seemed to stay with me; it was the story about I had a simple idea that ended up becoming a viable successful business with the strong inner confidence and strength displayed by the women along with the support from her family members and friends to follow her dream.

As women we all have dreams and for whatever the reason may be we find ourselves putting our dreams on a shelve labeled one day, not now.   And trust me that is ok, but what is not ok is to leave those dreams on that shelf and be satisfied with simply talking about once I had dreamed of doing this. I believe that we are all capable of second acts; we simply need to believe in ourselves and surround ourselves with people we can trust to tell us the truth and to ask us the tuff questions that we wouldn’t ask ourselves.

If you are truly interested in reaching for the stars and following your dreams, whether it be now, tomorrow, or a year from now don’t give up on your dreams. Read those stories about other women who have followed their dreams… their stories are out there. I know that I have been inspired by their stories and I am on the path to following my dreams.

Trish

Enjoy every minute of your second act it will be quite an exciting dance!

*A woman named Holly Robinson Peete with a very special organization:
http://www.hollyrod.org/
Read about her story.

*October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month*
Please remember to schedule your Mammogram!

Keep your heart with all diligence… Ponder the path of your feet. –Proverbs 4:23, 26

*Photo: Dream Window by LJN

Trish Nicholas Photography @
www.wix.com/TrishN/Trish-Nicholas-Photography

Photos For Purchase: Courtesy of Redbubble @ http://www.redbubble.com/people/tmeian
*Also please feel free to contact me with any enquiries regarding commercial use of my photographs.


Follow my Photography Journey @ http://hubpages.com/hub/A-Photographers-Journey
Seventh Installment coming soon!