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Admired Artist for January 2013

Glass Garden Jeweler – Mark Slaven
http://www.wegotglass.com/

Mark makes beautiful wire wrapped dichroic pendants.  You can find Mark and his wife at art shows throughout the United States and every July, right here in Ann Arbor at the Ann Arbor Art Fair!  His work is beautiful and very affordable.   I have many pieces myself.

Please note, you don’t have to wait for an art fair to come to your area, you can easily order online.  There you will find a collection of pendants, bracelets, earrings, ring holders and chains.  Mark’s Glass Garden has many great gifts for others and at these prices, don’t forget to treat yourself!

2013 Calendars

UNIQUE 2013 CALENDAR
made exclusively for you or as a special gift
 

Schedule a fun photo session for $75 (price applies to 1 hour calendar photo sessions only)
or send in 20 to 40 photos representing your life in 2012.
Additional photo fun. “Mark the date” with a photo for special occasions, such as a birthday.

All custom wall calendars are 8.5″x11″   $29
 
Hawaii wall calendars also available   $25
Add “mark the date” photos to the Hawaii calendars for birthdays, anniversaries  $29

Happy 2013 to everyone!

As we enter this new year of 2013, many of us make promises to do something good for ourselves, such as lose weight, spend more time with loved ones, travel more or to do more volunteer work to help those less fortunate.  Some of these attempts will fall a little short, as we fall back into our old busy schedules, while others of us will find that new and exciting adventures await around the corner. My plan is to do all of the above and more, as I continue to work on my ZEN Lifestyle.

Whatever your choices, I wish you good health and I hope you find a great peace and happiness in your heart throughout the year. May you become closer to your loved ones and friends and may those around you see a stronger, happier, more ZEN-like you.

I also hope to see you this year!  My wish is that my joy of photography, whether taking photographs of you or creating heritage books, will create or strengthen a bond between you and your loved ones for years to come.

Many blessings to you in 2013,

Janice K. Nelson
Z.E.N. Photography Lifestyles

Charity of the Month for January

ADHD Awareness                                        

Having a son with ADHD has brought a lot of awareness
to this cause for my family. It took us years before we finally gave in to the label, but honestly we are now traveling down much happier trails. With support
and knowledge and sometimes medication, life can get much easier.

Our extremely bright son has a great memory, but has short-term memory problems daily.  His organizational skills are a huge struggle, yet he can remember details with facts in no time.  His tic sounds, coughing and movements are questioned by many and varying in degree day to day.  These are difficult for others to understand at times, but we’ve been told he will outgrow these in a few years.

Many times it is very difficult for others to understand what a child with ADHD is going through and what the parents and family deal with every day.  The simplest of requests can turn into a number of guiding yet ultimately exhausting requests to get one thing done.  As parents, we learn that our child may need more time to walk away from a task that he is engaged in, or that he may get more frustrated when he doesn’t think he’s being heard. We’ve learned and we are still learning how to deal with the emotions of our son.

It’s never
normal at our house, whatever that is, but as my cousin says, we have a drummer that marches
to the beat of his own drum and we embrace that beat every day with much
love.

Bring Change To Mind

Originally I was going to share this site Bring Change To Mind in my January Charity section, but in light of what has happened recently in Newtown, Connecticut, I am posting it earlier.  My blog site is not meant to be political or opinionated about big issues.  It’s to show the wonderful lives of the children, families and our pets enjoying our ZEN Lifestyles.  I think this tragedy has touched so many in our world that I feel it important to share a site that a friend had recently posted on Facebook.  Her son, like so many other sons, daughters, parents and grand parents struggle with mental illness. My own mother suffered for years with bi-polar disease, so I know first hand how difficult it is to be the helpless one trying so desperately to find the right help for your struggling loved one.

Like most, I am heartbroken for the families who lost their children, worried for the first responders who will never forget what they saw, but did their jobs to help save others and get answers as quickly as possible, and saddened that those with a mental illness have such a difficult time getting help when they need it, before their illness takes over and hurts others..


Bring Change To Mindhttp://bringchange2mind.org/
Adults
and kids alike are dealing with mental illness in our world. Unfortunately,
most people do not look at it as an illness. Bring Change To Mind is
working to erase the stigma of mental illness. You can help by reading their
website, having an open mind as to how this illness takes over someones life
and how you can help to understand what someone dealing with a mental illness is
going through. With this kind of understanding, you can bring awareness and and
help remove misconceptions for others. Consider holding a drive or even send a
donation their way to help us Bring Change To Mind.

May we find a way to make a positive change for everyone.

Many blessing to you all

Janice K. Nelson

Southwest Michigan Hideaway

One of
our favorite places to stay on the southwest coast of Michigan is at a Bed and
Breakfast called Harbert House http://harberthouse.net/index.html
, in
Harbert, MI. Located near the Warren Dunes, this B & B is run by Nancy, who
is wonderful chef from Chicago. The rooms are very comfortable, with a private
bathroom in each room. If you have diet concerns, she is very accommodating to
making sure her homemade food is perfect for each of you. Believe me; we have
carnivores, vegetarians and someone with celiac disease in our family, not to
mention picky children! Our entire family has rented all of the rooms and stayed
for a week over the holidays! My in-laws now own a home nearby Nancy, but we
still have friends and family stay there when we have an overflow at our home,
and she has become such a part of our family that we invite her to our holidays.
Just tell her Janice sent you!

Changing Seasons

As the seasons change, so will my blog.  I debated a snowy background, but we are still snowless in Ann Arbor and it’s so hard to think snow when we keep holding on to the late fall-like weather outside.  Instead, I’m going with a beautiful holiday star. 

From my family to yours, we wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season!

Blessings from The Nelson Family

Book Publishing

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I’m excited to share some news with you! I’ve recently added a new publishing company to my photography business. This will help me to create and publish a variety of professional books, from photography to novels, poetry to memoirs, trips taken, cookbooks, journals and calendar books, just to name a few. I am excited to be working with a company that provides such beautiful heirloom-pro line quality paper and bindings.

Once we have your book created, you can share it, sell it or view it as an ebook. Drop me a line if you have any questions.

Best!

 

Cupcakes in Cadillac!

I got word from my hometown of Cadillac, MI that there is a new sweet stop on the north side of town.  If you are in the neighborhood visit the bakery and deli on the north
side called The Sweetest
Things
. In the bakery they make gourmet cupcakes with a variety
of fillings. If you are in the mood for lunch, they also make wraps and panini’s
served on authentic Italian bread.
 
This is a brand new business with exciting
flavors to try, and what a great way to support a local family business. The
next time I’m up north you can bet I won’t pass this one by! YUM!