Category: Blog

By Nicole Phillips There’s something about being kind and being grateful that work together in my mind. I haven’t figured it all out, but it seems that the best way to repay people for stepping out of their comfort zones and helping others is to show them that their actions matter.

People don’t necessarily do things just to hear how ... Read More


By Nicole Phillips

I believe everything happens for a reason. Granted, I live a blessed life. But when I get frustrated with the little things and begin to pout “Why me?” I’ve found the best balm is to be kind to others.

Nancy from Horace agrees. She sent me this email:

“Nicole, I saw your article in the paper the other day, and ... Read More


By Nicole Phillips

Sometimes in life, you are handed a situation that makes no sense at all. You can’t fix it, and those around you don’t know what to do to help.

At those times, a chance meeting with a compassionate soul can be the lifeline you didn’t even know you needed. This is the story of Katie and Carleen.

Most of us ... Read More


By Nicole Phillips

I am a bad cook. I mean, really bad. Even my very sweet husband agrees that I can follow a recipe with the precision of a neurosurgeon, but the things I make just don’t taste very good. My 7-yearold daughter swears that Daddy’s mac-n-cheese tastes better than mine, and she’s right.

I was complaining about this to a woman ... Read More


By Nicole Phillips

“What would Nicole do?” I honestly had a women tell me she thought those words to herself as she watched a man try to pile an entire load of dumped lumber back into his pickup, in the rain, in the middle of 45th Street.

Um … maybe I gave you the wrong idea. I don’t always do the right ... Read More


By Nicole Phillips

I am officially afraid to open my email.

I come from the world of television news. If you didn’t like how I looked, what I said or how I was saying it, you turned to your husband and complained to him. I seldom got to hear feedback from viewers.

Apparently the newspaper world is a whole different game. I never ... Read More


By Nicole Phillips

I’ve heard it’s sinful to do something nice and then tell everyone about it. Well, hopefully the Man Upstairs will forgive me for this.

This past summer I was at the Fargo North pool with my three kids. We walk in, and my 7-year-old daughter chooses the one lounge chair next to an 18-year-old in a shiny gold bikini. ... Read More