Happy Spring, Happy Linky-love, Happy Winnings!

I can't believe it's almost Easter Sunday! They say we will never again see Easter this early in our lifetimes. I can't remember why . . . something with the moon . . . but how interesting that is! It's really really early this year but maybe it's a sign that we are going to have bulbs poking their beautiful heads up earlier than usual? I hope so. When I peeked outside this morning, I saw some new green grass poking out above the dead wintry grass. What a nice feeling to see beautiful colors of nature.

It is our first spring here at the new house and it's really bittersweet for me. While I'm excited to have the first spring here in the new house because it means my children have a new year of being a kid with brand new adventures, it's hard for me because I really really really miss where we use to live. Like tons. I don't know. It's just hard. There are many a days where I want to be back there. I hold back tears thinking about it. You know me, attachment to everything.

But on the positive side of this, with spring brings lots of new things. New flowers, of course, which I absolutely can't wait for. Neil and I can't wait to get our hands dirty and begin getting a new garden started and design a new perennial garden for our new and very empty back yard. With spring also brings new adventures for the kids. I'm hoping Maia will be able to actually pedal on her bike this year. Last year we had to push her everywhere and that got awfully tiring! I also am excited to find a walking trail for us to go on. Back in D-town we had a "route" we walked every single night. It equaled out to 1-2 miles. It should be interesting here in this new very small town because it's not all that big and 1 mile would take us to the other side of town!

In the blogging world, spring for me means finding new blogging friends. And with the Ultimate Blog Party, I managed to find a handful of friends through their fantastic blogs. Here's s a sampling of my faves in no particular order:

Minimalist Mommy
Adventures of Wondermommy
Robin Bielman
Valley Girl - I like her name, don't you? :c)
Candi @ All Day Night
Write From Karen
Sheena @ Mommy Daddy Blog
Jimaie.marie
Jessica in Rome
my melange
Conversations with my HairdryerA Sample of Jennifer's Thoughts (we have tons in common!)
Thoughts From Dimple Queen
Noel from Pretty By Nature
Becoming Me
Little Bird Creations
Daily Randomness
Figments
The Impoverished Preppy

Now I have to figure out how I'm going to keep up reading these when I constantly already have troubles doing so with the ones I already have in my bloglines . . . { sigh . . . }

So one of the people I mentioned above won my contest!!! Only FIVE people answered correctly! I give huge kudos to these five { Aimee, Candi, Erin, Jennifer, and Katie } because there were a lot of questions to answer and a lot of reading to answer those questions! I truly thank everyone who entered because it means a) you wanted to learn more about me and/or b) you really really wanted a canvas print! Either way, thank you. I had a lot of fun doing the contest and I hope this means you learned enough about me to want to come back.

Now for the winner . . . drum roll . . . Noah drew the name for me this morning . . . and he drew . . . Candi!! Yay, Candi!! I will be emailing you to find out how you want to go about the canvas. Be looking for your favorite digital photos on your computer! Congratulations, Candi! I'm so excited to have met you and I look forward to our future blogging frenzies. :c) Sorry dear Aimee, Erin, Jennifer and Katie . . . I hope to have more contests again with the same awesome prize! Thanks so so much for playing and being so loyal!

Anyone interested in the answers? Let me know and I'll post them. I feel like this post has probably already gotten a tad bit long, eh?

We're off to see the Easter bunny tonight. We've never done it before (Santa, either) so I think we may give it a try finally. Happy spring, happy Linky-love (amanda, I hope you don't mind I stole that slogan from you -- please forgive your bbbf) and happy winnings to Candi!

Game Over!

So . . . it's time for answers to the Val Quiz!

I think I have answered them all. The only one I didn't answer was what my dad does for a living. So . . . I will just tell you. He's a seed corn manager for a seed company. If you aren't from a farm community you'll probably wonder what in the world that is, but I don't have time to get into it now. Just know he is in the agriculture business :)

Please send me your answers by tomorrow, Wednesday March 19th at noon CST. Answers not received by then will not be counted. Even if you don't have all 25, I suggest sending them anyway because if someone with all 25 is wrong with one answer, well, they would then only have 24 answered correctly too, right?. Remember, the winner will receive a canvas gallery wrap! Woo-hooo!

Check out the first post with the questions, rules, requirements and my email addy.

Thank you for visiting and playing --- it's been such fun! Hope you'll be back!

I'll post the winner tomorrow evening!!!!!

It's time to . . . PARTY ON!

{ *** This is a "sticky" . . . brand NEW posts below!! One of them being about photography and my work space! *** }


Finally it's blog party time again at 5 Minutes for Mom!

Last year was my first year participating and it was one of the best times in my blogging life. I met so many wonderful blogging women, many of whom I became close friends with, and one of whom I MET IN REAL LIFE just this past October. So I really do consider it a party with other women . . . a way to connect with other stay-at-home work-from-home mommies . . . and a way to find friendships with these super-fabulous women. They're blessings in my life and I am quite excited to meet more of these amazing women starting TODAY! It's a blast of a time not to be missed.

Oh, and apparently I don't know all the rules! You are suppose to tell about your 3 favorite things you'd like to win, among others, so here they are in order:

#12 - $50 gift certificate to Happy Panda
#15 - $50 gift certificate to Kids Magical Wonder
#20 - $50 gift certificate to Paperlicious

I also adore the following prizes, too!
#34, #50, #70 (yum!), #76, #88, #100, #101, #103, #107, #114, #117, #126, #140, and #151.


Phew, okay, so about me!

I will be thirty-two (I don't like seeing the actual numbers!) in 8 days, I have been married 9 years to my amazing hubby (we've been together 15 years!), have two spectacular (miracle) children, Noah (almost 4-1/2) and and Maia (almost 2-1/2). We live in central Illinois. I love where we live because we are within 2-3 hours to Chicago, St. Louis AND Indianapolis so I easily can enjoy the city life while still living up the small-town life as well. I am a stay-at-home mommy, but also a work-at-home mommy. I have had my photography business for almost SIX years now. I am absolutely amazed by that. I never ever EVER thought I would be able to say that. It really does put a huge smile on my face when I think about it. (And I thank those who have helped me get here. I'm so so blessed!)

Let's see . . . I grew up on a farm (corn, beans, alfalfa) and loved every single minute of it. I miss it desperately at times. I have one brother (also amazing) who lives in Kansas City right now. I have a sister-in-law and brother-in-law who are our best friends. Michelle is the sister I never had. I have 4 very special precious nieces. We have a dog and 3 cats. I love love love animals. I also have great passion for photography (obviously, hehe), my friends, graphic design, gardening, traveling and God, of course. I love ketchup, the colors red & turquoise, coffee, dark chocolate, sushi, Oprah, fashion, interior design, coffee table books, old Disney movies, magazines, oh how the list can go on and on. These passions, including my children I will talk about more in the coming week. :c)

With that said, I thank you for coming to my blog and giving me the opportunity to share my life with you. I met a dozen amazing women last year (Erin ~ who I met in real life last October!, Amanda, Jen, to name a small few!) and hope to do the same this year. Getting to know mommies who blog is such a rewarding experience and it's became a huge part of my life.

I have four blogs (1, 2, 3, and this one) and hope you have the time to come visit me at all.

Now for my exciting part . . . I would like to offer a fun little contest called "Things I've Learned About Val". I have these 5 cards with 5 questions on them (click on them to read the questions easier) and some of you will already know a few of the answers, but most of you might not know any. But at the end of this blogging party week, I hope you will have answers to all of them and know a lot about me ~ enough for you to want to stay with me here :o)

So the actual contest . . . next Friday, the 14th, the first person who can email me the answers to all 25 questions will win a . . . drumroll . . . 8x10 canvas gallery-wrap of any personal photo you choose! It's approx a $100 value!!! These canvas-wraps are one (of the many fabulous) thing(s) I offer at VWC Photography.

So just for keeping up with me at my blog for 1 week, you can win one of these!!! (I love them - I have them all over my house!)

I need to have (correct, hehe) answers to me by noon on Friday (as I am leaving that evening for a [my!] birthday getaway). Please email them to me here ----> [ valeliz @ mac . com ] no later than noon (central standard time) Friday March 14th. I will tally the answers and have a winner for you by Friday at 5:00 pm! If I have more than 1 person who answers all 25 correctly, I will put the names in a hat and draw THE winner. Yayyyy!!! This will be sooooo fun! Answers to all 25 questions will be posted throughout my blog entries all throughout the week starting today!

* Oh, and one more thing, you have to have a blog to qualify to win, so when you email me, please attach your full name and name of your blog. Have fun, and thanks again for stopping by! Party on! :c)

The "Things I've Learned About Val" Quiz:



And while you are here, check out Kidazy.com. They are giving away a $100 Toys R Us gift card! I had never heard of Kidazy, but now after looking around, I have added it to my bloglines. I've found some great gift ideas and ideas for my own kiddos. I love ideas for new unique gifts. Check it out!! Hopefully one of us will win!

two too tutus

There's a fabulous new contest over at 5 Minutes for Mom yet again! This time it's for a tutu which is (yes, I'm going to say it) TOO TOO cute! Check it out yourself and then sign up. Even if I don't win, I think I'm going to have to buy one or two (or three??) for myself for my little girl clients! I already have two of them, but you can never have too many tutus! (I know, I'm not even close to being hilarious, am I?)

5M4M has yet more great contests!

Just click on the button in my sidebar, the picture up above or just click here. There are some snazzy contests going on including a Nano ipod! Woo-hoooo! Count me in! As I have said before, I so totally heart 5 Minutes for Mom! Go check 'em out! :c)

5M4M contest!

5 Minutes for Mom has another nifty contest. It's for some adorable hair clips! These are similar to the ones I buy at etsy. My little Miss Maia has quite a few cutsie things for her hair already since she's got sooooooo much of it! But these are the cutest ever, especially the turquoise (mommy's favorite color!) ones with flip-flops on them . . . she'd match her mommy with her flip-flop rings and necklaces ;c) I hope Maia wins!!!

A Dyson Contest!!

I looooove 5 Minutes For Mom. Not only are they the kindest girls in the world (they are twin sisters who run the site) but they give us readers the best contest opportunities ever! It's GREAT! Thank you, Janice and Susan!

Till the 4th of April they are giving away . . . oh my goodness I can't believe this . . . a DYSON vaccuum! If you know me you know that I loooove to vaccuum. And I posted a while back about this new vaccuum that we bought when K's was going out of business. Well, I am really embarrassed to say this now, but after I used my new vac for a week, I began to hate it. It really did not do a good job. There, I said it. So I'm back to using the old one from 1999.

I am all over this contest. And anyone is welcome to join in. You just have to sign up at 5M4M and follow their directions there. It's easy! Would could possibly pass up the opportunity to have one of the best vaccuums in the world?! Definitely not I!