Totally blog-worthy.

In the past week and a half, I have been out of my house twice. Last week I was feeling so poopy that I never had the energy to leave. So Saturday was my first day out in a week and it was for a very cool reason: to shoot pictures of my very lovely and beautiful sister-in-law Ashley. She wanted pictures and I had wanted to do them, so Ash, her mom, sister and myself all headed out on our photo shoot. We had so much fun and I had never seen Ash look so beautiful, cute and spunky before. I've only proofed a small handful, but of those, this one is my fave:



Isn't she adorable? She and hubby look so much alike! We did some fun shoots with her beloved Twilight Saga Series of books and also her Jonas Brothers Rolling Stones edition, as well as her cute baby blue converse and tie-dyed knee-high socks. Back when I was 13 and if I had had this opportunity, my pictures would have been with my Babysitter's Club or Judy Blume books and my latest BOP magazine with the (young version!) New Kids on the Block, and I'd be wearing my jean jacket, white keds and tight-rolled jeans (and in case you need a reminder on how to do that, check out this site). Oh how things have changed. I must say the hair styles are adorable now. What were we thinking with the feathered permed hair?!

Today I got out again. And it was a day of bravery. We met Heather to get her invitations printed, went to Starbucks, walked to Target, then I took Noah to get his hair cut (he looks so handsome by the way), and since I had a lot of time before my hair appointment at 5, we went to lunch and then I took the kids to the zoo. Neil left for Chicago this morning and would be gone overnight, so I had no reason to be home. We met Heather in the zoo and she gave us extra special treatment there as she always does (she is such a rockin' zoo keeper!).

You won't believe what I did. Well, first of all, I didn't have my camera with me because of this being a spontaneous trip, and that in itself is pretty shocking. I did, however, have my camera phone. Yay! Because, well, just look at the picture. This is what I did:



What a lifetime experience!!! I still can't believe I did it. I was soooo nervous walking in there, but soooo glad I did it. How many people can say they've petted a cheetah?! I canNOT wait to do it again and be able to bring my REAL camera this time. Such friendly beautiful amazing creatures. And the little (ha ha!) guys were purring so loudly! It was truly an amazing experience.

Then it was off to my wonderful beautician's place. I've been having issues and decided to cut all my hair off, at the same time, deciding to donate it to Pantene Pro-V's Beautiful Lengths program which is a hair donation program for women with cancer. Well, I didn't spur-of-the-moment just decide to donate it. This is why I kept growing my hair and growing my so I could one day donate it. I just never thought that "one day" would happen this quickly. I was going to wait till after Heather's wedding in September, but timing was right for me to cut it now. So I did. Well, Kim did.

It was pretty scary. I was so nervous and on the verge of tears. Kim said, "you aren't going to cry on me, are you?". I said "I'm trying not to!". She said, "would wine help you?" knowing just how incredibly stressed I was about this. I said, "um, yeah, do you have some?", and she said, "yeah, you want a glass or two?" I said "yes please!", so my wonderful friend/beautician came out with large glass of sweet red wine and that really did help. Bless her!

Deep breath.

She pulled it back and all at once, it was gone! Of course she styled it and all that jazz, and I have to say, I'm quite happy. So here's the new me:



And here's some of my locks. Wahhhh! But ultimately, I have to remember why I did this. It's still hard. Such a change!



I get my blood test results back on Thursday. Please be thinking of me. I'm so stressed out about all this . . .

{Forgive me. . . }

. . .for not being around. I have quite a few things ailing me. Figuring out a couple things (just yesterday we found out two) and still awaiting the other (next Thursday). Nothing to be worried about. Believe me, I'm relieved that I finally know what's partly wrong with me. I was so so so so worried. I know worrying doesn't get any of us anywhere, but it's really hard not to worry when you have a family that you still have to take care of. I was so exhausted and wasn't managing that well.

What I have made time for is my photography because, as I told some friends, it's really one of the only things that brings me comfort and joy, other than my family of course. I have found some great photography support in the flickr community, so I spend a lot of time there just looking for inspiration to improve my own work. Here's a recent fave of mine, which has also been a fave of my flickr-ites:



Before I started not feeling so well, I did have a couple sorta big accomplishments. I saw that my 2nd billboard was up (!) which was discovered as Neil, myself and the kids were driving back from my cousin's wedding (which myself and my friend, Patty, photographed) in southern Illinois. I wasn't paying attention and Neil said "is that yours?" really calmly. And so I look up and uncalmly I shrieked, "YES!! Turn around!!!" So he turned around and I got out on the highway so I could take a picture. He was a little embarrassed by me, but hey, nothing new with Val :c)

So the wedding went fantastic-o. I still have not proofed them because I was busy finishing up some other sessions (of some cute adorable little people which you can see some of here), and then I started feeling crummy. But I'm hoping to begin working tonight on that wedding. Finally.

And then last weekend was Heather's bridal shower which my mom and I threw for her. It was a huge success in every way. We all had a blast. Afterwards mom and I packed up some of our stuff and went to Heather's for the evening alone, just the girls, watching movies and snacking on the leftovers from the shower :)

Speaking of Heather, she and Lee closed on their house yesterday, the one which I showed you all a little while back in this post. Soooo exciting for them. Their first home for both of them! Congrats you guys!

I feel like I've lost a lot of bloggy readers and that makes me sad, but I totally understand. I just don't have time for it as much as I want to have time for it. I haven't had time (or energy) to blog and haven't had time (or energy) to read the words of my dear blogging friends. Please forgive me on this, too. One day I will be back full-swing.

I leave you with this:

You are built to pull a cart,
to lift a heavy load and bear it,
to haul up the long slope,
and so
am I, peasant bodies, earthy, solid
shapely dark glazed clay pots that can
stand on the fire.

—Marge Piercy

Shameless plug . . vote for me.?!.

I was surfing through one of my favorite sites, Shutter Sisters, and in the "Daily Click" section, I was pleasantly surprised (or not) to see a picture of me on there. (gasp.) Thankfully I'm not all that in focus and what's really funny is that I took this one morning when I hadn't showered and didn't have an ounce of makeup on (you can't see my face so that doesn't really matter, I guess) and I was just sitting on my back patio as the kids played on the swings. I tend to find myself doing this quite often -- just sitting, looking, trying to find something to shoot a picture of. And this time, I looked into the sliding glass door and saw myself in it, so I shot what I was looking at. (It's fun shooting reflections, whatever it may be.) It was as simple as that, really. I posted it to my flickr, and low and behold, it made it onto a website unknowningly. (If you were sitting here, you'd hear a teeny squeal of delight coming from me..)

Anyway, it's not usually that big of a deal except this time, the photo with the most comments from the Daily Click get put into a book. Yes, a book! Not that I want a picture of me in the book, but to have a picture that I took in a book is pretty snazzy. So go comment away. Please! And if you do comment (there and here - so I know you did, please), and I recognize you, I think I might put your name in a hat and draw one. (Yes! Great idea, Val!) If you get chosen, you get a free Shutter Sisters Photography book! :) Maybe the contest part will get you to comment. That's all it takes. A comment, both here and there. (like all my linkage?) But please, please be nice :)

{ Oh, and please don't say how wonderful I am or whatever (not that I'm not, hehe), but just say that you like that picture best and just comment once please. Merci :) }

Flowers make me happy.

And so does summer,
and bright colors,
and flowery scents,
and gardening,
from which I get the love and appreciation for from my mom (thanks, mom!),
and sunlight,
and the pretty light at dusk just perfect for taking any picture,
and bokeh,
and perfect evenings,
and pretty pictures,
and friends to share those pretty pictures with.

Happy Love Thursday and Happy Foto Friday.


photos courtesy of my garden, courtesy of me :)

<3 Love Thursday <3

I'm thrilled! One of my favorite websites ever has featured one of my photographs for their "Love Thursday" feature photo section!!


I love love love Shutter Sisters as they are so inspiring to me every single day. Not just with the photographs themselves but also with the words that are written along with them. Every picture tells a story. But those stories always come alive once told in words.

I hope you take a moment to hop on over and check them out and stop by my Love Thursday. I will force you to go see what picture made it by not posting that picture here! (hehe) Give me a shout out while visiting and then come back here and tell me what you think. I'm so happy with the picture they chose. It's so very neat. I feel oh-so-special and warm and fuzzy :c)

Thank you, dear Shutter Sisters, it's a huge honor!

(p.s. Totally off-topic here, but I have to say this, YAYYYYY, David Cook won!!)