Welcome to my office space.

My office is a big part of me and my home. Since I work from home, my children have even grown very accustomed to it. They even know now (finally!) when I am working in there, that I'm "at work", which is nice. And even though they still can come in anytime, it's my only real special place in my entire house that I can call my own. I actually feel invited to go in there, especially now. And so I thought I would invite you in to it also!

Just a couple weeks my husband got done painting my office. I've been having a lot of back troubles lately, so I for the first time ever, I didn't paint a room in my house. (I direly LOVE to paint walls!) Sweet darling hubby did all the painting and he worked on it each night after the kids went to bed. (He's so good.) It went from bland icky probably-never-actually-painted stark dirty white to a crisp oh-so-warm and fresh coat of RED. I love red if you didn't already figure that out. :c)

You also may or may not have figured out that I am a photographer and I work out of my home. I've been working out of my home for over 5 years now. It definitely beats my last (very odd) job as a professional taste tester. While I actually LOVED doing taste testing and found that job exciting because there are not many people in this world that can do that it -- taste anything and EVERYTHING no matter what it is and be able to pinpoint on my palette what attributes the food has on a scale and then spit it out (yes, spit it out in front of people!) -- I still would much rather shoot pictures. It's definitely more rewarding and tad bit more fun :c)

I chose to work from my home because of my kids. When I started my job, I didn't have kids, but I was praying that I would. We had lots of troubles conceiving, but I still felt like God would not have put me in that position if He wasn't going to give me a child. And shortly after that He did. And it's worked out beautifully. Of course there are many a days when I wish I worked outside the house, but most days I'm very happy and content where I am.

I mainly shoot weddings, which is I have all those Martha Stewart Weddings, but I've found myself shooting tons of babies and kids lately, and I'm having troubles deciding which I like shooting better. I'm afraid in the long run, those small cuties will win out, but we'll see. I'm putting stricter requirements on the weddings I shoot which makes it easier for me and much more fun. Who would have thought I would be able to pick my weddings? It's definitely a blessing.


So here it is . . . pieces of my office. It's definitely nothing fancy, but it totally works for me, and in between my actual photography needs are pieces of me. I love having things around me that make me happy. Everything is right there and I actually, for the first time ever (!), feel organized. I could tell you where everything is. It all has it's place, and that's something I didn't have until we moved to this home 8 months ago. Thanks to IKEA, Pottery Barn and reading my Real Simple magazines, I'm turning into an organized Val that I never knew existed. Some of my friends like Chel, Leann, Alexis, Natalie, Kristin, Heather . . . FINE, all my friends . . . will all be amazed by this because it's these people who are already organized or never thought it was possible for me to be!

These Expedit bookcases from IKEA have been a Godsend. I love them. We even have two in our family room. I'd like to have more but I'm not sure where we'd put them. I know how I am when I look at other people's pictures . . . I study them and try to figure out what everything is. So I just went ahead and listed it all for you so you don't have to strain your eyes. (But if you are straining, I suggest clicking on the picture and making it larger.)

Then there is my closet which Neil and I converted into more storage with shelves. It's worked out remarkably well. Back in the back of it where you can't see, I store old client files and negatives, personal photos, and all my big equipment (lights, light stands, reflectors, backdrop stands, light boxes, etc.). So I can hide all the not-so-pretty things out of sight and that's nice because it's all still in one room and not all throughout the house like it use to be at our old home.



And then there is my bulletin board which kind of speaks for itself.


And finally, my daily work space. One of the places I post my entries to Purple Valley from and *the* place I do all my photo editing from. Notice the 3 external hard drives. You can't have enough hard drive storage, which is something I have talked about in the past among some of my digital photography posts. (Speaking of, I hope to post another really useful and valuable post on choosing the right camera --- tune in later this week!!)


Grandma Libby, one of my biggest role models, would be so so so proud of me, I just know it.

There you have it, my work space. Sorry I rambled so much, but if you plan to visit me more, that's one thing I tend to do ;c) But for some reason people just keep comin' back. And I appreciate it. :c)

Busy is as busy does.

It's been really nice having kept so busy the past few days. Saturday I had two shoots. One got canceled because of a sick baby. The other two went fabulously. I cannot wait to show pics from them, but first I need to get my wedding done from January and another wedding album completed. I'm never this busy in January, but I feel very blessed for being so.

Sunday we went to church with my parents at their church, went out for lunch and then hung out with them at their house all afternoon. The kids had a blast playing with grandpa. It was time to go when Maia started having one of her notorious (as of late) tantrums. Ugh. I never experienced tantrums with Noah. So these have been a wake up call. Not pleasant in the least. (Question --- for how long should I expect for these to keep going on? Actually, wait. I'm not sure I want to know.)

Yesterday I took my kids to Nikki's house and then went back to my house and painted with Leann. We only got the family room of the downstairs painted, but I love it. It's very calming and cheerful. Wait till you see the color! I haven't decided whether to tackle anymore myself yet. I may since the brushes, rollers and paint are all already out. Might as well, I guess?

Then later yesterday, Leann's 2nd youngest daughter, Alyssa, gave my dog a bath and I paid her $5. She was thrilled and so was I!!! She did it in my kids' bathroom and in just her undies. I got a picture of it. So so so very cute. (And now I also have a clean shiny dog!)

Then later in the evening I left my kids here at the house with Leann's 2nd oldest, Marissa, so I could go with Leann to see a new house that's going up across the street from her by "our" builder. He was there, so we talked. I think he's ready to do our house anytime, which thrills me, but at the same time it saddens me because we aren't ready. I told him it may be a couple years now, but he understood.

This house we saw was fabulous - great colors everywhere and I loved the cabinet colors ( dark cherry), had 9 ft ceilings, lots of crown molding, dark (wide) cherry wood floors (my fave!) and a staircase that they were staining by hand when I was there. (The spindles were a brushed copper . . . absolutely beautiful!). Such a beautiful home. Makes me want to build. Maybe in a couple years. Maybe this trip to China will get Neil the promotion so that we can? Ha. Positive thinking, though, never hurt!

Speaking of the trip. Oh my goodness. I am going to make that another post. Interesting. Very very interesting.

So, that's been my last few days. Neil will be home in about 4 days! I can't believe the 9 days is halfway over. He is soooo ready to come home and I'm so ready for him to be home. But things have been good here. We're surviving! So that's good news.

Big airplanes, bright colors, and a big country

I talked to Neil this morning 3 times. He got to Chicago and checked in at O'Hare in about 2-1/2 hours, so he had a whole 4 hours to kill! I think he was pretty bored, but being he's flying business class, he was able to sit in the Red Carpet Lounge, so he got free coffee and snacks. (Coffee and drinks is the least he should be getting with a $15,000 ticket! Not kidding on the price, either!) He then called when he had boarded the plane. He was on the top deck in the plane. I didn't even know they had such a thing in airplanes. Apparently in 757's they do! It is a straight flight from Chicago to Shanghai. He is suppose to text me on my phone when he touches ground in China around 1 a.m. our time. Hopefully once I hear from him I'll be able to sleep.

He really surprises me sometimes. In the mail today I got a card and I know it is from him. No return address, but it's his hand-writing. I haven't opened it yet because I know it will probably make me bawl. When he writes things, it's always short and sweet, but what he says in just a few words speaks volumes to me. I think I'll wait till after I put the kids to bed before I open it just in case my tear ducts explode :c)

Nothing big going on around here and I really don't have anything worthwhile to talk about which is why my topic of post is Neil's travels again. He pretty much has the most exciting life in our household! But I am kinda looking forward to this long weekend as I bought my paint for the downstairs and I cannot wait to start painting. Painting my house another bold color makes me feel like my life is semi-exciting for the moment!

This makes me giggle. I got an email from my interior designer friend named ERIN (hehe) who couldn't stand that I hadn't told publicly what colors I chose. She is so funny. I love painting and it's such relaxation for me. My neighbor volunteered to take my kids while Leann and I paint our hearts out, so Monday should be a productive day, unlike how I feel my days normally are. And hopefully very soon after Monday, I will post the colors. I can't wait to hear what you all think!

And in regards to decorating the downstairs, I got a fabulous new set of shelves for the over the weekend at IKEA which I love love love and am dying to show you, but I want to wait till the paint is on the walls and it's all how I want it. Finally finally finally my house is starting to feel like "home". Neil will be pleasantly surprised when he gets home if I get everything painted the way I have it envisioned.

8 more hours and Neil will touch down in the big ol' country of China!

Check out this map and you can see where exactly my hubby will be journeying to.

He will be flying into Shanghai, the purple and white star. He'll be there for Sat, Sun and Mon. He then drives to Huaian, the orange & purple star, and then to Nanjing, the blue & purple star, on Tuesday. On Wednesday he flies to Guangzhou, the yellow & purple star, and on Thursday he drives to Jiagmen, the pink & purple star. Finally, on Friday, he takes a ferry to Hong Kong, the green & purple star, where he will then fly to L.A. and then on to Chicago on Saturday.

Because I'm goofy like this, in lieu of Neil and his next 9 days in China, I found some Chinese proverbs I like. Here's one:

I see, I forget. I hear, I remember. I do, I understand.

Hope you all have a nice weekend. Thank you for all the support with my husband's travel and my discouragement as a mom while he's away. You all are the best blogging friends ever.

Foto Friday (and I need your expertise!)

So this probably will not be a photo that you find enjoyable or soothing to the eyes, but I need your help.

The previous color of the walls in our new kitchen was a mustard yellow. I painted it a butter yellow. But as you see in the pictures, there were some troubles. And this problem area still sits unfinished because we aren't sure what to do.

There is a clear caulking that runs along the backsplash wall and the countertop. It's impossible to paint over. You are probably wondering why I would paint over it, and my answer is, because you can see through that clear caulking to the (what I think is ugly) mustard yellow. It's not a nice site to see my nice fresh butter yellow and then the mustard yellow along the edges because it makes my painting look incredibly sloppy and just . . . ewww.

I tried painting over it. The caulking absolutely resists the paint. I tried painting over it 3 times and it then began to take to the paint a little bit. But when I took the painter's tape off, it pulled up the paint along the edges because the paint was just not taking to that caulking like I thought it was. And now it looks terrible.

I got so frustrated with the darn thing that I just said screw it and I just pulled the tape off in a rage of frustration because I was tired of looking at the tape. Now I'm tired of looking at, what appears to be, a really crappy paint job. And if you know me, I'm very articulate when it comes to my painting. I'd call it a compliment if you called me anal with my painting.

So what can I do? We bought a scraper, but I'm scared to do it. I am afraid I'm going to ruin the bead board (which I so love). Anyone have any idea at all? If you can help me solve this problem, you'll be my new BFF.

See what I mean??

Last month in review . . . part 1.

Some of you have been dying to see pictures. You guys crack me up . . . I won't name names. (Michelle and Johanna!) Anyhow, here are a few, which I hope tell a tiny story and give you a glimpse of our lives the past few (crazy, hectic, life-changing, go-go-go, but fun) weeks.During the week before we left Westlawn Avenue for our new cul-de-sac, we did a last dinner out at our favorite Mexican restaurant with our favorite friends and neighbors. This is my cheesy daughter with her cheesy (but beautiful) smile at that dinner out.
Then afterwards a very gracious guy took our picture standing outside the restaurant. I love this picture minus the fact that I look incredibly pregnant (and I'm NOT) thanks to the lovely style of shirts this fashion season :c) I do love this picture. I so miss these wonderful people! (On a happy side note, we got to see them again tonight when they came to visit us! Yay!!!)
This is what we saw hanging in the title building when we walked in. Our names with our time of closing. How official it then seemed!
This is the day after closing, the very moment I was driving from our house on Westlawn to the new house in our new small town. And I look up in the sky ahead of me and see . . . a perfect beautiful rainbow. I really think rainbows are God's way of reminding us that if we have faith in Him, and let things happen in His timing, it will always work out. It's funny (in a wow, that's so neat kind-of-way) because I was driving in my own car, my mom in hers and my dad in his, and we all three saw this rainbow at different moments. God is so good.
I never knew what to let this kids do while I painted, and decided on letting them "paint" the deck with paint brushes and water. They had a blast and it kept them occupied for a whole 45 minutes or so!
This is my dear friend, Leann, painting over the once brown boys' room with Kilz. It will soon become pink and be Miss Maia's room! She worked so hard to help us! (Thank you, L!)
This is beautiful Marissa. She is Leann's 2nd old daughter. She was great help with Maia the days she was here with us, and I really enjoyed her hanging out keeping me company as I painted. She and I are the same personality. We had a good time!
This is pretty Alyssa, Leann's 2nd youngest, who bonded hugely with my dog. What a pet lover she is! And she and Noah are quite a pair! Alyssa looks after him like a big sister. They get along so incredibly well. Leann reminded me "you know, Noah could marry one of my daughters some day". Um . . yep, she's right! And yes, how cool that would be, but let's not talk marriage . . . yet! ;c)
This is Neil with a roller. I did manage to put him to work some, too :c)
Heather and Jeff take a break while painting Noah and Maia's bathroom. I think she claimed this room as hers! :c)
Brian and I in the middle of painting Maia's pink room. Jeff and Brian definitely claimed this one as theirs! (Ha!) And what a great job they did. I've never seen two guys work so hard, and all for my family. What awesome people they are.
Me and my very dear friend, Leann. Thanks, girly . . . thanks everyone!!!! We kicked some painting booty butt!

More to come! . . .

I am getting a signal!!!!

I turn on my computer this evening to listen to my itunes and low and behold I see that I am getting one tiny bar of wireless signal!! I. AM. BEYOND. EXCITED. This really makes my day. (We aren't suppose to be connected till Monday. I think I'm getting this off of someone else - so thank you whoever you might be! Woo-hooo!)

So yes, here I am! I have missed the internet so darn much . . . I have missed you so darn much!

I'm sitting in the new house alone, for the first time ever. And I love it. O'ma (Neil's mom) took my kiddos this afternoon to spend the night with her the entire weekend. She is an angel!

Neil is at the "old" house (although technically they are both still ours until Monday, plus let's not forget the land we also own --- wow, all this ownership is quite scary!!) working on some minor repairs. We close on that house Monday afternoon.

Tomorrow is the big move, so I'm suppose to be getting the "new" house all ready for move-in. My heart is racing. I'm anxious, nervous, excited, but all in a good way. It also might be the Excedrin I took, I dunno?! But my heart is racing as I think of this weekend and how the end of the old house is near and the beginning of new beginnings is literally right around the corner. (Wow, that is a lot to comprehend for me as a mother and as a business owner.)

So, you'd never believe all that has been accomplished this week. I am so so very proud of myself, but I also have to give huge gigantic thanks to my friends and family. We could not have done this without them.

We painted about 2000 sq foot of walls (in 3 days). Maybe not 2000 sq ft, but pretty darn close. We painted the kitchen, the living room, the hallways, the entry/foyer, the kids' bathroom, Maia's room, Noah's room, our bedroom, and the downstairs bathroom. We did not get my office done or the master bath. The master bath can wait since we have no furniture to move in there. I would honestly love to be able to paint the office tonight. I'm not holding my breath on that one, though. I'm wearing out so quickly now.

I can't wait to tell you ( and show you!) the rooms and the colors we painted. Can you say guacamole for one room?! Yes sir'ee and I LOVE it.

All the help we have had has been amazing and outpouring. Neil could not take any time off this week during the week. So I was left at home every day with the kids with the hope of painting . . . somehow. I got nothing done really on Monday except for painting the kitchen and cleaning out the kitchen cabinets (let me tell you, the previous owners were not anal about cleaning!). But the rest of the week . . . wow. I seriously am without words.

O'ma kept the kids one day. My very dear friend, Leann, came over 3 days (and she has 4 young kids and still made time for me!). My dear boyfriends (I mean, girlfriends), Jeff and Brian came over for 2 whole days (I never knew those boys could get out of bed that early but they did it for me). Heather came over one afternoon and worked her derriere off in the kids' bathroom -- and drank 'ritas with mom and I. My mom came over when she could a couple evenings to paint and help with the kids. Joe (Leann's hubby) came over one evening, and then so did our friends Dan and Danielle that same evening and knocked out a lot of walls in a short amount of time.

I seriously am so so proud and so so thankful for these people. When Brian and Jeff left after day 2, I cried. May just be my wacked-out emotions right now (probably more like a combination of everything put together?) but I am just astonished at how hard those boys work and all for us. (Awwwwwww!) Man I am thankful and feel so so blessed! Thank you, dear Lord, for giving me these people.

Looks like we are having a lot of help for the big move also. Tomorrow the plan is for 7 hard-working men to help load the semi. And depending on whether we actually move in Saturday evening or Sunday morning, we have another 6 or 7 to help then, too. I am just so overwhelmingly excited and thankful and just really really happy. I'm not so happy about tomorrow's move and having to pack up my office and move all my files because I've never had to move a business before and the thought is scary and freakinng me out. I think that's one thing really making me anxious. (No, I know it is.) And I also am dreading the having-to-clean part once everything is out. But, we'll get it done. Mom and I will probably work hard on that one tomorrow afternoon.

Our new house. I LOVE it. It's 30 years old but is like brand-new to me! With new paint and the new hardwood floors and the new kitchen, it just feels and looks so brand spankin' new. A new house with great landscaping and a big established yard . . . I love it. Who could possibly ask for more or have that with a brand new house in a new subdivision? Not many.I just feel so at home.

Monday afternoon I called my sis, Chel, just to talk. I think we talked 45 minutes. I needed to tell someone . . . someone who I know understands the feeling. . . . just how happy, relieved and at home I feel here. I just love it. And I can't wait to show you in pictures more of it in the coming weeks. I'm making you wait! Bad bad Val, I know, but there just isn't time. I shouldn't even be on here now.

So, I know this is getting so darn long, and I'm sorry. Yet again . . . you are reading this because you love me, which means you probably know me, and with knowing me comes with having to read the long strung-out blog posts I make. HA! (Thank you for that.)

I need to sign off and get back to cleaning and getting the house ready for our furniture. It's gonna be a long long long day. I'll just add more baggage and soreness to my already dark bags under my eyes and tired achy body. (*smile*)

I can't go without thanking all those fabulous people who have helped us out thus far. And I want to especially thank Jeff, Brian and Leann. It was such great fun painting with you while singing along to Christian Rock, drinking pot after pot of coffee, planning our next vacation getaways, and just getting to know each other better (as if there was more to know?!). There's nothing better than these kinds of moments.

I also have to thank Erin, for making my day yesterday when I received a phone call from her to see how things were going. That phone call came at just the right time. It was so fun hearing your voice. You are as sweet as I imagined, yet more.

See ya all when moved in! Think of us tomorrow. And then Sunday, could you please come over and rub my feet. Pretty please??

Foto Friday (and a set back)

Bad news first . . . the set back.

We were supposed to close on our new house today. I stress the word "supposed". And please don't think I'm not grateful and feeling blessed that we even sold our house and even get to close on a new house, because I very much am. But it stinks because it majorly screws up a lot of things.

The relo company who sold us the house (they had bought it from the former owners since he was a transfer with his job) decided today that they could not close because they do not have the paperwork ready to do so. That's not our fault. So why do we have to feel the effects of it?

So we asked to get possession early. Simple thing, right? We just sign some papers for liabilty causes and be done, then close on Monday. Nope, not simple. They won't budge.

Closing is at 11 Monday morning now. Which is fine. Again, I'm so thankful that we are even at this step in the process and so very close to owning a new home. But, that means one less entire weekend to paint (which had only given us one weekend anyhow - we move in next weekend).

Why do we have to suffer from these people's mistake, which could have very easily been preventable if they had just done what they were suppose to do by the date they were suppose to do it? I mean, they had 4 weeks. Grrrrrrrrrr . . . Stupid relocation companies.

Now we have Monday evening through the rest of the week to paint. I mean, I have Monday through Friday afternoon to paint. Neil works all week. My mom has to work all week (every other week she works 1/2 days). I don't have a I-can-call-anytime sitter for the kids. All this means is I will try my very best to work during the day alone, but I'll have my kids, in a new house with nothing in it for them to do, and I'll feel like I need to watch/entertain/play with them and not paint. It's gonna be very hard to paint 2400 sq foot of house in 4-1/2 days by myself. Lord help me now.

I need to tell myself, this is just a small dent. A teeny tiny little bump in the road. I am a wonder woman and I can do it. I need some encouragment. How about a cheering squad? Better yet, are you sure none of you want to come help me?

On a happier note, my sis-in-law sent me pictures from our Sea Island trip and I picked out my faves and made a collage. Happy Foto Friday.

Click on me and I will become much bigger!

Thoughts residing in my head right now.

* I have to pick out a new comforter set for both Noah and Maia. Noah says he wants dinosaurs. I'm thinking plain ol' white or pink for Maia. We'll be switching Noah to his full-size bed and Maia to a twin. I can't (well, I don't want to) pick out paint for their walls until I have exact matches to their bedding. I know, I'm anal in that way. (So, I really think this is cute. It's Pirates, though. But I think I can add some dinosaurs in there. He already saw this and really liked it. I think matching wall color would be fun and he'd like this theme for years to come. But I also found this which is similar but way cheaper, and just about as cute. I am having troubles finding dinosaurs that I like in a full size. Your thoughts?)

* I really really really want my computer back. Or, at this point, any computer. If it has to be new, so be it. I'll just be even more in debt. Sigh. Since I have to have a mac (all my software is for a mac) and since I have to have a computer that is fast but has a lot of storage capacity (it seriously is a must with what I do), and *if* I have to buy a new one, I will probably get this one. I just pray I can do a lot of biz this year to pay for it. *deep breath* (Fellow mac-ies, what do you use?)

* I need to return a cable to a photography place (Tallyn's) in Peoria because it didn't fit in my lighting system and I'm waiting to hear back from the place first to see if they even have what I am needing. (Please respond to me! Please. You are usually so quick. Don't let me down now!)

* I need to make a list of all the places that I need to do change of address for. The ones that I know there will be dozens (probably hundreds) of, are my work-related contacts, businesses, catalogs, vendors, etc. Ugh. I almost forgot about doing this.

* We begin painting on the new house the 6th. I will be doing most of it myself. Any ideas on how to keep my kids entertained (in a house that has absolutely nothing in it yet) and not be in my way? (You and I both know they'll want to "help" and then would make a huge mess doing so. They're kids. It happens. What can I do to distract them for long periods of time?)

* I get to see Jenny-Jen on Saturday!! She is coming "home" from Hattiesburg, MS. I cannot wait to see her. It's almost been an entire year. We're having lunch and shopping. Girls day out, no kids! I have missed her so much.

* Packing up my office, especially packing up all my client files, old negatives, etc., is going to be a tremendous job. I'm already in denial that it has gotta be done. I can just pick up the office and move it like it is, right? The file cabinets. Man, that will be a huge job. How do you recommend I do that? (I've never had to move my business before!)

* I want to be back on vacation.

* I need to go through all the magazines that I have not read in months and months and throw them out because I am not moving them to the new house. I guess I will get off of here and do that next. Anyone in need of Parents, Child or Family Fun? I want to read them, but I never ever have time to. I'd honestly rather read a book. I'm discontinuing my subscriptions to save some trees and piles of waste collecting in my house :c) (Btw, did you know that Child is discontinuing it's magazine? I love that 'zine, too. Parents is taking over it's subscriptions. Shoot, that stinks. But they will still have their great website packing with parenting info.)

* My list of to-do's and thoughts going through my head is just way way too long.