Country Drive - 3

Here are two photos taken from the same spot of vineyards that we saw on our afternoon country drive. The wines of South Africa are usually of excellent quality at affordable prices. If you ever get the chance, then I highly recommend visiting the wine estates. Some of the views are breathtaking and wine tasting is often for free.

Country Drive - 2

Here are two more photos taken along the country roads. This is about a half-hour drive from our home. As you can see, we live in a very beautiful area in the Western Cape, South Africa. If you live in the States, then just imagine California climate. It's about the same.

Country Drive – 1

Thank you to everyone who enjoyed my last series of the Hex River Valley, a valley that is very close to our town. The series ended so quickly that I decided my next one would also include photos of this beautiful region where we live. In January, my hubby and I took an afternoon drive in the country. These pictures were taken with Hubby’s mobile phone. I used Picasa 3 to edit them a bit. The flowers along the roadside are mostly Agapanthus and Bougainvilleas.

To find out more about different editing techniques in Picasa 3, check out my post Simplicity – 3.

To see a really adorable photo of my little girl, Amanda, which was edited in Picasa 3, and to learn more about this program with a link to download it for free onto your computer and another link to a review about it, then check out this post at Being Herself – 3.

Hex River Valley, South Africa - 3

Hex River Valley, South Africa - 2

This is a follow on from Hex River Valley, South Africa - 1.

Hex River Valley, South Africa - 1

It's time to start a new series! This one is going to go by really fast, because I'll be posting 3 pictures at a time. My husband took most, if not all, of these photos while we were on an outing to the Hex River Valley in the Western Cape, South Africa. It's a really beautiful valley as you can see with lots of colorful vineyards and surrounded by grand mountains. Only, it's too bad that "Hex" means "witch" in German and Dutch.

A photo that I took on another drive to this beautiful valley is at 4 Funny Photos - 3.

My Liebster Blog Award - Part 2

This is the second part of my Liebster Blog Award.

11 Random Things about Me:

My first 7 random things about me are listed over at my parenting blog, Amanda’s Books and More.

8. My favorite sweet treat is chocolate. I especially love dark chocolate, but not over 70% cocoa, because then it loses its sweetness.

9. I wore braces as a kid. My brother called me Metal Mouth.

10. I’ve been to over 40 countries and I’ve lived in three: U.S.A., Germany and now South Africa. I speak English and German and can understand some Afrikaans. By the way, the word “liebster,” as in the Liebster Blog Award, is German and means "dearest" or "favorite."

11. I believe that a mother cannot teach her children fully how to follow their dreams if she is not pursuing her own. It’s easy to get “lost” in motherhood, but every mom needs to take time for herself and to develop the person she is meant to be.

I spent almost two hours putting together my list of 11 deserving blogs and the women behind them. I’m sure there are many more. I’m passing on this Liebster Blog Award to:

Carli @ Grandma’s Guide to Life

Stephanie @ Faith Family Love

Allison @ A Few Sprinkles Short of a Sundae

Pam @ An Artful Mom

Margo @ Joyful Homemaking

Sarah @ My Joy-Filled Life

Holly @ My Life as Mommy & Wife

Heather @ My Slices of Pie

Ada @ Of Woods and Words

Joy @ Parent’s Heart

Tricia @ Raising Humans

Here are the rules:

1. Post 11 random facts about yourself.
2. Choose 11 deserving bloggers and tag them in your post.
3. Tell them you’ve tagged them.
4. Answer 11 questions the tagger has asked you
5. Give 11 questions to the people you’ve tagged.
6. No tag backs.

Here are my 11 questions for you:

1. What is your favorite way to relax and unwind?
2. What do you wish you could have owned or done as a child, but didn’t?
3. Did you think you would be where you are today ten years ago?
4. What one thing have you learned in the past year that has shaped your thinking?
5. What song impacted you the most when you were going through a difficult time?
6. Do you prefer living in the city or the country?
7. What is your favorite meal to cook when you’re expecting company?
8. Which TV celebrity or movie star is most like you?
9. In all your travels, where was your favorite place to visit?
10. What are your three top places that you still want to visit before you die?
11. What change have you made to your lifestyle in the past year in order to help the environment?

My Liebster Blog Award - Part 1

The Liebster Blog Award is a fun way to help mom bloggers promote other great mom bloggers. We all like to be recognized once in a while, especially when we know how much hard work goes into running a blog well. I received this Liebster Blog Award from Tricia over at Today with the Tennerys. Tricia is a wife and a mom to two children ages 10 and 2.

Here are the rules: 

1. Post 11 random facts about yourself. (I only just realized now that this is another 11 questions about me that I still need to answer. I'll have to put these on my next post, otherwise this one will get too long.)
2. Choose 11 deserving bloggers and tag them in your post. (Look out for this list in my next post.)
3. Tell them you’ve tagged them.
4. Answer 11 questions the tagger has asked you, and give 11 questions to the people you’ve tagged. No tag backs. (What are tag backs?)

Here are the 11 questions that I have to answer from Tricia:

1. Who is your favorite artist (painter) and your favorite work by them? I would have to say van Gogh is my favorite artist, because of his bold colorful strokes and unique style. One of my favorite paintings is the Cafe Terrace at Night (1888). An artist who blew me away with his attention to detail and large paintings is Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902). He is best known for his panoramic views of the American West. I was first introduced to his work at a special exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

2. If you won the 689 million dollar lottery would you take a lump sum payment of $430 million or $28 million for 30 years? I would take the second option so that I would be guaranteed a steady stream of money. I also would probably find the first option overwhelming.

3. What is your biggest pet peeve? I don't like listening to whining.

4. If you could change any one thing about your life right now, what would you change? I would like to have more money, so that I can do more things.

5. Which do you prefer, the local grocery store or your local farmer's market? For convenience sake, I prefer the grocery store. If there was a really cool farmer's market nearby, I'd probably choose the farmer's market.

6. If you have an unlimited supply of money, an unlimited amount of time in the day, and the largest house ever, how many children would you have? I'd have anywhere between 10 - 30 kids, but I've already given birth to 4, so I'd adopt the rest.

7. How long have you been blogging? I started blogging on Christian Blog.com around 2010 and later began my own blogs. I created Happy Moms, Happy Homes in July 2011.

8. What's your favorite movie/TV show? I love the intelligent action and adrenaline rush of the Born Identity trilogy movies.

9. What's the first thing you think of when you hear thunder or see lightening? (ie. my parents told me God was whooping the Devil when it thundered) I get excited when I see lightning and I can't wait to see another flash and then I wait for the sound of the thunder.

10. What's your favorite childhood memory? My favorite childhood memory is the exhilarating feeling of riding my bike with no hands on the old gravel farm roads by the old German dike of Dorum in northern Germany. We used to visit my grandparents there when we lived in Germany. My dad was stationed there when he was in the U.S. Army.

11. Why do you blog? I blog because I love writing, teaching and communicating. Blogging allows me the freedom to teach and share about the things that are close to my heart. I also get to make new friends and learn from other bloggers.