Van Zwaaij

Riley Portrait

Originally uploaded by Wes Devauld

Well I have been super busy with life and have not found the time to write on my blog.

We have been busy this year with a trip to Peru to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu with my family, wow was that ever a great trip. Then we added Riley to the family and then Wedding season started. Wes attended 9 and I attended 7 weddings. CRAZY!!!! I loved going to each wedding and had a great time dancing and celebrating with each wedding couple but it just overall got to be too expensive. The most expensive part is travelling, so gas for the car, hotels and food.  I hope that 2010 will contain only 2-3 weddings for us….. Then we can enjoy some more camping and maybe get back to doing some more renovation work on the house… who knows…

Riley has been such a great addition to our household and loves us unconditionally.  She is a big cuddler and loves to please Wes and I. She is very proud to do tricks for us and loves to be praised. Recently she has shown more interest in a ball which we are taking full advantage of since we would love for her to fetch and retrieve the ball. It is a work in progress. I think her ultimate favorite thing to do is play tug a war… oh and of course play with other dogs at the dog park.  Here is a recent photo Wes shot of her in his basement studio. She has grown soooo much and is close to 50 pounds. Overall she is a great dog but sometimes, like most pups, will chew something that is not hers… I think the most difficult thing with Riley has been training her to go outside to the washroom. Fingers crossed she has it now. She is n0w showing us she wants to go outside. She has been great in her kennel for the past 3 or 4 months but that most difficult part is when you are home doing something and she sits by the front door and you don’t see it in time.

Well my new job is going well, I guess not so new anymore, I have been here now 7.5 months. Time just flys by when you are busy. I am enjoying the new job and developing relationships with my clients and being challenged each day. Adding new clients has been going well and it makes me very excited to land a new account

Well that is all for now…

So from this picture you can tell that Riley is a big suck and loves to be around us. She loves to cuddle with us as much as she can. So in the evenings I sit on the floor in the livingroom and she piles on my lap and sleeps. She is so affectionate and loving and if there is anyone that thinks this is a mean dog, they have not educated themselves on how dogs become mean, it is not the breed, it is the owners.

Riley is a very quick learner and sits, lays down and even stays sometimes. She loves chewing gentley on her green squeeky plush bone and her teddy but loves to play tug a war with her rope toy. We are working with her on fetching, she does it a few times but not enough where you can go to the park and expect her to bring it back.

We are really hoping to get her into chasing a ball and bringing it back since the chuckit is such a handy toy to go to the dog park with. We are also hoping to get her swimming and so far she is curious and wades into the water a bit but does not swim yet, except for the day she walked too far and went under, it was so funny. But over time she will be running into the water to swim, fingers crossed .

Well we are off to Eckville for the weekend to celebrate with Wes and Ashlyn for their Wedding Day. I am hoping and praying that the weather stays nice for the outdoor reception .

So I thought I would update on my new job. I am really enjoying the work atmosphere and working with my clients. I feel confident that I can provide exceptional service and products to my clients but I am looking to grow my client base. Last week I was very busy with new orders, changes, meeting with clients and overall it was a great week. But since Easter weekend things have slowed down considerably for me and I am looking to grow my client base more to be busy but also to increase my bottom line so I can pay my bills

Since I have been working in marketing for three or so years I developed many great skills for working will all types of people and situations which has greatly prepared me for my current role as an Account Manager for Emerson Clarke Printing. But the area I need to do a lot of growing in is prospecting and landing new clients. In an ideal world we would all love to be able to speak to friends, family and acquaintances and gain new clients that way and not have to look further but that is not the case. So I am working on developing a list of people I can contact and setup a meeting with to discuss what I can offer them. Currently at Emerson, we are working on a new sales piece that the Account Managers can send to qualified leads and customers they may not have heard from in quite some time. Once this is completed and printed, I think it will be a great tool to follow up with after an initial phone call to someone that is interested in learning more.

So if anyone has any printing needs, I would love to help. Emerson Clarke can print pretty much anything big or small. Visit www.emersonclarke.com and contact me at sonja@emersonclarke.com.

Elbow in the Winter

Originally uploaded by Wes Devauld

Last year for my birthday Wes got me a easel, paints and brushes so I can start painting again. The last time I really painted was in 1998 so it has been a good ten years since hand and brush have touched paper. After leaving my career with Fairmont, I thought now that I have the time on my hands I should put more energy into painting. What a great idea that I put off over and over and over again and then one day in Oct/Nov I pulled out the paints, brushes and paper and painted a beautiful ocean scene from a National Geographic picture. I was extremely impressed that I still had an eye for painting and in just under 2 hours I had completed my first painting in over 10 years!!!

A little history on where my artistic inpiration and talent came from. When I was little, my Oma started watercolor painting in her 70′s. What an amazing hobby to pick up when you are 70 something. I showed an interest in my Oma’s painting and she took me under her wing and showed me a number of watercolor techniques and we spent many hours painting in the garden and by the ocean. Oma bought me my first paint brushes for me to pursue my interest in painting. In high school I enrolled in a number of different art classes so I could learn more techniques for drawing, painting, pottery, etc. That is where my passion for acrylic painting began. In grade 11, we were given a project to paint and 2×3 foot painting of our choice that would be entered into an art show case. I chose a scenery to paint that was a bluffy area with beautiful flowers and trees. I was and am still extremely pleased with the end result and was offered a few hundred dollars for my painting but could not part with something so dear to me.

The painting took its place in my parents house for many years to come and once I had a permanent home, it was brought to me so I could enjoy my work. This painting is hung right near the entrance into our house so I see it everyday and it reminds me that I need to paint more. So today I decided to paint again. My inspiration for my painting was a beautiful photo Wes took at my parents house this past August. It is of a beautiful Black-eyed Susan flower that brightens any room. This painting will be a gift next week for a person that has played a large role in my career and personal life. She always stands behind me and supports me in everything I do. Thank you Marnie.

Once I have completed this painting, I will get Wes to take a photo of it so I will always be able to look back at this great painting I have created. I will post that photo soon.

Sonja at The Dam

Originally uploaded by Wes Devauld

So I started a company in December providing marketing services, support and consulting for other businesses. So far I am truly enjoying working from home and gaining experience working with clients and marketing myself to others. I have been concentrating on developing and expanding online marketing such as Blogs, Twitter, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Facebook and article submission sites such as EzineArticles. I am learning so many new things and understanding how much you can do on the internet for free or for very little money. The internet opens a whole new world of consumers and opportunities to get noticed and promoted by your own consumers. You can not go wrong developing your online presence.

So if you have a small marketing budget and need help with your marketing and/or need someone to do your online marketing for you, please contact me at sonja@vanzwaaij.com.

Fascinated with the Cat

Originally uploaded by Wes Devauld

So I decided I would check out some more Social Media sites on the internet and found StumbleUpon. StumbleUpon discovers web sites based on your interests, learns what you like and brings you more. So once you have created an account, you can choose from many areas of interest that you would like to discover. Once you have done this and installed the addon in Firefox, you will see in your toolbar at the top a Stumble button and it will take you to different sites that reflect your choice of interests. Then you can choose either that you like it or don’t like it.

So the first thing I StumbledUpon is this Cat Brain. I thought it was hilarious and was very accurate for how cats act. The only difference with my cat is she likes most dogs and finds them fun to play with. But that is so true how cats are infatuated with people who dislike cats. And that they will go where they are not allowed to go just to piss you off.

Enjoy StumbleUpon! I am sure I will StumbleUpon more great sites that I will share with you later.