Our biggest goal for this new year is to get organized.  Anyone else out there feel unorganized and afraid to look beyond what’s right in front of you for fear of being overwhelmed?  I’ll be honest, we’ve been very reactive in our business lately.  When something needed to get done, we scrammed around until it got done and sometimes things didn’t turn out exactly how we wanted.  We had ideas but didn’t put any systems in place to make them reality or to keep up with them.  It’s been exhausting.  We have slowly started implementing some very good organizational systems, such as ShootQ for our business management and Zenfolio for our online galleries and slideshows, but we still have lots more to accomplish.

This task of becoming more organized isn’t only work-related.  We also struggle with organizing our daily and home life.  It’s hard to separate the two when you work from home, let me tell ya! Who’s with me on that one?

We’ve been working on our 2012 goals since November and we now have a timeline to turn these these goals a reality.  I’m sure things will need to be tweaked and reevaluated as the months go by, but it’s a start!

Here are a few organizational tools that we’ve been using to help us clear the clutter and get moving.   ….

• Evernote  :  It’s kind of like a journal / notebook, but way cooler.  It works with nearly every computer, phone and mobile device out there and allows you to sync all of them so no matter where you are, you can update a note, create a new one, and remember everything!
• Google Calendar :  This is pretty self explanatory, but it really helps me to have our calender online and also be able to synch with my iphone and ipad.  It also integrates really nicely to my ShootQ calendar, which is great because I don’t have to keep to 2 separate calendars for work and home.  I use the same calendar and just color code our photo shoots, weddings, work appts, and home life.  It keeps me sane!
• Pinterest : ok, ok, you might think this one doesn’t really count as a tool but it does!  I’ve been able to create boards to help me organize recipes, ideas for activities with the kids, inspirational quotes, ideas for photo shoots, vacations, and home decor.  And, I must say that it really does work.  I have made some really great tasting meals and we’ve had some fun times with the kiddos with some of those pins I’ve found.  Plus, I’ve also found some really great tips on organizing

In the following weeks, I’d also like to share in more detail and give specific examples of what it is we are struggling with, some of our goals, and our timelines for achieving them.  This is partly because I think if I share it openly here with you on this blog then I’m also going to be held accountable.  I’ll be motivated to accomplish them.  Sharing is caring. But, just as importantly, I hope that by sharing a bit of our struggle we can also help you in your quest to become more organized.  I hope I’m not alone and we aren’t the only ones who haven’t mastered the art of organizing…..

Now, why don’t you share some of  your own organizational problems with us, or some tips on what’s helped you become better organized.  Heck, just a little “amen, I’m right there with ya!” would work too!

Thanks!

I thought I’d share a little family project we worked for the end of the year with you today!

We have so much family and so many friends spread out all over the country that we love staying in touch with!  Although facebook has been such a great way to keep us all close and up to date, to me, there’s still nothing like getting a letter in the mail from someone you love…instead of the usual bills and flyers we always get!  So, this year we put together our first ever family newsletter to share with our friends and family.  One side has a collage of snapshots highlighting our year and the other side is filled with tid bits of what we did in 2011, where we went and what’s going on with our family.  I was really proud of how it all turned out and wanted to share it with all of you too!  We hope your 2011 was also a ton of fun!  We can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store for all of us!  xoxo

Well, I don’t know about you, but 2011 just flew by us!  Today I can look back and be proud of everything we accomplished this year.  I’m happy to say we marked some big ones off our list!  The biggest one, of course, being our new branding.  We had a complete makeover and changed from Emeric Photography to just The Emerics.  That was huge for us and wasn’t as easy as n it would be!  There were so many small things that kept coming up that we had to do too, that it just felt overwhelming some days.  But, it was all worth it.  We took a risk and love the results.  I hope everyone of you loves it as much as we do and we hope that you are able to get to know a bit more about us through our new site and blog. 

2011 has been an amazing year.  Our business has continued grown here in Las Vegas and we couldn’t have done it without all of our wonderful couples and clients who have trusted us and let us into one of the most beautiful days of their lives.  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thanks again to all our family, friends, clients, and clients who have turned friends.  Thanks for your support and your trust.  Thanks to my little kiddos who are the reason we do what we do and keep our life full.  Thanks to our local photographer friends for fostering a sense of community.  Instead of competition, we have a sense of camaraderie with you.  And I love that.  Thanks to those rock star photographers who are so so open about their work and their business. Thank you for being so giving of your time and talent to us and everyone else.  We keep me dreaming bigger.  Thanks to all the fabulous vendors and wedding industry peers we’ve had the privilege of working alongside and becoming friends with.  And lastly, I’d like to thank the creators of Pinterest for giving me a place to easily find inspiration and a place to sort my wants, my dreams, ideas, and more DIY projects I’ll ever have time to make! 

We can’t wait to see what 2012 brings all of us! 

lots of love,

Jessie & Jason

Our son is in first grade this year and he’s doing great.  He got on the A honor roll this semester and we couldn’t be prouder.  We knew we wanted to reward him for a job well done but buying another toy or video game was not how we wanted to do it.  There are way too many toys in the house (can I get an amen if you have kids and know what I mean!!)  So, after thinking about it a bit we came up with “Diego Day”!  A day where he’d get to pick everything!  So, a few Saturday’s ago, our little man’s day began with his favorite cereal for breakfast, you know, the not-so-healthy-for-you sugary stuff we never buy!  After Jason read him a few stories, we got dressed and headed to Cafe Rio for a yummy lunch!  Then we went to the movies!  We saw Puss In Boots and even had theater all to ourselves!  It was great and the movie was pretty funny too

Right after the movie, we made our way to Red Rock Climbing Center!  His cousin Jared met us there and the boys had a great time.  Jared had been there before and is really good at rock climbing, so he was able to help him out. Us and everyone else there cheered and encouraged Diego to not give up and reach the top!  He was so psyched when he got up there, coming down was a bit scary for him, but he made it!

Lastly, we ended the night at his favorite restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings!  I know, he’s a classy boy, right?

Was it a perfect day? No not really.  It was a long day and Elysse didn’t get a nap, so had a few tantrums and melt downs.  But we definitely had a good time together and made some fun memories as a family.  I think that’s what matters most, don’t you?

xoxo,

Jessie