This is something that we’ve thought about doing for a while now and have finally gotten around to actually doing it.   We really love answering people’s questions about us, whether it’s business related, photography related, or just something about our personal lives.  So we’ve set up the perfect place to do just that . . . our new formspring.me page!  We got the party started by posting the link on our Facebook pages today and we’ve been having so much fun responding to all the great questions!  Keep them coming everybody!  If  we haven’t answered yours yet, it’s because we got a TON of questions already. We’ll get to answering them as quickly as we can so make sure you check back to see our responses.  Click the button below to visit the page!

And since every post is more fun with a photo, here’s a quick shot of Molly that we grabbed today.  She just got a haircut yesterday and was just begging to show off her little pink scarf :-)

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Years ago, when we first began to talk about the idea of starting our own business, I really wanted to keep it a secret. I’m the kind of person who really doesn’t like to fail. (Sad, but true.) So, until I really thought we would succeed, I didn’t want to tell anybody about it. Ryan on the other hand, is completely the opposite. He loves to try new things and saw the whole thing as a great opportunity for adventure! So of course, the very next time we were sitting at a table full of family members, he boldly announced, “Guess what everybody! We’re going to start a wedding photography business!” At the time, I was scared to death that he said that, but he actually had an ulterior motive that I am thankful for to this day. Ryan knew that if our family knew about our plan, they’d be asking about it all the time and it would force us to get past the fears and actually make the dream a reality. And the rest, is history. What can I say? The man knows what he’s doing :-)

We’ve been talking a lot lately about goals; goals for our business and our personal lives. And of course, the best way to actually accomplish a goal is to write it down and then tell people about it so there’s someone to hold you accountable. So that’s what we’ve decided to do starting today. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept of the 101 in 1001 list, it’s basically a list of goals (101 of them) that you want to complete over the course of 1001 days (about 2.78 years). Since the timeframe is longer than a year, you can think a little bigger than just your typical shorter term “New Years Resolution” type stuff.

We started out by each writing a separate list, but as a couple who also have a business together, we found out pretty fast that a lot of the goals we each came up with as individuals overlapped and applied to both of us. So we decided that rather than bore all of you with two lists, we’d make it a combined effort. As we accomplish our goals, we’ll be writing about them here on the blog so you can all see how we’re doing. I’m going to warn you now that you’ll probably see some iPhone photos along the way to commemorate our milestones since we don’t ALWAYS have our big fancy cameras with us. And of course, if you see any goals on this list that you can help us accomplish, please let us know!  (Oh and by the way, these are in no particular order.  They’re organized alphabetically within each category.)

BUSINESS GOALS:

1. Attend a photography workshop

2. Attend WPPI

3. Be the studio spotlight at a PUG meeting

4. Blog everyday for one month

5. Choose a cause and donate a portion of our proceeds to it for 6 months

6. Create a new product for other photographers

7. Create custom packaging that reflects our brand

8. Do a portrait session giveaway in another state

9. Do a wedding coverage giveaway

10. Donate a photo session to a charitable cause

11. Get a full set of new sample albums (full wedding, parent album, guest book)

12. Get canvas prints made

13. Get new business cards

14. Get new custom folders for consultations

15. Have a wedding featured in the Arizona Wedding Chronicle

16. Have a wedding published in a bridal magazine

17. Have a wedding published on a wedding blog

18. Have another pro photographer take photos of us

19. Have dinner with different past clients once a month for four months

20. Have lunch/dinner with another wedding vendor once a month for 3 months

21. Launch our new website

22. Make a promo video

23. Make the switch to Mac

24. Order custom pens

25. Reach 500 fans on our Facebook Page

26. Revise our branding to be more “Us” focused

27. Set up a studio space for clients consultations

28. Shoot a wedding in another state

29. Switch to thumb drives for image delivery to our wedding clients

GOALS FOR RYAN & DENISE:

30. Babysit Makena

31. Be in the audience for the taping of a late night show

32. Buy a house

33. Decorate our house for Christmas

34. Get plugged into a small group bible study

35. Get travel luggage for our photo equiptment

36. Go back to New York

37. Go on a cruise

38. Go on a vacation (WITHOUT working)

39. Go to a concert or comedy show

40. Have “date night” once a week for two months

41. Host a family holiday at our house

42. Make an album for Makena

43. Paint our house

44. Read 3 books that benefit our business over the course of 6 months

45. See 10 new movies on the AFI list

46. Take a day trip up north to play in the snow

47. Take a trip with another couple

48. Take Molly for a walk once a week for 2 months

49. Use our Passports one more time before they expire

50. Visit friends in San Francisco

51. Visit the Guggenheim

52. Watch the sun rise and set on the beach on the same day

RYAN’S PERSONAL GOALS:

53. BBQ at least once a week for a month

54. Buy a Hugo Boss suit

55. Buy an original piece of art

56. Comment on at least one blog per day for one year

57. Do a major home improvement project

58. Do P90X or equivalent

59. Do something on Denise’s list that I don’t want to do

60. Dress up for Halloween

61. Read the bible once a day for 30 days in a row

62. Eat Sushi once a week for four weeks in a row with Mom

63. Fix driver’s side window in the Lexus

64. Get a tattoo

65. Get my wisdom teeth pulled

66. Get some kind of cardio equipment for the house (bike, treadmill, or elliptical machine)

67. Go hiking with friends

68. Go Kayaking

69. Go rock climbing

70. Go skiing

71. Go to a Cardinals game with my Dad

72. Go to a vineyard

73. Go to Sea World with Christy

74. Go to the gym 4 days a week for one month

75. Hang out with Greg once a week for one month

76. Invent something

77. Learn how to dance

78. Learn how to make home made ice cream from Grandma Rita

79. Learn how to play a new instrument

80. Lick a dolphin, the Space Needle, and part of the titanic (not at the same time)

81. Make 12 free throws in a row

82. Make a different dinner for Denise every night for 5 days (in a row)

83. Make home made popcorn

84. Make Limoncello from scratch

85. No fast food for one month

86. Participate in a charity photoshoot

87. Play an outdoor game with Denise at least once a week for one month

88. Read a marriage book with Denise

89. Ride in a hot air balloon

90. Run a half marathon

91. Run at least one mile with Dan

92. Run or walk for a charity or cause

93. Smoke a great cigar that I haven’t had before

94. Stay at a nice hotel in Arizona

95. Take a class at the gym

96. Take Denise on a one mile run

97. Take Denise on a surprise vacation

98. Take Molly to a dog park

99. Teach Molly a new trick besides sit and lay down

100. Turn 30 (and be happy about it)

101. Wash car once a month for six months

DENISE’S PERSONAL GOALS:

53. Be involved in some kind of stage production (acting or singing)

54. Buy a pair of Manolo Blaniks

55. Call my Mom or Dad once a week for 6 months

56. Comment on someone else’s blog post once a day for a two months

57. Complete my associates degree

58. Do volunteer work using photography

59. Donate blood

60. Eat an entire meal with Chopsticks

61. Expand my “fabulous” (not practical) shoe collection so I can wear a different pair for 7 days in a row

62. Find a mentor

63. Find a type of seafood I like to eat

64. Get a makeover with a pro makeup artist & invest in new makeup to recreate it

65. Get laser eye surgery

66. Give Ryan a surprise gift once a month for 6 months

67. Go horseback riding on the beach

68. Go horseback riding with my mom & sister

69. Go on a road trip (with multiple locations)

70. Go skydiving

71. Go to a drive in movie

72. Go to a film festival

73. Go to a Suns Game (and have lower level tickets)

74. Go two weeks without Caffeine

75. Host a fabulous New Year’s Eve party with all our friends

76. Learn the basics of Dreamweaver

77. Learn the basics of Illustrator

78. Learn to play guitar

79. Mail birthday cards to all of our family members for one year

80. Make a new friend (a for real one, not just an acquaintance)

81. Mentor someone

82. Organize “girls night” once a month for four months

83. Participate in an Arizona shootout

84. Plan an amazing day for Ryan’s 30th birthday

85. Post something “personal” on the blog every other week for 6 months

86. Make photography my full time job

87. Read 5 novels in the course of a year

88. Read the bible once a day for 30 days in a row

89. See a musical at Gammage

90. See every movie nominated for Best Picture before the Oscars

91. Send a handwritten thank you note once a week for 2 months

92. Send out Christmas cards

93. Start serving in a ministry

94. Take a cooking class

95. Take a sign language class

96. Take one of my old 6th grade girls out to lunch/dinner and reconnect

97. Treat Julie to a surprise special day out

98. Try one new restaurant a month for 6 months

99. Try Yoga

100. Visit the Walk of Fame in LA

101. Write a thank you letter to 5 people who have made a difference in my life

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I recently learned that the word “slapdash” is a synonym for the word random.  After laughing about it for a while, the thought occurred to me that it would make a fabulous title for an ongoing blog series about completely random things.  One of the goals of our blog, along with sharing our work and giving our clients a way to share their photos with others, is to be able to document our personal lives and help our readers get to know us personally.  Well, up to this point, we’ve never been very good at the “personal” part :-(  Maybe it’s because we worry that people won’t really care?  (And maybe they really won’t – I don’t know.)  But if there’s one thing that Facebook and other forms of social networking have taught us, it’s that people just want to connect and sometimes that means finding common ground on the most mundane of topics.

So, in the interest of relationship building, personal disclosure, and overall slapdashery (yep, I think I just made up an awesome new word) – the first ever addition of Slapdash!

Movies are a big deal in the Gotcher house.  We have A LOT of them and watch A LOT of them.  No particular genre either – our taste is pretty much all over the board: comedy, drama, romance, action, classic black and white, even the occasional documentary.  In our house the true test of how much we liked a movie isn’t just based on our initial viewing.  The next day, one of us inevitably asks the other one, “So, did you think about [insert movie title here] today?”  (I tend to think about the previous night’s movie in the shower the next morning – not that you needed to know that.)

Recently, the movies that have been leaving the most lasting impression on us have been independent films.  There’s something so awesome about low-budget, film festival type movies that just blows the big name blockbusters out of the water.  It seems that when filmmakers don’t have the benefit of an actor who’s name can open a movie all by itself or the money for huge stunts and crazy special effects,  they have to get back to the heart of what makes movies so amazing – like story line and character development, making you actually FEEL something and THINK about something.

Here are two of our recent favorites you should totally check out:

Adam: An incredibly heartfelt love story of a man with Asperger’s Syndrome (a form of Autism), that falls in love with a woman who moves into his apartment building.  Not only is the story super charming and heart wrenching at the same time, the film does a great job of surrounding the central story line with supporting characters that have purpose and are thoughtfully written (a major drawback in a lot of movies.)

500 Days of Summer: If you’ve seen it already, SEE IT AGAIN.  Yes, it’s that awesome.  It’s a quirky, clever NON-love story that’s great on too many levels to describe.  And of course, Zooey Deschanel is in it – one of the few women Ryan would probably leave me for if given the chance and I would pretty much totally support his decision.

All kidding aside, check these movies out – they’re so great!  And you won’t walk away thinking, “Well that was two hours of my life I’ll never get back.”

A couple of shout outs to other random things that have made my life especially happy these last few weeks:

New Boots!: Ryan got me these AMAZING knee high boots for Christmas and I simply can NOT have a bad day when I’m wearing them!  (I couldn’t find a photo of my exact pair online, but this ought to give you an idea.  Mine have a slimmer heel and awesome detailing on the side and top – they’re way cuter actually!)

Apple TV: Ryan’s dad got us Apple TV for Christmas!  Yay!!!  Being the avid movie watchers that we are, it gives us access to tons of great movies without having to go to the video store (who does that anymore?) or wait for a Netflix movie to come in the mail.  We can just browse the selections and a great new movie is only a click away!  I also love that we can listen to all of our iTunes music and view photos on our big TV screen – so cool!

Twitter & TweetDeck: I have to admit, I’ve been a little lax in my Twitter duties for a few months, but with a little extra time in my schedule lately, I finally took the time to do a little Twitter clean up.  I’m now following a bunch of new awesome “tweeters” and I’ve unfollowed all the random people that I’ve unknowingly collected while I’ve had my account set to automatically follow everyone who follows me – big mistake!  Now that things are back in order, I’ve fallen in love with Twitter all over again :-)  TweetDeck, the ultimate desktop Twitter management tool has made this all much, much easier, although I have to admit that my productivity at the old day job has probably taken a bit of a hit with all those happy little notifications flying in all day.  If you want to follow me on twitter I’m @denisegotcher and Ryan is @ryangotcher.  We also have a Simply Knot Photos account @simplyknot, but we don’t update it quite as much as our personal ones.

Have a great week everybody!

For more information about bridal sessions, feel free to email us at studio@simplyknotphotos.com.

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