Happy Birthday Baby! SHMILY

How cool was this kid?  Some things never change :-)

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The top two home improvement lessons we’ve learned so far:  1) Nothing is as easy as you think it will be . . . EVER!  No matter how easy it looks on HGTV (which we now LOVE by the way), it’s not.  And 2) keep your receipts.  You WILL buy the wrong thing at Home Depot.  There’s no point in getting mad, just accept it because it WILL happen . . . over and over again.

A small selection of our many, many new purchases. Our very first purchase was the 8 foot green ladder. Getting that into my little blue Rav4 was entertaining!

We’ve created a little graveyard of the ugliness we’ve been pulling out of the house.  Mid 90′s light fixtures anyone?

This little baby was about the ONLY thing that survived the big lighting switch out.  It was originally hung in the studio, which has kinda low ceilings to begin with, so rather than put a 6 foot and under height restriction on our clients, we decided to move it into the family room.

I know you already saw the new dinning room light, but it’s just too pretty not to post it again :-)

It’s funny that something as small as changing out light fixtures can do so much to modernize a space. This front room will be our living room with the TV on the left side wall and our couches on the right.  To add a some mood lighting, we added dimmer switches for the front pendant light as well as the one in the dinning room.  Ryan’s becoming quite the little electrician, despite his deathly fear of electrocution.  I’m not kidding people, he gets upset when I accidently shock him in the grocery store. If  it does happen, I’m not allowed to touch him until we leave the store.

We’ve had so much help from our amazing families!  Here’s a shot of Ryan’s dad Greg working on hanging one of the new lights.

Rather than do vertical blinds for the back door, we opted for curtains.  Perfect example of a project that sounds easy and turns out to be a big pain!  We had to hang the dang rod 3 times to get it at the correct height.  On top of that, it required 3 trips to Pottery barn, the second time for more curtain rings and the third time to exchange one of the panels which was not the same length as the first one even though it said it was supposed to be on the package.  A two inch difference doesn’t lie!

My favorite part of the curtain project?  The squared finials on the end of the rod.  (And learning that these were called “finials”! LOL!)

So the biggest project we’ve completed so far has been repainting our cabinets.  There was quite a bit involved in the process for what seemed like a simple change:  1) Take down cabinets doors & remove the hinges, 2) Clean all surfaces, 3) Prime all surfaces, 4) Paint all surfaces, 5) Put hardware back on and rehang everything, 6) Touch up all the nicks we made by not letting them dry long enough, etc.  Not only did we do the kitchen, we did the cabinets in both bathrooms as well.  It took about 3 weekends to get the whole thing done, but it provided lots of photo opportunities :-)

And the whole thing would have been impossible without A LOT of help!  Here’s Ryan & Greg putting the last of the hinges back on.

Here’s Ryan’s mom Lanie doing touch ups .  Lucky for us, she’s a fab artist who paints for a living.  Experience with a paint brush = a hot commodity during a painting project!  Although we were able to remove the doors and use a paint sprayer to do those, all the cabinetry that was attached to the wall had to be hand painted.

Here’s what our previously ugly kitchen cabinets looked like BEFORE.  And then DURING – the purple looking color is primer.

And now – the AFTER!  We’re certainly not pros, but it turned out pretty well.  Much better than living with a kitchen from the early 90′s at least!  (You may have noticed that all three photos were shot with completely different light, some with flash and some without.  We started out using our little point and shoot camera for the before stuff, but wanted the finished product to be better quality.  What? You don’t think that the “before & after” ads on TV do that too?  Come on now, you know it’s true. LOL!)

Putting in a dog door was especially fun since it required cutting a BIG hole in our house!  Check out the burly man wielding the saw!

Awwwww look – It’s our first HUGE hole. (tear)

A man with a saw sure draws a crowd!

And of course, my Dad (Dan) and I just had to do the old inside-outside trick.  Yep.  We’re a bunch of dorks.

Our introduction to the home improvement process has had it’s up and downs . . .

But it’s also been a lot of fun and we’ve already built a ton of great memories in our new house with people that we love.  Thanks so much to our awesome family that have been such a huge help!  Where would we be without your love, support and advice?  I think it’s safe to say that we’d be living in a much uglier house. LOL!

Lots of Love from both of us :-)

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We started our home search in January and it has been a long and very busy five months because of it, but it’s totally worth it to finally say that we are homeowners!  Our house is in Chandler only about a five minute drive from where we live now and we could not be more thrilled.  How about a little tour?  Now keep in mind, we’ve got LOTS of projects planned and we’ve actually spent the last month changing a bunch of things about the interior, but there’s a lot more on our To-Do list so you’ll probably be seeing a lot of before and after posts in the next few months.

The previous owner clearly made some poor choices in landscaping so please excuse the weed-like forrest on the left, the world’s dirtiest tree on the right and the ugly grey bushes along the front window.  Future home improvement project . . . (sigh.)

Our front door – complete with man eating Bougainvillea and more ugly landscape. LOL!

The interior – we LOVE the flooring!

Notice the room just off the front door . . .

This room will soon be the Simply Knot Photography studio space!  We’ve got BIG plans for this room.  We’ll be adding some great lighting, putting lots of our photo work on the walls and creating a comfy living room style space where we can meet with our clients.  We’ve been dreaming and waiting for this for a LONG time and can’t wait to get started!

On to the rest of the house – here’s the dining room and family room.  BTW, what’s with the “entertainment niches”?  Hate them!  We will be bidding them a fond farewell in the near future.

Another view.

Dinning room and kitchen. Doesn’t our kitchen look amazing in our “Fridge Room”. That thing is enormous!

When we bought the house, all the cabinets were a light brown color.  Yuck.  Painting them was a big project, but totally worth it – before and after photos coming soon!

Vaulted ceilings & recessed lighting – more of our  favorite features.

Apparently when they built homes in the mid 90′s the only lighting fixtures available were hideous.  One of the first changes we made was installing this cute light in the dinning room.  SO much better!

The house has 2 pretty much identical bedrooms (along with a master and our studio space.)

A quick peak at the master bathroom – just perfect for many, many future bubble baths :-)

Everyone who’s seen our backyard keeps telling us how lucky we are – it’s HUGE because we’re on a corner lot.  However, as you can see, it’s totally void of any landscaping other than patches of grass and headless sprinklers that create a lovely little geyser on the side of the house whenever they turn on!  LOL!   Now there’s a project that can wait for cooler weather :-)

Our only improvement to the backyard so far has been adding these cute red chairs . . . so we can look out into our great empty field in comfort and style.  LOL!  Molly has been over to visit and she’s mostly just scared of the yard.  What can we say?  She’s been an apartment dog all her life!  We also kinda think that the dead grass hurts her little paws :-(

So that about does it for the tour. All in all, it’s so wonderful to have a place to call our own. We feel so blessed and can’t wait to move in this weekend!

Thank you so much to the many people who have been supporting us through this process: our fabulous realtor Natalie and our mortgage broker Fred – we highly recommend both of these awesome people so if you’re in the market for a home let us know and we’d be happy to pass their info along to you.  And of course, a big thanks to our awesome family and friends that have given countless hours of advice and empathy.  We heart you guys!

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Hands down, our favorite part of the trip was our hotel room at the Wynn.  It was FAB-U-LOUS!  We absolutely loved the bright, modern decor and the roomy floor plan.  If you’re ever looking for a hotel on the strip don’t pass this one up!  Ours was a standard room, but it completely exceeded our expectations.

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Floor to ceiling windows overlooking the strip – YES PLEASE!

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

And to top it all off . . . custom room keys :-)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Check out this awesome section of the lobby at The Bellagio.  Love the multi-colored tulips and the way the light was hitting the fountain.

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Silly Gotcher self portrait :-)  I think we were sitting in the back of a “boat” at Margaritaville when this was taken.  Mmmmmmm.  My mouth starts to water just thinking about their burgers.

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Many of our favorite Vegas activities involved eating.  Wichcraft at The MGM Grand has AMAZING sandwiches.

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Love this one of my handsome hubby :-)  And if you look real close, you can see my reflection in the windows.  Yes, I was laying on the ground IN VEGAS to take a photo.  Not to worry, I made sure to shower when we got back to the hotel.  Ha ha!

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

If you know me at all, you pretty much know that I’m a HUGE Beatles fan.  The Mirage is home to an AMAZING Cirque du Soleil show called “Love” that consists entirely of Beatles music!  We saw the show a couple years ago and spent a small fortune at the gift shop at the time.  Item one on my Vegas To-Do List was to replace my well worn t-shirt.

This place is Beatles fan HEAVEN!!!! I loved walking around hearing everyone else in the store softly singing along to “Here Comes the Sun” and “Revolution”. It’s such a cool feeling to know you share a passion with complete strangers.  Makes you feel kinda warm and fuzzy inside :-)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

How cool is this hallway leading to the theater?

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Rockin’ it fun house mirror style!

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

We also spent a few hours at the Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat.  Dolphins are pretty much the coolest, happiest creatures ever!  We could have watched these guys all day.

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Llama anyone?

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Now, the total dollar amount of Ryan’s BlackJack winnings may not seem like much at first glance, but when you consider that he started with $5 it’s pretty impressive.  An 1130% increase is something to be proud of!  Way to go honey :-)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Thanks again to our awesome couple Nerina & David who invited us to capture their special day and gave a reason to hang out in “sin city” for a few days.  We had a blast!

(I have to apologize in advance for the poor quality of the photos in this post. Dodge Theater doesn’t allow pro cameras so we had to settle for our old point in shoot.)

We met up with our friends, future clients and fellow Team Coco members Ashley & Jesse before the show.   These guys are awesome!   Ashley & I have known each other for a long time and used to be co-workers at United Blood Services.  We’ll be headed to San Francisco in September to shoot their wedding.  Can’t wait!

Showing off our awesome Conan gear!

Here’s a few shots from the show:

Before Conan came out, they showed a video of what he’s been up to since the show ended.  HILARIOUS!

Conan tried to win over the crowd by coming out in a Phoenix Suns jersey.

Lots of old Late Night regulars made appearances like La Bamba, Andy & some other furry friends.

“A night of music, comedy, hugging and the occasional awkward silence.” - TeamCoco.com

Here’s a short little video we took on our camera. Conan is talking about the fact that he’s not legally able to appear on TV until November because of his settlement contract with NBC.

The show was so fun and had lots of great laughs!  I guess this will have to tide us over for a few more months until his new show starts on TBS.  Until then, “Go Team Coco!”  By the way, if you don’t already, you should totally follow him on twitter: @ConanObrien.  Funny, funny stuff.

Sorry that we’ve been neglecting our blog a bit these last few weeks, but we are happy to report that there’s another REALLY BIG goal in the works that’s been taking up a lot of our time.  More to come soon!

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(no loves yet – be the first!)

Today we’re headed to Las Vegas to shoot the awesome wedding of Nerina & David.  Super stoked to hang out with this great couple AND spend a little time enjoying the delights of “Sin City”.  Is it bad that the main items on our “To Do” list so far all involve food?  Ha ha!  We’ll have lots of fun pics to share of the wedding and our trip so stay tuned!

Vegas Baby!

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Ryan & I decided to have Chinese food for dinner so it seemed like as good an opportunity as any.  Here’s the “before” . . .

And here’s the “after”.  It may not look like I actually ATE an entire meal, but promise that I did.  Ryan can vouch for me.  And it was a lot easier to get used to than I thought it would be.

Check out my fun fortune!  Pretty appropriate for someone who’s celebrating eating a meal with chopsticks, right?

And Ryan had a winner too.  We’re hoping this one comes true in the near future.

Of course, I couldn’t have reached this “ever so important, life altering goal”, without the help of one of our favorite take out joints, the fabulously tasty Pei Wei Asian Diner.  Many thanks friends!

There are actually a lot of goals in the works, but it sure felt good to check at least one off the list :-)  Hope everybody has a great weekend!

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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 (COMPLETED 4/2/2010)

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 (COMPLETED 5/24/2010)

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 (COMPLETED 5/2/2010)

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 (COMPLETED 3/19/2010)

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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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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