30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 26

Day 26 of my LET'S GET PERSONAL: 30 DAY CHALLENGE - my week in great detail.

Since it's early on in the week, I'll talk about last week.

Somehow I feel that talking about what I do during the day/week isn't all that exciting, but keeping true to this challenge, here goes...

SUNDAYS (this is an every week thing)
My day usually starts around 6, 6:30 - that's AM people - to get ready for church and service. Shelvie, Jason, John and I (we are 'the tech team', sometimes with the help of Steve, my brother-in-law) are responsible for setting up sound for worship.

The church suffered a fire back in May and we are awaiting the opening of our new church in April 2011. In the meantime, we are using the neighboring school's gym.

which includes:
unloading the trailer
setting up instruments: keys, drums, guitar(s), bass
equipment: speakers, monitors, sound board, mics
plus, running all necessary XLRs, instrument cables, extension cords, etc.

Service begins at 10am and usually ends around 11:30pm. At which time we breakdown, repack and reload the trailer.

By that time, Shelvie and I are famished and I'm cranky, coming down from my very LARGE cup of coffee. If it's in the budget, we'll venture off to have breakfast at Doc's - an amazing little restaurant in the center of town. Everything is homemade, which means you will wait a long time for your food, but it also means that it is made from scratch, so it's so worth it!

Then it's off to the house, full belly = long nap.

Around 4:30ish - I say 'ish because I always make us late - where off again, back to the school, for Velocity - where Shelvie and I are youth leaders. There we play games, dodge ball or some other semi-violent sport and listen to a short message by the youth Pastor, Pastor Doug.

After that we either hang out at P Doug's house, where we (all the leaders), hon our Jenga skills - we got up to 37 rows, world record is 42 - or we head home to watch the newest delivery from Netflix.

Shot with P Doug's iPhone

MONDAY, December 20th
Out of bed by 8am. While I have my am coffee intake, I catch up on emails, read through all the tweets I missed over the course of the night  - my OCD requires me to read them ALL - and read the newest blog posts in my Outlook reader.

It was super windy that day and the house lost power for about an hour. Since I couldn't use my computer, I went over the business notes I collected throughout the year, reviewed favorites from the Wedding MBA, and organized an action plan for 2011 - including a reconstructed business plan, a new client prospective and a schedule of goals for the first quarter.

After that, I wrote the blog post SNEAK PEAK: DANIELLE AND JASON, where I talked a little about them, their personal and collective interests and their different design aesthetics. I also talked about how I kept Danielle's desire to brand her wedding in the forefront, while having to work-around a previously chosen invitation design, to produce two design concepts for their save-the-dates.

At 4pm I went to the gym.

Home around 6pm, showered and made dinner for Shelvie and I. We then cuddled on the couch and bickered over who was going to drive, who watched their show last and finally decided on the history channel - a happy compromise :)

TUESDAY, December 21st
I am a creature of habit - Out of bed by 8am. Had coffee while I caught up on emails, read through ALL the tweets I missed over the course of the night and read any new blog posts in my Outlook reader.

I then researched, collected ideas and wrote out some thoughts I had for adding video to the new DOSSIE-A website. Maybe a little stop-action?!

Finished optimizing (in Lightroom) some images I took of the nieces, a Christmas gift for the grandparents. 

Spent the rest of the day with Shelvie ~ I love the holidays = slow work week!

WEDNESDAY, December 22nd
Up and out of the house by 9am.

Worked, on site, at Ill Eagle - where I am defining a new position for their company, while leading in new product developments.

With the holiday and trying to get new shipments out, they forgot I was coming in that day. However, they needed a quick holiday design so, I created

They then added their personal message and sent it to all their clients and vendors.

That evening, they hosted a Christmas party, next door at a newly opened Sports Bar. I ran into a girl I went to high school with, it made me feel my age for. just. a. second.
 
THURSDAY, December 23rd
Up early, showered and spent about an hour collecting and organizing (wall) paint swatches for my 10am design consulting meeting.

10am meeting with Pastor Jim, Mary Ann and Jason (site contractor) to make final decisions concerning the carpet and tile selection, wall color, elevator stain, Formica selection (bathroom, reception and workroom) and wood grain for the doors and cabinets.

11:30am meeting with P Doug to go over print design needs for all of the upcoming 2011 events, plus the necessary information timeline.

1pm lunch with Dave and Julie, brother- and sister-in-law, at Red Robin ~ yuuummmm

full belly = nap time

Shelvie had worship practice that evening, so I watched The Business of Kids from my creativeLIVE: Children's Portrait Photography with Tamara Lackey package.

FRIDAY, December 24th ~ Christmas Eve
In the morning, I baked vanilla cupcakes and chocolate chip cookie brownies for dessert that evening.

Headed to the gym around 12pm to about 2pm. Home. Showered. Ate.

you know it! full belly = nap time.
I'm so predictable, right?! Not really, although I am a creature of habit, this week is not the norm. I wish I get to nap after every meal - this is why holidays ROCK!

At 6:30pm we headed over to Steve's house - that's me, Shelvie and our dog Alice; Steve and his family: Amber (wife), Taylor, Kendall, Payton, Diem (kids) and their two dog's Emmy and Bronx; Mamma and Poppa G; Oty; Dave and Julie - for dinner, gaming - we played XBox Kinect, I HIGHLY recommend it ... it's great fun! - and gift giving at midnight. Home and asleep by 2am.

SATURDAY, December 25th ~ Christmas
Up around noon. Ate then napped.

Left at 3pm and headed to my families get-together - my mom's side of the family. This was more low-key, adults and no kids under the age of 12.

Home and watching a movie by 8pm ~ aahhhh :)

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 25

Getting to know me, my day in detail...

Not much to tell here, which is a rarity. We got fourteen inches of snow last night, which means Shelvie worked over fifteen hours straight, starting at 1am.

oh, and I just have to mention, I'm going snowboarding on Saturday - start of the season = fresh powder, WHAT?! :P

Shelvie is sick as a dog and we were up most of the night. With church that morning, our day begins at 6am - we are responsible for setting up and running sound - exchanging Christmas gifts that didn't fit - wait, which one of us was supposed to bring the receipt - and running a few errands - Call of Duty: Black Ops ~ check, Verizon phone charger ~ check, Starbucks because I'm getting cranky ~ check - before the storm, it was a long day. Needless to say, I am tired today.

With that being said, I spent most of the day trying to be lazy. Operative word here being, 'TRYING', my Type A personality + OCD tendencies never really allow my brain a vacation. So, trying to be some-what productive, I decided to ...

Catch up on some basic busy work, ie... this weeks blog posts (I'm trying to get 30 DAY CHALLENGE completed by the end of the year - five posts in five days - go me!).

Update DOSSIE-A with some new features: Facebook 'COMMENT'ing and 'LIKE' (sharing DOSSIE-A with your friends), plus a more in-your-face opportunity to connect via Facebook or my blog.
forgot Twitter in that mix

yeah, not firing on all cylinders today

hmmm...will have to fix that

Finally updated my Twitter profile, including a new background and color option - so it feels more like DOSSIE-A, maintaining brand recognition.  
yeah, I fed my OCD monster and went through *ALL* 4,000 color combination's. Exhausting all the options, I finally had to settle on one that matched the CLOSEST. (in Twitter: profile ~ edit your profile ~ design. Under 'design' get more creative ~ check out Themeleon) 

and... I finally figured out how to post my ShowIt sites to my Facebook Fan Page. *HELLO*, this took me weeks! Want to talk about frustrating, it worked, then I had to go mess with settings, because, you know, that's what techies do. So, after numerous emails to Jason over at ShowIt, I had an epiphany. Well, not really an epiphany, more like an a-ha moment. I remembered him saying something about an alternative method to posting and decided to reread the directions ... ha, ha, my bad!
Now, you can browse my blog or my website without ever leaving Facebook.

I would love to hear how you spend lazy days! or leave fun tips on what to do when your stuck in the house all day.

I can't wait to hear your comments!

CHRISTMAS WITH THE ELECTRONIC SANTA

I love this ... MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 24

Day 24 of my LET'S GET PERSONAL: 30 DAY CHALLENGE - something that tickles my fancy.

Even though my last 30 DAY CHALLENGE was to share a YouTube video with you, I'm going to go ahead and share another one.

Shelvie would like me to learn the piano, 'so we can start a band and become famous' he says. I guess he never got the memo that musical genius was not one of the qualities God had listed when he created me. To encourage me anyway, he showed me this video that exemplifies that all songs are made up of only four chords. I guess he wanted to take the intimidation out of it ... ah, huh ... right! ... does he not see that my hands are the size of a five-year-olds?

However, if I want him to be my second shooter one day - oh, did I mention that I want us to be a husband-and-wife wedding photography team and become famous?! I guess I never got his memo either, God didn't include that on his list, he's color blind.

I guess I'll have to learn the piano...

HOLIDAYS WITH FRIENDS

Last Friday, a bunch of us got together and spent the evening at Vanessa and Greg's. It's
the first time, in over a year, that we were all together in one place.

I have amazing friends and I am so very thankful for these relationships!


That night we sat around talking, joking around and catching up on lost time...

Shelvie and I just recently met Erica and her husband, Rob - but they are becoming
fast friends. If I had a twin, Erica would be it. She's like a kindred spirit and the first
person that I've met that has the same personality as me - she gets it and I LOVE that!

Vito and his wife Brittany (top picture, here and here) are longtime friends and our camping buddies.



We became Jenga experts by the end of the night...

Erica, in deep concentration.

Me, going for an easy one.

Vanessa, intent on not knocking it over.

Dave, my brother-in-law, going for a tough one from the bottom.



We also played White Elephant...
In the past, this has been a vicious test of wills - and they call us Christians, LOL - but that night, it was overly subdued. I wounder if that is a sign of our aging?! LOL

Dave got a pillow from Columbia Sportswear (I think). It's super neat - it rolls up and has a pouch for storing. Perfect for him since he travels a lot.
 

Shelvie holding his White Elephant gift - oh, and did I mention, he was the one that brought it - stinker!

RAE DESIGN GROUP - LANDING PAGE DESIGN PROCESS

As a side note, I first have to say - I love Brittany! She is an AMAZING person and a really great friend!! So, thank you Brittany, for putting your baby in my hands ;). I will love it as my own! ~ can't get enough exclamations here

Brittany and I first met to discuss the direction of her interior design company a while back. She was unhappy with her current design studio, feeling like they just didn't get her creative aesthetic. Instead of filtering through her ideas to see what would effectively work in her case, they just regurgitated everything into one design idea.

When we met, she was more than concerned that I wouldn't be able to deliver either - which, I might add, was completely valid after being traumatized from that experience. Knowing this, I really took the time to HEAR what she was saying, allowing her to get everything out.
I think that once this is done, it's easier to go back and filter through, picking out what will be really amazing for the scope of the project.

Brittany's main concern was that she couldn't decide on one particular look or feel to go with. She was inspired by the leaders in her field, but also by other industries, such as fashion. She was really excited, wanted something great and for it to be successful - I could tell it was overwhelming her.

As a designer, I feel her pain. I'm constantly swayed by other design ideas I think are done effectively, my mood, or bright shiny things (in these cases, the WOW designs), ha ha!

I think it's important to look at other resources for design inspiration, but not get hung up on it. That can leave you feeling like, either you need to replicate it (VERY BAD) or discouraged, knowing you'll never be able to recreate their success. 
There is not another you, so just be you, that is what will set you apart!

She did know she didn't want anything literal, or for it to scream interior designer or architect - something interior designers often get confused with. She wanted to break out of the box,  a 'big reveal' as she called it (by her definition: having a black cloak over a box, you know its a box under there, but you don't know what's in the box). Although wanting to create a mystery, it was still important to her to come across as a professional to her vendors, clients and potential clients.

She also knew that she liked a monochromatic color scheme with a pop(s) of color. Another direction she wanted me to explore was combining traditional and script fonts. (my favorite!)

A few weeks later, we met again. I had some time to mull over our previous conversation and I was prepared to get to the heart of her design direction. As she started to pull together new findings, I decided it would be best to just have a discussion.

To start it off, I asked her to give me three adjectives - things that immediately popped up for her. She hated me for this, but it really helped her to be decisive and to pick only those that truly resonated with her. She came up with: Sophisticated, Classic and Timeless. I then asked her to show me one image or website that reflected these words for her, helping me to see how she defined these words visually.
These adjectives will be further interpreted in the official website design

These are the initial design directions.

Brittany liked direction one but how direction two was centered.

With some minor tweaking, the final Landing Page design.

You can read the original post here or check it out online here.

NEW BLOG FEATURES

Rolling out some new features on my blog!! whoop whoop

on the RIGHT - you can subscribe to my posts or share them on Facebook or Twitter - I know, because they are sooo amazing

also to the RIGHT is a FEATURED IN section - clicking on the link will take you there

on the BOTTOM - see what I'm tweeting about or click off to see my Flickr photostream

I'll be adding some things here and there and offering more informative content, but stayed tuned for the BIG REVEAL ...  oooowww, it's going to be epic.

I want to hear from you! If you have any suggestions on what you would like to see more of - design processes, inspiration boards, informational resources - let me know in the comments section below!