Purple Valley: personal accomplishments

Here is my Uberlist from 2007 which I posted at the beginning of 2007. Let's see what I've gotten accomplished. Probably not as much as I wish I had . . .

Family

DONE - continue to eat every meal at the dining room table unless it's "picnic night"
visit Neil's grandmother more often, she is our last remaining grandparent
DONE - {we go to the library a lot and I joined a Mom's Group here in town} utilize children activities in my area more, like the play area at the mall, the library, Baby Talk with Jennifer, The Children's Museum, parks, etc.
DONE - videotape family more
DONE - {I think we almost always do this} dedicate Sunday to family time only
{We have honestly not done good at this because I've been so busy before Christmas that I needed Sunday mornings to work, but now we're getting back into the swing of things -- phew!} never skip church

One-Time Tasks

DONE - {At least the first part, hehe} finally download Chicago pictures from summer, burn CD for Heather & mom
DONE - upload Neil's Japan pictures
DONE - do Beth's pictures in Photoshop and burn CD for her

Personal Goals

DONE - get back into yoga
try pilates finally
meet with a lawyer to revise our will
waste less time online
{not possible when you own a vacant lot that nearly doubles our mortage payment each month!} save money
DONE - {Those of you who know me would be so proud if you had seen all that I have thrown away in the past 6 months!} home: quit stockpiling & hoarding, throw more away
DONE - {since we have a new car, it's easier for me to do now!} regular car cleaning
home: finish up and put away laundry within 24 hours of starting it
fun: Read more of my chic lit books; make more time for reading period
Getting much better - personal growth: tell my dear friends and family members how much I love them, and do it more often, just say "I love you" more
Getting better but not there yet - cook more homemade meals for my family - try new recipes, at least once a week to start!
DONE - {I bought an ipod touch which solves this problem!} listen to more music - it relaxes and rejuvenates me, especially my folk tunes
DONE - {I've done really really good at this although I need to do it more} shopping: only buy things I REALLY need
sell the rest of my ebay things this year - two tubs full of things

Organization

{lol - yeah right} keep my email emptied out and organized, respond promptly!
DONE - {and doing! Getting much much much better and staying on top of it --- yay!} organize my photos
organize my scrapbooking, sell my un-needed items
DONE - organize my office better
BEGUN - {I started on this last week and it's already 500x better! Lots to go, though!} organize old client negatives/files - toss weddings older than 3 years
Getting better - read magazines and catalogs promptly, throw out regardless after 2 months

Creativity

{I'm seriously lol at this one. Can you say "time!"?} get back into the flow of using my creativity in other mediums: drawing & painting, for example
{Laughing again} finally get my pictures in order starting from our wedding 7 years ago, then Noah, and then Maia
{Now beginning to tear up because I haven't done anything of the sort} create albums for the above - nothing fancy that requires a lot of time and money, just simple - I need to make it as easy as possible or I will waste a lot of unnecessary time
{Still not doing well at this either . . . wah!} write in my personal journal more, as well as my children's journals which I use to be so good at keeping up on
DONE DONE DONE! make an effort to spend one day a week shooting pictures with my D200 of my children instead of my little point-and-shoot
DONE some, but more to go. make time for the small creative projects I have put off in Maia and Noah's rooms

Work

DONE DONE DONE!!!! redesign my website
DONE - {$1500 later!} buy Photoshop CS2
actually use my Wacom table or sell it
sell all unused items (cameras, lenses, filters, etc) that others could make use out of
calibrate my monitors monthly
DONE - clean up my computer desktops monthly

Money

file income tax on time
save, save, save
Trying. {I feel like I'm never going to get out of this financial hole.} make the most of my business while having the least amount of overhead
DITTO the above. pay off my photography debt
{Laughing and crying. At least I only have about 2 years left. Finally.} finally pay off my college tuition
BEGUN! save for our 10-year wedding anniversary in 2 years - we want to go someplace out of the country but it's a secret ;)

Friends

{I feel like a horrible friend.} Nat & Shawn: make more of an effort to visit them (and Bella & new baby) in St Louis
~~Kristin & Chris: make more of an effort to visit them (and Jack) in Peoria~~
DONE - {They are now moving to Georgia! Wah!} Andrea & Rusty: make more of an effort to visit them (and Audrie) in Peoria
Matt & Anissa: while in Peoria meet up with them and the fam
{While I didn't fly out there, I did get to see Jen over the summer and this October I will get to see her in New Orleans!} Jen & Ryan: fly out to see them and Addy in Mississippi before October, hop over to New Orleans and reminisce
{Didn't get to fly to see Alexis, Lisa or Jen, but I did get to see Alexis a couple of times last year . . . yay!} Alexis: fly out to see her and the fam in North Carolina, while there, drive over to see Lisa and fam in Virginia, possibly trek up - or meet halfway - Hen Jen in Maine
{Finally going in Feb!} Brad, Chel and Ella: fly out to see them in Oklahoma
Jamie: meet her for lunch once/month, more if possible
DONE - Sara: shopping extravaganza with her in Chicago, spend more time in her new digs
Jason & Jo: see them and their new home in Chicago
Halfway done - {I saw her once and she shot a wedding with me!} Allison: make sure I see her at least twice/year
DONE - {I see this chickie too much -- just kidding!} Heather: continue seeing her almost weekly and do a girly getaway (just her and I) over a weekend
See Katie and David and meet Rachel - in Chicago {I just added this one in 2008}

Health-Beauty

eat healthier - more veggies and fruits, drink more water
schedule appts for my tonsilectomy (ENT) - finally! - and my appt with dermatologist
DONE - start back with yoga 3x/week
use lotion on a daily basis
paint my nails once a month (right now it's more like once a year, not kidding)
Halfway done - {One pedicure in 2007} go back to getting twice/year spa pedicures
{I think I do pretty good at this} continue staying out of the sun
{Ditto to the above} be more breast cancer aware

I think I did okay in 2007. I could have done better. But I'm still really happy with what I did accomplish. Yay me.

I got something huge off my shoulders this weekend.

I am really bad at downloading personal pictures and then doing nothing with them. When we had Noah, I started off really well downloading and then ordering pictures through Snapfish. Once Maia came along, I started to slack. Granted, I was doubly busier, but I still shouldn't have slacked so much. I don't have a single print from my small digital camera (yes, this is coming from me, a professional photographer! . . . eek!) of Maia except for a few from the day she was born - she is almost 18 months old now - how embarrassing.

So this weekend I spent about 10 hours (yes, 10 hours!!) going through all the pictures over the past 18 months (about 2500!), sorting them on my computers ("computers" - plural - I learned something right there - to not download some on one computer and then some others on another computer - it makes for huge huge disorganization and lots and lots of stress!), deleting ones I had doubles of, downloading them onto disks, and then uploading them into Snapfish. Man was that a chore!!

I still have to order the prints (only a thousand, that's all - yikes), but I figure I'll order about 100 or so a week and do it slowly over time to save moolah. Once I finally catch up, my new plan will be the following:

(This is not just a list, but a lesson learned, not just for me, but for you, too!)

1) Download only onto one computer - still not sure if my laptop or desktop makes more sense, but I'll figure that out when the time comes.
2) Download into only one program (I had pictures scattered between 3 different photo programs on 2 computers - major unnecessary hassle and stress!)
3) The very same day I will upload to Snapfish and ORDER
4) Make a folder in my photo program of the date, so that when I have enough pictures to fill up a disk, I can know what I am saving and do it in a fashionable simpler manner!

Now I have to work on an organization route for when I receive the pictures back in the mail. That's another 10+ hour day, I'm sure, and another post that hopefully I can share within the year, and maybe that organization will entail actually putting them into albums? And I don't mean scrapbook them - I have learned there's no possible way for me to scrapbook because I am such a tedious person when it comes to my creative works, so I have to go the simple stress-free and inexpensive route: open the album, slide in and presto -- done! I cannot believe I just admitted all my downfalls that pertain to my personal photographs. It's kinda embarrassing. But I can truly say I am organized when it comes to my clients - I have to be.

So now, does anyone have any photography organization skills that you would like to share? I would love love love to hear!