So the new iOS 7 just came out for iPhones. How many people downloaded it immediately? We did — and it’s going to take some getting used to, but then again, upgrades almost always do.

There are some other upgrades coming soon, and we’re so excited that we actually have the time to get to work on them. For some time, we’ve been putting our personal and non-immediately-essential business projects on hold while we took care of truly-immediate concerns — like shooting weddings five weekends in a row, traveling in and out of state every month. You know, stuff like that. But now, somehow, we find ourselves with four whole weekends in a row without weddings or traveling commitments, so we’re ready to start tackling those projects and making those upgrades. It’ll take some getting used to. And it will be very much worth it!

Speaking of time, I love that our serious kick to focus our priorities this year has resulted in more time for things that are important to us outside of work. I’ve been running several times each week (and making it to yoga class, albeit a little less often than I would like), and I’ve already seen so much improvement in my energy, my appetite, and my fitness level. I’m not sure that I would call it an improvement, but I’ve also seen a marked increase in how often I drift off to sleep at night when I’m sitting on the couch . . . or folding laundry, as the case was a couple nights ago. Hey, sleeping is important to us, too! So I definitely want to make time for that. . . .

Something else we made time for recently that felt SO GOOD: On our last night in New York, we decided, “Hey, we created a really cool nighttime-and-city-lights portrait for Katrina and Chris at their wedding. We’re really going to regret it if we don’t do one of ourselves!” That meant that at 10:30, we packed up a camera and a few lenses and two flashes and a light stand and an umbrella and made the thirty-second trek from Danny’s aunt’s home to the Brooklyn Bridge Park, where Danny and I spent a good bit of time every day during our stay. We played with the camera and flash settings, gave his aunt a crash course on how to focus and compose a shot on our camera, and stepped in front of the sparkling lights of Manhattan. Voila.

We weren’t looking our most polished after a long day exploring the city and a late dinner, but that doesn’t matter. We’re finally making the time to get memorable, quality photographs of ourselves. We’re going to cherish this.~ Laura