AMAZING Life Manifesto: Have an Afternoon Dance Party!

Amazing Life Manifesto, Dreaming  //  10th September 2012

We are not exactly sure how it started, or why it started, but one day, I decided it would be fun to have an afternoon dance party.  So I stopped what I was doing, turned on some music, and preceded to have an afternoon dance party!  Liz looked at me like I was crazy and quickly began to laugh uncontrollably.  At that moment, I knew I had succeeded!   Because what is life without a little laughter and fun!  I pulled her out of her chair and we had an afternoon dance party in our living room.  It was probably one of the most fun afternoons of work ever!

Still not convinced? Research has shown that dancing reduces stress, increases energy, and lowers your risk of heart disease.  Plus it is super FUN!  And that is truly what makes an AMAZING life.  So get up and move, turn up the music and have an afternoon dance party!  And if you think you look silly, who cares!  Just watch our dance moves, yours can’t be any worse than ours! :)

As part of our brand re-launch, we asked all of our friends and family to have their own dance party!  We were so excited to see all the FUN videos from everyone so we wanted to continue the party!  Check them out on our Facebook Page! Get out your iPhones, Droids, 5D Mark II, or anything else that records video.  Celebrate your AMAZING life and share your moves with us on our Facebook page for your chance to win an iTunes gift card!!!

Plus, we are always adding to our dance party playlist, leave us some comment love and let us know what songs get you moving!!!

Congratulations to Ryan Ray, the winner of our Friday Favorites giveaway! 

This is Us – Our AMAZING Promo Video

Dreaming, Our Dreams  //  6th September 2012

When we started the process of redesigning our website, we knew we wanted video to have a very strong focus.  As you saw yesterday, we plan to post a new Manifesto Video each week, and we have slowly been incorporating bits and pieces of video into our story telling photography sessions (check back later today for a super fun session we just did with our AMAZING friends Jennie and Adam).

So when it came to our promo video, it had to be fit perfectly with our brand and tell the story of us.  Yes, we are photographers, but the goal with our site is so much more than that.  It is about helping people live an AMAZING life, encouraging people to live their dreams each day, and capturing life’s most AMAZING moments to share with friends and family for generations to come.  We wanted our promo video to capture exactly those same ideas.  So we started with the idea of having a fun date that included heading to our local farmers market, cooking together, enjoying wine and cupcakes, and just soaking each other in.  But enough of me trying to explain the video, check it out for yourselves and leave us a comment to let us know what you think!

Liz and Ryan: This is Us //  Promo Video // by Jeremy Mitchell Cinema on Vimeo

Thanks to Jeremy and Nick of Jeremy Mitchell Cinema for making us a promo video that exceeded even our grandest expectations!  These guys ROCK and if you are looking to have your wedding filmed or need an AMAZING promo video, definitely give them a shout!

The Launch: Liz and Ryan

Dreaming, Our Dreams  //  5th September 2012

Ohh my goodness!  We can’t believe this moment is actually here!!!  It has been a year + in the making!  (and we promise you that is not an exaggeration!)  We have put so much heart and soul into this rebranding project and we are so happy to say it was worth every single minute!

Beginning in January we embarked on this rebranding journey with the lovely ladies at Making Brands Happen (Lara Casey and Emily Ley).  They challenged us in ways that we never could have imagined.  They were there to ask us the tough questions and push us to dig deep when the answer came out too “easy” or we defaulted to just do what we thought we were suppose to do.  Every question they asked and challenge they put forth have led us to this point today and we could not be more grateful!

Sharing this new site with you is just the beginning of something AMAZING.  We have a fire in our hearts that is burning stronger than it ever has before.  We are confident in knowing that we want to do everything we can to be an inspiration to the world around us.  We have built this site (well actually the amazing team at Flosites built this site! ;) ) as a channel to share our life and our love with you all.  We hope to inspire you to live your own AMAZING life and to be sure to document it along the way!

Without further ado, we could not be any more excited to introduce to you, our new brand Liz and Ryan.

Huge Huge HUGE thanks to the amazing team at Making Brands Happen (Lara, Emily, Emily, Nicole, etc.) for pushing us and being that sounding board that actually challenges us to dig deeper!  Having you in our lives is such an amazing blessing that we will forever be grateful for! … and to think that it all began with Ryan’s comment “Lara Casey, she is CRAZY!  I want to meet her!”  ;)  So happy!   We are beyond excited about where Liz and Ryan is headed, but we will never forget where it all began!  THANK YOU!

A special shout out also needs to go to Ross and his amazing team at Flosites.  Ohh my word they are incredibly talented at what they do!  Thank you to everyone that had a hand in making our new site a reality!  You took our random brainstorms and wildest dreams for this site and made them happen!  We are website geniouses and we are proud to have you on our team!  ;)

And one more note of thanks… We would not be where we are today without every single one of our past and current clients!  You all have touched our lives in such a special way that makes our hearts smile HUGE!  We appreciate you and are so grateful you are a part of our lives.

An Intro to our weekly AMAZING Life Manifesto videos

Amazing Life Manifesto  //  5th September 2012

As we prepared for the launch of our new site, we took some time to think hard about what it is that we do and why we do it. The overarching theme that we came back to over and over again was “to live an amazing life” and help others live their own amazing life! We have been blessed in so many ways to seek out our passions and live out our dreams everyday. Life is not always easy, but if we go back to the basics and concentrate on the positives in our life… it is pretty darn amazing!

We are firm believers that everyone can live their own amazing lives! It is our goal to help people realize what makes their own lives amazing! We want to encourage people to seek out their dreams and the positives that surround them everyday!

Every week we will be sharing a video with you. The video will focus on a specific piece of our Amazing Life Manifesto. We hope that it will serve as a reminder to everyone to live your own amazing life daily!

We decided to start off our Manifesto Videos by highlighting “Dream BIG Dreams and Make Them Happen” because this is exactly what we are doing right now. The launch of this new site is exactly that: a BIG dream! Our dream is to create a platform where we can inspire the world to celebrate the positives in life and live the amazing life that people dream of.

So often people ask us how we got started doing what we do. We hear comments like, “gosh, I wish I could make food like Ryan makes” or “I wish I could start my own business and do what I enjoy everyday.” And the reality is that everyone CAN! Honestly, we are firm believers that anyone can DREAM BIG DREAMS AND MAKE THEM HAPPEN. We promise you… it is not luck and it does not just happen overnight. But, if you take the time to dream and you pour your heart and soul into something… saying prayers along the way… God will take care of you!

Everyone has dreams. Deep down, there is something in your mind that you “wish” you could do. Whatever that dream is, we hope that you will take time this week to write it down. Say it out loud. Tell a friend and ask them to hold you accountable. Take the time this week to dream. Turn the TV off, go to a coffee shop or sit under the stars and literally let your mind wander. Wherever it takes you, please write it down and take a step to make it happen! One step at a time… you will get to that dream. Sometimes the end result is not exactly how you pictured it originally… but that is God working his magic and one day it will all make sense! ;) In the meantime… enjoy the ride!

Cheers to Dreaming BIG Dreams and Making them happen!