Day 28

What makes you smile?

Jostlyn: Carson. Good food. Genuinely good people. Passionate artists. Jazz music. Singing. Funny movies. Holidays. Old houses.

Carson: When my wife understands me. When I succeed. 

Day 27

Would you break the law to save a loved one?

Jostlyn: Will this incriminate me later? Yes, if it's a matter of saving their life, I would.

Carson: Yes.

Day 26

How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

Jostlyn: uh.. well someone the other day thought I was 28? haha. I'd say 24?

Carson: 25

Day 25

When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards and just do what you know is right?

Jostlyn: I already do that with my religion. But in life in general.. sometimes I don't "know" what is the right thing to do.. sometimes the "right" thing to do is calculate risk and reward and that is your answer. 

Carson: I already do that. I think this is a dumb question. 

Day 24

When you are 80-years-old, what will matter to you the most?

Jostlyn: God and my family. No Brainer. My husband, my children, my grandchildren. My relationships with them. How I've treated them. Preparing to leave this life and enter into the next (obviously doing that all along in my life, but I think as I get older it will become more of a reality to me). 

Carson: My religion and my wife, my family, my kids. Money will not mean anything. 

Day 23

Are you holding onto something that you need to let go of?

Jostlyn: hmm. I don't know? I mean, I got rid of a lot of stuff last weekend and gave it to the D.I. ;) But in all honesty, I think I'm pretty good with everything in my life? 
Carson: Yes.

Day 22

What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?

Jostlyn: I'll answer all.

 I would regret not doing photography. Sometimes I have my days where I just want to quit. I get overwhelmed and I need to learn to balance my life better. I also get overwhelmed with the fact there's still so much I have to learn to get to where I want to be.. I feel so far away from my goal sometimes. BUT, at the same time, it's something that makes me so happy, and when I can make someone else happy because of this talent, THAT'S when it's worth it to me. That's when it's worth it at the end of the day. 

I would regret not fully being myself. For a while I would "play the game" but now.. if you like me for who I am, that's awesome. If you don't, then that's ok too. I understand I won't be liked by everyone, and that's a GOOD thing. That means I have things I stand for, believe in, and my own personality. I'm not going to mold to something else based on who I'm with. This is me. Take it or leave it. 

I would regret not having the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. There have been times when I haven't been the most active member and I don't like who I am when I'm not strong in the gospel. I can't imagine what it would be like if I didn't have it at all in my life. 

Carson: I would regret it if I came into this planet as a woman. Definitely would regret that like... 100 times over. But in all honesty, I would regret not marrying Jostlyn. She turned me into the man I am today and thankfully thats a really really good thing. I was kinda a train wreck before her and I would be an even worse train wreck had I passed her up.

^^ awww... isn't he the sweetest?

Day 21

If you had to teach something, what would you teach?

Jostlyn: Photography stuff. You know. 
Carson: I would teach communication and how to understand and portray messages properly. 

Day 19 & 20

If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow this person to be your friend?

Jostlyn: I think I go through periods of making myself better, and periods of saying I'm awesome.. so  I don't know if I would be best friends with myself because the times when I'm "making myself better" I'm kind of super negative. 

Carson: I'm pretty nice to myself, so I would let him be my friend forever. 

Which activities make you lose track of time?

Jostlyn: Spending time with my husband. It goes by too fast! 

Carson: Video games. Lots and lots of video games. 

Day 17 & 18

What does your joy look like today?

Jostlyn: Not having to go to the doctor. I thought I was going into a sinus infection, but I woke up feeling better today... so I canceled the appt. and I'm going to wait it out and see if I get better on my own :)

Carson: Looks like she's getting ready! 

Is it possible to lie without saying a word?

Jostlyn: Yes. Definitely. 
Carson: Withholding information when the truth should be told is lying just as much as making up something that didn't happen. 

Day 13-16

Do you celebrate the things you do have?

Jostlyn: I think I could be better about that. I think I'm always trying to improve. I do have happy dances about things, but after a while I look for change. Materialistic stuff. 

Carson: Probably not enough. I'm always looking for the latest and greatest when it comes to technology and the monetary things we can have. That is something that is probably my downfall in a lot of ways. When it comes to my family, dogs and things I hold dear to my heart then yes. I celebrate them more than anything and I understand I would be nothing without them. The monetary things cease to matter.

What is the difference between living and existing?

Jostlyn: Existing is going through the motions and  going day by day, not really putting meaning behind what you're doing with your life. Living is doing it with meaning. Enjoying each day with purpose.

Carson: Living is when you put your all into life and try to make something of yourself. Existing is just being somewhere with no purpose.

If not now, then when?

Jostlyn: I think now. Why not now? 

Carson: Probably tomorrow... But most likely in a week. Or the week after that if I have time.

Have you done anything lately worth remembering?

Jostlyn: haha I started watching Dragonball Z Abridged on Youtube. It's the funniest thing ever! I have never watched the original series, that wasn't my scene when I was younger, but the abridged version still goes by the storyline, but they do voice-overs and make the characters say a bunch of funny lines and it's hilarious. And let's face it, Carson thinks I'm the bomb. com

Carson: I got my wife hooked on Dragonball Z. Pretty much the funniest occurrence I have ever experienced is watching her slowly warm up to the show where she now actively quotes and enjoys it.

Day 12

What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?

Jostlyn: Uh.... maybe go out in public with no makeup and hair undone more often. I mean, I do that a lot, but more often. Who gets ready these days?
Carson:  I'm a pretty open person about what I believe and who I am. I doubt I would change anything because I don't care if I'm judged for the things I love. 

Day 11

Do you think crying is a sign of weakness or strength?

Jostlyn: I think crying is weakness leaving the body. But the act of crying is weakness. Does that make sense? It takes a strong person to allow themselves to cry, because they are making themselves more vulnerable for those moments, but in the end, they feel better, stronger, and a new person afterwards. I always feel better after a good cry. So... both? 

Carson: The only strength crying portrays is spiritual strength. When you cry because someone yelled at you or because you got a paper cut does not mean you're strong. That is weakness. But when you cry because you are touched by a situation, story, or person. Then there is something special in that. 

Day 10

What can you do today that you were not capable of a year ago?

Jostlyn: I can now do photography full time with no day job in the way. I can now shoot a film session properly and have it look great and in focus. uh... I can now put my hair in a bun! 

Carson: I can invest my time in more than a 9 to 5 job and school.

Day 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (it was a long weekend full of headaches and stress)

What life lesson did you learn the hard way?

Jostlyn: Must I pick just one? ;) I think.. probably lying.

Carson: Don't lie

What do you wish you spent more time doing five years ago?

Jostlyn: Age 17? Worrying less what people thought. I think I did a pretty good job, but I wish I worried even LESS. I wish I had been more confident in myself. I wish I had had a higher self esteem back then. I wish I would have spent my senior year having more fun. 

Carson: Getting my college degree in high school so I didn't have to do it after. Impressing my future wife, Jostlyn :)

Do you ask enough questions or do you settle for what you know?

Jostlyn: I think if I don't know enough of the given situation, I have total anxiety. So I'm always asking questions. 

Carson:  I'm always asking questions because I'll never know enough. 

Who do you love and what are you doing about it?

Jostlyn: My husband. I rub his back sometimes while he plays video games... I'm trying to make dinner more often. His love language is service oriented things, so he loves it when I make meals.. he kisses the ground I walk on if I make him a sandwich. 

Carson: My wife, and I'm cleaning the house ;)

What’s a belief that you hold with which many people disagree?

Jostlyn: That... girls and guys can just be friends!

Carson: Video games do not make murderers. 

Day 4

What get's you excited about life?

Jostlyn: Being married, realizing my life is just starting. Talking about future plans and goals. Getting new clients. Making goals realities.

Carson: My wife, my future family, my dreams!

Day 3

What’s the most sensible thing you’ve ever heard someone say?

Jostlyn: I have a lot of "sayings" that I love, but I didn't actually hear anyone "say" them.. so I think for this year and the thing that applies to me most is what my mom told me when I was feeling down about my work and comparing myself to others. "Don't compare your beginning to someone else's middle or end." I'm just starting my life and career and have a long way to grow and progress and I should be happy I'm as far as I am :)

Carson: "Don't take a blaster into a lightsaber fight."

Day 2

Who do you sometimes compare yourself to?

Jostlyn: Specifically? Or general. I'm going with a general response. Other artists. Photographers. People who inspire me. It always starts out good you know. I'm being inspired by them. And sometimes it stays at a good thing. But sometimes if I linger on them too long, I feel like I'm lame and my work is lame. Blah. Just when it gets to the point where I'm close to being who I want "to be" artistically wise, I snap and realize I'm just stuck in this mode where I just keep moving forward because I have to... with the hopes of one day getting where I want to be and hopefully won't be stuck forever where I'm at right now. I fear I might always feel this way. Are all artists tortured? I don't know about that. 

Carson: My wife. She's consistently more productive than me and it makes me feel bad. I'm a naturally lazy person unfortunately and I know that. I don't know how she is able to work so hard all the time and yet still have enough of a smile on her face to tell me she loves me when we go to bed at night. She's my hero in everything that she does and the greatest example I've ever had.

365 days of thought provoking questions: He said She said style.

I found this awesome site that lists 365 thought provoking questions and I decided that's what we're going to do on our blog every single day! (and maybe fill you in on our lives too.. I've failed at that recently and life is busy and sometimes lame but sometimes exciting and I should blog more. One day I'm going to pull it all together and be one of those cute people who have a cute blog and a cute life and make people jealous. Just you wait. Until then.... haha).

Day 1: When was the last time you tried something new?

Jostlyn: I tried a new editing style last week, and I love how it turned out!

Carson: Just a couple weeks ago when I decided to quit my day job and rely on our video revenue to pay for our daily lives!

Guys... I'm sorry

You're telling me it's basically Wednesday?

I know, where did our Monday night vlog go? We let you down. We're so sorry.

We have a mini vlog we recorded for you last weekend... but never put it up. Carson got way busy filming up north on Sunday and then came back and edited all Monday and answered and wrote about 100 emails Monday for his reporting gig he has in about a week. It's been a little crazy.

I got my hair done today.. that was something exciting for me! Woo!

Um... here's what I want to do with the vlogs from now on:

After each vlog I want you guys, yes you, you right now reading this, to ask a question that you may have for us. Or maybe just a topic that you want us to talk about or cover in our vlog. It can be about anything. Leave it in the comments below or email it to us at jostlyn@rozphotoz.com with the subject line "vlog topic." We want to involve our readers! :) And plus, it will help keep our vlogs a little bit more interesting. We will of course post some random ones here and there throughout the week if we want, but that way, we'll get out more posts. Sound fun? Oh good. So comment below! Happy Wednesday!

Jost

Memorial Day Weekend

Man. This blog post was going to be a grumpy one because it's that time of the month.

I won't vent. I won't do it. 

*Jostlyn, don't do it..*

Instead, I will let you gaze upon my gorgeous siblings from these photos I took today at the Memorial Day BBQ we had at my parents house. Much better eh? Oh yeah, and it's vlog Monday... err.. vlog Tuesday at 1 in the morning! haha :)

Bitter feelings and Ravioli

Hmph. So there's this guy online in one of these photography groups I'm a part of on Facebook and last year he gave me crap about the equipment I was using and basically said I shouldn't be shooting weddings and that I probably wasn't very good, etc etc. Don't worry, I didn't take any of it and ripped him a new one and a lot of people who saw this particular public post stood up for me and basically called him out for bullying a 20-something year old girl and posted photos I had done and he actually did comment on them and half-apologized and said my work was good enough. Right? Right.

Since then I have upgraded my equipment significantly. That's not the point. But I have, in case you were wondering ;)

I have also taken to shooting film.. and.. I'm not too shabby at it ok? And my film camera is manual focus, and I'm pretty ok at getting it in focus. And if it's not, I can admit when I blew the focus. Right? Ok. So this same guy has started to shoot film (because, let's face it, who hasn't now). And he thinks he's a BAD A at it. Pisses me off. Because he's not. So he's been posting a lot to this film group I'm a part of on Facebook and he's posting these awful photos with awful composition and thinking they rock hardcore and saying things like "Oh, I totally nailed the focus on this one, blah blah blah" And he's slightly off on the focus.. he didn't nail it.. he's off. Anyone with clear vision could see that. RIGHT? He's just making himself look like a FOOL in front of all these really amazing film photographers with all of these posts. And I just sit back here and giggle because.. they're all probably thinking he's a little lame.

Now this makes me look like a mean bitter person. And I am. BUT! I wouldn't even CARE... only because he seriously humiliated me in front of over 800 photographers online and called me out on a post and was a jerk.

Ok. I feel better. On to positive feelings and our vlog.

We got a business loan today! Carson is buying a Canon C100! What does this mean for Roz Cinema? It means high-end videography and amazing quality! It means I'll never have to share the 5DM3 with him again! It means we are moving up in the world! It means we decided to buy that instead of a car! haha ;) We're very very very very excited for this business decision. And no, this wasn't our exciting news I posted about on Facebook.. that's a different thing. Still haven't found out if it's a go or not.

Fork Prison

Is it Monday already? Again? Wha?

Having a blog makes my weeks go by so much faster. Cereal. (That's what I say instead of serious or seriously. Only sometimes)

Let's see... Last week we came out with our newest Roz Cinema vid! I'll post that below :) It's from the wedding we went up north for last weekend (remember?). So so so so cute! Carson is so fantastic.

We also filmed a commercial vid for a local business... so stoked to release that video. Saturday we did a lifestyle family shoot (I did some filming myself too, be so proud!) and pretty much I'm DYING for Carson to edit that shoot.. seriously. Cereal. All you families will want one just like it. (That's our plan you know... so you'll hire us for your family shoot! muahaha).

But for real. We were sitting there on our drive home from up north last week and Carson said "I think the reason why we do what we do, especially videography, is because we didn't get that on our wedding day.. and it's a huge regret now. I don't want anyone else to feel like that, and I want to make their day the best it can be for them." And it's so true. We had a fantastic photographer, that was a HUGE deal for me. 75% of my wedding budget was spent on her. I took out a student loan to pay for her type thing (because we were also buying a home, we were in school, car payments, etc). I wanted videography, but I guess I wasn't convinced yet? If I could go back and re-do my wedding, that would for sure be something I would get. Hands down. SO worth it. And don't try and tell me you have a family member that will record it. It's not the same as having a professional with professional equipment that is hired there to do just that. Your family member should be celebrating with you, not worried about recording some shaky video. You should see my family member recorded video... half of it is of the ground. Cereal.

It was also Mother's Day! We were supposed to teach a lesson on Sunday but I ended up getting a bad headache and Carson was super sick, so we ditched out (don't worry, we texted someone to cover) and then visited our mom's later in the day.

Sorry the vlog is short and boring today.. and sorry I cover the mic halfway through.. I'm so lame. BUT, I did get Carson some Star Wars action figures today from the online yard sale, so I think I'm winning as a wife today. Woo!

It's Monday!

Weren't you just on the edge of your seats and refreshing our blog for our newest post?

No?

Dang.

Well, we stood by our word and got our our Monday night vlog! Woo! Here is what our weekend consisted of! We went up for a quick trip up north to film and photograph a wedding in Orem. It was a beautiful day on Saturday and the couple could not have been cuter! We enjoyed talking on the way up and back too.. lots about the past and our future and how we've grown as individuals and as a couple. What we're going to teach our children and what we're not going to teach them. It was a good bonding experience. Don't let our little vlogs fool you, we're a tender couple who love each other deeply (99% of the time haha).

In other news, both of our dogs got fixed today.. it's been a sad day in the Stilson home :(

We also went to lunch today and I decided, "eh, what the heck, let's go without doing my hair or makeup!"

This was the end result:

Also, I did a shoot for {re}cycled consign and design last week and she posted them to her blog today!

Check it out! --> recycledconsignanddesign.com

Without further ado, here are our vlogs :)



Also, here is Carson's nerdy video game vid he made for his final project in one of his college classes. Make fun of him in the comments below! haha, jokes jokes... don't really make fun of him, unless you bring us cookies after. That makes everything worth it right? ;)

 

Wow, two vlogs in one post! Spoiled! ;)

Jost

Nice attempt. One day we'll get it right.

Well hi.

Monday night vlog! Family night! Don't count on it being every Monday... but wouldn't that be a good tradition? We'll try and stick with it, but they might fall on different days. Who knows, maybe we'll do several days a week!

Let's see... I quit my day job. These past two weeks have been not as productive as I hoped they would be. I just haven't had this much CHOICE in my time and it's hard to discipline myself. Notice I didn't say 'I haven't have this much free time' because technically I have A TON TO DO... I just.. well.. have taken to sleeping until 11 am a couple times, and staying in my pajamas all day editing... and I finally let myself watch Pitch Perfect (because before I just seriously never had the time to.. it's been sitting on my computer for months). So it's been a fun couple of weeks. I've gotten stuff done, but I've relaxed too and it's been GREAT! But it's time to get down to business (which it's perfect timing because I happen to be booked every single day this week and my wedding season is starting this weekend so time to get my bum in gear).

Anywho, enjoy our vlog. We will be posting more. And they will be less boring. And we have more exciting announcements coming soon! WOO! Stay tuned. Oh! And Carson graduates this Friday. I'm so proud of him :)

Chick-Fil-A and a New Start

Hello!

It's been far too long.

As you can see, I'm sprucing up the blog.. not quite done, but it's in the works. I've got a lot of projects to work on but I figured that the last hour of the evening before bed was ok to work on something more personal. I'm going to get back into the blogging world and hopefully make it an occasional thing again!

So, items on the desk to talk about for today (we'll get to catching you up on our life later, tonight's blog post is about today):

Today was my first day of not having a day job. Needless to say, I took a sleeping pill last night because I haven't been sleeping well, still woke up early which made me a little mad, but was able to fall back to sleep easily until 11 am. Bliss. Woke up to a text from a client needing photos early for a deadline they weren't aware of for the yearbook, and needed it by their lunch break (and their session isn't all the way done yet) so I scrambled out of bed, edited quickly, and started to send them via email (which my business email that I pay for monthly decided to put my account on lockdown, so that was fun... I resorted to my regular hotmail. Take that gmail).

Carson and I had pizza for lunch. I cleaned (wow, yes, I did some cleaning today, the house still looks like a mess, but it's a start). A load of laundry. Paid some bills. Dropped of film to the post office. Taught Watson how to stay when holding a treat to his nose (the poor dear, that was really hard for him).

Then it was time to bring Carson dinner while he was working his day job. He wanted Chick-fil-a. I was ok with that because we are getting a tax return this year (we were so worried we would owe) so I was alright with going out for food (we've been trying to be good lately and eat groceries haha). I have been once before to the one in town, when it first opened, so naturally it was super busy and people in yellow vests were in the drive through and that was to be expected. But today, there was hardly a line, so I was excited to not be bombarded with the yellow vested workers at my car door.

Wrong.

I pull up, drive around the corner, about to pull up to the sign to look at the menu, when I see the yellow vested girls approaching my car. Two were up above at the other cars, and one girl was coming for me. Why... this is so unnecessary. There is hardly a line, I can use the dang speaker box! I have no makeup on, my car is a mess, I'm in sweats... there is a FREAKING REASON I'M USING THE DRIVE THROUGH! I don't want you to see me other than at the window.

So I roll down my window and she says of course in a super nice tone, I'm not complaining about the service in any way.. they are all very nice. I just like my space.

"Do you know what you want to order?" *pause*
"Uh, no, uh.."
"Or do you need a menu?"
"Yeah, I'm going to need a menu."

Is this a test? Am I being timed? I glance behind me, a car just pulled up, I start to sweat, she continues to stand by my window watching me look at the laminated menu she just handed me. What if this was my first time to Chick-fil-a? What if I need more that .2 seconds to decide if I want the spicy chicken sandwich, or the regular? Provolone cheese, or american? This is a big decision for me!

You know what I like about Smash Burger? Every time, without fail, they ask you if this is your first time to Smash Burger. If it is, they tell you stuff, stuff you need to know. I can't remember what they told me the first time, but I'm sure it was important. This girl at Chick-fil-a was just super confident I had the menu memorized and knew what I wanted to eat. "Hi, I assume you're just like KFC, and I want a mac and cheese and mashed potato... oh, that's not on the menu? Can you freaking let me look at one then?!"

Anyways, back to the story.

She continues to peer inside my car. Like bending down in my rolled down window. All I could think about was how messy my car was, how she was probably checking that out...I need space. I need time alone. If I wanted human interaction, I would go inside and order. This was stressing me out. I ended up ordering something I probably wouldn't have originally ordered and I didn't even get dessert, which I wanted to get but forgot because she was breathing down my neck. Awkward. She wrote my ticket, told me to go to the next yellow vested girl, and took the menu back. I drove to the next girl, she then circled something on my ticket and told me my total.. I mean, how many yellow vested girls does it take to get a fast food order correct and ready?

I am so happy they are doing well here and staying busy, and I love the food, and the service is good and quick, and they are all happy and it's not like it was BAD... it's just.. Chick-Fil-A, you need to calm it down at the drive through and let your customers feel like they have time to make a decision.

End of rant.

Tomorrow is a new day, a new start. I'm going to get a lot done. Finish some seniors, missionary pics, design an announcement, finish a website, shoot some bridals (hopefully it doesn't rain on us), wedding photos, work on a couple flyers.. design a business card.. Not necessarily all in that order but those are just some on my list to do. Not to mention my own projects of blogging/vlogging, cleaning, laundry, refinishing a dresser, grocery shopping, catching up the photography blog, etc etc. We'll see how much I get to.

Jost