Today marks my one year anniversary with Evernote (and no I’m not one to normally celebrate instances like this one, but I randomly discovered this weekend that my anniversary was coming up!). I felt that all my readers needed to know about them if you didn’t know already!

Evernote’s tag line is remember everything. Can I get an amen?!?! AMEN!! I don’t have to remember everything – this program does it all for me!

Only a few years old, the developers and geniuses behind this concept have revolutionized how the world takes notes, keeps track of their to-do lists, and more. This program can be used on the web, on your mac, on your PC, on your mobile, on your iPad, really wherever! It’s constantly open on my computer, I have it installed on my iPhone and iPad, as well as my work computer. I even have the web clipping elephant in my toolbar, so I can easily clip articles and save pretty much any content from the web.

You can set up different notebooks to house different information. As you can see below, I have one for Anthony (clothing sizes, gift ideas, etc.), a few sewing ones, a Zumba one, a personal one, etc. I have a Pro account, which allows me to have “parent” folders and then sub-folders underneath.To make it easier when I’m on my iPhone or iPad, I named each sub-folder the same title with a more in-depth title on the end. At this time, on mobile devices, there aren’t parent folders, hence why I have similar names. This allows me to find what I’m looking for a little easier (especially when I’m looking for recipes!)

Most of my “being green” notes are notes from books I’ve checked out from the library. I like having all the information in one place, as I’m reading through the books, I will have evernote open (either on my computer or iPad) and put in the details I want to remember. Just a bit ago my husband mentioned how thankful he is that I’ve been doing my research and typing the info into evernote. Even he could potentially access all of this information.

Some of my favorites that I created are my recipe notebooks and tutorial notebook. What is fabulous about the recipe notebooks is I’m able to visit a cooking site, copy the information I want, use the web clipper (elephant in the upper right hand corner), paste it into evernote and then tag or set the URL. I then have all the recipes at my finger tips. There have been many times I’m at the grocery store not 100% on an ingredient, pull out my phone and open the evernote iPhone app, search and there it is! I’m also being green and not printing out recipes.

I do the exact same thing with tutorials I found, whether they are photography related, party related (I’m a little obsessed with Hostess with the Mostess blog), or whatever it is. I save anything sewing related for those subfolders only but it’s the same principle.

How to actually clip something from the web: I highly recommend installing the web clipping elephant, this will allow you to clip immediately from the webpage. I’m on a Mac and I have no idea where it’s located on a PC (sorry!), but for me it’s in the upper right hand corner. After I copy the content I like from the web, I click the Elephant, and Paste to Evernote. It may take it a minute (depending on if you have Evernote open or how large the photos and content is), but an Evernote window will pop up asking you what Notebook you’d like the note to go. Then you can close the window and it saves the note. Very easy!!!

Evernote also has a tips blog and several photographers tell how they use it for their business. But you don’t have to be a photographer or a business owner to use this program. I highly recommend it to each of you – I challenge you to start using this tool to help remember everything for you!

Susan shoots using the Nikon system. Her camera is a Nikon D3 and she has a full variety of lenses that she can use – approximately 9 different ones. Her bias, especially for the higher end DSLR cameras does lean towards Nikon, simply because she’s familiar and she really feel like the system is more intuitive. On the other hand I’m a Canon girl.

So with a little help from the newest issue of Consumer Reports, Shutterbug Magazine, and Popular Photography, here is my list of recommendations.

Point-and-Shoot
Point-and-shoot cameras are the most popular out there, because essentially, the user just “points and shoots.” Pretty self-explanatory there. Pros of these types of cameras: Small and lightweight, easy to put into a pocket, easy to use with little to no photographic knowledge needed, take pretty dang good pictures. Cons of these types of cameras: Limited photographic abilities, takes poor action and night shots, delay in pressing the shutter and the camera actually taking the picture, sensor is smaller and therefore blowing up pictures can be difficult.

My picks: I like the Canon PowerShot series in this particular category. I think the image quality is great for these little point and shoots and the price is reasonable. There is one Nikon I think is great as well.
Canon PowerShot AS1000IS
Nikon Cool Pix L20
Canon PowerShot SD1100IS (Kim’s Personal Favorite)

Bridge Cameras
Bridge cameras essentially gap the bridge between a point and shoot camera and a more advanced DSLR camera. These cameras typically have more functionality, more control to the exposure and essentially are the first step into a DSLR camera. In this category, there is one powerful Canon that I think it a wonderful little camera!
Canon PowerShot G11

Entry-level DSLR Cameras
This is the first step into the Digital SLR category. The pros to these types of cameras are: More control over exposures, fully manual modes, the ability to pick and choose different lenses, and better image quality. The cons are: Heavier and bulkier to lug around, more expensive, have to purchase lenses, can be more difficult to use.

The Canon Rebel T1i has gotten superior reviews in everything I’ve read. But in this category, you are buying into a system, not just a brand. Since I really believe in the Nikon system, I have to recommend the Nikon D5000 as well. Regardless of which you choose, plan on spending ~$1,000-$1,200 on this entry level system.

Mid-Range DSLR
In this category, I only have one recommendation. The Nikon D90 which also has HD Video capabilities. Expect to spend about $1,200-$1,500 depending the kit and accessories you need.

As for retailers, I prefer B&H Photo Video, Adorama, and Amazon.com. If you are buying a point-and-shoot, places like Best Buy work just fine.

Note To Self
Get Professional Photos of Your Children

I’ve never forgotten an invaluable piece of advice that I heard from an older friend right after my first child was born. She told me, “One of my greatest regrets about my children’s childhoods was that I didn’t have more professional pictures taken.”“You didn’t take many pictures?” I asked.

“I took tons of pictures,” she said, “but the fact is, professional photographs are so much better than even the best snapshots.”

I absolutely agree—professional photos are better. And keeping her advice in mind, ever since my daughters were born, I’ve been zealous about getting their photos taken professionally at least once a year.

While it’s a lot of fun (and also a pain) to take pictures myself, it’s terrific to have some pictures that are truly excellent. These photos don’t take the place of the on-the-spot pictures that I take myself—I still take scads of photos at birthday parties, first days of school, on the slide, with a popsicle—but these pictures memorialize my children’s childhoods in a different way.

Plus they make great family gifts. I can never figure out a good present for the grandparents and great-grandparents, but they always love to get a really great photograph—especially the relatives who don’t often get a chance to see the girls in person.

Also, research shows that one way to boost your happiness is to reflect on happy times, and looking at photographs helps keep memories more vivid.

It’s a splurge, of course. Professional photos aren’t cheap.

However, I figure that the money I spend on these photographs will strengthen family bonds, enhance happy memories, and capture the fleeting moments of childhood. They give me more pleasure than practically any other purchases that I make. That strikes me as pretty good happiness bang for the buck.

A friend’s family had another great photography tradition. For her whole life, at every milestone, her parents took a picture of her and her brother sitting exactly the same way on their front stoop. It’s fascinating to see them change through the years. Along the same lines, the artist Nicholas Nixon took a photograph of his wife and her three sisters once a year for 33 years. The collection of these photographs, The Brown Sisters, is riveting.

Getting professional photos take is a great example of the tiresome fact that happiness takes thought and effort. These photographs are easy to arrange; in the scheme of things, not terribly expensive; contribute greatly to our family happiness—and yet it probably never would have occurred to me to do it if my friend hadn’t suggested it.

Rubin, Gretchen. REAL SIMPLE.
http://simplystated.realsimple.com/life/2008/03/unforgettable-a.html