~ * ~ * ~ * Spring Giveaway * ~ * ~ * ~

The Spring Giveaway is here!
We are Jumping into June and you can WIN one of two photo sessions!

To Enter:

Entry #1 – Leave a comment as your 1st entry in the comment section below. {Be sure to leave a valid email address in case you are the winner!}

Entry #2 {Bonus} – Visit Erickson Productions Page on Facebook and “LIKE” the fan page, leave some love and then come back and tell us you did by leaving your 2nd entry in the comment section below. If you're already a fan leave some love.

Entry #3 {Bonus} – Become a follower of Nikki Erickson Productions and tell us you did by leaving your 3rd entry in the comment section below. { You can choose to follow on the home page}

Entry #4 {Bonus} – Share a link to this blog post on your Facebook Fan Page or Profile Page.  Be sure to tag “Erickson Productions” in the post by using the @ symbol before typing it {you will know it worked if it turns blue} and then come back and tell us you did by leaving a link to your page and your 4th entry in the comment section below.
The Fine Print:

- The EP Giveaway starts on Tuesday May 31st and ends on Wednesday June 8th at 11:59pm MST.
- The winners will be chosen via Random.org.
- The winners will be announced here, on the blog, on Thursday June 9th.
- Should the winner not claim their prize by Friday June 20th another winner will be drawn.
- This giveaway is not endorsed, sponsored or associated with Facebook in any way.
- Photos can be of family photos, baby pictures, newborn photos, maternity shots, individuals, etc.
- Session is a one hour session and will be in studio, outdoors or on location (within Dickinson).
- Senior Sessions and Weddings are excluded from this prize.
- You receive a one hour photo session and two 5x7's; additional prints may be purchased bu all images are copyrighted.

Updates

Well my other computer is taking it's sweet pokey time so I get to blog! Yippeee! Everyone in the house is sleeping (K included) and it's so quiet, I can hear all the keys as I type and I'm not sure how to respond to all this.
As for the projects I've been workin on: The last few days my website has been getting another face-lift. I love keeping it updated and there is more to come with that. The other thing I've been working on is a Gallery for the Photos. This summer alone I have two weddings booked for photography and two penciled in, so I need a better way to showcase the photos and a way to save me time from putting a watermark/logo on every photo: my solution:: a Photo Gallery!
You can see the gallery anytime by clicking Gallery~Photo under My Website Links on the side of this blog or on my website. Today you can click HERE and it'll take you to the Gallery. I'm in the process of uploading more pictures to it, but I'd like to know what you think of it!

The other thing I'm completely excited about is the new photography products I've ordered and receieved recently. I've upgraded to a bigger/nicer lense for my still camera, I've got new backgrounds coming and some awesome new props. I just can't wait to use them all!!!
I'm in the process of getting things organized for a giveaway coming soon, so be looking out for that.
Everyone have a great day and I can't wait to hear what you think of the Photo Gallery!
~N

Projects!

My house has come down with what I'm starting to feel like is a never-ending cold. I am very thankful that I'm not near as bad as my hubby but the Dr. (me) of the house is really wearing out and the head congestion could really go away. K and B are in the cough stage of the cold but are now sleeping through the night. Yahoo!
It has now been a while since I last posted, all energy remaining has been put towards editing and ordering new products. A huge thanks to Jo, her help in the afternoons has really allowed me to focus and sit down at a project for more than 20 minutes at a time. It's down right amazing to me how productive I can be when I can give all my focus to a project, instead of just evenings.
Last week I finished up the NEHS Prom DVD's, got them to Mr. Fritz to take to NE, then this weekend we attended Graduation and took photos and video of the nine NEHS graduating seniors.
This week my attention is directed towards the Hlebechuk wedding, this is my final of patient couples! Then weddings will be caught up and I'll be on course again for the edit time to be where I want it. I am now editing the the vows and making sure the details are where they need to be.
I of course had a shift in one of the cameras (like I said, "I can't ever get something done the first time, always have to fix") and yesterday quit out of frustration. Now today I'm back at it and the transitions are rendering right now and it looks like I'm back to where I need to be. Todays goal would be to finish up the first disc so it can render and make the DVDs through the night, I'M SO EXCITED!!!
I'm going to get back to editing this project as my Ms. Jo is here keeping the kids occupied.
I'll be back later today to let you know about my new purchases and also the other project I've been working out...I know keeping you in suspense. Actually, I just want to get back to editing this project (I gotta keep up with my goals I've set :D )
Have a great morning!
~Nikki

Weather and Progress

I hope you are all having a wonderful week, tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!
Things have been very productive here in my household this past week and I've got to give credit to my afternoon helper. I'm able to get a few more hours of work in a day due to having a bit more time. This week alone I have finished up the Lausch wedding as you've all seen, I edited and finalized my photo session with the LaQua family and I edited, finalized and created all the DVDs from New England's prom (which I'm super happy I finished that project in a month). I'm sending those DVDs to NE tomorrow and now I've got things rolling on the next project.
I've got video transfers rolling now along with starting on the Hlebechuk wedding!
Things are really taking off, thank you all for your continued support!

As for the weather I'm very excited that the kids are out playing today and can enjoy the spring weather without blowing away. We are going to soak as much outdoor play as we can before it starts raining on us and it turns into indoor activities.
Have a great weekend, I'll be heading to New England for the farm lifestyle and then shooting Graduation.
Congratulations you all of you who are finishing up and Graduating, it's a huge accomplishment whether it's College or High School!
Talk to you soon and have a Blessed Day
~Nikki

Wedding Preview:: Pavlicek

I had the most amazing weekend, I'm very greatful to have met and worked with Nicole & Clint. If it wasn't Nicole's laughs and giggles that you heard throughout the church it was Clint's chuckles. I smiled everytime I would hear Clint's "HA" and chuckle, it was quite frequent and I found myself laughing along with all them and smiling.
When I walked into St. Wenceslaus I was greated with a friendly smile and hello from Clint's parents and that welcomed feeling I had remainded throughout the entire day. Everyone in the church was having a great time while photos were being taken and even though it was sprinkling outside we still managed to get out there and let everyone 'freeze' a little bit.
When the ceremony started Clint walked down the aisle with the biggest smile on his face and as he told me, "He was so excited that he was going to marry his best friend!" Clint also commented on how much he loves Nicoles smile and that smile was showing her entire walk down the aisle. I couldn't get enough of their nervous gestures to one another throughout the ceremony, getting teary eyed as they gave their parents hugs and most of all I loved their kiss as Mr. & Mrs. Pavlicek, they were so happy!

I will be working on this edit soon, but I wanted Clint and Nicole to have a few photos as a preview. Most of these photos were taken from the video camera (which will be a bit fuzzy) and a few were still photos.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed spending my Saturday with them.
 

The handsome groom during our interview.



The Beautiful Bride during our interview.



Clint and his parents


Nicole and her parents.



They are Man & Wife!!!



The new Mr. & Mrs. Pavlicek



 

Bride and Groom's shot outside while it was drizzling.

  

A quick dance at Army's!




Father of the Groom, Leonard, what a fun man!

   

I was so happy everyone 'enjoyed' a trip out on the washboard gravel road so we could take this shot!




"Two Paths Become One Road"



 I love ring shots, so there are a few of them here.

The following family photos are video frames and will be a little fuzzy.

Mother & Daughter after Alexis' speech.

Father & step-daughter, Alexis said some beautiful words in her speech!



Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Clint Pavlicek!



Family Pictures:: LaQua

I had the pleasure of taking photos with our good friends, we had a lot of fun and best of all the kids all enjoyed playing while we were taking the individual shots. My hubby is now going to fix my lights downstairs to make it easier to shoot in, which I'm always greatful for his help! I think this project at least will get checked off the honey-do-list :)

Here are a few shots from our session:

Hailey was off to the side of me taking pictures of her sister and Emily was looking at her
camera so I told Hailey to step in and take some shots! They were giggling so much!

We do have a cute little smile of him but his silly face was too funny not to post.

 

Hailey is such a cheeseball! She loved the letters and playing peek-a-boo.

Miss Emily took such cute pictures with her letters.



Tiff told me they haven't had pictures taken of them two since
their wedding. We got a ton of fun ones but here's one of our poses.



"Family:: Mom, Dad, Brother, Twins"

"We  Love Our Brother"

Fall into Love:: Corey + Jackie

I am beyond excited to write this post. Things have been very productive in my household lately and I'm praising God for his help on finishing this project. Plus a big thank you to Corey and Jackie for your understanding, you were such a fun couple to work with and I had a lot of fun at your wedding!

Corey & Jackie Lausch were married on October 23, 2010 and everything about that day was beautiful. The colors were amazing, the flowers were breath taking, the weather was amazing, the attendants were stunning and if you didn't notice the beauty of those things; you definitely noticed the beauty of Corey and Jackie's love, their radiant smiles and all the sweet nothings I heard Corey whispering to his bride during their ceremony. It was day to remember.
I also had the pleasure of working with Megan Wold Photography, Megan is so much fun and we had a great time chatting the day away.
Congratulations Corey & Jackie you make a wonderful couple and a you will have such a beautiful family, with your new little addition on the way!
God has blessed you abundantly!
~N

Corey & Jackie Lausch ~ October 23, 2010

Busy as a Bee

This has been quite a crazy week here for us, but best thing of all is I feel very productive at the end of the day. B came down with pink eye so I had to close daycare on Tuesday and now my week just feels so messed up!
Thankfully I sat down again last night to prioritize my projects and  it hit me that it's already Thursday, time to start preparing, charging batteries and getting equipment ready for Nicole and Clint's wedding this Saturday!
This week I was able to fight through the computer issues that have presented themselves and finish up the Rebel/Lausch Wedding! The wedding is rendering out right now and when it finishes my goal is to get the highlight rendered and uploaded to the internet, so look for that later today!

Last night I had two invite orders picked up and I was so excited about them both, they turned out so great.
Today I'll completely finish the Rebel/Lausch wedding and I'm so excited to call Jackie to tell her it is completed. Then it's on to finishing NE's prom and to edit the Hlebechuk wedding, all while trying to get some video dubs done as well...I'm just very happy my computer/software/equipment is now working well!
I just thought I'd give you all a quick little update and I pray you all have a Blessed Day,
~N

A Rainy Day

I feel there is nothing more relaxing than a rainy day!
I Love everything about rain:
~ Tthe smell is so fresh and so clean, it is just such a wonderful thing to smell and sends a relaxing feeling throughout my body.
~The look of rain is so peaceful and how it clean off the streets, leaves the grass glistening and watching it fall from heaven is just so beautiful.
~The feeling of rain and how the soft drops will fall and hit your skin
       ~How it makes us feel relaxed and tired, puts my children to sleep and helps them sleep for a long time, oh wait that does benefit me a bit more ;-)
~My favorite part of rain, which doesn't always accompany it is the sound of thunder. I absolutely LOVE thunder and how mother nature can produce this amazing sound. I also love the rumble and how it rattles my house a bit.

This morning we had the first of many thunderclouds roll through and I'm ready for a productive day!
This week the final touches on the Lausch DVDs will be put on and we'll be mailing that out to Jackie & Corey who are really excited to see their video! We'll be starting on our next video project and getting ready for Nicole & Clint's wedding! I hope you have a wonderful wedding week and I'm really excited to share in your day, Saturday!
~N

Mother's Day Weekend

I hope and pray you all had a very enjoyable weekend and were able to find some time for any sort of R&R! Saturday was a very long day here at our house, but a very productive day! The girls and I worked on the garage all day and got it cleaned and set up for K's birthday party! The best part was I took time in the morning to take the girls out and get some photos of the girls, then we went to the park and played for about an hour. The girls were so good with photos and I managed to even get a few with B in them, not exactly sure what her face looks like in them. (for those of you who don't know B-she is a 17mo old little girl full of energy, who goes 100mph and is completely full of her Momma's attitude)
The hubby was busy at the farm, he spent all day working and trudging through the muck sorting and breeding cows, thankfully my sister and future brother in law (Tsis & Tbro) came up to help me.
The girls were in bed by 8pm and Tsis and Tbro helped me get the house picked up a bit and it was so wonderful to have them here.

Happy 3rd Birthday K & Happy Mother's Day
We were woke up with a Birthday call for K, right away in the morning, but she was still sleeping. A bit later I heard B singing and mumbling her usual morning tunes and grabbed the camcorder and went in. K was so excited it was her birthday and was so giggly and cute!

Happy Birthday to This Beautiful Little Girl!!!

It's hard to believe how fast time has gone since we were in the hospital, nervously awaiting to hear news on how our itty bitty, 4lb 11oz baby girl was doing in the NICU. God has blessed us graciously with her!

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day and now it's back to work. Have a wonderful week!

~N

Hat's off to the Weekend

Friday might have very well been the longest day, I woke up with a sore throat which lead to some head congestion and not feeling so great! Thankfully the hubby offered to take K&B down to the farm with him so I could get some things done or even 'take a nap' which is what he told me to do.
"Time to myself!!!!" "What should I do?"; these are all things that ran through my head after he left. I pondered all the things I'd like to do, "Rent a movie and relax, Read a book and relax, go to bed early, have a beer!" The problem is, I'm a bit too much like my mother and when there are things to do it is way to hard to sit and relax; I'd drive myself nuts thinking of all the things I should be doing.
So I got up, and started to get things done. My computer was working hard on making the DVD for the Lausch wedding, so I decided to run some errands, first stop the grocery store.
We hae K's 3rd Birthday this weekend and so the to-do list is even LONGER (if that's humanly possible) I picked up just a few things and mainly went because I had to pick up more of K's meds at the pharmacy. While I was there I ran into a friend of mine who also was child free, grocery shopping. After talking to R for awhile I realized that most mom's are alike, we'll prioritize our to-do lists and when we don't have our kids, we'll start with the tasks that would be most difficult with them along.
I proceeded to get the final errands ran at Wal-Mart, which I can't even begin to tell you how fast that trip went without the girls 'wanting' to go through the toy aisles.
I've come to realize that I do need a bit more 'Nikki' time, not always being Mommy! So FYI, if you are one of my babysitters; I'm going to be calling you more often!

You would be proud of me though, after the errands I did have a drink, took a hotbath, wrapped up K' birthday gift and was in bed before eleven! So I did manage to treat myself to a little R&R!

Although, now this morning my body/mind was saying it's time to get up at 5:30am! What in the world!!! I do not like mornings, never have and probably never will. I do not like seeing a 6 on my alarm clock, but 5 is just ridiculous! I rolled over to see hubby was already gone to the farm and tried to make myself go back to bed....BUT just then the darn head started running again! So I'm up and at them, started the day out with a Mtn Dew, made my priority to-do list for the day and we're off!

I hope you all have a wonderful day and Happy Mother's Day to all you Mommies out there! Being a Mom requires you wear a ton of different hats: Wife, Caregiver, Baker/Chef, House Cleaner, Accountant, Dr (fixing boo-boos), Wardrobe Stylus, Shopper, List Maker, Organizer, Planner and so so much more. Being a Mommy can be challenging but is also very rewarding!
May you all have a Blessed Weekend and Happy Mother's Day,
~Nikki

A Day of F's

Good Afternoon,Today I've realized it has been a day full of F's, my tasks, things I've heard and things I have to do!
FINALIZE/FINISH:The day started out quite early back at editing, that today I'll be finishing the first discs of the Lausch Wedding and then it will be (as far as editing ease) a nice downward slide for disc two....I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to give this to Jackie and Corey, they have been so very patient with all my computer issues and so understanding. YIPPPEEE!!!
FRYING: I spent the morning hours frying hamburger today, getting ready for K's 3rd Birthday Party on Sunday! I'm serving BBQ's, I truely love anything I can do earlier and just have to get the crockpot on in the morning.
FOLDING LAUNDRY:  If you know me, you know how much I despise folding laundry. Plus with Daycare I end up do a lot of wash/dry cycles and then fold all in one sitting. Today nap time was folding laundry and most of it will get done tonight after the girls are sleeping. I now do it on my bed because folding once is bad enough and I'm not such a fan of my little 'helpers' un-folding them for me.
FINDING: I am and have been looking for my tracfone. My little booger (B) loves 'talking' on phones. I remember finding it in the girls' room and picking up, but whether I put it somewhere or someone found it again, I DON'T know where it is....The phone has 9 days left on the contract before all minutes are lost, etc so I'm trying to find it. I spent a good portion of the morning looking for it which also brings me to my next 'F'.
FEBREEZE:  Since I am moving furniture and vacuuming while looking for the phone, I pulled out the bottle of Febreeze! Mmmmmmm......I really love the smell of "spring renewal" it is my FAVORITE! I'm pretty sure the clean smell and the freshenss it was giving me truely helped me to keep looking and cleaning. I got a few rooms done but still haven't found the darn thing!
FABULOUS:  What a beautiful day today! The kids were enjoying some great outside time while I was cleaning the downstairs walkout basement. It was hard to clean up that room but I still got to play out there with them too and we did a ton of swinging! Which brings me to the next 'F'.
FLY HIGH:  Whenever we swing on the playset, K is always saying, "Mommy, push me high. Make me fly high like Super Goof" (for those of you without young children, there is a Mickey Mouse
Clubhouse Super Goof Episode) This always puts a smile on my face.
FOOD: Tonight I have a Daycare Appreciation Dinner and Continuing Education class and the hubby is breeding our cattle tonight and tomorrow, which is why after the daycare kids leave I'll be doing the next two 'Fs' of my day.
FLAT IRON: I'm sorta looking forward to fixing myself up and getting out of the house and most of all having a little bit of "Mommy-Time".
FRIENDS:  K & B are heading to a friends house tonight and K has been talking nonstop about going to their house tonight. She gets so excited, doesn't even want to take a nap because she's too excited.

I hope you all enjoyed the "F's" of my day and get to enjoy this beautiful SUNSHINE!
Have a Blessed Day,
~Nikki

Ps 27:14

Ps 27:14 "Put your hope in the Lord, take courage and be strong."

All Praise to you, Jesus, for your cross! May we all become signs of hope, mirroring your love and passion!

Good Night!

New Props

This afternoon K was complaining about a bad earache and so my mother-in-law came up to watch B so I could take her to the doctor. She did so well there and we found out she has an ear infection! Thankfully now some of her pain has subsided and she's feeling better. I've now got her sitting on my lap because she wants to see 'her' photos!
I'm super excited because we got a few more props today! Here are a few photos from my little model!

 She really enjoyed twirling that umbrella!

I also picked up another zebra skirt for B, but that model was sleeping. You'll see pictures soon of the two of them in these outfits.
Well I'm going to get back to some editing, have a wonderful night!
~N

Mtn Dew

I have a love/hate relationship with Mountain Dew! I can now say I'm not addicted to it and I can get through the day without one. It's just that some days I just need a sip of it's delicious syrup goodness to get through a task or a day! Today I have a few tasks I need to get through, my children are not feeling so great and the video edit I've been working on. Every spare minute I have during the day I'm trying to get  a few more clicks, drag and drops, & fades in...I WILL get caught up soon!
I'm in the process of getting a helper in during the day to give myself some extra (non-interrupted) edit time in! Right now I've been lucky enough to get at least an hour of editing in during nap time and also an 1-1.5 hours in the evening before bed in as well.
Things that we are working on right now is:
Lausch Wedding
Hlebechuk Wedding
New England Prom Video
4 different Dub Projects
LaQua Family Pictures (I can't wait to show you those beautiful rays of sunshine)
and I've got another family session coming up.

As I mentioned before, my organization skills are helping me out but I'm really due for the day to just stop and allow me extra time to get things accomplished.

I'm pretty excited of my newest shippment that came in and also the invites that are coming in!
Yesterday I received my newest canvas backdrop and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it looks captured on the camera. (it was suppose to be here for my LaQua family session, but Mother Nature had different ideas and I was notified due to the storms down south it would be delayed, but it's here now). I also just placed two orders for invites as well and I have wedding invites on the way for the Krebs Wedding in September and also extra invites coming for Kelsey's Graduation!
Thank you to all for your business!

My video is just about done rendering and I'm going to get back to my clicking! Have a wonderful day and I hope you are all enjoying SPRING!!!!
~N

The First of Many

Today starts the first of many posts to come! It is the first of May and I have been trying to think of a way to keep in my clients more informed of events going on and the progress of current projects. I've now found it, blogging!!!
I am a pretty organized person and lately I've been putting more time into my organizing and trying to get things on the correct path. By this I mean prioritizing! I have always been a list person; make a list, rearrange the list and give myself a final copy to I know the things that have to be done first. As my business has been growing, it has meant more projects and more clients.
So I have bought myself and iPod, which I can't even begin to tell you all how excited I am to have an organizer again. I used to have a Palm Pilot in college and I LOVED it now I'm in love again. I do like electronic devices though! I'm pretty happy that I don't have to worry about my lists anymore and I'm even more excited that I don't have to worry about remembering things, my new little friend does it all for me and reminds me of upcoming tasks!!!
Now if I could just find a way to stop time during the day so I could get all the projects done, I'd be even happier! So if anyone figures this out please let me know and I big Thank You in advance :)

I am so greatful to everyone who has trusted me and has chosen to let me capture their special moment, whether it be a wedding day, a birthday, photos of their children and family or even designing invites for them! Thank You so very much!

My biggest thank you is extending out to my two very patient brides! Thank you for your understanding, as I work on editing your weddings.

For everyone who doesn't know I've had the worst luck the past two months with my computer software working with me! I've gone through two software crashes and I have lost the same wedding TWICE! My frustration has taken me through Geek Squad for help and also a local computer business for help, plus my Mother and Mother-in-law have been helping out the kids so I can focus on editing this wedding. As any project, the longer it takes to complete one, the longer it takes to start on the other; so this makes my second bride an Angel for understanding as well. Thank You Thank You and again Thank You!

Right now I'm waiting for my software to render out the video and it's just about finishing up! With that I leave you tonight, have a wonderful evening and WELCOME to my blog!
Thank you all for your support you've shown me! It is so greatly appreciated, Nikki