When Patrick and I first opened the yoga studio in Japan we decided we weren’t outsourcing anything. We’d design the website, print materials and handle the books ourselves. We were crazy. That’s what happens when you’re in your early twenties with too much energy and not enough good sense.

I wouldn’t take it back. We learned a lot by doing everything ourselves. I still believe this is the best way to learn - do.

We got a little all-in-one printer and proceeded to create double-sided brochures featuring the two of us doing simple yoga poses. We had to let the machine cool down between batches…it was forever running out of ink (less likely to happen now that I’m using an Epson that has multiple color cartridges, not just black/color)…also the paper jammed if there was any moisture in the room…short story is it did it’s job reluctantly but we were too broke to buy another one.

Can a new printer change your life? Probably not, but if you’re a creative type, it can help the process. When I met with Barbara in Vegas at Blog World (we made contact for the first time in San Francisco at Blogher and I could tell she was on fire), she shared her enthusiasm for the printer. I had to bend my brain around what she was saying…could a printer really change my life? Not sure, but here are some things I want to do with my new friend once I get some free hours (it came in the mail a few days after BWE08…a delightful, and quite heavy, surprise!):

-print off photos of Joel’s brothers and sisters to give to his mom for the holidays. I’ve got a super cute one of the youngest with ducks. So cute.

-scan some pages of my journal (and then upload them) to add a new layer of fun to my blog posts

-this has nothing to do with the printer, but I really hope holograms like CNN used for election night are available for consumers very soon

-start a new business. Because in my experience having a new printer is half the battle.

I’ll be honest with you. So far, I’ve used my new Epson printer a grand total of three times. Twice to print out boarding passes and once to make a copy of my passport to include in my ballot (I still have a North Carolina driver’s license but voted as a Colorado resident). But like all things, you know when you look at it that it has a lot of promise. And when I slow down for three hours, I have great plans for this machine.

Kind of like when I drained my accounts in Japan to buy my first MacBook (and years later to pay cash to open the studio). I knew it was because designers use Apple products. And one day I would be a Designer, capital D.

You know potential when you see it. And I have high hopes for this printer.

Maybe you could win one for yourself in this contest on Kirtsy!

{Disclaimer: I work neither for Epson nor Barbara, though I adore both. We were asked to write about our experiences with our new, free printers…and this is my experience. One of the perks of working in social media is that you sometimes get boxes delivered to your front porch with awesome things in them that you didn’t pay for…it’s not something you seek out, but it’s one of the sweetest parts of this work! :D}