Crossover — DEACON Jeremy

Cruise on over to the Heartland Blog to view a few faves from Deacon Jeremy's ordination!!!! (Wow, it feels really strange to call him "Deacon" ... I've known Jeremy since I was 16 ... he's one of my oldest and dearest friends).

MORE photos to come .... I'm maxin' and realxin' right now, though. So you'll just have to wait!

But in the meantime, I learned the Catholic Diocese of Wichita puts photos and such up on YouTube. I haven't had time to look through much of it, but it seems pretty cool! you can check it out HERE. :)

I love a good blog contest/vote

I'm a sucker for blog contests/submissions.

This week, my crazy design inspiration made the top 5 in a design contest, and I'd love YOUR vote before Friday at 5 p.m. EST ....

Pretty please with sugar on top, GO HERE and leave a comment, voting for yours truly (KAREN!!!). :) Prize is $100 to Home Depot, but I"m pulling for Lowe's b/c the nearest HD is an hour to 90 minutes away from our house.

What will I do for you? I promise to not invite you over to help instsall/paint/do whatever I get with my mad money at the home improvement store. :)

Making friends is hard to do?

I've been pondering this awhile, and finally have the courage to put it on the blog.

This might sound a bit odd, but I sort of think making friends as we get older is more difficult than when we were younger. I've lived here in Salina for 2 years now, and I enjoy it. It's a great town. I have a wonderful husband and an amazing marriage. I have A LOT to be thankful for.

But I don't have many girls who I'm friends with. Who I can just call up and go get an ice cream with. Or get together for a glass of wine, to unwind or just watch chick flicks.

When I was in Hays, I was really blessed to have a few good friends who I could call up and just bum around with. Who would get in line with me for the midnight release of Harry Potter Book 7. Who I taught CCD with once a week.

Here in Salina, I miss that so much. And it's not for a lack of trying! I tried to get involved with CCD at our church, but they are way more strict about the books/program they use (which makes me just gag ... it's SO watered down and just awful Catechesis, I can't bring myself to inflict it upon a second grader ... for example, they wanted me to teach either 2nd or 7th grade, and sent both books. I was flipping through one and said to Fr. Nick "This is for second grade, right" .... and it was the 7th grade book.). We've tried for 3 years to host Totus Tuus teams when they come through, but I've been told that since we don't have kids, we won't be considered. Ouch and ouch. Just really bums me out.

Meeting people through work ... well, I work by myself here in my residential studio. Yes, I have clients, but I would just feel plain uncomfortable saying "let's be friends" ... I feel lame somehow. Like at nearly 29 years old, I should HAVE friends and not NEED friends or something.

I really miss poker nights from Hays. It wasn't every week, but often, a good group of us would get together to get rowdy and lose money. It was a great time with some of my co-workers! And I miss it!

Don't get me wrong, I'm BLESSED with amazing friends. Who have carried me through the most difficult patches of my life. But my close, close friends all live elsewhere. Yeah, I can call, but conversations are often brief, if people even pick up the phone. Everyone has busy lives going on in their OWN towns.

I suppose this is something I could add to my "bucket list" ... to cultivate some good friendships here in town. Yes, I'm going to try to make more of an effort ...

A few from behind the scenes

Excited to be shooting Andrea's wedding. :)


One of the things I think I'll always remember from Andrea and Larry's wedding is the smell of these lilac trees. I've had blocked sinus passages for YEARS, but it's started to clear up, and now my sharp sense of smell has returned. I love the smell of lilacs, and got a nose-full. :)

It's appropriate to share these photos because I'm working on getting Andrea and Larry's wedding proofs up!

txtng + drvng = trbl

I was catching up on the newspaper this week, and guess what? The state of Kansas has now banned texting while driving.

I'm impressed. I didn't even know it was in the works to become a law.

So .... as if I needed one more push to give it up for good, it's illegal now. Honestly, I've not done much since giving it up for Lent. I just wanted to give a shout out and let everyone know it's going to be a ticketable offense soon.

Here's another interesting tidbit: Texting while driving is already illegal for teens. Who knew?

Happy Sunday.

Crossover — super-hot :)

I had a portrait session this morning, and it was smokin' hot! :)

I feel like this couple could have been models at a workshop, but no, they're a for-real bride and groom.

CLICK HERE to check it out.

Another Esse ploy...

Which one of these things in the following photo doesn't belong?


There are a lot of good choices ....


WAIT A MINUTE!!!! What's the kitty doing there? (pictured is her hateful/spiteful face).

When we won't let Esse out for whatever reason (we're leaving for the day, it's stormy, there is a tornado warning), she gets pouty. One day, she decided to station herself by the door, probably in hopes of slipping out when we left.

She did this just last week, and so Erik defied her and left through the side door. TAKE THAT, KITTY!!!!

They're here! They're here! They're HEEEEEEERE!!!!! #78 baby!

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! Remember awhile ago when I was whining about how bad I am at getting wedding photos up? Well, the wait is over! The 32x48-inch canvas gallery wraps have arrived!!!!!!!!


Initially, I had a different photo in mind, but when I showed Erik the photos I was considering, he pulled this one immediately. I think it's a great choice!

interestingly, I was editing the photos Heather took of our wedding for her, and skipped over this one. It didn't rise to the top for me. But the lovely and very talented Heather pulled it, and the more I look at it, the more I like it. In fact, I'm really crazy about it! So I'm glad Erik made a strong case for having it on our wall. :)

Now it's soapbox time people .... are you ready? I know there are some photo-lovers out there who read our blog. And let me say a few things. 1) people seem afraid to buy big photos. To that I say: "DO NOT BE AFRAID!!!!" 2) people think they don't have room for big photos. To that I say: "If you have a couch or loveseat, you have room. This is because they're often on a long wall. The photo you see above is FOUR FEET wide. Think of the "big" photos in your house. Probably an 8x10 or maybe an 11x14. Seriously about ONE FOOT wide. And how wide is the average couch? Anyhow, don't be afraid to get big art. This piece is an investment that we intend to keep around for a L-O-N-G time.


Here it is! This is the photo I had envisioned for months and months! I knew I wanted it in our bedroom! Initially, I wanted to get it bigger (40x60, anyone?), but we decided it'd be nice to be able to switch it with the one above the couch if we wanted. So they're both 32x48. Still substantial.

Once again on photo size: This wall is TEN FEET wide .... huge! And our photo is FOUR FEET wide ... so you can see we had plenty of room. There's even some space to the left if we want to make a smaller grouping of photos. I'll have to think on that.

Lastly, what is this #78 business, you ask? Well, as I was searching for info for this blog post, I came across my 101 in 1001 list, turned bucket list. #78 reads: "Get large canvas prints made" ... and now I have! So off the bucket list it goes!

Post-dinner

Remember when Erika and I had out house blessed? Scroll down to the last photo. Yes, that's my dad sleeping at a social event. It's sort of a standard for Mikols men.

Well, when we were at my sister's house for a graduation party last week, my brother didn't disappoint. But since they just moved into their house, Carl had no couch to stretch out on. No bother. A floor will do just fine, thankyouverymuch.

Rain Barrels, 2010 style!

I'm not 100% done. Heck, I'm not even 25% done, but here's where we're going in 2010 with our water harvesting.

This is the back of our house.


We added some railroad ties. And the space in between, I have dirt removed during the patio project last summer. I'll put it in there and then rain barrels will go on top!


Sort of like this.


I have only one done, but all of the rain revealed a flaws in my efforts, so I will have to empty it and then do a bit of tweaking, but this is where we're headed this summer!

I hope to have more time this week to work on it. In between all of the rain we're getting. Seriously! I wish I had this all done so I could just harvest the water! Geek, I know!

Safe strawberries?

Let's recap: Evil birds ate my strawberries last year. This year, I have sworn an oath to protect them, and built protection. All is right in the world.

Until you look a little closer.


A few weeks after building my strawberry cage, I was in the backyard. And I looked. And did a double take. And then had to look a little closer.


Strawberry blossoms were growing UP THROUGH the chicken wire protection.


NO BABIES!!! TURN AROUND, BE SAFE FROM THE BIRDS OF THE AIR!!!!


Alas, I feel like the scientist in Jurassic Park: Nature found a way.

So it looks like I'll have to cover (at least portions) of my strawberry patch/cage with screen. *sigh*

Any other ideas? Maybe I should get more RR ties and stack them 2 high around the patch, that way they can grow as tall as they want, and I would just put the chicken wire barrier on top of the 2nd RR tie?

Saving the strawberries

Two years ago when Erik and I started our gardening venture, we (ahem, I) planted strawberries. I'd read up on them quite a bit, and knew the first year, I had to pinch the flowers and let the roots establish. SO, no harvest during year 1. You can imagine how excited I was last year to have a strawberry harvest.

Things looked so promising HERE. Yet, that strawberry you see is the only one we picked out of the garden. Why? THE BIRDS. :( DARN YOU, BIRDS!!!!!!!!

This year, I am going to fight those pesky buggards.

Which brings me to my strawberry cage.


The garden before anything is added.



The beginning of my plan.


I had to acquire a new tool, staple gun, for the task. I was excited to get a new tool, but not excited to get blisters from using it. Chicken wire is NOT fun to roll out. It's pokey.


TA-DA!!!!!


I decided hinges would be nice so I could more easily access things.


SAFE AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or so I thought .... I did this about a month ago, and have been delayed in posting. Stay tuned for what happened next ...

MORE of the world's cutest kitty!

Does anyone remember THIS POST about Esse's new sleeping arrangements?

One morning, I was able to grab this photo, where the blanket had sort of hidden her.

Well, these arrangement worked splendidly until I left for DC about a month ago. What happened?, you ask. Well, I left, and someone said to Esse "Mommy's gone, so you can sleep on the bed while she's gone."

Unfortunately, you give that cat an inch and she takes a mile. She's been unwilling to go BACK to HER sleeping place. Evidently the words "for a few days" are NOT in this kitty's vocabulary. So we're struggling with kitty sleeping on my feet (and on Erik) again.

Sigh.

But she's awfully cute when she sleeps, so here are a few more photos of cat naps. :)


On the back of the couch.


Repeat.


Sprawled out on the floor after a long day of romping outside.


She used to crawl on the chairs all the time, but then stopped. And now she's back at it. Napping on the chair under the table. Whatever, cat.

Fruit shapes!

This isn't a recipe, per se, but a fun idea! I was reading Better Home and Gardens Magazine (of course!) and saw this totally cute idea.

Now, none of these pictures really does it justice, but you get the idea.


Take your fruit, generally a melon. Slice it into about 1/4 to 1/2 inch wedges. Probably closer to 1/4 inch. Then, take a cookie cutter (the metal ones would work better), and cut it into the fun shapes!


How awesome is that?!?!??! I love it! I just need to steal some kids to feed fruit shapes to. ;)

THE Jars, pt. 2

Remember a few weeks ago when we transformed our pantry? The pantry provides a great spot to put all of my glorious jars.

Here is what Erik has to say about the jars:

Cupcake party :)

I was tickled pink that Andrea thought enough to invite me to her girls' party. :)

It was a CUPCAKE Party! How about that? Tasty!


This micro shot is a little fuzzy, but there were a plethora of types. Um, yeah. Nice.


A variety of icing and toppings, too!


They hung questions to answer about/for Andrea from ribbon from the ceiling. I liked it.


And the glass placeholders? Really clever!

Kiddo II

Another photo, so you don't think I've forgotten/neglected the blog!!!!!

Kiddo

See? I'm such a good girl! Another photo to share!

I've been crazy-busy, and am just keeping my head above water!

Posting :)

Jess is my new friend in D.C. I just adore her. :)

She told me that when she was little, one of those cheezy school photographers told her she "had a funny smile" or some such rubbish. Hogwash. So she's been self-conscious about photos ever since. Unfortunate that she was so self-conscious, because she's just lovely!

Cool Composter

Hi bliggidy bloggidy world!

Ok, so after yesterday's "Debbie Downer" post, I could help with some solutions.

I know I've previously blogged about composting HERE.

So here's the deal, my friend, Juno. Well, her compost bin is better than MY compost bin and now I have compost bin envy. Go check it out HERE and see why I'm jealous.

Let me remind you what MY compost bin looks like:



Way less cool.

And now I want to build one like Juno's. But I have about a million other projects in line before I get to this, so it'll have to wait, and I tip my hat to Juno and her cool composting bin (and the idea for 2 doors? Genius, Juno! You WIN!)

Trash Talk

Would you believe an average of 100 people a week stop in on our blog? And I suspect that doesn't include those who have it on their RSS feeds. Really? I say something at least 100 people want to read? iiiiiinteresting.

Anyhow, knowing there are people who stop by to see what rant I have gone on, and to find no new posts, well I feel like a slacker. So here we go! ;)

A few months ago, I went to something regarding environmental issues here in Salina. And I was SHOCKED to see the numbers. Are you ready?????

- 24% of the trash in the U.S. is from yard trimmings and food waste. In Salina, it's 23%. SERIOUSLY .... nearly a quarter of the trash going to the landfill is yard clippings or food that we could compost???? wow. I am stunned.

- 61% of Salina's trash includes the following: wood waste, paper products, yard waste and food waste. MORE THAN HALF???? REALLY????? How much could we be recycling?????

Let's pause for a minute to reflect. IF residents of my fair city would 1) recycle paper and 2) compost, we could cut our landfill contributions by MORE than 50 percent??? Woah. That's heavy. And stunning.

I have to be honest: One of the things I miss most from living in Hays was the ease of which I could recycle. You just put your stuff in a blue bag and it was collected every week. Every household paid some nominal fee ($4-$5) and everyone could recycle.

Here in Salina, we have to pay for a bin, then everything has to fit INSIDE of that bin. Ugh. Fortunately, when I asked, they were awesome and gave us another bin for FREE. :) One of my brides here in town has THREE bins, which she tells me is the max you can get without extra fees. I have to say, using three recycling bins would be something I aspire to. But for the time being, I'll settle for the two.

SO ... rambly post (didn't I warn you?). But here's the message: If you ever thought "Oh, it's just the junk mail" or "What I do can't make that much of a difference" ... THINK AGAIN. Look at the above numbers and think again. Even if you do just ONE thing, it would be way better than nothing.

Start by getting an extra trash can. Designate it as your paper bin. Toss the extra junk mail, fliers and handouts from church into there. I honestly think you'll be surprised at how quickly it fills up. And if you haul it to the recycling center, then it won't go into a landfill!!!! If the 100 people who read this blog all start recycling paper ... think of how much paper that is!!!!

Last interesting fact, then I'll close. Recycling does take energy, but requires less energy than starting from scratch. Here are the numbers: "Recycling aluminum can cut energy consumption by 95%; plastics by 70%; steel by 60%; paper by 40%; and glass by 30%."

Be well. And if you recycle, leave a comment! If you don't but can commit to start, even if it's just paper, leave a comment!

The 4th "R"

I know Earth Day was a few weeks ago, but I heard something related to Earth Day that I liked and wanted to share. Well, two things.

1. We all know "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." But I heard someone pose a 4th "R" to the mix. REFUSE. As in refuse to take another plastic bag at the store.

I'll share an amusing story with you.

Once, I was at the grocery store and all of my items didn't fit into my reusable bags. And the bagger started to put it into a plastic bag. "Don't you dare give me another petroleum-based product to take into my house." I shrilled at the poor 15-year-old boy who clearly was trying to make a buck at his first job. Embarrassed, I sort of recovered "I'll just carry that satchel of apples out." .... yeeeeeeah, classy, Karen.

Speaking of fruit/produce, I no longer bag my items .... celery? Just toss it in the cart. Leeks? Same thing. Unless it comes bagged, I don't take another bag with me ... just coz I'm crazy like that.

Extreme example, but just say no. To a tiny bag when the only item you get is a Mother's Day card. Or a box of candy. Or whatever. I don't know about you, but those plastic bags multiply like RABBITS in our cupboard.

Which brings me to item No. 2.

2. Plastic bags in the cabinets. I was reading a magazine a few weeks ago, and read of a clever way to corral them. Take a Kleenex box that is empty, then just shove the little buggers in there. Viola! A repurposed use for the Kleenex box (prior to recycling) and the bags are contained.

We did this, and it worked fairly well. The only trouble is we have more plastic bags than fits into a Kleenex box. I guess this means I should take them to the dropoff at the grocery store.

Ok, that's it for today. I have tons of info about composting and recycling relative to Salina, and I'll share in a day or two ... but in the meantime, do you have any tricks to help recycle or reduce???? Reuse??? Anyone? Share, share, share! :)

Clients into friends

It seems on many photo blogs I regularly read that the photographer talks about how their clients become friends. In the last year, I've been so blessed to really experience this in a whole new way.


Take Andrea. You might recognize her from our bedroom painting extravaganza here.

Andrea and I met just one year ago at Lori and Derek's rehearsal dinner. But boy howdy, did we hit it off. Seriously, two peas in a pod.

Over the last year, we've exchanged tons of email and I have to say how enriched I am. Blessed to call her a friend.

This last year has been difficult on a personal level for me. Growing apart from friends who I've known for years has slowly been happening, and I have to admit, I have been pouty, selfish and jealous about it. But my confessor said to me "perhaps God is making room in your life for new friendships to blossom." Andrea is a beautiful case in point. :)

This weekend, Mike and I hit the road to Manhattan to photograph Andrea's marriage to Larry. Isn't she a seriously stunning bride????


But she knows how to have a *little* fun. ;)


There were these killer columns, and we just had to use them. But man were they difficult to work. I think I found an angle I eventually liked. But it was no easy feat.

So, there will be a formal post on the Heartland Blog in a few days or so ... but I have been grossly neglecting our personal blog, so I thought I'd put something personal up. :)

I still have a ton of editing to do from my trip to DC a few weeks ago, and have all sorts of other stuff to share ... but I hope this is a first step in resuming more regular blogging over here! I have finally found some much-needed time in my schedule and this afternoon has been uber-productive. I look forward to more productivity this week! :)