Tagged

I don't usually "like" chain sorts of letters or blogs .... but I'll play. Especially since Erin tagged me. Besides, she asked SOOOO nicely.

Husband's Name: Erik Robert (or ERB)

How long we've been married: 46 days, according to the counter on Facebook. Oddly enough, it was *supposed* to count down to the wedding, now it's counting up ... so no, I haven't been counting the minutes ... but I have LOVED every one of them!

How long we dated: Um.... on April 16, E wanted me to start calling him my "sexy beau hunk." He proposed Nov. 4. So about 7 months.

How old is he? Let's just say this: When he was graduating from high school, I was in the 3rd grade.

Taller: Erik! I like my fella tall!

Who can sing best? Hmm....E would probably say me. But I enjoy his voice ... with a little discipline, he could put me to shame.

Smarter? Um ..... depends on what you mean by smart. I can barely add numbers in my head, and E rocks at it.

Laundry: We're pretty equal on that one, and I appreciate how Erik takes charge and does the laundry when I'm obsessed/distracted by photos.

Paying bills: We've not been married long enough to really establish it. We're both used to doing it ... but since we moved into his place, all the bills are in his name. But we're also getting ready to combine accounts later today.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Ok, can we clarify here? If I'm standing at the foot of the bed, looking at the bed .... then E sleeps on the right. But If I'm lying IN the bed on my back, I am sleeping on the right side of the bed. Don't confuse the blonde. ;-) But It basically has to do with the fact that it's closer to the bedroom door and he comes to bed later than I do.

Mows the lawn? Erik has done more of it than I have ... but every once in awhile, I'll surprise him and mow it.

Cooks dinner: Depends on the day of the week. If Erik is working, I cook dinner. If he's off, he likes to grill out.

Who's the first to admit when they're wrong? Depends on what we're "wrong" about.

Who kissed first? This is silly .... because it takes 2 to kiss.

Who wears the pants? Erik actually likes wearing skirts. ;-)~ Ok, so if you mean "who makes the decisions" .... it's pretty joint. Or if one of us is stronger in an area, we'll defer to the other. For example, when it comes to remodeling, Erik basically lets me do whatever I want. But to be fair, I do give him veto power.

I'll tag:
Angie of Angie and Mike because she never posts. I *adore* Mike, but Angie is cute and I want to hear what she has to say!
Robin of Christopher Robin because she's my sister ... be sure to ask her about the mouse in her house! ;-)~
Nicoleman because she's just cute, cute, cute. :-) And I'm sad she's moving further away from M-town.

1,800 and 2,500

I'm becoming a numbers geek ... check out our number of total visitors:

And this is the number of pages viewed:


have a lovely Tuesday. :-)

The Cozy Inn

Erik swore he would NEVER step foot inside The Cozy Inn. Never.

"Why not?"
"It stinks" he informed me.
"Balderdash."

Our first date at Cozy was St. Patrick's day, 2007. He'd lived in Salina for 8+ years and never eaten there. Never. Erik had even resisted his dad's repeated requests to go.

So .... when he took me there, I *knew* he was smitten and making compromises.

But he wouldn't go in. We would only order from the window.

I begged.

And pleaded.

Finally, he agreed.


I just LOVE the character of the place! check out the little salt and pepper shakers!


And the tiny hamburgers are TOO CUTE to resist!


Yummmmmmmie!

Wedding photo update!

ALL of our wedding photos are up!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PleaseCLICK HERE to view them ... I will be sending out a massive e-mail in the next few days.

Cheers.

Cooperstorm IV

For the last four years, the K-State photogs have descended on Salina to cuss and discuss photos. It's great fun to have a reunion and see everyone!


Beer is brought and consumed, food is eaten and photos are shared.


Last year, we had friends travel from far away to attend! Last year from Atlanta and Houma, La.

This year, our buddy Clif came up from Texas .... and next year we look forward to Justin visiting from Iowa!


In the above photo, I think Clif looks a little like the profile of Garrison Keillor (see photo below).


Anyhow, what I love, love, love about our annual reunion is to catch up .... and see where everyone is. It's *so* interesting to me that we all started in the same place ... as news photogs, and we have branched off SO far ... yet photography is still integrated in each of our lives.

I couldn't help but wonder: How many paths are possible from one starting point?

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!!!!!!

I don't have time now to recount the history of the Mikols Family First Snow Competition ... but if I find a column I wrote about it, I'll post it later. (these first two photos are from the annual snow breakfast, which was held the day after our wedding because everyone was in town)


So .... it's MY TURN right now ... and it needs to snow in Wichita PRONTO! I have until noon on Nov. 10 for it to snow. Then we have to wait a week ... and Erik is in on the contest! E has from Nov. 24 to Dec. 1, which are excellent dates.


And here are Erik and Chris. These two fellas are the newest participants in the contest. Poor mom hasn't won yet, and it would probably make her green if one or both of her sons-in-law won before her.

Last year, "the family" (yeah, don't I sound like someone from The Godfather?) didn't allow Chris to participate because he married Robin after the official opening of the snow dates. I would have let him participate if he picked a date after their wedding, but the family was firm. Chris could NOT participate in 2007.

There was a *little* rumbling this year because the opening of dates was less than 24 hours after Erik became a member of the family ... but whiners can just deal. ;-)

#9 — Dye my hair

... CHECK!!!!!!!

When it comes to people who cut/style my hair, I am a strict monogamist.

It takes me YEARS to get comfortable enough with a new lady to the point where I say "do whatever you think will look good ... just NO BANGS." YEARS.

So ... after 3 years with Laurie in Hays, I felt she was the lady to give my hair a kiss of color. Especially since I LOVED her hair color (why is it SO MANY hair sylists have such CRAZY AWFUL hair color?).

Anyhow, about two weeks ago, it was time to chop the hair I'd grown for the wedding ... and it seemed an opportune time to color it as well.

Before:

After:

Nothing *too crazy* but a little bit of sun-kissing. Besides, now I'm ready for our tropical honeymoon!

I'm up to 17 items crossed off the 101 in 1001 list. I need to get shaking on more of them! I *did* start my no piles month this month (I'll be gone for 2 weeks, so it *could* be considered cheating, but whatever). I'm also 1 week away from the end of #43 (no plastic bags from the store for a month). :-)

VOTE!!!!!!!!

I don't care if you are a

or a


Today's message is short and sweet: Tomorrow ....


Yeah, yeah, yeah, people are circulating endless emails about the evils of candidates ... whatever. I'm getting sick of them and am counting the hours until this cursed election is over.

But I want to point out this .... there are races that are probably JUST as important as the national races, yet few people pay attention to them. What are they? Local governments. City and County commissions. I covered these bodies for 3+ years as a reporter ... and it's TRAGIC how few people are actually involved in local politics .... the stuff that DIRECTLY and affects your life EVERY DAY.

Ok, for example: The City of Salina will spend almost $70 MILLION in 2009. Yup, the city has a $70 million budget. How many people came to a city commission meeting to talk with commissioners about it? Less than 5.

Cities and counties do everything from keeping the trash picked up and the sewers running to paving and reapiring the roads you drive to work on.

I won't ramble anymore, but just do yourself a favor and vote for local elections ... then when you have an issue, call or e-mail your commissioner. I guarantee they'll be more responsive than some schmuck in Washington or Topkea will be.

And in case you want to know how to gather info on local candidates, a lot of newspapers publish a voters guide ... the two I saw were in the Oct. 19 ballpark ... so if you need more info on candidates, go to your local paper's Web site or drop by the office to help select those that will be spending millions of dollars in YOUR community.

A few more favorites!

Seriously. Awesome.

I can't tell you how excited I was to have socks from Little Miss Matched (Erik insisted on having matching socks ... so now he has two sets of "miss matched" socks).


And just another fun one from the field.

Wedding slideshow is UP!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike's been working VERY hard to get our wedding slideshow together.

Please CLICK HERE to go to the Heartland blog post on the event. And DO be sure to leave a comment on the Heartland blog and tell MIke & Heather how much you love their work! :-)

Also, I'm uploading wedding proofs throughout this weekend. So .... please feel free to CLICK HERE to check out what's up so far. But don't worry — I'll send out a massive e-mail to everyone we know when the photos are all up.

ps-I've also added a link to our slideshow and online proofing in our sidebar ... so if you want to come back to it later, just look to the right side of this page!