Flour, water, eggs & sugar?

Wow! I had NO idea how vast the world of wedding cakes can be! There is everything from the elegant (above) that I like to the zany...

On Monday, Erik and I met with the reception location manager and she helped us through most of the reception details. I must say I was "decisioned out" by the end of our meeting, but we have made TONS of progress.

With regard to cakes, though, I sort of felt like Steve Martin in Father of the Bride when we started talking about cakes.

Our converstaion went a little something like this (Kathy is the most patient and comprehensive person I've ever MET!):
Kathy: What kind of cake do you want?
Me: Nothing chocolate. Oh, and I like the flavor of almond extract.
Kathy: We could do carrot cake or cheese cake or something special like that?
Me: Um....
Kathy: Or we could do a strawberry cake.
Me: I LIKE strawberry cake! But we should probably have some white too, but not chocolate.
Erik: How about wedding brownies? (j/k! He didn't really say that!)
Kathy: Excellent! What shape would you like your cake?
Me: Shape? (internally: are you serious? we just decided what kind of cake we want ... and now there are MORE decisions??? I don't care!)
Kathy: Here are pictures of round and square ones....
Erik: I like the square ones (THANK YOU for making the decision, dear!)
Kathy: What about icing?
Karen: (internally Yes, we want icing on the cake)
Kathy: What kind of icing?
Karen: NOT chocolate.
Kathy: The cream cheese one is excellent with the strawberry cake.
Karen: SOLD.
Kathy: How do we want the cake to be decorated?
Karen: I'll get back to you after we have our awesome designer do the invitations...

When did a cake become more than flour, water, eggs and sugar???

OK, so here's a wild and crazy cake:


Once you've selected the cake, surprisingly, you're NOT done with cake decisions (strange, I know!). Ya gotta decide how to decorate it, or at the very least what kind of cake topper you want to plop on the top.


There are some beautifully traditional cake toppers (above) ...as well as some *interesting* cake toppers (below). There is no final verdict, but I *think* we're going to go with flowers to adorn the cake, so it's one less "thing" to find, then store after the wedding.


OK, this was amusing, and it's too bad I didn't see this before Robin and Chris were married, because I think this would have been given SERIOUS consideration by Robin...


THEN, there are toppers I'm sure are MEANT to be humorous, but I wouldn't want to be the bride who has to "hook" or "drag" my groom into marriage.




On a final cake note, Erik kept joking about having "wedding brownies." Um, I'm ok with brownies, but I'm NOT a fan of chocolate cake...anyhow, below is a CUTE alternative to the traditional "groom's cake."



Be SURE to stay tuned, because I have all sorts of wild and wacky groom's cakes coming up! I was initially going to include them on this post, but there are TOO MANY good ones and I decided they merited their own post!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

I was making an early morning drive from Salina to Hays today ... and NPR's Morning Edition is my favorite early-morning driving companion. On the drive, I learned today is the 40th anniversary of the first broadcast of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

While I don't remember the first airing (come ON! I'm not THAT old!), I have some memories of the jolly fellow.

Actually, thinking back on it, the memories are more foggy than I would like to admit. I remember him walking into the house, putting on his sweater and sneakers (or was it slippers?) and sitting down ... I also have foggy memories of some sort of train. But I can't push through the fog to see the program any more clearly. :-(

Leave a comment on YOUR memories of Mr. Rogers!

Help us choose a first dance song!

SOOOOO....Erik and I are trying to come up with a first dance song (no, we don't have a song that's "our" song ....).

We went about this by both Erik and I making compilation CDs .... it was fun, but also challenging. We have VERY different musical tastes (but THANKFULLY he is not a fan of country music!). Oddly enough, my dance song with Dad IS a country song ... but we have to have SOME surprises at the wedding! ;-)~

Ok, here's two from Eva Cassidy. Erik introduced me to her music and I LOVE it!

The song Erik likes from her is "Time After Time".

Ironically, her rendition of "Fields of Gold" was on my CD!!!! (We think it's a sign!)

Erik also suggested "I Will" by the Beatles.

Other songs I'm wild-crazy about include: "We Are Man & Wife" by Michelle Featherstone and "Falling In Love At a Coffee Shop" by Landon Pigg. I'm also a BIG fan of "Feels Like Home"written by Randy Newman.

Leave us a comment and help us choose!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ok, this is the most DARLING story and I couldn't resist posting it!

An inevitable love affair
Couple's Valentine's Day marriage came after unknowingly sharing a band class, a church and a town.

By Kathy Hanks
The Hutchinson News

Dottie Biays played the flute and Howard Gibson played the baritone in the 1950 Russell High School band.

But it wasn't until Valentine's Day 2003 that the two truly began making music together.

That's the day they married, after a whirlwind courtship that began on Thanksgiving Day 2002.

While their paths crossed in high school, they can't recall each other. Not even a band photo showing the two just a few seats apart can jog a memory.

"I was a senior and her brother and cousin were in my class," he said. "But she was a freshman. I never crossed elbows with her."

"He was responsible for setting up all the band chairs, he had to know each person in the band," she said, baffled that they didn't talk to each other in the small high school. "He chummed together with my brother."

Still, it took nearly 50 years, until 2002, for the two of them to come together again.

After high school, they both married and pursued careers.

Biays lived in Hutchinson for 20 years, raising a daughter, Diana (Hill) Kroeker. When her husband was ready to retire, they moved to Bella Vista, Ark.

He had been dead five years, and Biays, though lonely and dating occasionally, was pretty certain she would live the rest of her life alone.

But a mutual friend, Jean Morton Stone, also from Russell, kept after Gibson and Biays to meet each other.

They were both living in Bella Vista and attending the same church, but attended different services.

Gibson built up his courage to make the first call, after several months and several attempts. He'd usually pick up the phone and then lose his nerve.

"When I finally called, we talked for over an hour," he said. Then they agreed to meet at a big community Thanksgiving dinner.

She was 67 at the time, and he was 70, but they both felt like teenagers that day.

By Christmas, they were engaged. They decided to get married on Valentine's Day.

"We didn't mess around," he said smiling, leaning into his wife, sitting on the arm of her chair.

The minister, citing their age and experience, decided to forgo the usual couples counseling that precedes a marriage. If anything, could have offered him some pointers.

Together they were ready for some new adventures - selling their homes in Bella Vista and moving back to Russell. In January, they moved to Hutchinson.

They will celebrate their fifth anniversary by attending the Hutchinson Symphony on Valentine's Day. A bit of irony for certain because, after all, it was music that first brought them together.

Even if they didn't know it.

Wedding invitation wording ....

So....the lovely and talented Heather Essian is designing our wedding invitations. We've selected some things we like, but before we send Heather the information, I thought we should come up with the wording.

I suggested something such as:

Karen Lee Mikols
&
Erik Robert Bonar
request the honour of your presence
as their lives are united in Holy Marriage
1:30 p.m. — Nuptual Mass
27 September 2008
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church
Wichita, Kansas

5:00 p.m. — Recaption, dinner, dance
Petroleum Club
xxx, Suite 900
Wichita, Kansas

www.mywedding.com/erikaren/

Erik's response? "I'd prefer if it didn't say recaption ;-)"

THEN his "serious" reply:

The trail winds onward
through the hills
from here to prairie's end;
Will our journey ever last?
as long as you're
my love my friend
and thou shall not Wabash at thine reception

Which one should we use??? ;-)~

Help me choose! Sould I get new specs????

OK, so I'm totally obsessing about this, but I've had the same frames on my glasses since 1999. I *like* them, but wonder if a change is in the air? The above photo was taken during my adventures at Flourish Workshop. The ladies there seem to think I need to go with square spectacles...

The other attendees gave me their glasses to try on ... what do you think?

Is this me?


Maybe THIS is me, darling!??!?

I LOVE the idea of Tortise Shell glasses, but am concerned with my blonde hair that it won't look quite as cute as it does on my friend, Sarah....

Here and here are a few more options...

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think! I'm going in to the eye doctor Monday (Feb. 18), so post those comments SOON!

I <3 Heather Essian!!!!

Ok, so it's official OFFICIAL.

Heather Essian (pron. S-Ian) is going to partner with Mike for photography for my wedding to Erik! I'm SOOOOOO super duper jazzed that Heather is coming up to Kansas from Ft. Worth, Texas for the event.

Her blog is down right now, or I'd post links to some of my favorites from Heather's work.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't brag on Mike, too. His work blows my mind. I often find myself editing through or toning wedding images and being pea green with envy that Mike took a photograph I didn't see. But that's why I'm SO jazzed they'll BOTH contribute visually to our wedding!

101 in 1001

So.......there's a project called 101 in 1001. The basic idea is you come up with a list of 101 things to do in the next 1001 days. I first encountered it on Jessica Claire's blog, and again on Melissa Jill's blog. I thought I'd take the plunge as well. I actually started the project on Jan. 21, 2007, but am a little late to post it to the blog.

I haven't exactly got 101 things down yet, but wanted to at least start the project!

I also wanted to avoid cliches like "get more fit" or "flatten my tummy." ACK! CLICHE!!!!!!!!!!

Since the list is incomplete, I'm taking creative suggestions.

Also, here are a few other bloggers who are doing this (disclaimer: I know NONE of these people, but wanted to show I'm not off my rocker for attempting a project like this.

- I LOVE the last two items on THIS blog!

- Here, Here, and Here are three more I liked.

Without further ado .... here's my list (so far):

Start: Jan. 21, 2007
End: Oct. 18, 2009 (I found a really cool date calculator on Kristin Greenlee's blog.)

(in NO particular order)
1. Marry the man of my dreams — DONE!!!! Sept. 27, 2008
2. Quit my full-time news job — DONE!!!!!!! June 4, 2008
3. Learn how to speak rudimentary Italian
4. Go on a vineyard tour in Italy
5. Learn to juggle
6. Earn as much from Heartland Photography in one year as I did from any previous job
7. Adopt a child internationally
8. Learn how to play (basic) piano
9. Dye my hair — DONE!!!!!!! Oct. 24, 2008
10. Develop a long-term documentary project
11. Attend WPPI in Vegas
12. Put 10% of my income into a retirement plan
13. Put another 10% of my income into investments
14. Play the stock market
15. Buy a share of stock in Apple Inc.
16. Travel in Africa (again)
17. Become a member of a wine club
18. Read one book a month for one year — DONE!!!! April 21, 2009
19. Buy a new car — DONE!!!! July 27, 2009
20. Buy a gold coin
21. Eat veggies grown ONLY from my garden for one summer
22. Practice yoga 2 times/week for six months
23. Play in a real poker tournament — DONE!!!! Oct. 19, 2008
24. Be interviewed on NPR
25. Go to Mt. Rushmore
26. Go to Washington, D.C. — DONE!!!! Jan. 20-24, 2009
27. Join a fantasy team
28. Attend Liana's Business Boot Camp — DONE!!!! April 29-May 1, 2008
29. Fly first class
30. Have a Heartland booth in a bridal show — DONE!!!! Jan. 4, 2009
31. Purchase an original piece of art — DONE!!!! Jan. 29, 2008
32. Book 20-24 weddings/year
33. Take a SCUBA diving class
34. Have something ELSE published in Better Homes & Gardens magazine
35. Have a wedding featured in a magazine
36. Hit the 1 gallon mark for blood donation — DONE!!!! June 24, 2009
37. Visit the center of the continental U.S.
38. Take a walk on the beach (of a warm, tropical-like place, not an inland lake!) — DONE!!!! Aug. 14, 2008
39. Finish one of my "in progress" quilts
40. Keep tax information current on a monthly basis (i.e. don't wait until the end of the year to get organized!)
41. Send birthday cards to everyone on my birthday calendar for one year
42. Make peanut butter fudge — DONE!!!! April 26, 2009
43. Do not get a plastic bag at a retail store for a month (i.e. use a cloth bag I will keep with me) — DONE!!!! Nov. 21, 2008
44. Replace all possible lights in house with more eco-friendly light bulbs
45. Make one new recipe/week for 3 months — DONE!!!! March 11, 2009
46. Keep my car clean (i.e. no junk rattling around in the back seat/on the floor) for 3 months — DONE!!!! April 14 - July 14, 2009
47. Floss every day for a month DONE!!!! April 14 - Oct. 10, 2009
48. Take a dance class with ERB
49. Learn to belly dance
50. Develop and implement a regular backup system for my computer
51. Volunteer as a classroom aid in a local school (to read to children)
52. Document the birth of a child (scheduled July 2009)
53. Read "How to Win Friends & Influence People"
54. Participate in the Bike Across Kansas
55. Write/mail Jeanel a letter once/month for 6 months — DONE!!!! 3/12/08, 4/14/08, 5/3/08, 6/30/08, 7/30/08, 8/24/08
56. See the northern lights
57. Go to Nicodemas, Kansas; learn a little about its history
58. Photograph Castle Rock at sunrise
59. Go to the Grand Canyon — DONE!!!! May 23, 2009
60. Paint a room in my house — DONE!!!! Feb. 17, 2008
61. Read pages 1&3 of the newspaper EVERY DAY for a MONTH
62. Take my vitamins every day for a month
63. Develop a newsletter for HP — DONE!!!! Nov. 20, 2008
64. Have a photo published on Trash The Dress Web site
65. Make my own hot chocolate mix — DONE!!!! Jan. 19, 2009
66. Be a counselor for diabetes summer camp — DONE!!!! June 15-19, 2008
67. Photograph a wedding in Hawaii
68. Eat authentic sushi — DONE!!!! Jan. 23, 2008
69. Attend the March for Life in Washington, D.C. — DONE!!!! Jan. 22, 2009
70. Go to groundhog day activities in PA!
71. Tour the Boulevard brewery in Kansas City — DONE!!!! June 18, 2009
72. Tour the Harley Davidson factory in Kansas City. — DONE!!!! June 18, 2009
73. Photograph a family for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
74. Participate in a triathlon (as a team member, not solo!!!)
75. Get my 3 a day for an entire month!
76. Enter photos in a competition
77. Donate my portrait photography services to 2 auctions/year — DONE!!!! March 22, 2009
78. Get large canvas prints made
79. Get karenmikols.com UP AND RUNNING!!! — DONE!!!! Feb. 28, 2009
80. Go visit Bobby Ann & Vern in their winter nest, catch spring game while in Arizona.
81. Go to the Salt Mines in Hutch.
82. Finish filling out this darn list — DONE!!!!
83. Plant a garden (to eat veggies from my garden #21, I have to HAVE a garden!) DONE!!!! — May 4, 2008
84. Re-do the master suite in Erik's house (bedroom/closet/bath)
85. Get a stinkin' blog counter figured out on this blog — DONE!!!! Aug. 19, 2008
86. Get the new Heartland site up and RUNNING. — DONE!!!! June 1, 2008
87. Have an article I write published in an industry magazine (wedding/portrait photography industry)
88. Put the odometer on my bicycle — DONE!!!! June 2009
889. Make a batch of lemonade FROM SCRATCH (well, I don't have to grow the lemons!) — DONE!!!! Oct. 15, 2009
90. Visit Miss Susie in Independence — DONE!!!! June 28-30, 2009
91. Blog stalk a blog COMPLETELY unrelated to photography for ONE MONTH.
92. Keep the dining room table clutter free (i.e. no Karen piles) for one month — DONE!!!! Sept. 22, 2009
93. Finish sanding/re-staining the wooden chest — DONE!!!! March 8, 2009
94. Clean/organize the garage so one of us can pull in during the winter — DONE!!!! Oct. 9, 2008
95. Do a blog post exclusively about Esse ... show photos from my kitty's youngest days. — DONE!!!! Sept. 12, 2008
96. Get 2008 wedding album designs completed/to the printer/binder before 2009 weddings begin.
97. Lift weights 2x week for 3 months (to encourage strong bones and fight off osteoporosis) — DONE!!!! April 16, 2009
98. Get that tree taken care of in the backyard. — DONE!!!! June 1, 2009
199. Build a patio with the limestone; eat a dinner al fresco — DONE!!!! Aug. 17, 2009
100. Visit "baby Paul" at college — DONE!!!! Nov. 9-10, 2008
101. Pray night prayer every night for a month — DONE!!!! April 25-March 25, 2009

Can't Sleep :-(

It's 4 a.m. Eastern time and "ME NO SLEEPY!" (Me no likey).

I'm at an AMAZING workshop in Kentucky right now .... and can't sleep. Part of it is new environment. Part of it is my roomie, Anne, is nowhwere to be seen. She was going to drive in late (last night?), but isn't here yet and I'm being a worry wart (UGH!)


Anyhow, before I went to bed last night, I discovered how much I like the bathroom counter. It makes for lovely ring detail photos. I can't decide which I like better, so I'm posting both.

Registries

Ok, we're registered! (Erik had a LITTLE TOO MUCH FUN with the scanner gun!)

Please CLICK HERE to view our registries!