YAY! On Heather's Blog!!!!!

FINALLY! At long last, there is ONE photo from oru wedding on Heather's Blog (scroll all the way down to the bottom)! Granted, it's on why it takes so long to get photos turned around .... yikes!

Mike and I have a way shorter process, but as Heather said, every photographer is different. I have the luxury of having Mike to help me do all of the heavy lifting. :-)

Working on the 101 list — Ham & Bean Soup

Whew! Half way through my efforts to make a new recipe weekly for 3 months. Yay!!!!!! :-)


Last night, I made Ham and Bean soup. Yummie! The first time I had the soup was while covering a Democratic gathering while interning at the paper in Topeka.

To view the recipe, please CLICK HERE.

Of course, here's the list of the new recipes I've tried so far:
Dec. 21 — Peanut Butter Pancakes
Dec. 31 — Calzones
Jan. 9 — Braised Brussell Sprouts + Pork Chops with a creamy herbed sauce
Jan. 14 — Black Bean Burritos
Jan. 18 — Hot Chocolate Mix

Soup Exchange!

Ok, I'm a big, fat dork.

There, I got it out. That's my disclaimer. If you can live with the above statement, read on.

On Feb. 8, I'm planning a soup exchange in Wichita.

I can hear your subconscious thinking: "Karen, you're so strange, where on EARTH did you come up with this?" ... WELL ye of little faith, I read about it in the Dec. 2006 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine and thought it sounded like fun. I've been itching to do this, but just haven't had the chance.


The idea is everyone makes a soup (probably doubles the recipe, depending on the number of people who come), divvy up the soup into the amount of people who come, and then everyone swaps. Then, you take them home and stick them in the freezer. If you decide you want a soup, simply pull it out (in the morning before you head to the office), and once you get home at night, toss it in a pot to heat it through.

I was chatting with a friend about this and she was like "This is better than a recipe exchange because I never get around to making the recipes that look good" ... which is SO true! It's already made and (here's the best part) IN YOUR FREEZER!!!!!!

Simple!

SO ..... if you're interested, we'll be having one of these on Sun., Feb. 8. Leave me a comment if you want the details/want to come! I'll send out an e-mail next week with the details of how many people are coming, so we know how much soup to prepare!


(This is pumpkin soup ... I know my sister is seriously wanting to make some, but doesn't think her household will eat it ... so I'm hoping she'll make it for the party!)

Piles of paper ...

Ok, so our house doesn't look like this, but I *feel* it looks like this.

Anyhow, I've shredded GOBS of paper I no longer need, so next is getting all of the household papers in order. Yay!

# 69 — Attend the March for Life in Washington, D.C.

... CHECK!!!!!!


Whew! Saturday night, I returned from my trip to DC. The trip entailed 24 hours on a bus and 24 back. UGH. I had a darn hard time sleeping on the bus ... especially on the way back. But I've been wanting to attend the March for Life for several years ... which has been great.

I reported/photographed for the Diocecean paper, which was great fun. I'm in the process of finishing my story.

Yet another item checked off the 101 in 1001 list.

I also will have more photos from my "being a tourist" in DC for the 101 list. :-)

Mrs. Bonar goes to Washington

I'm headed out tonight for DC ... and I know there are a few e-mails I have yet to respond to ... but you'll just have to wait until next week.

Sorry.

#65 — Make my own hot chocolate mix

... CHECK!!!!!!!!


Yummie! My friend, Marie, gave me her mom's hot chocolate recipe, and BOY OH BOY is it good! I'm enjoying a cup right now.

The heck of it is it makes A LOT of mix. I made HALF of the recipe and still filled a large container with the mix. Sheesh!

I might be cheating *a little* but I"m counting this as my new recipe for the week. :-) It's good to officially be into month 2 of my 3 month project of making one new recipe/week. Let's see, that's 5 weeks down, 7 weeks to go!

Of course, here's the list of the new recipes I've tried so far:
Dec. 21 — Peanut Butter Pancakes
Dec. 31 — Calzones
Jan. 9 — Braised Brussell Sprouts + Pork Chops with a creamy herbed sauce
Jan. 14 — Black Bean Burritos
Jan. 19 — Mary's Hot Chocolate

In a funk

So, sometimes I feel like blogs are like Christmas letters. All happy, happy, joy, joy.

Not that people lie on them, but that it's all about personal accomplishments. But how much of our lives are actually big accomplishments? I'd guess less than 5% of them. The rest is just the little in between moments. The nothings. But if you have lots of nothing, isn't that something?

I found this incredibly poignent post from athlete Brianna Glenn via Jasmine Star's blog this July (side note, I love, love, love reading J*'s blog. Her writing style is so fresh, fun and playful ... and her images can only be described as eye candy).

Justin and Mary have a particularly vulnerable post lately, too

I appreciate that some people share the valleys, because there are lows in life. Just like there are highs. It also somehow makes people feel *more real* and multi-dimensional to me (if that makes any sense).

So ... today is one of those days. More particularly one of those last 5 hours. I've just been in sort of a funk/pity party. Which isn't entirely like me at all.

Do you ever have those days when you question who you are and what you're doing? (if you don't, I think you're lying to yourself). ;-)

Who am I?
What am I doing?
What is my purpose?
Does God REALLY have a plan for me?
Am I even close to fulfilling my life's mission on this earth?
How will I KNOW what that mission is?
Maybe I'm wasting my time.
Maybe I'm wasting God's time (now THAT's a scary thought!).

But I am blessed. So blessed.

I have a husband more amazing than I could have ever imagined. A super yummie dinner at a little hole in the wall pizzaria certainly helped to improve my mood.

So, then I come home and start to mope again (what gives?).

And I start to question. And wallow in self pity.

I miss my friends.
Why does S live in Atlanta? It's too far away. I want to go have coffee w/ her RIGHT NOW.
Too bad Robin's throat is all sore and she can't talk. I could use some sister love.
Why won't my kitty come and cuddle with me? (I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with me throwing shoes at her yesterday for scratching the carpet on the stairs).

(wow, I'm being pathetic + whiney!)

But ... life swings up again.

Ok ok, so I'm a HUGE GEEK. We all know this.

A few weeks ago, I signed up w/ Google Analytics. Yeah, yeah, I should have done it a long time ago, but life keeps running away with me. Heck, I don't even really know all of its capabilities, but it's pretty stinkin' cool.

It gives all sorts of information/data. I really need to learn all of the capabilities.

But it's super cool to be able to see how many *new* people are coming to your site. And how many are coming from searches or online listings.

AND because I'm a super nerd, it's cool to see where they live (I SO need a life!).



Here are the top 25 cities our main site visitors are from:


And on the map:



(HELLLLLOOOOOO, Alaska!)

We even have some international visitors:


I can guess who I know in Canada and Kenya, but the rest of the international peeps, dunno how the heck they made their way to our site.

They also calculate the percent of people who are brand new versus returning visitors on the site. Cool!


Here are the percents from our blog:


The countries who visit our blog:


And the top 25 cities:


It's super fun to look at these because I know some of these are friends, and I mentally say "hi" when I see your city's name. i.e. when I see Coffeyville, I think "HI DOUG!!!!" (not Douggie).

And when I see places in Iowa or Wyoming, I"m all "Hi Erin + Joe!!!!" in my mind.

(I'm a dork).

High school reunion

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh. It's that year. Yes, my 10 year high school reunion.

That thought makes me scowl.

Some people feel old when they hit a certain age ... but I feel old now that my 10 year reunion is here.

Aren't most people jumping for joy over these reunions? Am I a curmudgeon?

I'm not sure why I am so strongly opposed to this ... we didn't have a five year reunion (and I'm SERIOUSLY glad we didn't!). I certainly wasn't ready to see everyone after five years .... am I now that it's been 10?

It took me 4 calendar years, 3 academic years to breeze through college. SO ... what the heck have I been DOING for the last 6 years? Truthfully, not very much. I've lived a rather dull existence.

Quite a few of my classmates were upity and would barely give anyone but the 7 people in "their circle" the time of day. Do I particularly want to see them again? I can't decide.

Here's the other thought I have: I was in a variety of activities from journalism to theater to choir. I would LOVE to have a reunion with those groups, but the groups had a mix of grades/graduation years. I'll see a fraction of the people I spent most of my high school years with.

Another hesitation, and this is silly, but I'm just behind the times. Erik and I were *just* married ... the bulk of the people I went to school with are married and are on the family track. I can think of TWO of my married friends who don't have kids. TWO. We'll be in the corner talking about wine tastings while the other mommies talk about mommy things (whatever those are).

I've actually heard of people having "pre reunion reunions" ... and sort of like the idea. I'll have to mull it over a bit, but we'll see. Right now, I'm just feeling OLD.

K-Stater (back) in the White House!

Lately, former K-State photographer Pete Souza has been making headlines.

A week and a half ago, Souza was named as the official White House Photographer for President Elect Barack Obama.

This morning, Pete was interviewed on NPR about his new post. (There's also a story about it in today's Wichita Eagle

When Obama was elected President, the fleeting thought of Pete returning to the White House certainly crossed my mind. Pete lived and worked in the Washington bureau of the Chicago Tribune for several years ... which was when he photographed Obama's first year as a senator. Of course, the gallery link goes beyond that.

In the gallery, scroll down to the 6th photo of Barak w/ Malia at the Library of Congress. It just melts my heart ....

These images are compiled in a book, "The Rise of Barack Obama" and it can be purchased at Amazon.

Pete also was a White House photographer for President Regan, which is why several of us Tri-X photogs suspected he might end up back in the White House. When the former president died, Souza was asked by the family to return and document his funeral activities for the family. What a true honor.

I remember at a gathering of photographers who worked at newspapers in the Harris Newspaper Group. There were some awesome, awesome photographers there, and among them was Souza (he'd worked at Chanute early in his career). At that time, he showed his documentary work from Regan's funeral. I was weeping ... WEEPING when we were done looking at the photos. They're so beautiful ... timeless ... classic ... poignant.

Back to the K-State connection.


Often, alumni photographers would come back and work with us on projects, mentor us, critique our photos ... Pete certainly had the reputation of being hard as nails and giving "no holds barred" critiques of portfolios. Crying was common (I was told). But every comment he gave us only served to better our work, and to help thicken our skin. :-)

Next week, I'll be in D.C. for the March for Life. It's just a few short days after Obama's inaguration. I'd love to think I could just "stop in" and say "hi" to Pete, but I suspect things will be a *little* crazy. But I'm just such a nosy nellie, I'd love to see Pete's domain.

On a complete side note, I didn't realize Obama is a leftie. I know, I know. I'm such a dork. It's just one of those things I notice. Especially since my dad is left handed. :-)

Other awesome lefties: Bishop Paul Coakley, Babe Ruth, Julia Roberts, Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker and Oprah Winfrey. Yeah, there are DOZENS out there, but this is my short list (and "the Babe" is on there for Erik, so he doesn't feel emasculated by having this random chick list on our blog). ;-)

Working on the 101 list — Black Bean Burritos

Ooooook. New meal time.

The other day, we grabbed a bag of black beans at the store. I've NEVER cooked with them before and had to come home and read up on them and how to work with/prepare them. What an education!

So, this wasn't a full recipe ... I combined THIS recipe with THIS recipe.

I soaked the beans over night, then cooked them for 2.5-ish hours, drained and mashed them and tossed in some chili powder. Then I added cooked onions. I warmed tortillas and then we put the mashed beans on the tortillas and topped them with cheese. Erik even added some brown rice in his burritos. :-)

Next time, I need to come up with some more spices or something ... it seemed a bit bland ... but we'll see what happens.

Of course, here's the list of the new recipes I've tried so far:
Dec. 21 — Peanut Butter Pancakes
Dec. 31 — Calzones
Jan. 9 — Braised Brussell Sprouts + Pork Chops with a creamy herbed sauce
Jan. 14 — Black Bean Burritos

Photo dreams ...

One of the most difficult aspects in business for me is prioritizing. There are *so many* things I want to do. *So many* pieces of equipment, etc I want to get ... but what is at the top of the list?

For the last few years, going to the annual WPPI convention/tradeshow. There's so much "buzz" about it ... and I'm just itching to go, but life keeps getting in the way. The last few years, I've had a full time job that was not conducive to leaving for a week-ish. Now ... we'll see. Erik and I have *talked* about going to Vegas, and I'd love to even go to a day of the activities ... we'll just have to see.

The above video is one in a series to "pump us up" ahead of the main event. :-) It's long, so if you wanna watch, get comfy. It's a reality episode about a bunch of photogs trying to make a short film in 24 hours. I frequently stalk a lot of their blogs, so it's amusing to see them act/interact with others. On some, I think "oh, I would have pictured their voice differently" or some such silliness.

Here's hoping for Vegas this year .... ;-)

Working on the 101 list — Braised Brussels Sprouts + Pork Chops with a creamy herbed sauce.

Friday night, my parents swung through town with some friends. They suggested we go out to eat, but I *insisted* they come over. Why? Because I had one more day to make a new recipe. I'm a dork like that. :-)

So I had 8 extra people in our house to eat 2 recipes I've NEVER made before. What brave buddies!

It's been 7 years since I cooked chops myself ... but it was quite yummie!

CLICK HERE for the Chops recipe. And CLICK HERE for the Sprouts recipe. :-)

Of course, here's the list of the new recipes I've tried so far:
Dec. 21 — Peanut Butter Pancakes
Dec. 31 — Calzones
Jan. 9 — Braised Brussell Sprouts + Pork Chops with a creamy herbed sauce.

Grrrrrrrr ... Quickbooks me no likey

*warning, I'm going to rant and whine*

UUUUUUUUUGH. I have NO LOVE for Quickbooks. Yes, I should have gotten my backside into gear and gotten it at the beginning of 2008. BUT ... I am a Mac girl (GO APPLE!) and they only had old versions (2007). The new version just came out. Yay!

BUT in the meantime, they released an online version. I think this is the solution to all of my worldly problems ... until I go online this morning and it tells me I need to be running on Explorer. UGH. Seriously? I have to use a buggy PC browser to use your product? Could you be any more UNFRIENDLY?!??!?!?

As if I wasn't irritated before, I'm irate now. :-(

Oh, and to add to things, the only "tax work" I've done is to throw receipts into the box with the "I'll do it with the new program."

What a fool I was.

Jamaica — snorkeling

During our time in Jamaica, Erik and I went snorkeling. I've gone once or twice ... but it was Erik's first time.


In fact, it was such a good time that we went 3 times!


Getting the two of us under water, plus the person taking the picture ... well, it wasn't easy.




(I can't believe I'm actually showing pix of me nearly full-body in my swimming suit .... but whatever!)


I hope Erik still talks to me after seeing this entire post. ;-)

Closet progress ...

Ok, I get the feeling some people (ahem, joelisaac, ahem) think I'm totally obsessed with our closet.

Truly, the project has been going on for MUCH longer than I'd like ... but isn't that life?

I don't have any "before" pix right now, so you'll just have to see it at another date. Sorry y'all.

Just today, I put up the vertical shelf (on the left side) this afternoon. :-)


The built in (right side) has been repainted, and I am just *adoring* the white trim. Erik painted all of the baseboards while I was gone! YAY E!

There will be another shelf/rod under the ones already hung. Yippe!!!!! We're going to more than double our hanging space in that closet!


Because the baseboards are all painted, we opted to move in the dressers. :-) On the left side of the wall, we will be putting in a taller rod for dresses and other long tiems that can't go on the dual system on the two walls.

Oh, and we're aware we need blinds to keep the clothes all pristine.

But I'm all sorts of *in love* with the tan wall color and white trim!

This closet is MASSIVE!!!!! I'm NOT a clothes horse, but it's just a jewel of a space!

Portrait session in Charity Auction!

Ok, Friday night there's a benefit for a family who is very dear to my heart, the Rzihas. Without going into too much detail, Shannon, the wife of my buddy Wayne, has cancer. She's going through Chemo right now ...

In addition to being a wife, Shannon is the mother of 3 little bundles of energy.

To help offset medical bills, one of Wayne's sisters is hosting a benefit party Friday night.

Host: Rzihas and Fr. Bernard
Date: Friday, January 9, 2009
Time: 6:30pm - 11:00pm
Location: Clonmel Community Building
Street: 18630 W 71st St
City/Town: Clonmel, KS

A $10 suggested donation is being accepted.

Also at the event will be an auction (I don't know many details ... I think it will be a silent auction, but Fr. Bernie has also done auctioneering, so it's anyone's guess!). Wayne and his entire family have been a massive blessing in my life, and I've decided to donate a Heartland Lifestyle Portrait session to the auction.


Auction item details:

Portrait session with Karen Bonar, Heartland Photography. Session includes 1 hour of on-location time (your home, park, favorite outing) and can be used for family, infant, child or senior portraits. Session value: $150.

These photos are of Amy and her little girl, Chloe, from our lifestyle baby session this weekend.


I know we have quite a few blog readers, and if you can attend this Friday's benefit, please do so! If you've been wanting to have a Heartland Lifestyle session, this is an excellent way to get one! Help out the Rzihas, and get some beautiful, artistic images of your family at the same time.

My plan vs. God's plan

From time to time, God thumps me on the head. Almost as if to say "I'm here, are you aware of me?"

Last night was one of those nights.

I'd been up late the last week or so doing different projects, etc. The bridal fair was complete and I.just.needed.sleep.NOW. But ... as life goes, I was distracted. Puttering around for no good reason.

My Facebook status went as follows:

8:38 p.m. : Karen is resting after an awesome bridal show today!
10:17 p.m. : Karen is going to sleep ... I mean it this time!
10:25 p.m. : Karen is REALLY going to bed this time. I MEAN IT NOW!!!!!
10:27 p.m. : Karen should give up and admit she's too distracted to sleep
10:42 p.m. : Karen is wasting perfectly good sleeping time. WHY AM I STILL UP PUTZING AROUND ON THE COMPUTER?!!!?

The answer to that last question came a few minutes later ... when I wandered out into the living room to ... well, I don't know why I did, but I did. And there was dad, having a less than wonderful low bloodsugar. :-( Mom was asleep and I was the only person around. Thankfully, some juice did the trick and all was well in the Mikols house ...

I certainly hope my family doesn't mind me sharing this. I don't do so to embarras anyone. It's just part of life and happens from time to time. This time was my turn to pitch in, and I'm glad to do so.

And it was God's chance to tap me on the shoulder and say "Hey you, you have a purpose. You have a meaning. Even when things aren't going according to YOUR plan, *I* have a plan. And know what? It's way better than anything you could come up with, Karen."

So, I share the same with you, blog readers.

YOU have a purpose
GOD has a plan.
It's probably not your plan, but know what? It's *far better* than anything you could ever come up with.

Have a glorious Monday and Blessed New Year.

# 30 — Have a Heartland booth in a bridal show

... CHECK!


One show down, two to go this month. :-)

I spent today at The Cotillion in a Bridal Fair hosted by Kansas Wedding Plan Magazine. What a blast! I'm exhausted, but it was super fun to have time to chat with brides one-on-one.

This has not been the easiest of my 101 in 1001 items to complete. The people at the "big" Wichita fair won't return a phone call or e-mail. It's been frustrating, so we opted for a booth in a smaller fair. But wow! It was fantastic ... we had time to visit with every single bride, which was fantastic. At the big fair, it's like a cattle drive (and I've actually BEEN to a cattle drive, so that's experience speaking, folks!). There are just *so many people* it's difficult to get any quality time with one bride/couple/family.

And my favorite bride, Robin, came along to pimp us and talk about her wedding photography experience. :-)



Peace out, yo. I gotta get some SLEEP!

ps-21 items checked off the list! And several more are in the works! I'm not sure they'll *all* get done before Oct. 18, but I'm giving it my best shot.

Jamaica — Honeymooners part I

Ok, I'd originally intended to do all these at once, but life is INSANE right now, and so I'll share the first batch of photos of E and I in Jamaica.

Hopefully next week, I'll have some quality time to clear my head and get the rest of these edited. Hopefully ....


They had "sunset photo sessions" for a rediculious fee ... plus, they were using on camera strobe. Heck, I figured we could do the same thing w/ my little camera .... and the couples were awesome. Many were like "we'll trade photos with you. We'll take yours if you take ours." How awesome/friendly!





And, of course, some individuals:


This is the swim-up bar. It is my friend. :-)


TOTALLY love this photo (above)!


Being a dork:


Now, for the cynics out there who might think I won't show an unflattering photo of me ... Erik took these as I napped after an afternoon on the beach. Look at him grin like an imp:







• • • 
Closet update: A closet shelf fell on my face during instillation, eating my glasses. One of the shelves also cut my finger, drawing blood.

Closet: 2
Karen: 0

There is, however, one FULL shelf that's up ... the bar, too! So progress is being made, and a few clothes are back in the closet.

Maybe the score should now read:

Closet: 2
Karen: 1

I also hope to finish this bear of a project next week.

Working on the 101 list — Calzones

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Ok, so I'm exhausted.

For the first time in my LIFE I didn't make plans for New Year's Eve. I didn't go to a party. I didn't hang w/ my family. I didn't even make plans w/ E. If I was awake when he got home, he'd see me .... otherwise, I'd be catching up on MUCH NEEDED sleep.

But yesterday, I made Calzones for dinner. :-)

Yes, it's on my 101 in 1001 list!

Ok, ok, ok, so you're saying "Karen, it's been 10 days since you made something ... you're a cheater! That's not w/in a week." WELL smarty pants, I have decided to count a week from Sunday to Saturday. Dec. 21 was a Sunday, so I hit the start of that week. This week, I opted to do it on Wednesday. So there!

I was sort of grousing about it to myself, but it's truly nice to have an excuse to try a recipe I've cut out and stuck in my folder ...

Anyhow, for those of you interested, please CLICK HERE to view the recipe. I used the Ricotta and Ham variation, which was interesting. Also interesting was that there were potatoes in the calzone. I've never heard of/had that before, but it wasn't bad at all.

Of course, here's the list of the new recipes:
Dec. 21 — Peanut Butter Pancakes
Dec. 31 — Calzones

• • •
Also going on in my life ... I opened the box of the closet system, and in an extremely tired state, tried to figure out and measure the best option to putting those bad boys up. Photos to come when it's all spiffed up.