Getting to know the little boy ...

As we've been preparing for baby, it's involved sifting through lots of items we've just tossed into closets and forgotten about.

Yesterday, I was going through some of the last items in our built-ins. I was pulling out all of Erik's baseball cards.

Now, my father likes to pull old things out and throw them away. Erik isn't an extreme hoarder or anything, and I can't bear to toss out his baseball cards. That's his option.

It was a little sweet, looking at some of the items as I pulled them out. There was an old Chiefs poster from who knows when. You could mark the wins/losses. About half of the season was marked. The rest ... maybe the Chiefs went on a losing bender and Erik lost interest? Or didn't want the visual reminder?

Anyhow, it seems sort of ... cute.

I never knew Erik as a boy or even as a young man. His major formative years were behind him by the time our paths crossed. Yet, in seeing some of these items, I feel that I get a glimpse of the boy he must have been. At least, it explains his undying affection for teams that break his heart year after year.

At the same time, as I gaze on pieces of his past, I can't help but look to our future. Knowing I'll get to see some of the boy he was in our own baby. Boy or girl? We don't know; it doesn't really matter. I'm sure I'll see some of his childhood come out in our  own child.

Side note: Nope, no photos to share with this blog post either ... the new Blogger is so awful, especially w/ photos ... so you'll have to deal w/ this for now. I am working on some changes, and once things are as I would like them, I'll post it here. Sound good?

Quote, unquote

Back in journalism school, I DO remember putting together a notebook of city numbers/contacts, but I surely had no clue what each department did. It's been great to apply that to my daily living, because it's been insanely handy!

When I took a job reporting for a small newspaper, covering city government, I didn't know what I was getting into. At all. Honestly, I'm sure I didn't expect to be able to take/translate any of the experience(s) into my daily life. I didn't even know how my notebook of city numbers would relate to my job. Oh boy. Did.It.Ever!

Yet now, 3.5 years later, I'm still able to apply things I learned.

• Knowing who in the city to call when a tree falls across the road in the middle of a nasty storm. Seriously, before watching the city government at work, I would have had NO CLUE. Now I know to call the Public Works department. And call them sooner rather than later. They care b/c they look out for the streets, and if a tree with a diameter of 4 feet is blocking a rod, they want to know about it.

• Bidding it out. The city had hundreds of projects and they'd give the specs and take sealed bids. Now, I'm nowhere near that fancy, but the bidding process was a valuable one to watch. Back when we were taking a portion of our tree out of the backyard, I called 4-6 different places and asked them to come give me a quote. The prices were vastly different, and I'm not sure if I'd have called so many before my days of observing city government. Yet after learning about the bidding/quote process, I was unapologetic about asking people to come and look and bid. We're doing the same now with some duct work, and I expect the prices will range as vastly as our tree did. Yet having several offers on the table will be nice.

• Recycling services. We outgrew our first recycling bin pretty quickly, and since our city takes care of recycling, I knew to head to Public Works and ask them about it.

• Gripes about taxes. Unnamed people in my life will gripe about the city government being irresponsible with tax stuff ... then talk about the school district. Um, while they're both government-related things, if you go to the city and cry to them about building a new school, they won't care. I was able to tell this person they were barking up the wrong tree and direct them to the School Board. The number of taxing agencies in each city is crazy. From the School Board to the City to the County to the Library to the Airport Authority .... those are the few that come to mind off the top of my head. And they EACH can levy/impose taxes.

Alright. This concludes today's randomness.

Extra hour

I'm using my "extra hour" tonight to do some pre-bloogging.

I have lots to blog, but have waited to download stuff from my 'purse' camera. Some of this stuff dates to August! So stay tuned!

Minty Ice :)

Awhile ago, I read about putting items into your ice cubes.


When we made mint sun tea with mint from our garden, I wanted to give these cubes a try!


They're not too difficult to make. Just put your leaves into the tray and go for it! I did try to put the leaves and a little water, then freeze that. Then add more water and freeze per normal. My intention was that the mint leaf would be at the round part of the cube ... but when I added water, it made some of them float up. So it's not really worth that effort.


I thought it'd be more pretty if the mint leaf were in the middle of the cube, but actually it's nice with it near the edge. It melts and gives a little minty burst to a glass of water. :)

Sounds glamorous, right?

Erik and I were talking last night ... and neither of us can remember the last time we did laundry. As evidenced by my undie drawer, it's about time. Maybe it's been 2.5-3 weeks? No one knows.

Some days I think "being a photographer sounds glamorous and all, but when I can't remember the last time I washed my clothes or went to the grocery store .... well, notsomuch."

I grabbed some milk quickly the other day, but as far as a real trip to the store, nope, can't remember the last time. Not in the last 2 weeks for sure. Crike!

I think everyone feels that way, though, to some degree. "If only I had kids." "If only I didn't work nights." "If only I could stay home with the kids." .... the list is long and I think in short, we all want what we don't have. Or we all think everyone else's life sounds more glamorous than ours.


I'll admit, today it's tough. My 'to do' list for work fills almost an entire page. It doesn't even include washing the guest room sheets for my mom who will be staying with us tomorrow night. Or doing the pile of dishes in the sink. Or going grocery shopping ... heck, even making a grocery list! But it's where I am right now, which is exactly where I'm supposed to be. I know that; I don't wish for anything else.

Sometimes, looking at the couples we photograph helps me; reminds me of life before dishes in the sink. When all you had time for was to obsess about the other. And not think "has it REALLY been 3 weeks since we did laundry?"

I *heart* slippers!

Since I spend quite a bit of time working/editing around home, I clock in a LOT of quality time in my slippers.

I have strong opinions and preferences about these little gems. I like them to be a ballet slipper sort of thing. And A rubber bottom is key. And the fabric .... has to be nice and soft. I'm particular. I also had a pair I LOVED from Restoration Hardware. Picked them up about 2 years ago. And loved all over them. Then, when it came time to replace them ... the dreaded words "we don't carry those anymore." I cried. Truly.

And so the search was on. I needed a replacement. It reached critical mass when a hole formed in the toe of one of the slippers. yet I still could not part with them. Not without a replacement. Even Erik, bless his heart, tried to get me new slippers for Christmas, but they weren't quite right (way too wide for my feet!). So the search continued.

Fast forward to TODAY. I'm in Kohl's looking for some athletic shorts (side note: WHY are SO MANY women's shorts PINK? Seriously, I'm not 5 years old people. Why pink???).

Walking absently toward the register, I see a big display of slippers .... and light shone from heaven on them.


These aren't the EXACT slippers I got, but they're close. "Dearfoams" slippers. Oh how I love thee! So much that I bought 2 pair (honestly, had there been one more in my size, I might have purchased 3 pairs!). Now I have slippers for now and for when these wear out. CHA-CHING!!! SCORE! :)

Now, I know it's practically SUMMER, so slippers seems silly. But let me tell you. My photo editing station is in the basement and it is COLD in our basement year-round. So slippers are truly an essential part of my attire. And the rubber soles keep my socks from wearing out on the bottom.

"Here I am, Lord ..."

Mike and I had a rockin' wedding this weekend out of town. That in itself is fairly normal, but I wouldn't usually make a trip to Dodge before a wedding "just because." But with Grandpa John's funeral, of COURSE we went to Dodge. And I'm glad we did.

The trip, however, meant being home for less than 24 hours before packing the car and leaving again. Whew!

I left Great Bend this morning close to 7 a.m. And with my crazy allergies, I've been up hacking the last 2 nights.

So this morning, I'm sitting in Mass, just hoping I don't fall asleep sitting up, thinking "Here I am, Lord" ... I couldn't even make it to the next part of the phrase "I come to do your will." Nope. I was just there. Present. "Here I am."

Everyone I know with kids tells me "You get used to not sleeping" but I think they're just saying it. I have a hard time believing my body could do with less than 9 hours of sleep (NO I'm not joking, folks!).

Sort of a rambly post, but my point is this: on Mother's Day ... I tip my hat to all of you mommies, especially my friends with babies and little kids. To those who might not be sleeping through the night. Or more than 3 hours at a time. I marvel at you. I honor you. I am in awe of you.

Happy Mother's Day.

Meal planning?

Let me walk you through an afternoon around here.

2 p.m. Erik has just left for work. I head downstairs to do some editing/computer work.
3 p.m. Hmm... I wonder what I should make for dinner. Oh well, I have plenty of time to figure it out.
4:15 p. Crike, we eat in about an hour. I wonder what I'm making for dinner. I'll think about it in a half an hour.
5 p.m. HOLY SCHNIKES!!!! Panic, looking through freezer, gotta throw something together for dinner.
5:30 p.m. Present dinner.

I tend to cook/eat based on things I like. This might lead to eating spaghetti and mashed potatoes together at the same meal (although that exact combo hasn't happened yet).

For example, last night, Erik ate a leftover stuffed pepper from Easter, I had meatballs, we both had cooked sweet corn and mashed potatoes. Odds and ends.

I couldn't help but wonder if I made sort of a "meal plan" list for a week or two if it'd help this chaos. Not planning EVERY meal, but maybe 3 dinners a week. I also wonder if it'd help at the grocery store. With shopping. For instance, I got the sweet corn last week and just used part of it. Also, I have broccoli sitting forlornly in the fridge, waiting for some love. Maybe if I knew what I was going to make, I'd get all of the proper ingredients and not rush? And maybe I'd have a plan for the sad broccoli?

Honestly, does anyone out there "plan" weekly meals? Some sort of a game plan? Does it work? Is it more trouble than it's worth? Let's hear some feedback, folks! (I especially am asking now because I'm heading into busy/chaotic season and I might have even less mental energy than normal to extend to cooking!).

Shoes, shoes, shoes!

{stepping on soap box} When I am world ruler supreme, I will mandate that shoes be sold in individuals, rather than pairs.

I know, this sounds nuts. But bear with me.

My right foot is about 1/2 a size bigger than my left foot, which isn't *normally* a problem. For tennis shoes or sneakers, they tie on so it's not a big deal. The struggle comes when I want to wear heels (with no straps) or "ballet slipper" shoes. No strap. No ties. Not easy.

Once, I found a lonely shoe at Target, it was the right size for my right foot, so they let me buy the lonely shoe and a pair that fit my left foot. But wouldn't it be nice if I didn't have to buy TWO pair of shoes just to get the right size? Seriously.

Anyone out there have a bigger left foot than right foot? And wear a size 10-ish? (10 or so in running shoes, bigger or smaller in other shoes, just depends). My right foot is bigger, so if I could find a friend w/ a bigger left foot, we could mix and match shoes! ;)

Those of you who know me know I don't like browsing or shopping as a general rule. I was out the other day and poked my nose into the shoe store. Wedding season is almost here and I need to find a comfy pair of shoes that I can wear all day. To my surprise, I found that Dr. Scholl's has its own line of shoes! This sounds like a photographer's dream come true. Except that I wear a 9 1/2 on my right foot and a 9 on my left foot (on slip ons, I seem to wear a smaller size than 10, which is fine with me!).

UUUUUGH. Seriously, if I could buy one shoe that fit my right foot and one that fit my left, life would be so grand. After all, you can buy your swimsuit in separate pieces ... one that fits your top right and one that fits your bottom .... why should you not be able to do the same with shoes?

For the time being, it looks like I'll have to buy 2 pairs of shoes for this wedding season, one pair for my smaller left foot and one pair for my bigger right foot. But if you or someone you know has a bigger left foot and is in the size 10 range, DO let me know .... because I'd love to talk with her!

(I can't be the only person on the planet with 2 different sized feet, am I? Seriously, wouldn't you love to have TWO shoes that fit instead of one that does and one that doesn't really? Am I all alone in this???)

Milestone birthday(s)

In a few months, I'll hit the big 3-0 mark on my birthday-ometer.

Some people approach "milestone" birthdays with a sense of trepidation or angst, but honestly, it's not freaking me out (maybe it should?). A good handful of my friends turned 30 in the last calendar year and there were lots of surprise parties. I told Erik under no circumstance should something as such go on for me. It'll be close to the end of a marathon of weddings, and there's no telling how presentable for general consumption I might be. ;)

Rewind 10 years and if I wrote any prediction down, I am decidedly NOT where I thought I'd be professionally, I thought I'd have been married longer and I didn't think my little sis would pop out a kid before me. In the big picture, however, I know I am EXACTLY where I'm meant to be. So it'd be silly to lament where I "could have been" or that I have "fallen short" of any expectation. My path is so different than I expected, there is really no comparison!

Honestly, since November, when people ask, I'm more prone to say 30 than 29. Not that I'm chomping on the bit. Mostly because when I'm at the gym, looking at the exercise exertion chart, there's not an option for 25 or even 29. It's 30. Which is how I gauge my heart rate. No big deal, really.

But fear not, we will celebrate! Later in the month of my birth. We'll have a social with family, friends and you friends can bring the kids along. It'll be good times, I promise. :)

Sort of a rambly post, but in conclusion, if you're not precisely where you thought you'd be, SO WHAT? Life is rich. Reach out and enjoy it!

Happy Friday.

Bye bye blonde

In case you don't remember, I'm awfully loyal to my hairdresser.

In the fall, Nikki said to me "How do you feel about going brunette?" I'd never considered it, but we were a few weeks away from family pix, and making big changes before portraits is a no-no.

But the next time I was in for a cut, we went for it. :)


The change hasn't been too drastic. The biggest difference is I can't make blonde references to myself b/c I'd look awfully silly/dumb doing so. ;)

Honestly, the bulk of my friends, after spending a day with me are like "did you do something to your hair?" .... suggesting the change is natural enough for people to think it's always been this color. I take that as a job well done.

This change happened at the end of December, and I have yet to download my camera from mid-January to present. But once I do, there will be lots to share!

Tri/Bi/Du-athlon

On my bucket list is to participate in a triathlon (again) as a team member (read: I don't want to run). When my local YMCA announced its annual February triathlon with the option to NOT participate in one of the three events, I thought "this is for me!" ... so I'm counting it as a bucket list item. Because my original objective was do to a triathlon without the running. ;)

Which brings me to the name of the event. The Y has it listed as a Tri/Biathlon. Right? Makes sense?

A friend so kindly pointed out the actual meaning of Biathlon as: "a composite athletic contest consisting of cross-country skiing and rifle sharpshooting." Hmm....not exactly the intent of the club, I'm sure. But brings me a little grin.

The way the Y has it set up is you can choose from several levels, starting at 3 mile swim/20 mile run/60 mile bike (you have all of Feb to do it). I thought "I could easily do the swim and bike, but the point is to challenge yourself." Which means I went to the next level: 6 mile swim and 90 mile bike. I used to swim summer league, so I figured it wouldn't be a problem. And I've biked 90+ miles in one day before, so I knew that wouldn't be trouble. And it hasn't been (so far).

Here's the rub, though. I've easily done 2 sessions of 12 miles on the bike. Cake. On Friday, though, I decided to do a little swimming (1 mile = roughly 1600 meters). When I'd swim leisurely before, swimming 1000 meters was about par for the course. I wouldn't be too winded, could swim 200-300 consecutively, no problem. WELL ... let me just say IT AIN'T SO EASY AFTER PUTTING IN ALMOST AN HOUR ON THE BIKE. After 50 meters (down and back), I was huffing and puffing. Seriously. After 100 meters, I decided swimming an entire mile/1600m was unrealistic for the day. I felt like I was wimping out and only did a half a mile. When it was all said and done, I huffed and puffed my way into the hot tub in the ladies locker room and collapsed. Maybe this isn't going to be as easy as I thought?

My goal is to keep powering on the bike, and maybe work up to more time in the pool. But if I keep going at my current biking pace, I should be able to finish off the biking in about another week and a half, which will still leave me plenty of time (and energy!) to tackle the swimming.

New Year, new calendar!

Oh how excited I am about 2011!!!!!

There are lots of reasons, including: SK's wedding, Deacon Jeremy's ordination, our cutie nephew, lots of friends having babies, and a very booked 2011 spring for weddings.

But the BIGGEST reason is my new calendar. Yes, I'm a ginormous dork.

The 2010 is on the right and the new one is underneath:


While I think the "normal" sized calendars with photos are nice and all .... in 2010 I found there just wasn't enough room to put on all of my appointments on there.

I know there are dry erase boards and such, but we've booked through June, so I value having many months at once.

(YES, Juno, I scheduled this to be posted at 11:11 a.m. on 1/1/11) ;)

Overwhelmed

I have not yet:

• purchased all of the gifts I intend to give for Christmas
• pulled any sort of list for the Christmas cards
• mailed said Christmas cards
• done my grocery shopping for Christmas Eve dinner
• mopped the kitchen floor (seriously, this needs to happen. It's wretched)
• put out the nativity scenes
• made the yogurt
• made hummus

I need a clone. And I don't have kids to contend with.

I'm trying not to spaz out. Really. We don't have 26 events to attend over the next 10 days. I am thankful for that. Somehow, this year things just crept up on me.

We've been reading Advent reflections, and I'm really trying to let the message and purpose of this be my focus .... well, hoping anyway!

What I really want to do tonight is lie on the couch and be a vegetable. But there are chickpeas on the stove and there's yogurt to make. AND floors to mop. I'm just hoping I can accomplish all of this rather quickly so I can take a little chill time.

Q: What constitutes an emergency?

There I was, in Hays at my fave Chinese restaurant. Getting something I KNEW I shouldn't .... but I was all the way in Hays. And there was China Garden. AND the number IS programmed into my phone. So why waste it?

BUT I was making an effort to be good, so I ordered something little (mini crab rangoon!) instead of the big heaping serving of egg fried rice I really wanted.

There I was, at the register and I saw the dreaded words "no credit card for charge under $6."

Uh-oh. I don't carry cash.

So I'm trying to explain this to the lady, and come up with other items I can order to get up to $6. Then I remember THE EMERGENCY $20. You all have an "emergency $10 or $20" stashed in your wallet, right?

Well, I said "I think I have an emergency $20" and the lady (who spoke VERY broken English) looked at me and I could see she was trying to work out how $20 could be an emergency or some such white person nonsense. I think I finally explained I keep a little something stashed away in a not-so-obvious place so in case of an emergency, I have a little money.

Because, really, being in Hays where your favorite Chinese restaurant and them not taking a CC for a purchase under $6 IS an emergency.

I have some good friends who are originally from Burma, and every once in awhile, I'll pass along a catch phrase to them, but we live far away now, so it made me smile to introduce one of my insane phrases or habits to an unsuspecting foreigner.

Bathroom short cut

It's not really a big secret: I don't like cleaning bathrooms. At all.

I'm pretty lazy/lax about it.

A few months ago, however, I read a tip in a magazine that I find to be handy/helpful in the bathroom arena: Store a container of Clorox wipes under the sink, then spot clean as needed.


This does NOT replace regular bathroom cleaning (but who am I kidding, I don't clean them regularly). But when the counter is all hairy or has a toothpaste smudge, I pull one of those out and it's a quick clean.

It's been a really positive change. And I can neither confirm nor deny that I used several to clean all of the baseboards in the guest bathroom before company arrived. It's great in a pinch. I even feel like I'm doing a little "light" cleaning in between the times I really work up the energy to give the entire bathroom a good scrub. Besides, if I do a little "light" cleaning in between the big ones, the big ones won't be such a daunting task, right?

I was telling my sister about this, and later she cautioned me to not use these to clean the mirrors. They evidently leave the mirror a streaky mess. Just FYI.

Oh so close!

Three weeks.

THREE WEEKS.

Those of you who know what I'm talking about KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.

HARRY POTTER MOVIE 1, PART 1!!!!!!!

I've been eyeballing the trailers on YouTube, but today saw one of TV for the first time and squealed.

One of those ear-splitting squeals. Louder than Jonas Brothers and Justin Bieber fans COMBINED. Ok, let's be honest. If you wanted to throw in New Kids on the Block fans, too, I was probably STILL louder than all three of those fan bases screaming and squealing all at once.

No joke.



I'm not a late night person, but on Nov. 18/19, I'll be making an exception. I'll take an afternoon nap so I can be awake for the midnight showing. :)

I think I'm going to go with a client here in town who's also a BIG fan .... if anyone else wants to join us, hollar, because I'd love to have others geek out with me! :)

But for the time being, I think it's safe to start COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS!!!!

Monogamous relationships

I was getting a cup of tea with a girlfriend this week. And our conversation turned to our stylist. When I moved here, I asked a friend of Erik's where she got her hair cut, because she had a really great cut. Fortunately for me, she shared. And I <3 Nikki, my girl.

Now that I have a downtown meeting space, though, I'm sort of feeling pulled. I'm going to do some photos for the salon upstairs, and sort of feel like I should have a reciprocal relationship with them. But I'm a one-stylist kind of girl (please tell me there are others of you out there that feel this way!).

I'm actually not even joking about having a monogamous relationship with a hairdresser. When I lived in the southeast corner of the state, I'd drive back home to have the same lady cut my hair.

In fact, I can count on ONE HAND the number of people who I have made a conscious choice to let cut my hair (this excludes cuts as a little kiddo). Seriously. I am just not quite brave enough to try a new stylist. I have such fine, thin hair ... well, it ain't easy to get a great cut. I'd prefer to have someone be familiar with my crazy hair and just keep going with them.

Back to my tea talk with my friend. I mentioned this, and she gave this big sigh ... and agreed. We don't really want to "cheat" on our stylist. Or even go elsewhere, then go sheepishly back and deny that anyone else has taken scissors to our hair.

Isn't that silly?

Happy Sunday!

Jumping for joy :)

Woah.

It's 10:25 p.m. on Wednesday as I sit to write this. I'll schedule this to post in the morning, but I want to capture how I am right now.

Speechless.

In Awe.

Shocked.

Jubilant.

All at the same time.

I want to scream from the top of our roof. And I want to haul another bed into our room so I can jump from bed to bed in a victory lap.

But let me back up. Back in July, I signed a lease on a meeting space downtown for Heartland. I felt it was the right move. But it was still scary. I needed a place to meet with people. In addition to meeting with potential wedding clients there, I have also started to proof portrait sessions in this space. It's a work in progress. I am still learning a lot.

Over the years as a photographer, I'd be disappointed when someone would order an 8x10 as their largest photo. I know how amazing large photos are on the walls. They're so rockin' out of this world ... yet so few people get them.

Until now. With proofing in person, I can show people exactly how big (or small) an 8x10 is. And tonight, a portrait client walked away with ordering a 24x36 gallery wrap and two 16x24 gallery wraps. HECKS YEAH!!!!!

And earlier today, my parents came in to select a 36x48 gallery wrap for their house ... it's been a big wrap day around here today!

After I got over my initial shock, then excitement, my next thought was thankfulness. Seriously. It's so easy to ask God for help when things are crummy. And I know I do. But things are so totally amazing right now, and I want to remember to thank him for really rocking it out.

So this is my reminder ..... to myself. BE THANKFUL.

9 months ... you are what you eat

Nine months ago yesterday, I embarked on this crazy journey. One that involved no yeast, sugar, honey, artificial sweetener, mushrooms, and a host of other things. Some of the most bizarre include raspberry, basil, pomegranates and pumpkin.

Yes, I said pumpkin. With Halloween bearing down upon us and Thanksgiving right around the corner, no pumpkin. This includes pumpkin pie blizzards (well, there IS sugar in that anyway, so even sans pumpkin, I should stay away), no pumpkin spiced latte-ish drinks (but again with the sugar), and most assuredly NO PUMPKIN PIE.

I'll admit. I'm a bit of a cheater. In all of the 9 months, I've probably spent about 1 month being a cheater, eating things I shouldn't, going on binges. Because my taste buds needed a little somethin' somethin ... ya know?

Raspberry, basil, pomegranates and pumpkin are all things my body really freaks out over, so in the interest of a pleasant holiday season, I'll really have to stand strong.

On the flip side of all of this, there are certainly some positive sides to these last 9 months. I've learned how to make homemade yogurt, been introduced to couscous, began cooking with more beans, actually made a recipe involving lentils and fallen in love with quinoa.

But NINE MONTHS????!?!?!?! Has it really been that long? It seems as if I've been doing this nutty food thing forever and at the same time that I just started.

The bottom line is that when I avoid things my body doesn't process well, I FEEL AMAZING!!!! So yeah, some days it really stinks-o-rama. My taste buds get bored sometimes, but on most of days ... it's pretty darn good.