Working it!

Mike grabbed this photo of me during Shauna and James' awesome wedding in Newton! (It was ironically on my birthday, and let me say these two REALLY knew how to throw a party!)


Be sure to CHECK OUT THEIR SLIDESHOW HERE !

During the wedding, I along with my cameras and trusty Shootsac encountered the bubbly end of a keg stand. Right now, I'm editing photos and doing color tweaking. Once I come across the spewing photos, I'll post them. SO stay tuned! :-)

One last one from the dance ....

Yodeling Cats...

A few videos to make you smile.



I read about the video in the Salina Journal yesterday ... and had to watch it. HERE is the link to the story in the Eagle (the Journal's Web site isn't easy to find wire news on, sorry!).

Here's the full video .... and since I'm a cat lover and the daughter of an engineer, I enjoyed it immensely!

Sharing....

I'm around Erik's house a LOT more these days .... and we're sharing a lot more personal space. For example, I have an office space in his basement (where the bulk of his TV watching transpires).

The shared space isn't really a big deal, but the strangest moment for me came when Erik added a favorites folder onto my computer. Well, technically it's "our" computer since it sleeps in Erik's basement and I work on it during the day. But still, it was odd ... I've never shared computer space with a significant other before. Sort of a strange space sharing that I would have never considered.

For you married couples out there, what was the strangest "shared" space/item for you after you were married? Should I be prepared for anything else? (We've already combined kitchens and closets, which worked out fine). Leave your answer in the comment section!

Working....

preparing Shauna and James' wedding images ... but didn't want to go too long without a blog post.

Here's a photo of my Shootsac during Easter .... nothing earth-shattering, but I like the look of it on the Sheldon's mantle. :-) AND I didn't get around to blogging it earlier...

Red, purple, black and blue

Most of this week was spent at Camp Discovery as a counselor for kids with diabetes.

You learn something new every day, and here is a sampling of my education...


Red:
Strawberries have 200 seeds each, according to the dietary students from K-State who helped run education at camp.


I DID try to count the strawberries on one piece of fruit at camp, but after 9 seeds, I got distraccted/hungry, so I ate it. When our strawberry patch takes off next summer, I'll report back on this. ;-)

Purple:
I always thought the phrase "purple cow" referred to the book by Seth Godin. Not always.



Evidently the Purple Cow drink is like a rootbeer float, but only with grape soda, not root beer. Interesting. Another interesting note is it's difficult to find a photo of a Purple Cow drink, so I had to give you the book cover. Sorry y'all!

Black and blue:
This is the result of a dirty, rotten water balloon fight.


I was pelted in the left eye and felt OK. After a MAJOR SMASHING into the right eye, however, I was done. And I might be done with these barbaric games for good. We'll see....

Story Corps

Every Friday morning, NPR airs interviews from "Story Corps."

The premise is a similar to the old reporting motto: Everyone has a story. Story Corp's motto is: "Listening is an act of Love." Nice, isn't it?


Story corps was in Kansas about two years ago. Robin, lovely Kristine and I headed down. Well, I sorta had to drag Robin because she was not familiar with it, but I think she liked it in the end. On a cool note, they DID use our story on HPPR, our local NPR station. You can hear it HERE.

I was also interviewed by lovely Kristine. :-)


I'm JAZZED to learn Story Corps will be in Denver from July 17 to Aug. 5 (call in advance for a reservation), and in Tulsa from Oct. 23 to Nov. 22. Seriously, if you can go, GO! Get a reservation, make a day of it and go! It's super fun, and they give you a recording of your interview, as well as place a copy in the Folk Life Center in the Library of Congress.

To subscribe to the NPR Story Corps podcast, CLICK HERE.

To do...

My list of things to do is NOT getting any shorter. HOW is that possible?

Before I left Hays, I took photos of my goddaughetr, Rebekah, and her brother Samuel.


I'm totally jazzed to edit these, once I have a free nanosecond to think!

And the winner is ....

The number of people asking me about wedding shoes is UNREAL! Frequently, friends e-mail and ask if I've resolved my wedding shoe angst.

While Erik and I were in Kansas City last week to hang with his parents, I took a few hours to go shoe shopping with his mom and my sister. None of us girls are shoppers, so the two hour excursion is a record for us all!

Without further ado, here's the winner:


I can't guarantee I am totally done with shoe shopping, but I have something I can live with for the wedding. IF I happen to find something else I might like more, then I'll be able to choose!

Oh, and on a side note, when I was getting a better photo of THE SHOE, I found another possibility! UGH! Why am I so indecisive????

Reflections on tornadoes

Watching the news coverage, reading the stories, and especially looking at the still photos from the tornadoes over the last few days is more than a little difficult.

I found myself in tears over this morning's paper, barely able to read.

I've never been in a tornado. I've never lost life nor limb to a tornado, but I'm still deeply moved by the people and places who are in the path of these storms ...

About a year ago, I headed to Greensburg with EMS responders from Hays to help in the aftermath (the Greensburg link is photos from the Wichita Eagle; I didn't take those images). Words will never to justice to the experience, nor will the images I captured. To write the story, a few of my coworkers had to get me liquored up. The story won several big awards in my news organization, but truthfully, I wish I never had to write that kind of story.


The most unreal aspect of a tornado's aftermath (at least in my opinion) is the trees. Their bare limbs seem to reach and grasp at the sky, begging for mercy. It totally unnerves me to see them, and in the coverage from this week's storms, they're all over. From Greensburg in 2007:


Lastly, a self-portrait of me and the Big Well. Kristine, Robin, Chris and I stayed in a bed and breakfast right across the street in 2006 when we went to Story Corps (I'll post about that a week from today, so check back!)


It's also crazy to think Erik and I stopped in Manhattan for a few hours on Wednesday ... how crazy life is.

Oh, and if you'd like to offer assistance, here is how you may do so (according to the
Salina Journal):

• Donations may be sent to the North Central Kansas Chapter of the American Red Cross, 145 S. Broadway, P.O. Box 1633, Salina 67401. If you want the donation to be used for local storm victims, write that on the "memo" line of your check. Otherwise, donations will be used nationwide. To donate by credit card, call the local office, (785) 827-3644. Astra Banks in the cities of Chapman, Abilene, Scandia and Belleville also are accepting donations to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief fund.

• To donate to the Salvation Army's emergency disaster efforts, call 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769), or donate online at www.armykettle.com. Checks may be mailed to The Salvation Army, 3637 Broadway, Kansas City, MO 64111. Donations may be earmarked for a specific use.

• People who are not Red Cross volunteers may offer their assistance by calling The Volunteer Center, (785) 823-3128.

Tornado time...

I've lived in Kansas for decades, and have (thankfully) never seen a tornado in person. We're hangin' here in KC with Erik's parents, waiting for weather to clear up so we can go home to Salina and see our cat!

We're safe and sound in the in-laws' basement.