New Blog

Hello all,

I've moved my blog. Hopefully, with the new blog, I will be more faithful about updating it - fingers crossed.

http://amberknecht.wordpress.com/

Cousins

These cousins were the so much fun to photograph. I had a great time. We took these back in July when it was warm and sunny - pretty much the complete opposite of what it is like right now.

Testicle Festival

You read it right - the title of this post is "Testicle Festival." Lest you forget that I am a small-town Nebraska girl, I thought you'd appreciate some photographic documentation of the blessed event known as the Testicle Festival.

At some point this summer (the exact date is escaping me), the husband, my mom and I journeyed to Round the Bend Steakhouse in South Bend, Nebraska to partake in some testicles (aka bull fries or mountain oysters). This wasn't my first time sampling this cuisine. Back in high school, we fried up some testicles in biology class. I told you I was from a small town. I didn't particularly care for them - they were a bit chewy. The texture of my food is very important to me.

The testicles at the Testicle Festival were pretty good. They were thinly sliced and fried, adding further support to my theory that anything deep-fat fried is automatically pretty tasty.

Now for the photos. This first one may not seem very special to the unknowing reader. It looks like a typical photo of my mom and the husband under the Testicle Festival sign. Really, this picture is iconic. My mom rarely - I mean rarely - appears in photos. If she is in them, she is usually holding something up in front of her face or hiding behind the nearest tree, pole, small child, etc. Not only is she in this photo in full view, but she actually wanted me to take the picture. Miracle of miracles!

In addition to the testicles, there was some extremely tasty funnel cake. I love me some funnel cake.

And now, the photo you've all been waiting for...the testicles. See, they don't look so scary. The husband says they are especially tasty with hot sauce. I'll let you all think up the jokes for that one. Keep it clean - this is a family blog.

The husband and I both got koozies to commemorate the occasion. Mine is pink - of course.

The Girls

For Father's Day, one of my dear friends wanted to give her husband some close-up pictures of their twin daughters. Close-ups are what I do best. One afternoon, I went over to their house for a quick mini-session. I've known these girls since they were in the womb and am amazed at how quickly they are growing and learning. They are funny, adorable and unique beings with so much love to give.

Thanks for spending time with me Franny and Elliot. I look forward to watching you turn into amazing women some day.

Baby Owen

Once upon a time, we had some great friends that lived here in Omaha. Then, they decided to move to Sioux Falls. We couldn't blame them. They had no family here. But, we miss them dearly. Luckily, we had a free Sunday back in June and opted to drive up to Sioux Falls for the day and visit.

Not long after they moved, they welcomed baby Owen to their family. Naturally, I took my camera along for some pictures of the new baby and big sister Emma who seriously grew at least a million inches since we last saw her (that might be a slight exaggeration, but she grew a lot people).

Cuddling with big sister.

I love the squishy lips. Sleeping is hard work.

So peaceful. Wouldn't it be great if we could sleep this soundly for all of our lives?

Of course, Emma had to get in on the action. I am way jealous of her dress.

Brent, Heidi, Emma and Owen...Thanks for letting us come visit. We miss you so freaking much and cannot wait to see you again. Hugs from Nebraska.

P.S. Lola says "Ruff!"

CWS 2009

The 2009 College World Series has come and gone. Sigh. The husband and I made it to two games this year. Mother Nature decided to smile upon Omaha during that week and bless us with mild temperatures. Usually, it is hot. Really hot. Sweat streaming out of every pore on your body hot. Want to pour a five gallon bucket of ice down your pants hot. Her good graces only lasted until the championship games though. We opted to watch those games from the air-conditioned comfort of our family room.

The next time I'm at a loss for what to write, remind me to tell you the story of how I kinda sorta ran over the husband's leg while attempting to parallel park. Really, I just pinned his leg between to cars. The wheels never went over any part of his body. This is an important distinction.

The night before the first game, we headed downtown for a barbecue with some good friends.

Carly decided that Cheetos were much better than any of the other food being offered.

Mallory (Carly's big sister) had a lot of fun. She starts kindergarten in the fall. Go Mallory!

Here are some random shots from around Rosenblatt (the stadium). Next year will be the last year that the CWS is at Rosenblatt. They are building a new stadium.

We always, ALWAYS park at St. Rose Catholic Church. They treat us well and I feel much better about giving $10 to a church than to some random schmo who pimps out his/her yard for extra beer money during the CWS. Maybe the church uses the money for beer, too. I like to think it is used for a greater purpose - like maybe buying fancy beer. Oooh...or Diet Pepsi (aka, the nectar of the gods).

Ready, Set, Improv

Two posts in one day...did you know it was going to be your lucky day?

In early June, the husband and I met my super fantastic friend Merri (Hi, friend!) at The Pizza Shoppe and Pub (and yes, that is how they spell shoppe) in the Benson neighborhood. Not only does the place serve some pretty good pizza, they also support local artists, musicians, comedians and the like by providing a performance space. Being a local artist myself (or at least an aspiring local artist), I like to show some love for places that welcome artists with open arms.

There were all sorts of fun tchotchkes (dude, I totally had to google that one) around for my picture-taking pleasure. We also caught the improv show of The Weisenheimers. This was pretty adventurous for the husband and me. We don't venture out of our West Omaha comfort zone all that much. It isn't that we don't love all that Omaha has to offer. It's that we are boring...and predictable...and kinda lame. Here's the crazy thing...we had...wait for it...FUN. So, we must give many thanks to Ms. Merri. Thanks for helping us expand our entertainment horizons. You are cooler and neater than us.

I want a t-shirt that says, "Do Not Touch Me. I AM ART!" Not that I get a lot of random people touching me. It would be good to have the t-shirt, just in case.

If I had a bike, I would want one like this, except it would need to be pink and have a basket on the front. Oh...and a bell. I would definitely need a bell.
See, I told you it was called the "Pizza Shoppe and Pub."
The Weisenheimers rocked the improv casbah. I have to be a fan. One of the members is a former Weasel. Once a Weasel, always a Weasel.

We're Going to Kansas City, Kansas City Here We Come

Actually, we went to Kansas City. Back in May. I know. It's been awhile. No guilt trips please. I'll promise to post more and you'll promise to keep reading and we'll all move on like this never happened.


So, back to Kansas City...We headed down at the end of May to watch the White Sox play the Royals. The husband is a HUGE - make that freaking HUGE - White Sox fan. It was a great little trip. While there, we got to spend some time with one of my good friends from college, his wife and their baby, Hannah. Alas, I have no pictures of Hannah. I know, I know. First, I don't post for somewhere near forever and then I spend time with a super cute baby and have no pictures to offer you. Please, reach down deep, maybe somewhere near your kneecaps and find the heart to forgive me?

I do have pictures from the game! They'll pale in comparison to super cute baby pictures, but remember how we talked about you forgiving me?

First up is the husband.

K is for Knecht. That's us! We didn't really sit in row K. I think we were in row I or something.
We did sit in seats seven and eight of whichever row we were in.

We've had a crazy busy summer thus far, which means my camera has also been crazy busy, which also means there are many, many more posts to come - including some with super cute babies. Stay tuned.

Willow

My mom, brother, niece and I went to a wedding together this weekend. We had just enough time before the ceremony to take a few pictures of Miss Willow.

Spring!

I don't want to jinx all of us Nebraskans, but I think spring has finally arrived. All of the trees in our yard have bloomed and I love all the amazing color. There is one major perk to buying an older home - we have all of these amazing, full-grown trees. That does mean we have an older kitchen, but I think it is a fair trade.

Can you see the bumblebee?

And, our tulips! I am in love with our tulips.

Just a random picture of Lola. She had to get in on the action.