i went shooting today

here in south dakota im surrounded by hunters. most people own guns, carry guns, and even get wasted and drive around while shooting at shit. i kid you not. and hunting is the favorite pastime for sure. Deer, antelope, elk, mountain lion, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, coyote, pheasant, duck, turkey, geese, and swans are all legal to hunt in South Dakota. yeah... wow. anyways, being the avid hunter myself, i decided to take an afternoon to go out and see if i could get some goods shots in. (with my camera, ofcourse... jeez! hehehe)

in love with this house!

hey hay!

word to ur mother

this is the site where a tornado touched down last year... it uprooted some pretty hefty trees and even broke this one in half!! yikes!

home sweet home

creepycreeperton barn



watch out for those crop dusters!!!

the end. :)

one flew over the cuckoo's nest... and then went kayaking

i traveled to lovely Yankton, SD for a week of clinical experience at the mental heath facility. for the entire month of may, i have been studying psychiatric nursing. we've been learning about depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar, personality disorders, autism, adhd, domestic abuse, substance abuse and all the meds that go along with those disorders. i have to say that i have enjoyed studying this aspect of nursing immensely!! having struggled with a mental illness, myself, for more than half my life has given me an inside view of how challenging times can be... therefore, i was excited to study about mental health. The experience at the mental health facility taught me an incredible amount about how severe some patient's conditions can be and how a nurse can help them cope and adapt. it was an intense week filled with a lot of work and little play time. yet, my friend natasha (who was awesome enough to let me stay with her) promised me a chance to go kayaking, provided we got all our schoolwork done AND the weather held out! well, we got lucky :) so we enjoyed a relaxing break during a "crazy" week.

these are natasha's babies :) it was little tallie's first time in a kayak.

i went out on a kayak by myself at first so i could snap some pics

arent they a cute bunch? :)

ahh.. serenity

my turn with the kiddos!

my pants got soaked. wet white pants... um, yeah not the best decision. but hey, my braincells were on vacation for the moment. teehee

my little horse whisperer

Whenever we go to Wisconsin to visit Nana and Papa, we HAVE to take a short walk to visit the nearby horses. Chloe absolutely LOVES them :)

This is my favorite horse :) i love his blue eyes. and he gave me an up-close-and-personal greeting... check out this pictures series: yep, horse teeth. at least he smiled for the camera! haha

Kisses all around :)
<3

a boy and a turtle

Clay caught this monster snapping turtle while fishing in the local lake. My thoughts? Damn, thats a huge turtle! ( and Clay is looking pretty huge too!)

welcome back y'all

yeah... its been a while. a lot has happened since the last time we met. our current location: letcher, south dakota. middle america at its finest. the experience can only be described as somewhere between green acres and son-in-law. the kids are resilient and adjusting well... chloe is my 7 year old shadow who continues to amaze me with her anythingbutmellow personality. right now she likes to do what mommy does all the time and i try to guide her endless energy in a positive and productive direction :) clayton, or should i say "claybear" as his lady friends prefer to call him, is now taller than i am. enough said. haha. my soon-to-be 13 year old (omj!) is one of my bestest friends. he can catch anything that swims, slithers, hops, or scurries and maintains his compassion for all creatures. me? im going to nursing school and, quite frankly, kicking ass at it :) my love for knowledge, life experience, and caring for people is completely fulfilled through nursing school. its the hardest shit ive done but its reassuring to know that my grades and my instructors confirm that its something i pretty much rock at. one more year to go and i cant wait for what lies ahead!!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Well, the kids and i have been living in Alaska for almost 3 weeks now. its a huge change from living in California- shit, that's the understatement of the year. we don't know anyone here aside from Sheryl and Larry. most of the people seem friendly enough but i'm struggling with the idea of planting roots here, hoping that we will be moving back to P-town after this "experimental year in Alaska" is over with. i'm unable to let go of the life we had there. i miss it. i've never been a big fan of changes and my stubbornness forbids me to give up on the idea of returning home. home... what does that word really mean, anyway? if home is where your heart is, then my home will always be good ole P-town. but home could also just mean wherever me and the kids are as long as we're together. Alaska doesn't feel like home but its only been a few weeks. who knows how i'll feel in a month or even a year. but a YEAR?!? oh my god, that is such a long time! at least it seems like an eternity right now. i do like it here though. i like the idea of raising my kids in a small town surrounded by the wilderness... a simple kind of life, ya know? i just wish i could bring everyone that i love with me. i miss them all so much. there isn't a day that goes by that i don't think about the people i love and all the things i am missing out on by being here. i'm so scared that the next time i see everyone they will have changed so much and our wonderful lives together will be nothing but a mere memory... but change is inevitable and that concept is something i continue to struggle with. i tell myself to stop fighting change. to embrace it. to welcome it. because change and the ability to adapt is what makes us grow and become stronger. i mean, just look at all the changes i've had to deal with in the past year. i know for a fact that had it not been for those changes i would not be the strong, independent woman that i am now. so i guess what i'm saying is should we, as humans of habit and security, invite change into our lives in hopes that it will empower us? maybe. just maybe.

into the thick of it

nature hike with my boy :)

wild berries. don't eat em!!

shroomin

clay and i named these little guys "booger shrooms"

"eagle rock"

some harbor seals floatin down the Kenai river