Another Place to Play - My New Blog

About a year ago I started to realize that there was a change coming. In this the hospitality industry, when you are experienced with what is called a specialty property, you can find yourself being approached by other employers. The average general manager only stays in one place for about four or five years.

So we had had enough contacts just through LinkedIn to know the winds of change where starting to blow. 

That's when I realized that this blog, though I love it so, may not fit our life's description much longer. I may still be the Innkeeper's wife. But how long would we still be on the property? We lived on two different guest ranch properties for a total of eight years. But that's not as common as my kids seem to think. 

This line of thinking bright me to the conclusion that I either needed to change the name of my blog, or start a new one. Or maybe both. And then there is the fact that I'm out of photo space. So, the desition was practically made for me! 

I started a new blog. It's not meant to replace this one. It's just an extinction of my life. I went with a blog that I could talk about my other love, or passion, or, well self. It's my place to talk about my health, my fitness, my spirit, my soul. That is how Mermaid on the Mountain was born. I added it to the links up top almost a year ago, but never formally introduced it till now. 

I was waiting. I needed to let it evolve a little bit. I needed to see where we as a family where going. I needed to see how my life would play out. Now I've found that most of what I have to write about fits better over there. For example, I started to write about my thoughts on body Imige and public nudity in this post HERE. I will finish that series with the Mermaid. I may never finish it, it's kind of my life's philosophy. You'll have to stay tuned. So head on over and follow my mermaid self. 

Oh, one of the reasons I didn't share it until now is because my parents follow the City Girl Gone Ranch Mama blog. I was afraid of the shock factor. I'm over that. So just a little warning, I'm a lot more myself over there. And since it's a blog mostly about my health, I may talk a lot more openly about things that some might deem TMI. Just saying. 

Don't worry, I do have lots more stories about resorts and hotel life, so don't give up on Ranch Mama either! Really! The new resort is also a bar with a brewery. Let me tell you, there are already tales to tell! 

Do stay tuned! 

The Artist in Me - Stranded on The Mountain

I've heard that those who are artistic can be eccentric. Dramatic? A little crazy?

Living on the guest ranch in the off season is a very different experience. One day it's a busy little valley with people coming and going. The next day it's a ghost town.  A cold ghost town. And just as the summer nights meant hours of sun, the winter brings the endless darkness. Sunsets at 4:30 anyone?

Then comes the wind. Howling like a lonely wolf lost from it's pack. Whipping through the roof and the trees and the canyon. We get winter storm warnings that state 90 mile an hour winds in the mountain passes. Uh, yeah, that's our mountain by the way!

Adventure Man would take the kids to the bus stop. During one wind storm the bus was having a hard time keeping the door open. When Adventure Man lunged to save a little girl from getting hit with the flapping door he let go of Bear. Bear was picked up and flew three feet before Adventure Man grabbed him again! Granted, Bears not too big, but still! 

Then there where times when the wind would blow the snow in drifts into the road of our mountain pass and we'd be snowed in. Up here in the north, we don't have snow days. The schools don't cancel! But the two families who live up on the mountain? Well we had snow days! Sometimes for days and days! 

What did I do with my time while sitting atop that beautiful, dark, cold mountain? 

I started this blog, of course!  

And what did my kids do while the wind blew and the power flickered? 

Yeah, you get the idea... 

All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl......... 

Photo credit to:
Top: Adventure Man
Bottom two: screen shot of movie The Shining 
All edited by me on Snapseed

Dying A Little

Change

Our roads sometimes turn in ways we do not see. Change can bring the snow after the wind has stripped the trees of their color. 

And sometimes change can bring the moving van. 

Yes that's right, we are moving on. To another resort where we will have more stories to tell. So stay tuned for some changes in 2014! 

But until then, I'm trying to keep the baby off the boxes! 

Heaven help me! She climbed up there herself! Yikes! 

This stack has grown. And our holiday décor has a different look about it than past years. 

Enjoy your simple moments, they are fleeting! And may you have a wonderful holiday season! 

In the Beginning - How I Got Started

I stood at the window, holding my sweet newborn baby. I studied these majestic mountains in my new back yard. So close I could walk right out the door and up into them, I would one day, hike these trails. But for now I knew. I knew this new home would be a home of healing. For all of us. 

Postpartum depression hit me just a day or two after Bunny, our youngest, was born. I remember standing in the hotel room with all my kids around me and just bursting into tears. I couldn't stop it. I couldn't hide it. The joy that I felt after each of my other kids was replaced with a sorrow as deep and as black as the ocean. 

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One of the most common questions in the blogosphere is, "why did you start your blog?"

This is a question I have avoided for the past two years. I've tried to write about it, but then I would decide I wasn't ready. For some reason, however, I keep coming back to it. Like it's just got to be out there for me to move on. On to big things that I'm really excited about. But, ok like, then there seems even more stuff that's got to be said to make even that stuff make since. 

(Ok, my California City Girl just came out big time in that last sentence.) 

But just as Charles Dickens relates in A Christmas Carol, “There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.”

Except there really isn't all that much about my story that's wonderful. Well, not to me, anyway. 

There were many events that led up to the start of this blog. 

• First we were given a book. I will share the title of this book. But not today. 

The original owner of this Guest Ranch liked to write. And when she past away, the ranch managers found a box of her journals and stories. She read them, and then had some of them published into a book. 

We arrived here just over two and a half years ago. I read the book that was left for us, as a little history lesson, and felt my calling. I had to continue the stories. I had to continue to share the adventure, the beauty and wonder of this special place. 

But there was more. I needed to heal. 

• I had to find a way to fight Postpartum Depression. 

When we arrived here at the ranch, our youngest child was 21 days old. Moving is hard. Moving with small children is harder. Moving with a newborn is even harder. But that is not where this story began. 

Before we came here, my husband worked for another resort. He works hard, he is patient, he is likable. At this resort, we found that not all the people he worked with, or for, shared these qualities. My husband found that many of the upper management (of which he was a part) would get fired if certain people were unhappy with various outcomes. He found himself outlasting all of them. Still, as we saw people come and go, we realized that it really was just a matter of time before our number was up. 

Our number did come up. On October 31, 2010. I was five months pregnant. 

I handled it well. Oh sure, we cried. But emotionally I handled everything very well. Of course I wouldn't have if my amazing mother-in-law hadn't come and spent two months with us. She was an amazing packer! She moved faster than anyone I had ever seen, getting us boxed up and ready to go. Go where? We had no idea. 

We lived in employee housing on the property and HR had told us we could stay past the usual 30 days. In fact, as time ticked on, and baby got bigger, we were told we could stay until baby came. We had one more month to go. 

Then, certain people heard about it. Certain people said no. We had to go by the end of the week or we would be charged by the day. 

We went. With no offers in sight, we put our stuff in a storage unit and got a hotel room in town. 

I tend to deliver my babies quickly. I also go a week or two early. My doctor advised me not to leave town. 

The wonderful story of how this remarkable person came into this world is another story. And she deserves to have it all to herself. But job offers did come. And so did the baby. And with her came my PPD. 

It has been a scary thing. It's been hard on all of us. I am so sorry for the torment my family has gone through. I haven't been the mother I once was. I get angry faster. This results in me hating myself more. This left me with thoughts of suicide. This escalated to a plan. 

I am medicated now. Along with PPD, people with MS have a higher rate of depression than any other chronic illnesses.

But I'm doing much better. And so is my family. We've all grown. And this litte valley in the mountains has done just what I knew it would. It has given us a place to rest and recover. 

So now we can move on to greater things. 

Coping

The past few months, no the past six months... The past year.... The past two years?... Well, however long it's been, it's been the hardest point I'm my life. 

I haven't been able to share much. I haven't been able to pull myself out and just talk about the ranch, the season, the fun summer activities we've been having. 

But with every challenge life throws our way, there is lots of wonderful opportunity to grow, to see things from a new perspective, and to develop better relationships with the ones we are traveling with. 

Something's are still too raw to share. But I will try to share some of what has changed this summer for the ranch family. In time. 

After all, that's why I started this blog in the first place. To work out some of my sorrows.  Again, more on that later. 

For now, thanks for hanging in there with me. 

O is for Owl

Once we built our dream home in Utah.

It was on a large lot at the end of a cul de sac that backed up to a pasture that belonged to a neighbor not in our development.

We put a lot of sweat equity into the building of the house. After work, Adventure Man would go do the wiring. He would sometimes work late into the night, using only a headlamp to see his way.

Over the course of his work, Adventure Man noticed a car that would come each night and sit at the end of the street. The driver would sit in his car with a spotting scope. My husband felt there was something creepy about the situation and decided to investigate.

He approached the vehicle and said he couldn't help noticing the man's pattern and wondered what he was looking at? The man, enthusiastically shared that there was a Great-horned owl in the tree in the pasture just beyond our home and she was nesting!

Mama Owl and her nest. Her's is the large one to the right.
I'm sure who ever lived in the smaller one moved out as soon as an owl moved in next door! 

Now my husband loves birding. He eagerly shared this man's excitement for the arrival of a new family member in this tree. Then the man confided in Adventure Man his plan. He came every night to see if the chick had hatched because he planned to climb the tree and take the chick so he could raise it. He was a licensed falconer, after all.

We have a dear friend, The Cowboy, who is a falconer. Now, if you are a falconer, there are two ways that you can acquire a bird. One is by catching it. The other is by taking it from the nest when it's young. But if you do so, you need to have the land owner's permission. Plus, you need a special license for an owl.

Mama Owl

We had a friend in the Fish and Game Department and he said that no one had gotten a license for an owl. He checked the individual in question and confirmed that although he was a registered hawker, he did not have the license for an owl. He also didn't have the land owner's permission. The F and G Dept. decided to put a camera in the tree (pointed down) so if anyone did try to take the baby he could be identified.

Once things were in motions, our would be bird-napper did try and rectify himself by asking the land owner, but their response was to please not remove the owlet from the nest. Because of this, he was also not grated his permit.

I know we disrupted this man's plans, but we have never regretted stepping in. And here's why: The chick hatched, just as we were moving in. Every time we were outside the little mother would hoot at us. A soft gentle sound. Not a warning. I told my girls she was saying, "Thank You!"

The baby when he was still fluffy. I still have one of his feathers.

We got to see her care for him. We got to see her fly off at night to hunt. And we got to see her teach him to fly. Adventure Man saw his first flight. Once he was grown he was much larger than his Mama. It is a wonderful memory for our family.

Shortly after that we moved to Montana and sold that house. But we will always remember our dear Mama Owl and her sweet thank you's.

K is for Kristen. That's Me

Yep, I'm Kristen. 

I thought I would give you a little info so you can get to know me better. That is, if you really want to know me better.

• I grew up in Palo Alto, CA

• I lived there before the dot com era

• No, that doesn't mean "I came from money!" My parents were teachers!

• I went to college in Idaho

• I don't particularly care for potatoes

• I have a degree in floral design management

• Yes, there really is such a degree

• I ran my own business doing wedding flowers before I moved to Montana

• We are much too remote to do it here



• I'm a self proclaimed health nut

• With a killer sweet tooth

• I have Multiple Sclerosis

• I love paleontology

• I practice Applied Kinesiology

• I love Winnie the Pooh

• I have a soft spot for shoes

• And handbags

• And jackets

• My favorite color is orange (among many). It has been ever since high school. But it sure is convenient because orange is the Ribbon color to support MS!

The Alpha and Me

Guess what insanely crazy thing I'm doing in April? 

The A to Z challenge. 

I know! Right?

What am I thinking? I had like three posts in February. 

I bet you where thinking I had given up on this whole blog thing.

No. 

But really, I was on Hawaii. 

So, blogging was way down on my list. 

#1: Not getting burned.

Seriously! I'm such an Irish freckle face. This is me on the beach in Maui. 

Afraid of the sun much? 

Then, we couldn't get home because our car died in California. 

And everyone knows you have to drive through California to get to Hawaii.

The worst thing was having to buy a car in CA. 

Um, Montana doesn't have sales tax! 

Plus, we had to do it fast, we needed to get home! Our kids were missing school for crying out loud! And who wants to end a vacation buying a car! Plus, we had to buy a year of registration in a state we don't even live in! A whole YEAR? 

Sorry. Anyway...

 I'm gonna make it all up to you by posting 6 days a week for 4 weeks!

Lets see how that goes!

But really? I'm quite excited. Can't you tell?

If you would like to join in the madness just click on the link and sign up!

Just think, the possibilities are endless!

A is for aardvark, apples, artichoke... B is for banana, bagel, brownie... C is for cantaloupe, candy, cabbage... (I must be hungry!) D is for donut (oh my gosh, I'm starving!)...

Words Without Meaning ~ What Dyslexia Feels Like

The air was dry and hot as it usually is in California on a sunny October day. Recess was over and the third-grade classroom was full of sweaty bodies. The sound of squeaky desks slamming and children laughing echoed throughout the room. I never really felt a part of it, though.

I don't know why they waited to tell me, perhaps they were afraid. How does a parent break it to a nine-year-old child that she has dyslexia? I know now that they didn't tell me because they didn't know. I remember being taken to specialist after specialist. I remember having my eyes checked and my deep wish that a simple pair of glasses would fix it all.

I'm not upset with my parents for the way they did tell me, for it was kind and full of love. I do wish, however, that there could have been some way they could of helped me to understand. We waited a year to know of my learning disability; because of this I spent a year of not understanding myself in a time when differences were not easily excepted.

Mrs. Spencer and I on the last day of school.

"Bring your spelling books to the rug, class," Mrs. Spencer announced over the commotion. Mrs. Spencer was a tall woman with a kind smile, and was always singing or humming. She seemed to have a constant spring in her step. I liked the teacher, but I hated third-grade.  I always felt sick to my stomach. The very thought of school made me ill. When my mother would wake me each morning for school, I would wake up crying. I was afraid. I was different. I was made fun of.

I'll never forget that day the students went to the rug, because it was the first time I was truly classified as different. Mrs. Spencer came to me and told me that I didn't have to go because I didn't have the same spelling work. I had my reading and writing lessons at the Resource Lab in the mornings. The lab was in a trailer at the end of the kindergarten playground. Through the large windows of our third-grade room we could see the edge of the trailer and a good half of the small lawn. The specialist would come in the back door of the classroom and and walk with me to the lab.

As we would walk along the edge of the lawn, past the class windows, I could feel all my classmate's eyes following us. The side of the building was lined with rocks that crunched under our feet.  I looked down at them so I would not have to see the children's faces. That was the first time I decided to be invisible.

Back in the classroom, my desk was on the very end of a cluster of desks, and I was careful to keep the pencil drawings on it as black as I could. It was always upsetting when I was forced to wash the desk; hours of work down the drain. Now I stared long and hard at these drawings as the class passed me on the way to the rug with their treasured spelling books. I thought, or hoped that if I concentrated hard enough I really would be invisible. But they did see me, and they new why I wasn't getting a spelling book out of my desk. It was as if they could see straight through the rust painted metal of my lone desk. They knew I didn't even have a speller.

Could they see me struggling that first day we had them? Could they see the words in my brain shattering like glass until I could no longer tell they had meaning at all? Could they see the shards cutting my fingertips as I tried to follow along? Did they know I couldn't read?

Now could my classmates see the wall I was building with their words as they passed me on the way to the rug? "Lucky," they whispered. "Why?" they asked. "Stupid," they teased, but worst of all, and the one that still calls out to me like the cries of a wolf pack circling their pray in the night, "Retarded!" So there I sat alone in my desk building my walls, as I drew.

I didn't know words then. I didn't know one book or poem or play.  I lived in a silent world. I could speak like anyone else, but as I sat at my desk and looked at that spelling book on that first day they were handed out, all I could see was defeat. The words meant something, but what? What was I supposed to do? It bored me. My head hurt to try; to make sense out of it. And so I drew.

My classmates read on and on as pages flew by. It was as thought it were easy. I looked back at the page. Surly I missed something. Maybe I'll see it this time. A picture, a sign, some kind of clue. What was I doing? Nothing, just words.

Mrs. Spencer sat at her desk. I turned and looked at her. She looked up. I turned back around. "How much longer must I sit here?" She must have felt my pain, because just as quickly as I had found that red and yellow book on my drawing pencils, it was gone. "Kristen, you don't need to do this, we'll find something else for you to do," she apologized. It was almost like she had made a mistake by giving me the book. She seemed to have forgotten something.

What does she mean? Why don't I get the spelling book? What was in it? What made me so different? Then all of a sudden that dreadful book that I hated to think about became a desired book and without it I was a stranger. I was different!

My parents didn't tell me about my learning disability until the following May. After a long year of testing. The next school year I changed schools and started a new life. With the knowledge that I needed a new learning strategy, I blossomed. Things were finally starting to be explained in a way that made since. Although it wasn't until I was a sophomore in college and I had a tutor who really helped reading click. I don't know if it was my age, or the simple instruction that I had never had before.

But even now, when I here children make fun, or someone implies, that malicious word calls back to me soft and cold from a nine-year-old's mouth, "Retarded."

Talking about Myself... Again! With MMI Link Up.

Welcome to my little world, where it's all about me! Well, and them. But mostly me. Feel free to look around. Today I'm linking up with The Me, Myself, And I link up! So I'm answering a few questions. Enjoy! 

• What is your favorite season? Explain.

This is such a hard one for me. I love every season, and just as the one I'm in is ending, I start getting all excited for the next. The only thing that has hindered this ability has been living up here on the mountain where the summers are very short and not as hot as I like. We had a week of 95 degree weather and I was in heaven. But I went to Big Town one of those days and it was like a ghost town. I parked right in front of the downtown store I went to and the parking lot at Walmart was creepy it was so empty! Apparently that was too hot for most Montanans! Can you imagine what would happen if we got some Sacramento weather up here?? Bahaha! 

Autumn at the ranch 

I love fall and winter too, but I just don't get enough heat in the summer to really wish for the cold. That doesn't stop me from enjoying them! 

• Talk about a moment that changed your life?

I think I have lots of moments like this. Our lives are full of cross roads that, if taken, could change everything. 

The one that stands out right now though, is when I met my husband, Adventure Man. At the time I felt that he was way out of my league. I also know that he was what I wanted. OR at least someone like that. Meeting him helped me look at myself and be the kind of person I thought someone like that would want. I didn't change for him but I got my act together. Well, I tried to. I also took a good look at the kind of men I had been dating and frankly, none of them ever stood a chance. 

I didn't know for sure that he was the one. But I felt a spark, and I did tell my mom that he was who I would marry (two years before we even started dating). 

I think that's what makes a great couple, when they make the other want to be better. It wasn't until much later that I realized that it was I who was out of his league. And I remind him of that daily! 

• If you could be any Crayola crayon color, what would you be and why?

I love turquoise. The color of a tropical ocean. I also love orange, purple, and lavender. Like a sunset. 

sunset in my back yard

Oh, and navy. I love navy! I don't think I could choose just one color. That's what I like best about a new box of crayons. The variety! Life would be so boring. 

10th anniversary trip to Tahiti 

But OK, I guess if I have to pick, for the sake of the link up, I would be turquoise. I love the stone, and the color. Yep, turquoise.   

• Describe yourself as a superhero: Superpower? Name? Sidekick?

My son once asked me, "Mom, what's your superpower?" I was taken aback and said, "The power to… uh…" He jumped in and said, "The Power to make Sandwiches!" This was not a question. This was a fact! This, from a kid who would eat a peanut butter sandwich 6 times a day if I let him. 

I am Super Sub Woman. Yeah, I've got a side kick, She's Bunny the Bomb. She makes messes wherever she goes! And her big brother, Bear-Man, is aspiring to be a member of the Green Lantern Force when he grows up. 

Bear-Man at age 3 

(No really, if you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he will say, Green Lantern. But he really likes Flash too. And Batman. But everyone likes Batman.)

• If you had all the money in the world and could only shop at 3 stores, where would you shop?

I'm assuming you aren't referring to Grocery stores here? I'm guessing this is for clothes? With that in mind, I would have to say, and I hope this isn't cheating, The Gap Brand stores, The Abercrombie and Fitch Brand stores and REI (I gotta get my Gear on!). These stores have their own lines of stores, Gap has Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta. A&F has Hollister, Abercrombie Kids and Gilly Hicks. That would cover my shopping needs for everyone in my family! The only problem with this line up is that there are no ranch stores in here. So where would we get our mucking boots and coveralls!? 

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading all the way to the end! Good for you! Now click on the link below and check out some other fun blogs! And if you want to play along, write up your Q&As and add yourself to the link up! Do it, do it! 

Me, Myself and I ~ I Know You're Just Dying to Hear This Stuff!

It's that Tuesday where I link up with a ton of other blogs and feel crazy because I never get to read all the blogs I want to! There are so many of you out there that are just great and I want to read you all! But I will read all I can! So...

Welcome, enjoy, come and stay awhile. 

Hang your hat, pull up a stool, have a cup'a hot... whatever. Here we go!

1) When you're feeling down, what do you do to pick yourself up?

Give a little whistle! Sing a happy song. Ok, really, a good workout is the best fix for a not so sunny day. Whip that butt! 

2)  If you had to live in a different time period which would you prefer?
I love the 1940's. The women were strong, hard working, and beautiful. People knew how to work hard and do without. 
The war came to an end, the boys came home, 
And the shoes were amazing! 
Luckily for me, fashion repeats it's self! 

December 1947 add Image Source 

3)  What is the most creative Halloween costume you've ever worn?

You know who the Joker's Girlfriend is? 
Harley Quinn. 
She is by far, my favorite Batman villain!   

Work Halloween Party 2009 

4)  Five weird things about you we wouldn't know without being told?

• I'm a total superhero freak.

• People think I'm the stepmom. All my kids are blond! 

• I love this time of year but am not looking forward to winter… well maybe a little. (Sweaters and boots do make me happy!)

• I tamed a squirrel when I was a kid. She would eat nuts out of my hand, but wouldn't let anyone touch her. She was still wild. She would climb the screen door and beg. She would also pee into the kitchen. Your Welcome, Mom! 

• Tomorrow is my one year anniversary of my first blog post! Yay me! (Thanks for a great year!)

5)  What would you tell your 16-year-old self?
~ I love you! ~ 

Don't worry, you're doing just fine. 
Your future is better than you could ever imagine! 
Enjoy the ride! 
And you know that Cat Stevens song you love, Father and Son? Someday you really will relate more to the Father. 
I know! Right? 

~~~~~~~~~~
Let me know you came by so I can go see you! 
Thanks for stop'n in! 

Just Buzzing Around

Trying to take a picture of a busy old bee is harder than I thought! 

Those suckers are Fast! 

Bunny was watching this little fella and was squealing with joy. She loves bugs! I've made a point of not getting creeped out about bugs so my kids would not fear them. They are fascinating! (Although Adventure Man did ask me to stop taking pictures of spiders…)  :) 

That reminded me of a story my mom tells. She says I was about 2 years old when she heard me singing in the back yard. She looked out the window and saw me sitting under the Bird of Paradise holding a bee in between my fingers. I was singing to it. The bee was struggling. 

I think it was this story that made my brothers start to call me the bee charmer. I wasn't stung that time, but I've been stung before. I was even attacked by a swarm when I was five. But I've never been afraid of them like some people are. 

In fact, I would even say that bees are my favorite insect. This is a bumble bee. There are 20,000 known species of bees.

Do you have a creepy crawly that you can't stand? Do you have a favorite? 

Making a Splash at the Blog Star Link Up

Can you believe how fast August went? Really I'm not sure I even know what happened in August. I have a vague memory of getting kids down to town for summer school. Swimming lessons. Dentist appointments. And I think we had company too. But what I really know is that I'm really tired. Why am I so tired?

But really, it was a lot of fun and I'm really glad it's September. And that means it's time for Mrs. Monologues Blog Star Link-up! Yeah!!!

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Ok, so the idea is to tell all you wonderful blogger's who are visiting for the very first time something about myself. You can see what I wrote about last month here. But this month I want to tell you that I scuba dive, and I love to take pictures of people in scuba and snorkel masks! Goggles will work too!

Not only is a good mask great for underwater viewing but it can also bring sexy back! And they aren't always used in the pool or the big blue either! Sometimes they are just for clown'n around!

Thanks for stopping by! And if you enjoyed yourself, feel free to stick around! Become one of my dear Kin Folk and Follow along! Oh, and be sure to go check out some other awesome blogs!

Happy Diving! 

August ~ Me Myself and I ~ Link Up

Kermit the Frog

It's MMI time again, people! You get to learn more random crap about me! Read it, and learn something!

1) What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

I know I should say, "Start our own business. Our dream would be to have our own place!" But really this is what I would do… 

Learn to play the banjo and the ukulele.

Oh, and learn to do tricks with a bull whip.
Not anything kinky, just for fun, like in the rodeo or something... You know...

Kelly Brook as Indiana Jones 
photo credit: Google

2) If you had only six months left to live, what would you do with the time?

I'd go visit everyone in my family and take my kids on a few fab vacations.

3) If a front page news article was written on you, what would the headline be?

There's A Stranger On The Mountain,
and She's Telling All Our Secrets.
or
Crazy Mama of Four Didn't Kill Her Kids Today And Instead Baked Some Awesome Cookies!

4) What is your biggest pet peeve?

When my kids ignore me.

Am I really that annoying when I say "Set The Table" 12 times? I'm hungry!
Oh, and when they take my comb out of the shower. I have curly hair.
That is the only place I can comb my hair!

A Room with a View
photo credit: google

It's just not nice to be naked and dripping with conditioner and looking for a stink'n comb!

5) What is your favorite 
chick flick movie?

Hands Down, "A Room With a View"
with Helena Bonham Carter and Julian Sands.
It's just delicious!

~~~~~~

Now head on over to the hop, pick up the button and let everyone know more about you!

Thanks for coming 'round! xo

It's a Monthly Thing.

You know, that monthly thing, that happens, every first Tuesday. The Blog Star Link Up with Mrs. Monologues. Wait, you did know what I was talking about right?

Hello! And Welcome to the ranch!  

If this is your first time here, I hope you like what you see and stick around. 

I also want to welcome all my wonderful new followers, the kin folk! 

I'm so delighted that this crazy little life I'm living, 

up here on this mountain top, is interesting to you all! 

The Ranch

I hope you will come sit a spell and let me share a little about myself. 

1. I'm loving summer. 

It's going by fast, but this year we are actually getting some heat. 

It's like in the 80's up here in the north. 

I really like it when it's in the 90's, 

but that usually only happens down in town. 

2. I love roosters. Really, what's not to love! 

3. I love taking pictures of the sky. 

What can I say, this is Big Sky Country! 

4. I love a summer storm. 

And we've had enough to keep the fields green this summer. 

5. I love boots. 

I have 4 pairs of cowboy boots 

(not including the pair I gave my daughter, 

which she is probably stretching out about now); 

I have 3 pairs of winter boots (Also not including the ones I gave Lulu); 

And 2 pairs of city boots (like dress boots?);

One pair of hiking boots that are 20 years old. 

(Really??) 

6. I also like flip-flops.

7. I love toads! 

8. This is my favorite thing. 

The hat my dad gave me. He got it in Mexico in 1969. 

Oh yeah, this guy is also my favorite thing. 

Adventure Man. It wouldn't be the adventure without him! 

Now go see some more great blogs by clicking the link!