Halling Go To Alaska

 Love you, Megan Elaine and Sara Renee. You are what have brought me through some very dark times. Thank you for wanting me to be your mom and including me in your lives.  

Thanks, Nancy for doing this. I may still not use my real camera to take pictures but this keeps me snapping on my phone. And get me blogging once a week. :) Here's my favorite shot of the week. The man. Princess Kai. Top of a mountain. Love. Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The next two questions come from Jessica. I've known Jessica since I was 18 when we met in college.   1.  "Where do you want to end up eventually (geographically)? Stay in NV? Move on to bigger and better ranches?" End up? Most definitely somewhere with more land.  We are hoping for at least 5 acres.  And not in Nevada.  More mountains and trees and hunting and fishing opportunities.  We've talked Montana and Colorado.  But we haven't ruled out places more eastern.  It just kind of depends on finances and finding the right place.  We'd love to have a place that backs up to public lands so we can be more isolated.  B and I went to see the second part of The Hobbit, and after being out in public for dinner and a movie we realized something.  In B's words "we aren't meant for public consumption."  B makes me look like an extrovert.  So having a place that's just us (my only requirement is I have internet access) sounds like h...

Okay! I'm back.  I figured I needed to get a few more answered before all five kids invade this weekend!! I pick the girls up this afternoon after school and B's kids arrive tomorrow evening. So... on to Jaime's question. " What does your average 'ranch life' day look like?" Well, it's really not all that exciting most days...even though I love it and wish I could spend more of my time raising animals.  The winter is completely different than the summer, so I will give you both versions. Winter:  Right now the main work is the chickens and maintaining firewood prep.  The chickens have a coop and a closed in pen, but we let them out most days to roam the majority of the yard.  We currently have 37.  So every morning I let them out, check their grain, water, and see if they have laid any eggs yet.  This morning I picked up 5 before 9 a.m.  In the afternoons we spoil the birds completely.  Every day they get a pot of freshly cooked white rice an...

I had forgotten when a girl asks for questions and you're friends with Brooke that you'll inevitably get this questions.  Others have asked for questions, and she has always asked this one.  And who am I to avoid the tough questions.  I mean...I am a mother of three. "you know I'm gonna ask poop question.  Like how long is your longest.  Do you ever, under any circumstances show it to B or your kids.  Would you rather ______ or eat poop." So.  My longest? I'm not exactly sure because I've never actually *measured* the length of my poop.  I am not quite as poop-obsessed as Brooke.  :)  I have never shown my poop to anyone before...with no plans to start.   And I'd rather do just about anything than eat poop.  But for the sake of answering with a specific answer for Brooke...I'd rather eat tuna casserole than eat poop.  (I abhor hot tuna fish out of a can.  For me it's like eating vomit.) The next question I'll answer i...

So, I know how horrible I was at blogging in 2013.  So I'm opening up the blog to answer any and all (mostly) questions you may have.  If you have any.  If you don't? Then the blog will probably remain quiet.  :) So it's up to you to get me started on blogging again.  No pressure.

Yes. It's been forever since I've blogged. Life is...crazy busy with intermittent spikes of insanity. But overall? Life is good. Meg got a 98% when she took hunter's safety and learned to shoot on a .22. The girls went fishing for the first time. We raised 2 pigs and put one of them in our freezer. (Best bacon ever). Birthday hikes with the man and his kids. All five kids together for a rare evening. Gymnastics meets. My oldest and his youngest. All seven of us out hiking. Part of the harvest from our garden. Out grouse hunting. (No luck :( Roasting marshmallows in the backyard. Bren kicking ass at her second meet. Sara kicking ass at her second meet. Salmon fishing in California. I was the only one to bring a fishy home. Part of our firewood collection. Scheels Ferris wheel. (No. I don't get on. Stupid vertigo) Educating on safe handling of a revolver and target practice. Sara was nervous at first. But only because of the noise. She was a pretty good aim. This one? Was...

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My running...mmmm.  I think I've talked about this before.  It was probably last fall when I was "training" for Goofy.  You know...that little 39.3 miles in two days.  The race that I felt amazing at the end of - exhausted - but amazing.  I've lost my running mojo.  Granted I'm still running about two days a week right now and decent miles at that, but my drive is gone.   I know part of why I refound my love in running 6 years ago was because I needed something just for me.  Something for me to own.  Something to be proud of that was mine.  I can't tell you how tiresome it got to always be referred to as somebody's mother, somebody's daughter, somebody's wife, somebody's sister.  Running was mine.  Especially when I felt like I needed to maintain to keep others motivated.  When I came up with the idea of participating in Team in Training with Shrinking Jeans, I had a group of women who really hadn't run much, if at all, be...

This is a hard and yet honest post to write.  One that may be hurtful to many...but it's not intended as such.  It's just my heart on my sleeve.  So please...if you feel this applies to you, it's not meant as an attack.  It's my perception of my life experiences and how my perception has changed in the last year. As a kid I never questioned my parent's love or support for me.  My family (including extended family) was always one of if you do something stupid, they will make you take responsibility for your actions, support you through your idiocy, and then good-naturedly laugh at you for eternity over your idiocy.  This was never really an issue for me.  I knew that this was a sign of love from my family.  That may be a bit twisted, but it usually has us laughing at ourselves in hindsight.  It's good to be able to laugh at yourself. I am a people pleaser.  Always have been.  On some level I always will be.  I never wanted to be...

Going through a divorce has taught me many things. One of them is a truth that I overlooked or knew but thought that pushing it aside was ok. You always hear about making your spouse a priority. That the marriage has to be a priority over the children. Over work. Over extended family. Those other factors can enhance your marriage if used properly. (Yes, I just said "used" and partially referenced my children. :) In the beginning of my marriage we were a priority. Many factors played into this. The fact that he had just joined the military and we spent half of our first year of marriage separated made us appreciate the time we had together more. For me I didn't want to waste time fighting. I just wanted to get along. Remember, I'm a people pleaser. Then our oldest girl was born. And she was beautiful and precocious and amazing. And as new parents we both enjoyed her thoroughly. Then our middle girl was born. But we had moved. He was back in school full time with a com...

So I did it.  Tuesday the Disneyland Half Marathon opened for registration.  I was considering doing the Dumbo Dash, which is the 10k on Saturday and the half on Sunday.  But it sold out in less than an hour.  By this morning the half marathon was sold out.  Thankfully Barb mentioned yesterday afternoon that the half was already at 75% full, so I just bit the bullet and signed up.  I'm so glad I did.  I figure this is truly my only chance to get my Coast to Coast medal.  With a huge change in mentality that has happened for me in the last six months, I've realized that I need to plan better for what I want in 15-20 years down the line.  I equate this realization to how some people just all of a sudden have that moment where they get the eating right and exercise and it stops feeling like an uphill battle.  I'm in a better place emotionally and intellectually.  I've gained ownership over what I want in my life and for my future. ...

Okay, so let's go back to June 2010.  Rock and Roll San Diego.  Team in Training.  Ms. ChristieO.  "I am running the Walt Disney World Marathon in January...you should run it too."  Uhm...a marathon? Really.  You mean the full 26.2?  Uhm...maybe.  Then there was a booth at the expo...where you could sign up for that race.  And I convinced the ex that I should sign up.  He said, you sign up? I'm signing up too.  So we forked over the cash and made the committment to train for 26.2. September through December 2010 - hardcore training plan.  Injuries.  Fears.  Horrible runs.  Fabulous runs.  Cold and snowy runs.  Treadmill 20-milers. January 2011 - Florida.  Running 26.2.  Feeling really good for the first 22ish miles and then my legs just wanted to be done.  That was the longest 3+ miles of my life.  When I crossed that finish line I cried.  Sobbed like a little baby.  I coul...

Thursday Coffee in Vegas Outside the hotel. :). Friday EXPO!! Me and Barb!! Her first half!! Three-shirt weekend One of my favorite people Saturday Pre-race coffee. Delirious and on the bus to the start line. She did it!!!! #sheblamesKirsten Necessary evil Sunday Extra tired. Nervous. Castle day 2 Halfway - 2/3 of the way through Goofy. Was craving a banana. Turned the corner and there were bananas. :) I look like I'm grimacing. But it's only from the sun. I'm giddy at this point because I had just seen Christie and I still felt amazing. Mine. Dinner. Milkshake with booze. :) Recovery On my way home. Proud 39.3 finisher. Right where I belong. Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone