A little bit of my life's history.

I was born in 1956 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My family moved to Oregon three years later. My Dad was with the Army Corps of Engineers and my Mother was a Psychiatrist. We lived in the Coos Bay area on the Pacific coast. I love the ocean! The beaches were our play grounds. In 1967 we bought our first horses. Horses were to become a huge part of my life for the next 20 years. My memories of that time are always of the beaches with our horses.
In 1969 my family moved back to the midwest, just north of Green Bay. This is where I went thru my teenage years. At one time we had 50 horses on our farm. I became a good ferrier and "horse doctor" out of necessity. During this time I also went to UWGB for 3 semesters and majored in art.
When I left home I moved to Minneapolis. Jobs I held at that time was waitress and mink grader's assistant. I should have stayed with being a mink grader at that time...I love fur!
At the age of 21 I bought my first Harley. A 1966 XLCH Sportster. I still have the bike to this day. I became a good Harley mechanic out of necessity;-) I spent a lot of years traveling around the country and Canada on my bike. I did 35mm photography, leather work, costume design, bartending and candle sales. I made a white leather wedding dress for one girl...beaded with pearls and baby blue crystal beads. It was beautiful. One of my better works. My wardrobe at the time consisted of alot of leather including hand sewn and braided leather pants. I made it to alot of the bike rally's around the country....Sturgis being my favorite.
In 1980 I ended up buying a small farm in Pepin, Wisconsin after my father had his stroke. My mother had already passed away 2 years before from cancer. I moved there with my two sisters and my first niece. My youngest sister was still in high school at the time. You should have seen the look on the school ladies faces when we pulled up on my Harley to register her for school...priceless!
I moved in with my son's father in 1984 and Shane was born in 1985. Whoops...mistake...I moved back to the farm in 1988 and went to work at Red Wing Shoe. While living with my son's father I started into Tae Kwon Do and went as far as my purple belt. Then I discovered Shotokan Karate and found it to be a better fit for me. I loved competing and I competed all over the country. I just love karate. I am a black belt in Shotokan. My son took karate with me for several years but as he got older his intrest turned to other things. I quit karate when my teacher gave up teaching and just did the Mom thing...going to little league...football...camping etc. Great time of my life. Now that my son has gone off to college I find I have time to explore things I want to do. Presently I work at 3M and have now for 6 years.
I have been wanting to get back into photography but using digital media. Needless to say I'm still learning about computers and editing software. There are so many posibilities with digital...this is going to be fun!

This Momentous Day, H. R. White

Each smallest act of kindness reverbrates across great distances and spans of time, affecting lives unknown to the one whose generous spirit was the source of this good echo, because kindness is passed on and grows each time it's passed until a simple courtesy becomes an act of selfless courage years later and far away.
This is quoted, from H. R. White, in the book I am currently reading...Dean Koontz's "From the corner of his eye". Good quote! Good freaky book also.

Memorial Weekend 2005 Crystal Falls MI

My neice, Sara, and My son, Shane














Shane and I

Pug Shots

Sasha and Boo

Cooler Vermillion

Great day on the river today! Paddling today was Bill, Fredie, and I. A bit cooler than yesterday...OK quite a bit cooler but not a problem...we have gear!

Nov 2, 05 Cool Paddling

Paddling today was great! The weather topped out at 71 degrees and sunny! Water was still very cold. Paddling in the group today was Art, Brian, Dennis, Fred and I. We started at the falls and worked our way down river. This fall has had amazing weather! The mosquitos were even out for one last hurrah.

Sepia color photos Halloween

I just love how this photo of Brian and Dennis turned out! This was Halloween also.
I have been wanting to do more experimenting with black and white also. Tonight 2 of my favorite models (Brian and Dennis) will be catching the last warm day on the Vermillion with me. More photos tomorrow.

Kettle river crew Oct, 05

Brian stylin'

Halloween surfin!

Halloween 05

These are photos of me on Donut, Halloween evening. What a great way to spend Halloween...on the river with friends! Photos of me were taken by Brian Jensen.