A Few Things

A FEW THINGS WITH KRISTI JANEEN: What a Monday! My day started out like any other day in "Middle of Nowhere" South Dakota. Get the dog walked, get C-bug ready for school, and make a list of morning errands. My car felt different. I blew a tire on the way to town--luckily I was going slow and was able to pull over on the dirt road to a somewhat level area. Got out of my car--heard the hissing coming out of the tire and called my husband. Who was in Iowa--trucking.  It always amazes me how he "freaks out" when I call with car issues. I don't expect him to rescue me from Iowa--but I expect him to fix my car when he gets home. I called my mom and she headed my way to pick up C-bug to take him to school and I called my good friend and close neighbor (South Dakota close is a neighbor between 5-10 miles) and he headed my way to help get the little donut tire on. I am happy to say that the donut survived about 7 miles of gravel and was starting to go flat when I parked ...

 A FEW THINGS WITH KRISTI JANEEN: It always amazes me what wildlife you see in "Middle of Nowhere" South Dakota. Pheasants--I am really tired of swerving to avoid hitting you every morning! It was nice to see a small herd of deer, a raccoon and a muskrat. I have never seen a muskrat before and all I can say is--oh my--they are really ugly creatures. Today was my first day training with my host travel agency. I just keep thinking I am going to send someone to the wrong country. The anxiety of screwing up can consume me from time to time. I found out today that this fear is very typical and that there is always someone there to double check me if needed. So thank God my co-dependence can continue on into the career world. I have been sharing this blog with a small circle of friends on Facebook and I have had a few people message me with some questions so I thought I would try to answer them. "What happened between you and your dad?" Nothing really happened between us....

A FEW THINGS WITH KRISTI JANEEN: It was a very gloomy day in "Middle of Nowhere" South Dakota. Cloudy and gloomy only means one thing for me--a non productive day. One of the things I learned when battling my depression and anxiety is to accomplish three things a day. A chore, a project, or something simple like taking a shower or reading a book. That is how my day went. No anxiety, no depression, just worked on accomplishing three things. I rescued a dog a little over a year ago--if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you have most likely seen a picture of her. Sami the Rescue Dog. She is part German Shepard/Part Lab. She is a great dog--she never leaves my side. Unfortunately she spends a lot of time on her leash walking with me. She is a livestock chaser. And I can't let her run free. She's young, she has Lab in her which anyone who has worked with a Lab knows they can be a challenge. I hope that we get to a point where she stops the urge to chase. Have you ever...

 A FEW THINGS WITH KRISTI JANEEN One of the wonderful things about living in "Middle of Nowhere" South Dakota is the amazing sunrises and sunsets. After 25 years they still take my breath away.  This morning was no different than any other day. "Middle of Nowhere" South Dakota is at that really ugly stage. Everything is still pretty dead. The trees are just starting to show life and a little bit of green is starting to show in the grass. Ants have started to show up on my kitchen counter so I know that warmer days are ahead.  Taking C-bug (my youngest) to school this morning we swerved to avoid hitting a pheasant with the car and then slowed down to take in the beauty of a very small new herd of antelope hanging around a few miles away. Coming into town I see that the winter wheat is starting to come out of the ground. This was a crop my husband maybe planted once. He was not a fan. Maybe it was to risky? Not sure. After dropping of C-bug off at school--making arran...

A FEW THINGS WITH KRISTI JANEEN: My name is Kristi and I live in the "middle of nowhere" South Dakota. I married my husband in 1998 and together we have raised/still raising four wonderful children. My oldest daughter has graduated from college with a General Studies/ Geology degree. She is happily married and is making her life her own.  My second oldest daughter is going to college for Sociology while completing her Associates Degree in General Studies. She is in a relationship with someone who is Transgender and we love HER very much.  My oldest son is going to college for Accounting. He is maintaining a 4.0 grade point average and I can't wait to see him succeed in his field. My second oldest son--and the baby is 11 years old. He is at an age where he is trying to figure out who he is and who he is not and what we know right now is that he is NOT into sports. My husband has spent the last 25 years having numerous jobs from working on the Family Farm, to working for th...