our weekend

as i was getting the pictures ready for this blog post, i realized that this weekend consisted of a lot of firsts for us.  the weekend started out with my husband and i doing our first skate ski race.  the race we entered was brand new and this was its first year for it, unfortunately we did not come in first, we actually were the very last 2 to finish!  the race was a 10K so really my goal was to just finish.  if you've never heard of skate skiing, here's a video that shows the sport.  it's an awesome workout and i'm definitely not as efficient as the skier in the video.
the race was part of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve Winter Fest which had dog sled races,  snowshoeing, ice skating, chili tasting and many other fun outdoor activities. 
it was here where i got to meet my first turkey vulture named Uncle B.  he was a pretty amazing creature to look at,  kind of cute in his own way.



we also had our first experience in a Ho-Chunk Nation warming hut.  it was actually very cozy inside, while the temperatures outside were in the single digits.  we had some nice hot apple cider which was warmed up over the fire.






to top the weekend off, i set up my first ever art show at the Viroqua  Healing Arts Center! they are located in a very beautiful old house and they offer all kinds of natural healing care such as acupuncture, massage, counseling and even shamanism.  luckily a wonderful friend of mine came to be my support person and to help me set it up because of course i was very nervous. 



the two paintings above are in the counseling room, which worked out really well because one is named "reaching for the stars" and the other is "make a wish."  it feels kind of crazy having my artwork up like that, kind of surreal.
and one last first that i almost forgot about, last night i was woken up by an owl outside our window!  pretty cool.
hope your weekend was a good one too!