Somewhere over the rainbow...

A rainbow can have as many different meanings as there are raindrops that fall from the sky. It's the covenant between us and God protecting us from a wiping-out-the-entire-human-race-minus-a-few rain storm. It's the path Leprechauns follow to gold and happiness. It's a man named Roy G. Biv who helps teach children the color spectrum. It's a refraction of light on water droplets. It's the symbol of the end of a storm and the dawning of a new, more fruitful time. It's one of the many ways nature can show both its wrath and beauty in the span of minutes. Sometimes it's all of those things and more at once.

These past few days have definitely led me to feel the full spectrum of human emotion--the good, the bad, and the ugly. On Friday, September 18th, Ty and I took a roundabout way home to Western Kansas in order to celebrate the life of my grandmother. 

Because it's a 15 hour drive to Sharon Springs from Nashville (not including traffic) we decided it would be better to fly so we could have more time with family without missing so much school and wearing out our vehicles. So, we did what any logical human being would do, and flew from Nashville to Denver, and then rode from Denver to Sharon Springs, cutting our trip time in about half. 

Ty and me pre-blast off. Funny anecdote about that... just the Thursday prior, one of the priests was talking about flying, and he said, "Don't pray for me, pray for the pilot! If he makes it, we all make it." So from now on, the 2938473 Our Father's I say before flying are for the purpose of the pilot's safe journey!

When we landed in Denver, my cousin, Madeline, and her husband, Brayton, were there to pick us up. They're currently living in Denver, so it was really nice of them to let us hitch a ride to Kansas with them. I really enjoyed catching up with them, hearing how their classes and work were going, and meeting their new "child", a very even-keeled Toy Poodle named Daisy.

By the time we got to Sharon Springs it was already around 8PM, but we made time to eat some delicious cheesy jalepeno dip that my mother made, to socialize with Dustin, Kayla, Sophia, and Dominic, and even hang out with my sister Savanna(h), her manfriend, Tyler, and his little man, Tyler Jet. There are too many Tyler's in this family. (Savannah and Tyler, if you're reading this, can I call Little Ty "TJ" from here on out?) 

That night was actually a ton of fun, because we were all so excited to see each other and catch up. Also, because we discovered that multiple people in our family have alter egos. For those of you who don't know, I have an alter personality named "Rattlesnake Sue." The rootinest tootinest rattlesnake killinest cowgirl there ever was. Well, apparently my dad has an alter ego that is THE Hulk Hogan... and little Ty becomes little Hulk. I'm pretty sure the thing that won over Little Ty (TJ?) was dad literally ripping off his shirt and saying, "I am a truuueee Americannnn!" So I'm not sure why but little Hulk didn't like Rattlesnake Sue, and we had some fun with that. Little Hulk/Little Ty/(TJ?) also taught us some sick dance moves. I'm not sure where he learned them, but I need to meet up with his teacher! This kid could actually incorporate wiping snot off of his nose into a pretty fluid dance move without batting an eyelash. (A talent that would come in handy now considering I caught his cold, and boy is it a doosy.)

The next day with all that fun behind us, we got up, got dressed, and headed out to Grandma Hoss's house for the first time since her passing. I'm not sure what I expected to feel, but it just kind of felt weird. When I walked into her house, I was flooded with that warm feeling I always get from stepping into Grandma's house. I spent so much of my childhood and early adulthood there, with mostly pleasant memories. My pleasant memories were colored bitter with the knowledge that a home is just a house when the people you love aren't there.

So we milled about the property, finding odd jobs to do until it was time for Gram's Celebration of Life. Paul McNall, a local non-denominational pastor led the celebration. He presided over both my grandpa Hoss's and grandpa Mitchell's funerals. Gram also found great comfort in him, from praying with him for her daughter, Maralee, or speaking and praying with him as she battled cancer. It was great to have him there. His wife played the accordion, an instrument my gram always loved, to the song Amazing Grace. 

Since I'd written a visual narrative from an interview with Gram, my aunt had asked me if I wanted to speak at Gram's Celebration of Life. I said yes, because I really wanted to find a way to honor my grandmother, but I had so many doubts. Would I do her justice? Would I be able to keep it together? Would people think that someone else should have spoken? Would my talk be too long or too short? All doubts aside, I gave a short talk that maybe lasted a few minutes (something I think Gram would have liked) I made it through without totally breaking down, and when I finished, people clapped. I'm not sure whether people usually clap at funerals because I haven't been to one in quite a while, but I'm guessing that means I did alright.

After I gave my talk, my aunt, Lisa, read a poem that Gram had written about death back in 2002. I might be paraphrasing, but this is what Lisa said, and I totally agree: "When I first read it, I thought it was about death in general, but as I'm reading it now, I'm realizing that she was writing about her own death." I'll put her poem in another blog post, because it really is beautiful.

At the end of the service, we did a balloon release with bright yellow balloons. Grandma loved bright colors, so it was perfect. I think most people symbolize balloon releases as taking prayers and messages up to heaven, but I kind of thought of it as Gram's last act of adding beauty to a place that seemed so morose. Like her bright spirit had carried on through those whose lives she had impacted. Maybe that's just me being sentimental. 

When it had drawn to a close, we all made our way down to the shop to share a meal among family and friends. (Is it really a Hoss party if there isn't food and beer involved?) I met some family I didn't even know I had, and shared some thoughts with some of my closest loved ones.

Dakota refusing to let me get a candid picture of him.

My cousin Isabel, the self-proclaimed "starving artist" and Dakota together.

My husband and three-weeks-younger-than-I-am cousin, Chance.

And my aunts and uncles. Joke intended. If you don't get it, you're definitely not related.

After Gram's celebration of life, I walked through the prairie by her house on my own, and I cried. I thought of my gram and how I'll miss her dearly. I thought of how I was walking through the countryside that she loved so dearly. I thought about how life changes so much, how short it all is, but how long at the same time. 

Thoughts like that stick in your heart and can destroy you, so I make an effort not to dwell on them for long. I gave myself the walk from the pasture to the shop, and that was the end of it. Then I let my mind wander to more pleasant topics.

Like this pretty little girl's smile.

Or how amazing it is that kids can find such happiness beating the crap out of a literal piece of crap with a baseball bat.

Or how everyone can find joy in new life, no matter what age.

Or how being around children brings out the child in us all. Which reminds me of these verses (Matthew 18:1-5) 1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."

Before all the family had left, we met once again atop the hill to spread Gram's ashes across the prairie, which had been her desire. The Catholic Church believes in spreading ashes over a permanent place, and typically family farms don't qualify. This was different. Grandma wanted to be spread over God's creation, and what could be more permanent than that? Before we spread her ashes, family member took turns sharing thoughts and feelings about Gram. Some were short sweet words, some were brief and deeply felt, some cut short by unbridled sobs, and others yet were quirky anecdotes--all were a perfect testament of our grandmother, great-grandmother, mother, aunt, and friend.

The day ended on a good note. My cousins, Isabel and Michelle, stayed at grandma's house that night with my brother, Dakota, my husband, Ty, and me. My uncle, Wyatt, came over and chatted and before the night was over some new family friends showed up and we spent the night talking about all things country.

Morning came and a new day dawned upon us, whether we were ready to say goodbye to yesterday or not. We celebrated my aunt, Maralee's 33rd birthday with cake and presents, our family members said their goodbyes, and I spent most of the day going through old pictures and cleaning Gram's house from the carnage that is typical of a family gathering. Ty and I went to the movies in Sharon Springs that night. Tickets are only five dollars a piece (they only take cash or check), and with popcorn, a dill pickle, and a large pop, we only spent $14.50. The Strand Theatre is a pretty cool place, because it's mostly run by volunteers, so it's great to see how wonderful something can be when members of the community step up and pitch in.

After the movie we visited my sister, Savanna(h), and her manfriend, Tyler, at their home in Sharon Springs. It's always weird visiting my baby sister when she's living her grownup life. We had a nice "grownup" talk and then Ty and I headed back out to grandma's house.

Another morning was upon us, and our time in Wallace County was passing so much more quickly than I had intended. Mom and Tucker came to see us before they headed back home to Manhattan, Kansas. Ty and I continued cleaning and going through pictures, we spent some time visiting with Dad and Wyatt, we went to Goodland to run some errands, and we brought the night in teaching Ty about how silage is made and used. (It's the next topic for Reminisce Visual Narratives, so stay tuned!)

Ty watching from his perch on Wyatt's flatbed pickup.

Wyatt's dog, Snoopy, waiting for some pets.

Dad standing in front of the bi-directional he was using to make/form/pack the pile of silage.

Dad and Wyatt driving tractors over the pile, even as the sun sets.

An artistic depiction of tractor headlights.

The silage chopper pouring freshly chopped sorghum into the truck.

Sadly, after that night, our last day in Western Kansas was nigh upon us. We spent the next morning packing and working online (for me) and studying (for Ty). We had a brief conversation with my uncle, Wyatt, said our goodbyes, and headed thirty miles West to my dad's house. Before too long, we were driving to Denver.

Dakota met us in Goodland for our "last supper" in Kansas for the time being. It was at Steak n' Shake. (We keep things classy 'round here.) I had a buttery burger (the South is growing on me) and we had a great conversation. Dakota's going to school for respiratory therapy, and I am so proud of him for how hard he's been working at his part-time job, CNA classes, and his actual classes. Now that I'm typing it, I'm so impressed at how busy he's been, and I'm sure he'll continue along the path to success, whatever that means to him personally.

Ty, Dad, and I left from Goodland and made the three-hour-long trip to Denver where we stayed the night before getting up (too) bright and early for our 9AM flight to Nashville. I kept things interesting by booking a hotel 22.1 miles away from the airport (I thought it was 2.21 miles away) and (almost) losing both my phone and driver's license. Thank God my head is attached. Thank God Ty and Dad were patient with me. And Thank God I found both my phone and driver's license.

On a more unfortunate note, over the last couple of days, I've developed a raging head cold, so our going away picture looked more like this: 

Of course Ty looks handsome as always. I resorted to the duck face since smiling was painful.

I guess I always have mixed feelings about Wallace County and now's as good of time as any to reflect on them. I've had more than my fair share of hard times there, and made more than my fair share of mistakes growing up. I'm still growing up. This trip was made even more complex since we were going home to say our final goodbye to Grandma Hoss. But, like Gram, I find so much peace and beauty in the prairie there. The prairie is my rainbow. It's faced so many hard times: drought, flash flood, fires, winds, tornadoes, extreme heat and cold, the heavy force of people, animals, vehicles, and heavy machinery, blinding light, the darkest night, and more, but somehow it's still there, still persevering, still producing beautiful food for livestock, and for our souls. It's God's untouched creation laid out before us, his masterpiece for the few of us lucky enough to lay eyes upon it. So as long as there's a prairie out there in Wallace County, even through all the happy and sad moments, there'll always be a home there for me.

Please Grant this Rant

By: Ty Stelting
Sorry regular readers, I have been meaning to write a post for a few days now but here it is; I am now writing one. I would like to say thank you for all the people who do read our stuff and share it. You are what keep me going. So Kelsie and I have been in Nashville for a month and about a week now and I have been desperately needing out of this crazy city ever since…Okay not desperately, but it would be nice to get away from the insanity, because I am slowly becoming a part of it.

We went to a lake (see the pictures below again, in the last post) and the views were amazing and then we went swimming in Cooks Recreational area and that was very busy, but fun. It was a part of the same lake but on the opposite side. It took us about 30 minutes to get there and we had to pay $4 but it was worth it seeing all the kids have fun and soaking some good ol’ vitamin D.

In speaking of pictures, I would like to commend Kelsie in the fact that she has been trying so hard to get her business going, Reminisce. She has made flyers, business cards, releases, and products. She has done photography segments for free on the streets to get some practice. She will be successful the second she gets the opportunity because she truly tries as hard as she can. Here are the pictures she took:

It rained here all day which made my plan to stay lively or get some exercise even harder. I managed to fill out the 20^th job application I have filled out and don’t even get me started on how much time Kelsie has spent on hers. We keep getting interviews but no success and it has really hurt since college was supposed to set you up and give you the relief of, “you have nothing to worry about for your career now!” However, they leave out the part that says “if you already had it lined up before you leave.”

When you come to a new town you basically lose all of your connections and must start over. You still have references but they hardly ever get called. You have nothing but your experiences and I don’t think people can fully appreciate the things we did because they may not fully understand the entire program entailed or “a trip to Washington D.C.” doesn’t sound like a stretch anymore. Kansas standards are not lower but they are different and that perspective to employers gets lost in translation.

We are doing okay though, and we still have interviews and we will make it through. I mean the Prague Blog was full of stories where we faced very difficult times where we slept in an airport or had very tiny amenities. We got lost all the time, missed buses, and waited forever in places. Being lost in Nashville is now not so common for me. I feel as if I can find my way around most places now. It is getting easier to live here.

My classes are great but they have been very difficult, especially tax. The law and stuff is very difficult to follow sometimes. I can’t wait to start auditing and assurance but that is enough about my boring accounting.

I would also like to take a moment to say that we have been a part of a great church and I hope that if someone gets to visit us we can show them how nice it is. They are very involved in the community and I believe they are the most traditional Catholic Church I have ever been to.

 Our time here will improve my driving skills and patience on the road. I hope to get an internship here in the spring because the pay is great and the firms are very sizable. I hope that we do get more out of this experience and I know we won’t know what we really got out of Nashville until we move away from here. I love my wife and dog and as long as I have them, then I can be happy just about anywhere. I feel truly blessed for all that we have.

I hope to be writing more in the future about more activities, we will be heading home in a week. It will be great to get home, I just wish it was under different conditions. I would like to dedicate this post to Margaret Hoss, a wonderful person and dear friend in my life. I love her dearly as she made it apparent what the definition of down-to-Earth was and she was one of the most helpful people I know. She always had great stories and somehow remembered everything except how to pronounce my last name. J She truly made an impact on my life and anyone else that had the pleasure to meet her.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this 1 month long rant condensed into one blog post.  

Percy Priest and God's Church

Two nights ago, Ty and I ventured out into the wild blue yonder... Okay, well, we ventured south of Nashville--which is basically the same thing--to Percy Priest Lake. We were planning on going swimming, but apparently the parks here close at 7PM. So we just ended up walking around this lake.

I caught this nice view right before the sun was about to go down. I enhanced the picture a little bit so that you can really see how it looked in person.

Then this duck came out, and I just had to get a picture of his dark form against the sunset waters. Even though I'm pretty adamant about how disgusting ducks are, this little guy was very beautiful.

As we walked around, we looked out over the lake, and saw these guys fishing. I thought about how nice it would be to sit on a boat in the middle of a lake, untouched by what's going on around me, waiting for a fish to bite, but not caring whether one did or not. Man, would that be peace and relaxation.

Sometimes I wonder why we build all these fancy churches when we we just have to step outside to worship and admire God's creations. When you appreciate that, the whole world is your church. :)

Yoga

You are not a recipe that's a few ingredients short. You don't have to add anything.

-Yoga teacher quotes

I'm-writing-a-blog face.

If that didn't make you giggle, what will?

The five or so of you who read our blog probably have a few questions... I'll surmise what they might be.

1) What the heck is with that first picture?
2)When is Kelsie going to post a blog about their new home?

3) How's school going for Ty?

4) What have they been doing for the last three weeks?

And, I will try to answer those questions.

First question: Current mood.

Second question: Now.

Third question: How's school going for Ty? Wonderfully, I think. He just started on the 24th, and it's been a big adjustment for him. I'm soliciting a new blog post from him, but he's not as inclined to ramble on about his thoughts and feelings as I am.

Fourth Question: What have they been doing for the last three weeks? We left for Nashville on August sixth. What should have been a ten-hour drive took us over twenty-four hours. Why? Well, between bathroom breaks, (for Ty, me, AND, Papi), breakfast/dinner/supper breaks, a flat tire, gas fill ups, a hotel stay, and gridlock traffic, it extended our trip a little bit. 

Week one in Nashville:

Our first few days we spent driving around the town, looking for somewhere to live. We finally did find an apartment that we could afford. (Rent in Nashville is outrageous!) After we signed our lease and moved in, we spent the next couple of days disinfecting every square inch of the apartment. So by the time we were done, we had an absolutely spotless apartment filled with cardboard boxes. (We now just have an apartment filled with boxes.)

Week two in Nashville:

Orientation. This is where I built up to a week-long mental breakdown trying to decide what my calling is. I decide (for the time being) it's not going to Vanderbilt to become a Nurse Practitioner. Still in mental breakdown mode, still trying to decide what my calling is. Starting the job search. Continuing the attempt at making this house a home. I start going to hot yoga. My blood pressure goes way back down to a normal rate.

Successfully held crow for about .239488237 seconds, so there's that. You get a gold star if you can explain why Papi had to leave his ball under my head!

Week three in Nashville:
Thirty job applications later (not an exaggeration), here we are still beating the bushes for jobs. We've slowly tried to venture out and try new things, but we're a little limited until one of us finds a steady job. Ty's gotten work as a temp. Basically, what he does is sit in a model home and wait for people to come through and look at it. He answers the phone too, but it sounds like a pretty cool gig to me.Ty's starting to figure out the lay of the land, and here I am, still getting lost on my way to yoga. I think Ty's a lot better at big city living than I am, but who knows, I learned to love Prague after about a month, so I guess check in next week and see if anything has changed. On the bright side, I've randomly had the chance to practice my Spanish with some of the neighbors.

Here I am pre-interview! If only a good hair day could win me a job. :)

Side note: Ty just walked by and looked at this as I'm writing. Here's how the conversation went:
Ty: What 'cha doin'?
Me: Writing a blog post.
Ty: About what?
Me: What we've been doing the last three weeks.
Ty: And it's that long?
..... So that's about all you need to know.

Anyway, we've done a few things of note.

1) Taken tons of random selfies (commence montage).

I'm-tired-of-moving face.

Walrus-had-a-cavity-and-had-to-have-one-of-its-tusks-pulled face.

I'm-watching-you face.

My-dog's-cuter-than-I-am-and-he's-not-even-trying face.

Does-wearing-my-dad's-twenty-year-old-Gold's-Gym-muscle-tee-make-me-buff face.

I'm-wearing-makeup-for-the-first-time-in-a-week-and-boy-do-I-look-good face.

2) Watched about four seasons of Parks and Rec. (I hope I'm not exaggerating, too.)

I think this one also qualifies under the selfie list.

3) Had a cardboard sword fight with packing materials.

4) Built two new dressers, a couch, and a bookshelf. *Correction* Ty tells me the correct word is "assembled."

5) Went to a park, checked out a melting bird.

It gets REALLY hot in Tennessee.

6) And a diseased bird.

But, really, what's going on with this bird???

7) And some rats masquerading as birds:

Ducks are gross...

8) Went to Cheesecake Factory for the first time in my life.

9) Entered sugar coma that I am just now coming out of.

10) Tried pin curls.

Curly haired win!

11) Tried a Pinterest recipe.

Pumpkin/cream cheese flavored french toast.

12) Reentered sugar coma.

13) Edited a BUNCH of pictures, updated my business's website and blog, sent a package to family. But for real, check out Reminice Visual Narratives on the Website, on Facebook, and Pinterest, and Wordpress.

This kid is so stinkin' adorable.

14) Wrote a new visual narrative about Ty's grandparents. <3

15) Went on a late-night fun run to the Parthenon and White Castle. 

Not really sure which one was better. I can see why Harold and Kumar made a whole movie about those burgers!

16) Started volunteering as a sponsor for people entering the Catholic Church.

I'm-about-to-meet-new-people-...yikes! face.

17) Wrote the first five pages of what is sure to be a best-selling novel.

So... seventeen things in 24 days plus or minus. I know it's not any sort of spectacular adventure, but we're here, and we're just figuring things out baby step by baby step. I'm all about honesty, and I'm not about to say I'm loving this current situation. But, I am thanking God for another day on this earth, another opportunity to learn, an opportunity to support my husband through his education journey, and an opportunity to be patient and let go.

Anyway, thanks for reading, if you've made it this far, and please don't judge me too harshly on my selfie montage... I've been bored. ;)

Goodbye's and Hello's

Sometimes I get so caught up in saying hello that I forget to say goodbye.

One of my talents, and also one of my weaknesses is my ability to plan. Whether it's five years from now, or five minutes from now I typically have an idea of exactly what I'll be doing. Granted, sometimes God has a chuckle and I find myself doing something entirely different than I thought I would.

Anyway, it's no surprise that I've let myself get so swept away with plans of saying "hello" to Nashville, that I've forgotten to say "goodbye" to my home for the last three years: Manhattan, Kansas.

My dad dropped me off at the dorms of Kansas State University on August 18th, 2012. Savannah and Tucker came with us. Everything I owned was loaded into my car and I was beyond excited to start a life for myself. I said goodbye to my family, and said hello to my room mate for the first time (in-person) met some people on the floor of the dorms, and started considering the dorms my new home.

Over the next several months, I said "hello" to a lot of things, like driving to see Ty in Lawrence every weekend, applying for jobs, and feeling like a speck on the wall in a town where no one knew my family, my dog's name, my siblings' names, where my family's cows were, let alone my name. I said hello to applying to jobs and to being a freshman in college.

My three years of college passed much the same. The sad thing about being in college is that it's such a transitory state. You know that this isn't your permanent home. It's just a stop along the road to a job. So while I was focused on building myself up professionally, I inadvertently built a home for myself--something I didn't realize until I arrived in Tennessee.

Somehow, this transition has been harder for me than it was to go to Europe and be over five thousand miles away from home. I'm still in my own country, and I have to pull out the GPS to figure out how to get to Walmart. I've been here over two weeks already and I still have no idea how to get to the most basic of places. I have to drive on the interstate with hoards of people, go to yoga with hoards of people, shop for groceries with hoards of people, and even live with hoards of people in a gigantic apartment complex. I can't walk outside by myself at night.

I guess what's sad is, is that I'm starting to realize that living in Nashville isn't just a stop along the road in life--it is life. It's not just a six month long exploration of a different land. And I'm realizing that I did build a community in Manhattan. I built a home. I knew exactly how to get to Walmart, I knew how infuriatingly long it would take to find a parking spot on campus, I had people in Manhattan attending my (and Ty's) graduation, cheering us on.

So I suppose my question is, how soon will it take to find something that's hard to say "goodbye" to in Nashville?

Gnashing our teeth to get to Nashville!

What's black and white and hasn't posted in forever?
Me.
Well, I suppose just the last part is true.
Anywho.
(That rhymed.)
ha.
Wow, I'm rusty.
... Moving on.

When people talk about their last semester of college, it's usually with excitement. They are moving on to new things; they have new jobs, new cars, new degrees to pursue, and so many other new and exciting ventures in their lives that they forget to mention the six month bout of pure busyness that the last semester of college can be.

Basically, the first half of the semester has felt like treading water with massive sandbags tied to our feet. We somehow manage to keep our heads above water--most of the time. I suppose we're just waiting for the graduation ceremony to throw us a life vest and pull us out.

Thankfully Spring Break granted us a brief reprieve from the torrent.

The good news was that this handsome guy with the bright smile made it to the second round of interviews for the Masters of Accounting program at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He's kind of a big deal. :) Anyway, being a neat college and all, Vanderbilt paid for Ty to interview there. So, we were off to Nashville! Yee haw!

Incidentally, it takes about 10 hours from Manhattan, Kansas to get there. Being the extremely kind, charitable people that his Stelting grandparents are, they agreed to go with us to Nashville. We took their car, and they drove most of the way... with only a few close calls. ;) Most of our trip was full of great conversation, and beautiful views like the one of the arch above in St. Louis, and other parts were us looking for ways to occupy our time. For example, Ty, pretending to read a map so I could practice taking pictures of him. Hence the picture below.

After 12 hours, a state full of pot-holed interstate (Get your act together, Tennessee!!!), and a night in a hotel by a Latino Supermercado, we arrived!

I got to tour the School of Nursing at Vanderbilt, and the Accounting Program wined and dined Ty while he interviewed.

And, of course, we took advantage of the traditional sights Nashville has to offer.

Here's Ty and his grandparents at the Grand Ole Opry!

We poked some fun at the at&t building... doesn't it look kind of like batman?

Of course we enjoyed some fine dining, but alas, our time in Nashville had  to come to an end, so we packed up our bags and headed to Memphis. Memphis, Tennessee is a neat town split up by a river. We happened to be in West Memphis, which is actually in Arkansas. [Insert overused joke about Arkansas here.] Per Ty's request, we ate some Memphis Barbeque, which is allegedly famous. Per my request, I sang some bars of "Walking in Memphis" until, per Ty's request, I stopped.

However, Memphis was just a stop on our way to Bentonville, Arkansas to visit Ty's aunt, uncle, and cousins. They have a beautiful house on the outskirts of town with a sloping backyard that overlooks a wooded area. It was a great place to spend the night, especially with the great company. Sadly, we couldn't spend more than a night there, so we drove on... well, Grandpa Stelting drove on.

The next stop on our cross-country loop was a small town in Eastern Kansas to visit some Stelting cousins, Don and Pam. When we drove up to their house, I was taken aback. They have a stupendous country home set in rolling hills of waving gold grasses. I'm sure it would be about ten times as beautiful in the summer when everything is green.

We took advantage of the great location and the sunny day by exploring the "wilderness."

I'm not sure what Ty's doing here, but it's cute, so I thought I'd share. :)

And, while nothing can compare to a Western, Kansas sunset, this one was still beautiful. Poor Ty is stuck being my model until I can wrangle someone else into it, so Ty enjoyed the sunset, and I enjoyed having such a handsome model.

... and an athletic model. :)

After around 30 hours in a vehicle, we arrived in our simple apartment in Manhattan, Kansas, and man did it feel good to be back. We relaxed in our dining room, ate some homemade food, and played a round of Golf (the card game, not the actual game).

The next day, we were able to visit Ty's family in Southwest Kansas. Tami and Brian were great hosts as always. Tami provided great conversation, and Brian provided too much delicious double layer pizza. Suffice to say we were full and happy with our time there!

After what had seemed like forever, we drove up to my family's "ranch" in Western Kansas to this beautiful site:

My grandma Hoss with her walking stick enjoying a nice spring morning. You can't see it, but she was surrounded by pasture and new born calves. This sight brought up so many fond memories, and this picture makes me so nostalgic... so I'll interrupt some long spiel about how growing up in the country is the best thing ever and show you a picture of a cow instead. :)

Of course we spent plenty of time with the cattle, my parents, my siblings, my grandma, and even got to see my Aunt Maralee whom I hadn't seen in about a year.

I also made an interesting discovery. In addition to being an attractive dog, perfect pet, and a model pup, Papi was made for the country. I've shared some of the greatest pictures of my dog loving life in the country. Papi basically embodies how I felt about spring break, but in a much more attractive way. :)