Hey Farmgirls, Guess what? I have now been lucky enough to have shared a year’s worth of some exciting and not-so-exciting stories with you all. That’s right, it is my one year Rural Farmgirl-iversary. The year has been full of ups and downs, wrongs and rights, and straight down the middles; and I can’t THANK YOU enough for joining me biweekly for a whole year. I love writing for Maryjane and you, her audience of amazing women (and some men, too!). Thanks for sharing your own anecdotes and providing some great advice for all situations.

I wanted to make this post an extra special one. However, I was having trouble getting past the stage of blabbing about what has happened over the past year–if you really want to read that, there is a list of my writings over there—–> somewhere on the side of the screen. Be my guest! Otherwise, I have composed some poems as a sort of lighthearted thank you to you all.

So, come on in for some various high school level poems inspired by 366 days (2012 was a leap year!) in Rural Alaska as Mary Jane’s Rural Farmgirl.

I’ve learned that skiing (and other winter sports) is a wonderful complement to farming! Plus, back country skiing is free!

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First off Farmgirls, Happy Valentine’s Day! For some reason, the holiday has eluded me this year. Yesterday, a few moms of my students asked if it was alright if the kids brought in cards or treats for our class, and it took me a second to realize why. Then I realized–oh yes, we are studying hearts and the circulatory system today for a reason! It is the heart happy holiday. The best thing that came from today was finding out, through the grapevine, that one of my cute students has a crush on another–he displayed his love by proudly giving her a candy heart that had “awesome” etched into it. He can’t read very well yet, so he had to ask me what it said (he’s seven). “Because you’re awesome,” he sweetly proclaimed as he handed it over. Ah, young love!

My stepmother collects heart shaped rocks for little decorations, I’ve taken to snapping pictures of heart shaped boulders.

While my love and I won’t be celebrating Valentine’s Day this year, our love is still young and this post is about a thing that we love to do together…Repurposing found and otherwise cheap objects. Have you ever heard of repurposing or upcycling? It entails taking another person’s trash and transforming it into something useful, possibly beautiful, and definitely better than it previously was.

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