Hobbies

     What do people do to pass time? What do they enjoy doing other than the mandatory activities? For me, I mainly love spending time at the farm, with my horse, but that's pretty much more than a hobby, it's a lifestyle. It practically consumes all of my thinking. My friends probably get incredibly tired of me talking about my horse constantly. 

     Well, other than horses, I also enjoy lots of other stuff like reading, sketching, painting, playing with my collie, Piper, and hanging out with friends. I just finished a book the other day, and I'm trying to think of what to read next. I like to read to calm myself down after a long day. Just a few pages before bed so that I can forget about the stress and not have to worry about anything. 

My horse [Shilar] & I 

     I'm slowly working away at a painting too. Of course, it's one of my horse and I! Would you think anything else? The picture is really special to me because it's from when I received my blue ribbon at the Sheboygan County Fair when I qualified to attend the Wisconsin State 4-H Horse Expo in Milwaukee. Kind of a big deal. And more of a big deal because I qualified with my then 28 year old horse, who had previously been trained for barrel racing and endurance, but now was working as a pleasure and Equitation horse. Something he doesn't like very much, but did his best for me. Lots of hard work paid off and we did really well at both county fair and state expo! So making a painting of this moment will be a treasured memory, even years after my horse is gone! 

     I've also done a few other oil paintings and hundreds of sketches. One painting I entered for a scholarship. I didn't win the scholarship, but I loved spending the time working on the picture! That picture had a lot of meaning as well. It was a little boy kneeling at his father's grave in Arlington Cemetery. The soldier had died defending his country and the little boy was extremely sad but also very proud. I did the painting to show patriotism and support for our hard-working soldiers all over the world, and in honor of both of my Grandfathers who were in the war. 

     Not all hobbies have to have such significance. However, painting is a way for me to show how I feel. Even though my pictures usually take months to finish, it's such an accomplished feeling when you can look at something you've created and be truly satisfied and also fulfilled by something that holds meaning.