I'm a freelance writer and photographer based in Wyoming which sounds really cool when you say it out loud, but in all honesty, freelance is just a fancy way of saying I'm a glutton for punishment, I'm nosy as hell and sometimes I get paid for those less than enviable little traits.

I moved to the west almost seven years ago after completing a degree in journalism and mass communication at Iowa State University and have been here ever since. For about six years, I worked as a journalist at the Wyoming-Tribune Eagle in Cheyenne, many of those years spent as the outdoor editor. Most recently, I took a job working for the Sportsmen's Conservation Project at Trout Unlimited and continue my freelance career from my home in Wheatland.

My favorite color is green, favorite food a hot slice of true Italian style pizza and favorite beverage is that first sip of ice-cold beer after a long day of hiking. I enjoy most outdoor activities - camping, hiking, fishing, hunting - but I can't say I've ever understood this whole geocaching craze. I lose enough things without looking for someone else's hidden treasures.

In 2007, I met a peach of a fishing buddy in a bar in Saratoga. Good fishing buddies being a rarity out here, I married the guy three years later. He's still not sure what hit him. I have a stepdaughter who is bound to go down in some history book somewhere. Her first fish was an 18-inch brown on a dry fly, and she has yet to catch anything under 18 inches since.

Two smelly dogs also inhabit our little home - one a large bernese/malamute cross (Jack) who, like Lassie, has saved my ass a time or two on the trail. The other is a little English Setter (Scout) - a fancy-pants little bird dog who likes prefers a cush life on the couch whenever he can sneak his way up there.

I am a collector of rejection letters, an invader of personal space,  a social butterfly and recluse all in one tidy yet confusing little package. I grew up in Iowa, which means I can never run for office in Wyoming, as every political slogan begins with the homestead story of great grand pappy. Non-natives make the natives here restless.

My writing style tends to be of an older-souled generation. I still believe that good research, good writing and quality work has a place in this world - regardless of how busy we all are. I can't wrap my head around some of the work that graces the covers of today. My favorites are the classics, Steinbeck, Hemingway, Dostoyevsky and my heroes are the ones with something to say, Abbey, Quammen, Cahill.

In my next life, I hope to be a cliff swallow. Not just because they are hands down, totally, bad-ass birds, but because I think I'd really get a kick out of zooming around like a fighter-jet, chewing out all the anglers that float by in their fancy rafts, thinking they own the place. Sounds like a pretty good gig to me...