Lifestyle

Name: Susan Risk

Hometown: Truman, MN

Age: 44

Profession: Veterinary Clinic Assistant

Status: My husband, Leroy and I have been married for about 10 1/2 years.

Children: We have two adopted sons: Thai, age 9 and Dylan, age 7

Favorite food?

Anything truly and authentically Italian. Does coffee count as food? Cheese cake is good. There’s also nothing like a real bagel from New York with lots of cream cheese on it.

Best life lesson…

My own life lesson is knowing and accepting that I am responsible for my own actions, my attitudes, my word choices, life choices and people choices. I have made numerous mistakes during my lifetime, as we may all have, and I can’t place blame. I am learning life lessons every day; one I particularly like to try and remember is to talk less and listen more.

What’s the quality you like best about yourself?

I suppose I get my quirky and dry sense of humor from my dad, so I won’t take the credit, but I love making people laugh.

What’s your hidden talent?

I can parallel park an 18 wheeler.

What’s your favorite book?

One of my favorite books is The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone. It’s a biographical novel about the life of Michelangelo. It’s also a very historical novel about art, art history, architecture, marble sculpting, religion, geography; it’s just a very interesting book.

Who’s someone you admire and why?

I admired my paternal grandmother, Emma Marie Condron. She lived to be about 92 years old and thankfully I was able to spend some time with her during the year before her death. Although I never spent nearly as much time with her as I would have enjoyed, the times I did have with her, whether in person, by mail or over the telephone were very special to me. I think about her very often, wishing everyone could have met her. I miss talking to her and often remember the very affectionate way she would sing out… “Aaaaaaay love ya!“

What scares you?

The thought of being in a tornado.

If you won $1,000 to spend on yourself, what would you do/get?

I think I would like to go on a vacation my family. My husband and I would like to take our boys to see the Grand Canyon. I would like us all to go horseback riding down through the trails of the canyon and go camping near the Colorado River.

My perfect day…

I really can’t decide between riding the motorcycle with my husband on a long day trip with perfect weather of course and stopping somewhere for a good steak dinner or just staying home all day gardening.

What helps you handle stress?

Working out in my gardens. Digging in the dirt, planting, weeding, making new flower beds – anything outside. Taking long walks and praying.