CURRENT MISSION

We Help People Have Fun!

ABOUT ME

Mark and Muriel were high school sweethearts before breaking up and going on to different marriages and life experiences for 30 years. They reunited at a hometown high school wrestling meet in late 2001 and fulfilled their destiny by marrying in August of 2002. They bring together six children, currently (2012) ranging in age from 22 to 30. And now with three grandchildren!

Our life is an adventure and we are constantly seeking new experiences. We host House Concerts, bringing varied artists to our small rural hometown; we are in the process of restoring my grandparents nearly 100 year old homesteading cabin in the Nebraska Sandhills; we regularly host Up With People cast members whenever they come through; we have been host parents to local college students; we have even been known to offer strangers traveling the local highways hospitality for the evening.

Our joy is sharing where we live and who we are with a wide variety of people - we can include a road trip into the Nebraska Sandhills or a tanking (just ask us) trip down the North Platte River.

You can find out more about us by perusing our blog, www.outbacknebraska.com.

PHILOSOPHY

Our goal in life is to help people have fun. Muriel does this as part of her vocation, and Mark and Muriel together make this one of their highest priorities in life.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We have been part of the CS project since August of 2010, after one of our House Concert performers suggested it. We've hosted one to two Couch Surfers each month since then and we love it!

Our location along Interstate 80, half-way between Omaha and Denver is proving to be a very popular one for Couch Surfing. In less than a month of membership, we have hosted three surfers and are looking forward to many more.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We have shared our home with many interesting characters. Up With People castmembers from around the world; becoming host parents to two Australian brothers; regularly hosting artists in our home after they perform in our House Concert series; and most recently three travelers who need a warm, dry bed and a hot shower during their "walkabout" across the U.S.

Interests

House Concerts; Travel; People; Music; Family; Geocaching.

• culture
• performing arts
• concerts
• traveling
• blogging
• homesteading
• music
• surfing
• wrestling

Music, Movies, and Books

We are currently working our way through Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe series via audio book on our travels together.

When I travel solo, my favorite audio book authors are Diana Gabaldon, Ken Follett, James Lee Burke, Janet Evonovich, Jasper Fforde and many others.

We are avid fans of the television show Deadliest Catch, and participate in many fan forums and activities, even making the trip to Seattle for CatchCon in May of 2010 and hoping to return next year.

Our favorite genre of music is traditional Irish, but also like other Irish music such as Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, the Pogues, the Chieftains, Flatfoot 56, and the guru of Irish Music in the US, Mark Gunn.

Our House Concert performers are predominantly of the folk/americana genre.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The Milky Way in the Nebraska Sandhills on moonless night.

Teach, Learn, Share

We love to share our own knowledge, understanding and experiences of the rural Nebraska culture with our visitors. We are avid local historians and try to relate the why and the how of what is our small corner of Nebraska.

We love learning from other people about their uniqueness in the universe, and the life experiences that have made them so.

Countries I’ve Visited

United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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