Americana summer '09

Summer is the best time of year, especially when you live in Central Texas. The sun stays out so long you forget what time it is, and everyone is ready for adventure at any given time.

These are a few of my favorite things (Summer 2009 edition):

Roping: I love to watch Rocky rope. I can tell how much he enjoys it by the way he saddles his horse and fiddles with his rope. He and his sister are quite a sight on their fast horses, headin' and heelin' and whatever else they do. I haven't had the chance to see him reel 'em in that much, but I sure love it when I do. Now, on the other hand, attending team roping events is extreeemely boring. You sit around all day long to watch your cowboy attempt to throw a rope around one steer. I'm sure this is exactly what my parents felt like when I'd play in volleyball or basketball tournaments ... but then again, those matches and games actually lasted more than 8 seconds. Hmm.

Rocky and Jigger "my" horse.

The Ranch: No, not the bar where I met Rocky (although that is one of my favorite things, too!)--Rocky's family ranch. I love it. I can't wait to go back. This summer we went for the Fourth of July. It was so Americana. We rode around town (by which I mean we drove into town, turn around and drove back) in his Model A truck, and we laughed the entire way as our knees were jammed into the dashboard. His parents invited all their friends over for a huge cookout. We're talking about Dutch oven cookin' here, folks. Mm. Mm. Mm. I am licking my lips just thinking about the steaks, potatoes, and all kinds of fixin's. Oh baby. The food was amazing, and the locals brought a homemade canon to celebrate the holiday.

The cowboy and the toy truck.

Dutch oven apple pie. My mouth waters just looking at this photo.

Home: When living states away, nothing's better than a trip home. I was fortunate enough to witness the wedding of my good friend Mindy and her new hubby Jacob. I also made a trip to Seattle to see my favorite friends. Summer in the Northwest is gorgeous.

Can't believe my high school point guard is a wed woman!

Baby shower: Fernanda and John had a huge party at an amazing Italian restaurant in Austin. It was the coolest "baby shower" I'd ever attended. It was a big belated celebration of their marriage and a pre-welcoming for their baby boy, Antonio. Good people. Lots of love and laughs. One of the most fun nights all summer.

Fernanda, a giant margarita, and me.

Concerts: Randy Rogers Band, Roger Creager, Xavier Rudd, the Radney Foster birthday bash, the free concert series at Hill's Cafe and the list continues ... we saw some great shows this summer, and I can't hardly imagine life without the influx of music I've been exposed to in the Live Music Capital of the World.

Two of my best Austin girlfriends, Andrea, Jenny, and me at the Xavier Rudd concert in June.

One of my favorite photos of Rocky and me ever--taken at the Radney Foster birthday bash at Hill's Cafe.

Races: What's a summer without running a few good races? The Trail Foundation's Moonlight Margarita Run continues to be my all-time favorite race. I didn't win this year, but I still had an absolute blast.

SeaFair Torchlight Run with KVH and Em in Seattle. We decided to have two beers each and share a round of French fries before running an 8K race. It wasn't smart, but we did share a lot of laughs running around downtown Seattle and happy hour-ing it up in our sweaty, bib-sporting post-race attire.

Swimming holes and lake days: Rock and I attempted to find some of Central Texas' best swimming holes (and watering holes!). Hamilton Pool has to be one of the most spectacular swimming holes in the area (aside from the wasp sting I received there). Nothing's better than lounging on a floaty in the middle of the water on a hot summer day. Well, that's kind of a lie. Soaking up the rays with a cold one on the bow of our friends' boat might take the cake. Either way, we sure lived it up this summer.

Hamilton Pool.

Out on Lake Austin with the gang.

Visits and visitors

I did some traveling to New Mexico at the beginning of the year. I saw some sights and met the parents. Not scary at all. Great people. The weather was all over the place, snowing one day, sunshining the next. Talk about wide open spaces. What a refreshing break.

White Sands, New Mexico on Valentine's Day.

Oh, I don't remember the name of this small town near Las Cruces, but I think this is one of the oldest churches in New Mexico, or something like that ... great attention to detail, I know.

I remember being beyond cold. I think I had six layers on. Brrr.

The truck got stuck and the men tried everything to get it out of the bar ditch. Luckily, off in the distance, a tractor--wait, I think the machine is called a skid-something-or-other--was tooling around, and helped yank it out of the ditch. This was quite the ordeal. I wasn't sure if we were going to have to wait for the snow to melt in order to make it home!

A boy and his ranch. By the end of our visit, the snow had melted!

I went home, and Rocky managed to do some business in the NW, too. Naturally two of my college sisters (not real sisters, and not sorority sisters, but you know, sisters) drove down from the Emerald City to meet the man in my life. They hit it off, just as predicted.

He said "Cheese" and so we did ... in a big way! This photo was snapped at the Rose Garden in NW Portland. Emily and Katie. Two of the best.

I heard Em's boyfriend, Greg (affectionately known as "Dirt"), would be playing baseball at Rice University in Houston, so I made the little trek down to H-town to see him play. I got so excited and made him some baked goods (cake balls, to be exact), but I'm pretty sure due to the humidity and (unseasonably? maybe?) rather hot hot heat, I'm almost certain they melted by the time I handed them to G after the game. Oh well. Got to see the Cougs play in Texas. Always a treat. Loved heckling No. 45!

Batter up!

No doubt one of the best weekends of my time in Austin was Easter 2009. Katie and Mariel came for a visit, and we accomplished a checklist of essential Texas treats including, but not limited to: drive-thru beer barn shopping, barbecue-eating, Sixth Street party partaking, Tex-Mex Tuesday (or in this case Thursday) feasting at my neighborhood Maudie's restaurant, visiting the Brady ranch and riding, celebrating the risen Lord at Easter mass, gospel brunching at Stubb's, Lake Austin dockside lounging, Johnny Cash-themed Mean Eyed Cat bar-hopping, and oh yes, who can forget Don Juan breakfast taco eating at Juan in a Million!

Sixth Street. This shot was taken post-piano bar, wandering in the middle of the block party on Dirty Sixth.

At the Brady ranch: Katie on Jigger, Mariel on one of the ranch horses, and me atop my old pal.