Happy Anniversary!

Rocky and I celebrated one year together this summer. Whodathought?! He bought me my very first flower and we opened a special bottle of champagne. Rocky surprised me in December after a long day at the Brady ranch and took me to an awesome vineyard/winery outside of Marble Falls. We sampled a lot of amazing wine with the owners, and, knowing my affection for the bubbly, Rock bought me a bottle of their almond champagne, and I held onto it until we celebrated our one-year.

Cheers to many more!

I'd like to say thanks for your outstanding patience and acknowledgement of the fact that I am a cranky, unmanageable mess when I don't eat every few hours. You are a true horse whisperer, and your incredible talent in numerous arenas of life and learning astound me. You're amazing.

Rewind to the big purchase

A single girl buying her first car ... January '09

Lessons from the grind

1) Enthusiasm and dedication are the most important qualities for a new employee to possess.

2) Try not to let the negative or pessimistic attitude of your coworkers rub off on you.

3) Remember your core values, and never, never forget them. Write them down. Display them somewhere visible or make note in your planner.

4) Never let anyone try to make you more "tech savvy" than you're comfortable with. It's OK to have a planner.

5) When you feel stressed out, take a deep breath. Seriously. Realize that it's not life and death. If it is life and death, well then, you may be in trouble, but there's always someone to lean on.

6) Thank your support system for loving you.

7) Thank your coworkers for helping you out when you needed it, and for understanding that you're not perfect.

8) Realize there will be growing pains at the beginning of any new job. Give it a chance, but also have the courage to know when you're in over your head and need help.

9) Ask for help.

10) Say your prayers and be thankful for all you have. There's always, always someone who is worse off than you.

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.

Tow much fun

I haven't had much luck with cars. I wrecked my first car -- affectionately called Ron Burgundy -- in front of a newsroom on my first day of my college internship ... a semi-truck hit me as I nervously attempted to park before my inaugural attempt at professional journalism. Embarrassing ... and quite the "learning experience."

My second car -- Goldie Hawn -- was a champ for quite a while, and then she hit a wall. Problem after problem after problem. Highlights included breaking down on the freeway and taking a ride in a fancy new tow truck; receiving a Christmas card and weekly "just checking in"phone calls from my mechanic; and scoring a free drink from the folks at the Starbucks next to my auto shop after coming in crying because of my string of bad luck with Goldie.

I decided enough was enough and put Goldie to rest. RIP. My new rig, Sylvester Stallone, and I were off to a great start -- as in the car aaalways started when I went off to work in the morning (unlike Goldie) -- until just a few days ago. I made the rash decision to park in a lot lined in "do not even think about parking here" signs as I ran into the bank. I had a pang in my gut that I shouldn't park there even though I'd done this routine several times before and never encountered an issue.

I briskly walked back to my car after the quickest bank trip possible -- I swear, the elapsed time could have been 15 minutes max -- only to find Sylvester hoisted on the back of a tow truck. In retrospect, I'm quite proud of my demeanor. I thought to myself that I just got paid and actually had the funds to retrieve the car from the pound, unlike so many times when Goldie was in the shop and I couldn't afford to fix her. I sprinted over to the large, tattooed tow truck driver and he said, "This your car?"

I said yes and didn't expect him to lower it down. He did and let me go with a, "Have a nice day." In a rare occurrence, I even had cash to tip him, but he refused. I got in my car, a bit shaking, and said to myself, "I think this is my lucky day."

I wanted to buy a lottery ticket, but I thought it would be a better idea to take advantage of the gorgeous springlike day and head for an afternoon run. As I made my way back to my apartment, just a block off, I kicked it up a gear and tried for the "homestretch sprint." At a cross street, I saw a car coming to the stop sign and I thought I made eyes with the driver in an attempt to say, "I'm running, please don't run me over." Just as I advanced in front of her car, however, she took her foot off the break and at that moment I thought I was toast. She managed to hit the break just in time, and I continued running, heart in my throught and all.

As I ran on I again said to myself, "It must be my lucky day!"

Unfortunately, there isn't a more climactic ending to this post. I didn't win the lottery -- I didn't even buy a ticket. But, I have my life, my car and a few extra dollars in my checking account thanks to my luck ... or maybe I just got really good lesson in being a little extra careful when it comes to parking and running.

Two-thousand-K8

As the new year began, I heard a lot of people say how relieved they were 2008 was in the rear view mirror. Not me. I had a great 2008. I'll go as far to say I LOVED 2008. It was the Year of Kate (in my humble opinion).

Here are some of the highlights:
-- my first professional job in my field of study in the city I moved to on a whim
-- winning a radio contest and various ticket raffles and random competitions (quite lucky, I must say!)
-- joining The Morning Group (TMG) running group and taking on this new hobby
-- the Austin Marathon and the Portland Marathon
-- Central Texas adventures
-- meeting my cowboy and learning how to horseback ride
-- Stefanie and Jordan's Sunriver wedding
-- the engagements of several of my friends
-- Christmas at the new Benz house

These are just a few I could think of off the top of my head. Although I'm embracing the notion of havin' a fine '09, I've just got to thank God for a great 2008!

My 'brush' with death

I'm scarred for life thanks to Rocky's horse ... more to come.