Big life change

Goodbye Austin, hello again Portland!
GoViks.com

PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland State head women's basketball coach Sherri Murrell has announced the hiring of Kate Benz to her coaching staff.

Benz was a two-time honorable mention All-Pac-10 forward at Washington State, where she graduated with a degrees in communication and history in 2007. Benz garnered Pac-10 All-Academic first team honors in each of her final three seasons and left Pullman with a 3.82 grade point average.

"It's great to be back on the court with Kate. I could not pass on the opportunity to hire a former player who brings such amazing qualities to our program here at PSU," said Murrell, who coached Benz at Washington State from 2003-2007.

"I love that she is from Portland, and her energy and knowledge will help us continue recruiting great Northwest talent."

After a standout prep career at Central Catholic High School where she was the Mt. Hood Conference Player of the Year and a first team all-state selection as a senior, Benz went on to become the all-time leading rebounder in Washington State women's basketball history. She became the first Cougar to lead the Pac-10 in rebounding when she did so in 2005 and 2006. She averaged over eight rebounds per game in her career and tallied over 1,000 points to finish 11th on the school's all-time scoring chart.

Since graduating from Washington State, Benz has been working as an online producer at a news station in Austin, Texas. This will be her first coaching job.

"I'm thrilled to have this opportunity from Coach Murrell," said Benz. "I don't know if I would have felt as excited or as comfortable if I was going to be working for someone that wasn't my college coach. I really look forward to being a part of the Portland State staff and using my experience as a former player to help out the team."

Benz will serve as the graduate assistant at PSU while she pursues a master's degree in writing.

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The Oregonian clip

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.

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.