The year of the wedding: Austin edition

One of my biggest worries when moving away from Austin was losing my indescribably amazing group of friends. Two years later, I'm happy to report this was nothing more than a worry.

Last month, two of these friends (from different crowds) got married a week apart. Taylor and I were fortunate enough to be able to help out groom No. 1 by housesitting for him and his new bride while they enjoyed their honeymoon in Hawaii. Ricky and Cortnee have a cat, a little dog, and a big puppy. They live in a condo near downtown Austin, and we experienced some serious Adventures in Babysitting while watching over their pride and joy(s) for that week.

It was tons of fun showing Taylor around my former home. He was such a trouper meeting all my friends, eating an abundance of Tex-Mex, staying up late visiting and waking up early to attend my old running group, hearing me say things like: "This is where I used to grocery shop"..."This is where I had my first taste of Texas barbecue"..."This is where I learned to two-step." 

Poor guy. I know if the roles were reversed, I probably wouldn't have been so patient. We capped off our week by attending my friend Emily's wedding. It was a lovely affair, and I'm so thankful we were able to attend.

Highlights of the trip included (but were not limited to):

• The Gunn-Doyle and Mayfield-Lewis weddings
• A wonderful reunion of current and former News 8 employees
• The couples shower for Fernanda and John's newest addition, Vincent Vezina
• Two nights sleeping and reminiscing at Chez Kling
• Waking up to sunshine and feeling warm for the first time in many months
• A day trip to Houston for an Astros game
• Dinner, drinks, and walking down memory lane with the Brenans in Katy
• Recreating a photo opp with Andrea and Jenny at the Xavier Rudd concert at La Zona Rosa
• Stalking Matthew McConaughey and his girlfriend at said concert
• A day trip to San Antonio so Taylor could see the Alamo and the Riverwalk (not my favorite, but he enjoyed it!)
• Two words: breakfast tacos
• Lunches and people-watching at Whole Foods 
• Sitting in on legislative happenings at the Capitol
• A perfect dinner at The Oasis on Lake Travis 
• Cooking for friends
• Introducing Taylor to Amy's Ice Creams
• Savoring every bite of my breakfast and enjoying the company of two of the best girls I know at Kerby Lane
• Dropping off Taylor for his Saturday bike ride with a group from Mellow Johnny's

I know I'm forgetting to mention some key items, but there it is in a nutshell. I think Taylor enjoyed Austin as much as I did. Even though I won't be moving back, I'm determined to have my own place there someday, so family and friends will have an awesome vacation spot. 

It's such a part of me, and I will never forget the way Austin made and makes me feel.

Dinner at Matt's El Rancho our first night...before Josh and Kevyn got engaged (this just happened last weekend!!!).

At Ricky and Cortnee's wedding, the Allan House, Austin.

I think this is an awkward picture. I need a posture check!

The happy couple!

Ricky and Cortnee dancing their first dance.

Taylor and Bailey, one of the three under our care for the week.

Taylor in front of Mellow Johnny's...we went back three times, and he went on a Saturday ride in Hill Country with a MJ group. The boy loves his cycling.

Taylor at the Texas Capitol. He's pretty excited about this!

Legislative business happening below!

We tried sneaking into Royal Memorial Stadium while under construction, but this is as close as we got. They keep that place under wraps!

Channeling his inner Vince Young.

Xavier Rudd doing what he does.

Jenny and Mike at Fernanda and John's couples shower/dinner.

Celebrating Vincent Vezina.

Andrea and Kara cut the cake at Vincent's dinner.

Awful pic of us, but good memory. Taylor will never forget the Alamo because of my attitude at having to visit San Antonio. (I mean, why would I want to leave Austin?) Photos are deceiving. The Alamo is pretty tiny.

Riverwalk, San Antonio!

It wouldn't be a proper trip to SA without a spin through the five-and-dime.

Right, Tay?

Karina and me at The Oasis.

Dinner at The Oasis on Lake Travis.

The use of this camera phone function was completely accidental, but oh so cool!

More of the sunset at The Oasis.

What would a trip to Austin be without a night at Pete's Piano bar?

The gorgeous table setting at Emily and Trey's wedding.

My favorite Austin blondes, Jenny and Andrea.

Seriously? Apparently this is the only pic I took of the bride and groom chatting with Fer and John.

Great gang of ladies at Emily and Trey's wedding, Four Seasons, Austin.

Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Taylor's going to get tired of me taking photos of him like this.

Between then and WOW!

I look at my blog and think about blogging every day.

Why oh why am I so lazy? I'm not sure, but now there's no room for excuses.

I'm done--Done--DONE with grad school, with my job, and--just to give you a mental picture--I'm currently sitting at the kitchen table in my plush bathrobe without much of an agenda today.

Ah. Yes. It's summer. It's that period between the end of the school year and...oh...wait. That's right. I don't have a plan.

If you would have asked me a year ago what I would be doing right now, I would have said with total confidence that I'd be back in Austin working in publishing. Clearly, plans have changed. I'm beginning to wonder why I ever make plans of any sort.

This last year has been one of the most exciting adventures I could have asked for, but it's left me in limbo, and I'm not exactly comfortable.

I'd just like to know what I'm supposed to be doing!

I know I will find a job. I mean, c'mon. I just started looking. I've got health insurance, and the support of family, friends, and a top-notch boyfriend. What more could I ask for?

Yesterday, I worked out three times, put a dent in my book, and spent the first day of summer as it should be spent: soaking up rays, lounging lakeside with an iced coffee, and dining with one of the best friends I've got.

This is the life.

If I have to scrape by for a bit, so be it. I'm going to enjoy this time as I doubt it'll ever surface again.

Manzanita, Cannon Beach, and a Greenberg sandwich

For weeks--maybe even months--Taylor and I had been planning to spend a weekend with the Greenbergs. Without Kat and Mike, there would be no Kate and Taylor. (And, if we really want to get technical, without Allison there would be no Kat and Mike!) 

Anyway, we had the weekend of April 30th marked off as our get-away weekend, but a couple of commitments came up along the way, and we didn't end up going too far away. We did, however, put together a successful slumber party at the Greeners' as well as a day trip to the beach.  

 Kathleen, Mike, and Bear were busy in the kitchen, grilling up fajita fixin's.

 Aaand...after a pit-stop for breakfast, we were off! 

Mike and Tay built a fort while I documented.  

 Taylor gave Bear a bit of exercise. 

 What a stud pup. 

My favorite shot of the day, and hopefully the Greeners' Christmas card. 

 Couldn't beat the weather that day. 

 Taylor took us on a hike to watch the surfers. 

Mike and Kat all tuckered out. Day trip No. 1 = success!

Cue 'Pomp and Circumstance'

Gosh, I know I said it in the last post, but it's true: I love a good deadline. Maybe I should start putting a deadline on absolutely every task. It'd sure help me get things done.

Last week was a doozy, but I made it. I cranked out that paper in one night, and my master's oral exam went off without a hitch. Now, all I have left to do is pass the two classes I'm taking--and I'm golden.

Umm...actually, I take that back. I have to pay a massive university fee. Then, I have to find a job. 

I'm not out of the woods yet, but it sure feels nice to enjoy the moment.  

One of the professors on my committee was also the teacher who pushed me to get my book proposal together. He said it's time to set my focus back to perfecting that beast, so that's just what I'm going to do. He has a lot of faith in the project, which helps when I have lapses of extreme--what's the opposite of motivation? Laziness? Yeah. 

Well, besides the book project, for the next month and some change, I'll be continuing to work as Coach Benzo, leading individual workouts with the post players and making a manual for the person who will be taking my job. Also, I'll be tying up loose ends in my two classes as well as hitting the job hunt hard. 

I almost forgot to mention Taylor and I will be kicking off wedding season with a trip to Austin for two weddings. We leave in nine days, and yes, I'm counting! The ceremonies are a week apart, so we'll be soaking up the rays, throwing back the margaritas, and seeing how many barbecue joints we can hit in a week. 

Yahoo!    

The clock ticks harder?

Like most journalists, students, or I guess most people in general...I love a good deadline. Most of the time, the pressure propels me to crank out my best work.

I think I've met my match.

Yesterday, I found out my master's oral exam (the equivalent of a thesis defense) has been moved up one week to this--excuse me, THIS--Friday.

Somehow I neglected to realize I have a ten-page paper due in conjunction with the exam. The paper was due a couple of days ago, and I nonchalantly ignored the due date. That's a lie. I panicked when I realized I missed the deadline, but I put a band-aid on the issue by promising a completed paper by tomorrow morning.

On top of that, I have to re-format my portfolio. I can't go in to detail about the unfortunate series of circumstances that led to this dilemma, but I will. Oh, I will. That will be a beast of a blog post.

And ... sooo ... naturally I'm blogging instead of writing. Not to worry, I've got the outline all mapped out. I'm not quite sure how I'll manage the re-formatting of the portfolio, but first things first. It's time to get the creative juices flowing, and coincidentally I think my coffee pot is finished percolating.

Let the games begin.

The home stretch

Fifty-four days from now, I'll be a master.

Officially.

Officially a master of book publishing.

What the heck does that even mean?

I wish it meant my job search will be a breeze and my book will be published as soon as they hand me the embossed diploma. But...I have a feeling that's not really the case.

Regardless, I'm counting the days. I'm ready to start a new chapter. Can you believe it's been nearly two years since I embarked on journey I'm currently navigating? I can't.

I've gained knowledge and grown. I've floundered and flourished. It's been a true learning experience, as they say.

I know I shouldn't really be counting the days as it's more important to make the days count. So, that's what I'm going to focus on as I work to complete several papers, projects, and presentations, as well as my daily work duties. I'm going to make a solid effort to keep that mantra on the forefront of my mind as I trudge through an endless folder of paper I listed as "Take Care of Later" in addition to the manual I'm compiling for whoever takes my position at PSU.

I'm eager for the next adventure, but I don't want to regret not sopping up every ounce of enjoyment from the moment at hand.

Here's to fifty-four days of hard work, late nights, and the memories to be made.

Here's a photo of me pouting as I left behind my apartment and life in Austin. I cannot believe that was two years ago. Time flies, and there's really no other way of saying that...

An out-of-order update

I have been working diligently on my book blog, over at www.thebusygirls.wordpress.com. I am removing some posts from that, and I don't want to just delete them forever ... so I'm going to post 'em here, starting with this one, affectionately titled, "Dr. Dream Weaver and the Delightful Dentist."

Right about the time school started this fall, and for two Wednesdays in a row I had some kind of  medical emergency. The first was a bit more "urgent" than the second.

As per usual, I was in a hurry. (I feel as though most of my accidents or incidents begin that way.)
I ran some errands on my day off, and I swung through home to grab a bite to eat en route to another errand ... except I never made it to that errand. As I was slicing into a frozen veggie patty (it's totally fine if you scoff or laugh about this--I know it sounds ridiculous), I missed the plastic and the knife went right through my left thumb. Gory details aside, I threw my hand up in the air and screamed at the top of my lungs. Thank the good Lord above my roommate was home because she acted quickly and calmly and drove me straight to the emergency room.

Once at the ER, we contemplated going in to the hospital because neither one of us knew the severity of my injury. I'm glad we did, however, because I needed about eight stitches to sew up my thumb. The silver lining of this terrible scenario was that my doctor was a dreamboat, which tends to happen only in the movies.


The following Wednesday, thumb bandaged up and on the road to recovery, I stopped in at the dentist for what I thought was going to be a check-up and routine teeth cleaning. Although I never minded the dentist before, I left there crying. Scratch that. I was whimpering in disbelief at my woeful Wednesdays.
My new dentist couldn't have been more pleasant and enjoyable, but the news she delivered nearly made me vomit: I had FIVE cavities. I didn't know how this could be possible as I have the best oral hygiene habits in my family. I had to schedule three different follow-up appointments to fill the holes in my teeth.

I don't even know how to end this post, other than by saying I have my fingers crossed in hope and faith that next Wednesday will keep me from any further medical hardships.