Here's an update on what's been happening with me:

I am working at a veterinary hospital as a client service coordinator in South East Austin. Mike is working at an independent shipping store in West Austin. We are moving to a new apartment just south of the city in 4 days and are very excited. It is much closer to where we both work (my commute right now is about 25 minutes without traffic) and in a very convenient location for shopping, downtown, and nearly anything else we would want to do.

In other news, I have adopted a kitten. His name is Garrity and he and his brother had a brief stay with us three weeks ago while waiting to go to their new home with a doctor from my work that we see about once a month. The kittens were in a kennel for 3 days waiting to be picked up and I felt bad for them, so I took them home just to let them play and get some attention. Big mistake, of course. One day turned into five, but I took them with me every day to work. When they weren't picked up, they would come home with me. Finally Dr. A stopped in and took the kittens home, and I nearly fell apart because I became so attached. I told him that if the smaller of the two kittens (the one that Mike and I particularly liked) didn't work out then we would be happy to take him. Two weeks later Dr. A stopped by the hospital and asked if I was still interested in him because he wasn't making a good barn cat. His brother is loving life on the farm and is doing great, but Garrity didn't seem to be fitting in- too much sleeping, not enough mousing I guess. So I took him home and that's that. He is very quiet but incredibly sweet and affectionate. I am not sure why, but he never purrs- even when he is incredibly happy.


The day that Dr. A picked up the kittens Mike and I went to the Austin City Limits music festival. Highlights included the Black Keys, Vampire Weekend, and Phish. By the time Phish came on I could barely stand up since I had gotten up at 5am to do the opening shift at work, came straight home, and went directly to the festival. But it was a fun experience and the music was great.

The holiday season (my definite favorite time of year) is fast-approaching. I will be going home for one week at Thanksgiving and I can't wait. The entire family is going to cram into my grandma's house for the day (Mom, Dad, Jeff, Brittany, Laura, Me, Megan, Mamaw, Papaw, Uncle Evan, and my cousin Dru- plus one bathroom). I will have my camera ready. For Christmas Mike and I will be at my house in Toledo, then take the train to Buffalo to be with his family a couple of days later. It's going to be a whirlwind but so worth it to go home and see family and friends that I miss so much.

I have been here in Austin for almost three weeks and am beginning to settle in to this very different (and, as the locals affectionately call it, "weird") city. I got a job as a customer service coordinator at a veterinary hospital and today went to a volunteer orientation for Austin Pets Alive!, a rescue organization that saves dogs and cats from Austin's biggest animal shelter's euthanization list. I am very excited to begin working with them.

All is going well though. It is extremely hot, which makes doing outdoor activites a little less attractive, but we have been kayaking, walking on the downtown park trails, attempting to watch thousands of bats take off from under the Congress Bridge at dusk, and sampling much of the delicious and unique food that is offered around the area. Pictures to follow.

I am Austin bound! Early May is the anticipated move date and I am extremely excited and anxious. Still working on plans for apartments and such. Mike has an interview with Richard Linkletter's production company in two weeks. Whether he gets the gig or not, we are still going. I get butterflies just thinking about it- this is the beginning of something big. :o)

Here is a project that I was inspired to try after seeing so many great posts over at Design*Sponge in their before & after section. This end table came from Mike's apartment. He and his roommate were moving out and this little guy was going to end up at the curb when I saved it. It had originally held their TV and I had never noticed it because the tube sat on the shelf that was extended all the way out. Anyway, I immediately claimed it and shoved it in my car to take home and turn in to my very first furniture makeover project. Here is what it looked like when it was doomed for the curb:







The table on its side in the background is a Goodwill find. It was originally an unstained color and I decided that it should be a dark brown. So I idiotically spray painted it, not realizing that I really wanted a stained effect, not an opaque brown effect. It was horrible. So while I worked on revamping this table, Mike was wonderful enough to work (and work and work and work) on fixing that one. It is now a nice deep shade of brown and is being used in my sister's room as a night stand.

Here is the after:






Not bad for a first timer, if I do say so myself. I decided to keep the drawer pull because I really liked it. Took out the shelf because it seemed too crowded with it in. I attached the fabric to some very stiff interfacing and simply gorilla glued it to the back panel of the table. I didn't read any other blogs on how to do this sort of thing so I don't know if this is the right technique or not but it seems to work just fine. I think this is something I definitely would like to do again.

And in case you are wondering, the picture of the little peanut in the bath tub is my niece Laura. :o)

Yikes, my poor blog has been completely neglected! I promise I will try to do better.

I have finished my program at Disney World and am now back at home. I really meant to upload lots of pictures and stories while I was there but I was super busy. And when I wasn't super busy, I was super tired. But it was such a great experience and I miss it and my roommates already. It was such a different culture being a cast member that a lot of the habits that were ingrained into me I still can't stop doing. Examples:

Knocking on a closed door twice before walking through it (a safety issue so we weren't running in to each other)
Using the "Disney Point"- instead of pointing with just the index finger (considered rude by some), we point with the first and second finger together or gesture using an open hand (think of all five fingers extended, but glued together)
Smiling at everyone at all times no matter where I am or what I'm doing (that one is starting to wear off...)
Referring to customers as Guests
Referring to a work uniform as a costume

And the list goes on. I do miss the Disney way of life, sort of.


So what's next? Mike and I are working hard to find grown-up jobs so we can move somewhere together. Austin, Chicago, Portland, and Bristol (CT, not TN) have all been nominated for different reasons. It's still tough out there, though. The plan is basically for Mike to find his job first since his is a much more specific field than mine (film production). Wherever he gets a job, we go and I will get work too. LA and New York have been ruled out due to high cost and no desire to go there at the moment.

Here is a short tour of inside of the apartment:

My side of the bedroom that Katie and I share


Vanity area



Teeny tiny kitchen



Living room area

And chocolates because our apartment was above and beyond clean for inspection. That's right, once every month and a half the apartment is inspected for cleanliness. Beds must be made, floors must be swept, clothes must be put away, and dishes must not be piled a mile high in the sink. At least we got chocolate for it.




Less than a month until my family comes to visit. I can't wait to see everyone! Mike is also planning to visit in mid-November. Spending time with the roommates is fun but it's just not the same as family.

Rumor has it that Johnny Depp was in the Magic Kingdom yesterday and today. Apparently he chose to speak to the only girl in the Emporium that did not know who he was (of course my roommates who work there were nowhere to be found while he was in the store). Tonight was one of the runnings of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and another rumor is going around that when Johnny Depp (I have to say the whole name- it's too personal calling him "Johnny") visits the parks he is willing to dress up as Jack Sparrow during events when Jack is present. The Halloween Party features a special float in the Boo to You parade with Jack and Barbosa, so I wonder if it was him riding around on it tonight. A girl that I work with knows a lot of the people in entertainment, so I will ask her the next time I see her.

I conquered Everest, from the base to the summit, all 17+ flights of stairs, and 4,403 feet of track at just after sunrise yesterday morning. It was definitely worth getting up at 5 am to be able to see the Yeti of the mountain (Betty, as she is affectionately called) up close and personal. I will not disclose the secrets I was told about Everest on here because we were entrusted to "protect the magic". However, I will post a couple of pictures that I snapped from the mountain top as the blazing sun rose to greet the group.