One of the best days ever, to be continued by many, many more!!!

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, I also got the chance to visit the beach one last time before things got super crazy as the school year started again.  Pat and I made plans to run down to Carolina Beach for our first "just us" vacation in the two+ years we have been together.  I was so excited!  We began our trip by driving around Wilmington and managed to find the creek from Dawson's Creek-check that off Pat's bucket list!  We then went to our hotel and they were super sweet and allowed us to park even though our room wouldn't be ready for 4 more hours.  So, we got our stuff (we were already in our bathing suits) and parked it on the beach.

A little after that, friends of our who were actually heading out of Carolina beach stopped in to say hello AND to share with us, that our friends Robbie and Rachael had just gotten engaged that morning! We were so excited for them, but as I found out later, Pat was a little nervous at that point because he was actually planning on asking me to marry him that evening! However, he stuck to the plan and I am so glad he did!

After leaving the beach early in the afternoon, we checked in, took a dip in the pool, got some grub, and took a nap because we had been up since 5 that morning.

After napping, we then got ready to head out to dinner, but were so full from lunch we needed to kill some time.  So, we decided to head down to Fort Fisher.  The historic area was closed by the time we got there and the public beach was really full, so we decided to head down the overlook trail that said it was only about a mile long.

Let me tell you, it may have been a mile but it did not feel like it.  It took us an hour up and back and was full of many different types of terrain.  However, it was absolutely gorgeous and even with the horseflies, it was totally worth it!

 Look at these HUGE deer at the beach!

So after our trek, we had to reshower and get ready because we were super gross.  Then we went out to a tiki bar at the end of pier and listened to a band, watched the sun go down, had some drinks and enjoyed being together :)

We left before the bar closed at 10 (it was a Sunday) and walked back on the beach (great idea Pat) to our place.  The stars were amazing-I always think of my granddaddy when the stars are out.  It was the best day.

We found our access back to the road and Pat stopped to (I though) put his shoes on right by the gazebo.  However, then he stopped and started talking to me and I had no idea what was going on until he started reaching into his pocket, got down on one knee and proposed.  It was so dark that he couldn't see me nodding (couldn't talk because I was crying because I was so happy).  Of course I said yes to the best man I know! It was one of the best moments of my whole life! Pat had snuck in champagne and glasses into the room and we spent the next two hours calling our families to tell them our news.  Then, we had two more amazing days on the beach together!  Can't tell you all how happy I am-I'm the luckiest girl in the whole world!

 Here's where it all happened!

 Yummy donuts on our last day!

 There's my man!

A summer to remember!

What a summer! Last school year was tough! I took my comprehensive exams from January to March and had a revision for one of my questions that I had to work on from end of April to the beginning of June.  Comps are a wretched process! Just takes over your life, but I had a lot of people always checking in on me and pulling me through.  Pat and I moved in together the week before they were due.  He was clutch BOTH times through comps-keeping me sane, always staying positive, and making coffee runs to Dunks.  I'll find out the final outcome in a few weeks-crossing fingers!

So, as I mentioned above, we started out the summer by moving in together.  We love our new place-it is so quiet and peaceful and I love sitting out on the porch with Darce-monster.  That first weekend we were visited by my cousins, my mother, and my siblings.  Here's our birthday dessert for mom:

Pat has spent the summer perfecting his mojito recipe-the perfect mix was found the last night of the Stanley Cup when Pat's brother and sister-in-law came into town.  Bruins lost :( but we had such a fun night!  I got to see my cousins again as they came in for their daughter's surgery at Duke, which went so well! I also got to spend time with my friends' new daughter, who is super cute and so snuggly.  In addition to working at the office, I wrote my first, first-author article which I just submitted yesterday (crossing fingers that it gets accepted).  We also gave Pat's store a facelift, as well as our new bedroom.  I hung up a hummingbird feeder in the back and now we have 6+ hummingbirds that whirl around outside every day and I love it.  Darcy and the hummingbirds are very intrigued by each other.

Pat played hockey all summer long and they actually won their championship game this week!

Towards the end of the summer, I was also able to run to the beach twice which was amazing.  There's just something about getting out there that just lets the craziness of the year wash away.  The first trip was with my mother and we went down to see my brother.  We had such a wonderful time! It was so good to see them both and to get Edson for a day on the beach!

SO much fun! Our second beach trip I'll detail more in my next post... :)

I went on a run

Yesterday, I went on a run.  Prior to Monday afternoon-4/15/13-this run was scheduled because I had decided to sign up to run the Tarheel 4-miler this coming weekend even though my body is in-no-way-shape-or-form back in shape to run this whole race.  A-holy crap, you need to get ready for this, you crazy woman, run.  However, yesterday's run took on new meaning as the bombs ripped through the finish line of the Boston Marathon Monday afternoon.

I don't think that I can completely explain how I felt during my run yesterday, but I'm going to try.

The thing is-yesterday, 4-16, is also a date permanently etched into my heart.  It's the anniversary of the shootings at Virginia Tech.

Also, my sister, who was also in NYC during 9-11, runs marathons.  She just ran the Marine Corps Marathon last fall.  Many of my friends and family members run all the time, many of us competing.  My boyfriend is from Brockton, outside of Boston.  Most of his family still lives in and around Boston. It was very apparent to me that, it could have been and could be any of us and anytime.

So yesterday, I put on my Hokies United shirt and I ran-and here's what I thought about.

As a person in my 20's, I remember the Oklahoma City bombing, my sister was in New York during 9-11 and I remember frantically finding my brother in the halls of our high school so that we could get to a pay phone to call home and see if Jess was ok, my roommate was in London during the bombings, and my friends and many of my loved one's friends and family were at Tech during the shootings.  These and the Boston marathon bombings have changed our lives-- this is what we know.

And I'm one of the lucky ones.  So far, I have been lucky that I have not lost anyone close to me during these events, though I know many people who have.  And I feel lucky, so lucky every time and so sorry for those who have.  No one deserves that kind of pain.  It also makes it difficult to discuss because you know that, for others, their experiences are an entirely different thing.

As I ran yesterday in my Hokies gear, thinking about the marathon, I felt so sad.  But, this time, I also felt a surge of something that was different.  Defiance maybe? Pride?  I know that sounds weird-but as I watched the news coverage that morning before my run, there were stories over and over of people helping others after those bombs went off.  Teams, cities, individuals reached out to help.  People gave people they didn't know a warm bed and a place to stay, they carried them to safety, for goodness sakes the Yankees put up a sign uniting them with the Red Sox--Just like my wahoos and every other ACC/Virginia/college team, in general, did after VA Tech--Hokies United.  We are VA Tech.  We are Boston.  We are runners.  We are Americans.  Period. And we, the ones who run/walk/stand together-we outnumber you, whoever you are.

So I ran.

And I'll run again this weekend-wearing my blue and yellow this time and thinking about all of those injured and who died on Monday, at Tech, in London, in OK city, in 9-11.  We will not forget and we should take care of each other, always.  Be on the lookout for ways to help others, some things may be as simple as giving blood in the coming months.

With love,
Katy

Why I Love This Picture

Ok, full disclosure- I should be writing my goal of 3 more pages of my comps at this moment instead of writing about this picture.

However, I'm in my first week of comps and I realized today that I have been looking at this picture a lot this week, especially when I get  frustrated or tired.

(I also look at this one,

but that's for other reasons. P.S., I found that on APW's blog, I did not take the picture myself-though I need that mug). 

This morning I realized what I was doing.  I love this picture because it reminds me every time that these people have got my back and that I can do this-- no matter what "this" is.  Right now, "this" is my 6 week comprehensive exam hell.  Sometimes, "this" is when I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing with my life, sometimes it's when I just have a bad day or do something wrong, and sometimes it's good things.  For instance, my sister's wedding , or vacation, or celebrating a new addition, or that I'm freaking going to get out of school for the last time within a year/year and a half, dammit!

That's the stuff that life is all about and I couldn't be more lucky.  So thanks visual representation of my cheerleading squad/peanut gallery.  Love you guys.