Katie

About me:

What can I say... hmm, well I just happen to be the *original* KaTeRzZ, the one and only. Or well Katie, Kathleen etc etc. guess it depends on when you knew me ;0) Many folks may remember me from InReach Chat, or perhaps the SSBBS and of course AOL back in its glory days. I never really bought into the whole "MySpace" crap. I mean come on.. in all reality I was part of the pioneers of social networking online (angelfire anyone?) and when my friends heard I was dating someone on the internet they all thought I was sad and desperate.. but holy crap now look what happens on the internet HAH! ..

Mostly though, I've decided to sign on with this "MySpace" thing because I am curious about old friends from online and of course school.

So it's been quite awhile since I've made any effort to reconnect. For the chance that any of my old school buddies from Hug High School find me here, most have no clue where I disappeared to! Our Sophomore year I made some stupid mistakes and with that my parents decided to move to Nice, California so I switched schools. Honestly, switching to Upper Lake High School was the *best* thing that ever could have happened to me. I highly doubt I would have ever graduated in the situations I was in at Hug. Upper Lake was awesome and I have some great memories from there. I hope that Hailey can experience a high school situation like that.. where you know everyone in your school. Our graduating class was like 60 or something, not 1300 as it would have been at Hug. After High School I moved to Billings, Montana to be with Andy.

I went to Montana State University for awhile but then when we moved from Montana I had to quit school. I do plan to go back to school and get my degree in Graphic Communications and marketing. I'm sure it won't be to long as this stay at home mom before I decide to hit the books once again. I'd like to get my degree before Hailey starts school so that I'm ready to rejoin the work force.

It's been SO LONG! I cannot believe I graduated High School 7 years ago! I'm sure if you asked me then where I'd be now, I would have had a very very different outlook on my life to be. I made some mistakes, but honestly if I had to do it all over again, I would change very little. The only thing I truly regret is loosing contact with so many friends. I am really a different person now, I've changed my outlook on life and I owe everything to my family and of course my husband, Andy.

When we left Montana we tried Portland, but I believe that we weren't ready for it yet. We moved back to Nice and opened a computer shop but timing was not right. The spot we were in and the money situation that leaving Montana left us, we were doomed to fail. After being "let go" from Robinson Rancheria; Andy landed an AWESOME job in Reno and we decided why the hell not. We moved here with NOTHING all of our possessions were in Montana still we had our 3 dogs and a mattress on the floor of our shitty apartment. 3 years later we are in a house now, and making damn good money. We have gotten everything back and we are loving life once more.

I was working as a graphic designer for pretty much the whole time since graduating up until this last year when I decided to stay home with Hailey. I guess I'd say I'm pretty good at it and I will admit I do miss the awesome things I was able to create. Maybe someday I'll get the time and energy to start doing websites on the side once again. I've accomplished a lot with my "career" I went from working in a print shop, to find my true passion in marketing and graphics via the casino industry. I owe that to Robinson Rancheria, even though that job brought on more heartache then fun. I met some great people there and I guess that made it worth it. I spent almost a year at Gold Dust West in Reno.. before becoming a full time mom. Casino politics are brutal, especially at a management level, but the fact is that I have passion for the marketing aspects that are involved. This sick part of me can't wait to go back.

We are computer junkies, have been since well, forever ago. For awhile we played EverQuest, (we played on Stromm, and also on Povar) and it really consumed our lives. Hell... the game ran our lives actually. We lost a lot because of our "passion" and we are so grateful that those times are gone. We met sooo many good friends and really, truly learned what was important in life (btw, a stupid computer game is not what was important) I am a firm believer that online games are an addiction haha.

Maybe some of the old InReach chat buds remember Griffin, he is now my husband and father of my little one who is the light of our lives. We have been married for 6 years now. We were dating the last semester of High School when a few days after graduation I packed up from California and moved to Montana. We met online, everyone thought I was crazy! But those who know him, and know us see that it was totally meant to be. Andy is a computer programmer who makes kick ass websites and such.

There was definitely a time where neither of us knew if it was going to work, I was torn between him and my family since we were so far away from home. Luckily, he moved back with me and we have since found our current place back in Reno. Now we have been here for over 3 years and are happier then ever.

Hailey Elizabeth was born in March of 2007. She was long overdue and means the world to us. She is a miracle in her own and we cannot wait to spend the rest of our lives with her. Honestly, I couldn't imagine Andy not being her daddy either. It's so much more then I ever expected. She is almost 2, going on 20. She is so smart (she gets that from daddy) and I can't imagine not waking up to her big blue eyes.

Matthew Gene was born in July of 2008. We decided soon after having Hailey we wanted our babies to be close in age. We just lucked out that our number two was a boy! He is so different than Hailey. He is spoiled rotten already and is hitting his milestones early, just like Hailey did. He is a big chunk too.. we'll he is just a big baby. He is totally proportionate, but hes a big ole guy! He is amazing too.. and sister is finally starting to like him so I guess we can keep him now hehe

Before Hailey, our dogs were the light of our lives. Now, they are a close 2nd. Siaha is our little (big) pound puppy, we rescued her from the pound in Montana. She is a Collie/German shepherd mix. She is very passive and stubborn at the same time. Patchey is our 2nd dog, she is an Australian Shepherd that we got from a ranch in Montana. She is gorgeous and is finally coming into her own. Grizley is our only male and well.. pain in my ASS. He is also an Aussie, who we got from Oregon. We had one litter of puppies (8) and they all found great homes... we just decided that was way to much work to make it worth it! Griz has a new found love for Hailey he absolutely adores our little one... sometimes to much!

Now I just stay home, take care of our little Angels. Andy and I play Warhammer with a bunch of real life friends. It's our escape from life and reality.. but boy we sure don't play like we used too! We also play Wii.
When I'm not tending to the baby or the dogs, I like to scrapbook. I am grateful that Andy makes enough money to cover everything and then some. This makes me staying home that much easier which is the hardest thing I thought we were going to have to face.

Right now I'm spending many days working on my dad's cookbook that has over 1,000 recipes and organizing more than 11,000 family photos that we have been starting to collect. Once a week I take Hailey over to a friends house for a "play date" even though, it's more for me to have adult interaction than it is for our baby to play!