Katie's Pictures and Stories

Monday, June 8, 2009

5th Annual Baku Triathlon, June 6-7

This past weekend marked the 5th Annual Baku Triathlon.

This was my third year participating and it was the best yet. Our good friends Clotho and Brant were key event coordinators and it went off without a hitch!

The distances were a 500m swim, 20k bike and 5k run. The swim was on Saturday at the Hyatt Pool and the bike and run were Sunday morning around a local neighborhood. The loop we do is very hilly and it is just not the Baku Triathlon without terribly windy conditions - and this year was no exception. For the 2nd year in a row we have been especially lucky to have a major headwind on the long uphill :) makes for a long bike ride!

Collage is courtesy of our friend Akemi... they are photos of Scott and I during the swim. In the picture on the lower right I am accepting my 4th place trophy for the womens group... and no there weren't only 4 women participating!!!

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Germany - Half Marathon and Hilary's Wedding

May 23-26 2009

Following on our successful 10k in Dubai last January, our Baku running group has been busy training for a half marathon. Our schedule is 4.5 miles at 6am Tuesdays and Thursdays with a long run on Saturday. No matter how cold, icy or windy it has been in Baku... we have been out there running!!!

To make the training more exciting, we decided to set a goal to participate in an organized half in a cleaner, greener city and enjoy a long weekend away. We decided on Germany as our destination (Frankfurt is a non-stop flight from Baku). The event we participated in was the iWelt Marathon held in Wuerzburg, Germany - a small town 1.5 hr drive from FFT.

Not only was the marathon planned for Sunday, but with some amazing luck it was also the weekend of our friend Hilary's wedding in Passau, Germany!!! We know Hilary from Alaska and our time in Houston... what a great coincidence and honor to celebrate with her on this special day!!!

Clotho driving the Autobahn

Gorgeous Wuerzburg

Church and Maypole in the center of Wuerzburg

Biers at the Expo

Pre-Race Entertainment

Brant and I before the race. It was a gorgeous morning, sunny and warm (ok, maybe a little too warm for me!)

Post race celebration with Alcohol-free beer!

We (Brant and I) ran the half in 2.19, a pretty good result considering the heat. The course was gorgeous, along the river valley, through residential areas and ended in the center of town. Along the way we had a lot of fans, music and support.

Post Race lunch!

On Monday morning we left Wuerzburg early to drive to Passau where Hilary and Michael were getting married. We also got to catch up with some Alaska friends, Angela and Barb. What an amazing treat to be able to see reunite with everyone in Bavaria!

Church where the wedding was held.

Tourist Wedding Crashers!!! How funny is that!

The bride and groom

The wedding reception was held at a nearby castle

Clotho and I in the garden at the castle

View from the castle

Goofing off in the yard, trying to pose for a nice photo

Ahh, thats more like it!

Dinner / Reception ... a wonderful end to a wonderful day!

Early on Tuesday we rented a car and drove the Autobahn from Passau to Frankfurt. I was so excited to get to drive the German Highway... unfort only in a Peugut ... no guts, but fun anyway!

Jaime & Maryam's Wedding

On May 16 we had the honor of celebrating the wedding of 2 Baku friends... Jaime and Maryam.

Our table with the couple

Jaime and Maryam

These sweet flowergirls made sure to pick up each petal from the floor and put in their baskets... what great helpers!

Our table... Patsy, Erich, Chris and Rory

A flowergirl handing Chris a gift

Family Dance

The happy couple

Monday, May 4, 2009

Happy Birthday Brant!!! ... May 2 2009

Last weekend Clotho and Brant invited the Baku crowd over for a 'Rock Star' party to celebrate Brant's 35th Birthday. As usual, everyone showed up looking fabulous.

P.S. Im saving these photos to show my future children. My plan is to show these photos to them when they need a reminder that their mom wasn't always such a dork!!!

Johnny Cash and the White Stripes (aka Dan, Oksana and Brant)

Happy Birthday Brant! Yummy cakes by Clotho and Miriah (the best hostesses in Baku)

Amy Winehouse (Doesn't Clotho look fab?!?!) and I taking a break to pose.

Clotho rockin' the camera showing off her tatoos.

Me and my rocker man!!!

Wheeeeeew look at this cool crew!!! (Photo courtesy of Clotho)

Dan and Oksana take a break from 'Rock Band' to pose for the camera.

Boy Band 1

Boy Band 2

Who knew Rock Band could be so fun for those of us who have terrible singing voices.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

MBA Program Kick Off in Arizona and Ski/Yoga trip to Wengen, Switzerland

Wow, it has been too long since I posted my last blog... time flies by and it has been a busy couple of months.

I had 2 big trips in March. First to Tempe, Arizona then a vacation with Scott to Switzerland!

Tempe, Arizona

Earlier this year I was accepted to the Arizona State University MBA Program. The program is sponsored by BP, work is done virtually with the exception of 3 visits to the campus to work with our cohort.

So the first week of March I travelled to Tempe, Arizona to start the program. It was very strange to be back on a University campus, but by the end of the week I was really enjoying it. In addition to the gorgeous weather, I was able to catch up with some of my colleauges I have met over the past 8 years with BP.

I built in a few days off to enjoy the nice sunshine, I did some hiking, running, shopping and also had a great opportunity to catch up with Elaine, a friend from Detroit who moved to AZ a few years ago.

Here are some photos of a Sunday morning hike up Camelback Mtn:

So that was all the fun stuff about the MBA program, now it is to work. I feel as though I was hit by a truck with all the work that I have to do for the program. An additional 20 hrs a week to the already hectic day job schedule. As of today we are in week 3 and I am gradually getting used to it.

Wengen, Switzerland

Scott and I took a week off to go to the Swiss Alps for a ski and yoga vacation. December 07 we did a yoga vacation through Yogatraveller to Thailand, we enjoyed it so much we didn't hesitate to sign up for a ski/yoga trip designed by them.

The weather in Wengen was excellent (ok, well maybe a little warm for skiing) it was sunny, clear blue skies all week so we were out and about each day. Scott was a maniac and skied all 6 days, I only made it out for 4. Telemark skiing is a lot of exercise!