This Christmas was a different but yet was priceless.   This Christmas marked the second Christmas without my Grandpa.  I think it is around the holidays that I miss him the most.  His joy of opening presents, laughter and his love for Chocolate Covered Cherries and Christmas Cookies.  This Christmas also marked Allyn and I’s first Christmas together.

A few weeks ago I stubbed across a recipe for a chocolate root beer bundt cake.   I gave it a shot and fixed it when we had some people over for Allyn’s birthday.   Overall, this was one of the easiest and best from scratch cakes and icing I made.   To get the cake to taste more like root beer added more root beer than what was called for, to both the cake and the icing.

Cake

2 cups root beer (do not use diet root beer)

1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

Frosting

2 ounces dark chocolate (60% cacao), melted and cooled slightly

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup root beer

2/3 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder

2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

For the root beer Bundt cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously spray the inside of a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray; alternatively, butter it, dust with flour, and knock out the excess flour.

In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy–do not overbeat, as it could cause the cake to be tough.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a small sharp knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and turn it out onto the rack.

For the root beer frosting: Put all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until the frosting is shiny and smooth.

Use a spatula to spread the fudge frosting over the crown of the Bundt in a thick layer. Let the frosting set before serving, with the ice cream on the side.

After a day at Comic Con, we enjoyed a nice relaxing evening at the Domain, one of the new shopping in northwest Austin. After a relaxing dinner we enjoyed some time fireside.

The next morning we woke and met up with aunt for brunch … we went to Walton’s Fancy and Staple.  We all had the French toast, which was delicious.

After a nice brunch, I showed Allyn around downtown Austin and the UT campus a little …

** note to self … this was Allyn’s and I first road trip to together **

On the morning of Saturday, October 28 … I pulled myself out of bed early to get ready for a road to Austin – Comic Con, which was featuring a reunion of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation … this was a must attend event, for my inner geek.

The highlight of Comic Con (at least for me) was the panel hosted by Patrick Stewart.  Stewart talked not only about his time on Star Trek and other filming projects, but also gave insight into Shakespeare and spoke highly of the great music and food, which Austin is known.

Unfortunately, we were not able to get tickets to the panel/dinner with the entire cast of Star Trek but we were we did walk through the autography area.  Allyn got an autography of Will Wheaton and I got a autography for LeVar Burton.

Aside from stargazing at the cast of the Star Trek the rest of Comic Con was pretty fun as well….

We got to see and DeLorean that was featured in the book Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.  Allyn also enjoyed a brief conversation, picture and had his copy of the book signed.

There were tons of people in costume, which made for some interesting people watching …

There were tons of cool artist there and were able to snag a couple of pretty neat pieces of artwork.

There were also plenty of memorable for sale, which brought back tons of childhood memories.

I am going to make an attempt to return to blogging… Life over the past couple of months has gotten in the way.  So what I have been up to …

• I have settled into my job as City Archivist…. As a result my career has taken off!  This past fall I did two college lectures; one was even at the graduate level. I served on a technology panel at the TX-SLA annual meeting. Then I hosted the City’s first ever Archives month.  I applied for three grants and so far have been award one! Processed several collections and wrote the department’s contingency plan.
• I have made several new friends… And reconnected with several old ones
• Went on a couple weekend trips
• Enjoyed some time with Molly and Patrick
• Did some cooking and baking
• I have been hitting the gym hard and have lost 30 pounds (and still counting)
• Completed 2 – 5Ks

I am planning to blog about the exciting things that happened over the past couple of months and maybe some of the not so exciting things too!  One thing that has suffered over the past couple of months has been my photography, I just have not had time to practice and take pictures.  But above all I am the happiest I have been in a long time!

Today is Digital Archives Awareness Day!  This is the inaugural year (day), which aims to raise awareness of digital archives among users and practitioners, so that everyone can join in the conversation and contribute their own thoughts and ideas on how best to approach digital archives.

What many people don’t realize is that an archive now means much more than that, since the stuff being saved has gone beyond paper. Digital archives are all around us: from the photos we take with our digital cameras or phone, from the documents we create in Word, to email we send, and even our Facebook and Twitter post.  Then are records that digitize for preservation purposes, the historical maps, documents and photos.  

I am very lucky to work in the archives field and even luckier to work in the area of digital preservation.   From the newsroom to the corporate boardroom to city hall, I have seen impact digital archives has made on people from all walks of life.   It is gratifying when you can sit down and show a person that they can access historic records at their finger tips.   It is also equally gratifying when you can pull memories from past and share them at your finger tips.

Exploring the City of San Antonio, Office of the City Clerk’s Digital Collection (http://www.sanantonio.gov/clerk/archives/index.aspx) you can view the Alamo Property Plat and Field Notes, the first City Plat Books, a letter from Santa Anna, the Spanish Minutes Books (which are older than the US Constitution) and various historical and significant maps in regards development of San Antonio.   Each day I add something new the collection and each day I learn something new about San Antonio in process.    

Preserving digital archives does not stop when I leave the office, for me the job is 24 / 7.  I between writing, photography, and social media I produce my share of digital files daily.  Making sure my files are preserved is huge for me.   There are several easy steps you can do home to preserve your digital archives:

1. Take an honest look at what would miss if your computer, iPad or cell phone stopped working right this minute … make plans to safeguard that content.
2. Clean out your My Documents folder (back them up);  improve your file names by making sure they are descriptive
3. Have some floppies, CDs, or Zip Disk hanging around, and want to make sure that content stays with you? If you still can, take time to transfer those files to an external hard drive and/or storage service online.
4. Back up your most important files to location(s) other than the device or website they’re currently on.

Digital archives are all around us.  You don’t have a digital archivist to safe guard your digital assets you just have to aware of what you have.  If you have question on creating a personal digital archives or digitizing “old” documents, leave a comment – I will gladly give help!

One of my favorite places to go in Rockwall to relax was Harry Meyers Park.  The park was in downtown Rockwall and hidden just houses and Rockwall ISD administration building.   The park had dog parks, a splash park, several playgrounds, a lake, walking trails, and softball trails.

Patrick never really cared for the dog park but loved to walk on the trails and bark at the ducks near the lake.