If you’ve been to Rooted before, you might already be familiar with this series. If not, we’ll catch you up. We love Austinites. We love stories. The Austinites we’ve met feel the same way as we do, so we created Faces of Austin. This week we’d like to introduce you to R.L. Blair, Paula Bird, Elizabeth Luevano, Ann and Matthew Mathen, and Blair Smith.

People make Austin great. Every Austinite is a piece of the masterpiece. This series is your chance to see the story of Austin — one person at a time. Here, we introduce you to the series with five people who are connected in surprising ways. Every Thursday we’ll add a new face and explain how they fit into the big picture.

R.L. Blair has carved so many wood pieces it’s hard for him to remember them all.

Sometimes he does requests and other times his hands create whatever happens to be in his mind at the time. Most of the latter fits right in with Austin’s weird vibe. “I like making this goofy, off-the-wall stuff, you know, something you can chuckle about while you’re working on it,” he said. “I end up with a lot of really weird looking concepts.” His workshop is full of colorful creations, from animals to faces to alien beings. If he can imagine it, he can carve it.

You can find R.L. at his shop just off Farm to Market Road 1626 in Manchaca, just south of Austin. You can’t miss it, just follow your ears to the chainsaw and your eyes to the weird. Or, if you want to see some of his work in Austin you can head over to the Austin Symphony to see a piece he created outside the building.

Click here to see and hear more about R.L. and his work.

Paula Bird lives a full life. She plays violin in the Austin Symphony, teaches violin at two different places and plays in a quartet. She also breeds Daschunds, alpaca and donkeys. Her days are full of activity, but she has more than enough energy for it.

Did we mention she also runs? She participates in Austin’s 3M half-marathon and has also completed an ultramarathon. “They’re pretty full days, very very full,” she said. “I don’t have a lot of free time, and I’ve never really felt like I needed to have a lot of extra free time.”

Click here to see and hear more about Paula and her life.

Elizabeth Luevano is a mother who can overcome any challenge in her path. She’s a new, 18-year-old mother of twins who balances her new family life at home with school.

With the help of Any Baby Can, an organization that will receive $30,000 this year from the 3M half-marathon, Elizabeth is learning what it takes to be a mother. The organization provides Elizabeth and her husband with bilingual nurses to help and answer their questions. The organization also helps with the challenges of being a young, first-time mother.

“It’s hectic,” she said. “It’s really hectic with twins, especially because I’m a first-time mom and I don’t have that much experience. Both of them cry, and sometimes they cry at the same time and I don’t know what to do. I always thought taking care of a baby would be easy.”

It might not be easy, but Elizabeth is getting by with the assistance of Any Baby Can. She’ll continue to have help from the organization until her children are two years old.

Click here to see and hear more about Elizabeth and her life.

Ann and Matthew Mathen came to America with big dreams. Ann always wanted to come to America, so she asked for her family’s help and eventually moved here in 1976. Her husband Matthew came shortly thereafter. Now, Ann and Matthew own MGM Indian Foods on Burnet Road.

The store is full of a seemingly endless variety of spices and ingredients from India and Asia. The Mathen’s clientele is just as varied, including everyone from life-long Austinites to foreign visitors who appreciate their ability to communicate in more than one language. “Business was doing really good, but now there are a lot of places open,” Ann said. “Everybody is just like, ‘The economy is so bad’ and just like everybody else we’re also having an economy crisis.” Ann is hopeful that the customers who are slowly returning to buy will continue to come through the door and the business will thrive during the holiday season.

Click here to see and hear more about Ann and Matthew.

Being busy isn’t an issue for Blair Smith, co-owner of Dirty Dog. It’s a grooming and self-serve dog wash in the Austin area. For those without a canine companion, it might be difficult to understand the appeal of a self-service pet wash establishment. If you’re ever in doubt, find a dog (or a miniature horse, read on to find out more) and try to put him in your bathtub.

Austin Dirty Dog provides Austin with five locations so pet owners can keep the mess away from home. For Blair, it’s not all business. “The most rewarding part of the job is getting to know people and feeling like we’re part of their family,” she said. “People now consider their dogs as children. When I know that they’ve entrusted their ‘child’ with us it makes me feel really good.”

Click here to see and hear more about Blair and her business.