Where Are They Now?

Another one bites the dust.

Or another one lets go of the rope that has been dragging them through the mud for years.

This is the world of media.

I thought of this blog after my good friend

, Darcy left news to pursue teaching broadcasting. It just seems that as the years go by and we grow up the media divas and kings of our world are weeded out. My philosophy has always been that if you aren’t going to CNN or Dallas then it just isn’t worth the sacrifice.

I loved being on television. I loved the feeling when someone recognizes you or asks you questions about the news. While all of this sounds wonderful… I don’t remember three years of my life. I seriously revolved my world around work. I didn’t have holidays or family time or a normal life. It wasn’t just about work. It was about sacrificing at work. I was thrown everywhere, we were never good enough, you got the lead story one day and the next day everything could fall through and you were just a horrible reporter for that fact. I was paid in pennies and often came home crying after a day filled with emotion.

The thing is… I often forget the bad. I had a blast meeting neat people and writing amazing stories. I loved every part of it. I loved my co-workers; I had fun at work. I loved the spotlight.

It seems as we run further away from our graduation date we jump off the wagon. Out of the twelve I graduated with in my RaiderNet News class… there is one still in news. There are two in radio. One is in modeling. My first job was at KTAB in Abilene. Some of them have stayed strong jumping up the ladder. They are now in Phoenix, Kansas, Oklahoma City and Austin. I wanted to stay in Texas. I didn’t want to sacrifice mileage. Then off to CBS 19 in Tyler. We had some go to Denver, two to Austin, one to Tuscon, one to Florida. CBS is a training ground for serious reporters. I learned so much that even watching the Dallas news I laugh because we could have done better on some of their stories. It all sounds pretty good, but I also saw so many burn out and leave…

Missy is the most dedicated anchorwoman I had ever seen. I would even get annoyed that she cared so much about the news. She is now reporting in Dallas and says that it is very hard to chase murders all day. It is hard on the psyche to endure such tough things. Mechelle gave up two years of her life away from her husband and three children for news. The station chewed her up. One of the best anchors I ever saw, Mrs. Braid Sharp got out to do PR because it was just a better life. Wendy got tired of it and is now one of the leading Pharmaceutical reps in Houston. Kimberly got her own MTV-ish show in Dallas. The list goes on and on.

I’m not saying I would never go back to it. If I had the chance if I ever moved back to We
st Texas to anchor… I would do it. I would enjoy the life if I was given an adequate paycheck and respect from my elders as well. I was never the reporter who wanted to pursue the hard stories and that is where we differ. I cannot be Katie Couric because I do not have the mind to change my values for the media world. I cannot foresee having a family and an outside life when I am at work until 7 pm every day. Family is above everything else in the material world. For four years I stuck that in the back of my mind because I wanted to be my version of famous.

Darcy got the chance to move closer to her boyfriend. She got the chance to double her salary. She was devastated at the thought of leaving her dream. She hated leaving the friends she had made among each of her storylines. But, life had to happen.

I have no idea what the future holds. I will always have a strong root in journalism. I could get back on television tomorrow and have it all back. It’s all up to God. For now I will sit back and cheer the other fish on…. They are all so very special to me and I enjoy watching them jump up each rung of that ladder filled with sharks.

KTAB - KRBC Reporters 2004: Tawnya Bach - Reporting in Kansas; Shane McAuliffe - Reporting in College Station; Lisa Acquafredda - PR in Phoenix; Linda Mares - Reporting in Oklahoma City

Melissa Newton - We reported together in college; one of my best friends; She is now reporting in Dallas

KTAB - KTXS Reporters: Harvey Mireles - PR in San Antonio; Missy Newton - Reporting in Dallas; Damon Lane - Meteorologist in Seattle; Anita Blanton - Reporting in Richmond, VA

CBS 19: Keri Bellacosa - Reporting in Austin; Tyler Wing - Reporting in Tucson; Michele Reese - Anchoring in Tyler; Mechelle Jordan - Plans to be unveiled in September

CBS 19 Reporters - Mechelle, Julie and Lynne Sullivant; She is for the time being still in Tyler

Lynne and I with Rebecca Robinson - Becca was just crowned Miss Texas 2008!

Vickie Pierre - Reporting in Jacksonville, Florida

CBS 19; Mitchell Patton - Now focusing on music career; Annalisa Petralia - Reporting in Austin

KETK - KLTV Reporters; Noelquis Rodriquez - taking a few months off in her home state of Miami; Tracy Watler - Reporting in Tulsa

KRBC Reporters; Kyna Grigsby - Anchoring in Abilene, Meredith, Tawnya & Linda

Wendy Walker - One of my best friends from KRBC - Now a big pharmaceutical representative in Houston

Suleika Acosta - One of my college buddies - Now reporting in Tuscon

Shelby Hogue Ziemenski & I clowning around at RaiderNet News - Shelby is now a teacher in the Metroplex

Lisa and Elizabeth at KRBC - Elizabeth is now producing at the CW in Houston

Darcy Deupree - Teaching broadcasting in Ft. Worth; Morgan Ash - Starring on the jewelery channel in Houston

KTAB; Trey Marak - Radio Personality in Dallas; Ashley White - Figuring out what do next

Shavonne Herndon - We met at KTAB; She is now at CBS 19 in Tyler following my footsteps!

KTAB - Jessica Boyd; Now producing in Tyler at KLTV

Fran Adkins - After anchoring for over 25 years Fran is now happily retired

CBS 19; Clay Falls - Finishing up his contract and still climbing that ladder

Allison McFarland - Producing in Tulsa


KTAB - KRBC; Angela Taylor - Anchoring in Abilene; Sonya Van Oordt - Meteorologist in South Carolina; Craig Carnesi - Meteorologist in South Carolina; Victor Sotelo - Reporting in Abilene; Rob Mooring - Teaching; Chris Faulkner - Ministry; Brandon Rector - Meteorologist on the East Coast

A Dallas Cowboys, NCAA & Sambuca Weekend

I had such a wonderful weekend filled with blessings.

The world seems to want to hear about the Dallas Cowboys party. Hold your horsies.

Friday night I put myself through the sheer torture of being a good girlfriend. I went over to Matt's where the boys were having a NCAA 09 tournament. Kristen, Lanna and I chilled upstairs and made homemade pizza. When it got to the point Kristen and I were falling asleep on the couch I knew it was time to go home! The best part of my night was laying by Nick on the bed just talking about life. Those are the true moments from God.

Saturday I layed out all day in the wonderful sunshine. I played two games of beach volleyball with some people at the pool... I served the winning volley... I rock. Then it was time to get dressed for my big party. I bought a new BCBG dress for a wedding next weekend and a cocktail dress for the party so I might be begging on the streets soon. Matt decided not to go with Kristen so at first Nick wasn't going to go. I was really hurt because I wanted it to be a big night for us all to get dressed up and meet neat people. I cried and cried... until all my make up was gone... I had to redo it... Being the sweetheart that Nick can be he got all dressed up and even got a taxi so he didn't have to drive and come downtown to meet me! It was open bar and free food... The party was thrown by Michael Goolsby who was a Cowboy... he is starting a new business venture - it was at the W Hotel downtown. Security was everywhere and they were really crazy about their guest list. The food made me laugh first. It was "ritzy" food... I thought it was horrible! It was all different cheeses, olives, weird meats... I felt sorry for Nick because he couldn't figure out what some of the food was even. I did like the goat cheese. Open bar with the top notch alcohols was truly wonderful... Grey Goose vodka makes me happy. I sound like a lush, but it is very smooth.




We watched the partygoers stroll in. The ones that make me laugh are the big ole football players wearing sunglasses in a dark room. They were all very, very friendly. The guest list included some of the biggest stars like Romo and Owens.... but, they didn't come... I couldn't tell the difference in all of them, but there were some I had seen on "Hard Knocks," the HBO Dallas Cowboys show. I met a lot of them, but they didn't act like superstars or anything; everyone was just having a good time enjoying one another.

Nick, Kristen and I stood on the balcony and just talked and enjoyed the air. It was so peaceful and such a great night. I am glad we went. My idea of a fun night would truly be just standing on a balcony in a t-shirt sipping a glass of wine with wonderful people... but, it was a lot of fun to be all dressed up with lots of security, top notch food and drinks and interesting people.

After another day of basking in the sun getting skin cancer... tonight my photog buddy from Tyler, Mike came in town. He took me to this really nice restaurant in Addison called Sambuca. It was such wonderful cuisine! I had the crab stuffed salmon with asparagus. We had a great talk... mainly about the life of news. I forget a lot of time why I got out and I remember the wonderful times, but I forget that for four years I had no social life except on weekends and that I was a slave to my trade. I do miss the exciting parts of it, but I forget all of the unethical happenings behind the scenes. It was interesting to hear his perspective on news and see where everyone has gone and how we are changing and many of us jumping out of news because we want lives. If we want to be on CNN... that's a different story... but, being a reporter defined me for way too long. I want to be happy and happiness is not found in handcuffs.


Now it is time for bed and we look towards a new week. Thank God for these blessings. I sat by the pool reading my Bible learning all that God wants in my life and trying to remember I need to always put His words in my life... I told Nick it was "God's quilting" - He's always quilting my life day by day.

Dallas Cowboys Part-ay

I get to attend a Dallas Cowboys event tomorrow night!

Now... in my reporting days I interviewed Bill Bates, Jay Novacek & Roger Staubach. It doesn't really excite me because they are all just people, but it is going to be a blast to get all dressed up for a Cowboys party!

Kristen called last night and said she needed a few people to attend with her since her friend's company is sponsoring the party at the "W" Hotel. She said we could bring Nick and Matt, get all dressed up, have free drinks and just enjoy a good ole time. It's not a lot of the big star athletes... I do believe Tony Romo is included though. Nick is a huge Cowboys fan and he knows all of them so that is great for him.

My childhood sweetheart, Jordan, has more money than life can imagine and he has a box at the games. He gets to go hang out with them a lot during practice and such. I'm not that into sports, but it's always fun to get a glimpse into their exciting little world. I mean, tonight I get to watch my boyfriend and his friends play NCAA 09 all night.... yeehaw.

Maybe Jessica Simpson will give me the number of her agent.

Perfection

It's been cloudy for a few days now. I took Sarah to the airport last night and it seemed like I was in a dream. The weather combined with the entire day just made it all too surreal. I know the rain is great for the grass and the farmers, but it isn't great for my melatonin! I did jog in the rain two nights ago. It felt great! It was lightly falling like those misters at Six Flags. I jogged through the neighborhood by my apartments and just prayed and thought while I trotted along. It really gives me a sense to figure things out and just be in that moment. There is so much flowing through my mind right now and I am trying to let God take control. It's truly difficult though - because no matter how much I surrender; somehow I am taking it back afraid God won't give it to me in my time. Last night as I vented to my cousin all about this or that happening or not happening she kept telling me we cannot make people perfect. She says no one can be what I want them to be... I told her I cannot be perfect for the world and I cannot change for certain people... and finally it hit me that maybe it was me that had the problem. Maybe it was me that wants everyone and everything to be perfect?

Anyway... I got my physical results this week. I was just sure I was dying. My mother had so many physical ailments that I just pray I can get past them. She passed away of a heart attack, had a hysterectomy at age 33, diverticulosis, stomach problems her entire life, kidney trouble... man!!! Thankfully I was perfect! I was worried I might be anemic because I don't eat enough meat... but nope! One thing I will watch is my cholesterol just because Grandaddy Bill jogged every day and ate great... still fell over dead at 54 after jogging five miles that morning; same with Mom - she was overweight due to thyroid issues, but the heart disease must be genetic. The Adams family lives to be pretty old so that is a great thing. My Grandaddy Don was the 41st case of heart cancer in the world in 1993 when he passed away - so that is very rare. Granny Jac was just pretty old... and Grandmommy is still ticking. If Dad would eat right and live right he would live to be 100, too. I'm always sure I'm dying though.

The boys are all doing their Fantasy Football League tonight. At first they asked me to join, but now they think I will only pick the hot players... mean boys. They are just afraid I would beat them. I'd still pick Tony Romo first though. Hot and good. How can you beat that?

Old Friends

Sarah flew in tonight so Hayley, Blair and I met her for dinner in uptown Dallas. It was so wonderful to socialize with some of my oldest friends. They mean more than words can ever explain. We have all been through it everything together... it's so amazing to see us now. Talking about owning houses and living in the world of sharks. We all come from the small town of Big Spring... and it is such a blessing to have them in my life.

Hidden Talent

I think I may have missed my calling.

We went to the batting cages last night and I rocked. My grandfather was a tennis coach, my uncle is a tennis pro in Dallas and my mother was a tennis coach so I have tennis in my blood, but I never though baseball! I hit almost every single baseball!!! Nick was getting annoyed with me because I was jumping up and down between hits and yelling at the machine to bring it on! I spent my entire life devoted to basketball, cheerleading and tennis... but, heck, maybe the Olympics needs a new hitter ;)!!!


Tomorrow I'm getting up bright and early for church... I'm trying a new one for me with Kristen and Cohen. Then Sarah is flying in so Hayley and I are entertaining her! High school reunion 2000 :)!!! Today was so relaxing. First day of the weekend I couldn't lay out... so Sylvia came over and we went shopping! Then I was really bored so I went to watch Nick and Matt battle it out on X Box NCAA 09... my gosh, not exactly the highlight of my life. They are pretty fun to watch though. I tried to play Nick by being OU, but I'm not quite skilled at NCAA 09 yet. I'll stick to my new sport of batting.

Adopting Love

My cousin tells me she has some exciting news to tell me so I excitedly dial her number. She groggily answers the phone as she is awakened from a nap and says, “Eric and I found our birth mother.” Simply put… the story is amazing.

Sara and her husband, JoeEric and his wife, Leslie

Sara and Eric were adopted into our family when their mother left them in Lamesa as tiny babies. We knew nothing about her except that she couldn’t care for her children. We also knew she did keep her five year old daughter with her. Bill and Donna had just lost Lori Ann in a car accident at the age of nine. At home they already had three other children. Donna says she felt it was God’s will that she raise Sara and Eric as her own. Thus… the woman that “threw them away” gave us a treasure for life.

Bill & EricDonna with Sara's daughter, D'Layna and grandkids William & Johnathan

Sara and Eric were always a part of our family. Sara and I look alike. Eric and my Dad look alike. They molded right into us. It was never really discussed growing up as Sara didn’t like to talk about it. Eric seemed more interested. Eric found their birth father about nine years ago in Lubbock. He claimed to not know about them at the time. He did; however, loosely join their lives. It was normal to us that they were both Adams’ and did not want to pursue someone that had let them go. It deeply impacted Sara as she always thought the world owed her something and she felt abandoned even though her parents are saints and loved her with every inch of their being.

Sara and her sisters Jodi, Gena and Me

Eric with cousins Bryce & Julie in 2000

The past two years Sara has started having a big interest in her birth mother. She wanted to know where she came from and why she was left. Some don’t understand why she would even care, but it was a personal issue for her. Once Sara surrendered her life to Christ in June she felt she had to let go of the anger. One way of doing that was finding her mother. She tried background checks and was about to pay a lot of money to track the lady down… when something crazy happened. She typed the woman’s name in My Space and up she popped!!! 50 years old. Lubbock, Texas. Sara wrote her an e-mail just explaining who she was and she thought she might be her mother. Can you imagine awakening to that e-mail?!

Patricia - The Birth Mother

By yesterday afternoon Sara had connected on the phone with both her birth mother and her birth sister; and Eric was on his way over to meet the mother in Lubbock! Sara says there was a lot of crying and explaining. She says the main thing that came from the conversation was thanking her birth mother for giving her this life. The craziest thing of all is that the mother said she always thought of them and had actually been praying God would lead her closer… and then she receives an e-mail that changes her life.

We all know Sara is an Adams. I thank God for what Patricia did when she left those kids because she gave them the opportunity to be in such a blessed family. Sara is my heart and my sister. Eric is like my big brother. Thank God! We also know that Sara had always wanted deep inside to meet her roots and know some answers. That is really what she deserved. We had this awful lady in our minds as her mother… with rags and stringy hair strung out on drugs… but, her life is very different now… and she was actually normal.

A bunch of the Adams kids - 2007

Eric's family including his wife and son, Joel along with cousins - 2004

Skeptics may ask why she wanted to find her. Why My Space. Why does it even matter to them nowadays. Well, it matters to the young man and woman searching their souls for answers. No matter how happy they are with their “real” family in us and no matter how successful they are in life… it was always in the back of their minds. God is good.

I don’t think we ever forget and suddenly start inviting her to family reunions and Christmas, but I do think you forgive actions thirty years ago and let them see God through your heart. Adding love to your personal world outweighs it all.

Sunshine Weekend

Such a great weekend! So much sunshine!

Anna, Andrea, Kacie, Julie

Kathryn, Raelyn, Julie

Friday we didn't do too much. Nick was still recovering from poison ivy so I went over there and we watched the Olympics. Saturday was a total blast! Andrea had everyone over to lay by the pool! It was mainly our usual crowd of former Tech cheerleaders, me and guy friends.... most of them Aggies! I was in Heaven chilling on the float. It was just so wonderful to close my eyes and just be there in that moment. Thank God for sunshine.

Two of my dear friends got married in Tyler Saturday... I had planned to go... but with Nick's poison ivy and figuring up the costs of all my road trips... I knew all week my heart wasn't truly planning to go. I could have gone without Nick, but a car trip there and back alone seemed not too great... I wish Melisa and Stephen all the happiness in the world.

Matt had everyone over later to wish Keele and Jeff goodbye as they move to San Antonio. We watched the Cowboys game and Olympics. I think Keele and I will have our official goodbyes this week. She has been so wonderful to me since I moved here. We have been friends for twelve years now, but I will really miss not having her five miles away. I might miss her queso more though.

Today we planned to all go the lake. I was excited, but Jeromy's tire was flat this morning and the clouds tried to threaten the day! It was okay though... I chilled by my own pool! The girls went out to Lake Grapevine to watch Kacie get baptized. That warmed my heart. I met Kacie at Tech when she cheered with Jana. She is always so happy and sweet. Her, her mother and sister all got baptized together. It is so wonderful what God can do in our lives. Even at our age... wow... what a blessing.

Church was all about resting on Sunday today. I do believe I followed scripture! I did throw the football with Nick tonight... showed him some girl domination... cough cough... I'm learning the perfect spiral! I still don't feel as if I have a correct church home. I do enjoy it, but I need a HOME.

And... I need sleep... I love weekends. I love sunshine. I love life.

The Perfect Couple

I saw what some might consider a miracle yesterday. I saw what I considered a dream yesterday.

I was sitting on this bench awaiting Andrea Mayard at The Blue Goose and watching people as they strolled by in and out of the restaurant. If you fast forwarded the story too far you would know that I went to the wrong Blue Goose and everyone was downtown and I look like a total loon now just waiting, but God loves to laugh... This little old man with his cane struts out of the restaurant. He is then followed by a little old lady with her cane. I instantly fell in love with this idea. They joked a little and she told him she needed to hold his hand so she would not fall. They probably thought I was insane with this huge smile on my face staring at them. What a blessing.

It is my dream to have that one day. They were taking care of one another at a very old age. They smiled and laughed together. I stared into their lives knowing they had been through it all together. Nick and I have only been together four months, yet we've weathered many highs and lows. Right now we are weathering a great time at the river followed by his poison ivy extreme. Wow... think of what you can gain in fifty plus years! I used to look at my parents in amazement growing up at their love because it was always filled with laughter and a deepness I couldn't yet understand.

I read the list of reasons on Lindsey's newest blog about why she loves being married to her husband. It warms my heart to see such love in the world. It is the simplest of things that makes our hearts love. It is all about something from God we cannot understand.

That little couple had no idea they made my day. They give all of us hope in a world where divorce is like ordering another meal at McDonalds. I always call it window shopping for a husband. Nick says it isn't his fault I went window shopping and picked him! (And that in noooo way means he is my husband!) Seriously... when you window shop for a lifelong mate it is not returnable.... well, maybe in some cases. When we date now and throughout our young lives we need to look at each of those people sitting across from us at the table and wonder if we can see ourselves each with canes walking out of Blue Goose. If not... then it remains both a miracle and a dream waiting to happen.

River Trip

I floated down a river and survived this weekend.

Nick, Tony and I began the journey to New Braunfels Friday afternoon… There were 25 of us staying in three small homes. It was amazing! Everyone decided to float down the Comal Friday night... It was freezing as the trees hid the sunshine! On the first rapid my dry hair was gone… After the small river trip we all gathered at the house and cooked. It was a blast getting to know everyone. In our big group included Katie, a foreign exchange student from England who decided to live here… Joy, an exchange student from France who is now marrying an American… and Anna, originally from Russia! I had a great time getting to know their cultures and hearing them talk in their neat accents. They think I have a very distinct Texan accent! Joy made me laugh with her interpretations of American language. I loved it. We went down to the river at night and some people waded through the shallow waters, but I sat back on the rocks and looked at the stars. It was so peaceful and the air was filled with laughter. I cannot even put this night into words… so much excitement and so much fun. In the house I stayed in there was one bedroom, a pull out couch, a loft bedroom and two air mattresses. It was so hard to get sleep with people coming in and out all hours of the night! The morning came all too soon…

We gathered our 25 people, four coolers and jumped on the buses headed for the Guadalupe four hour trip bright and early! Now… floating in a raft with the sunshine hitting me and being surrounded by wonderful people… that’s my idea of a dream! We had such a great time! Nick and Anthony enjoyed jumping out of trees like small children and I found me a new Italian lover with Gian-Carlo. He is really from Italy! I was having fun teasing him. My favorite friend was Donna from Lamesa. Small town gal! We had fun talking about West Texas. By the end of four hours everyone was worn out. A few had too many beers so they were ready to sleep and most of the rest of us either had tube burn, sunburn or just burnout! Joy, Anna, Katie, David and I were lagging behind as we got stuck somewhere so we just enjoyed talking the last thirty minutes chilling without the big group. I almost fell asleep in my tube. I was exhausted, but it was so worth it!

After a long nap Nick and I walked to a hole in the wall Spanish restaurant. It was amazing! We enjoyed the food so much. When we got back everyone was very tired. My initial thought was to take a million photos. Nope. Everyone was tuckered out. We all just watched television and hung out in the houses. Imagine… about fifteen people in a small living area sprawled across couches and air mattresses. It was great! I tried to go to sleep early, but the boys thought it was crucial to awaken at 2 AM to watch the Olympics basketball game. We wanted to kill them. Needless to say… not much sleep that night!

Sunday was Tiffany’s baby shower in San Antonio… I was sad to leave all of my new friends, but so excited to see Tiffy. I made Nick go in and say hello to all of my friends. He didn’t enjoy walking into a sea of women, but they loved him. He left me there… we had a blast. It amazes me that Tiffany is so special and so blessed by good friends that of her eight bridesmaids in her wedding a few years ago – THEY WERE ALL THERE! Including me from Dallas and Chrissy from San Francisco! Baby Hailey Josephine will be welcomed in loving arms for sure… We played games and ate all organic food prepared by Lindsay. Awww good times.

Then Nick, Tony and I began the adventure home. A long way home… Wow… Dad and Brenda returned yesterday from their cruise so I got to hear all about their excitement as well.

Fun was had all around the country, it seems! We got in late last night with smiles upon our faces. We were sleepy, but it didn’t seem to matter. The good times, new friends and wonderful memories will keep us alive and awake with excitement. Wow… God is good.