{via}

At the close of this Memorial Day -- I'm thinking about this country that I love and the people who protect my freedom.

I'm thinking about the men and women who sign up -- knowing it's not easy, knowing it's scary, knowing they're putting their lives at risk, and knowing it's worth it because they love America.

I'm thinking about the women who let their husbands go off to war, or basic training, or another far-away duty, because they know what he is doing serves all of us. I'm thinking about the children who kneel to pray each night, hoping that their soldier mom, or sailor dad, or Marine uncle will return home to them safely.

I'm thinking about those whose hearts stop each time they hear a knock at the door -- wondering if today is the day.

I'm thinking about those who have live through that day. Who live every day missing someone, aching for someone, loving someone not by their side. Those who raise children, go on with their day to day lives, return to an empty bed each night -- because they shared the person they love with all of us.

Words could never express the gratitude I have in my heart for the members of our armed forces and their indomitable families and friends.

Thank you for your service. Thank you for the love you have for our country. Thank you for risking your life so that mine can be so wonderful.

Thank you.

“Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices.”
                                                        -President Harry S. Truman

xoxo.

The One With the Bad Haircut

I have really thick hair. I mean insanely thick. And curly.
This is what my hair looks like on a pretty normal hair day.

And I feel like Ron Swanson when I try to describe it to people...



I've never had a haircut where the stylist's first comment wasn't about either a) how thick it is, or b) how curly and thick it is.
And this is what it looks like now:



After it was fixed.
And after I covered up the seriously whacked out back part.
Not so bad, just so not what I asked for.

She did do a bang up job on the color.

But my ponytail is about 1/3 of the size it normally is. And I have pieces in the back that are two inches long. TWO INCHES.

::Sigh::

See ... I needed a trim. And I really wanted my highlights refreshed. It'd been more than 6 months since my last highlight (gasp! sorry, stylist friends). I researched salons and stylists for 3 weeks. I finally decided to try out a brand of salon I trust in a ritzy suburb here in Dallas.

And ... my hair was butchered. To the point where I cried after realizing what just happened. Even the stylist who fixed it was baffled. She looked at my mom with a wide-eyed shocked expression as she examined my hair. She did a good job fixing what she could (plus she knows about curly hair so I think I'll go back to her).

Yes, this is, admittedly, vain. But writing is also a means of catharsis for me, so this is helping me embrace my new-for-now look.

BUT on the upside I looked a bit like a short-haired (& blonde) Merida this morning when I woke up.


[here]

Curls er'rywhere.

Please, tell me I'm not the only one to suffer bad haircuts.

xoxo.

*tap tap* Is this thing still on?

{cowboyzone}

Heh. Um, hi!
This place is a little bare isn't it... well, I want to change that. I miss my little corner of the internet.

So, first things first. Howdy from Dallas! I live here now. I moved to Texas at the end of October for a new job. My benevolent dad and my brother Braden helped me pack up and drive across the country to my new city. If you're thinking of driving from Oregon to Texas any time soon just know the first half of the drive is beautiful. Then you hit New Mexico and Northwestern Texas and there's not a lot to look at besides dust. Thankfully Dallas is beautiful.

I work at the ABC station here in town and I love it. I'm in a bit of a different role than I was in back in Portland, but I'm liking the shift in focus and responsibility. And my body is REALLY enjoying sleeping at night like a normal human being. That schedule is a KILLER.

I love being close to my family. I've lived more than 2,500 miles away since I turned 18 (a full decade!), so it's great to be with them all the time.

So that's the short of the very long and drawn out story of how I got here. But I'm excited about this new adventure.

I'll pop in again soon, I promise.

xoxo. 

​Things I am feeling right now:

[Confession...I wrote most of this on Monday and I'm just getting around to posting it.]

1. Ticked at technology. I'm *still* angry Google Reader doesn't exist anymore. BlogLovin has a weird interface, Feedly doesn't let me keep record of my backlog (mine automatically updates just to stuff that's been published today..anyone else's doing that?), and Digg was supposed to come up with the most similar one...but so far I'm just confused.


Wahhhhhh, GoogleReader, no I won't love any other one as much as youuuuu!!!!

2. #1 Con't. My booth computer crapped out on my 4 times this morning. Twice the screens went completely black like the devil was taking it over. I'm so nice to work computers...I'm ticked it decided to mess with me -- ESPECIALLY on a Monday.

3. Impatient. I can't wait/am overly exited for the new Target to open up downtown so I can go window-shopping/mall-walking after work.

4. Tired. I couldn't sleep last night so say hello to the girl thats been up for more than 24 hours... I also drank my first energy drink in just about 2+ years...and remembered why I don't drink them anymore. Combined hot flashes and stomach ache are not a good look on ANYONE. (Update: I slept like the dead that night -- and after 8 hours my body woke itself up!)

5. Hesitiant. Tried the coconut conditioning treatment on The Small Things blog here...and my hair was like one giant oil slick. Kate, the author? No problems. (That's because she's perfect -- seriously, read her blog. It's awesome and lovely and she has the best hair and the coolest sister, Lauren.) Thankfully, I found several of the commenters shared my chagrin. And 4 shampoos later (3 with that gross-smelling-but-effective Neutrogena clarifying shampoo) my hair was no longer greasy. I want to try it again starting this time with the tips I garnered from several readers...but I'm still a bit nervous.



6. Joyfully content. I painted my nails this weekend as a stress reliever (truthfully it's only relaxing if they come out looking good) and I love em. White with gold sparkles. Aw yeah.

7. Excited. Pat found the best bagels in Portland and now I'm addicted. Hit up the Rescue Bagels cart if you want an authentic East-Coasty bagel that doesn't skimp on the cream cheese...or as Pat says a vehicle to get cream cheese into my body. Mmmmm.

8. Confused. I big puffy heart the bedazzled sandals of the season but because my one foot is so bony and wide at the top (thanks broken foot), I can't wear them. Even if I go up a size, or two. Target/Old Navy/Payless/Famous Footwear y u no make them in wide size?

9. Gratitude. I catch myself a lot lately being grateful. For Pat, my family, his family, my friends, my health, the health of my loved ones, my job, the sunshine, the cool breeze, more TV channels, toothpaste, cookies, Jamba Juice, lip gloss, all the little things that make my life as awesome as it is. I'm really grateful for them.

xoxo.

and the award goes to...

So there are these little tiny awards called the Emmys ...
and I FREAKIN' WON ONE!!!
See? See my pretty name on that lovely shiny statue? How cool is that?!! (I know it's totally vain, but I'm lovin' it.)

Lots of people have asked about the context of my award so I thought I'd just kinda give y'all the gist.
I received it for my newscast after the mass shooting at the Clackamas Town Center Mall up here in the Portland area.
It was such a sad day, with so many people covering so much important information, and my team did the most incredible job telling people what they needed to know about the shooting, the investigation, the victims, and what would happen in the next few days.

The stretch of days around this one were some of the roughest in my news career -- especially since the Newtown shooting happened just days afterward.

This is not, by any means, just my award. I couldn't have gotten this without incredible coworkers -- from my E.P., to my anchors, to the reporters who worked double-shifts to cover this, to my chopper pilot and photographer. Everyone won this award this weekend.

...It'll just live at my house. (A fact I'm giddy over.)

It also doesn't belong just to me because SO many people helped me get to this spot. Pat, my patient and long-suffering parents, my brothers and sister for their prayers and laughter, Erin Goff -- the best teacher I could ever ask for, and Stacey Tyler -- the woman who taught me hands-on how to be a producer, to everyone at my first station in Eugene and all the lessons they helped me (and sometimes forced me) to learn firsthand. I wouldn't be in this spot without any of them.

xoxo.