Hello–long time no see!  I know, I know.. I’ve been neglecting my blogging duties, AGAIN.  And this post has nothing to do with motherhood, KETV, or journalism.. it’s about my not-so-secret addiction.

I adore the TV show ‘So You Think You Can Dance’.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.. I know it’s on another network. Yeah, yeah, yeah, anyone who knows me will tell you I have issues WALKING most of the time, let alone attempting to dance.  But I HEART this show.  Every Friday night, after I put my baby to bed, I settle down in the living room with the dog and we watch SYTYCD (and the best part about THIS plan.. I can watch both that weeks performances AND the elimination in one sitting!  I love DVR!!!)

Last week, this season wrapped up with an INCREDIBLE finale show.. and as they do every year, the judges picked their favorite routines of the season.  Shockingly, SYTYCD never contacted me about my picks.. so HERE are my Top 10!  If you’re as addicted to this show as I am–give me your list, too!! If you’re not a fan of the show.. you might be after you check out these clips–these dancers are phenomenal!!!

#10

TIE between Caitlynn & Mitchell’s contemporary to Celine Dion, and Sonya Tayeh’s Geisha dance for the Top 10 Girls

Caitlynn & Mitchell, I LOVE this song and the gave me chills… the Geisha dance, just weird and awesome and cool

#9

The Statue Routine with Melanie & Marko

Forgot how much I liked this.. especially when the music kicks up towards the end

#8

Caitylnn & all star Ivan hip hop

I heart Ivan 🙂  SYTYCD’s Justin Timberlake

#7

Melanie & Marko hip hop, the Kiss routine

aw 🙂 I just love them

#6

Week One, featuring Season 8’s Hip Hop dancers

LOVE this dance.. I remember seeing this week 1 thinking ‘I’m so glad my show is back!!’

#5

Melanie & all star Neal, Total Eclipse of the Heart

When Melanie throws herself about 10 feet towards Neal, I literally gasped in my living room. AMAZING.

#4

Melanie’s standing ovation solo

Another ‘moment’ for me.. when she finished, I said OUT LOUD to myself, ‘Holy. Cow.’

#3

Tadd & all star Lauren, Another One Bites The Dust

Tee hee–LOVE this dance.  Tadd is AWESOME!

#2

Ricky & all star Anya, River Deep Mountain High jive

Why didn’t this routine get more love?!? I LOVE LOVE LOVED IT!! It just makes me smile–LOVE Anya so much!

AND MY #1 ROUTINE OF THE SEASON IS….

Sasha & all star Twitch, the Soggy Cornflakes routine

JUST FREAKING AWESOME.  I actually saved this episode on my DVR so I could watch this routine more than once.  Other than the Allison & Ivan contemporary of seasons past, this is my all-time FAVORITE!!!

Yeah, I need help.  Anyone know of a SYTYCD support group?  🙂

First off, welcome home to the 105 soldiers from Iowa’s 1st Battalion of the 168th Infantry after a yearlong tour in Afghanistan.   We are so thankful for your service to our country!

CLICK HERE to watch Natalie Glucklich’s INCREDIBLE story on KETV of the welcome home celebration for the 168th!

This week’s return was bittersweet for this unit, as they lost one of their own while serving overseas.  Sergeant Brent Maher was killed by a roadside bomb in April.  Sergeant Maher had ties to Honey Creek and Council Bluffs, Iowa.  Hundreds lined streets for his funeral services, and his name is now etched in stone at the Council Bluffs War Memorial, so no one forgets the sacrifice he made for our freedom.

We’ve lost so many local troops, soldiers, marines, etc.  These men and women go to battle so we won’t have to here.    They leave their families, miss milestones in their children’s lives, all so we can go about our day to day lives safe and free.  I cannot IMAGINE being apart from my husband or son for so long, and I can’t imagine what the family members of our troops go through.  So I ABSOLUTELY LOVE seeing the homecomings, reunions, and celebrations when our troops come home.

Aaron Williams, surprising his daughter in Council Bluffs

 Thanks to Chris Hicks for posting this pic to U-Local!

One of my favorite new shows is Surprise Homecoming on TLC.  It features troops coming home and surprising their children, fiances, sisters, you name it.  I. LOVE. IT.  It shows the core of all of us–pure emotion, love, joy–at the end of the day, money doesn’t matter, status doesn’t matter, all of the things we stress and worry about don’t matter.

All you need is love.  

(Thank you John Lennon and Paul McCartney)l

To all of our troops, now home or still fighting for our country,

THANK YOU.

As a kid, I remember hearing people say ‘time just goes too fast’, ‘where has the time gone?’, ‘I blink and a month has passed!’  And as a kid, I didn’t understand..  I was watching the clock, waiting for the weekend when I could sit at home in my big glasses and play Nintendo.

Maybe it’s an adult theme because we cram so much into our schedules, by choice or otherwise.  We’re parents, we work, we play, we have family events, we have appointments, we have errands to run, and to-do’s that never seem to get done.

This week, I realized I’VE blinked and my baby is now almost 6 months old.  And that I’m 30.  And that neither my friends, nor myself, are the free-spirited young ‘uns that somehow I still picture us as.

First, I picked up a card for my good friends who are celebrating their wedding anniversary this week (sorry to ruin the surprise at the mailbox, Jen—card’s in the mail!)  I was writing a message inside and realized this is their 5^th anniversary.

WAIT, WHAT?!?  That was five years ago??  Was it THAT long ago we didn’t have kids and mortgages?  That long ago we were just barely beginning our careers, some of us still in school?!?.  I think my biggest concern that day was how hot it was going to be (and it WAS hot), or how badly my shoes would hurt my feet.

Before this post sounds any more like a John Mellencamp song, I’ll get to the point; five years sounds like such a long time.. but it seems like FIVE MINUTES ago that we were all together, high school friends, celebrating a beautiful day for Jenni and Joe.

Where’s Waldo for viewers.. can you spot the two KETV reporters (one is now ‘retired’) in this picture?

So there was that.  Then, an ADORABLE update from former KETV sports-comedian and current sports talk radio host, Matt Schick and his wife Kelly on their son, Coen.  Coen is just a few months older than Easton, so I’m always eager to see what he’s doing.. it’s kind of a trailer for what I can expect in my own house three months down the road.  Coen is now CRAWLING.. and EATING CHEERIOS.. and SAYING MOMMA.

That’s huge folks, huge.   Easton already has me wrapped around his finger.. when he says the ‘M’ word, I’m a goner.

It seems like YESTERDAY (see?!? Another grown-up thought!) our little guy was just a peanut… swaddled up and in his swing, so itty-bitty in his car seat I’d put rolled up receiving blankets around him so he would feel more secure.  He is almost SIX MONTHS OLD.. eating from a spoon, reaching for toys and our faces, smiling at pretty girls, and realizing he can make noise.. LOUD noise! (I wonder where he gets THAT from.. )

Seeing Coen reminded me of how much more is in store for us.. how much more joy we have to look forward to.  And how SOON our baby will be our boy.  Our walking, talking, able-to-do-things-on-his-own-like-a-little-person-son.

I’m so excited for all of that.. but also just STUNNED.  Who’s got the remote and is holding down the fast-forward button?  I need to pause for just a second.. just to sit back and take in every moment.  Or to at least take a nap and not miss anything.  🙂

Thanks for reading!

Brandi

Thanks for coming back!  My poor, poor blog hasn’t been getting much love lately.. I’ll touch base more often-I swear!  Thanks for sticking with me 🙂

Last week, I had the great honor of visiting the NICU reunion at the Methodist Women’s Hospital in west Omaha.  Hundreds of families whose babies spent some time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit met back up with the nurses and doctors who took care of their little ones for days, weeks or months at a time.

CLICK HERE to watch our story!

First off, I WAS IN HEAVEN.  BABIES EVERYWHERE!! So much cuteness crammed into one room–it was amazing!!

Second, this experience just further solidified my appreciation for nurses and what an INCREDIBLE job they do, and how much love they bring to their patients.  These staff members treat so many patients daily, monthly, YEARLY, yet the care and compassion they had for their patients was so very clear.  One dad even told me, as his 8-month old little boy smiled and laughed at his nurse, “I think he recognizes her–he remembers her!”

I delivered my baby at Bergan Mercy Medical Center and our nurses were ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL.  They were so kind, warm and comforting every step of the way.  We kept saying “this nurse is so great–I don’t want her to go home!”  But then a new nurse would start her shift, and she was just as nice and wonderful as the last nurse!

Now at home, I am a VERY frequent caller to both my pediatrician’s office and to the nurse’s helpline, asking anything and EVERYTHING I can’t figure out about my son.  “Is he supposed to do that?  Is this OK?”  And every time, the nurses are so wonderfully patient and kind with me.

If you know a nurse, give her or him a hug and tell them how appreciated they are.  To my Aunt Jodi, to Patty and Ashley, to Kylie, to Christie, and to every other hardworking nurse out there helping your patients (and new parents!) when we need you most, THANK YOU.

Nurses are angels in comfortable shoes.  ~Author Unknown

And that someone is the ad campaign manager for Wal-Mart.  Their new commercials are HILARIOUS–I just saw the latest last night.  Here are my favorites:

“I’ve never seen that guy in my life”

“Grandpa’s gonna be so happy when he wakes up”

“This is a camping trip, not a sleeping trip!”

It’s so good to laugh–and for me, these commercials do it every time 🙂

On a side note.. and completely my opinion, and my opinion alone.. I saw during Andy’s sportscast last night that Texas was booed during Opening Ceremonies at the CWS.  Really? Really?!  Regardless of how you feel about the Big XII situation, the Texas Network, etc.. these young men and their coaches have worked extremely hard to get where they are, and they are a part of one of the biggest sports events in the country.  They deserve respect for that accomplishment.

C’mon, Omaha, we’re better than that.

RIIIIIGHT…  But if there’s a way to reference Star Wars, I’ll do it!  (By the way.. did you know the original title for the movie was REVENGE of the Jedi? Yes.. I’m a nerd..)

To those who’ve been so wonderful to me and have been reading my random ramblings here, I’m so sorry I’ve neglected this site.. and I’ll try to do a much better job.  I can’t tell you how honored I am that you check in and check out my blog!

Since my last post, I returned to work, my baby has grown so much!, and we’ve slowly started to figure out a new, wonderful routine.   It’s been great to be back at work.  I truly love what I do–I love telling stories, WRITING stories, meeting people and getting to share information with people every night.  I’m a mother, and a wife, but I’m also a journalist–and it’s so fulfilling to be able to say my “job” is doing something I enjoy so much.  Things have changed though.. my Easton is ALWAYS on my mind–I miss him terribly during the day, and he’s made me view everything differently.  I look at things as a ‘parent’–and whether it’s a story about a toy recall or a child’s injury or death, I have a completely new perspective.  For example, we had a story from Joplin, Missouri after the tornado, and the reporter described how the twister literally pulled a toddler out of her parents arms and the family still didn’t know what had happened to her.  I laid in bed that night just thinking of those people… and my heart broke for them.  I don’t think I’d be able to go on without my family.

There’ve been great moments, too–telling stories.

CLICK HERE for an exclusive look behind the scenes at TD Ameritrade Park, the new home of the College Word Series

CLICK HERE to learn about the Omaha volunteers who headed to Joplin after this spring’s massive tornado

CLICK HERE to meet Evan Sharp, an INCREDIBLE young man bravely fighting cancer, inspiring everyone around him

At home, things are WONDERFUL.  I’d often heard it before our son was born, but it’s incredible how much LOVE you can feel for someone.  Easton is growing everyday–I swear, I come home sometimes and know he got bigger since I left that afternoon!  This week, he rolled over for the first time and it was just EXHILERATING!! Every milestone, every smile, makes every moment perfect 🙂

A few notes from the ‘unsolicited advice’ files.. if you are an expectant parent, two books I can’t recommend enough:  Baby 411 and Sleeping Through The Night.  Baby 411 could also be titled Cliffs Notes For Raising a Child… it covers every category you can think of in a comprehensive, yet easy to understand way.  Sleeping Through The Night… enough said 🙂  But if you’re WEAK like me and can’t handle hearing your baby cry, it provides a good middle-of-the-road strategy to help your child sleep without sitting outside his/her room crying yourself 🙂

Thanks for your patience during my blogging sabbatical.. I hope your summer is starting off great 🙂  And ENJOY THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES!!  Best of luck to the eight teams coming to Omaha hoping to leave champions 🙂