(From front to back) My youngest brother, me, my sister and my Dad in March 2011
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there--especially my own!
I am very blessed to have a father who serves the Lord and loves his family unconditionally. He isn't perfect, but I know he strives to be the best godly father and husband that he can be--with the Lord's help.
I could give countless examples of the many ways he has expressed his love for me or made a positive impact on my life, but unfortunately I don't have time at the moment.
My dad has always been one of my biggest cheerleaders in life and I'm very thankful that no matter what, I know I will always have his love. I also have no doubt that I wouldn't be the person I am today, without my dad and his influence in my life.
My youngest brother and I have always had a special relationship. We're 14 years apart, so we pretty much skipped the whole fight-with-your-sibling drama and settled into a special kind of close bond from the start. It's more like an aunt/nephew relationship--except we live under the same roof. He's my little buddy and always will be--even when he's eventually much taller than I am.
Holidays 2010
One of my all-time favorite pictures with Isaac. It captures his personality perfectly. The picture was supposed to be a "normal" one, but Isaac decided to go for a crazy pose as Mom clicked the picture.
Christmas 2003 (now this is a flashback--braces AND the beginning phase of my crazy hair!)
A few weekends ago, my parents went out of town on a weekend getaway, so Isaac and I got to spend the whole weekend together. I thought about tons of different fun things we could do that Saturday and it took me forever to finally narrow it down.
Isaac has always enjoyed science and it's a subject we connected over early in his life. When I took biology my freshman year in college, Isaac somehow discovered my textbook and lab manual (I can't remember whether I found something interesting and showed it to him first or if he saw me studying and came over to see what was inside the book) and loved to look at them with me--at the age of 4. He would point at the pictures and say things like, "What's that?" and "How does that work?" He even begged me to help him dissect something (the dissection diagrams and pictures were some of his favorite parts of my lab manual). At the end of the school year, I sold my biology textbook but since I couldn't do anything with my marked-up lab manual, I gave it to Isaac and he kept it for years.
I thought about taking Isaac to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga since he would absolutely love it and it's something I've wanted to do as well. But practicality won out and I decided it would be best to stick closer to Knoxville. A strong chance of rain eliminated a trip to the zoo, but then I remembered another "scientific" option nearby that Isaac hadn't experienced: the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge.
Here are some snapshots of the fun we shared that day, starting with a trip to AMSE.
Writing his name in Braille
Exploring the KNEX exhibit
He wanted his picture taken on the model rocket in the Y-12/ORNL exhibit. He surprised me with how much he knew about the history of Oak Ridge. He apparently recently watched a National Geographic documentary about the Manhatten Project on Netflix with my dad.
Having fun with the interactive exhibits
Although Isaac had never been to the museum, he'd seen advertisements for it that included pictures of the "hair-raising" atom generator presentation. So when he heard that they were doing a show that afternoon, attending it definitely had to be a priority on our list. We went and listed to the explanation about how the generator works and when they called for volunteers to try it out, Isaac was first in line.
Of course, I had to do it, too. I let another woman with long hair go first to see if it made her hair static-y and crazy afterwards and when it didn't, I went for it. It was crazy! You can't really feel anything, but it really does make your hair stand on end! But oddly enough, after I pulled away from the generator, my hair flattened back nicely into its former state.
We enjoyed some Chick-fil-A for lunch and delicious frozen yogurt sundaes at Menchie's, then headed down to campus for Game Time in Tennessee. UT's athletic department chaplain, some current and former Vols and Lady Vols and dozens of local churches were involved in the free event. It started in the afternoon with a mini sports camp for kids inside the Vols indoor football practice facility. The kids could take part in football, basketball, soccer or cheerleading training sessions with actual UT athletes. We got down there toward the end so Isaac only had time for one session and he chose soccer. I was impressed with the event. They wrapped up the sports camp with some testimonies and an altar call and the main event that evening included a presentation of the Gospel, some more testimonies and a free Christian concert in Neyland Stadium. But the evening events would have made for a really long day for Isaac, so we headed home after the sports camp and wrapped up the evening after dinner by watching Megamind.
We were both worn out by the end of the day, but had a lot of fun. I know I'll cherish the memories we made for years to come. :)
It's been a crazy, but fun and exciting week to work at WBIR.
After weeks of preparation, we're broadcasting in HD!
The past few months have been a busy and sometimes stressful, but exciting season. WBIR's managers reached an agreement a few months ago with the local FOX station (WTNZ--FOX 43) to power their local newscasts. We started out just doing the half-hour 10 p.m. newscast, but that agreement expanded to a one-hour 10 p.m. newscast and a brand-new morning show from 7 a.m. - 9 a.m. along with our HD launch. The new shows necessitated the need for more people, so we've also added several new reporters, producers and photographers to the team. After experiencing the layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts of 2008 and 2009, it feels great to experience the excitement of expansion and lots of positive developments, even though all of the adjustments that come along with that have sometimes been crazy.
So needless to say, Wednesday, June 1 was a very big day at WBIR! We even had a a brief station-wide champagne toast before the first HD show. It's not often one gets to do that at work! We launched in HD, unveiled a new set, expanded a recently acquired newscast, added a completely new newscast (well, technically that was this morning not yesterday) and launched some new graphics. Any one of those changes is enough to be a big deal, but doing them all at once is almost enough to make one's head spin. But everything went about as well as could possibly be expected.
I *love* the newly-renovated set. It looks awesome! Especially in HD. (We have a standard definition TV at home and HD ones at work, so I get to experience it from both worlds.) The old set had needed an upgrade for a long time, particularly the weather center, interview set and kitchen. Our production crews, directors and managers put in *tons* of hours to get everything ready to go and their hard work paid off!
Here's a video tour our promotions crew made that includes some behind-the-scenes looks at the 5 p.m. newscast (our first in HD). See if you can find anyone you recognize. ;)
Speaking of the 5 p.m. newscast, guess who got to produce it? Yours truly!
It made the most sense to launch in HD from our new set on 10 News at Five and I'm producing that show for the next few weeks while our new producer gets settled in. My permanent home will eventually be the 6 p.m. newscast. I felt excited and humbled to be a part of the first full-length HD newscast, even though I know things ended up that way simply because of our current schedule.
I always want the newscasts I produce to look great on air, but I've never wanted a flawless show as badly as I did yesterday! I was super excited, but a little nervous. It reminded me of the way I felt the first time I produced the 5 p.m. or the 6 p.m. newscasts. Thankfully it all went well and God definitely gets all the glory for that! We were all on our A game, but any number of things still could have gone wrong that didn't.
My news director took a moment as the day got started to encourage everyone to soak up the excitement and enjoy the day, even as we dealt with all the craziness. Huge moments like this don't happen often in a journalist's career, but they are very memorable. And even now, only one day removed from the big event, I have to agree. Years from now, I think I will definitely look back on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 as one of the highlights of my time as a journalist. I already feel that way about it!
Anyway, here are a few behind-the-scenes shots, from a producer's perspective:
Our directors getting everything ready to go
And here we go! 4:57:40 p.m. began a new era for WBIR!
Michelle (our future 5 p.m. producer) and me -- the new early evening newscasts power producing pair ;)
