February, 2010

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Who was his 3rd grade teacher?

Friday, February 12th, 2010

I had to swing by the bank yesterday. I haven’t used this particular branch before, so I missed the turn.

[please try to contain your shock]

And so I had to circle around a Taco Bell [no, I didn't purchase anything though I would SWEAR I heard the cinnamon twists calling my name, but I can't be sure]. As I did, I saw an African American dude walk out of the restaurant. He looked dirty, he looked homeless, and he looked tired.

I watched as he crossed in front of me. He opened a plastic cup of sliced oranges and poured it into his mouth. Then as he walked by, he looked right at me. He stared at my eyes and I couldn’t help but begin to wonder about his life. How did he get here? Where was his mama? Where will he sleep? When will he eat again?

And who was his 3rd grade teacher?

A weird question, I know. But I looked at him and I saw his little self. I looked in his face and saw what he looked like when he sat in a desk, turned in his spelling test, and ran around on the playground.

It brought me to tears. Because I taught over 150 students in five years. And I remember all of their names [I'm kinda a freak like that]. And I bet they remember mine, cause kids always remember their teachers.

My 3rd grade teacher was Mrs. Albers. She knows how I turned out- I had lunch with her about 2 years ago. But I wonder if somewhere, that young man’s teacher sits at home tonight and is curious about him. I wonder if she pulls out that class picture and looks at each face, remembers handwritten notes and Christmas gifts, and daydreams about who her students became as adults.

Because kids don’t forget their teachers. And teachers don’t forget their kids.

I prayed for that guy there in the Taco Bell parking lot. I also prayed for my students. I prayed that they would use their minds [in which I poured knowledge, and a few jokes] to keep getting an education. That at every turn they would look to make the wise choice. That somehow they would remember my name and in some weird mindmap connection, that would remind them that they can be anything they want to be.

I hope my kids are okay. I wonder about them.

Your teachers probably wonder about you too, you know.

Who was your favorite teacher?

[And if you can, maybe now is a good time to contact that teacher and say thanks. Send a picture. Teachers love sentimental junk like that.]

Have a great weekend.

Posted in School dayz | 13 Responses »

Behind the Scenes: Big Girl TV.

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

I make jokes when I feel awkward and uncomfortable. Like now, in the blog title. Talking about the Subway Get Fit Challenge.

I’ve had more conversations, face to face, about my weight in the last 3 weeks than I ever dreamed. I’ve looked in the eyes of my friends, knowing they know THE NUMBER, and had to remind myself that they love me anyways.

But an old [Biblical] truth has again proved true: when light invades the dark, the dark is no longer so scary. So I can have these conversations and email exchanges, and watch as my weight is part of my title across the bottom of the screen, because something is slowly changing.

This private shame is becoming a public piece of art.

Or something like that. Whatever it is, I’m growing to be okay with it. Keep praying, friends. Your prayers are my courage oxygen.

Enough serious talk. Sheesh.

The best thing about being on TV [the list is long, my friends, because I don't know if you have heard, but hello I've always wanted to be on TV] is that in the same studio where we film our segments is the studio kitchen.

So.

You can imagine.

I made many recommendations to my friend Jenny (the producer) on how and why she should give me a cooking show. Or just any show in general.

Then I proceeded to take this photograph.

I think you AnnieBlogs local yokels know that look on my face. That look says “Give me time and I’ll be standing here for realz.”

That look also says, “I’ve got a plan a-brewin’.”

Be afraid, Channel 4 producer Jenny, be very afraid. :)

And since More at Midday is not online, I get really technical [yeah right] and flip-cammed my segment today. So enjoy.

Some thoughts:

1. I think Jennifer (the host) and I are going to be BFFs.

2. Why the drum-roll when they show my weight? Wrong sound effect, dudes. I would have preferred something like a “whah whah” or a tugboat horn or a slot machine. Or a crowd of gasps.

3. “I can walk just to walk”? I am nothing short of profound.

4. I like that she called me an author. Cause that makes me seem way more legit than “Annie has a lot of jobs.” Though, technically, both are true.

5. 4:37 = awkward lean in. I don’t know why I did it.

Check out the Annie Gets Fit blog today for a new post where I get possibly too honest about this whole journey.

Have a great day, y’all. I’m more grateful for you than you could ever know.

Much love.

Posted in Get Fit | 11 Responses »
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When The Night Comes

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

I haven’t told y’all about this yet, but I have a new job.

Yes, I know. I’ve had quite a collection of jobs during my time here in Nashville [book proposal pending- cause who wouldn't pay $12 to read all about my professional life?] and so to hear that I have a new one isn’t a shocker.

Since, you know, I had EIGHT at one point this fall.

EIGHT. JOBS.

Anyways, I’m down to about four. And this new one is really cool.

SUPER short summary: I work for a company here in Nashville called The Brave. The Brave is owned by Ryan Smith and Bobby Bailey (founder of Invisible Children). The UN [yep- this one] has contracted us to do a campaign to help spread the message of the importance of treated nets for malaria prevention. I’m the content writer at The Brave, so all the words that leave our office are written by me or have passed through my editorial hands.

Phew.

This campaign has two arms- a film titled When The Night Comes and then a movement/event in April [I'll tell you more about that in the future].

We premiered the film last night in Nashville and it was an amazing time. There are a handful of us that work at The Brave together, and many of our friends had not seen the film yet. I have seen it a handful of times during the editing process, but to see it on the big screen, to see the truth of malaria and the hopes for a malaria free Africa, were just gorgeous.

Sometimes, after sitting at a desk writing for hours at a time, and usually writing things like email responses and press releases and informational packets, I lose sight of what I’m really doing. Seeing the film again gave me the chance to remember the reason I sit at that desk is because someday, I want to tell my kids that I played a role in eliminating malaria from all of Africa.

The best thing about Nashville is that no event is complete without some local musicians. Seth Philpott, Rob Blackledge, and Andy Davis each did a few songs.

I’m supposed to write a lot about Rob here. Because, you see, in front of about 300 people, Rob announced into the microphone that “Annie [yep, that's me] has a blog that people read [yep, that's you] and tomorrow she’s probably going to write about this.”

Then he began to talk in a high pitched voice and pretend to type on a keyboard. He said things like, “I love Rob Blackledge. He’s so cute.”

Which is funny, except that he is MARRIED TO ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS so were I to EVER blog that, it would be deeply disturbing.

[So here you go, Rob. You played the song I requested. I blogged about you. Fair trade. :) ]

But seriously, I hope you guys will take a second to watch the trailer for When The Night Comes on the website. There’s lots of ways for you to get involved. And I’ll definitely keep blogging about it.

Because hello. That’s what I do. AnnieBlogs, remember? :)

Posted in Ze Bloggy Goodness | 15 Responses »

Your Grammy Qs.

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Sorry for the delay, bloggites. Moving ruled my life [my friends who helped me move are the bomb and I never use that term unless I am feeling very cheesy and appreciative] and now I’m in the new house. And my bed is caddy-corner. I know. Very lady-like.

Focus. I need to focus.

So I filtered through your questions about the Grammys and picked a handful of my favorites.

From Melissa:

  • Were you ever within touching distance of Beyonce? Yes. [Did I reach out and touch her? No.]
  • Who did you sit with? Lady Antebellum and Dierks Bentley.
  • Were there other not-quite-as-famous people there with celebrities? Yep. I think so. But we all had the Talent sticker, so who knows? :)

From Jill:

  • Was Blake Shelton there with Miranda Lambert? Nope. He had a show somewhere. But let me say again. Miranda is DEAR and you should buy her album.

From Kelly:

  • What after parties did you go to? EMI/Capital. And then we were zonked so we went back to the hotel and ordered room service. I had onion soup that was to die for.
  • Did you see Reba? Tragically, no. Sigh…..

From Tori:

  • Did you see the Jonas Brothers up close? Yep, they were waiting on their cars the same time we were waiting on our cars, so we all talked about music and marriage. [I actually just stood there and listened. Cause I don't have a lot to offer those particular topics.]

From Kimberly:

  • Did you get wet when Pink performed? Nope. Too far to the left.
  • Which performance did you like most? I really loved them all, truly. Pink for most interesting, Black Eyed Peas for most entertaining, Lady A for best actual performance, Lady Gaga for freaking my freak.

From my dear friend Meredith:

  • What was in the goodie bags? Doggie toys, sunglasses, fancy glass things, watches, shoes, leather bags, gift cards, candles [lots of candles], jeans, shirts, and a lot LOT of other stuff. It was like Christmas. I mean, no Christmas I’VE ever known, but Christmas at Paris Hilton’s house.

From Brooke:

  • Did you ever get close enough to touch Ryan Seacrest or Guiliana Rancic? Ryan = no. Guiliana = yes. [Again, I didn't touch her, I just *could* have.]
  • Did you going to the bathroom during the Grammys? No.
  • If so, did someone fill your seat while you were gone? Seat fillers were everywhere. Every commercial break people would leave and the Grammy folks would start yelling and fill seats. It was INSANITY during that time. While Lady A was gone, an old lady named Rose sat by me and said that if I gave her my email address, she would get me a ticket to the Oscars.

I politely declined. Cause hello. Creepy.

[And then I asked her why she threw the Heart of the Ocean overboard in the FIRST place.]

  • Did you get to meet and/or touch Carrie Underwood? Nope.
  • Did you have any Britney or Justin spottings? Britney was 2 rows in front of us for the first two songs and then she left, never to be seen again. Justin = nope. Whah.

So there you go!  Hope that gives you all the inside scoopage that one could ever want.

One finally funny story. My friend Cassie was standing beside me on the red carpet- she is taller than I and blonde. Ok? So I was going to tap her arm and tell her something.

I saw tall and blonde out of the corner of my eye, so I grabbed her arm and turned my head and said “CASSIE!”, really loudly because that’s how I talk- too loud.

But as I grabbed the arm, that was supposed to be bare because she had on a dress, I grabbed a jacket.

And instead of Cassie standing beside me, I realized that I had just grabbed and yelled in the face of AARON CARTER.

AARON CARTER.

Oops.

You’re welcome.

And for realz. The new GET FIT VIDEO is up. [Which. By the way. I got real frustrated on Sunday and almost quit. Like really. Almost quit. But I didn't. I don't know why, probably because y'all are praying. Keep it up. I'll tell you more later.]

Posted in Dreams Coming True, Nash-livin' | 20 Responses »
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That’s the night that the internet went out in Nashville.

Friday, February 5th, 2010

Reba reference? Anybody?

I’m totally going to answer [most] of your Grammy questions. So leave some more if you got ‘em. You bring the Qs, I’ll bring the As.

Sadly, I’m about 12 minutes away from losing the internet at Current House. The cable guy is meeting me tomorrow at Future House, so I have to take all the gear over there tonight.

The full move to Future House will be complete Saturday night.

And it cannot come soon enough. Because moving? In the rain? At night [It's Thursday night... oh tricky auto-posting]? With a Toyota Camry as the moving truck? It’s less than ideal.

Be back ASAP.

[By the way, there's a new video up on the Subway Get Fit Challenge page.... hope you laugh. Cause truly. I'm a dork.]

Oops. They haven’t posted it yet…. I guess check back later? I dunno…. maybe Monday. Whah whah.

Posted in Get Fit | 10 Responses »

Grammy time.

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Ok. Let’s do this.

Let’s talk Grammys.

There is no way. Absolutely no way. For me to do justice to the event. I’m not going to go hour by hour telling you all the people we saw and hung out with, the things we ate [though I am talking about that at Annie Gets Fit today] and the places we went.

But I am going to show a few pics and give out a few Gr-Annies of my own. [I will not be giving any of these Gr-Annies to the members of Lady A- they already got a Grammy. So don't think I don't love my people. Cause sheesh. I do.]

Gr-Annie for “being every bit as beautiful in real life as she is on television” = Lea Michele from Glee.

Gr-Annie for “wow the TV really, uh, makes you look great” = Kathy Griffin

Gr-Annie for “celebrity that made me laugh the most from stage” = Jack Black

Gr-Annie for “celebrity that made me laugh the most in person” = Dierks Bentley

Gr-Annie for “I hope we’re friends forever” = Miranda Lambert

Gr-Annie for “coolest person I saw up close” = Elton John

Here are some things that I absolutely loved:

  • Breakfast. Every morning, Hill and Lara and I would order room service and they had an awesome egg white wrap- spinach wrap around an egg white, black bean, and grilled chicken mix. Oh. My. Gracious. It was delicious.
  • Having a driver. Nothing wrong with not having to worry about getting lost.
  • The red carpet. I will not lie. Being there was awesome.
  • The live performances. They were amazing.
  • Lady Antebellum WINNING A GRAMMY. Y’all. We were out of control. And they so deserved it. They are pretty close to taking over the world. I hope you’re ready to bow to the Lady A.

Here are some pictures:

Here is Lady A being interviewed a few days before the Grammys. This was an interesting experience- radio and television crews were set up all over the room and musicians just were led from one media outlet to another. It was cool.

Duh. I got a talent sticker. You had to have one of these to get into the rehearsals. Don’t worry- I saved them all. Obviously.

This was at rehearsals. I wasn’t supposed to take pictures. I even got yelled at by a security guy. I’m such a rebel when it comes to what I’ll do for my blog readers.

Here is Hillary and I after the first event, MusiCares. I don’t know if you’ve heard of this organization, but it’s awesome. If a musician gets in financial trouble, or needs rehab or medical bill assistance, they can apply to MusiCares for help. I was really impressed. This is where Jack Black was the host and y’all. Every bit as funny in real life. Every bit.

Here is me and Hillary on the red carpet. I’m not really this short- she is in some serious heels and [don't tell my stylist friend Amber] I am in flats. Y’all. I just couldn’t do it again. My dogs were barking a pitiful tune by Sunday. So I broke every style rule and wore flats to the Grammys. Sorry, but I’m not sorry. It was the best decision ever.

Here are Adam and Dave on the red carpet. Adam is a dear friend and he is the video guy for Lady A. So if you’ve ever seen a Webisode Wednesday, those are all Adam’s work. He’s awesome. Dave is also a good friend and he’s in Lady A. [I have no pictures of Charles and his wife Cassie which is a tragedy of epic proportion.]

Also, because I don’t quit being me [i.e- flats], when Hillary said “Wow, your eyeshadow looks awesome,” I said, “Really? Prove it.” So I closed my eye cause, can you blame me, I wanted to see it.

I know. I’m an idiot.

And finally. I have to say. I cannot begin to thank Hillary enough. The idea that she would even invite me. It’s really so so kind. And the rest of the Lady A family. They worked hard to make me feel like I was just one of them. They are all wonderful and I’m about to get all teary and tore up about it. I could not have had more fun and I could not love them any more than I do right now.

Ok. Enough softy business.

Final thing: Do you have any questions? I feel like maybe there is some stuff y’all want to know about the Grammys. I dunno. If there is a burning question, leave it in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer in a post tomorrow.

Posted in Dreams Coming True, Sounds good to me. | 27 Responses »
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Overwhelmed.

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

I don’t know what to say.

I didn’t read the comments much during the day yesterday. But last night, around 11:30pm, I finally sat down and read them all. Every. Last. One. Of. Them.

And I don’t know what to say.

[But let's be honest. That has never stopped me before.]

Thank you. To those who commented and to those who didn’t. To those who understand because you’ve been here, you are here, or to those who don’t totally get it.

The whole time I was in LA, I kept looking at my friends and saying thank you. It felt weak. It doesn’t fully express my gratitude. Because I did NOTHING to deserve the kindness that I was shown, getting to go on that trip and experience the Grammys [which I promise I'll talk about soon].

And in the same vein, I have done NOTHING to deserve your support. But I am deeply grateful.

So thank you. I am moved beyond belief. I am challenged by your hope.

It’s really weird to talk about this. I don’t think it’s gonna get any easier. I’m learning so so much and I’m making mistakes and forming new habits. But I want you to know that every day I’m trying my hardest to make good choices and fit in exercise.

I won’t be blogging much here about this journey- it was mostly be over at Annie Gets Fit, so make sure you’ve bookmarked that or subscribed if you want to read along. Because though this is a big part of my life, it is NOT my life. My identity isn’t in my body or my blog or my high fashion sense [I hear snickering. Rude.] or in my friendships.

My identity is in the One who makes all things new.

Here at AnnieBlogs, we’re going to stick to the important topics, like how to fold things [next up, a bad hand!], what music we should be buying, how Jesus changes my life, and the fact that I am moving to a new house in Nashville in four days and I have approximately four boxes packed.

Aye carumba.

Posted in Get Fit | 10 Responses »

Exposed.

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Be ye not concerned. Tomorrow you shall receive a full, detailed, photos-included recap of my time in LA including, but not limited to, THE GRAMMYS.

[Preview: It. Was. Awesome.]

But first. Something important and serious and personal.

My weight.

Even now, my stomach hurts and I’m hating this post. In fact, I just rolled my eyes and said, “hating this post” out loud as I typed it. [Totally a Kathleen Kelly/You've Got Mail thing to do.]

But you are my people. The handful of you friends that show up here every day deserve to know what is going on. And truth be told, I feel like this is a big part of what God is doing in this next season of my life. So, here’s the story:

I saw a commercial a few weeks ago about the Subway Get Fit Challenge. Many local NBC affiliates are hosting it in their town. Including Nashville. It’s like a local Biggest Loser- 10 finalists, all weighing on TV, working out, eating right, being interviewed through the whole process. The contest ends in May.

In some stroke of insanity, I applied. They would be taking 10 finalists but hundreds would apply.

I made the top 15. And because I love you and I love God, I’m not going to repeat what I said right when I found out. Because shock makes people utter things that they normally would not utter. Forgive me.

I’m not going to go into the details of the emotional roller coaster that was the next few days. It involved telling some people. Doing an interview at Channel 4. Then waiting four days to see if I made the cut to the top 10.

I did.

And today, we aren’t going to talk about the emotional heart side of things. Bear with me. I just can’t. It’s really hard.

But, instead, I will give you some instructions. Because HELLO I AM ON TELEVISION AND IF I CAN FORGET THE WEIGHT PART I AM THRILLED.

Across the top of this page is a ANNIE GETS FIT tab (if not now, soon, I promise!). That will remain here throughout the contest. That will link you directly to my personal page on the WSMV site. There you will see some facts about me [which please, don't bring up. Seriously. I know in my head that you can all see my weight on that page, but I'm pretending like you can't. Maybe that's crazy. I don't care.] You will also see a new blog video every Friday and a new blog post once a week.

Also, here’s the main website so you can see my competitors. They are all great. For realz.

Here’s what you may want to do: subscribe to the ANNIE GETS FIT blog. Leave comments there or here or anywhere. I get ‘em all.

Also, for your viewing pleasure- HERE is the first segment that ran on Nashville TV. My friends in Nash? They are amazing.

There’s a lot to say about all of this. A whole whole lot. I’m grateful that I got picked because I’m excited about this journey. And terrified. And embarrassed. And honored. That’s a mess of emotion that we’ll unpack in the future.

But here’s the thing I need from you: just. pray. Pray I don’t quit. Pray I honor God. Pray I work hard. Pray that when this is all said and done, that no matter what the scale says, God will have received the glory. ALL the glory. This isn’t just about me. As Donald Miller says, this is a story about the forest and I am just a tree.

A chubby tree. :) For now.

[I know this post is long. Sorry. But this is a huge deal for me and I just needed to type it all out. Forgive me and check out the links. Thanks.]

Posted in Get Fit | 86 Responses »

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