ah, another sad story from today...a star athlete at chapel hill high died...and there are some questions as to how EMS handled the situation

http://chapelhill.mync.com/site/chapelhill/news%7CCommunity/story/7136/

ps you'll notice that i tossed back to the wrong anchor after my liveshot! thought it was supposed to be bill...but it was melanie whoops!

another story from the courtroom today! geez, could everyone just behave themselves...please?!

this is a pretty crazy case though...this guy pleaded guilty to 9 counts of attempted murder today stemming from an incident in 2006 where he drove into a populated area on UNC's campus...and he said he did as payback for the muslims who have died around the world. what a nutcase. thankfully, no one was hurt...check it out!

http://chapelhill.mync.com/site/chapelhill/news%7CCommunity/story/6973/man-accused-of-06-unc-pit-attack-pleads-guilty

the district attorney in orange county is seeking the death penalty against one of the guys who is accused of killing Eve Carson, UNC's student body president. here's my story on it from today:

http://orange.mync.com/site/orange/news%7CCommunity/story/6851/state-will-seek-death-penalty-against-atwater

stories from the week!

wow. did everyone watch the opening ceremonies!??so good! and i love the parade of nations...i love seeing all the different people,nationalities and costumes they pick! even though there's so much crap going on in the world, you kinda feel like everybody is on the same side during the olympics.

and here a couple of stories from this week :)

http://wake.mync.com/site/wake/ i have to say, i have never done a liveshot in someones living room before! lol we did a story at a local Chinese family's home as they were preparing to celebrate the olympics today! when you click on the link look at the "featured videos" section...and youll see the story titled "local chinese americans gear up for olympics"

http://www.mync.com/site/durham/News/story/6456/usa-baseball-plays-final-game-before-olympics from monday...the USA baseball team played in Durham in its last exhibition game before going to china for the olympics!

http://hillsborough.mync.com/site/hillsborough/news%7CCommunity/story/6751/hillsbourgh-police-start-problem-solving-team and here's a good little story about a new effort the Hillsborough PD is trying to reduce crime in a specifc area of the town...i love doing stories in hillsborough b/c the population is less than 6-thousand people! and it makes me feel good that i can find a story idea in a place that small! lol

and ps the correct pronunciation of bejing is "be-JING" not with a "zh" sound like we're so used to saying!

i found out today the New Kids of the Block cd comes out september 2nd! i am really excitied to buy it! and you know what, i dont care if they are old...jordan knight is still hot! :)

here's a story i did today...tax free shopping is this weekend in north carolina!! gotta love it!

http://durham.mync.com/site/durham/News/story/6341/shoppers-extra-thankful-for-tax-free-shopping-in-tough-economic-time

because i am always a sucker for a sweet love song! enjoy! and it's even country!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=m8Uo-hvsVHM

some stories :)

here are a couple of my strories from this week:

this one is about non-profits dealing with the tough economic times
http://raleigh.mync.com/site/raleigh/news/story/5579/non_profits_struggle_in_tough_economic_times

habitat for humanity going 'greener'

http://chapelhill.mync.com/site/chapelhill/news/story/5510/orange_co_habitat_homes_going_greener

okay, so i know im only averaging about one post every week/week and a half these days.

but i have a good reason.

freaking facebook.

lol yes, i caved in about three weeks ago and started on it...and you know what, it's amazing! i think i'm still only into it bc it's something new for me...and in a few more weeks it will have worn off.

thanks for your understanding! :)

jennifer hudson...REALLY?

talk about some serious photoshopping! have you seen the cover for jennifer hudson's new album? i mean really...it's understandable to do a little minor altering, but she looks like a size 2...which she is clearly not in real life. and she doesn't need to be because she's beautiful! it's actually sad that it was done...check out the pic for yourself.

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/realityrocks/90629/jennifer-hudsons-slim-chance

so my parents and brother are coming to visit me this weekend!! yay! it's going to be a lot of fun.

we are going to the western part of NC...i cant remember the city but it's somewhere near the mountains so it should be really nice! and hopefully the temps will be a little cooler! it's been hot in raleigh lately...and it actually rained on a few days this week which is good thing (dang drought! lol)

so i am going to see Sarah Bareilles in concert on july 27th in raleigh! really excited!! car and chrystal, i wish you girls lived near me so you could come too! i know i have posted the link to "love song" on my blog before, but to get you pumped, here it is again:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MR5xv3pt7KI

this song has 13 million views. holy cow. when one of my stories gets more than like 150 views on our website, i get really excited. lol speaking of stories, here are a couple from this week:

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-07-09-0027.html this is an interesting story about a little league baseball game

http://carrboro.mync.com/site/carrboro/news%7CCommunity/story/5082/residents_angry_over_carrboro_librarys_reduced_hours
-seriously, people are ticked about this situation at the library!

i seriuosly love watching the summer olympics...and i'm excited that they're airing on NBC so our newscasts can hopefully pull in some more viewers!

i hope everyone is having a great 4th! i did end up working today, but got done a little early so i hung out with jackie at her place and had some good food and company.

this weekend, i need to start getting serious about finding a new place to live when my lease is up here. i love where i live now, but i'm paying almost 900 bucks a month...for a one bedroom! really?!?! that's a little ridiculous! granted it's in a nice area and has nice ammenities but it's too much money. i also recently found out while doing a story chapel hill is the second most expensive city to live in North Carolina...nice. glad i live there! lol (ps, i'm not sure what the number on place is...apparently i wasn't being a very good reporter when i did the story or i would have asked that!)

here is my story from yesterday...the state's newest mental hospital is set to open...of course, it hasnt come without some controversy! that's why we cover these things lol

http://www.nbc17.com/content/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-07-03-0020.html

new info was released in some search warrants in the eve carson investigation today...so sad

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-06-27-0002.html

i will do a real post this weekend!

song of the week!

i'm not gonna lie...i'm lovin' the song by New Kids on the Block...SUMMERTIME!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=25qiZy7vmqY

ah, maybe they should change their name to Old Guys on the Block...jordan knight still looks cute though!

story!

check it out :

http://hillsborough.mync.com/site/hillsborough/news/story/4095/hog_day_goes_trash_free

i love this story i got to do today! this family is awesome...it's a follow up to a story i did in may

http://chapelhill.mync.com/site/chapelhill/news/story/3967/hillsborough_family_thanks_church_for_overwhelming_support

story

never fear, all...i have a story for you on how to save money on your AC bill! lol

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-06-17-0025.html

story!

http://chapelhill.mync.com/site/chapelhill/news/story/3817/council_rescinds_health_benefits_ordinance

song for the week!

here it is...enjoy!! :)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1wfv3lJs5qE

i was watching some of NBC's coverage of Tim Russert's death yesterday and thought they did a great job. they had Tom Brokaw anchoring a one hour special on it...it was great. i didnt get to see it, but this morning Matt Laurer came in for Weekend Today and headed up a special...and Lester Holt was not even involved. i'm not sure how that happend...Lester Holt is an amazing anchor and reporter...the man is just unflappable, i have never seen him get caught off guard...it's amazing. I prefer him by far to Lauer.

this made me think of who my favorite anchors/reporters are on the networks:

-Lester Holt, NBC
-Shepard Smith, FOX News
-Ann Curry, NBC
-Keith Morrison (phenomenal reporter...when his stories are on, i seriously lose track of time...he's that good!)
-Tom Costello, NBC
-Laurie Dhue FOX News (she's actually not there anymore though)
-Steve Hartman (you've probably seen this story before....it's amazing http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ek1iIOTsiRo)

tim russert

i cannot believe tim russert died today

i have worked on this story for the last 4 days...finally got it done today! not the most visually compelling story in the world, but it was a good story that i am proud of.

http://chapelhill.mync.com/site/chapelhill/news/story/3678/residents_question_councils_health_benefits_decision

i think i have played more basketball in the last week then in the last month. lol i played on friday for 2 hours with a few cops i know and some other random people...i was pretty exhuasted and sore after that!

then yesterday, i played for 2 hours again at UNC's Woollen gym. i did not realize i was capable of sweating as much as i did. lol

first of all, Woollen is an older gym and there is NO AIR CONDITIONING. add on top of that the fact that it was 100+ degrees out and, well, you get the picture. a couple of the guys that were playing went through 2 t-shirts because their shirts were literally dripping with sweat. ick. and the competition and pace of the game was really intense...we did not stop for two hours. i've never heard of this method before, but they rotate subs every 6 points (play by 1's and 2's) and i'm telling you, sometimes when you're out, you're not sitting for that long...depending on how fast one of the teams scores six points. some of these guys were athletic and fast so the competition was good.

i played okay...scored my fair share of points, but missesd some easy ones that i usually never miss.

as a girl, it's good to play with the guys because it makes you better...at the same time, they sweat a lot more than girls....and i really don't like having to guard them and touch their sweaty t-shirts...but what's even worse is when they're not wearing one at all. so gross!

i try to just deal with it though.

after all, i wouldn't want one of them telling me i play like a girl ;)

here's your song for the week! (don't worry, it's not a boy band this week...but trust me, i've got plenty more where that came from! lol)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cemUH5negGE

for the last 5 days we have hit 100 degrees or higher. this is ridiculous! i thought i moved out of south florida and wouldnt have to deal with that anymore! my dad said it was in the high 80's today...in south FLORIDA! how is it hotter in north carolina?!

a good idea for me today would have been to workout inside...in a nice air conditioned gym.

but what did i do instead?

went for a run outside.

here's the thing...i went at 6:30 pm...it should be a little less hot...and it wasn't. i ran on UNC's campus in the shade and it was still brutal. talk about working up a sweat! lol

mom also came in for the weekend...we had a great time! lots of shopping, cooking and good conversation. that's what mom's are for!! :)

oh my gosh, today's high is 101 degrees.

we have been at 98 or above for the last couple days.

guess who decided to wear a black shirt today?

yeah, i know.

i make brilliant decisions sometimes. lol

a funny email from o:ne of the girls i play basketball with:

"Hi All, Just wanted to let you know that our game this week is at 6:30pm. We play "Team Talisha" otherwise known as "NC State 2002". Should be fun! Maybe we can get them to call TWO time outs this game! Hope to see you all there. Kim"

so we play in this rec league and there are about 10 teams in it. there is one team made up entirely off former NC State women's basketball players...the entire team!! lol i missed the game last time we played them, but we apparently only lost by like 20...which sounds horrible, but really isnt considering how good they are!

i mean, shouldnt that be illegal to have a whole team made up of former Division one players in a freakin rec league?! geez.

then again, this is the same league where the refs yell at you for wearing bobby pins in your hair.

don't EVEN get me started on that.

for those of you not in the news business, this is what you are missing out on.

i have been sitting in a meeting since 9:30...it's now 11:30. the issue that i'm doing a story on has already been talked about and ended about 45 minutes ago. problem is, i have to wait until they take a break to get interviews with people i need because i cant pull people out of this meeting.

sometimes, you can get interviews before the meeting starts so you dont have to wait....unfortunately, that was not possible for today.

awesome.

thankfully, there are days that are much more exciting then this :)

so i am at Panera having lunch and doing some internet work before i have to go cover a story later tonight...ya know how when you place your order they ask you your name and when your order's ready they call your name out?

well the guy asked me my name and i told him lauren and he goes, lauren is a really colmmon name. i said, you know, i've had people tell me that before but i don't know any other lauren's. he goes, well they all come to Panera.

made me laugh ;)

what a mess!

a pretty big storm hit part of orange county last night in hillsborough...which is about 20 mins from chapel hill. today everyone was trying to clean up the mess. some of the trees that were uprooted were huge!


http://orange.mync.com/site/orange/news/story/3114/uprooted_trees_damage_left_after_hillsborough_storm

here's your song for the week below. warning: you may want to kill yourself after listening to it! haha!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NHuGG_FsC20

i heard this on the radio for the first time in about 8 years today. i remember this song from about 10th grade...i used to love these boys! they were, like, so totally cute!! lol

all right ladies, who was your favorite in this group? mine was the lead singer! basically, they were the not as cool as NSYNC group. they were in about 4th place. ya know, it was NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, 98 degrees and then this group.

do you have any idea how many girls would go crazy if NSYNC and backstreet boys got back together and started touring with their old songs again?! you'd see a bunch of us 25 year old girls at their concerts who used to love them when we were 14! lol personally, i was an NSYNC girl, but i pretty much had all the boy band CD's out there...and i'm not embarassed to say so!

here's a bonus song...in case you didn't get enough LFO from the first one! ;)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=N9VibhKQCyw&feature=related

HOOPS AND YO YO!

oh my gosh, hoops and yo yo are so funny!!!! lol my aunt sue and aunt eileen introduced me to them a few months ago...i had never heard of them before but they're hallmark brand thing.

hilarious! their voices are what makes it even funnier! here is a link to some of their skits! i love the one that says "asking to go out and play", and "how to wash your hands"! however, they are all really funny!

http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/article%7C10001%7C10051%7C/HallmarkSite/hoops_yoyohome/HOOPS_YOYO_MANNERS

and here's one my aunt sent me in a card...they are talking about gas prices in this one:

http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/article%7C10001%7C10051%7C/HallmarkSite/hoops_yoyohome/HOOPS_YOYO_HOME_PAGE?landingPage=hoopsandyoyo&hostName=www.hoopsandyoyo.com

one thing (among many things) that i can't stand about national media is the fact that many of the anchors and reporters like to chim in with their little opinions about the news they're reporting on.

it's not necessary...just tell me what happend...don't spin the information to push an agenda...i don't care what you think about the issue. tell me the facts and i'll make my own decision.

some of you may know that i really don't like to cook that much...it's not that i don't like the outcome of cooking, i think it's just kind of a pain. lol it was great when aimee and i lived together in college because she LOVES to cook and i really don't...so she would make dinner and i would clean up. fair trade, right?

tonight though, i did actually make something! this was so monumentous, it warranted me sending an e-mail to my mom about it. here is the exchange:

me: mom i made a *real* dinner tonight! chicken with some seasoned rice!! it was good! arent you proud of me?!? lol LOVE YOU!

mom: yes I'm very proud!!! just add a little veggie something and fruit and you've got all the food groups-wash it down with some milk...yummmm
Love you

aw, mom is so cute!! :)

story!

this guy lost both his legs and his arm while in Iraq...and he has such a great attitude. i'm sure he has his moments, but it's still good to see...and he and has wife now have a free home

http://www.nbc17.com/content/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-30-0014.html

a funny text i got from one of my friends at 3:15 a.m. today (yes, in the morning...she is up that early because she has kids and apparently gets up around 3:30 every morning!!)

"Hello, Lauren. It's God. You up?"

the reason this is funny is because i have been working as the morning reporter yesterday and today. that means getting up at 2 in the morning to be at the station by 3. exhausted does not begin to describe it!

i was supposed to have a bball game last night at 6:30 p.m. but said i probably wouldnt be there because i had to be at work at 3 a.m. the next day and would need to get to sleep early. in my e-mail i said "even God is not up that early."

nice of the Man Upstairs to check in on me this morning, huh? lol

after all, he's a pretty busy guy!

has he lost is dang mind?!?! lol

here is the link to a blog about the guy who is running across NC in 18 days (i did a story on him earlier this week) this blog tracks his progress with text and picture updates. it's really good.

his run started on tuesday and he has run 40+ miles each DAY!!! honestly, he's out of his mind (like i said in my story lol):

http://runnc2008.ning.com/

but it's for a good cause!

what?!

CLAY AIKEN GOT SOMEONE PREGNANT!

technically, it was artificial insemination...thank goodness!!! lol

http://www.tmz.com/2008/05/29/clay-aiken-impregnates-someone/

a story :)

gas prices hit 4 bucks in chapel hill!

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-29-0003.html

this guy is running 750 miles across North Carolina to raise money for the American Cancer Society...enjoy the story!

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-27-0011.html

incase the above link doesn't work, click this one: http://orange.mync.com/site/orange/news/story/2885/chapel_hill_man_to_run_744_miles_in_18_days

you all know i am obsessed with my baby cousin, nola, so i have more pictures to show you. i seriously don't think i'm being biased when i say she is the cutest baby on the planet! look at her face!! SO CUTE! she is going to be DROP DEAD BEAUTIFUL when she gets older! i can't wait! :)

showing the cat some love...that cat better not be scratching her pretty face!

see? the boys are calling her already! lol

having fun in the wind with dad!

can you believe how long her legs are already?! lol i think she's going to be tall! a girl after my own heart! ;)

having fun in the wind with dad...part 2!

how much do i love this child?!

What a wonderful story!

i think this is my favorite story that i've ever done...these people are seriously awesome!

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-26-0010.html

here is your motivational song for the week! it's by john mellencamp...i love how this video ends!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9gCH1RYWlE4

i feel like certain things in life just don't need to be improved.

for example, candy bars do not need be fried (hello, North Carolina state fair!) . they are delicious enough on their own!

i also don't think it's really that necessary that the makers of shampoo bottels, body washes and perfumes get all clever with what they're writing on the back of those bottles.

let me show you what is written on the back of a Victoria's Secret pefume that i have called Pure Seduction:

"You'll imagine you're standing in a lush garden of sensual fragrance with out silkening body splash. it lightly moisturizes and soothes skin after the shower or bath, or anytime you want the enticing scent of pure seduction."

did anyone just laugh out loud reading that? lol i did! the stuff does small amazing...and i love it. it does not, however, make me feel like i'm standing in a lush garden of sensual fragrance. lol

a simple, "this stuff smells good" would suffice. then again, if it's from freakin Victoria's Secret...well, only they would call a perfume called "pure seduction." lol

i have one more example...and even though this one is pointless too, i think it's actually funny. i bought a new bottle of herbal essences shampoo today and they have begun writing little fun facts on the back of the bottles...they are called "herbal head games."

here's the one written on the bottle i got:

Question: "what word, when mouthed, looks like 'i love you?'"
Answer: Colorful.

did i test this by mouthing the word "colorful" while looking in a mirror. absolutely.

lots of other shampoo companies have starting doing fun stuff like this too. is it necessary? no. kinda does make it a lot more fun though!

sigh.

i guess there IS something to be said about a fried candy bar after all!

first off, CONGRATULATIONS, AIMEE!!! she and adam got engaged last night!!! YAY!!! for those of you who don't know, aimee is my best friend since we were juniors in high school...went to UF, lived together and have done everything together until i moved away to WV in 2005 and now to NC. it would be awesome to live near each other again...basically, she and i are the exact same person. lol so yes, she is amazing ;) they'll be getting married on June 20th, 2009. i know, a june wedding in florida is going to be unbelieveably hot!! i cannot wait though! i know i will cry!! isn't it sad that my best friend doesn't even read my blog?!?!?! I KNOW! lol i think she has once or twice...she probably won't even see that i just wrote a paragraph about this. thanks, aim!!!

anyway...

what a fun time last night!! me, jackie and one of her friends who was in town for the weekend from L.A., courtney, made the rounds in downtown raleigh ..so fun! we danced our little butts off all night! it worked out well too because we paid 5 bucks to get into this one place called High 5, but that 5 dollars also pays your way into the Bogart's and the Red Room. gotta love that! here's the review: High Five, good music, good crowd. Red Room, crappy music and we pretty much the only people under 30 there (don't read into that...i'm not saying 30 is old! lol jackie would kill me...she's turning 29 this year. lol ) we gave red room the 3 strikes rule...once there's three bad songs in a row, you leave...which we did. so we were there for about a grand total of 15 minutes. Bogarts was fun...also good music and good crowd. i'm irritated that i paid 10 dollars for a martini last night...granted it was the only drink i had the whole night, but that's a rip off!

all in all, i give the night a 9.5 on a scale of 10! (my shoes were kinda hurting my feet after a while so i had to take some points off for that!). now, i will have to take a few weekends off from the going out excitement...lol it's kind of sensory overload for me and i can't handle it!

This is kinda cool! found this article below...

Raleigh ranked 2nd best city in country


Raleigh, N.C. — Raleigh will be ranked second in June when Kiplinger releases its list of the 25 top best cities to live in the United States.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine evaluated 167 metropolitan areas by a standard editor Bob Cook described as unique: "How is this city going to benefit you financially?"
Houston, Texas, beat out Raleigh according to that standard. Omaha, Neb.; Boise, Idaho; and Colorado Springs, Colo., round out the top five cities.

Part of a city's ranking was determined by its population of members of the "creative class" – such as scientists, engineers, artists, writers and teachers – Cook said in a podcast on Kiplinger's Web site. The magazine believes that type of person helps a city to prosper economically as well as culturally, Cook explained.

The top 25 cities will also be broken down into the locations best for those in different life stages: young singles, mid-career professionals, married with children, empty nesters and retirees.
Whatever your life stage, you can benefit from knowing more about the city where you live, Cook said.

"If you chose the right place, you're going to be happy and successful," he said in the podcast.
The rankings will be the cover story in the June 10 edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine.

yick!

my nomination for the world's least important fruit?

cantalope. eck.

the only reason cantalope gets put in fruit salad is because it's cheap...of COURSE the good stuff like the kiwi, pineapple and grapes hardly make it in there at all because they're more expensive.

i bought a fruit salad this morning and as to be expected it was overflowing with nasty cantalope and hardly had any of the fruit i like. i think i'm in the wrong field.

i should be working as a fruit salad maker...if i did, i would ban all cantalope.

and the world would be a better place for it! :)

ah, i am off today! i ended up working this past sunday so today is my comp day!

i'm going to grab lunch with a few people and then try and track down a new place to live when my lease is up here. i love where i live right now, but it's a rip off. almost 900 bucks a month for a on bedroom! granted, it's in a very nice area and the ammenities are very good but still...i really want a two bedroom. it would be really great to have an extra room.

i think my lease is up in october, so i have a little bit of time...but it's never as much as you think!

pop up video!

so could you hear the jingle when you read the title of this post? lol i could!

does it get much better than VH1 Pop Up Video?

i don't think so.

they were running some old school pop up videos on classic vh1 today and i'll be honest, i could have sat there all night watching them. lol it havent seen one of those in years so i was pretty excited about it! there are only about 2 other shows i could spend hours watching:

1. America's Next Top Model...i know, completely lame of me to like this show, but i can't help it! and mtv usually runs marathons on the weekends so i can catch a few episodes.

2. Law and Order...but only SVU because I love Olivia and Elliot...they are my favorite detectives...and i also want them to get married!! they are perfect for each other! don't they see that?!?! although, they are both a little too on the serious side...one of them needs to lighten up a little so they can balance each other out.

maybe in the series finale one day the writers will make them get married...that would be a great ending!

ugh, speaking of endings...remember back in the day the final episode of Dawson's Creek? when Joey and Pacy ended up together?! so mad about that! (for those of you who don't know...Joey is a girl...just so there is no confusion there! lol) Joey should have ended up with Dawson...those two were made for each other!

and now that i'm done analyzing ficticious relationships, let me know if you'd like my assistance in real life, ok? :)

not a great story for the North Carolina Highway Patrol...

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-20-0005.html

since sunday, a 3 year old boy has been missing from our area. early this morning, police found him unharmed. police are doing a presser at 11 a.m. to talk about the details...rumor has it the mother may be involved. hm. we'll see. someone posted a comment on the story on the website asking why God lets terrible things like this happen. i would like to post the response someone posted to it:

"God does not orchestrate evil, we as sinners do. God does not test or trial or indeed orchestrate evil. The adversary lives in this world, and it is he who does this. Thought: If it were indeed God who put us through trials and tests, who would we pray to to get us out of them? Temptations are the tool of the adversary, not God...and until the churches teach this right, we're praying into air for deliverance cause we're praying for the wrong thing. Praising God this child has been found. I pray that he is healthy and well. God bless. Rev. RB"

this guy nailed it 100 percent.

wow

oh. my.gosh. there is actually a drink in existence with more than 100 grams of FAT!! i would qualify it more as a milkshake then drink, but still! i mean, don't get me wrong, i'm sure it's amazing, but COME ON people...America does not need a drink with 100 grams of fat in it! lol

check out the list of the unhealthiest drinks:

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/5027/americas-unhealthiest-drinks-exposed/

sorry, another sad story today....an insurance auditor was killed by the owner of an agency she was investigating

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-19-0014.html

from foxnews.com today about the 7.9 earthquake that hit china last week:

"In the disaster zone, efforts appeared to shift Sunday from searching for buried survivors to clearing corpses from shattered buildings as the government said the confirmed death toll rose to 32,476. Another 220,109 people suffered injuries, according to a statement from the State Council. The government has said it expects the final death toll will surpass 50,000."

i literally cannot wrap my mind around this

this is sad! be careful if you are running outside with lots of traffic around

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-16-0021.html

gas prices and pawn shops...check it out :)

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-15-0022.html

Jewel

i'll be the first to tell you that i am totally not one of those feminist women...however, i really love this new song by Jewel. i think it's very sweet and this video is really good...she looks super gorgeous too!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6EPyWfrqwXc

i'm a little confused...

is it mid-may or november? it's about 50-55 degrees outside today.

global warming. hm.

lol

i am actually home in florida right now...getting ready to leave for the airport to head back to north carolina.

i went home this past weekend...flew in saturday and leaving today. mother's day and my birthday both falling on sunday seemed like a good occassion to be home for a couple days :)

we went to go see Riverdance at the Kravis Center in downtown west palm beach last night. it was...good. don't get me wrong, i could never do what any of them were doing, but it kinda felt like we had the B team performing, know what i mean? it seemed like they were missing a few of their starting players or something the second part of the show was better than the first...apparently they're a second half team (like how i just related dancing to basketball three separate times? lol hey, you can take the girl out of basketball...) overall....i give it a C plus...maybe a B minus, if i'm feeling generous. it was still fun to be with the family and we had pretty good seats too.

i must have forgotten how HOT florida is when it gets near summer! i mean, this is ridiculous! you walk outside and feel like you just hit a freaking brick wall! i must have become partially nothern-ized after living in WV for a few years. NC apparently gets just as hot as FL in the summer, but it only stays that way for a few months. in Florida, it will be hot now until the end of november. how did i manage to live here almost my entire life?!?!? lol

all right, we're about to head to the airport...back to the Triangle i go! (and for those of you who don't know, the raleigh-durhma-chapel hill area is referred to as the Triangle)

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-08-0001.html

new president elected at UNC today

hm. glad that thought this one out so carefully....lol

"Mariah Carey, 38, married her boyfriend of one month, 27-year-old actor Nick Cannon, on Wednesday, according to reports"

i ended up working today...here's the story. last day of one stop voting before NC's primaries on Tuesday....it should be pretty big!

http://www.nbc17.com/content/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-03-0004.html

a couple stories

http://www.nbc17.com/content/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-01-0012.html

http://www.nbc17.com/content/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-01-0022.html

okay i promise this is my last eve carson post for a long time... i actually meant to post this video on monday when i was writing about her but i forgot...so technically, this does not count as a separate post...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s0JT9_Jzbo&NR=1

this is her welcoming UNC students back to campus after summer break. from :01-:08 you'll see some tall looking boards that have been painted on over her right shoulder (screen left) with campus annoucement messages.

know what's freaky about this?

those are the exact same boards that people painted over to write their goodbye messages to her after she was murdered....and they are right behind her in this video. gives me the chills.

ah, i just remembered i'm covering a hearing on monday as to whether the DA will pursue the death penalty for the suspects...*that* will be my last eve carson post for a while.

i found out today that grocery shopping on a Monday night is a fantastic idea. there were about 8 people at the store...it was awesome.

i also found out that grocery shopping when you're hungry is NEVER a fantastic idea! okay, i didn't really buy junk food or anything, but i bought a whole pineapple. lol who goes out an buys an entire pineapple for themselves?! seriously... i'm not going to eat an entire pineapple on my own!! (and how many times do you think i can use the word pineapple in one post?! haha)

hm, it sure looked good at the time though! yum ;)

do you ever have one of those moments where you laugh out loud in public...and you're by yourself? (okay, maybe that's just me!) anyway, i had one of those today. i was texting a friend of mine about how one of me cell phone's was broken (it fell off a shelf after i hit it...not kidding). i wrote something to the effect of "yeah, that's why they call me smooth." he texted me back, "right...like a bull in a china shop." i'm not sure why, but i found that pretty hilarious and definitely had one of those laugh out loud moments by yourself with lots of people around.

let me sum it up for you:

Awk-ward! lol

here is another short video tribute to eve carson i just found...it's only about :55 so it's short (My favorite picture is at :35).

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YEQ3y_hLVXU&feature=related

i can't believe it's already been almost 2 months since this happend.

i was off today so i didn't cover this, but a local newspaper filed a court order to have some of the search warrants in the case unsealed. there are about 5 search warrants that police have kept sealed...of course, if they get unsealed they will then be public record. the newspaper says the public has the right to know (by public, the only thing the really care about is media...just in case you couldn't see right through that one). the DA said today that there is some info in those warrants that came from confidential sources that have been talking to police...and that the informants have already been threatened by people that if more info on the case comes out, they'll get hurt. DA wants the warrants to be sealed for 60 more days..police are still doing interviews so this is still a very active investigation.

on the 5th, there's a hearing that i'll be covering where the DA will file to have this case be a death penalty case for one of the accused, demario atwater. it's been a very long time since NC has had a death penalty case so we'll see what happens.

even now, i still think about eve carson all the time...everytime i see that memorial board on campus (it's now been painted over) and everytime i hear someone talking about the sky being carolina blue. i wonder a lot how her mom and dad are doing...i can't even wrap my mind around how they must be feeling.

when i covered her memorial service at UNC, they handed out some cards (basically programs) that had list of speakers on the inside and a picture of her on the front standing in front of the Old Well on campus with a huge smile on her face. i ended up taking on of the cards home with me and setting on my bookshelf...didn't really intend to keep it there.

but ya know what...i just can't seem to bring myself to throw it out.

i am in love with the fact that one of my good friends from college e-mailed me and 4 of our best girl friends from college to plan a weekend for all of us to get together! all of us havent been together at the same time in three years...we went on a trip to myrtle beach after we graduated from UF and i would honestly put that trip in my top 10 favorite moments of my entire life.

it's been hard to stay in touch since graduation...we're all living in different places, some married, some not, so everyone's kind of in different phases of their lives. and there's just something about your girl friends you've known since college or high school. they "get" you because they grew up with you and have known you throughout so many phases of your life.

i will probably start crying to see everyone all together...ah, my eyes are watering just thinking about it! lol

and you know what...i could care less where we end up going for this trip. as long as everyone's together, i'd sleep in a freaking tent under a bridge (and you all know i'm a girly little princess sometimes so for me to say that and mean it, is pretty impressive!)

here's the e-mail lindzee sent out...


Hello Lovely Ladies--

So Erik and I were once again talking last night on where we think we will be after I graduate in two months (WOO HOO), and we still do not feel like we have a clear idea on where God wants us. And then I was thinking, "Oh how I would love to live near my best friends," but yet again, we are all in so many different geographic areas and different phases of our lives, that it would be hard at this moment to do that as well. Unless you all want to be crazy and move somewhere totally different this year (NY, NC, Boston, etc) then we are up for that?!?.
But then I started reminiscing on old times that we used to have, and the good times we share when we are together, and I thought, "why in the world have I not seen these girls in SO LONG?" And that needs to change!!! So I am not proposing a Friends Weekend (which needs to happen as well), but I am proposing a GIRLS WEEKEND.
So come on girls, give me some ideas and we can all save our dollars and make this happen. A cruise, a trip to the mountains, a trip to NY, a trip across the world! Brainstorm and lets make it happen. I MISS YOU ALL! And trust me, I need my girlfriends in my life, you guys make up such a big part of me.

I love you girls! Thanks for making me a better person by being in my life. And let me know what is going on in your lives and what I can be in prayer for?!?

Love
Lindz

story from today...

http://www.nbc17.com/content/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-04-25-0013.html

pockets in basketball shorts?!?

i had a baskektball game tonight (and we won by about 25!) and i was wearing some new bball shorts i bought about a week ago. and for the first time tonight (during the game) i noticed these athletic shorts had pockets in them.

i find this very strange.

granted, they were men's shorts i was wearing, but what man has ever had keys or a wallet in his pockets while he's running, playing basketball, etc...

i may have been thinking about this too much. i can remember at least 4 or 5 times during the game when i thought about it.

maybe i should get a life!! lol ;)

stop the presses!!!!

Bret Michaels will be in Raleigh tonight!!! OMG!!!

lol

i'm actually kidding with that reaction...a lot of girls around here are really excited about it though. lol he's going to be at some bar called High 5 which is downtown.

hmmm...

maybe he is recruting for his next show...Rock of Love 3: Bret-Wants-A-Girl-Who-Doesn't- Look-Like-A-Stripper-Or-Prostitute.

um, doubt it!! i don't think bret michaels is exactly on the look out for nice girls...lol

i've been slacking on posting my stories..here's from today. bill clinton came to the area so i was at that...it's always pretty cool to cover these political campain rally's, whether you like the person or not. i should rephrase, it's interesting to cover the rally's one or two times...after that, they get really old really fast (much in part because the politicians are NEVER on time). bill showed up more than an hour late...and it was his FIRST stop! no excuse for being late to the first place you're visiting for the day...especially when it's not scheduled until 1:45 pm! granted, i know he was in Pennsylvania last night for their election, but still. can't his "people" get him there on time? apparently...no. lol

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-04-23-0023.html

ask me how bad i want to visit this!!

http://www.newseum.org/

it's called the Newseum and it just opened in Washington DC on April 11. basically, it's anything and everything related to media and journalism. i would love to be there!

you may have heard about this already...red heads will be extinct within the next 100 years:

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/220229/

how do i feel about this? DEVASTATED. hmm...maybe one day after i die someone will put me in a museum with a few other red heads...then when people go visit the museum they can look at us and say to each other, "i can't believe there used to be people with THAT color hair...so strange" (and they have no souls! sorry...couldn't resist a south park reference there! lol)

i'll admit that i'm always a sucker for the latest pop "top 40" type song...however, i think this might be the best song ever made...they dont make 'em like this anymore and his voice is incredible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrT0gAbRqyw

i always forget how much i love this song, but i heard in the store today for the first time in a long time.

this song alone makes me want to visit memphis

pizza and mariah

there's just something about cold, leftover pizza that i love. i don't know why either because i used to HATE it. isn't that weird how certain foods you hated a few years ago you can just randomly start loving? how does that happen? lol

it's been a while since i actually bought a CD, but today i bought the new mariah carey CD, E=MC2. (what does that title mean?). it was funny because when the cashier saw me put it down to buy it, she goes everyone has been buying this cd...and i now know why: it's really, really good! it's amazing though how much her style of music has changed within the last 10 years. i have to say, i think i might like her old school music the best...ya know, fantasy, emotions, dreamlover, vision of love...the REAL good stuff. and she was more reserved and tasteful back then which i really appreciate. either way, her new cd is very catchy so i'm sure the sales will be huge for the first week of its release.

a blog entry from Frank Graff (one of our reporters) who was in DC covering the pope...this is so awesome!! i wish i was there!


"Some quick notes at the end of the papal mass:

I didn’t see a dry eye anywhere around when Placido Domingo sang Panis Angelicus. When he finished singing he knelt in front of the Pope.

The roar of the crowd was amazing when the Popemobile entered and circled the stadium. If it was during a baseball game, the way the cheers circled the stadium in front of the Pope, you’d think people were doing the wave.

The procession with the Pope entered the stadium for the mass from the Nationals dugout. I keptwanting to hear the announcer say: “now batting…”

Heard from a teenager as she left… “I’m on such a God and Jesus high right now”

There aren’t enough adjectives to describe how people told me they felt after the Mass.
Awesome, incredible, amazing, uplifted, blessed, don’t the do justice to what you saw on people’s faces.

The lines at the souvenir stands were longer than the lines for the bathroom.
Best sellers: rosaries, pope t-shirts, photos of the pope. Nobody is buying the black, property of Benedict XVI athletic look alike shirts.

The guy standing next to me brought a disposable camera. You heard a loud click when he snapped the photo, then the grinding crank sound when he wound the camera to the next shot. You just don’t hear that anymore.

I’m a lector at my parish. I also sing in the choir. As I was watching and listening to the people read and sing during the mass, I can’t imagine how nervous they were, but they did great.
Frank Graff — April 17, 2008?"

the pope!

one last quick post...about the pope!

one our veteran reporters, frank graff, was the lucky one to get sent to dc to cover the pope's visit. i'm extremely jealous! he is also blogging about it and his blog is awesome.

frank is an amazing reporter...story teller, really...he should be at the networks somewhere. ill put it this way, if by the end of my career i could had half as good as him, that would be quite an accomplishment.

his blogging is really good and interesting too so you should check it out:

http://blogs.wncn.info/pope/

check out these gorgeous flowers i shot some video of today! this is on UNC's campus near the Old Well. lots of people were just randomly coming over to take pictures because it was so pretty!

http://orange.mync.com/site/orange/news/story/1221/spring_in_bloom_at_unc

remember this? she was so sweet...and i wont lie...i have about 4 of her cd's! (probably shouldn't be admiting that, should i? haha)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eNgXcenGjTo

ya know, for someone who's never owned a pet (yeah, i'm not counting the bird and goldfish i had when i was about 11...and i wont even get into the trauma is caused me to find my little bird, Sam, lying on the bottom of his bird cage one morning! :(

i sure do a lot of stories that involve animals....lol go figure!

http://orange.mync.com/site/orange/news/story/1167/new_partnership_helps_animals_become_more_adoptable

story today...weird to see me live in the studio, huh?

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-04-14-0019.html

this is seriously hilarious! i got an e-mail in my work account from a lady wanting some coverage for something and i'd like you to see how she spelled my name:

"Hi Lluryn"

ohmygosh, when i read that, i honestly laughed out loud!!!! i think id like to get the spelling of my name officially changed to that! kidding...however, even though i love my name and how it's spelled, i always thought it would be kind of cool if my name was spelled "Lauryn." kinda sassy, right? and im kinda sassy sometimes so i think i could work it! then again, the "Lauren" spelling seems to fit me better...so lets keep it simple and sweet!

i decided that this would be the weekend i would stop checking my work email when im off. i have such a bad habit of doing that...and it makes me feel like im always working in some capacity, so i decided no more work e-mail unless im working! by the way,i actually havent even opened my lap top since friday until right now. it's been amazing. i think from now on, im not getting online on the weekends...at least not until sunday night. i think that's a good plan!

last night one of my friends from work had a housewarming party so i went to her place for a bit. she bought a townhouse all on her own for the first time so she was really excited...and shes done a really good job decorating!

tonight, went out to dinner with one of my closest friends from work, jackie. went to olive garden and chowed down. since she and i dont cover the same area and since we dont have to report to the office everyday, we havent seen each other in, geez, forever. i think the last time we hung was a good month and a half ago so we were long over due! i love her...always good conversation and lots of laughs!! she's married, but her husband, nick, is a teacher and had to finish out the school year in georgia (where they're from) so they've had to be apart from each other since december...he'll be here for good in june though! and they really get to see each other a lot...but still not easy for her (and im sure him too). i think they're making the best of the situation and im excited to meet him when he gets here.

hope everyone had a good weekend! :)

pens

i would like to share something with those of you reading those who are not in the news business (and that would be most of you)...and that is the fact that newsrooms eat pens. im not kidding. i have never lost more pens in my life then in a newsroom. literally, i could bring about 12 pens in with me and by the end of the day, ill end up leaving with about 3. im not sure how this happens, but it does. oh, and news cars eat pens too...ive lost a lot in those too!

my birthday is coming up in may...if someone could please get me a lifetime supply of pens, i would really appreciate it. ;) lol

ugh. crappy day.

is it friday yet?!

size me up!

this is a neat story about some UNC grads who came up with a cool idea....and yes, that is my closet in the stand up and yes, i am brave for basically announcing what size i wear on the air lol

http://chapelhill.mync.com/site/chapelhill/news/story/895/unc_grads_solve_clothes_sizing_hassels

nice try, guys

so much for UNC playing in the championship game! i didnt get to watch the game becaue i was out of town, but i was told UNC was only down by about 6 with four mins left...i think they ended up losing by 10 or 15. bummer! i was hoping they would have won because then i would have got to cover the game from chapel hill as everyone was watching the game on Franklin Street...and then if they would have won the championship, it would have been so awesome to be there! maybe next year!

it was a pretty busy weekend. friday night i went out with a couple people in Chapel Hill...we went to a place called the West End Wine Bar which was very nice. that was actually first time going out in chapel hill because pretty much everyone i know lives in Raleigh...which is a good 30 mins away. so everytime people go out or get together, it's always in raleigh which is a pain to have to drive that far so this was a really nice change!

saturday morning i drove to roanoke to vist megan (one of my best friends from UF) because it was her bday. we went to a comedy club to watch some improv which was really funny! i feel like improv is really hard to do because it's not rehearsed and everything's off the cuff so there's not really a lot of time for the comedians to think about it...thats why its even more hilarious when they're funny! after that, we went out dancing at some club in roankoe which was a blast and got home around 1:30 am or so. i left this morning at about 11 and just got back a little bit ago.

well, time to move on to some cleaning, laundry, gym and grocery shopping (riveting, huh? lol)

basketball

me and one of our assignment editors spent some of the day trying to track down one of two things:

1. a former UNC basketball player who's still in town

or

2. a few UNC fans who might who are just a little more unique than the typical crazy fine...for example in Morgantown, we did a story about a group of WVU fans who bought this old van and painted it gold and blue were just more into the Mountaineers then most

as you might know, UNC is playing Kansas on Saturday night in the Final Four. my station's doing a special show tomorrow on it so my part is trying to track down either 1 or 2 above.

you'd think that would be easy, right? um, not so much.

we contacted the alumni association, atheltic department, carolina fever (student fan organization), and UNC news services, and got no where.

the president of the alumni association sent me an e-mail with a few former players who still live in town, but we couldnt track any of them down today. a few of them we left messages but havent heard back from yet so maybe not all hope is lost. apparently, a lot of the people with the really good contacts are already in San Antonio where the Final Four game is being played. just great...wish me luck on this tomorrow as i will be making some more calls on this and hoping for a miracle!

tonight im going to play some basketball so i'm pretty excited...this is turning into a weekly occurence...i can live with that! :)

final four, baby!

UNC FINAL FOUR! story from today :)

http://chapelhill.mync.com/site/chapelhill/news/story/769/retailers_bank_on_final_four_sales

dumb stuff

something dumb that for some reason makes me smile is people who have an aol account as an email address. lol im not sure why i think it's funny (in a cute way though!), but i think it's because hardly anyone has aol as e-mail anymore so it's just kind of funny. i sent out about 3 e-mails this morning to people who have aol accounts...old school!

"what, like it's hard?"

that would be probably my favorite quote from one of my all time favorite movies, Legally Blonde. i'm not afraid to admit it and i don't care that it's not the most sophisticated movie in the world..i still love it!!! it's actually on tv right now which is what made me think of it. reese witherspoon is so funny in it! and she is such a "girl's girl"... ryan philipee is an idiot for dumping her...but she will find someone way better (but cuter? well, that part is doubtful! lol)

it's been a fun last couple of days. yesterday one of my coworkers had some people over to her and her husbands house for an afternoon get together thing...good times! then some of us went over to someone else's house to watch UNC bball...fyi, the men's team is now in the FINAL FOUR! sweet!

today, one of my awesome friends and roommate from UF, carrie, flew in to visit her cousin in Chapel Hill...which worked out well because we got to hang out today! so fun!! and tonight i went to dinner with some of her family...went to a really good italian restaurant called Daniel's. it's great to have friends that even if you dont talk to each other all the time, whenever you see each other, it always feels like you never missed a beat. that's how it is with carrie! :)

back to work tomorrow...we'll see what exciting news stories await me this week!

ive been awful about posting stories for the past couple weeks! the eve carson story was taking up all my time...things are getting back to normal though...here's the story from today about geothermal wells

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-03-28-0016.html

come on, ref!

i think if i had to make a list of the top ten worst jobs to have, im pretty sure referee would make it. if you're a ref, somebody always hates you! lol

a friend of mine from work, courtney, "recruited" me to play on her team in a league at a church in raleigh. tonight we had our first game and the refs were HORRIBLE. calling every ticky-tack foul...at one point, plays were literally stopped about 3 or 4 possessions in a row because of alleged (like how i inserted a news word there? haha) "fouls". absolutely ridiculous. there's actually some pretty decent talent in this league so it's at least good for competition. referees are NOT necessary though...we can call our own fouls. it doesnt need to be this overly organized.

tonight, i played average. dropped some easy passes and missed a few shots i typically make 90 percent of the time. that's okay though because at least we won! oh, i got a little sassy with the ref though because in the middle of the game he looks at me and goes, are those clips in your hair? i was like, uh, yeah they're bobby pins. he proceeds to tell me i need to take them out. i looked at the man like he's out of his mind and said, you've got to be kidding me. so i take a couple of them out and put in one of those stretchy headband things...i get back on the court and he says, there's still a few in there. i rolled my eyes, gave him a look of death and then ripped out the last two bobby pins and threw them near the bench and had a sub come in for me while i went to the bathroom to get my hair in a freakin pony tail.

nice. way to get an attitude in a church league, Lauren. lol but guys here's the thing. i have been playing basketball since i was 14. in those 11 years, i have never, ever, ever heard of someone getting hurt do to HAIR PIN. it's completely and utterly insane for that to even be an issue. give me a break.

here's the other thing. whenever i go to play pick up games or rec league games that really are just for fun and excercise, i always tell myself that i'm not going to care or get too competitive. um, that usually lasts about five minutes. once i get started, the competitive side of me really starts to come out...i cant help it. i like to play well and i like to win...then again, who doesnt? :)

http://carsonmessages.unc.edu/

here is a great link where people have posted messages to eve carson...you can read them..it's really good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSUekSejnNI&feature=related

this story is probably a year old, but it's awesome so i wanted to post it! it's a short story that aired on the TODAY show of a little boy whose dad was a sailor overseas who surprises his son at school when he gets back to the US for the first time. this kids reaction is PRICELESS!

okay, i have to critique for one second....,i think this a very poorly written story by whoever the reporter is...way too much of her voice and not enough of the little boy and his dad. luckily, the video is so amazing that the average viewer wouldn't notice, but it could have been written SO much better.

eve carson's memorial service at unc was awesome today. it was the perfect mix of light-heartedness and sadness. during the memorial, i was writing down quotes from the people who spoke about her to get up on our website before broadcast time and these are my favorite two of the entire 70 minute service:

“She was a terrible driver, she was always late, and whether it was hers or not, Eve always ate the ice cream in the freezer and left one bite left because, of course, ‘it was yours,’” said one roommate. “She freaked out about midterms, worried about her hair and what to wear a cried when she was overwhelmed.”

“The Eve-citement was prevalent in her e-mails,” said Lassiter. “She would punctuate her e-mails with seven, eight, nine exclamation points.”

these are my favorites because they are REAL. yes, she was very accomplished, yes, she had awesome grades, yes, she traveled all over the place...but honestly, none of that really means a thing. when you love someone, it's those quirky and sometimes annoying things that grow on you and those are things that make someone who they are. the lesson here is that life is short and it's sad but a lot of times, the things in life that matter the most get pushed to the side...it was a great reminder that everyone needs to re-evaluate their priorities and focus on what's important...God, family and friends (in that order).

i'm sure she would have loved the service today...actually i'm sure she DID :)

getting ready to go to eve carson's memorial service at UNC at the Dean Dome. it doesn't start until 4, but im getting there about one. i believe we have two reporters covering this, including me and we are also going to stream it live on the web (nbc17.com if you want to check it out...goes from 4 pm to 6 pm) and on air. UNC says it's expecting 12,000-15,000 people. crazy...im sure it will be a wonderful service.

on an unrelated topic, i must be completely and totally out of my mind...i somehow got roped into playing basketball tomorrow at 5:30 IN THE MORNING!! why did i agree to this? lol this whole thing started because one of the captain's i know at the police department around here invited me to come play...apparently, there's a big group of guys who plays at a local rec center at 5:30 AM every monday, wednesday and friday. he says they ususally have enough people to fill up 2 courts for 5-on-5...he says the competition is very good (must be if they get up to play so early!!).

problem is, i can barely walk about 5:30 in the morning let alone anything else! but i just know i gotta bring it because i've been talking a big game to him about myself for the last week...well, ive partly been kidding, but partly not. lol we'll see how good these boys are...hopefully i can kick their butts! (or at least a few of them!)

how unbelieveable is it that only ONE person wished me happy st. patrick's day today? was my hair not red enough? was i not irish looking enough today? lol well, i didnt wear green so that might have been part of the problem...ill take part of the blame.

another thing that's unbelieveable...(like that transition? ;)

one of the sheriff's deputies in Morgantown that i used to know when i worked at channel 12, won the dang lottery!! well, technically, his wife won it but obviously he benefits too. apparently, there were eight ladies (including his wife) that worked together who all went in on a pool and bought lottery tickets....and they won! the jackpot was more than 200-MILLION dollars. wow. the lottery commission still has to verify the ticket but all signs are looking up....that is so awesome!

way cute baby!

well, i promised some cute baby pictures and here they are! a couple weekends ago I went home to visit my parents in FL...and then me and mom drove to Naples to visit my grandparents, aunt megan and uncle matt, and their 9 month old daughter, Nola. i know, i know, i took so many pictures youd think she was my child, but in my defense, this was my first time seeing her and just look how ADORABLE she is!

outside my grandparents house in Naples,FL!


look at her chubby cheeks!

shes workin' it here, huh? lol

i love her little dress!!

i can hear her laugh in this one!

PRECIOUS!

im sure that thing tastes better than what she normally gets to eat

me and brian at home in FL!

sorry this one it sideways...i dont know how to flip it around!

yum! nothing like strained carrots from a jar! lol

so thirsty!

right before her bed time...which is 7 pm

isnt she beautiful with the flower in her (very small amount of) hair?!?!


with aunt megan (Nola's mom)

a little cranky in this picture...loose the attitude, girl! lol

sprite!

if you're psycho like me and dont always want to waste 200 calories on a soda (though Mountain Dew is a major downfall for me! ), let me highly recommend Sprite Zero. i realize this is not exactly a new drink, but ive just recently started on it and really like it. my no-cal soda of choice is Diet Coke, but Sprite Zero is a nice change. and even better, it honestly tastes a lot like the real thing (complete with the really fizzy bubbles that only comes from a Sprite!)

ps how funny of a word is "sprite"?! lol who thought of that?!?!

more eve...and some fun in the sun

yesterday i went for a run on UNC's campus (it's a great place to go running) and i finally got a chance to read the messages people left for eve carson on this big memorial wall. ive been covering the story practically nonstop that i hadnt had the chance to really read and process any of the messages. i must have stood there for 20 minutes reading them, there were literally hunderds...and there were lots of flowers placed around it as well and i even wrote her a message myself...it's so sad. this girl honestly seemed amazing...i'm sad i never knew her, i'm sad how she died, and and more than anything, im sad i wasnt able to be there the night it happend to help her.

okay...switching gears! time for some good news!!

today was a freaking awesome day! i left around 9 and headed to Wrightsville Beach, just outside of Wilmington, NC. it took about 2 and a half hours to get there...but it was an easy drive because all you do is take 40 E and you literally run into the beach.



so i got there a little after 11:30 and went to get lunch at a great restaurant by the beach...i asked a guy who worked at one of the surf shops where he would recommend and he definitely gave me a good one! i cant remember the name of it, but i had a grilled mahi mahi wrap with some chips...delicious!



after that, i bought a beach towel and a hat (hello, im a red head...trying not to get skin cancer here, people! and went to the beach. it was a beautiful day but the beach wasnt overly crowded so that was good. i brought a book with me and i finished it and then took a 20 minute nap. felt like i was in heaven!



then i walked around a little bit and checked out some of the stores and beach houses. the style of the houses on the beach in NC are very different from FL. a lot of florida beach houses are sort of spanish-style...these ones are a lot more home-y looking. not sure if that really makes sense...i should have taken pictures! so after that i ended up leaving and headed back...honestly, i probably spent more time traveling then i was actually there, but it was worth it! i would love to go back there sometime for a weekend and get to see more what the area has to offer....it's really nice. plus, it was great to get my mind off the dying, death, and destruction ive covered for the last week and a half at work...today was my first day off in 12 days so i really needed to relax and refocus :)



you might be thinking it's kind of weird that i didnt bring a friend or two with me, but sometimes i just like to things on my own. gives me a chance to think about things and just hang out with myself. i highly recommend it to anyone :)

charles and i just got the word that we can go home! yay! there is no news conference scheduled for today...one of the lieutenants just told me the chief is out of town.

for the rest of the day, i plan to go running and then do nothing tonight. lol

tomorrow, im going to get up around 8 and go to the beach for the day...I got a recommendation that Wrightsville Beach in Wilmington is a really good one...about a 2 hour drive so definitely a day trip for me. i cant wait! :)

today is the first day things have started to wind down with the eve carson story. police have now arrested 2 men for her murder...turns out the 17 year old they arrested is now not only being accused of eve's murder but of a duke grad student back in january...

charles (one of our photogs) and i are now at the chapel hill police department waiting it out...i cant imagine the chief wont do some sort of news conference today now that the investigation i s coming to an end...even if it's just to thank everyone who's helped them solve the crime.

the media frenzy is gone for the first time. right now, there is only us and WRAL (the local CBS affiliate). im sure the WTVD (abc affilitate) will be showing up sometime later. all the national media is gone...it was weird to pull into the pd this morning and only see 2 tv news stations here...for the last week and a half, there's been at least 7 or 8 (and countless other newspaper and radio stations too).

i am really looking forward to this weekend to be off! i have worked 12 days straight and cant wait for a couple of days off! this has been an absolutely terrible story to have to cover...however, as a reporter, you always want to be involved in covering the big story when it happens (if you dont feel that way, you're probably in the wrong profession!) i just feel honored to have been able to be here through it all...next tuesday UNC is holding a formal memorial service for her...i hope i will be able to cover that (even though it's going to be incredibly sad).

anyway, the sun is starting to come ouot and im feeling really good today! tired, yeah...but still good! :)

i forgot to add this one...its a compilation of pics of eve carson with some music...you will want to cry after seeing this, but it's really beautiful

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RVUlhgvlTmg&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=W1KCbKVFwVQ

here is a beautiful tribute to eve carson...its from the candlelight vigil the students held last thursday...the acapella version of "gone to carolina" they sing is amazing

wow, let me set the scene for you today.

first of all, i was supposed to be off...that didnt last! i got a call from my newsroom a little after 7 am...they were hearing that chapel hill pd had made an arrest in the eve carson murder investigation. we already had a reporter and photog at the police department so i headed to the jail in hillsborough to wait around 8:30 am. around 9:30 one of our photogs, brad, showed up with the livetruck.

the other stations start rolling up to the jail around 11:30 ish...we waited all morning for the police to bring the suspect to jail. of course, the reason we were there was to get video of the guy after he was arrested.

the hours go by and we are all STILL waiting at the jail for the cops to show up with the suspect. around 2 pm, we heard that the police are on the way over to the jail with him.

meanwhile, we have a reporter in Durham (just the next county over from here) at a home police are searching...that turns out to be the home of a SECOND suspect's grandmother (he lived with her). here's a little FF (or fun fact for those of you who dont watch Dane Cook's stuff!), that home was also a day care! all the schools are getting let out early and apparently things were just crazy.

around 3:30, the cops show up at the jail where me and brad are. we (media) are all waiting at the point where the police pull up to walk the suspect in from the car...well, it turns out they make a pit stop at the courthouse so they can get this guys first appearance over (that's not always standard procedure...sometimes, they wont to the first appearance in court until the following day...probably just wanted to get this guy done as soon as possible). so we all start running over to the courthouse to get the guy in court so we dont miss it (first appearance's literally last about 5 mins so we had to get their quick to get video of him). brad got some great court video so that was good...then we all run back over to the jail to get video of the perp as the police are bringing him into the jail to process him...also got some great video there. can you believe this kid is only 21? unreal.

all the while, police have yet to find the second suspect that was in durham...they are still looking. but he's a 17 year old. how incredibly sad is it how young they are.

tomorrow, im sure we will be camped out at the jail again waiting for the arrest of the second suspect..will probably be another long day!

http://www.moreheadscholars.org/FLASH/content.html

i found this clip on UNC's website..it's eve carson talking about her travels to another country last summer. if you turn the volume up on your computer, it really sounds like she's right next to you talking...

i last updated around 11 am today and said nothing was going on at the police department with the eve carson investigation.

it is now 5:43 pm and there is STILL nothing going on. me and michael (the photog) are sitting in the live truck doing NOTHING. he is watching some movie on his IPOD with his head phones on...this after playing a video game on his computer for about 40 minutes.

i have been reading a book called "Salem Falls" (which is awesome, FYI) and i have just been messing around on the internet for the last hour.

i did even up driving to the courthouse a little while ago because we had heard there were new search warrants out...turns out, there wasnt. all the other stations are still here...also doing NOTHING. lol

we are actually not even doing liveshots with me for our newscasts at 6 and 7...it's a good move by the producers though since there is NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that has developed since yesterday. i think some of the other stations are going live,
but it's really pointless.

yesterday, the cheif called for a news conference at about 6:15 pm. yeah, that timing couldnt be any worse lol right in the middle of the newscast! thats always how it works out though...lol

so apparently i lied about saying i was going to have yesterday off. lol that didnt happen...still staying on the eve carson story. we are actually over at the police department right now camping out...along with about 8 other tv stations. all the local raleigh stations are here...2 from atlanta (near where eve carson was originally from) and NBC Network and FOX. im wondering how long the networks are going to stay here...they may not have an arrest for a few days. the good news is that pretty much everyday we have had some sort of new info from police...even if it's nothing big, it's still something new so at least we can keep driving the story.

one of the stations other photogs i was talking to used to work in Denver and he covered Columbine...he said that the reaction of the community and just the devestation around chapel hill is as bad as it was at columbine. people absolutely were in love with this girl...that's made it all the more sad.

we will see what developments come from today...hopefully something! i do feel like they're going to get an arrest this week. police have arrested some surveillance pics and they are really clear as far as the man they're trying to find...SOMEBODY has to know this guy.

more eve carson...

here's an eve carson story from today:

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-03-08-0005.html

this whole eve carson story has taken a serious toll on me the past couple of days....it's been really hard. everytime i look at a picture of this girls beautiful, smiling face i cant help but think someone put a gun to her head and shot her. that's exactly what happend...she must have been so scared. it also really hits home because im only three years older than her...it could have been me or any of my girl friends. she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. i was talking with my friend, sabrina, who is a reporter at the ABC affiliate and that helped today. she has been having the same feelings as me lately about the whole thing...it was good to talk to her about it.

on thursday, when the story broke about who she was, the whole day was insane as far as covering it went. you kind of just go on autopilot though, the adrenaline kicks in, and you dont let it get to you. when i got home though, i just broke down. i was physically exhausted and even more emotionally tired. on friday when i was writing and editing my story, i just started crying thinking about it. people around here absolutely devestate...for me, it's impossible to be around people who are hurting so much and not be affected by it.

the good news, is that she is in a better place...i bet she's floating on a cloud somewhere :)

typically, i dont work on the weekends but yesterday i worked to cover the Duke/UNC game. it was actually a such a relief to cover the game and talk to the fans around here. they just needed this game as a distraction from what happend...a chance to smile and have a fun...and honestly, so did i so it worked out well. and UNC won which was even better! it was neat to see the students rush Franklin Street after the game...they all just piled into the streets cheering and screaming...even lit a few fires out there too. it was controlled chaos though so it was okay.

today i ended up working as well...but really it wasnt much. they just had me and jeremy (one of our AWESOME photographers! shout out, jer! :) hanging out at the police station in case there was any breaking news out of the eve carson investigation...there wasn't. here was our day: got there around 3 pm...talked and BS'd with some of the other stations for a few hours...met up with liz and rod (another reporter and photog at my station) for some chinese food for dinner...jeremy and i went back to the live truck at the police department where we read our books for a while (yes, we each brought a book because we knew we'd be doing nothing!), talked a little more and then left for the night. see, guys? news isn't as glamorous as you might think! lol we actually had fun though so it was good times!

tomorrow, im off! havent had a day off in 7 days so i have a lot of chores and errands to do...im kind of looking forward to it because i need to feel like my life is getting back on order after the craziness of the last few days!