How on earth did The Today Show find my blog?

today-show-072011-073

So, do ya know how you get those spam emails saying “you have been chosen to be the heir to a large sum of money from a woman dying in a hospital bed in a country you have never heard of”?

Or do you get messages saying you have been selected to win a laptop if you just take a survey? You never answer any of that stuff cuz’ you know it’s a hoax….and yet you still wonder if maybe……
 
Well….. last week I got an email from The Today Show….yes the actual NBC show….saying they were doing a segment on “Women Who are Celebrating 40 as a New Beginning“ . They said they had seen my blog post about doing a triathlon for my 40th birthday and was I interested in them including me in the segment????????
 
My mind fast-forwarded to the “dying-woman-in-hospital-bed-in-Abidjan-who-wants-to-give-me-Six-Million, Two-hundred-United-States-Dollars”-emails….but this email sounded legit!
 
I cautiously emailed The Today Show back and waited. They called me the following afternoon and by 9:30 the next morning, I had a camera man on my doorstep. Whose life is this?????
 

(If you only want to see the videos you can skip straight to the end of this post. )

This is Jonathan….the local NBC cameraman who taped me. And my oldest son Noah at the table who loved watching the whole process!


He wanted to use the “She Believed She Could, So She Did” picture that I had from my half marathon.


I was cheesing ear to ear the whole time…..

…..’cept when I was worried about showing cleavage on national television…..


….and pondering whether or not this was my best angle?? Other than that….I was cheesin’! LOL!He asked HARD questions!!!!
 
“Do you think turning 40 is different now than it used to be?”
 
“Are you happy with your life?”
 

“Tell me 4 words that describe the type of person you are.”

“Why a triathlon?”

 
And so on…….
 

Then he wanted to film me pushing the kids on the swing set….looking “normal”.


Ha! What is “normal” about a cameraman on my deck, shooting footage of me thru my spindles, as my hair begins to crumble, in the heat and I am sucking it all in while wearing wedge shoes and swinging my daughter??????? Hysterical! That’s “normal”, right?


Next, he wanted to show me bounding out of the house to grab and rack my bike! I was thrilled that he got my YELLOW door on camera.

 

I was less thrilled that the whole world can now see me in a triathlon suit. Sigh……….

 

Try racking a bike while having a camera a foot from you……you suddenly have no strength, fumble with every tie down and giggle!

 

Then we headed to Smithville Lake where my actual triathlon was going to be taking place. Wanting to share the “camera love”…….I had called all of the girls who were doing the tri with me and had them meet us there!

This was the “tell-your-friends-to-act-normal-talking-in-the-background” pose….

 

This was when the cameraman said “who is the tall blonde who likes to talk a lot? I wanna interview HER!”. LOL…..that’s my friend Shauna…..who rocked her interview even tho’ they didn’t air it.

Then he taped us running which is my favorite part of the video even tho I didn’t get any camera shots.

 

We had to get in and out of the water a few times for the taping. Talk about hilarious. The sand was ON FIRE in this KC heat. There is mashed goose poop everywhere. The shore was SLICK! We were trying to swim fast! And we were soon-to-be-triathletes who were sucking air! It was so hot and yet so fun!!!!!

Here is the video from the Today Show:

If it doesn’t come up for you, you can copy and paste this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R1b9rloR44 

Our local news channel also ran the story!

I loved that they showed my Magic Brush signs on the side of my truck (hello free advertisement) and also mentioned we are trying to adopt (hello to that too!!!) . You can watch that video here:

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/local_news/swimming%2C-biking-and-running-your-way-to-40

This was honestly one of the funnest experiences of my life. I love that it included my husband and kids. I loved involving the girls who were doing the tri with me. I love that it happened so quickly and that my life was out of control for several days (which incidentally is how I function the best). I love that there was no time to do hair or nails or buy a new outfit or clean my house….and I did it anyway! LOL! Thank you NBC and thank you Jonathan (the cameraman) for this opportunity.

 

It’s amazing to me how God so intimately knows what each of us loves and what makes each of us tick. Only He could have orchestrated this “birthday gift” just for me. And I am grateful. My heart is happy and full.

 

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28 comments

  2. That is amazing!! Congrats!! I am a follower…but I dunno if I ever commented. Call me a lurker that had to come out for this big news!! πŸ™‚

  3. Fabulous! I am lucky to have older sisters who’ve already turned 40, and so it’s seeming younger and younger to me…which is good, because 38 is just a few weeks away πŸ˜‰ The segment is great; you should be proud!

  7. It’s so fabulous that you got still photos of the video filming. And yeah, I always swing my kids in the backyard wearing wedges while being filmed from the deck. Absolutely normal for us. Ha!

  9. Girl you have never looked more beautiful to me! What a amazing opportunity from God, for he wanted to let your light shine for all to see the good that is within you. You will never know how many people you have inspired on this journey, especially me! love you and I am so proud of you. I am blessed to have you as my friend…even if I have a big loud mouth:)

  11. Congrats Jennifer! You look gorgeous! In fact you don’t look 40 at all! I am jealous.

  12. Oh my goodness! That is awesome!!! You look gorgeous! I can’t believe how all that happened! The segment on the Today Show turned out great!

  14. Another lurker coming out of hiding…and actually a fellow Movillian! This was so awesome! You look fabulous and I can’t wait to read about how you did in the triathlon. Congrats and Happy 40th!

  15. This is so exciting!! You look wonderful too…but then again, you always do. I’m so happy for you!

    I loved my 40’s ~ honest, I did. I was so upset at turning the big 4 – 0 but it was one of the best times of my life. Enjoy every moment!

    xo
    Pat

  16. Wow, what an awesome experience! And how fun to have that documentation of this time in your life, forever! And FYI, you look GREAT in your tri suit πŸ™‚

  19. Jen..You never cease to amaze me! Happy 40th Birthday,,,what a fabulous (documented) day to remember!!! Keep on trucking girl!
    (Sharon/finisher f/pittsburgh)

  20. That is so COOL. Loved both videos, and your blog post about the experience. How cool to see you on video and hear your voice! I’m in my early thirties, and I already am having so much more fun than my 20’s. You are an inspiration, and it is nice to see that I have o much more to look forward to. I kind of feel like a baby actually. Cheers! and Happy birthday!
    -Danica

  23. Way to go Jennifer!! I actually saw this when it aired on the Today Show. I have been following your blog for over a year…knew that you were training for the Triathalon (both from your blog and from my sister-in-law Katherine Wald)…knew that you turned 40…KNOW what you look like!!!…and STILL I didn’t put 2 & 2 together!! Good for you and you looked GREAT!!!…Beki Wald

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