Words cannot describe the last 36 hours, but I will try.  I’ve been thinking really hard, and aside from giving birth to my babies and marrying Scott, let me start by saying that this entire HBO experience (see previous posts 1 & 2) has literally been the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of in my life.  First off, as I’ve said in previous posts, it was so neat to have the HBO Sports film crew follow our family for a week to make a documentary about us, taking a look at marriage inside a world of high pressure sports.  It was also an incredibly enormous honor to have our life juxtaposed with an NFL Super Bowl winning head coach (Pittsburg Steelers’ Mike Tomlin) and an extremely successful NASCAR driver (Kevin Harvick), alongside their poised, intelligent, and very talented wives and “First Ladies,” Kiya and DeLana, respectively.  And for the final part of this journey, I just returned from Los Angeles where I had the opportunity to meet with the other wives, as well as Peter Berg (Executive Producer of Friday Night Lights) for a roundtable discussion about successfully balancing life, marriage, kids, and business amidst the pressures of our husbands’ high profile sports careers.  This final conversation will be included in our piece airing Tues, Dec 9 on HBO.  Personally speaking, as a coach’s wife, a role that I have slowly (and admittedly at times stubbornly) learned to understand over the past 9 years, it was a validating experience to be recognized for the efforts and sacrifices that I have made for our family and will continue to make as Scott progresses in his career. It also was awesome to spend time with Kiya and DeLana both on and off camera to discuss similarities and differences in our realities and to ask questions and learn from each other.  I was so impressed by these two women – they are both so well spoken, strong, and independent. I really do admire and look up to them!  Peter Berg was equally as amazing, and was extremely personable, warm and friendly, insightful, and even quite humorous as well.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself and think that the other ladies did too!

We did get to view the piece prior to our trip (excluding the roundtable we just filmed of course) and I think we were all very happy with the final outcome, and I’m excited to see the episode in its entirety next month.  It will be so strange to see ourselves on our own TV! I guess we had better add HBO to our already ridiculously way too expensive cable bill!! I want to see the whole series and the first show airs a week from Tues on Nov 18.  I’m really curious to see Landri watch it too, LOL, and hear what you guys think as well!

I also have to mention that I learned a lot about NASCAR (obviously still have a lot more to learn), but I am definitely a Kevin Harvick fan now and am totally going to start following him!  It was so interesting to hear about the cost of racing, how sponsorship works, some of the mechanics behind the cars, what the events are like, the physical side behind these athletes (and yes, they REALLY are athletes), etc.  I also hope to take Scott with me to go watch him race!

And of course, I cannot go without mentioning that the first class direct flight from SA to LAX, the car service, the fancy hotel, and the delicious vegan food specially ordered for me weren’t too bad either! Oh! And my own personal wardrobe, makeup, and hair PEOPLE were pretty cool too!!

Anyhow, stay tuned and I hope you enjoy the show!

PS. A huge shout out to my friend Heather and also Chris over at Nordstrom for getting me LA fashion ready! 🙂

Here are some pics of LA as I left this morning, and a picture of me with Sandrine who I was fortunate enough to reunite with again (from our crew)!