New Job, New Adventures, New from Archives...




"....If you only knew what the future holds...
After a hurricane comes a rainbow..."
~ Katy Perry

Greetings friends and family!  As of this writing, we are pleased to share news that Jessica is leaving the freelance-around-the-world "world" and returning full time to journalism, her first love.  (Sorry,  Gates, it's true!)



Cindy Aubrey (KOAA) and Jess



Jessica just joined Fox 31 KDVR-TV (www.kdvr.com) under V.P. of Content Carolyn Kane as a Multi Media Journalist (MMJ) .  You can reach Jess at work at jessica.roe@kdvr.com.  She had been working for the past 3+ months as a freelance MMJ commuting to Colorado Springs at KOAA-TV (NBC).  This opportunity would not have come along had one wonderful woman, KOAA-TV News Director Cindy Aubrey, given Jessica the chance to dive into the "other" side of journalism and refresh her skills in reporting, videography and non-linear editing.   A most sincere thank you, Cindy!

On her first day on the job, Jessica got the opportunity to write a really fun package for main anchor Libby Weaver about a family taking their frustration high tech after a "neighbor" keeps ruining their holiday display - here's the link: http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-family-fed-up-with-neighbors-r-121710,0,7673561.story

On her second day, Jessica tried to get her hands around what the tax bill passing mean to the everyday you and me - here's that link from the Nightside show - you'll find her report in the video player at the bottom of the story: http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-how-does-the-presidents-signin-121710,0,7103344.story

To check out some of Jessica's report from KOAA here's a compilation.

Okay, enough about Jess, but just getting the family back in sync into a regular routine is a huge accomplishment after the last 18 months we've had between two life threatening surgeries she endured and a career change-a-roo.

For those of you who received our holiday card (oh wait, we mean "are about to receive our holiday card" as we haven't yet mailed them!), we didn't say much, we saved details to catch you up on our life for the web, so in case you are wondering, Jess is doing better, but the docs just can't guarantee another ulcer or intestinal perforation will not happen in the future, and her MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus is a bacterial infection highly resistant to antibiotics) is all cleared up following her last surgery in April of 2010 for now, however the infectious disease specialists she had to see for 10+ weeks warned her she is now 50% more likely than the general population to contract MRSA again in the future, so here's to a happy and healthy 2011.   For background:  Just as she was five weeks post-op from her 10-inch chest incision emergency surgery from the intestinal perforation, MRSA crept up with a vengeance.  While she never wore a bikini in her life, the final reminder today of the entire thing --- even after never having a c-section with either kiddo --- is what doctors describe a scar of an "old fashioned vertical c-section scar" meaning an incision from bra to pelvic line which means only one thing:  "Tankini for Life".  (We'll spare you scar pictures!).  Who cares - she lived!

There's nothing more in the world we wish for than exactly that - normalcy - as 2010 has swung us around like a scene from "The Perfect Storm" - we are simply thankful to all who helped us get through this year.  We could not have done it without you.

Now to the rest of the family - all of whom are healthy, not really wealthy, but indeed wise...

Gates continues to be a rock star out at the perinatal research center at the University of Colorado.  We can't believe he's been there since 2002 - almost nine years!

Clark is in a 1st/2nd grade hybrid class and is excelling of course, the little braniac, especially at math and everything else.  He just challenged us recently to name all of the oceans, because of course he can, and we told him he was wrong, there was not a major ocean called the "Southern" ocean.  Whoops!  There is.  He's like a walking box of Trivial Pursuit cards.

Scarlett is just antsy to read and spell - she uses her iTouch all day long to say, "remind me how to spell KATY PERRY" so she can type words into the youtube search engine - which probably has some of you dropping your jaws right now that we even let her have an iTouch or that she knows who Katy Perry is or that she has half of the lyrics memorized.  Yikes!  Don't worry, got the iTouch from the bank for free as a gift, and we keep an eye on her as she seems to stroll around the house listening to the music without headphones so we all get to experience her "tunes"!!!  Oh, and just watch one episode of one of our favorite shows, "Modern Family", and suddenly we seem kind of normal.  Scarlett's love is that of dance, and here's a video below of her winter performance recently where she did ballet then tap with other 3-4 year olds (she's the tall one over to the left with the strawberry blonde hair with the pony tail).  We were told they had to wear a hat and scarf and thought it was hilarious that nearly every one showed up that day with the same felt pink polka-dot items that just went on clearance at Target that week.  Too funny!

With that - you should be caught up with The Roe Family.  We are looking forward to figuring out our new world of Jess getting up in the middle of the night when most people are just getting to sleep and Gates taking over the morning shift duties with the kids and swapping night pickup duties with Jess as her new schedule has her reporting for duties before dawn.

Oh, but before we sign off and Jess returns full time to TV, we just had to share this little gem from the archives, it is a VHS tape that Jess found in the cold garage from Colorado State University's early years of "Campus Television" that it was finally time to convert before it disintegrated!  We played it on an HDTV through an old VHS machine and captured it on a Flip Video camera to get it into the digital age.  We thought you might like to see Jessica's highlights from about, oh, say 1994.  And by highlights we don't mean the bleach blond hair, we mean the laugh fit at the end of this clip, enjoy:

And yes... we still dream big... and buy at least two Powerball tickets for every single drawing.  Wouldn't that be nice...

Our best to you and your loved ones in 2011!

And back to the Katy Perry thing.... sure, she may be a one (or ten) hit wonder, but the lyrics to her "Firework" song have really summed up 2010 for us and at least for Jess, inspire her each time she reads them or hears the song on the radio.  Go top 20!  (Who knew!)

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"Firework"  ~ Katy Perry

Firework Song Lyrics

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag...Drifting through the wind...Wanting to start again


Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin.... Like a house of cards...One blow from caving in


Do you ever feel already buried deep... Six feet under scream... But no one seems to hear a thing


Do you know that there's still a chance for you... Cause there's a spark in you... You just gotta ignite the light...And let it shine... Just own the night... Like the Fourth of July


Cause baby you're a firework... Come on show 'em what your worth... Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"... As you shoot across the sky-y-y


Baby you're a firework... Come on let your colors burst... Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"


You're gonna leave 'em fallin' down-own-own


You don't have to feel like a waste of space... You're original, cannot be replaced


If you only knew what the future holds... After a hurricane comes a rainbow


Maybe you're reason why all the doors are closed... So you can open one that leads you to the perfect road


Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow...And when it's time, you'll know


You just gotta ignite the light...And let it shine... Just own the night...Like the Fourth of July


Cause baby you're a firework... Come on show 'em what your worth


Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"... As you shoot across the sky-y-y


Baby you're a firework... Come on let your colors burst... Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"


You're gonna leave 'em fallin' down-own-own... Boom, boom, boom... Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon


It's always been inside of you, you, you... And now it's time to let it through


Cause baby you're a firework... Come on show 'em what your worth.. Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"...


As you shoot across the sky-y-y.................................