Partyin' with the Stars

By TOMIE V. PARKS
Special to the Hutto News

She got to party with the stars in Hollywood.
“I got to see Selena Gomez and Bella Thorne, and then I got to meet her,” said Jade Nash, an eighth-grader at Hutto Middle School, excitedly referring to Ally Hernandez, one of the singers in the all-girl group Fifth Harmony.
“She's my favorite,” Nash said. “I love her voice and her smile.”
The girl's grandmother, Leslie Alexander of Oxford, Conn., laughed while her granddaughter was talking.
“She knows everything about Ally and Fifth Harmony,” Alexander said. “She's been following them since X-Factor.”
Nash had just returned home to Hutto on Saturday, Nov. 15, after a five-day roadtrip to California, and she and her grandmother were telling Nash's mom, Soo-Jin, about their adventure.
It had just been two days since they walked the red carpet at the Mondrian hotel on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.
She and her grandmother were guests at Latina Magazine's “30 Under 30” awards ceremony.
“And Jade had a backstage pass to visit with Fifth Harmony in their hotel room before everything started,” Alexander said.
In the midst of all the handshaking and picture shaking, Nash said she had the opportunity to sing in front of everyone.
“It was Camila (one of the Fifth Harmony girls) who said, 'Why don't you sing me something?' So I did 'Miss Movin' On,' which is one of their songs,” Nash said. “She said I was actually good, not what she was expecting.”
The singer described Nash's impromptu performance in a note she wrote to Nash in an autograph book.
“Never lose that voice,” writes Camila Cabello. “I'm looking forward to hearing you sing for the world.”
It was high praise for Nash because that's her dream.
“I want to be a performer like Camila and Ally,” Nash said.

Twin nightmare: Pregnancy and disease

By Tomie Parks 
TTTS mom

I can’t hug my children.
I never could. They died the day they were born.
Life since then – Jan. 8 – has been a mission to try and understand the disease that robbed me of my boys, Tanner and Hunter.
That disease is called Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome, and this is a story of how terrible it is.

The beginning
Last spring I lived the life of a new bride.

March of Dimes necklace.

I had a house to furnish, a husband to cook for and new family members to meet. There wasn’t a moment to spare until summer came.
That’s when Rusty and I found what it meant to be newlyweds. We had no need for plans. All we craved was each other’s company, and that made the most dreaded of chores, like cleaning the toilet or washing the dishes, seem more like a vacation. Life was full of Hallmark card bliss.
We discovered at the end of September that I was pregnant.
Lots of adjectives can describe our reaction: Thrilled, scared, tired, worried, surprised, nervous, and overwhelmed.
In short, we were the typical first-time parents, trying to make sense of everything we heard from doctors and saw on ultrasounds.
October brought on a surge of hormones that made me cranky, but it also afforded me the opportunity to see my baby’s heart beat – and on Oct. 25, I learned there were two babies inside my belly.
“How did you make two?” my bewildered husband asked me, as he sat staring at the ultrasound.
I didn’t have an answer then, and I don’t have one now.
Neither of us had any family history of twins, nor do I know of any special diet or vitamin that makes embryos split. It just happened, and for a while, I was the mother of twins.

Couple celebrates first anniversary

By TOMIE PARKS
Deemable Staff Writer

WIMBERLEY, Texas – I ain’t never run across a man, woman or dog who’s seen all of Texas. The state is that big, even if you call it home.
So it wasn’t that much of a surprise when I stumbled across a never-before-seen Lone Star city. It was Wimberley, a holiday haven for everyone from nostalgic lovers and amateur artists to athletes and motorcycle gangs.With rocks for climbing and gourmet wines for tasting, Wimberley was not what I’d call a two-light town. It deserved some proper attention, so I suggested to my husband that we spend our first anniversary weekend there.
It didn’t take much convincing for him to agree, as his buddy from work happened to own a cabin there – a cabin we could stay at for free. Enough said, the trip was on.

Ken’s 50 but still looking sharp

By TOMIE PARKS
Deemable Staff Writer

Barbie and Ken are no longer two young lovers sitting in a tree. Both of them are now over the hill, even though their looks don’t show it.
Ken turned 50 on March 11, and the ever-stunning Barbie is a ripe 52.
Birthday festivities for Ken started in January with an eight-episode reality TV show called “Genuine Ken: The Search for the Great American Boyfriend.”
In the manner of ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” the Ken show featured eight “real-life” men competing for the title of “Barbie’s Ideal Boyfriend.” Participating under the stage name of Dreamer Ken, the winner was Kurtis Taylor, a 25-year-old former college football player from Fort Dodge, Iowa.
The contest and all competitors are featured at genuineken.com. Checking the show out won’t be a waste of time, as the New York Times describes it as one of the media company Hulu’s most popular reality shows.
But that’s not all the birthday fun for the still-handsome Ken.

Elvis never left the building

Please see this link, http://deemable.com/travel/2011/03/the-king-still-rocks-in-small-mississippi-town/, for my first online-only byline.

New year brings new support group

By TOMIE PARKS
Staff writer

Anyone suffering from addiction, anger, depression or any other type of hurt will have a new place of refuge this month.
Taylor’s First Baptist Church, located at 701 Davis, is now the area’s new site for Celebrate Recovery, a faith-based recovery program.
“It’s similar to AA and NA, but we use God’s word to back up each of the 12 steps,” said Devvie Gibbs, of Taylor, the program coordinator.
Meetings will take place from 6:30 to 9 p.m. every Thursday. Childcare will be provided for free, but those in need of the service will need to make reservations by noon every Wednesday at the church office by calling (512) 352-3144.
FBC Pastor Matt Hudson is eager to see what kind of good Celebrate Recovery can accomplish for the community.

You can be a busy body, in life and death

By TOMIE PARKS
Staff writer

From playing basketball to getting married, there are a lot of things to do in life.
But what about after you die?
Granted, not much happens to your body after that last breath, but there are some choices you can make now that will put your body to good use.
Liza Anne DeNeice, of Orchard, is one person who’s opted to forgo the traditional burial.
“I want my bones to be a skeleton at a Texas A&M lab,” DeNeice said. “After my back and knee surgeries, there are bound to be some neat things to look at.”
The 52-year-old woman was smiling as she talked, but she wasn’t joking.
“There’s just no sense in rotting,” she said.
She’s already shared her plans with her family and is in the process of completing the necessary paperwork.
Her family has accepted her decision.
“I thought it was a little weird at first,” said DeNeice’s daughter, Jamie Belknap, of Houston. “But the idea makes her happy. And she’s always been into re-using and recycling, so in a way, it’s fitting to who she is. I’ll be happy to see that her wish is carried through.”
This topic is not meant to take away from the joy of Christmas. It’s just something to think about so wills are updated for the New Year.
So here are some ways you can put your body to use after you die.