Fancy Pants Dubrow

Season 7, and I'm in heaven!

I am truly excited to welcome you back into my life. This year is probably one of the most interesting seasons by far. So many changes have transpired: New friendships, divorces, new romances, new enemies, life-threatening illness, new beginnings, and LOTS of DRAMA.

I think one of the best additions to our cast is Heather, who I like to call "Fancy Pants Dubrow." The day I met her at the lot I felt very intimidated. Here was a tall, beautiful, elegant, classy, and well-spoken woman that seems to have it all.

I thought to myself, "How could we possibly have anything in common?" I found out pretty quick that she was my kinda girl.

We might come from different worlds but the one thing we have in common is -- we say it like it is! You'll discover that Heather's approach is much softer than mine. She definitely doesn't always agree with my delivery, however, we found a mutual respect for each other because of our honesty and way of keeping it real.

I think everyone is surprised by my friendship that has developed with Gretchen. Boy I sure am! Slade reached out to after the reunion last year and wanted to talk and I said no. I was so torn up inside after the reunion show that I cried for a week. I was so hurt and so mad at myself for going there, and I knew that this is not the kind of person I want to be. I did a lot of soul searching and talking with Eddie about everything that had happened and how I could resolve it.

Truth be told I really didn't know Gretchen and Slade very well. I had no business judging them and they had no business judging me. Slade's personal issues where none of my business and i felt horrible for getting involved.

Back tracking four years ago, things with Gretchen started out bad and continued to get worse. There where a lot outside influences that started our feud and before we knew it we were both trying to find ways to hurt each other. Neither one of us were angels and we both realized that we needed to stop and find out why we were doing this to each other. That's when i asked myself "If we truly didn't care about each other then why is there so much energy between us?"

You will see our road to recovery and the baby steps we take to gain each others trust. Giving Gretchen the bracelet meant a lot to me and I hope it meant a lot to her. I wanted her to know that I was going to give this new friendship my all and I didn't want to go through another failed attempt. I had the bracelet made by a young entrepreneur in Newport beach Minx-Minx.com. I told her I wanted it pretty, pink, and blingy just like Gretchen. I wanted it to have meaning and I thought the key charm was the perfect message. I hope you find our friendship inspiring and realize that maybe your biggest nemesis may truly be your best friend.

I wanted to keep this from Vicki because she is very judgmental and I didn't want any outside influences to ruin this new found friendship. I respect Vicki and hold our friendship close to my heart but I was not sure she would understand my heartfelt reasons.

You will not see my three beautiful kids this season, and just because you don't see them it does not mean they are not part of my life. They are truly my reason for living and my inspiration for working hard to have a better life. With their support and Eddie's love, I feel empowered to be a better person.

The kids are adjusting to life after divorce with a positive attitude. It has been hard on everyone but I'm happy to say we are all in a better place.

If you have any questions for me please tweet me @tamrabarney or post a question on my Facebook fan page. I try to answer everyones questions.