Tag: relationships

pop culture, tv

Bachelor Week 8

Shanny

It’s week 8 BBs & that means Hometowns! One of my FAVORITE episodes! I love meeting the families!!!

Joey goes to New Orleans first to see Kelsey A. They ride a tandem bike and explore the city. That night they go meet up with her family. Kelsey’s mom sadly passed away a couple years ago from cancer. Tonight we meet her Dad, sister, and brother. Dad brings out a photo album filled with pictures of Mom and it’s so special to see her. Dad needs to be the next Golden Bachelor! He and the rest of Kelsey’s family are just lovely people!!! They are all so loving and supportive of the Bachelor process.

Next Joey goes to Rancho Cucomonga, California to see Rachel. Rachel’s family is multicultural as they are Filipino but are from Hawai’i. Rachel teaches Joey how to show respect to her mom by placing her mom’s hand on his forehead. It’s v sweet and Mom is impressed! There’s a big backyard bbq with loads of Rachel’s family in attendance. Mom and Dad are pretty skeptical of the whole process. Rachel’s whole family is just so loving and lovely too! Rachel tells Joey she’s falling in love with him.

Then Joey goes to Becker, Minnesota to visit Daisy. They tour around the Christmas tree farm where she grew up. Daisy’s friends surprise her with a visit. Daisy tells Joey if her family isn’t on board with him that she won’t be able to move forward with their relationship. We meet Mom, Dad, sister, brother, and Grandma and Grandpa. Another great family that’s so welcoming and full of love! And luckily for Joey they all like him a lot and can see how happy Daisy is. Afterwards, Daisy tells Joey she’s falling in love with him.

Lastly we go to Niagra Falls, NY to meet Maria’s family. OMG it’s the best! First Joey and Maria ride the Maid of the Mist into the falls. Then we meet the family. Bless the editors who put the mafia music on anytime Maria’s family is on screen!!! Dad is Nick. Nick has longish dyed black hair. All wisps and feathered. V 80s. He’s all unbuttoned shirt with pinky rings and big gold watch and a heavy silver chain around his very tanned neck. It’s all V Greek and Italian. Her 2 brothers are mini versions of Nick. Joey sits down with Nick for a chat and Nick gives Joey his blessing to marry Maria. Later, Joey and Maria go outside and sit on a bench. They are chatting when the camera pans to the house and her entire family is pressed up against the windows watching them! DYING!!! SO weird and funny!!! Maria says she’s falling in love with Joey but she doesn’t tell him! She says she froze! Uh oh!!!

Rose Ceremony

There are 3 roses tonight and the ceremony is at an airplane hangar in LA. Just as Joey picks up the first rose, Maria asks to speak to him. They walk over to a plane to chat. She tells him she’s falling in love with him. He says Thank You. They walk back. It’s odd! No hug or kiss. V formal and stiff feeling.

Daisy gets the first rose, then Kelsey, then ….. Rachel. Maria is going home. She’s all smiles as Joey walks her out. Doesn’t shed a tear. But she says she’s confused and sad.

Next week looks v v emotional!!! Until then BBs!!! xo 🌹

it's all about me, married life

5 minutes with myself 10 years ago

Shanny

The Daily Post offers up topics about which to write when you’re looking for inspiration for your daily blog posts.  One struck my fancy a few days ago.

If you could go back in time and have a 5 minute conversation with yourself ten years ago, what would you say?

I thought this was pretty interesting because we are coming up on our 10th wedding anniversary, so if I were to go back in time right now to 10 years ago I’d find myself in the final countdown to the wedding.  This is some of what I’d say to myself:
  • Hire a videographer for the wedding.  I know you think you can’t afford it but you’ll regret it years from now that you didn’t.
  • Push that piece of hair out of your face.  It’s caught on your eyebrow and drives you nuts every time you look at your wedding pictures.
  • Tuck some lip gloss in your bra.  You get a little stressed at the reception because you can’t find any.
  • Take that wedding gift money and buy stock in Apple. They are going to invent the iPod and it’s going to change the way the world listens to music.
  • In a few years you’re going to be tempted to build a house by CP Morgan. RUN from this company.  They are the devil and will cause you nothing but stress.
  • One day you’re going to meet a girl who you think will be a great friend.  She’s not.  Don’t waste your time investing in this friendship.
  • Take some more of that wedding money and buy into the Walt Disney Vacation Club.  You’re going to fall in love with their cruise ships and the club will save you money.
  • Spend a little extra time over the next year with Jade and Melissa.  They will both pass away at a young age.
  • Moisturize.  Moisturize even when you think you’ve moisturized plenty.
  • Wear SPF at all times.
  • When you’re selling the house in Fort Mill, don’t run through the kitchen.  There’s water on the floor and you slip causing you to tear your meniscus.  This results in surgery.  Might as well avoid it!
  • Don’t color your hair with box color at home.  You end up with hooker hair.
  • When you’re in Las Vegas next week on your honeymoon, get up a little earlier on your planned Grand Canyon day.  It’s a heck of a lot farther away than you thought!
  • Don’t spend even one second being nervous.  Soak in every second of this week’s wedding activities and next week’s honeymoon.  You’re marrying the best man you’ve ever known.  He’ll make you happy forever.  The best thing you’ve ever done was saying yes.
When I was thinking about this list I thought about maybe warning myself against getting into the China adoption or Guatemala adoption because neither of them worked out.  But so much good came out of all of them.  Friendships were made that would have never been made otherwise and they’ve lasted.  Plus, we are a sum of our experiences and even though it would save some pain and a lot of money and stress, I wouldn’t change anything in regard to the adoptions .  I’m exactly where and who I’m supposed to be now because of all I’ve been through.
What would you tell yourself 10 years ago?
csp

CSP’s slow descent into Crazy Town

Shanny

Maybe it’s all men, maybe it’s just mine, but I’m noticing some nuttiness lately that can’t be explained.  Example, the following picture: CSP doesn't want his new glasses on the interwebs This is CSP giving me the finger because I’m trying to capture for posterity how cute he looks in his new glasses.  He was convinced the picture would end up on the internet.  Well, why deny the inevitable?  Here he is, on the internet, looking smart as a whip in his new specs.   I fear he’s only a few vulgar hand gestures away from being the crazy old man on our street!  A few days after this picture was taken we were in the car. Together.  In a vehicle.  When CSP says to me “So, what are you doing for dinner?”  WHA??  Oh, well I was hoping you’d drop me off at Olive Garden and I’ll meet you back at home.  What goes through his head?  Please tell me I’m not the only one with a crazy husband out there!

family, friends

Friend Transitions

Shanny

We moved around a lot while I was growing up, so I don’t have one of those lifelong friends.  I mean, I have Sara, but she’s my sister so she doesn’t count when I’m talking about non blood relative friends.  I’ve often envied people who are lucky enough to have friends they’ve known all their lives.  On the other hand, I’m glad we moved around to some extent because it taught me to be outgoing and friendly and I met all sorts of people because of it.  All this means that friends have come in and out of my life my whole life.  At first it would be devastating losing a friend.  When you’re in 3rd grade and you move and you don’t have the internet or Twitter or texting on your mobile phones then staying in touch becomes much more difficult.  Recently I reconnected with some friends from middle & high school (I went to 3 high schools) and I saw that the core group of them are still friends who get together all the time and vacation together.  I love that. Continue reading “Friend Transitions” →