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Monday, February 25, 2019

blogging the bach 23.8...home towns

who's watching-Celsey, Alicia, Amanda, Alexis, and Shawn 

It's home town week, and I have already seen a bit of commentary from friends.We're excited to see how this goes.

Date #1-Caelynn
They meet, have ice cream, smash it in their faces, and go meet the family. There are a lot of people there. They have some one on one chats, and Colton asks for permission to propose. For a hot second it seems like he might not say yes and then he does. They say goodbye to the family and Caelynn tells Colotn she loves him. They kiss and he leaves.

Date #2-Hannah G
Before they go to meet the family, they take an etiquette class. We all agree it's kind of the worst. "Who picked this date?"--Shawn "Why?"--Shawn.. Colton gets in a fair amount of trouble and they leave to go meet the family where he is in trouble again. Her mom is less than thrilled with Colton's toast. With a little bit of time (and only a little), both parents come around to the idea of Colton. Hannah tells Colton she is falling in love, and Colton says it back.

Date #3-Tayshia
Tayshia blindfolds Colton, kisses him and takes him in the car. He has never droven with her-I'm dying. They jump out of a plane and are with her family about 5 minutes later. Tayshia is the little bit younger version of her mom. Her dad has some really good questions. Colton asks for permission to propose and he doesn't give it right away. After talking to Tayshia, he gives them his blessing. Their date is the longest so far. "She just seems like she wants to win"--

Date #4-Cassie
Cassie takes Colton to the beach. She tries to teach him to surf. He's not that great.
"She seems fake"
"They're all fake"-Shawn
Colton wants to hear from Cassie how she feels, and she isn't ready to say it. They go visit her family. Her family is emotional. He asks for permission and her dad says it's a little premature for that request. Cassie still doesn't tell Colton her feelings.

Hannah and Tayshia get the first 2 roses. At this point I knew Cassie was getting the last rose. The edit of her hometown was to make us think she would go home which means she is for sure staying. Also, Caelynn really loves him a lot which means she is going home. She is completely blindsided and I think she will be the next bachelorette. The previews look dramatic and we might actually see the fence jumping. 



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Thursday, February 21, 2019

Thanksgiving 2018

Since I haven't gone to St. George for Thanksgiving the past several years, I always find other things to do to celebrate the holiday week/weekend.

Wednesday was a pretty low key day. I went down to Lehi to pick up my packet for the Thankful 13 race the next day.


Celsey invited family over to celebrate Rem's birthday. 


I ran the Thankful 13 half marathon on Thanksgiving morning.

I hurried home to get ready to go to the Anderson's for Thanksgiving dinner. They are always so kind to include me with their family. After the running joke 2 years earlier about barely eating (since that was meal #1 out of 3), I made sure to fill my plate this time. 

We enjoyed a nice meal, relaxed in the hot tub and pool, and had a great day.

The rest of the weekend was also pretty relaxed. It was perfect.
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Wednesday, February 20, 2019

13.1..Thankful 13 round 2

After running the Thankful 13 the year before, several others of our running friends wanted to run it and get the cool medal and shirt. We had a little bigger crowd this year, and it was fun to all do it together.

JoAnn, ReNae, Judy and I met to pick up our packets and race materials the day before. Unfortunately JoAnn was having some hip problems and wasn't able to run with us. She did come to pick up her stuff.


We all met on Thanksgiving morning to start the race together. Donna and her friend started a little early. Sharon, Mike, ReNae, Todd, Judy and I all started together. Judy, Mike and I ran the first few miles together. Judy and I stayed together the whole time.

The course runs through neighborhoods but also on trails. There are some really parts of the run.

Every mile marker had a gratitude quote and there were many signs along the way of what people are thankful for. Those are my favorite parts of the race.

The first 10 miles went really well. We ran really strong and the weather was pretty good. Judy started to lose a little steam and a little balance so we stuck even closer together for the last 3 miles. It also started raining at that point. We were very happy when we crossed the finish line.

We crossed the finish line, hopped in the car, and hurried home to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner. It is a really good race and a great way to start the holiday.

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Monday, February 18, 2019

blogging the bach 23.7

I took last week off because Celsey and I were busy decorating cupcakes for New Beginnings. 

who's watching: Celsey, Alicia, Amanda, Krista, and Whitney

What is with the vlog's this season? I get that it's 2019 and it's the thing to do, but it doesn't really seem necessary.

After a few fun weeks in Asia, they're back in the US..visiting Colton's hometown..to meet with Ben Higgins and Colton's dog. We aren't sure about Hannah B's outfit or any of the girls in the tank tops in the snow.

Tayshia gets another one on one even though she just had one a couple of weeks ago. Does he really like her? Does he want to pick her brain? Is he unsure if he really wants to keep her around? We're just not sure. And/or maybe he is hoping she will tattle tail on the other girls and apparently she will about Cassie and Caelynn who aren't ready for engagement. She however is ready-insert eye roll. I really thought I liked her until now. I don't even really know what else happened on the date. I was not impressed.

Caelynn has the next one on one. They head up the mountain for snowboarding, and Colton quickly addresses all the things Tayshia told him the day before. This is now the case of he said she said. Caelynn is adamant that she is absolutely ready and never said anything about being the bachelorette. For some reason he totally believes Tayshia without really even giving her a chance to express herself. He finally listens to her at night, gives her the rose, and then they have a private concert in the red rock amphitheater.

Caelynn talks to Tayshia and we find out she found out this information by making assumptions. The conversation was pretty dumb and not based on any sort of facts.

Hannah B has the next one on one. They go visit his family. He chats with his dad who suggests he follow his gut rather than listen to what other girls have to say. They talk more with his family and then head to the evening. She wears her best bumble gum dress, and he sends her home. She was shocked but we were not. She handled it really well-probably better than anything else the rest of the season. See ya in paradise Hannah B.

Group date-Colton wants to talk to all the girls and make sure they are ready. He talks to Heather first. She isn't sure if she is ready. We are all sure she is not. See ya in paradise Heather. Kirpa feels like she needs to warn Colton about the things she assumes and thinks-not a good idea. Colton talks to Cassie. She is pretty upset. Kirpa spends her whole time talking about the other girls. She comes back to the group and insists she cares about Colton and his heart. Cassie calls her out on it, and she doesn't have much to say. They argue and nothing is resolved. Colton is not ready to make a decision and takes the roses until later. They get to the evening portion, and he immediately takes Hannah G out and gives her the rose. She goes back to the girls and Caelynn is not happy about Kirpa. She goes to talk to Colton and tells him not to listen to any of this crap. He gives the rose to Cassie and we say bye bye to Kirpa.

The hometowns will be interesting since we haven't heard a word from any of their families. 



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26.2 St. George round 3-wetter than wet

Stacha and I have talked about running here and there at work. One day we started talking about the St. George marathon. She always wanted to do it, and I kind of wanted to do it again. I knew I couldn't run the big cottonwood so I was considering it. We kind of talked each other into signing up.

We drove down to St. George separately and met up at the expo and for dinner after. The weather forecast wasn't looking great so we worried quite a bit about what to wear the next day.

We met for the buses and also met up with Sharon and her son. The weatherman the night before said there shouldn't be any rain so it eased our nerves. Unfortunately it started to sprinkle while waiting for the buses. 
We got to the top and hung around for a hit. Eventually we got in our places to start, and the rain also started. We got our garbage bags out and put them on. We thought it would be temporary and the weather would get better. It never did. We wore them for 26.2 miles.

There were several times where the rain stopped for a minute or two, and we were hopeful. Around mile 17 or 18 we finally knew we weren't ever going to take them off. Stacha started getting blisters in the first 10 miles somewhere. I didn't start noticing them until later-probably around mile 15 or 16. We knew things were going to be bad when we finished, and they kind of were.

I was really proud of us. The weather was bad-really bad. We were pretty miserable, but we stuck it out. We stayed together the whole time, and helped each other stay positive. We had pretty good attitudes through it all. We chatted and laughed and tried our best to distract ourselves from the weather.

Stacha's sister and her family surprised her along the course and cheered in several spots. It was the push we needed to finish strong.

We were so happy and proud when we finished. It was by no means my best marathon time-wise, but it felt like one of my biggest accomplishments. I am so happy we stayed together the whole time-something I had never done before. Our bodies were pretty wrecked for several weeks after from blisters and severe chafing and other effects of the weather, but our sense of a accomplishment made it worth it.

Documenting my garbage bag.

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Monday, February 4, 2019

blogging the bach 23.5

who's watching: Celsey, Alicia, me-everyone else is gone or out of town or something

Date #1-one on one with Heather who is no longer never been kissed. We spent most of her date trying to figure out our brackets. We know who is left, but it isn't matching up with the numbers on the bracket. We searched and searched and looked and we're still pretty confused. The bottom line of the whole date is Colton kissed her under the fireworks and has now been kissed. She goes home like a giddy teenager, and we're still not sure if this was actually her first kiss or not.

Meanwhile Elyse is spiraling down down down. I always wonder if these people have ever seen the show. They know how it works before they come on right? She knew he would be dating other girls right? She tells him she can't accept a proposal at the end if he is still dating all these other girls. She got way too deep into her own head and tells Colton she needs to leave. She leaves, and Colton is devastated. He is afraid everyone else feels the same. He goes to bed upset and wakes up to the Colton cam still upset.

Date #2-group date. Today is all about survival. These girls are crazy town-eating bugs, letting scorpions crawl on them, sticking their hands in random holes. They split into teams to try to survive-some with Colton and some not with him. I would definitely die on this date unless I was smart like Demi and went to the store. I take back what I said about Tayshia last week. I didn't see a whole lot of chemistry last week, but there seems to be more chemistry this week. Hannah B is working the system and tells him she is in love. Onyeka tattles on Nicole. Colton addresses this with Nicole. Apparently it is not true and there are tears-a lot of tears. Hannah B gets the group date rose.

Date #3-one on one with Cassie. On a scale of 1-hot Colton is hot. 
Let's spend the day on the boat-Colton
Cassie-oh it's so cute
Celsey-It's not cute. It's ghetto AF. 
Alicia-What is going on? Is the bottom out? I would be terrified.
It cuts to the girls hanging around the house. Some look like they could use a shower or a shave.
Alicia-You've got nothing but time. Shower and get yourself ready.
I'm calling her as the dark horse of the season even if all they have done all day is kiss. They talk a little and then make out some more..in his bed. He likes her a lot.

Cocktail Party/Rose Ceremony
Tayshia takes him out to the beach and lets off a paper lantern. Demi gives him trust rings. Nicole talks to Colton and tries to clear the air. He pulls Onyeka aside to try to get the truth. Colton tries to talk to other girls (Katie) and those two won't stop yelling at each other. Colton walks off. They both follow him, but he doesn't want to talk to them.

To Be Continued...

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