weekend happs

this weekend flew right by. they always do, but this one seemed exceptionally fast. 

marathon training equals getting up with the birds to try and beat the heat and not waste the entire day. saturday was one of the most beautiful running days of my life. the weather was AMAZING, and we watched the sun come up over the mountain creating pink clouds. we ended the run by going down the slide into the pool in our clothes. my group has done that before, but I have waited 5 years to actually be there for it. 

i spent most of the rest of the weekend cleaning out stuff to get ready to move. this will be a story for another day, but in the past 10 days I decided to move, rented out my place, found a new place, and move this weekend. because it all happened so fast I kind of forgot about getting boxes. i have stuff everywhere! 

my cousin Abby went to a music camp all week in midway last week. their final performance was a concert with the piano guys. it was fun to see some family and have a break from this moving disaster. 

how was your weekend? please tell me it was better than packing all weekend long. 

what will baby Cardon bee?

before Michelle even got pregnant she said she wanted to do a gender reveal cake for her next baby, and I have been super excited ever since. fast forward a year or so, and she's having a baby. i was a little afraid she might change her mind, but luckily she and Andrew thought it sounded fun especially since they were convinced it's a boy.

celsey and i have been dying to try the beehive cake again. this time we did a layered cake rather than using the beehive pan. 6 cakes, 4 batches of frosting, and plenty of fun later...

WHAT WILL BABY CARDON BEE?

the finished cake

the cake looks tiny in this picture, but it was actually pretty huge

nettie put together a poll of family members. even though michelle and andrew didn't even consider a girl. a lot of people in the family thought girl.

andrew and michelle and the baby girl cake

drew, andrew, and michelle. their other little boy was missing/too busy playing with cousins

michelle's reaction is the best part of this whole thing. these cakes are so fun! i wish more people would wait and find out the gender with a cake.

august 30x30...days 1-6

week 1 is already over. after may's 30x30 challenge i swore i would do better pictures if i ever did this again. well, 1 week in and that still hasn't happened. since i am so not a fashion blogger i thought i would document a little about what i'm doing as well as my outfits.

day 1...neon cardi, melon stripe, white shorts

working and dinner with a bloggy friend (undocumented)

 day 2...black cardi, black and white strip t, black skirt

working

day 3...purple tank, teal skinnies

bridal shower during the day and work GNO at night

day 4...old navy tank, navy cardi, denim skirt

church and taking my own pic with a tripod and remote. jacquelyn and kelly should be proud.

day 5...navy/silver tank, denim jacket, melon skinnies

work work work

day 6...mint cardi, purple/mint stripe t, black maxi

pic taken after an appointment for work. i usually get just whoever is around to take my pictures. sometimes that works and sometimes that doesn't.

so far the worst part is taking the pictures-no surprise. go see what the others wore this week.

blogging the bah 9.11 {finale and after the final rose}

this season of the bach is over. it's FINALLY over!  i kind of thought it was never going to end, but it also went by too fast to have another viewing party or swap posts. oh well...there's always juan pablo. kimberly and i are here giving you our final thoughts on this season.

my sister sent me a text about a half hour before i started watching to see if i was watching yet. she then told me i was going to want to poke my eyes out. she may have been right. she also said "i hope you like poetry". kill me!

the show starts and i still think brooks probably comes back. obvi he doesn't. chris harrison wants to know if des is ok. are you serious chris? no, she's not ok!

the rose ceremony starts and the awkwardness begins and actually doesn't end until the credits roll 3 freaking hours later. i love the bach...like a lot, but 3 hours is way past my attention limit.

drew gets the first date, and i am beyond nervous for him. i've been saying for weeks he is going to get his heart broken, and i was right. des does to drew what brooks did to des. he says "i just want to be happy", and i am shocked. no really. he must be the only person in the world to think that. to be really honest, i wasn't paying super close attention. this whole season i've taken notes like my life depended on it to write these posts, but i just didn't have it in me this time. i guess that translates into a little more snark and sass than usual.

chris greets des by saying "i'm here" and i really hope it's not in the form of poetry. this season is so awkward i can't even stand it.

des talks about things working out the way they should. i start thinking more serious things including my random rambling post this week. she's right. things really do work out the way they should. i also start thinking about all the blog love i got from that post. blog friends are real and the best! (told you i wasn't paying much attention)

chris gives des the journal with what starts out as a simple sweet note (there's hope) and ends with the poetry (nevermind...hopeless). i just can't on this ...

i am a loyal friend to the death, but if my almost fiancee describes me as a loyal friend, i might die.

des fell in love with chris in the 2 days since brooks left enough to accept a proposal. i'm mormon so i feel justified in making fun of them. that is seriously worse than the mormons. people say when you know you know, but really?!? promise me if i ever come home (or here to the blog) and say i'm getting married after dating less than a few months, take me away for weekend so i can think about it. i might still do it, but i need some time away to think. 

they get engaged after some major awks, and my final thought is well, i guess some people like poetry.

my favorite part of the whole night was the return of the formers...

sean and catherine...please announce the wedding. love sean's continued use of bach talk (journey)

jackie...she must live in LA because we saw her for like .2 seconds on sean's season, but now she's always on. always.

lesley...love her...the end

by the time we get to after the final rose does anyone even care anymore. i don't. mega note taking definitely stopped. i was more into twitter instead.

we have more awkwardness-much more awkwardness. there's one more final poem (gag), and my final thought on des and chris is they're a perfect awkward fit. i hope they make it. i really do.

one final word count including audience comments (does anyone really care about those? ok didn't think so) and excluding after the final rose (i was done and done by that point)

love...probably the most over used word of the season...67

lucky...might tell you something about the mood of the episode...2

romance...also telling...1

journey...7 including sean's use of the word

fairytale...again i'm getting concerned...1

amazing...7

i probably should have counted the times i said awkward. it was a lot!

this hasn't been my favorite, but blogging with kimberly has been fun. i'm basically dying to know what she thought of the most awkward/boring dramatic season of the bach. i loved it enough i just might be back for juan pablo's season...stay tuned.

in case you missed the other weeks

week 1 week 2 week 3 week 4 week 5 week 6 week 7 week 8 week 9 week 10

tip tuesday {blogger swap boxes}

a couple of announcements first

1. blogging the bach is delayed by a day. check back tomorrow for all our thoughts on the most boring dramatic season ever.

2. i'm a day late, but i'm over at suzzie's blog talking a little bit about trying new things.

i'm joining forces with justjacq to bring you TIP TUESDAY. this week's topic is blogger swap boxes...one of my favorite things.

i signed up for my first blogger swap last fall. i was NERVOUS and to be really honest felt a little stupid signing up. i thought i was too small to even do something like that, but i did it anyway. best idea ever! i got matched up with a fab partner who is basically my east coast twin. we emailed back and forth a few times, went shopping, sent the packages, and discovered we sent each other almost the exact same things. great minds...

a couple of utah bloggers put together a valentine's day swap. after so much success with the fall swap, i was so excited to sign up for another. not only did i get an awesome package, i made a bloggy friend turned into friend IRL. it's fun to connect with people all over, but it's extra fun when you can meet in person.

i've had great luck with blogger swaps. not only have i gotten some really cool stuff in the mail, i have made some of my very best bloggy friends. if you're considering signing up for a swap, here are a few tips...

1. sign up

2. contact each other as soon as you can

3. stalk each other on social media

4. email back and forth as much as possible

5. follow each other's blogs and other social media

6. shop

7. wrap everything up in cute packaging. i prefer cellophane with a ribbon and tag.

8. add a cute note

9. send in the mail

everyone loves real mail especially packages. if you have a little bit of the first time jitters, just trust me on this one. it's totally worth it and mucho mucho fun.

How It Works:

Tip Tuesday is a linkup party where you will have the chance to share your tips and advice on that week's theme. I will post the themes for the next month towards the middle/end of the previous month so that you have time to get your posts ready. This is a relaxed linkup-- if you have a past post that you're particularly proud of and follows the theme, feel free to use it! I only ask that you still create a new post to link back to this linkup. The following Tuesday I will choose my top 5 favorite tips and share it with you. If you are one of the top 5 chosen, I will email you by Monday letting you know so that you can brag about it to your readers!

Requirements:

Your post has to be a tip or advice related to that week's theme. Be creative! All kinds of tips and advice are needed, from beginner to expert and simple to easy. Wordpress and Blogger blog tips are needed too! Remember, we don't all use the same platform. I do ask that you follow justjacq and the week's cohost in order to link-up. And don't forget to post a link back to justjacq and the cohost so that people can come visit!

Why should you link up?

Who doesn't love finding new blogs to read and forging friendships? It's pretty much why we all blog, am I right? But Tip Tuesday is more than finding new blogs. It's a collective of tips that we all spend time searching the internet for! Imagine all of your favorite and much needed tips collected in one space! Could anything be better?

Need help?

No problem! Always feel free to email me with anything! I remember being very confused the first time I saw a link up and then again the first time I decided to join one!

Grab a button and link up!!

 

 

<div class="Grab button for Tuesdaytip" style="width: 250px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://www.justjacq.com/tag/tip-tuesday" rel="nofollow"> <img src="http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y506/thejustjacq/77077bc3-191e-4ec4-b85b-8fd9eb955104_zps5142177f.jpg" alt="NBD" width="250" height="250" /> </a></div>

 

Now get your tips ready and linkup at the bottom!!

random rambling {trading lives}

kimber, aly, charity, me, jessica

i like a lot of things about my job...the work, the people, the place, the flexibility, etc., but one of the best things is the great friends i have from work. we are definitely missing a few, but several of us got together on saturday night for a super fun girls night. we had dinner at the cheesecake factory, walked around city creek, and ended the night with dessert at kneaders. apparently we like to eat:) i love these girls so much and had the best night talking and talking and talking.

i've thought about this a lot over the years, but kimberly inspired me to write this post the first time we met. i don't talk a lot on this little bloggy blog about being single although i'm sure it's fairly obvious. i have a good life. i really do. i like my life a lot. BUT it really doesn't change the fact that i would rather be married with a family. i don't know how many times i have heard "you're so lucky you're single..." i wish i could say it doesn't bother me, but that's really about the best way to make me mad and fast. it's kind of like me saying "you're so lucky you're preggo sick." i'm so lucky i get to travel, spend my money however i want, buy expensive boots, and eat dinner at 10pm. i recognize i am really lucky. people with children are so lucky they have children, but probably not so lucky about the physical toll it took to get them here.

a lot most of my friends are married, and many of them have kids. i love spending time with them. all of the girls from girls night are married and have kids. a husband and kids can definitely be challenging, but so can being single. there are definite trade offs. wouldn't it be nice if for one day we could trade lives to really see what it's like on the other side? if you could do it, would you? would you give up what you have for what seems like something better? it kind of seems like the grass is always greener type of situation.

i read a blog post recently about having kids on purpose. it made me really happy to know that she really likes her job as a mom and maybe just maybe she would rather be a mom than travel, spend her money how she wants, buy expensive boots, and eat dinner at 10pm. although i often wish life was different than it is, i'm really trying this year to embrace my life and make it the best it can be. so, maybe my answer is no. maybe i wouldn't trade lives if i could. or maybe i would. what about you? let's hear it. and what do you feel so lucky about with your life?

churchy {special lessons and Book of Mormon Blogger}

if you're new around here or even if you aren't, it's the first sunday of the month which means things get a little churchy around here. since there are new people around here, i want to tell you why things get churchy. a group of bloggers (many of whom you probably know well) joined together to create the Book of Mormon Blogger project. want to know more? go here for my post about it.

this video has been on my mind a lot lately. because i work with kids with special needs, this video has extra special meaning for me.

sweet little paxton passed away a few weeks ago. while i didn't have the opportunity to work with him, his life still touched me. when he was in the hospital not doing well, i thought about this talk. at the time i know it brought great comfort to many families i have worked with over the years. as i listened to it again, i realized it really can help us all. i want to follow the advice given at the end to continue to bear my burdens nobly and reach out to those who are suffering. i'm so fortunate to work with many of these special families and to have the opportunity over and over again to learn these special lessons.

check out what the other bloggers are saying markell mandy wendy becky

august 30x30...30 items

#may30x30 was so much fun that i was basically talked into #august30x30 before it even started. kelly is such an awesome host, and i met some really great bloggy friends (including kimberly who i am now friends with IRL). if you have no idea what i'm talking about, head over to modern camelot for all the deets. i really wanted to be more prepared this time, but it just didn't happen. i have gotten as far as picking out my 30 pieces. so here they are...

pants/shorts

1. white banana republic shorts 2. big star cutoffs 3. target cutoffs 4. gap outlet melon skinnies 5. kohls teal skinnies 6. jcpenney (shocking right?!?) jeggings

skirts

7. black skirt from ny&co probably 10 years ago 8. bella bird (walmart) polka dot 9. bella bird denim pencil 10. black maxi made by me 

tops

11. tj maxx nude tank 12. old navy orange tank 13. pink tank 14. j crew white ruffle tank 15. j crew purple tank 16. gap blue/silver tank 17. old navy sparkly 18. gap red/cream stripe 19. target black 20. h&m white/black stripe 21. purple/teal stripe v 22. gap outlet melon stripe 23. gap brown v

 cardis. didn't think through the limited colors i have here.

24. target olive 25. nordstrom navy 26. gap mint 27. nordstrom black 28. gap neon 29. bella bird blue/white stripe 30. inherited denim jacket

picking out my pieces stressed me out a little. what if i picked the wrong thing? what if it suddenly gets cold? what if i don't have enough purple to wear with my new toms wedges? all valid fears i'm sure. also 30x30=no shopping.

since my favorite part of this whole thing (and blogging in general) is connecting with other bloggers, here is our posting schedule and  links to my other 30x30ers.

Aug 1 - Share 30x30 pieces

Aug 8 - Days 1-6

Aug 14 - Days 7-12

Aug 20 - Days 13-18

Aug 26 - Days 19-24

Sep 3rd - Days 25-30

open discussion {blogger roundtable part 5}

bonnie's blogger roundtable is honestly one of my very favorite things every month. i will be completely devastated if i ever have to miss it. she changed things up a little this time. she hosted at her house and didn't have a formal topic. it was an anything goes kind of night. it was a little smaller group than some of the other roundtables which made for really good conversation. everyone had plenty of chances to talk. we talked about comments, establishing a community, incentives/giveaways, swapping posts, and blogging partners. we touched on so many things. i came away with some really great inspiration for blogging. now if i could only find the time.

aubrey, bonnie, kimberly, melinda, chelsea

it was such a great night. we talked and talked and talked and when the davis county girls left, we talked and talked some more. thank you bonnie for another great roundtable.

blogging the bach 9.10 {finale part 1}

i have been more tempted to read the spoilers this week than i ever have in my entire life. i didn't do it, but i really wanted to. the previews after the men tell all just about killed me.i have seriously been dying all week.  kimberly and i are back talking all things bachelor.

google image and basically the only thing that mattered in the whole show
we start off with a recap and i wonder why. we don't need to re live the season or the james biz yet again.
drew gets the explore the island date. it's never really a good sign. the bach/bachelorette never gives the explore the city date to their pick. drew is extremely confident, and i am more and more worried for him. he is more in love, and they kiss. a lot. i really feel like he is going to get his heart broken, and i'm really sad for him.
at this point antigua reminds me of my island trip back in may, and i really want to go back. brooks goes to talk to his mom and sister. he is still all about the layers, but it's probably colder than cold in idaho so i don't blame him. i actually like his clothes and think he looks pretty cute. his poor mom looks worried...really worried. i keep feeling like we aren't getting the whole story. maybe i'm overanalyzing.
chris is up next, and i am so confused as to what was so amazing about his hometown. i thought it was weird. anyone else? they finally bust out the helicopter. where has this thing been all season? (besides the jersery shore date of course). chris is also very confident which translates to more poetry. i am seriously not even kidding for one second over the poetry. enough. it's also my bleachable moment for the week mostly because i am so sick of it. the fantasy suite talk is a little awks which is pretty norm for these two.
enter brooks. i think he's been my favorite this whole season. is it weird that i don't even know who my favorite is? brooks talks to chris, and i am once again worried. i start to wonder how in the world it happens that both people are "there" at the same time. i've been "there" before, and he's been "there" before, but i have obviously yet to be "there" with him (whoever he is) at the same time. feel free to chime in with some thoughts). chris tells brooks to "pull yourself together". good luck dude! i can never pull myself together.ever. the editing is KILLING me. for the first time this season i feel really imvested/obsessed with what is going on. i am legit sad for both of them. by this point in watching we caught up our DVR watching to what is airing live so i have to suffer through the commercials. 
this really is the breakup that won't end. i've been there before, and des is absolutely right when she says this sucks. it totally does. i started thinking maybe he wasn't really going to leave. i still have an itty bitty ounce of hope that maybe he comes back. 
to all of you who are married to amazing utah boys, disregard this next paragraph. this whole thing with brooks is classic utah dude. boy likes girl. girl might like boy a little more than boy likes girl at the moment. boy likes spending time with girl. boy loves many things about girl. boy can't commit because what if... boy walks away from the most amazing thing he ever had i know this certainly isn't the case for all dudes. plenty of utah dudes figured it out and got hitched, but i see this pattern over and over. brooks, do yourself a favor and don't take advice from your utah buddies.
the previews are KILLING me. i want to know right this minute what happens. i'm more tempted than ever to read the spoilers, but word on the street is they might not even be right. so...keep the spoilers out of here. kimberly and i tweeted a little throughout the show, but i still can't even wait to see what she has to say. go see for yourself. word tally love...102...i'm serious and not counting the song lucky...4 romance/romantic...15 connection...8 journey...5 fairytale...3 amazing...23 in case you missed the previous weeks week 1 week 2 week 3 week 4 week 5 week 6 week 7 week 8 week 9

random rambling...thoughts on running part 2

did you catch part 1 of my running story? if not, check it out here.

I never thought I would run any kind of race much less organize a relay race. After working at a few Ragnar races I decided I wanted to be on the runner side of things. Being in charge of the team was so stressful which made the running part even more stressful. I was runner 8 so I had to wait many hours before my turn to run. After my first leg, I felt a little better about the running part. My last leg was TERRIBLE (6 miles gradual uphill in the 95 degree weather), and I kind of thought I might never run again.

Signing up for my first Wasatch Back made me actual train for the race. Teresa invited me to come run with her running group, Generation Gap. I knew for sure I needed people in order to stick with the training. Before running with the group I had never run more than a 10k and never thought I ever would run more than that. The first time I met up with the group they had a 14 mile run planned. That's 8 more miles than I had ever run in my life ever. Teresa reassured me I would be fine (don't ask me how she knew) so like a crazy person I decided to do it.

I thought I would run with the group to get ready for the relay race and then stop running. That's also complete crazy talk! I ran with them for a little over a month before the relay. I survived Wasatch Back, and I actually really liked it. I also liked the running group so much I just couldn't stop. They all run many marathons a year, and before I knew it they convinced me to sign up for my first marathon.

that's basically part 2. i'll be back to continue the story very soon...

as a completely random side note...happy 1st birthday to my nephew kyler. i have no idea how a year has already gone by.

graduation table

celsey, shawn, and alicia graduated from the university of utah back in may. somehow this party never got blogged. we have pretty much been planning the party ever since we met. we have been so excited for them to get done with school so we could have more time for cake, crafts, and whatever else. (we're still waiting for that to happen, but that's whole different topic). we were in charge of the dessert table and decided on a red, white, and black theme since they graduated from the U. true to form, we had minimal time throughout the week to work on anything. we ended up baking and baking and baking the night before the party. luckily we had a lot of help from basically all of celsey's family and shawn's sister with the cupcakes. we were so happy with the end result and everyone loved it.

here are some mini tutorials for the dessert table

homemade oreos & hot tamales with black ribbon

1. bake homemade oreos

2. frost with cream cheese, buttercream, or your favorite frosting

3. roll in red sprinkles

 chocolate dipped marshmallows

 this seemed really easy to make BUT it wasn't

1. carefully put stick in marshmallow

2. dip in melted red dipping chocolate

3. roll in crushed oreo pie crust (much easier than crushing regular cookies)

4. turn upside down and hold for several seconds while it dries a little

 graduation caps

1.  make a tiny hole in the reese's cup with a toothpick and carefully insert stick (be careful not to shove it in or it will break)

2. set square of hershey's chocolate on top with a little frosting

3. use another dot of frosting on top of the square for the tassle (airhead extreme cut into small pieces) and a red hot

4. serve in styrofoam circle enhanced with ribbon

class rings

 ring pops (buy at the dollar store) in a vase with black ribbon

diplomas

 pepperidge farms pirouline cookies

chocolate cupcakes with white buttercream frosting, red shimmer dust, and silver beads

planning and executing the party was so much fun. i'm definitely adding party planning to my list of things i'm dreaming about someday doing when i'm a stay at home.

California Recap

i had the week of the 4th of july off work so i went down to california. i was really good about using my camera on the 4th and never pulled it out again. it's so much easier to use my phone. besides celebrating the 4th, we did a few other fun things.

chelsea, karlee, and i got pedicures. we thought karlee was just getting her nails painted, but they gave her the full pedicure...for the full price. lesson learned on that one, but it was still really fun.

we went swimming at night with glow sticks. the kids thought it was so cool. since i'm the favorite aunt (kidding...kind of), i just sent them a package with tons more. hopefully it gets there today so they can do it again.

we played in the yard (well mostly in the pool and the tramp, but the kids did play a little baseball with jeff).

chelsea and i did a few craft projects (actually jeff painted the numbers on this growth chart).

chelsea's making a gallery wall. i love all these fun colors. i keep forgetting to ask if she ever finished it.

as always i was super sad to leave. i looked out the window of the plane, and saw the most amazing sky. i would still rather have been playing with the kids than flying home, but it made me an itty bit happy to be on a plane.

i was really sad when they moved to california thinking i wouldn't be able to see them as much. so far i've been lucky enough to go to california twice besides the move and just booked another trip for september.

ps...if you saw my picture on instagram sunday night of my extremely chipped nails, you'll know i'm kind of a brand snob. i'm hanging out over at just jacq today talking all about it.

a lot

there's a lot going on around here today/this week   today is pioneer day. unless you are mormon or live in utah, that really might not mean a thing. i love what i posted about last year so rather than try to create something even better, i'm sending you straight back there. my thoughts on this day or essentially the same as a year ago. hop till you drop is still happening for a few more days. come find some new friends. the ad space giveaway over at life of a sports wife goes until the weekend. it's a lot of exposure for your blog for FREE so really, go enter. and finally...

It's time for some Summer fun! 

I am teaming up with these lovely ladies for a $120 PayPal Cash giveaway! 

 Pretty Little Inspirations | Little J Style | Probably Polka Dots | Sparkles and Shoes | Cool Water Gems | Venus Trapped in Mars | Peacoats and Plaid | Dreaming about Someday | Sweet Moments Captured

a Rafflecopter giveaway 
i know there's a lot going on over here, but it's all such good stuff. i couldn't just couldn't leave anything out.

blogging the bach 9.9 {men tell all}

typically the men tell all episode isn't really my fave. it is usually the week before the finale, and i am usually ready to know who she picks and move on. this time it was a week early, but i am still ready to know who she picks and move on with life. before the show started kimberly and  i were afraid the whole thing would be about how james and mikey are going to find tall beautiful women and go boating in chicago. i legit thought i might have to tell you all the lessons i learned the first time i went to chicago. luckily, i have plenty more to talk about (are we surprised?), but you can still read all about my chicago trip here.

we start off with the viewing parties. aside from monday night tradish (which has been pretty out the window this season) and watching with kimberly once, i have watched most of this season by myself (which is pretty lame by the way). i would way rather have a giant viewing party. i started thinking of all the bach people i would want to crash my viewing party. the list got pretty long. was anyone else confused how/why des wore the same outfit in the LA and NYC parties?

onto the talk about bad boys. i love these girls, and seeing them/what they wore was prob my fave part of the whole episode...well, juan pablo is also in the running. i seriously want to hangout with them.  now onto the guys...does anyone remember 1/2 of these dudes? i still can't remember dan although i think he did have a comment or two. brian made a good decision not to come. he would have been ripped apart by everyone (as he should be). juan pablo seems to be one of the only ones who actually gets it. getting sent home doesn't mean you are a horrible person. it's just not meant to be. he was so mature about it. they seem to be prepping us for juan pablo to be the next bach. the recap from the season makes it seem like we did know about his daughter the whole time. where was i for all of this? the tweet about giving new meaning to soccer mom was perfect. he's super hot and just adorable. i vote juan pablo for next bachelor. ben gets in the hot seat, and i honestly don't care what he has to say. i was happy when she sent him home, and i was happy when he got out of the hot seat. james gets his turn in the hot seat, and i am scared. the whole james/mikey/kasey thing is a little much for me. talking about being the next bachelor is just dumb. at this point i really should have counted the use of the words integrity and character. emily maynard's tweet was my favorite "went to put ricki to bed...came back and they're STILL talking about this". amen sista...enough. i am also thinking someone in chicago (or anywhere else for that matter) needs to introduce me to tall successful men. on a serious note (is that possible in the middle of a bach cap?), there was a lot of talk about plan B. i have tried to get that out of my vocabulary. plan A is what is happening right now, and it is what is supposed to happen. it might not be how i thought life would go, but it is how life is supposed to go. onto zak...bless his little heart. he obvi hasn't found love YET, but i guarantee he will. he starts talking about being 31 and all his friends being married. i can totally relate. the same is true at 33. des is up last and clearly watching the show has been enlightening to her. she's pretty irritated with several guys and rightfully so. although zak's song was a little awks, it was also a little cute. i am feeling pretty sentimental and emotional right now, and i really almost starting crying. america got it right when they picked jonathan's fantasy suite entrance as the most bleachable moment from the whole season. i have to agree, and it seems like he does too. i wasn't planning to count words tonight, but i changed my mind. i def might have missed a few. love...36 right (or wrong) reason...6 friends...6 connection...7 journey...4 fairytale...4 amazing...1 i can't wait to see what kimberly has to say about this. i also can't wait to see what happens the next 2 weeks. chris harrison promised the most dramatic episode ever so we'll see.