Bachelor Recap / Fantasy Standings: Week 8 (Part 1)

I hate that it was a double episode week, as much as I love this train-wreck, 4 hours of Juan Pablo is too much for me, I've got things to do (like sleep!) at night! 

• I thought Nkki's hometown went well, but her date was lame. 
• I loved Andi's date, although I definitely didn't picture her to be a "southern girl" even though I knew she was from Atlanta. I want to learn to shoot a gun (it's on my 30x30 list) so I think it's badass that she knows how and is good at it. Andi's Dad's response to Juan Pablo about how he feels about potential engagement was absolutely PERFECT!
• Renee is falling and I feel bad. I stand by the comment that I think she's too good for him and am glad she got sent home. It's definitely a blessing in disguise. 
• I find it funny that Nikki and Renee couldn't say they love him and then Andi is trying to convince herself she loves him. 
• Clare's date was lame but very sweet. If it was a different guy I'd say it was perfect. 
• Clare's one sister is such a bitch. Seriously, let Momma talk. 

More tomorrow night... which looks like it should be a good episode!

And now its's time for the Bachelor Fantasy League Standings: (which I am totally not winning-boo!)

Money League Standings after Week 8 (Episode 1)

DS: 2270

JL: 1560

JR: 1470

LL: 1410

KW: 900

ME: 885

SR: 740

The Teams:

JL:  Elise, Lucy, Lauren H, Christine, Victoria

JR: Amy L, Christi, Elise, Kat, Victoria

LL: Alli, Cassandra, Elise, Lucy, Valerie

DS: Victoria, Sharleen, Nikki, Kat, Andi

ME: Alexis, Christi, Kat, Lacy, Valerie

SR: Alexis, Amy L, Chelsie, Kat, Lauren S

KW: Alexis, Ashley, Chelsie, Lauren H, Valerie

Received a Rose:

Clare, Nikki, Andi

Sent Packing:

Renee

Points Earned:
Made it to Top 3: Andi (75), Clare, (75), Nikki (75)

Involved in a real kiss: NIkki (20), Andi (20), Renee (20), Clare (20)

Cries: Renee (20), Clare (20)

Receives first given rose at Ceremony: NIkki (50)

First girl to say I love You: Renee (50) 

Eliminations Points:

JL: 200/each: Renee - 200 earned

JR: 200/each: Renee - 200 earned

LL: 200/each: Andi - ZERO earned

DS: 100/each:  Andi, Care  - ZERO earned

ME: 100/each: Andi, Renee - 100 earned

KW: 200/each: Andi - ZERO earned

SR: 200/each: Andi - ZERO earned

Two Years!

Today is G and my 2 Year Anniversary. Two years have FLOWN bye and I feel like it's been so many more. We were only together just over 2 years before getting married so it's not like we've been together forever but it certainly feels that way! I couldn't imagine spending my life with anyone else and I love the life we have built together! LOVE YOU G! You are an amazing Husband and I'm so thankful your friend tried to pick me up at the St. Pete Bowl that wonderful night in 2009! (I'll post that story another night)

Here are a few, ok more than a few, of my favorite pictures of US from the big day, two years ago:

First Look

First Kiss

First Dance

Last year, we did kind of stay-cation and stayed at the Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge for two nights and went to the parks. I had just had EM a few months before and didn't want to be too far away from her just yet, so this worked perfectly. We took EM into the park on Friday (it was her first time there) with us but did our own thing on Saturday. We had a wonderful time and ate at some nice restaurants. I especially loved that our room was on the safari and we had giraffes outside our window. 

right outside our balcony!

This year we took the cruise but since it didn't really work out how we wanted we planned to go somewhere (I mentioned in the cruise post about going to St. Augustine) this weekend but decided to just do at home date nights after EM goes to bed and then go to Disney on Saturday afternoon with EM. Maybe we'll make it a tradition, to always go to the Disney with the kid(s) in addition to getting away for a weekend. We said no matter what, we were going to be doing SOMETHING for our anniversary, every year.  We both feel it is super important to really focus on your relationship as husband and wife, especially once you become parents as so many couples forget about that part. This is also why we try to do date nights, twice a month! We are going to a nice dinner tonight at the Yachtmans Steakhouse and I'm really looking forward to that because I've heard it is AMAZING! and after all those pictures people posted on Valentine's Day I've been crazing a nice steak so this will really hit the spot! (we don't partake in V-Day since our Anniversary is 4 days later, we just celebrate US not the stupid hallmark holiday)

Bachelor Recap / Fantasy Standings: Week 6

This season is pretty boring, there really hasn't been any true trouble maker causing a ton of drama. Very disappointing! They tried to make Nikki be that person, but it only lasted like one episode or so. 

Andi's date was pretty cool but the water was so noisy they really couldn't show what they were talking about. And seriously, she has a killer body, why is she only ever in one piece swim suits?? 

Juan Pablo annoys me so much with Clare. It was too "inappropriate" to "make-out" in the ocean at 4am but it's perfectly ok to make out in his private suite and get changed into his clothes? Such a hypocrite. I mentioned last week she's my least favorite, but I wouldn't be upset if she won, they seem like the type of people that deserve each other. And he learned another new english word to go along with bland, bolt! yey, he's really growing his mind here!

OMG, that group date looked so freaking awesome!! I looked it up and apparently they have those OGO Balls in Ohio and Pennsylvania (and other countries, but those were the only states in the US). G and I are TOTALLY going to do that one day. I felt bad that Renee and I think it was Kat or Chelsie didn't get to go down alone with JP (well not that they showed anyways). 

(via)

And when he let Cassandra go, I thought it was nice that he did it before the ceremony, but her reaction "I've been waiting my whole life for love" - seriously?? You are 22 and go knocked up by a NBA player, give it some time, you'll find love. 

Renee is probably my favorite girl left on the show but I think she's too good for JP but I could honestly see her going all the way because she definitely would be a great Mom to Camilla and I know that's one of the main things he is looking for. If she doesn't make at least top 3, I'd be surprised. Very surprised. 

I'm down to ZERO girls on my Fantasy Team, so I need to make some really awesome elimination guesses if I can have a chance to come back (I'm pretty sure even if I got all 200 pts each week remaining - which is unlikely - I'd still not even hit 3rd place, boo!) My MIL is kicking ass and still has 3 girls in the game!

And now its's time for the Bachelor Fantasy League Standings: 

Money League Standings after Week 6
DS: 1380
LL: 1210
JL: 1160
JR: 1020
KW: 730
ME: 685
SR: 450

The Teams:

JL:  Elise, Lucy, Lauren H, Christine, Victoria

JR: Amy L, Christi, Elise, Kat, Victoria

LL: Alli, Cassandra, Elise, Lucy, Valerie

DS: Victoria, Sharleen, Nikki, Kat, Andi

ME: Alexis, Christi, Kat, Lacy, Valerie

SR: Alexis, Amy L, Chelsie, Kat, Lauren S

KW: Alexis, Ashley, Chelsie, Lauren H, Valerie

Received a Rose:

Andi, Chelsie, Clare, Nikki, Renee, Sharleen

Sent Packing:

Cassandra, Kat

Points Earned:

Involved in a real kiss: Andi (20), Nikki (20), Renee (20), Sharleen (20), Clare (20)

Swears: Andi (20), Sharleen (20)

Cries: Cassandra (20), Kat (20), Sharleen (20)

Receives a rose on group date: Sharleen (30)

Gets a 1-on-1 Date: Andi (30), Clare (30)

Reads a Date Card: Clare (50), Renee (50)

Receives first given rose at Ceremony: Nikki (50)

Eliminations Points:

JL:  100/each: Cassandra, Kat - 200 earned

JR: 100/each: Cassandra, Chelsie - 100 earned

LL: 50/each: Cassandra, Kat, Renee, Chelsie - 100 earned

DS: 50/each:  Andi, Clare, Chelsie, Sharleen - ZERO earned

ME: 100/each:  Kat, Nikki - 100 earned

KW: 200/each:  Kat - 200 earned

SR: 100/each: Sharleen, Clare - ZERO earned

Totally Posted Tuesday

Remember how I was talking about my sister was doing a gender reveal this weekend, well they did it, and they are having a boy!! She was a little disappointed because she wanted a girl but overall happy that she's having a healthy baby. There hasn't been a girl born on his side in over 20 years and even then they were a few and far between all the boys. EM is super excited to meet her new baby boy cousin in July! Plus two more friends just told me, in the last two days, that they are pregnant too! So many babies in 2014!!! 

the happy parents to be

EM enjoying time with her Grandma at the party

Leaving on my first (and probably only) cruise of 2014 on Thursday Morning. We're going on Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Sea - leaving from Tampa and going to Cozumel and back. I've never been on this ship before so I'm excited to check out a new one. It's an older ship but has recently been refurbished (May 2013). It is in the same Class of Ships as the one we got engaged on (Radiance of the Sea) and I loved that one. Full recap to come next week.

Tomorrow is our scheduled date night. (If you remember two weeks ago I mentioned G and I were going to go out every other Wednesday) We ended up switching it to next week though since we have a double date scheduled to see the Solar Bears (hockey) game anyways next week and we need to spend tomorrow night packing for the cruise anyways. 

We also booked a summer vacation to a cabin in North Georgia! It's a gorgeous cabin and there will be 9 of us (G's family plus our good friends) sharing it and enjoying the mountains!  Can't wait to relax on the porch swings, hang out by the fire pit, maybe go white water rafting!

Cabin pictures from http://www.escapetoblueridge.com/ 

The Change and the Plan

(via)

And now I’m ready to change. After a horrible, worst mood ever, type of day yesterday, I decided that was the kickstart I needed.  

So, it only took me 2+ weeks (I was full of excuses) to finally get started on this plan I’ve been talking about. But last night I did it. I did two circuits of the following (with my comments noted):

• Burpee (10 reps) – I went in HATING Burpees and didn’t even try beyond one. I was in a shitastic mood yesterday so there was no convincing me otherwise.
• Girl Modified Pushup (15 reps)
• One Arm Kettlebell Row (15 reps each arm)
• Plank (50 Seconds) – I only made it about 25-30 seconds on each circuit
• Goblet Squat (25 reps) – I’m pretty sure the first couple I did were not correct but I fixed my form and think the rest were effective
• One Arm Kettlebell Press (15 reps each arm)
• Elbow to Knee Crunches (15 reps each side)
• Kettlebell Curl (15 reps each arm)
• Chair or Flat Bench Dips (12 reps)

I gave my feedback to my friend who created the plan for me and he asked if I realistically thought I’d do the Burpees as he’d modify the plan if not. So of course, I told him I’d prefer a modification and told him I could only last 30 seconds on the planks and he made the following adjustments which I’ll try on my next strength day (which isThursday according to my adjusted plan):

• Mountain Climbers (30 seconds)
• Girl Modified Pushup (15 reps)
• One Arm Kettlebell Row (15 reps each arm)
• Plank (30 Seconds)
• Goblet Squat (25 reps)
• One Arm Kettlebell Press (15 reps each arm)
• Elbow to Knee Crunches (15 reps each side)
• Kettlebell Curl (15 reps each arm)
• Chair or Flat Bench Dips (12 reps)
• Plank (20 Seconds)

I also programmed my treadmill to do specific intervals and tried it out on Saturday for just 1 mile (I got new running shoes so HAD to give them a try) and I seemed to like it, just not sure I’ll be able to do it for the entire duration, but I’ll give it my best shot. Today is 2.5 miles. The interval program is:

• 1 min sprint at 7.3 mph
• 2 min jog at 6.0 mph
• 1 min walk at 3.8 mph

Which in a 30 minute period, should put me at 2.9 miles – which is a little faster than I typically run, but since I only have to do 2.5 miles, I’m hoping I can keep up!

my new kicks - Zoot TT 2.0

On Saturday night, a few of the guys were over (G hosted a “Beer and Diapers” party while the girls were at the Baby Shower for our good friends who are expecting in March) and since it was cool outside, we decided to put our fit pit to use. We received it for Christmas in 2012 and sadly this is the first time we’ve used it. I don’t know why though, we all had a great time sitting around the fire, shooting the shit, and drinking some beer. EM even enjoyed it and we took some Fire Pit Selfies.

Today officially starts the DietBet with Chris and Heidi Powell (pot is $139,200!!). G and I both joined and did our “weigh in” pictures on Sunday night – you were allowed to do them early – and after eating like crap all weekend my weight was certainly embarrassingly high but that helped me in the sense that it won’t be as hard to lose with a morning weigh in for the final. I need to lose 6.7 lbs by February 25^th. As of this morning I’m already down 4.2 and only have 2.5 to go (and KEEP off). I know it sounds too easy, to only lose 2.5 more, but I am going on a cruise next week so I’m sure I’ll gain something on that (I’ve never NOT gained on a cruise before, even with being sick with a stomach virus) and the key is KEEPING it off, and I’d like to lose even more than that as well!

My friend (the same one who made my strength plan) sent me this article about successful transformations and it really made want to make myself more accountable and by putting it out there in cyberspace, hopefully it’ll help! I decided I’m going to join a link-up and hold myself accountable and report in each week on Follow Through Friday (Friday is also my weigh-in day for another weight loss challenge I am in, so it works out well)!  

Bachelor Recap / Fantasy Standings: Week 2

I take back what I said last week about Juan Pablo, he isn't that lame after all. I do have mixed opinions about him though so after what happened on the group date. So here are my thoughts on this week's episode...

(via)

• I thought the date with Clare was super cute and they definitely got to know each other a lot better. It was definitely something unique to do in LA. I thought the date was great and he seems to really like Clare and likewise Clare seems to really like him.
• The Electric Run date with Kat looked like a blast. I thought it was such a fun idea and with Juan Pablo being such an active guy, it probably gave him a good idea with how active Kat would/could be in the future. She seemed to legitimately enjoy it whereas I could see some of the girls being too stuck up to want to do something like that.
• The group date was interesting. The concept was cute but I don't really think naked girls will help get dogs adopted faster. I lost a lot of respect for Juan Pablo when he convinced Andi to pose nude when she was clearly uncomfortable about it. She's a freaking District Attorney, she doesn't need to be posing nude and he should have respected her class not to push her into doing it.  (Although I'm not sure how much any of them REALLY care about their image since they are contestants on the Bachelor, but still, there is a BIG line between being half naked and fully nude (the sign doesn't count). If she was making a big deal about posing in a bikini, I'd say "come on" but nude is completely different. I also thought the producer/director of the shoot was a douche was trying to convince the 1st Grade Teacher Elise to do something she wasn't comfortable with. Luckily, she was smart enough to ask Loopy Lucy to trade.
• Speaking of Lucy, that girl is not pretty at all (in my opinion) and is way too "free-spitited" - she's clearly on the show for entertainment and I don't see JP keeping her around much longer as there is no way he's want someone like her as a step-mom to his daughter. Hey Camila, it's completely normal to walk around butt ass naked in public, yea I don't think so. I did however appreciate the way she interrupted JP's time with Nikki to let him know about Victoria, she did that very nicely.
• On to Victoria, that girl has some serious issues. Normally, girls don't get THAT emotional and dramatic until at least week 4. I'm glad he sent her home at the hotel and she's crazy if she ever thought he'd keep her after that. He's looking for a stable person to raise his daughter with, not someone who goes crazy after a few drinks. 
• It's obvious that he really appreciates the single moms, Renee and Cassandra. He obviously knows that they know what it takes to be a parent, and there is something to say about that. Renee is super sweet but come on, kiss him already, you were super close, twice! My first question though to Cassandra would be, um you live in Michigan, is your kid's father ok with you potentially moving him to FL? Although, as I was trying to remember where she was from, a little google search told me the kid's dad is a Detroit Pistons player, so he probably doesn't care that much since he doesn't really stay put for long anyways. I like both the mom's a lot, and Renee is really sweet for trying to help all the girls when they are sad, it must be the Mom in her.

That's all I really want to say about this week, I still think Nikki is super cute and at this time is my favorite, but damnit she's not on my fantasy league so based on my team, Kat is my fave!

Bachelor Fantasy League Standings:

Money League Standings after Week 2

JL: 670

LL: 600

JR: 390

DS: 320

SR: 180

ME: 175

KW: 140

The Teams:

JL:  Elise, Lucy, Lauren H, Christine, Victoria

JR: Amy L, Christi, Elise, Kat, Victoria

LL: Alli, Cassandra, Elise, Lucy, Valerie

DS: Victoria, Sharleen, Nikki, Kat, Andi

ME: Alexis, Christi, Kat, Lacy, Valerie

SR: Alexis, Amy L, Chelsie, Kat, Lauren S

KW: Alexis, Ashley, Chelsie, Lauren H, Valerie

Received a Rose:

Alli, Andi, Cassandra, Chelsie, Christi, Clare, Danielle, Elise, Kat, Kelly, Lauren S, Lucy, Nikki, Renee, Sharleen

Sent Packing:

Victoria, Amy L, Chantel

Points Earned:

Kiss JP (FIRST): Clare (100) – not on any teams

Appears alone in Hot Tub with JP: Clare (100) – not on any teams

Has a body part censored by ABC (FIRST): Lucy (100)

Involved in a real kiss: Clare (20), Cassandra (20)

Swears: Victoria (20), Kat (20)

Cries: Victoria (20), Cassandra (20)

Interrupts Another Contestant’s Alone Time with Juan Pablo: Chelsie (30), Lucy (30)

Has a body part censored by ABC: Lucy (30), Andi (30)

Receives a rose on group date: Kelly (30)

Gets a 1-on-1 Date: Clare (30), Kat (30)

Reads a Date Card: Elise (50), Clare (50), Blonde? - did anyone catch who it was?

Receives first given rose at Ceremony: Cassandra (50) 

Eliminations Points:

JL:  100/each: Chantel, Kelly - 100 Earned

JR: 50/each: Andi, Kelly, Lucy, Nikki - ZERO earned

LL: 100/each: Chantel, Kelly - 100 Earned

DS: 20/each: Ali, Amy L, Cassandra, Chelsie, Christi, Danielle, Elise, Kelly, Renee, Victoria- 40 earned

ME: 50/each: Victoria, Christy, Danielle, Elise - 50 Earned

KW: 50/each: Cassandra, Chantel, Danielle, Elise - 50 Earned

SR: 50/each: Cassandra, Chantel, Sharleen, Victoria - 100 Earned

Bachelor Fantasy League

It’s Juan-uary! My guilty pleasure, the Bachelor has started back up! I don’t watch much “reality TV” – really only the Bachelor/Bachelorette (and I will probably watch Teen Mom 2 when it airs as well) but that’s not much compared to a lot of other people. I never watched it until I started dating G. He went up to PA for a funeral with his parents, they got him to watch it, and he got hooked on the drama/entertainment. Ever since then, we’ve been watching all the seasons (I wish Bachelor Pad would come back, that was the best!). Turns out, lots of our friends watch it as well (guy and gals) and last season we decided to make it into a Fantasy League.  We did some google searches and found a lot of other people have done this and we made up our rules based on the rules from a bunch of different leagues.  The group of us (12) playing consisted of some friends from work (including my boss and his wife), my in-laws, and our neighbors. We even got together a few times to watch it with some of them and Facebook group message (commentary) throughout the episode. We played just for fun (no bets – only because my boss could get in trouble for it so we decided it wasn’t worth it). KW won last season with 3635 points, followed by JL (3191) and my Father in Law (3188).  Yep, two guys made the top 3! This year our league dropped to 9 people (same people as last year minus a few) and we are also doing a separate league without my boss and his wife with the other 7 of us with a small friendly wager of $10 each. (1^st Place gets: $35, 2^nd Place gets $25, 3^rd Place gets $10). 

Here are the rules we play by – I’ll do a separate follow up post on the results of the first night. I’ll be using JP for Juan Pablo, much easier to type and these were updated from the last season (Last season we had specific things to Des).

·       NO SPOILERS!

o    Everyone must give their scout’s honor not to read spoilers (this was tough for me as I LOVE reading Reality Steve)

·       Picking a Team:    

o   Everyone starts out (before the first episode airs) by selecting 5 contestants that they think will go all the way (only research allowed is by reading the abc.com profiles). Yes, it is possible to have all 5 of your girls go home the first week, but you could still win with elimination bets. Your Team is due to League Manager before the airing of the first episode. (For this season, we did wait until after the “Special Sunday” episode to make our picks as we thought they were going to do more introductions of the girls, but unfortunately the 6 they introduced didn’t really help that much – so team picks were due before Last Night’s Episode aired)

·       Elimination Bets:

o   Each episode, each team gets 200 points to allocate to who they think will be sent home (ex: all 200 pts on Alli, 20pts on 10 different girls, 100 on 2 different girls, etc)  Elimination bets are due to the League Manager (me) by

·       Earning Points:

o   FIRSTS (if one of the girls on your team is the first in the season to do one of the below things, you get 100 points)

§  Kiss JP (passionate kiss, pecks don’t count)

§  Receive the First Impression Rose

§  Give JP a gift

§  Sing a Song

§  Appear alone in the hot tub with JP

§  Appear in a helicopter with JP

§  Discuss the death of a parent/signifcatny other/sibling etc

§  Mention parents loving relationship

§  Mention JP’s daughter, Camila

§  Mention that she’d be a good influence on JP’s daughter, Camila

§  Mention Des to JP

§  Has a body part censored by ABC

§  Tells JP she loves him

§  Speaks Spanish to JP
o   LONGEVITY
§  Makes it to Hometown Dates (50 pts)
§  Makes it to Top 3 (75 pts)
§  Makes it to Finale (100 pts)
§  Winner (150 pts)

o   WEEKLY ACTIVITIES (once per girl, per episode)

§  20 Points Each

·       Involved in a real kiss

·       Swears

·       Mentions Parents loving relationship

·       Cries

·       Travels by Helicopter

§  30 Points Each

·       Sings a Song for JP (Double if original)

·       Alone in Hot or Bath Tub with JP

·       Interrupts another contestant’s alone time with JP

·       Uses the term “steal JP away” during interruption

·       Has a body part censored by ABC

·       Receives a rose on a group date

·       Gets a 1-on-1 Date (until 2-on-1 dates end)

·       Gets into a fights (words or physical)

·       Tells  JP about other(s) not there for the right reasons

·       Recites a poem for JP (double if poem starts with “roses are red”)

§  50 Points Each

·       Reads date card

·       Survives 2-on-1 date

·       Vomits

·       Receives first given rose at Rose Ceremony

·       Stays overnight BEFORE the Fantasy Suite

·       Surprises JP with an unplanned meetup

During each episode, G and I keep track of the girls that do these various things and we have a shared excel sheet on Google Docs that we log everything into. It’s a little bit of work and often times we have to rewind to see who did/said what, but we really enjoyed it last season, so we’re looking forward to the mind-numbing entertainment of Juan Pablo’s girls this season! For Week 1 Recap and Fantasy League Standings, click here!