Monday, Back to Reality: After the Final Rose

Blog friends! It has just been wayyyy too long. I had a great time on my week off though, touring the country's capitol with some ambitious 8th graders!

Anyway, let's get to the GOOD stuff...and sadly, our final episode of this season of the Bachelor. I have to say that I think this was one of the best seasons of this show (until the After the Final Rose show but we'll get to that) because it went the way it was supposed to. Of course if Brad and Emily end up breaking up, I'll definitely wish it would have been Chantal so that it wouldn't have been quite as sad when they ended up calling it quits.
Rumors aside, I think we all could tell that Emily was going to be chosen, especially after what he said to her last episode. This could not have been more clear after seeing Brad interact with Chantal and his family. He wasn't animated, he was somewhat closed off, and hardly touched her. Chantal was great with his family of course because she really does actually have a great personality, but yeah...it just wasn't the fireworks you might have thought.

He got real excited for Emily to come. Plus she brought them flowers. Southern hospitality, y'all. She of course is more reserved (or I like the way that they put it: Poised) but she still managed to win their hearts. I like that the sister-in-laws were excited about her being a mother already so that she would "understand their world". That's all important!!!

The real blow to Chantal was her last date. When she gave him the sweet little map and note, she should have read it all over his face and in his response..."Thanks, this is really great!"...he was being genuine, don't get me wrong, but he was being genuinely NICE, not lovey-dovey. Poor Chantal. She didn't even see it coming. Also, side note, the wet suit zipped down...was that really necessary??? I guess it's like my grandmother always says..."If you've got 'em, flaunt 'em!" Seriously. She says that.

I got a little nervous on Emily's date as well. Brad was trying to be SO reassuring about the fact that he was ready to be a father to Ricky and a husband to Emily. I mean y'all, he basically stopped short of giving her the final rose right then and there. And her insecurities got the best of her. Instead of just taking his word (and honestly, I believe every bit of it) she was like "are you SURE? It's not gonna be fun all the time"...and after the 6th time she said that I was like EMILY! Girl. You gotta stop...

I really did feel bad for Chantal when he had to tell her she wasn't the one. That cannot be easy for any party involved. She held it together, I mean, while crying, and was pretty classy actually. I will say though that the black feather dress was a little much for daytime.

The proposal for Emily was sweet and heartfelt, and I really do think Brad is head over heels for her. He really is. On the other hand...I think Emily is going to leave him. I just don't think she has really taken down her walls and is confident in who she is. But who can blame her? What a roller coaster life she's had. Still, Brad is 100% in it, 110% even, and she's at about 43%. It was slightly disheartening watching the After the Final Rose, and I think Emily divulged maybe a little too much information about their personal lives that maybe they should have talked about on their own. I really, really, hope they make it, but only if they really, really are in love.

And there we have it blog friends. A match made in reality heaven, for our pure entertainment and enjoyment. Rumor has it that Ashley H is the next bachelorette......STAY TUNED! :)

Sadly...

image via firsttube.com

Sadly, I will not be able to blog about tomorrow night's Women Tell All show! I know, I know, it's okay, I made bunny cry too....

But here are some things for you, blog friends, to look forward to on this show and then you can comment here on this post and let ME know what happened (I will be chaperoning about 100 8th graders on a very cultural Washington DC trip... :) )!!

Ashley's return should be exciting, and dramatic, unless she had a chance to look back on her silly behavior and come around to a better place. But my guess is she is going to be a juuuust a little cold!!
And what do you think Michelle will act like?? I mean, how would YOU react if you saw how you acted on television if you acted like a maniacal crazy-pants?? She'll either be in top form or she'll pull a "herself" by not saying anything at all like she did when she was voted off.
Remember those two girls who were fighting in the beginning episodes? Obviously they got voted off early because I don't even remember their names...but it was a brown headed girl and that really skinny blondie- they were just drama lovers! It will be so great to have them all back as one nice big happy family.

I'm just glad I'm not missing the finale. There would be some serious issues if I did!!! We're getting so close!! But seriously y'all- write me some comments and let me in on what happens!! Thanks in advance :) See ya soon!

Monday, Back to Reality

Ok y'all, this is gettin' good. I mean wow. I took a turn in so many directions on my opinions on Monday, it's just unreal!!!

Again, South Africa, really??? They are legitimately trying to turn vacation jealousy into a raging inferno. I want to go there so bad and stay in that tree house in the middle of the grasslands!!! OH MAN! Way too cool.

Okay, date by date break down of the night:

Chantal: I liked her better this episode, but not enough. She says "like" WAYYYY too much. Although I will say that she was way less emotional and seemed really laid back and happy to be there. I just feel like when I am watching their conversations, it's like those nasty water bugs that just float along the surface. They never go deeper than that and the small talk is getting annoying. I just don't know that she's lived enough of the "hard" life to have really gone through anything major- of course we can't really know that from reality tv. Still, I found her date kinda boring honestly. It was like yeah okay that happened let's get to the good stuff!!!

Emily: How can you not be in love with this girl? I LOVE her. Seriously. She always looks amazing, she talks slow and sweet, she has beautiful (although it borders on too much SOMETIMES) make-up, her hair is a gorgeous shade of blonde and she is a single mom. There is something to be said about that!! She was so open and honest with Brad, and I know that had to be scary for her. BUT- the most shocking thing about this date??? What Brad said back. When he told her he was breaking the rules to tell her that he's falling in love with her, he looked so much more dead serious than I have seen him at any other point. There's only been DEEP issues with Emily- no over-emotional-needy-tears, just honest-to-goodness let's figure this thing out talk. We all decided that Brad is at a point in his life where he actually is done "having fun". Yeah, any guy is going to get after that on a show like the Bachelor, because they are guys what can you expect- but at the end of the day, I think he really wants a family. He wants to be serious. He wants to grow something real and permanent. Oh Lord, listen at me talk about Brad that way. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit...

Ashley: Boy was this date drama-central. It started off well I thought and Ashley was her usual bubbly self. But man, did she dig her own grave or what??? I mean DUH GIRL, COME ON, at this stage in the game, if you can't tell the Bachelor that you would move to wherever he is, then you just bought yourself a one way ticket outta there. Now, don't get me wrong- if that's NOT what you want to do, then you for sure you better be honest about it! BUT: Don't act SURPRISED and turn stone-cold when he tells you that he's trying to figure out a future and if you fit together. I mean literally, she just stopped talking. And started making really bratty, put-off faces. Then tried to say that she was confused and didn't understand. What I didn't understand was how she could NOT understand what Brad was asking- poor thing, saying he must be communicating poorly. Uh WHAT?? No. Ashley was just being dumb or ignorant. It showed her true, young colors.

SPOILER ALERT: So Brad takes Ashely off to the side at the rose ceremony to talk with her. I mean mentally, she's left already. She didn't even give her own self a chance to get the rose. She didn't try to work it out, she just flat out gave him the cold shoulder and made some really unattractive faces. Maybe she realized that Brad really didn't fit in her life, and just acted like that to save face. Whatever it was, she looked kinda ridiculous and could have taken it all a lot more gracefully.

So that leaves us with Chantal and Emily. I think we all know who we WANT to win. But thanks to some confusing editing AND conflicting reports of who he actually ends up with, I think we are in for a VERY exciting finale show. I hope the NEWEST rumors I'm hearing are true!!

As for next week, it is the Women Tell All show. Just as I hoped Michelle will be there!!! And Ashley will be back...with hopefully a new attitude.

Blog friends, hang in there, just 2 weeks (said in Chris Harrison voice) "til the exciting conclusion of.....THE BACHELOR!!!