Dear Emily...

Since I have about .3 seconds before my baby starts to cry (he is currently doing 'tummy time' on the floor and NOT thrilled about it) let me just skip through all the mundane details leading up to the final rose last night. Brad picked Emily, and the whole world rejoiced. Poor, 'widowed', single-mom Emily finally has her fairytale coming true! Brad made her (and our room full of girls) cry when he professed his devotion to her and her daughter-even after she had given him the 3rd degree about being a dad and beaten the dead cat into the ground about how NOT fun that is...

Chantel made a very classy exit, uttering heartbreaking words about how she could have been so wrong about him ever loving her at all....sigh....

Then came After The Final Rose where it all fell apart. WHAT in the WORLD has gotten into Emily? Poised, classy Emily turned into the Ice Princess. She was cold...stand-off-ish, and just...SO uncomfortable to watch. Does she love Brad? Do you think she is happy to be the final one standing? What about his temper? What about HER temper??? I can't believe that she is falling apart while watching the episodes, that is as annoying as when girls who are on the show complain about him dating other women. Seriously? Her whole demeanor was killing me. Her 'I love yous' seemed shallow and empty. I felt really sad. Sad for Brad.

When the final episode ended, I felt like Brad had made the right choice choosing Emily.

When After the Rose ended, I felt like he had definitely made the wrong choice.

What do you think?

In other news, I had a little gathering at my house to watch the finale, and each of us brought a little treat to share. There were some YUMMY foods consumed (especially by this stress-eater right here!) and I thought I would share my treat since it turned out so yummy.

So if any of you have ever heard of Popcorn Indiana popcorn company, they make delicious popcorn in all flavors....and my friend, Amber, turned me on to their cinnamon sugar kettle corn.

It is ADDICTIVE!!! So yesterday as I passed it in the store, I thought to myself, "Hey, I can make it at home!" So I pulled out my Whirly Pop and gave it a go....and it turned out SO good!

Here is the recipe:

Cinnamon Sugar Kettle Corn

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels

1/2 cup sugar

topping

1/4 cup cinnamon/sugar mixture

3/4 teaspoon salt

Pour oil and popcorn kernels into popper, spin them around until you hear the first kernels popping. Lift lid and pour in 1/2 cup sugar. Continue to spin until popping stops (this happens all at once and can be crazy loud there for a minute!)

Carefully pour into a bowl and then IMMEDIATELY sprinkle salt and cinnamon/sugar mixture over the popcorn. I found it works best to pour onto a shallow wide bowl instead of a deep bowl in order to get the salt/cinnamon/sugar mixture evenly on there.

YUMMY!!!!

Where to Begin?

I feel like a broken record when I say that, once again, I have totally neglected this blog for too long. I come with excuses!

First, we took a FABULOUS trip to the Bahamas. We stayed at Atlantis and it. was. amazing. I would recommend it to anyone, everyone...it is the PERFECT family vacation spot. Tons of pools, water slides, lazy river, CRAZY river, beach, sand, ocean....we never ran out of things to do or got bored. The whole resort is one HUGE aquarium, it is a visual feast where ever you go. Our kids 'oohed and aahed' over the fish every single day. The food was wonderful, the people were SO nice and willing to help us in any way...it was the best trip. We are going to be talking about this one for a long, long time!

After we returned, however, my baby boy came down with a nasty cough which landed him an overnight stay in the hospital. I wasn't SUPER worried, just felt really bad for him and his misery. Luckily he is doing better, on some medication, inhalers, etc, and on the road to recovery. I hope to recover from my extreme lack of sleep soon.

Lastly, we have been in the process of buying a new home. I am SO thrilled with the prospect of adding more space to our lives. Since the boy was born, we have felt the walls of our town home become more and more cramped, and we are definitely ready to move on. We have been consumed with loans, furniture, fences, appliances...all the fun things that come with a new space. I will definitely be coming here to ask for thoughts and opinions on decor- I think we MIGHT just attempt to put up a picture rail on our own...and a little wainscoting? Maybe??

Throughout all this, I have been, of course, keeping up with my precious Bachelor. I am SO EXCITED for the finale next week, I just can't wait for him to make his choice! I watched the Women Tell All while I was in the hospital, and I was really surprised how nuts Jackie went on Michelle. Why she was taking it SO personally, I do not know. I am glad Brad stuck up for Michelle, I believe that she probably was just being sarcastic. As much as she annoyed me, if she hadn't been there, I probably wouldn't have been nearly as entertained!

GO EMILY!!!!