Slice of Life Story Challenge - Day 15 - Bachelor/Bachelorette Mondays

    It's Day 15 of the March Slice of Life Story Challenge, and I'm writing a goodbye letter to our                                   house in a series of memories since we will be moving in April.

     Will you accept this rose?  Yes, we will!  Another tradition in this house is hosting "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" on Mondays.  I wrote about this last year during the March SOLSC, too, and titled it "Fellowship".  Here are the opening lines: True confessions:  I love watching "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette."  I know, I know, many of you think it's awful and are shaking your heads right now, and I have to admit, there are moments when I wonder why I watch it.  But darn it, it's so entertaining.  And the best part about it?  Friends.

     We're not sure exactly when we started watching the shows together.  At some point, we must have wondered why we were watching it at all, and figured it would be a lot more fun if we got to talk about it while it was on! We think Jill and I started watching it together first and then added Julie, my next door neighbor.  Karan was the last to commit; she remembers not being that interested in it but didn't want to miss out on any of the fun, so she finally joined us.  Now she's one of the show's biggest fans!  

     My daughters, Libby and Katie, watched with us, and many of their friends came and watched over the years, too (even a boyfriend or two).  Karan's daughter, Shannon, started watching when she was 12.  She remembers her first episode being one of the fantasy suite episodes.  Yikes! Karan is quick to say here that "The Bachelor" was a good springboard to discussions with her daughters about relationships...mostly about what NOT to do!   Julie's daughter, Kalee, started coming at some point, also.  Over the years, we've had a few people drop in who didn't particularly like the show, so they don't get invited back. (wink)  We laugh, too, at Ed's "participation" in the tradition.  He usually goes up to the "man cave" to watch whatever show he's more interested in, but every once in a while, when there are particularly crazy people on the show, he texts us from upstairs, choosing the craziest one as his favorite (so obviously he tunes in occasionally).  We especially remember him being "Team Vienna", harassing us good-naturedly since we couldn't stand to watch her!

     Now all the kids are off to college (and Libby is married) except for Molly, who also started watching when she was 12.  She is our resident baker, so she brings treats.  On finale nights, she themes the treats!  When "Prince Farming" was Bachelor, the theme was farm animals.  We added country-style recipes to go with them:

     This season with Bachelor Ben was one of our favorites, and we gathered for our last finale at our house last night.  We circled the kitchen island like we always do, ate, poured glasses of wine, and reminisced about our fun tradition.  Molly brought the rose cupcakes, and we took our final photo before watching the show:

     Of course, Bachelor/Bachelorette Mondays will continue...we've decided to meet at my neighbor, Julie's, in the future since it will be in between Karan's and Jill's houses and our new one.  A new place for our tradition to continue! We'll start with JoJo's "Bachelorette" season in late May! The last lines of last year's blog post are still apropos...

     Everything is made more fun and purposeful with friends and family.  Any excuse to get together, laugh, enjoy each other's company, and get away from the doldrums and stress that sometimes creep into our lives, is fellowship. Even if it's "The Bachelor."