Here I am almost two months later and what a two months it has been! Between cases, social activities, and attempting to get back in shape now that I live next to a gorgeous and large gym, it’s been a whirlwind! I leave you with the most interesting tidbits I have learned so far:

• Section J is awesome
• Just say no. Sometimes you have to say no to many activities. And guess what? It’s ok!
• Team 77 is amazing at circuit boards (see below)
• If I were to climb Mount Everest in a non-simulated form, I would likely die
• Cold calls are actually the best thing that can happen to your grade in a class
• On the grade note – those don’t really matter that much here (or in real life)
• Sometimes all you need to de-stress is an entire day of watching college football and getting ahead on reading!
• Class can actually be fun

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2014/09/29/leadership-lessons-from-a-humble-pope/

Courtney Robertson’s book I Didn’t Come Here to Make Friends: Confessions of a Reality Show Villain was released yesterday. While I confess I’m only about a quarter of the way through, so far it has been hilarious and scandalous.

The best part? It was a perfect match for two of my favorite things, books and The Bachelor! Trashy reading about someone’s actual life that I just can’t put down? Absolutely. Worth reading? Absolutely.

My favorite quotes are best summed up by this buzzfeed article:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/bachelor-book-courtney-robertson-ben-flajnik

I’m sure she’s raking in the dough from the large Bachelor fan base that is desperate to get a glimpse into the strange mind of one of the most notorious villains the show has ever seen. If you haven’t watched Ben F’s season of The Bachelor you probably won’t enjoy the book. If you have watched that season, buy it (or check it out from the library if you don’t want to financially support your least favorite Bachelor contestant)!

http://blogs.discovery.com/bites-animal-planet/2014/06/animal-planet-world-pup-competition.html

It’s a single elimination tourney to compete for favorite puppy!

Who can resist bulldogs of all ages, sizes, clothing, and wrinkles sliding, walking, and tumbling down slides?

I didn’t plan to do this, but book #100 was The Forsyte Saga. This is one of those long books, well really multiple books, that took me months to complete since it kept getting tossed aside in favor of other things. Every few weeks I’d remember to pick it up again, only to get distracted by a trip to the library.

Six months later I have finally finished The Forsyte Saga, book #100 on the list! Which means there is a series in my Netflix future

If you’re interested, here’s the full list of 1001 books: http://www.1morechapter.com/projects/1001-list/

Andi wasn’t afraid to tell Juan Pablo her true thoughts, and had some amazingly hilarious tweets while the show was airing, so I am hoping for great things this season! Without further ado, the contestants:

Front-Runners

Brian: This Basketball Coach from Pennsylvania likes The Notebook and reading John Grisham. This combination of interests should serve him well with the hopeless romantic attorney Andi!

Chris: This farmer from Lamont, IA (population 461) will win simply because he’s Iowan. And no one can resist the charm of an Iowan. Also his favorite movies include Rudy and his biggest date fear is accidental diarrhea. Don’t be strange, fellow Iowan, please don’t be strange.

Craig: This accountant from Defiance, IA (population 284) will also win because he is an Iowan. Considering he has stripped, stripper outfit and all, at his uncle’s 50th birthday (his most embarrassing moment), puked on a date of his (worst date memory), and loved the scrapbook he received from a previous girlfriend, my state’s reputation may be in trouble.

Josh B: This telecommunication marketer from Colorado runs marathons, likes hiking, wishes he could teleport, and wishes he was a professional golfer so he could donate all of his winnings when he gets old.

Josh M: This former pro baseball player was a Georgia Bulldog during his college career. Andi lives in Georgia. His brother was the quarterback at Georgia who just was drafted (Aaron Murray). Andi’s dad LOVES Georgia football. It’s a match made in Georgia heaven.

Marcus: This sports Medicine Manager lives in Medicine Hat, Alberta. He’s a former pro soccer player who loves his mom and lived in Europe for awhile for the whole soccer thing. My favorite quote of his so far? “Corny is good, I think.”

Marquel: This Sponsorship Salesman from California wins my personal award for best fashion in the contestant photo shoot. His typical Saturday night consists of Netflix, cookies, and a glass of wine. He’s basically my spirit animal.

 Middle-of-the-Pack

Andrew: This 30 yr old Social Media Manager from California seems fairly normal (so… boring in terms of this show). He clearly watched Juan Pablos’s season since his answer to “I hate it when my date…” was “doesn’t ask me any questions about myself/talks about herself incessantly”.

Carl: This Hollywood firefighter has a bulldog named “Archie” and seems to basically eat, breathe, and sleep Crossfit.

Cody: This personal trainer from Kansas proves everyone who lives in Kansas looks like the previous Bachelor Sean. I will give Cody points for being far tanner than Sean and not maintaining the perma-sunburn I got used to for an entire season of the show. Oh and he has no tattoos because “you don’t put bumper stickers on a Mercedes “.

Emil: This helicopter pilot from Portland likes to Twerk and hates it when anyone but him is the center of attention. He’s been to 42 states but never to Chicago, which I find odd. He does read books for fun though, which most of the other contestants don’t seem to do.

Jason: Ok, so I’m also judging his hair. But if you can manage to get past the terrible haircut, he seems pretty awesome. This Urgent Care Physician seems fairly funny since in reference to his M.D. he said “you know you’ve done something worthwhile if you get some letters after your name.” He likes philanthropists, spontaneity and wishes he had x-ray vision to improve his patient satisfaction scores.

Patrick: This Advertising Executive from New Jersey played soccer in England and Italy. I’m expecting wonderful pickup games based on the roster thus far of former pro soccer players. He likes to surprise ladies he’s dating with flowers, jewelry, spa reservations, and basically everything the show will take care of for him. So he will need to develop a new dating strategy.

Ron: This Beverage Sales Manager lives in Israel but I think (based on research) he previously lived in Barbados.

Nick S: This Golf Pro who played soccer at IU (seriously they ALL play soccer!) wants to be the President of the US to “know what it feels like to be the most powerful person in the world.” He seems like a bit of a jerk, but Andi liked Juan Pablo for awhile so that may not be a deal breaker at first for her.

Nick V: This Software Sales Executive from Wisconsin lists “a rose… duh” as his favorite flower. He also viewed a scrapbook as the most romantic gift he’s ever received. Please don’t make a scrapbook Nick, please!

Bottom-Dwellers

Bradley: This recently divorced Opera singer likes to read The Economist and wants to travel around the world (presumably with his children).

Brett: This hairstylist who appears to have a mini-mullet (seriously… look at the full sized pic here) said he’d like to be “invisible” as his super power. The reason? “To see all the weird stuff people do when they’re alone.” Creepy.

Dylan: This accountant from Massachusetts likes apple juice and Connect Four. Every answer of his incorporated his love for the Red Sox, Patriots, Tom Brady, and the Northeast. I’m not sure Andi, the native Georgian who has never lived outside the South, will be able to talk to him about anything but Connect Four.

JJ: He owns a clothing store (http://hemhaus.com/) that sells items like this gem:

I hope he stays around so we can see some more of his fashion!

Mike: This bartender from New York likes hiking and sipping hot chocolate under the stars. He’s a bartender at a ski resort and apparently he skis all day while working and gets summers off, to do things like The Bachelorette.

Rudie: This Attorney and hippie from California is a former band member who likes beaches, fun, and likes the Dalai Lama because he’s “rad”.

Steven: This Snowboard Product Developer from California likes country music and almost everything outdoors. He would like to travel in time to the Cretaceous period because “it would be awesome to see a T-Rex.

Tasos: This wedding planner (and it appears aspiring musician) from Denver, if he could be someone else for a day, would be Mick Jagger for the “rock star life and fortune”. Not sure if that lines up with Andi’s good-girl gang prosecutor image.

Honorable Mention

For those of you who don’t know, contestant Eric Hill died during production of the show. This 31 year old explorer from California had one of the best/coolest/most genuine overall bios of the group. You can read it in its entirety here: http://abc.go.com/shows/the-bachelorette/cast/10-bachelor-eric

Note: All pictures and bio information from ABC.

In the spirit of looking on the bright side here are the best things to come from this terrible year of winter continuing to wreak havoc on Chicago:

• Vocabulary expansion to include ‘Polar Vortex’
• Discovery of my dog’s paws’ temperature limit (-5°)
• Multiple Netflix marathons
• Re-discovery of the show 19 Kids and Counting
• Extra cuddle sessions with Bennie (and Andy if Bennie was willing to share)
• A decorative birdhouse courtesy of my shopping trip I titled Help I’ve Been Working From Home For Multiple Days In A Row And I’m Losing My Mind
• 10 hours outside enjoying the balmy 70° high on Easter Sunday
• Significant progress toward my 1001 books list
• Appreciation for those who have survived living in Canada

Fitbit Flex

Now that I’ve used it for about two weeks I’m starting to realize just how bad sitting in an office all day can be for my health. I usually get up and walk as often as possible, try to talk to people instead of email them when possible, and try to go on a decently long walk with Bennie every day. And guess what? That puts me nowhere near the recommended 10,000 steps per day.

Thanks to the Fitbit reminding me of things I probably already knew, I’ve started going on longer walks with Bennie, drinking more water, and eating better. Thankfully spring is almost here, and spending more time outside walking or running is much needed after this long winter. So overall I am extremely happy with the Fitbit!

The one thing I’m still not convinced the Fitbit tracks even remotely accurately is my sleep. Particularly curious is the fact that when I wake up in the morning I usually have between 10 and 60 steps under my belt for the day, despite “0 times awake”. I’m sure it thinks restless times are also steps, but it’s still a little strange.

While the Fitbit in some ways is just a glorified pedometer, the integration with the app (which in turn is easily integrated with running and calorie tracking apps I already use) is extremely slick, and worth the money. Now I just need to get my hands on the new violet colored wristband!

Violet!

Well the collective wisdom of twitter is not always smarter than a few producers. I hope when picking the next Bachelorette the show seriously tests their options and makes sure the person they select to be the next celebrity of the franchise will actually do the show proud.

I would be ok with Andi or Kelly or even someone totally new. Or… perhaps as the result of this season we will soon see a gay Bachelor(ette)!

And by the way the producers reeeeaaaalllllly need to bring back Bachelor Pad.