You guys, I have a confession.  I love TV.  When I find a TV series that I love, I could just watch it all day long, for days, until seasons are finished (LOST in college, anyone?!).  I just get wrapped up in a good story very easily!  As my life has changed and babies came along, my TV habits have changed dramatically- a little HGTV, some kid shows, and whatever we happen to catch in the evenings throughout the week is about all we get get!  That being said, I can admit that in addition to shows that have gripping stories and great characters…I also get attached to shows with less than savory stories sometimes…including every show that has ever aired of the Bachelor franchise! I didn’t see just the first few seasons (I think I was like 13 and that never would have been allowed in my house!) but have been a loyal fan of it since college- each season of The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Bachelor Pad, and my recent “favorite”, Bachelor in Paradise! The thing is, I don’t really think it’s great TV…but I JUST CAN’T STOP watching it!

So Michael has gotten to experience the joy and drama of some of these shows with me over the last 6 years, the most recent being the 2nd season of “Bachelor in Paradise” that concluded last night! And as such, Michael is making his DEBUT on the JGP blog today to share some thoughts with you about his viewing experience! He is such a good man to watch it with me, and to share his heartfelt thoughts with you! So without further adieu….my Michael!

Jill made me do this.  By “this,” I mean that Jill made me watch the tv show Bachelor in Paradise.  I think I heard my brain cells screaming out in agony as I watched this show…!  For those of you who don’t know about this show, good for you!  The premise is   that a bunch of single people who were rejected on the Bachelor/Bachelorette series are put together in a beach resort hoping to pair off and ‘find love.’  The producers of the show, of course, make it their aim to make things as dramatic as possible by sending people onto the show at just the right time to stir things up.  And, of course, they selected some of the craziest people they could find to be on this show.  Along the way, the show is edited so that we feel sorry for certain people, determine others are villains, and even root for couples to make it.  It is so bad, that it really is impossible to look away.  But, I have to admit, that I have learned valuable relationship lessons from the show.  I thought I would pass these along to you and hope that they help guide you no matter what your current relationship status is.

Five relationship lessons from Bachelor in Paradise:

1.  Drama, tears, jealousy, and possessiveness are the keys to building solid relationships.
2.  It is possible to instantly fall in love with a person, as long as he/she is ‘hot’ enough.
3.  Five weeks is plenty of time to determine if a person is ‘Mr./Mrs. Right,’ as long as you spend the time half-naked and making out.
4.  Even seemingly normal people are somewhat crazy (and that’s okay, because you are seemingly normal, too).
5.  No matter what your current relationship situation is, you have it pretty good.  Be thankful for who is in your life… at least until someone new comes along.

Okay, actually there is nothing to learn from this show.  Well, maybe that’s not true.  I think the Bachelor series of shows taps into our universal hope that we find a life-lasting love.  That’s part of what I enjoy about working with Jill photographing weddings; we get to see that spark, that moment in which two people commit to each other in the most meaningful way.  I was lucky enough to find that life-long type of love, and I even found it without all of the drama, tears, jealousy, and possessiveness that ABC would have you believe is the norm.
Until next time… Jill’s Mike

And because every post needs a little pretty…us 5.5 years ago at our engagement session with the lovely Beth Laurren Photography! Our 5 year wedding anniversary is coming up soon…and we are going to see my favorite photographer ever Katelyn James for an Anniversary Session (and much more importantly, a full day of business coaching!!) just after- we can’t wait, but the difference between us in these pictures and those will feel profound to us! So grateful for the last 5 years, and all we have truly learned together.