I have three small children.
They keep my very busy from dawn till dusk.
...but at dusk every night a small magical window opens
between about 7:45 when they go to sleep and 9:45
And that is when we catch up, do chores, prepare for the next day
and often watch our favorite shows
Except on Wednesday, which is the best, because that is:
Survivor Night!
Enter our really amazing friend, Clay
who just so happens to know Reynold from this season of Survivor
and who just so happened to pass along to us some info
about a Charitable Viewing Party going on
this week in Austin
where Reynold and Eddie and Malcolm
would be at a viewing party
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| Trying to play it cool talking to Reynold and Eddie |
What? Seriously?
So we just had the absolute amazing opportunity to go to a bar
and hang out with those crazy guys
and watch them as they watched
one of the best episodes unfold...
What's even cooler is that the party room we were all in
was tiny...like 50 people
and a bunch of them were family members of the players
We were sitting next to Malcolm's cousin and his girlfriend
 |
| Posting this picture makes me a stalker, but its so funny how you can see half our faces beneath the "fans" sign and Malcolm, Eddie, and Reynold are in the foreground |
Before the show came on everyone was mingling around and even though you'd imagine these
guys must be sick of people wanting to talk to them
they actually came up to us!
Eddie walked in first and walked right up to our table
and introduced himself...which is totally weird
because he's like, "Hey, I'm Eddie..."
and you are thinking
"yeah, I know....I've been watching you in HD TV for like 8 weeks"
but instead you say
"nice to meet you. are you staying long in Austin?'
And stuff like that
So then Malcolm just walks up to Collin and I
And stay at our table and starts chatting
 |
Malcolm was trying to call his mom so she can get directions to the restaurant, but it was dead
so I offer to let him use mine, I know, I'm nice like that
but he can't use it because he doesn't know her actual phone number
Note to self: Must teach boys importance of knowing my actual phone number when they are grown up |
So we asked him about the Q&A they were planning to do.
He says they cancelled it because they get in so much trouble for discussing anything about the show. But we snuck in a few...
I got to ask him about how much of the conversations get missed by the cameras
He emphatically said that there are literally cameras rolling every single moment. There is a crew member who stays up nights just filming them sleeping.
Collin joked with him and asked him if he'd play again. He said they had discussed it, but wasn't sure because it was just so hard on your body. I thought about telling him I had the same concerns about having a fourth baby...didn't think that would quite hit home to a single guy...but it is TOTALLY a legit comparison!
Collin asked him about what his application video was like...
In case you are dreaming of applying...
he said he literally just filmed himself walking around his apartment talking and talking
he said the most important thing to them is the ability of a person to be able to tell a story
so make sure you emphasize that on your next video
 |
| Malcolm giving Collin advice on getting on the show :) |
Collin is still forbidden to sleep in a hut besides bikini clad 19 year old girls
(and tonight was probably the closest he will ever get to the show)
shh....don't tell him...
I know, this video is a something a stalker would make, but I was so surreal
Malcolm is standing there right next to me watching himself on the show-
this was right before they found the miraculous immunity idol
So here are my final thoughts on meeting these characters in person...
-they are completely characters, all three of them are the kind of extroverted personality that walk into a crowded room and immediately work the crowd
-it makes sense that those are the types of people that get casted for the show- large personalities + all together = good tv
-they are huge, literally, giants. I cannot imagine competing against them in physical challenges. they really are just bigger than you imagine. Somehow even Malcolm's head seemed giant.
-the entire conversation we had with Malcolm reminded me of 7th grade. You know that one boy in the school who charmed all the girls so much that be the end of one conversation each girl was utterly convinced that the boy liked them especially? (In my grade this was Michael Gonzales?) Thats Malcolm. I can totally imagine having a strategic Survivor conversation with him and being 100% convinced he was in an alliance with me when he could very well be 100% about to vote me off. Its not that he's intentionally schmoozing you, he's just one of those genuinely Charismatic kinds of people
Which brings me to how amazing it was to watch these guys as the most incredible episode unraveled....
Tribal council part one
Tribal council part two
Final thoughts?
This is actually the best part which is that all three of those guys seemed to be legitimately nice guys. Yay Survivor!
We came home to a house full of wide awake, adorable little boys.
And it was imminently clear to me that despite our night of being star struck and having fun, and of course imagining what it would be like to do a show like that
there is absolutely 100% nothing that compares to the blessings we have been given for the adventures that we are getting to live every day
