It's Baaaaaaa-aaaaack!

I think our record this winter for days in a row without a runny nose in the house is 15. And now we have to start the clock over.

In other news, based on my children's behavior this morning, they had better hope that no gypsies stop by our house today--I might just be tempted to sell them all. I wonder if gypsies have a good strategy for dealing with children far older than 2 who are still having 2-year-old tantrums?

An Interview with Evan

For background on Evan and Tamara, go here, here, and here, and read all my posts from last week. (It will be worth it, I promise!)

The following is a transcript of my interview with Evan. I didn't record our conversation like a real reporter, as I knew this would freak him out (I am his sister after all.) I just did my best to type in his words with a 2 year old straddling my lap while singing Annie songs. So here and there it might not be quite verbatim, but I have tried to preserve the integrity of the interview. My words will be italics, Evan's won't be. (What do you call the opposite of italics?)

So, Evan, now that you’re a big time celebrity, I wanted to thank you for taking some time out of your busy press schedule to talk to me. My readers and I have some questions for you about your 31 dates in 31 days experience. Are you ready for me to fire them?

Really? Your readers? Okay, I'm ready.

My first question is, had you heard about Tamara and the experiment before you got the phone call from their mutual friend?

No, not at all. I had heard nothing.

When you did find out about the premise of the experiment, what did you think?

I thought, eh, good idea. Could be fun.

Did you go on your first date with any preconceived notions?

I don’t think I knew anything about her except that she worked for GMA, that she had gone to Columbia, and that she was recommended by a friend as someone I would have fun with.

How did you feel about being one of 30?

Well, I didn’t really care about the one of 30. What I was more concerned about is, is this date going to be like she’s at work? I’m going in order to get to know her and have fun, not for an interview for a reporter. I just hoped that she was really interested in getting to know me and not just on writing a story, because I've got other stuff to do than give interviews.

Were you jealous of any of the other guys after she wrote about them?

She was very complimentary about all the guys, so it was hard to know. I think the one that worried me the most was date number 5 (the night before me) because I know him and I know he’s a great guy.I could see how he would be competition.

What did you think of her post about your first date?

I thought she was rather flattering.

What was your first impression of Tamara?

I thought she was cute, funny, and energetic.

What do you like about her most now that you’ve gotten to know her a little better?

I like her willingness to go on any adventure—her zest for life. I like that she doesn't just talk about her dreams--she's out there chasing them.

What things do you and she have in common?

Let's see. We’re both right-handed, we both like music, we both like to sing, we both went to Columbia. We both love NYC and the gospel.

What were you most nervous about on your first date?

I was nervous that I might be boring. I felt like she was going on all these dates, and I hadn’t planned or thought of anything because I was the last-minute guy. If we want to do something at the end of the night, I needed to think of something that’s fun to do. She’s probably already been on cool dates and I want to compete with that, rather than be "the boring date".

What about your second date?

I don’t think I was that nervous. I did buy new clothes. The cameras were going to be there. I wasn’t nervous about the cameras, but I knew that it was going to be a little weird. Okay, I will admit that before I left, I told my roommates, “I can’t believe how nervous I am?!” I guess because I liked Tamara and didn’t want to mess it up.

I talked to our brother, Tyler, the day of the 2^nd date, and he said, “We’re going to have to use Michal’s blog after this to get you dates with LDS girls.”

“Dude, she’s LDS!” I said.

“What?! Then don’t blow it, jerk!” Tyler's words haunted me all night. "Don't blow it, jerk!"

(Laughing.) Did you think that you had a chance at the second date?

Oh man, I hoped I did. I tried not to get my hopes up because there was so much good competition. I kind of figured that whether I won or not, I would ask her out again.

How many times did you vote for yourself?

Ho-ho. Good one, Michal! I vote for myself twice. Just to see if I could.

What was it like having all the buildup for the second date? That’s a lot of pressure to have the date be good.

With the second date, the guy couldn’t plan for it at all, since he wouldn't know until that morning. The pressure was less in a way, because I didn’t have to set up the plans. But on the other hand, since there were 30 guys vying for the date, I didn’t want to have it be lame. There was pressure for it to be fun for her--I didn't want her wishing that she'd picked someone else halfway through the night.

You got in some good zings during the restaurant interview. Were you really as cool as you looked?

Yeah, I feel like they were kind in editing—my answers weren’t always so quick and snappy. They edited out the "ums" and the pauses to make me sound like I had great timing. And I got to have two shots at the interview, because the first time their mics didn’t work.

Did you feel awkward when you bumped into another of the guys while you were on your 2^nd date?

It was a little awkward, yeah, especially because I know him, too! We had hung out a week before his date with her with a bunch of mutual friends. He was very cool, but it wasn’t as natural as it had been before we both took out the same girl. Now I was the one on the 2nd date, so yeah, it was a bit awkward.

Now a few questions about your television premiere: Did you get to pick out your own clothes, or did they choose for you?

I just showed up in my clothes.

How early did you have to get there?

I had a car waiting outside my apartment at 6:15.

Had you slept at all? They did announce on the air that the date went until 2am.

I had slept a few hours but I was afraid that I would sleep through my alarm.

What was it like being behind the scenes? Did they give you a lot of prep?

Well, there wasn’t really prep, and the interview wasn’t scripted. We talked about it a bit before the cameras were on, and then they ran the cameras live and asked questions to prompt our previous comments.

Since Tamara works at GMA, did they grill you there off-camera?

Oh, no. They were cool. Everyone was really nice and just said things like, "So this is the 2nd date!"

Are you nervous about dating a journalist—that she’ll expose your secrets to the world?

(Laughter.) What secrets? Nothing that you haven’t already done. I’ll just have to always say “off the record.”

Will you take out Tamara on a third date? Have you set it up yet? Why not? What’s wrong with you? (I had already written this, knowing my brother too well.)

Yes. Definitely. No, I haven't asked her yet. I actually need to call her. I’m trying to give her some space. (Me: Girls don’t want space!) No, I’m giving her some down time after a month of dating. Don’t worry your little heart out, I’m bugging her with incessant chats. I'll call her. I'll call her.

How are you going to top your 2^nd date? Do you have a helicopter reserved?

(Laughter.) There’s an ice climbing expo outside of town this weekend that I want to take her to.

This weekend? Do you realize that it's Wednesday night?

I know, I know, I’m going to call her. I'll call her right now.

And there you have it, folks! I hope it answered all your questions. I must say that Tamara's post about the date made my heart swoon. She has done a great job on this project and I can't wait to see it in book or movie form. But I know that wasn't her main objective in doing this--and we can keep our fingers crossed that that main objective is met, too. (See, Evan! I didn't say "love" or "marry"! I am such a good sister!)

Tamara's Date Rehash

I just finished my interview with Evan, which I promise to post sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, go read what Tamara said about their date and about her plans in the future (yes, Debbie, a book is involved.) Besides, so far the only comments have been from Evan's mom and two sisters, so go leave her a comment!

Seven Things You Never Knew

Don't be afraid that I have another sugary, junk food snack photo on my blog today. I haven't had one of these in at least a year. I just didn't have any good photos in my file for this post.

I got tagged weeks ago by Rebecca at Becoming for this meme. You know I love a good meme, but this one is really going to make me think. After all, I am a full-disclosure kind of girl in most situations and there's not much about me that you don't already know if you read my blog. So, I'm going to give this my best shot. Sorry if some of you already know a few of these.

• I played the alto saxophone in the marching band my first 3 years of high school. My family had a rule that you had to be in the band for at least one year. We were an award winning band and we traveled throughout California performing and winning competitions. Our band director was very short--no taller than 5 feet--and he had a temper. He'd always throw a fit like a spoiled child if we didn't perform to his standards. I haven't played the sax since my last day of band.

• I bounced back and forth between two elementary schools in our district throughout my grammar school experience. In sixth grade, I had a little friend named Leilani who had buck teeth and chopped-straight-across-her-forehead bangs. She and I did almost everything together. When I got into junior high, all my friends from the other school were the "cool kids". Leilani was not. I dumped her fast. I have always felt terrible about this. Maybe I could track her down now and apologize.

• My parents got me a bike for my 7th or 8th birthday. My dad took me to the neighbor's flat driveway to learn (we lived on a steep hill and our driveway was steep as well.) I fell off several times and skinned my knees. I decided that I'd had enough and went back inside to read my book. My younger sister and brother both hopped on and learned to ride that afternoon. I didn't get back on a bike until I was 12 and I discovered that our youth program at church had planned a progressive dinner on bikes. I decided that I had better learn to ride, since not riding a bike was my deep dark secret. I did, although I'm sure that I was an obvious novice at the activity. I can probably count the number of times I have been on a bike outside of the gym.

• The last two have been kind of downers. I guess I need to think of a happy one now. (The problem is, the only stuff I haven't already blabbed about are my deep, dark secrets!) At my missionary farewell, my family sang, "We'll Bring the World His Truth." As we were singing, it suddenly struck me that my parents had been preparing me for a mission for my entire life without ever telling me that they expected me to go. I was so grateful to them and all those years of early morning scripture study and memorizing verses. Throughout my mission, I would often sing that song to myself in the shower and cry, but it was never a sad cry. It was rejoicing that my parents had taught us well and trained us to be missionaries. All six of the kids in my family served full time missions.

• One of the ways that I know I get the baby blues in the first six weeks post-partum is that I don't want to leave my house or talk to any of my friends. I go from being uber-social to a recluse, and I have to force myself to answer the phone or tell anyone, "Sure, you can come by for a visit." It always catches my husband off-guard because it is such a 180 degree turn from the normal Michal. I also cry. A LOT. (He doesn't forget that part!)

• I don't like Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho-hos, and those little donuts that have plastic chocolate on them, but I LOVE Zingers. Especially frozen. Vanilla, Chocolate, or the red ones with the coconut? I'll eat them all.

• When Jared and I were dating seriously, I once made a chocolate cake to bring to his family's Sunday dinner. It was from a mix with a bottled frosting (I've come a long way since then! I might still use the mixes, but never the fake frosting.) His family raved and raved about it and always talked about my amazing chocolate cake. I felt sheepish that it was from a mix, but didn't want to admit it for fear that they would find it less impressive. They asked me to make it again and again. Now that I know them better, I recognize that they were just trying to build me up and help me feel comfortable. They have always been good at that. I was insecure for years anyway.

Now it's time to tag some of you. I tag Scrappy, Ice Cream, Malia or Stu, and Ashley. I'm supposed to tag seven people, but I rarely follow tag rules.

Coming tomorrow: an interview with Evan! If you have any questions you are dying to know about his date with Tamara, you'd better leave me a comment.

Confessional

Here is all of the food I ate yesterday (to the best of my memory):

• 3 pieces of french bread with butter
• 3/4 of a Sees Bourdeaux Heart (roughly the size of 3 normal pieces)
• A handful of grapes
• 2 handfuls of Valentine Peanut MnMs
• 1 triangle of the quesadillas I made for my kids' lunch
  
• 1/3 bag of Pop Secret Homestyle Microwaved Popcorn
• 1 baked potato with butter and cheese (I fully intended to put sour cream on it and forgot because I was eating in front of the computer.)
• about 6 Sees Candy Red Hot Hearts (they are smallish)
  
• 10 blackberries
• 2 1/2 frosted heart sugar cookies (large)
  

At this point, I suddenly realized that I felt VERY SICK. I had planned for my family to eat leftovers last night. I forced myself to also eat:

• 1 bowl of chicken and dumplings

I still feel terrible this morning. Cream of Wheat, anyone?

Evan and Tamara Rehash the Experience

If you missed it this morning, (or like me, if the wind storm blew your satellite out of commission,) here is the link to the Good Morning America clip that featured Tamara and Evan. They both did such a great job--naturals in front of the camera! My only regret (besides the fact that they didn't show my blog on the air:) was that they didn't let us see and hear more of the footage of their interview while actually on the date. Oh well.

Hopefully, once Tamara gets caught up on her sleep, she will post about date number 31. And I won't stop hounding Evan until I get a good interview out of him. Do you have any questions for either of them? Leave me a comment and I'll be sure to ask.

More News Coverage

I got mentioned on Fox and Friends! Not by name or anything, but Tamara did give me a shout out as Evan's campaign manager. They talked a lot more about him than they did about me--and I thought this was all about me! :)

We Did It!

Thank you to everyone who helped Evan win the 2nd date with Tamara!! We couldn't have done it without all of your votes--I know that many of you joined our cause on Facebook and passed on links to your friends.

We can't wait to read all about it on Tamara's blog tomorrow. Also, they'll give a debriefing of their date tomorrow on Good Morning Amercia Weekend. I've also secured an bloggy interview with him, which I'll publish next week!

If you didn't get to see the reveal this morning, live on Good Morning America, go here. I can't find a code to embed it, but if you are savvy enough to figure that out, let me know and I'll just post the clip here.

Have a great time tonight, Tamara and Evan! We'll be thinking of you!

Reason #7: Evan Is Musical

He can serenade you on the baritone or the guitar. He has a gorgeous singing voice and sang in the BYU Men's Chorus and in a touring choir at BYU-Hawaii. Who doesn't want a guy who plays the tuba and sings?

And he can dance, too!

And by the way, my fortune cookie tonight read, "Your efforts in a critical area will soon be rewarded." I'm not sure how critical this date is, but I can't claim to have put much effort into anything else in the last few days, so let's call it an omen!

It's Go Time!

Please go to Tamara's blog immediately and vote for Evan to be her 2nd date. This poll will only be open until midnight Pacific time/3 AM Eastern time. When you go to her blog, there is a pale orange section in the first sidebar (below the bright orange section.) Click on the red "VOTE HERE" and it will take you to the right spot.

Feel free to send an email note to all of your friends and neighbors, encouraging them to vote for Evan as well.

The results will be announced on ABC's Good Morning Amercia Weekend tomorrow, Valentine's Day. Set your TiVo or stay by the TV to see who wins!

And thanks for all your support.