we met on a blind date set up by scott and heather fischer....
we dated for 9 months, got engaged and then a few months later i entered a contest called BRIDAL SURVIVOR ( 2004) i was one of like 300 who sent in applications. from there 25 were selected as semi finalists, and had to answer more ” personality based” questions. From there, 10 finalists were selected.
I of course, was one of them.
We had one weeks notice. I was a full time college student, and I worked 3 jobs, cleaning a doctors office 1 day a week, and at 2 local gyms the other days. So I had a lot to figure out. Plus i shared an apt with Beth and still had bills to pay.
I got coverage for all of my jobs, and my hubby agreed to go to one of my classes for me and take notes. and one of my other very LOYAL friends….. actually wrote a paper for me!!! I told her she had to dumb it down a little bit so the teacher would not know. lololol.
I planned on staying in for 10 days. this way i would only miss 1 week of school.
All we knew was that is for $15,000 towards a wedding. We knew we had to meet at an empty store front at a mall in Albany. We could only bring, a pillow, a sleeping bag, something borrowed and something blue.
I brought a toothbrush, and a ” borrowed” notebook with a pen inside. I was addicted to lipgloss, so i smuggled in 2 different ones. LOL
Thats it.
We had to live in this store front. We had to wear really ugly old, used, wedding dresses 24/7. We had to eat Wendys food 3 times a day….and mind you, they do not serve breakfast. and we had no shower. no change of clothes. no clean under wear. lol. we could not leave and no one except the dj’s or the ” bride sitters” could come in.
We did different contests, just like the real survivor. One was called to have or to hold……and we had to hold a 10lb block of ice with our bare hands, untill we were the last one standing…. I won. after 2 hours and 44 minutes. my biceps have never been more sore in my life. frost bite will occur after 3 hours….we were close. LOL
for winning that i got to go out into the mall with jason for 1 hour. while chaperoned by a a dj. i got $10 to spend on hygiene products in CVS. i bought deodorant, some cheap makeup, and i think, some gum.
we had to do other contests as well. but the ice one was my favorite. we were on the news alot. we were on the radio everyday. people came out just to see us. they would crowd around the front of the store like they were looking at a new litter of puppies. LOL.
( back tracking a minute…..on the first day, 1 lady did not make it in time and was disqualified. another lady was in grad school, and said she could not stay past the first day and left after dinner…… day 5 a girl kissed her fiance through the “roped off door way” so she was disqualified, and then a few others straggled out. by day 10, it was me and 2 other girls….i had to stay. i was 2 people away from a 15,000 wedding)
it was mostly boring though. we just sat there. around day 11 or so, jasons ex girlfriend emailed the station and asked for them to buy us new underwear.
so they did.
one day we woke up from a nap and found that one of the girls, was gone and the contest was now down to just 2 of us. this was the same day that we had to spend 24 hours of silence. we had to sit facing away from the doors and windows. we could not talk, we could not laugh, we could not do anything. they brought us our food 3 times and that was it.
when our time was up me and lindsey ( the other girl) started screaming and moving all over the place. lol. we screamed about the other girl- tina- leaving, about the wendys staff never bringing us creamer with our coffee…..about the bad food, about people banging on the window…..lol. 24 hours is a long time to sit facing the wall, and not be able to speak.
finally, on day TWENTY ONE….. it was May 5th…cinco de mayo… and the contest of the day was a boquet toss. i thought i would lose….. and the consequence for the loser, was to eat 5 live tequila worms. at this point i was fried. it was aweful. they had blacked out the windows so we could not see out. they ropped off the room to make it 1/2 the size of what it started with. they turned up the air. they turned up the radio and left it on 24/7, they took away our blanket and pillows. we had nothing. we slept on the floor. my hair was so dirty and nasty. i had not showered in 21 days. i was not sleeping. i was used to teaching kickboxing, yoga and body sculpting classes 6 days a week…i wasnt even moving around the store. i was cold. i was hungry for real FOOD.
so at this point, i said, if i lost the toss, i would not eat the worms and i would leave the contest. however, i miraculously WON. the other girl did not want to eat the worms. which kicked her out of the contest. instead of taking it like a good sport…….she cried and begged and pleadied with me to give her the wedding. she sat on the floor crying and pulling on my knees, begging me to GIVE her the 15,000 wedding i just competed 21 days for. of course, this was all being broadcast live over the morning radio show. the calls were coming in like crazy. the people were loving the drama. i was not. i wasnted her to stop. finally the dj told her they were going to give her 1000 and a 2 night stay at some place in florida.
i won. i won 15,000. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH for the next few weeks , it was like i was a local celebrity. everywhere i went, people knew who i was. LOL. so funny.
my roommate came to pick up with her 2 year old daughter. they both gagged the whole way home. i was gross. i was still in the wedding dress. my armpit hair was like 4 inches long. lol. not really, but it was long.
they dropped me off at home, and i went to get in the shower…. NO SOAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL
they did not give me cash. it was all gift certificates too certain places.
1000 to the apple inn wedding dress place
2500 for flowers from renaissance florists
1500 for museum of dance ( reception hall)
9000 for food ( only included 100 plates)
and then some towards wedding bands, and 1 other thing.
we had to still pay for, extra food, wedding cake, photographer, and a few others,
it was amazing.
this is a story you never forget,
i did it. i knew i could do it. and it was amazing!
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