{ DUSTIN & AUBREY }

I was sooo hoping Mr. Napkin Head would make an appearance sometime during tonight's date. And of course, Dusty did not disappoint! What a fun date for us to enjoy together. Both Dustin and I have been to Medieval Times before, but not since we were little kids, so I'm glad we both had the chance to go back and enjoy the dinner and show together. Dustin is always such a good sport and I knew he'd have fun with this one!

Anytime I'm with Dusty it's pure entertainment! I think that's why I asked him back for a second date. He always makes me laugh and smile. Just try hanging out with him and not crack a smile. You just can't. His happiness is contagious!

The dinner and show were fabulous. Not quite as realistic as I remember as a wee one, but entertaining nonetheless. We of course lucked out and ended up in the cheering section of my favorite night, the Black and White Knight (didn't he used to just be the Black Knight?) who for some reason just seems the coolest to me. Too bad he ended up being the first one "killed" in the competition. Lame! But it was still fun watching all the jousting, sword fighting, and fancy tricks.

I hope Dusty had as much fun on our date as I did. He seemed to enjoy the dinner, the tournament, and my company as well so I'm guessing he did! The one thing I'm still not sure of is whether or not he sees our relationship developing into more than the wonderful friendship we have. And quite frankly, I'm not sure I do either, but I still think he's quite the catch! Any girl to end up with Dusty would be eternally lucky! And I mean that with all my heart Dusty Buns. You heard me right. Dusty will absolutely be someone's Prince Charming one day! Go Dusty!

{ NICK & AUBREY }

Nick was the perfect Sunday date! For the LDS faith, Sunday is set aside as a day of rest, a time of reflection and worship, and hopefully a little relaxation. So for our Sunday date I planned a casual evening and invited Nick over to my home to share in a little family tradition of mine. Every Sunday for as long as I can remember my dad has made chocolate chip cookies. That's right, my dad's the baker in the family! In fact, most all of our family ward refers to his famous cookies as "Kenny Cookies." They are everyone's favorite! Mine included. (See recipe below).

It was a lot of fun making my family's cookies together and then delivering them to my sweet neighbor Ed, a widowed gentleman who likes to refer to himself as a "bachelor." He's one of my favorite people to talk to! He's always so full of stories and love for his family. I also made sure that he showed Nick and I a few of the things he's been working on.  Every morning as I head off to work I always see Ed in his garage working on some new wood-working project. This week he's making an owl habitat for his daughter who lives in horse country up north. Quite the impressive piece!

Nick and I finished up the night with a little surprise provided by my dear friend Meridith who cooked up a wonderful meal for us to enjoy! Nick and I thoroughly enjoyed the food, the conversation, and the perfectly still October night. I can't imagine this night going any better! Nick is such a relaxed guy and seems pretty easy to please, so I think he enjoyed our evening together as much as I did. It was probably one of the best Sunday dates I've been on.  If I were to pick Nick I could easily see us doing this often on our dates and just enjoying one another's company.  We shall see...

For those interested in making your own Kenny Cookies, here you go:

{ Special thanks to Meridith Sebra for her incredible culinary skills and Megan Homer for setting up the romantic ambiance of the night. And to Larry for filming, and Nick for not freaking out when he realized Larry would be filming! }

{ LARRY & AUBREY }

{ A note to all the comments that have been coming at us left and right...Aubrey & Larry were advised that they may get wet and to wear a swimsuit Sailing. Aubrey is NOT wearing an immodest tube top, but rather a ONE PIECE SWIMSUIT. Thank you for voicing your concerns. We hope this clears up any and all confusion. Enjoy the show!!! }

Saturday night's date sponsored by: Southern California Riviera, coastal Orange County's site for great information on lodging, dining, activities, packages and more!

I've had some AMAZING dates these past few weeks, but for some reason, this one just takes the cake! It was absolutely perfect. Why so perfect? Well for one it was with one of the most eligible bachelors I know, Larry "The Cameraman". How could I not have a fabulous time? From the idyllic wind and weather for sailing, to the picturesque sunset, our conversation, dinner at The Chart House (my favorite south county restaurant), and the impromptu jump into the pool, it really was a night to remember!

Larry truly is one-of-a-kind. I love the way he's always waiting around each bend with a new surprise. I feel like I could spend an eternity just getting to know him and never be bored. One thing that is becoming more and more apparent to me is that Larry and I have more than just a million things in common, we've decided that I'm the girl version of Larry and he's the boy version of me. Basically all I'm saying is that we think the same, act the same, have all the same life experiences, share the same likes/dislikes, and the list goes on and on.

After tonight I was quite convinced that even if a romance doesn't ensue from our dating, we will ALWAYS be friends. I absolutely adore Larry and his infectious laugh, contagious smile, and those super cute freckles. What can I say? I'm a sucker for freckles. Larry is truly one of the most genuine, lovable guys I have ever had the privilege of "dating." If I choose him to meet my parents I know they would absolutely adore him just as much as I do...

{ Thank you to Justin for producing this fabulous video - Check him out at www.xhdproductions.com for your own masterpiece! }

{ DANE & AUBREY }

Friday night's date was sponsored by Team Twilight, the largest Twilight source for news, information and interaction online.



What a way to start off the first of these 2nd dates! Crowd favorite, Dane Gibson and I spent an incredible night at The CityWalk in Hollywood. Seeing him again brought back all the excitement and memories of our first date out on the Newport Harbor and up in the hot air balloon. I could only hope that the events of the night would somehow come close to his perfectly executed first date.

We started out Date #2 at iFly Hollywood, a simulated sky dive machine where you experience pure weightlessness to the extreme. I'm actually quite afraid of heights so just thinking about it gave me butterflies. Then again those butterflies could have been coming from somewhere else. Wink. Wink.

The flight was incredible!  Sharing this first experience together was more fun than I could have ever hoped for.  It might have even changed my mind about a real sky dive someday.  So maybe Dane brings out the risk-taker in me!  Is that really a bad thing?

Dane was such a supportive date throughout the entire adventure and made sure that I enjoyed every moment of our experience together. That's the one thing I admire most about Dane. He is 100% about me. All. The. Time. I wonder if he'll ever tire of that? I know I never would.

We finished up the night with dinner at Bucca Di Beppo and hammed it up a little with our own version of Lady & The Tramp. I love that he is open to having fun and doesn't really care what anyone else will think. It's one of his most redeeming qualities.

I would be a lucky girl to end up with a great guy like Dane. So will he be the lucky bachelor to win my heart? Just seven more dates and we will all find out...

{ Top 8 Revealed }

After the long awaited on-the-edge-of-your-seats anticipation Aubrey has narrowed down her Top 7 Bachelors.  The community of viewers has also spoken and we have an 8th Bachelor!  We hope you will enjoy following these second dates!  Good luck to the 8 following men (in no particular order.)  You are days away from having the beautiful Aubrey Messick all to yourself...

1. Dane Gibson

2. Rick Buck

3. Dustin Monroe

4. Matt Laidlaw

5. Jason Oliver

6. Todd Andersen

7. Nick Haycock

8. Larry - THE WILD CARD

{ Mid-Season Mocktail Party }

We danced, we mingled, we voted.  We had an unforgettable night with each Bachelor that could make an appearance, our lovely Aubrey Messick, and many wonderful friends.  Enjoy our highlight reel and stay tuned until the polls close tonight when we reveal the Top 8.  Round 2 will begin immediately and will include a series of second dates that Aubrey and the staff at The Mormon Bachelorette have meticulously planned and paid for.  We hope you have enjoyed the adventure so far - it is about to get even better:)

{ LET THE VOTING BEGIN!!! }

22 Dates ... 22 Bachelors ... 22 Men trying to win Aubrey's heart... Please enjoy this season recap so you can relive the magic of Aubrey's journey of love.  Over the next 24 hours, cast a vote to see your favorite Bachelor enjoy Date #2 with Miss Messick...

{ DATE #22: Andrew Loper }

Way to go Andrew Loper! I just spent the entire morning and afternoon doing everything I love to do: yoga, eating delicious food, getting pampered at a spa, and doing it all in the company of an incredible guy. Seriously, just enjoyed the date I needed to finish off these 22 first dates!

Andrew drove in from Modesto yesterday, leaving behind his landscape business to take me on this awesome date. The first thing he did right was show up in his Audi A3, my favorite car on the steets right now. I'm just a sucker for a sexy, sporty car. For a few months I thought about trading in the Benz for one, but alas, the thought of a car payment far outweighs the joy of owning a new vehicle. But it was fun to be carted around all day in his Audi and envision what it could have been like.

First stop was CorePower Yoga in Huntington Beach. I absolutely love yoga and love CorePower (party because my roommate is an instructor there) so it was nice to start off the morning with a good sweat. And boy did we sweat. He took me to a heated C2 class and we got quite the workout! If you want a good cardio experience, make sure to go to Aileen's Yoga/Pilates class. Girl knows what she's doing!

We obviously couldn't finish the rest of the date looking like sweaty messes so after yoga we headed back to my place for a quick shower and wardrobe change and got back on the town again for some lunch. The original plan was to stop at the market and pick up some stuff to make food at home, but I decided that my kitchen was too messy to be seen and opted for dining out. Andrew immediately suggested Sugar Shack on Main Street which I was excited about because in all the time I've lived here in Huntington, I've still never been to this local dive. The food was great, conversation was nice, and before we knew it, it was time for our spa appointments at the nearby Hyatt Hotel.

That's right! He treated me to a mani/pedi while he sat beside me and got a pedi too. Major points right there! How many 37 year old men do you know that are comfortable enough with themselves to not only take a first date to get a pedicure, but then join her yourself! Kudos to you Andrew.

What a great date! I feel energized, alive, and surprisingly relaxed, given the night I have ahead of me in choosing 7 guys to go forward into the 2nd dates. I had such a fabulous time and felt like a queen being treated to all my favorite things. I am confident that should I ask him to accompany me on a second date, he would continue to show me the same respect and thoughtfulness he did all throughout today.

{ DATE #21: Larry }

As strange as this might sound, tonight I kind of felt like Meg Ryan at the end of that movie You've Got Mail when she's standing in the park and up walks Tom Hanks' character, shoulders shrugged and that cute grin on his face. Then suddenly she realizes that he's NY152 and with all the sincerity of heart says "I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly." That's sort of how I felt tonight when I opened the door to find Date #21, Larry.

In case you hadn't noticed from some of the previous posts, Larry has been following me around on quite a few of my dates lately as our cameraman. And you know, it's funny because before this whole TMB thing started, Larry and I had never met (which is weird because we're in the same ward.) But, over the last couple of weeks I've had the chance to observe and get to know him from a distance, and realized that we actually have a lot in common.

From day one of filming I've always thought he was a cute guy and a GREAT dresser (you should see what he wore to the priesthood session of conference.) Yah, I was looking! But honestly, I think I noticed a connection developing between us when I realized how similar we are and the many things we share in common. And Larry said the same about me! How cute is that? So needless to say, I was really happy to be on a date with Larry the cameraman tonight.

For our first date he took me bowling which I'm usually not really good at (last time I think I bowled a 54...is that right girls?) but this time I almost broke 100. That's super good for me! Of course Larry beat me, even with all his fancy tricks he tried, which oddly enough, racked up some major points for us. I guess goofing off really can pay off.

As we finished up bowling and drove to dinner at Pho 54 we continued the conversation which definitely came naturally. It's funny because while we've spent a lot of time together, we never really sat down and talked about the basics. Some things about Larry: he's a young one at 24 (I always thought he was much older...so mature!), grew up in Dallas, served a mission to Chile where he lost his southern drawl, moved to Provo to attend UVSC, and is currently on a television show called Fact or Faked.  Outside of work he loves to write. It's funny because he said at night when his mind won't stop racing he'll grab a notepad and just jot down whatever comes to him.

On our way back to my place he showed me tons of pocketbooks that he had sitting in his car just full of garb. I really liked that whenever he has an impression, he writes it down: thoughts, quotes, poetry, short stories, whatever. He's even working on a screenplay which I thought was so cool because for years I've had the most amazing idea in my head for a movie that I just need to get down on paper and I think Larry will be my muse to finally get it going!

After a delicious Pho dinner, Larry had a little surprise for me! We stopped at a nearby park on the way home and walked out into the middle of a big grassy field and he showed me how to send off a sky lantern. They are seriously the neatest things. You just light this little disc underneath them on fire and wait for the paper to inflate with carbon dioxide and heat, and eventually it'll take off and float away. I told Larry that years ago when I first heard of them I thought it would be cool to have the guests at my wedding float them away as we exit the reception. Now that I've actually done one though, it might've just been cooler in concept. They're a little fickle, but fun!

So the date was great! I'm really glad I had the chance to spend some time with Larry in front of the camera (that just sounds so backwards) and get to know each other a little better. He's a complete gentleman, like I said he's really mature for his age, and I think we both had a fantastic night together. I kind of hope there's a second date coming up...

{ DATE #20: Dallin Large }

Last night was Date #20 with Dallin Large, and today he turns 29! Happy Birthday Dallin! What a sweetheart for spending his birthday eve with me! Not only did he spend the evening reminding me what it felt like to be treated like a lady, but he made me feel special all night through word and deed. This evening as I opened the door I was greeted with a beautiful bouquet of white tulips (my favorite) and treated to Thai Food (also my favorite) at one of my favorite restaurants, Silk Thai Cuisine. Already the date was off to a great start!

As we dined together I spent the time finding out all I could about Dallin. He grew up in Santa Clarita, CA but currently resides in Santa Monica where he owns his own business called Cover Care, which services, repairs, cleans, and maintains electronic pool covers. Pretty fancy, right? Since I'm an entrepreneur myself I found it fascinating to learn all I could about how his business got started, how he markets himself, and the challenges of being your own boss. I found it all so interesting, but the really good stuff came out when I learned more about his client list. Let's just say this guy's hung out in the backyard of a few A-List celebrities like Brad Pitt, Halle Berry, and Tom Cruise. And hey Tom, if you're reading this (which you obviously are!) I hear you still owe my date some money. Unacceptable!

Dinner was amazing! Kind of goes without saying though. I'm in love with Thai Food! Dallin and I shared some pad thai and pineapple curry and it was DELICIOUS! That's all I have to say about that. The dinner conversation was fun. Now that I'm so far into this dating process the guys usually want to know things like "What's been the best date so far?" and "What's been the most awkward moment?" And then of course I like to turn the questions around on the guys and fish for a few awkward dating stories from their past. Turns out Dallin and I share a similar awkward moment. He's ALSO run into a date while on a date...kinda like what happened with Nick and Ryan. That's always awesome!

After dinner we drove back to my place for an activity that Dallin had planned for the remainder of the evening. Well, I probably shouldn't say he planned it. He actually had something else really fantastic planned but unfortunately the inclement weather forced us indoors. But I feel like you should all know his creative origin plan anyway. We were going to use fabrics and ribbons and sewing machines to create our own kites and then fly them down at the beach. What a fun idea, right? But not to worry, his back up plan was just as creative and might've been one of the most fun stay-at-home dates yet. We ended up playing our own version of NBC's "Minute To Win It."

Some of you may already know this about Dallin, but just over a month ago Dallin posted a video on youtube of him successfully completing the game HIGH ROLLER from Minute To Win It (view it HERE) and was contacted by NBC to come in for an audition. So if we're lucky, we might get to watch Date #20, Dallin Large, compete for a shot at 1 million dollars. How cool is that?

Now back to the date! Our own home version of Minute To Win It was so fun! And not to brag or anything, but I totally beat him fair and square at all three challenges. Maybe NBC ought to be giving ME a call. No offense Dallin! Honestly, you're a far better HIGH ROLLER than I could ever be. Maybe if there's a Date #2 you could help me work on my submission video? Maybe even a couple's edition? You never know. Could be fun...

{ DATE #19: Joe Abrams }

I've had a really difficult time reading through a lot of the comments that have been coming in with regards to Date #19 with Joe Abrams, and I feel it necessary to re-write this post.

First, may I offer my sincerest apologies for all of the misunderstandings that resulted from my poor write-up of this date.  I have to admit, I did not do a very good job of explaining why I was so upset and felt disrespected by the date.  So for the record, let's just try this again....

While in the middle of my fun date (yes, I think it could have been a very fun and cute date had it been executed with the proper intentions), something happened to upset me.  While in the middle of our Toys R Us run, I asked Joe why he decided to take me out on a date.  With a little hesitation, he admitted that he took me on the date as a joke.  A way to ridicule The Mormon Bachelorette.  Of course I had the same immediate reaction that many of you would have.  I was upset.  I explained that I was serious about my endeavor to find a great guy and that it hurt my feelings that he would try to make a mockery of me and make me feel stupid, which he admitted.

So please understand why I felt the need to forgive him for hurting my feelings (maybe even just my ego) and not having fun on this date.  I am so grateful to Joe for his sincere apology and he really went to a great effort to change his mind about this date.  So Joe, I apologize if I portrayed you in a poor light.  You certainly deserve to be treated as the wonderful person I know you are and I hope we can put everything behind us...

{ DATE #18: Rudd Hopkins }

If I could use only one word to describe Rudd Hopkins I would have to say animated! From the minute I opened the door it was like I was on a date with a cartoon character with endless energy! Maybe it was the blue bow tie and matching shoes, or the way his mouth would curl when he said something funny. Whatever it was, it was absolutely refreshing and desperately needed after the LONG and EXHAUSTING weekend I had. He certainly had enough energy for the both of us!

The date was great! He brought with him a panini press and all the fixings to make some delicious sandwiches. I'm not sure if he planned it this way or not, but he brought enough for my Staffers and asked if they'd please enjoy them with us while we watched conference, which I found very thoughtful. And the sandwiches were delicious! I hate to admit that my cooking skills are still a work in progress so it was nice to learn a tasty new recipe that didn't take forever and a day to make. I like food that's simple, quick, and tastes delicious!

As we whet our appetites with the smells of melting cheeses and fresh ripe peaches, Rudd and I took some time to get to know each other. I learned that Rudd is 26, grew up in the lovely Camarillo, CA where he still resides, graduated with a degree in marketing, "parties for a living" (you'll have to ask him more about that one!), loves all things surfing, and spent a year at BYU Hawaii honing his skills. With all our differences, I was happy to share this last interest in common. But the thing I found most interesting about Rudd is the fact that he recently started a dating blog called The Beau Tie Guy.

Evidently, my date today with Rudd was just one of 16 dates for his "dating experiment." At first I wasn't sure how to receive this information, so I probed around a little to find out Rudd's true motives behind this little "experiment" of his. I assured him that The Mormon Bachelorette was no "experiment" but rather a journey to find "true Mormon love." Surprisingly my worries were confirmed when I asked Rudd "So, is this just an experiment on dating for you, or are you really getting out there to find someone to date?" Following another one of his famous animated faces, he shrugged his shoulders and said "Weeeeeellllll....." And that's all I got.

So with the news confirmed that Date #18 was indeed a "social experiment" we grabbed our paninis and headed for the television to catch the last session of Genereal Conference.  The food was amazing (I will definitely be making those paninis again!) and the remainder of Conference was inspiring. Throughout the broadcast Rudd and I continued in our conversation, this time with a more gospel centered focus. I discovered that Rudd served a mission to the Brazil Brasilia Mission and his favorite scripture can be found in Moroni 7:48. Look it up! It's a great favorite.

As conference came to an end I helped Rudd pack up his things, walked him to the door, and thanked him for such a wonderful experiment, I mean date. I hope he enjoyed himself (mostly because I know I'll probably find a write-up about HIS thoughts on the date on his blog very soon. Maybe I'll wait to determine his standing for a second date until AFTER I've read his review...

{ DATE #17: David Shepro }

I've really gotta hand it to all of these guys! I've now been on a total of 17 first dates in 17 days, and it still blows my mind every time when these bachelors come up with the most creative and unique dates! I mean really, when you think about it, it's quite impressive that these guys, most of whom are from out-of-town, have planned and carried out all of these dates and dinners to places I've never been, things I've never done, and food I've never eaten. I don't know how they're doing it, but keep it up boys! I'm loving every minute of it.

Date #17 with Dave Shepro certainly surprised me again with another exciting date and something I've never done before! But before I go any further, I feel like we need to stop and sing his praises for all that took place for Dave to get here to Southern California to take me on this date.  And I'm probably going to get in trouble for revealing this, but if I'm looking for a guy who can be completely honest with me, I guess I should try and be honest with him as well. With that being said, I actually knew I'd be going on a date with Dave tonight! That's right. I said it. I knew all along.

Early on in The Mormon Bachelorette I noticed we had a significant amount of traffic coming in from this website called Pledgie.com. It's basically an online website where people can donate money to a cause, like getting Dave Shapro to California for a shot on The Mormon Bachelorette. Click HERE if you're in need of a good laugh!

So since it said his name, day of our first date, and the evening plans, I pretty much knew what I'd be getting myself into Saturday night. There would be Hip Hop dance lessons, a dinner, and if we had time, another fun activity. And all of those activities were an absolute blast. The one thing I didn't know was all the amazing things I'd learn about this incredible eligible bachelor.

For one, Dave came out here to take me out on his birthday weekend! That's right, Dave just turned 32 yesterday and I loved that he wanted to spend his birthday here, with me! And he came all the way from Seattle to do it! Are you kidding me?  I was so flattered!  Other things I learned:  although teased all through middle school, this Alaska native was the Homecoming King his Senior year of High School, served his mission right here in Riverside, graduated from UVSC, received his MBA from the University of Virginia in Marketing. Dave also loves to sing, has an affinity for sushi, sweats a lot (like a lot), and said his life's theme song would have to be "Break My Stride" by Matthew Wilder. Great pick Dave!

After he enjoyed hip hop dancing like a couple of white kids with our personal dance instructor Charles at Studio Fusion in Huntington Beach, Dave impressed me yet again with a $100 gift card to Nordstrom to go shopping for something cute to wear to dinner while he snuck away for a couple hours to attend the Priesthood Session of General Conference. I was in absolute awe of both his dedication and commitment to his Priesthood responsibilities (men, this is at the top of my list) and just as impressed by the thoughtful gesture to send me off to the mall for some me time.

After priesthood and shopping we met back up (me in my cute new clothes!) and the date continued to get even better. The conversation was great, the food at Ra Sushi in Huntington was amazing (somewhere I've always wanted to try) and we finished the night with a little walk around the block. Dave really was a fantastic date and I can't thank him enough for making the trip all the way out to Southern California to show me an amazing time out on the town. He is truly a rare find. Maybe I ought to take him on a 2nd date to see if he can top tonight. We shall see...

{ Thank you Larry for the fabulous video. You're a rockstar! }

{ DATE #16: Dane Gibson }

Have you ever experienced Murphy's law in action? You know, the whole "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." Well, since day one we here at The Mormon Bachelorette have been dealing with these little unforeseen mishaps day in and day out. Like tonight. Somehow, last minute, we realized all the Staffers scheduled to take the same night off and we were left with no one to film tonight's date. And then, just when our dearest friend Roselyn had come to our rescue, we find out the brand new camera battery we bought for our camera had once again died and gone to heaven.  Seriously?  So here I am, sitting on my living room floor, ready to burst into tears when suddenly, I hear a knock at the door.

Now, before I say anymore, I am a firm believer that there is opposition in all things. Have you ever wondered what the opposite of Murphy's law is? It's Yhprum's Law (Yhprum = Murphy backwards). The simple formula of Yhprum's Law is: "Everything, that can work, will work." So where am I going with all this? Well, cue Date #16, Dane Gibson.

From the minute Dane Gibson walked in the door, our luck completely changed, if you can even call it that. I apologetically explained the tragedy of our once faithful camera and the lack of an operator to which his response was. "My friend Dallin drove down with me and brought his camera.  I bet he could film for us." And that's where our night of everything good began!

I was pretty excited for my date with Dane.  First off, I find him quite attractive.  And I'm not just talking about his physical nature.  Sure I love that he's 6'2" with brown hair and beautiful eyes, but it's his personality that really attracted me.  If you missed his application video, I suggest you pause for a moment to watch it HERE.  He's smart, funny, owns his own home, has a great job working for Pfizer, and really knows how to treat a lady.

It's no wonder his date was perfect! Before we got going Dane had me choose between 2 different envelopes to help decide where we would be dining that evening. The choice was between "Fun" or "Romantic/Fun." Of course I picked the "Romantic" envelope knowing full well what kind of date I was hoping for with this 27 year old Lincoln, CA native.

Inside the envelope was a menu to a delicious Italian restaurant called Cucina Alessa in Newport Beach, where we stopped and grabbed some food to go and brought it with us down to the harbor.  Dane surprised me with a harbor cruise complete with picnic basket and sparkling apple cider! It was wonderfully romantic and something I'd always dreamed of doing on a date.  As he held me close we sailed through the channels of Lido Island and admired all the beautiful homes together.  I even pointed out a favorite home I once worked on back in my Interior Design days.  I'm hoping he was impressed.

The rest of the date panned out perfectly. We finished up the 2 hour cruise, packed up, and headed to Dane's next surprise, a ride in the Great Park Balloon in Irvine. Our timing could not have been any better. Not only were we the last riders to go up for the night, but Dane planned it so that we would be in the air while the Disneyland fireworks went off in the distance. And there might've even been some fireworks of our own. Wink, wink. It was such a romantic first kiss!

By the end of the date I had completely forgotten all about the rocky start and looked back on all the fun we'd had. It definitely goes down as one of the best first dates I've ever had. And I'd be remiss if I didn't say I'm already hoping for a second...

{ A special thank you to Dallin for filling in last minute and doing a phenomenal job with this video! Check out more of his amazing skills on vimeo at: http://www.vimeo.com/spliceoflife. And if anyone is interested in hiring him for their upcoming wedding, shoot us an email and we'll gladly direct you! }

{ DATE #15: Geoff Openshaw }

I certainly didn't see that one coming!  Date #15 definitely took me by surprise!  If you rewind to a few weeks ago, just before these crazy dates got started, I sat down to do a radio podcast with the voice of This Week In Mormons, Geoff Openshaw of Placentia, CA.  He invited our Executive Producer, Erin Elton, and I to be guests on his weekly show which is broadcasts through "a blog and podcast devoted to all things Mormonism - from news and politics, to absurd cultural items, to the Gosepl itself."  I'm guessing our Mormon Bachelorette segment fell underneath the "absurd cultural items" category but hey, we had fun doing it! Check it out HERE if you missed it.

I was nothing short of shocked when I opened the door and saw Mr. Openshaw standing there, waiting to take me out on Date #15.  Why was I so shocked?  Well, for one, the 29 year old master of satire didn't exactly put out the "I'd like to take you on a date" vibe during our TWIM interview.  But now that I look back on it, I'm pretty sure all his teasing was really just his way of sharing his affections.  I still don't quite understand why boys do that to girls.  The whole chasing them around the playground and pulling their pigtails behavior?  It baffles me.

Anyway, all I'm trying to say is that I was surprised to see Geoff at my door and somewhat amused at the fact that I would be spending an evening getting to know him better. So what did we do on this evening together? Well, I was told by our Exec Producer to dress "nice" and that my date would involve something cultural, followed by a nice dinner. Little did she know, Geoff threw that plan out the window and took me to Savers instead! That's right. Savers, a second hand store in Anaheim!

Now, I've never heard of Savers. Probably because Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza don't have one. But I was up for the adventure and knew Geoff would help me find something amazing. As we perused the shelves we first found him a couple t-shirts and a great button down. I on the other hand, went straight for the skirts. I love skirts! Every night I ask my staffers...do I get to wear a skirt tonight? Please??? I know, I must be weird, but I just love getting dressed up. So I was excited to find a really cute grey linen pencil skirt. And then, as an added bonus, on the way out found this great vintage makeup tray that I can't wait to polish up and display all my perfumes on. I was amazed at the treasures we found!

After we were all shopped out Geoff took me to dinner at a Persian Restaurant a few block away. It was a little hole in the wall called Hatam. I don't LOVE Persian food, but I found a great dish with lamb chops and rice. I quite enjoyed it.  While we dined I remember talking a lot about travel. Where we've been, where we'd like to go, etc. Geoff and I have both been to London and Paris and well, those are the only places I've been in Europe so far. Geoff served his mission in Barcelona and lived in Scotland and the Ukraine for a while which I was quite jealous of. I asked him if he could go back tomorrow, where would he go? He chose Turkey! Good choice. I singled out Italy and Greece. I'm dying to see Santorini and Capri!  Talking about travel always makes me happy.

Eventually the date came to an end and I found myself reminiscing about my expectations for the night.  I found it amusing that while I thought this date would be full of witticism and causticity (Geoff likes to use big words sometimes so I thought I'd throw some in there too), it was a nice surprise to find that Geoff was nothing but complimentary of my character all night long.  In fact, I might be so bold as to say, he's actually really hoping for a second date. How do I know that?  Well, for one, he got my number at the end of the night and sent me a little text message that read "Openshaw/Messick 2011! Ow! Ow!"  Sorry Geoff...it was too funny to keep all to myself.  And who knows, maybe that'll win you that second date after all...

{ Good job Larry. Love the videos. And thanks for filming my good side! }