rue721

A powerless child forever! Sounds awesome 🙄 They’re the Lotus Eaters

I mean, they also don't have a courtship announcement because there was no courtship. We aren't being inundated with cutesy pics and videos of them hanging out and getting to know each other because there aren't any, they may only have met at this one betrothal ceremony. The wedding is small/virtual because it is essentially just a contract signing, and the bride's mother isn't putting together any other fanfare for it. I think it's not necessarily the case that there's a ton of secrecy, so much as there literally isn't any other footage -- because there is nothing to get footage of. I think it's probable that the entire "relationship" so far is a handshake deal between the two fathers, and that was done in some back room somewhere or even over Zoom, and now this betrothal ceremony (which they did film and release).

Why can Jill not get a job? This MLM shit is ridiculous. Sell cars, Jill! There are good sales jobs out there, real actual sales jobs. I'm not kidding, I think she would do well if she got a job at a car lot selling cars. She has lots of hustle, but it's so directionless... and filtered through the lunacy of her "religious" beliefs (most of which are political rather than spiritual anyway, but whatever). Not that I particularly want her to do well, because it's not like that would leave her kids any better off. But anything that gets her away from them and stops her from trying to trick them out in her dog and pony show is an improvement, I guess.

That video! Did you all hear the "pledges to marry" that they made? This is even more formal and emotionless than I could have imagined. I don't think they know each other at all, this might literally have been the first time they've met in person. There is less intimacy and emotion here than in a successful job interview. It honestly is pretty chilling to me. I understand why young people would agree to something like this. They probably don't know any better, they probably don't have real/stable personal identities yet, they trust their parents absolutely because they aren't mature enough to understand that their parents are just regular, fallible human beings who may not even always have their best interests at heart or really know what those best interests are. What I think is appalling is doing this to your children. How Katey's father, who has himself been divorced, can have the arrogance to think he can pick a spouse for her like this! God, I am flummoxed by this video. Absolutely bewildered.

Sorta, but the lifestyle is also sort of a mirage. He hasn't had a job with a living wage for how many years now, yet he somehow has this Shiny Happy People thing going on with a mortgage, stay at home wife, two kids and a dog... I think the Dillards will turn out OK, but the white picket fence is kind of bullshit, because it's built on what? His in-laws' reality TV fame? Student loans? Hopefully once he graduates, he'll get them onto actual solid ground. I think Derick does well in school because in school, you're just responsible for yourself and accountable to yourself. It's all about you. And Derick isn't stupid or lazy, he's just not a team player. Hopefully, though, he's matured emotionally, mellowed out a bit, and is going to have an easier time fitting into the working world and onto a work team this time around. I frankly expect that. Derick had his weirdo quarter-life-crisis, but he seems to have grown out of that stage of his life and he's a pretty normal adult at this point (aside from being a religious zealot, but I have no hope of that changing 🙄).

Another thing to consider is that this crowd seems to consider the wedding the bride's family's responsibility. If Katy's mom is NOT DOWN with this Biblical Betrothal stuff, she may not approve of the wedding and not want to be involved at all. Maybe Katy's stepmother doesn't see it as her place to step in, and of course neither does Michelle. I don't think that explains the massive secrecy, but that might be why it's apparently virtual and just not going down like any of the other fundy weddings we've seen. Maybe this is as close to an elopement as this crowd is going to get, if Katy's mother doesn't approve.

Actually, that makes the most sense given that both are listed as Kory's mother. Hmmm. Interesting food for thought.

Oh my god everybody, I just got accepted to my first choice law school, with a full tuition scholarship for all four years (it's four because I'm doing the evening program). I am reeling, I can't believe it. So happy!!!!!!!!! I'm grinning from ear to ear and I also want to cry, it's just so overwhelming. I can't believe this!!!!!!!!

Maybe tax law, prosecuting fraud/financial crime, or something else in government... I'm not really sure yet. I'm all ears if you have suggestions!

Thank you!!!!! 😁 I retake the last exam on March 29th, and I'll find out if I passed on April 9th. 🤞 You can take the four CPA exams in any order, and ironically, the one I'm taking on the 29th is the one I tried to pass first! I started studying for it last July, and took it for the first time in September 😅 The good thing is that studying for it really helped me with the other three, though, and I do know the information pretty well at this point. It's also such a load off to be down to just the one, the treadmill feels like it's slowing down... I cannot WAIT until I'm done with all of them, and don't have this constant pressure to study hanging over my head. I will probably be finding out if I passed AND sending in my security deposit to reserve a place in law school in the same week. It's going to be wild! Thank you everybody for being so supportive. I know it sounds silly, but it means a lot. Everyone in my offline life knows that I'm doing all this, but I'm trying not to talk their ears off about it... thanks for letting me talk yours off instead 😁

My money's on head injury

Oooooh I hadn't heard about chili crisp! I'll have to try it. I actually like Huy Fong's garlic chili sauce even better than sriracha. I eat it on sardines, because that's how I roll (cheap and stinky 😂). It was IMPOSSIBLE to get when lockdown started last year! I was hitting every store I could think of (online) and they were all out. It was a very sad time to eat sardines, for a while there.

It looks like tuna salad dyed green, to me. Which I think is nasty, but I am not a big fan of tuna. Why they couldn't have had the "big green salad" that Jill used to like to talk about, I don't know. I was going to say, or Green Eggs and Ham, but I guess all the kids are too grown for that now. It's kind of wild to think that they've got about half their kids married off already. Barely any "other Duggars" left! Except the grandkids, I suppose. I still can't keep Anna's and Kendra's kids straight. I don't even really remember how many Kendra has? I'm surprised that they're celebrating St. Patrick's Day, honestly. It seems pretty Catholic to celebrate a saint's day? But I'm glad they're up for it, the more mainstream and less Bible-thumpy they are, the better!

It’s because sriracha is from LA and he’s got this weird LA obsession going on 🙄

I passed the exam! 3 down, 1 to go 😅 The three that I’ve passed so far, I’ve passed on the first try. The one I still have to go is a retake — and I take it in less than two weeks. 🤞🤞 I’m very proud (!!!) and I cannot wait to have ALL the exams behind me 😁 And I got my stimulus! My parents are eligible but didn’t get theirs yet, and they’ve gotten a paper check (actually, one of those weird debit cards) in the past as well. I think the people who got tax refunds direct deposited into their accounts for tax years 2018-2020 also got the stimulus direct deposited, but people who paid taxes any of those years are more hit or miss in terms of stimulus direct deposits. That’s just from what I’ve seen in my family, though.

Oh yeah! Jeremy's thing used to be books! And he was always taking pictures of books and himself hanging out around books. Now all his pictures are of him playing card games or wandering tourist traps, wearing LOS ANGELES! emblazoned gear. Regress much? Lol.

I think Anna has drunk the Kool Aid. She's had to, in order to survive. So she probably genuinely believes at this point that she's doing God's work and saving souls, including and most importantly the souls of her children -- and of Josh. Anna and Kendra are essentially walking wombs, but that's the Gothard ideal... neither are going to break away unless they have a MAJOR crisis of faith, and I don't see that coming for either. Josh, however, I think has NOT drunk the Kool Aid. And he also is not doing his "god given duty" as head of his household. So I dunno what his excuse is. But I've never understood Josh. Like why the hell was he assaulting his sisters when he himself was a kid? His choices and feelings are completely batshit to me, from childhood on. I think the Kellers did a disservice to their kids by raising them in the cult, but Anna has siblings who have left and I think the Kellers are true believers as well. So I dunno.

You said it way better than I could, @thehorseofpower. Totally agree. It's also great for relationships between grandparents/parents/children to have everyone involved. That's how families get close. I know my grandma was very involved in raising me, and we have had a very special relationship, and I think it also brought her much closer with her daughter (my mother). Even my parents helping with my dog has brought us all much closer! That said, my parents are much happier to help pick up any slack if I'm doing something that they support and really want for me. So I really don't get why Alyssa's parents aren't being more supportive when she seems to be living exactly the life they wanted her to?

Thank you 🥰 That means a lot 💗

This wedding is so weird. A virtual wedding by anti-maskers, on the second saddest day of the Christian calendar (like OK, at least it's not Good Friday?), held in secret despite the "lucky couple" being a wanna-be politician and the uber-Gothard daughter of one of the wealthiest and most superficially "aspirational" families in their circle. Wut.

I mean to be fair, it’s very Easter-y to celebrate marriage/sex 😂 Not Christian Easter-y, but...

If I were living in a warehouse with my six kids and baby-hungry wife, you can be DAMN SURE I would be taking every class offered at the community college and otherwise trying desperately to get an education. I don’t understand why Josh doesn’t do that. Maybe depression, laziness, anti-intellectualism? I dunno, but an unskilled guy is never going to be able to claw his way out of a windowless warehouse, and that would light a fire under my ass, I can tell you. 🤦🏻‍♀️

This makes me think of JB saying he lost his campaign bc of “sin in the camp.” Maybe he blames Jed for losing and Biblically Betrothed him to get him back on the straight and narrow. The only thing is that Katy seems like a catch... pretty, rich dad, Gothard banana curls, etc. Does Biblical Betrothal make anyone else think of knowing someone “biblically”? It sounds like a couple who have sex and are basically common law married... not like some weird arranged marriage thing. I’m not entirely against arranged marriage, because it’s so normal in so many cultures in the world... but to me this also sounds like a bunch of control freak parents continuing to control their kids’ bodies and sex lives for their whole lives. I also think “marriage” means something different in the mainstream West than it does in cultures where arranged marriage is the norm... Hearing about this sort of extremely strict arranged marriage makes me reflect on how couples are expected to relate and how mandatory marriage (and childbearing) is in their culture.

I ended up having two law school interviews today 😅 Luckily, I had already taken the day off of work for the first one, so when a request came in from a second school, I already had the afternoon free. These two schools aren’t the highest ranked that I applied to, but they’re my top choices because they seem like good fits in other ways... and my stats are high enough above their averages that I’m hopeful that I’ll get some funding 🤞 I was soooooo nervous, and did a lot of prep (maybe too much!) but I think both interviews went really well. I think my enthusiasm for the schools really showed, and the interviewers thought I was a good fit for the same reasons I do. I should hear from at least one of them soon... 🤞🤞 This week is pretty stressful for me, so I’ve been trying to celebrate all the random holidays in it... pi day with blueberry pie, wine & olives & cheese for the Idea of March, and cabbage & corned beef & potatoes for St Patrick’s Day — whatever gets you through, right? 😂

People on other TLC shows, like their current “crown jewel” the 90 Day Fiancé franchise, make about $1-5K per episode. A friend of mine was scouted/interviewed for Married at First Sight, another TLC show, and if I remember right, the pay was comparable. (He ended up saying no bc the filming was so invasive and inconvenient, and the pay was too low to justify that). So I think that’s the most likely range the Duggars are looking at — maybe $1-5K per family per episode. It’s also likely that the money is all funneled through the family trust, and JB doles it out per family as he sees fit. (Maybe hence the LLCs).