Janelle Brown: Smarter Than Your Average Brown (Maybe)

[Scarlett45]

Quoting @GeeGolly from the Kody thread-

I 95% agree with you about Janelle, but I also don’t think she was ever in love with Kody, and because she wasn’t in love with him, the lack of emotional connection in their relationship didn’t bother her. This may be 100% my own intellectual and linguistic limitations (there’s only one word for “love” in English), but “wine and dine, let’s have sex romantic love” is what being “in love” means to me. 
 

I do believe Janelle deeply loves and has emotional intimacy with Christine, more than she ever had with Kody because I think Christine is a more emotionally open person than Kody ever was on his best day; and I think Christine is just nicer.

I also think Janelle hasn’t been fed years of expectations about how she’s supposed to feel about Christine, (as her close female friend). Compare this to the narratives women are given about how we are supposed to feel about men (up until recently when people acknowledged women may be a lesbian or bisexual etc), if you were a woman who knew you were heterosexual, but never felt the way about a man that you EXPECTED or were told to feel you might think there’s something wrong with you. Again- I admit I might be projecting, I see a lot of myself in Janelle on this topic. 

[LilyD]

22 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

I don't know who the houses were titled to, but according to articles online, the Browns made more than $400,000 after selling all 4 homes. Around $100,000 each. That's assuming they were still mainly paying on the interest of their homes and assuming they didn't make any major improvements or repairs on the homes

The houses were all bought for around $450k each. Robyn's was sold for 609k, Janelle's for 575k, Meri's for 574,500k and Christine for 535k.

When they were building, they were referring to Kody and Janelle's house, Kody and Christine's house etc. However... when it came to actually financing the houses, there was no mention of Kody qualifying for a mortgage, just the wives. It made me wonder if Kody even had a mortgage to his name? That scene also was when we got a first glimpse of Robyn's financial mess with loans and credit cards in 4 different names... She had to sort all that out in order to qualify.

And yes, Douchebag forced them all to sell because the time was right. And they sure made a profit on them, but had they waited another two years, the house prices would have doubled!

[65mickey]

I have been curious about Janelle's housing situation since the end of last season probably filmed around the first of October 2021. I looked at her instagram posts and one dated 11-7 2021 shows the trailer being hauled off to storage. Janelle posted soemthing like so long trailer see you next spring when I'll have electricity, water and sewer. So has anything happned at Coyote Pass since 11-21?  Or is Janelle still in "short term" housing waiting on utilities to miraculously appear on Coyote Pass so that she can build her garage apartment? How long will they keep up the pretense of building on the property before one of these morons says I have an idea let's sell?  I guess as long as TLC keeps the checks coming in.

[ginger90]

37 minutes ago, LilyD said:

Meri's for 574,500k

Yup in 2019, and then sold for $835,000 in 2021.

[toodywoody]

19 hours ago, gingerella said:

If Janlle can't get her money back from Kody and Robyn then she should write a tell all book and spill the damn tea on them. Janelle, girrrll! Don't tell us on camera that 'Robyn has lots of issues', shown us the receipts girl. Show.Us.The.Receipts.

I agree. I want Jenelle to get specific on the problems she has with Robyn. We know how Christine felt about Robyn. I want to now know what the deal is with Jenelle and Robyn, besides the obvious. We know what the deal was between Meri and Jenelle and Christine, now I want to know what Jenelle's issues are with Robyn.

I think she keeps quiet on shit because of the way she's seen Kidney go after Christine all these years. I also think she bought the Lehi house because it was about the kids having a roof over their heads and it was for the whole family. She also believed this when they were in LV since they all lived right there together. Now on CP and Robyn's mansion, I think she thought she could put the RV out there while her house was built and then she could sell it or maybe one of her kids could use it. As far as giving Robyn money for her house, I think she just plain and simple got conned by Kidney. He fed her some bs and now she's seeing the chaos he creates and how it isn't about anyone but his family with Robyn. In the beginning she did it because she was doing it for family because Lehi, they still were a family. 

[Scarlett45]

1 hour ago, 65mickey said:

I have been curious about Janelle's housing situation since the end of last season probably filmed around the first of October 2021. I looked at her instagram posts and one dated 11-7 2021 shows the trailer being hauled off to storage. Janelle posted soemthing like so long trailer see you next spring when I'll have electricity, water and sewer. So has anything happned at Coyote Pass since 11-21?  Or is Janelle still in "short term" housing waiting on utilities to miraculously appear on Coyote Pass so that she can build her garage apartment? How long will they keep up the pretense of building on the property before one of these morons says I have an idea let's sell?  I guess as long as TLC keeps the checks coming in.

I think Janelle and Savannah are renting, with Janelle holding out on a long term plan until she knows where Savanah is going for college next fall. 

[GeeGolly]

Didn't Janelle say when Robyn came into the family she didn't have the energy to invest in her, so she pretty much ignored her and her kids?

I thing Janelle was struggling with becoming a full time parent after the move to LV and Hunter was having a hard time with the move as well. I can also see Janelle taking a backseat and letting Christine said out loud what her, and likely Meri too, were thinking.

So I'm guessing her problems with Robyn stem from basically not having a relationship.

[65mickey]

If Janelle is waiting to decide where to live until after Savannah finishes high school presumably in 2023, why did she have the garage apartment plans drawn up in the fall of 2021? Has she or any of the others talked with the city or county zoning officials about what is allowed on this property? I doubt it. More and more when I watch Janelle I think that she acts impulsively without thinking about the pros and cons of her actions. It's kind of like I want this so I'll just buy it or do it and then I'll worry about how I'll make it work and how it will impact my life and my daughter's life.  I like Janelle and I hope things work out for her but she has tunnel vision when it comes to "the property." 

[Teafortwo]

On 11/28/2022 at 7:45 AM, TurtlePower said:

Fingers crossed for Janelle’s departure. I’ll be here for another season of watching Kody unravel like the crazy person he is and watch Robyn lie about how she wanted the family together. She only wants their financial contributions. 

I think in Robyn's little mind there was some degree of wanting Christine around for family gatherings, since Christine always did most of the work on that front. Also if she'd stayed it gives more of an illusion of an "intact" family - although we all know how fractured it actually was - for filming. For ex. perhaps Ysabel as well as Gwen and Truely would have stuck around longer. Half of Janelle's kids don't live there, and of the three who do, two of them have been totally alienated by their father's behavior toward them and their mom. To sum up, I do not think there will be as much of a geschrei from Robyn if/when Janelle leaves. I also suspect Janelle would either stay in Flagstaff even if she divorced Kody - or possibly move back to Vegas, since Hunter and Logan both live there now. GL to her if she does that - the cost of even modest rental apartments has skyrocketed there since about 2019, and the cost of buying has been insane - moderated a bit by the higher interest rates, but still insane. Houses that were going for around $320 K in 2019 are now asking about $500 in some cases. I've watched the Las Vegas RE market since 2007 (for various reasons) and it's quite remarkable. I almost bought a small (1000 sf) house in Summerlin in 2009, for $125K. Similar houses are now at least $400K; slightly bigger ones in the same development, around $500K.  And those are old, not very solid homes (in one I looked at, the LR floor appeared to be sinking - in 2009, when the house was only 10 years old). One of the original cul-de-sac Brown houses were asking about $850 K last time I looked - before interest rates went up. However the interim owner had put in a lot of upgrades.

[the-grey-lady]

On 11/29/2022 at 6:58 AM, ginger90 said:

Robyn’s house sold for $603,000 in 2019. The current Zillow estimate is $891,000. Timing is everything.

I'll never forget Kody's presentation about how much money they would make if they sold their houses right that second...and then the months that dragged by with no offers.

Then, IIRC, he blamed the wives for insisting they move.

On 11/29/2022 at 8:54 AM, laurakaye said:

She HAS to know that CP is never going to happen - she had to have known it ages ago. 

I think it's a case of sunk cost fallacy.

Kody has undoubtedly made her all kinds of promises, and she wants to believe he'll follow through. If she admits he won't, then she's wasted a lot of time putting energy and time into something that will never happen.

Anyone who spent time trying to prop up a shitty relationship can relate.

(I absolutely agree, btw, that Janelle knows CP won't happen. I just think she struggles to accept it.)

Edited November 30, 2022 by the-grey-lady

[Natalie68]

44 minutes ago, Teafortwo said:

I think in Robyn's little mind there was some degree of wanting Christine around for family gatherings, since Christine always did most of the work on that front. Also if she'd stayed it gives more of an illusion of an "intact" family - although we all know how fractured it actually was - for filming. For ex. perhaps Ysabel as well as Gwen and Truely would have stuck around longer. Half of Janelle's kids don't live there, and of the three who do, two of them have been totally alienated by their father's behavior toward them and their mom. To sum up, I do not think there will be as much of a geschrei from Robyn if/when Janelle leaves. I also suspect Janelle would either stay in Flagstaff even if she divorced Kody - or possibly move back to Vegas, since Hunter and Logan both live there now. GL to her if she does that - the cost of even modest rental apartments has skyrocketed there since about 2019, and the cost of buying has been insane - moderated a bit by the higher interest rates, but still insane. Houses that were going for around $320 K in 2019 are now asking about $500 in some cases. I've watched the Las Vegas RE market since 2007 (for various reasons) and it's quite remarkable. I almost bought a small (1000 sf) house in Summerlin in 2009, for $125K. Similar houses are now at least $400K; slightly bigger ones in the same development, around $500K.  And those are old, not very solid homes (in one I looked at, the LR floor appeared to be sinking - in 2009, when the house was only 10 years old). One of the original cul-de-sac Brown houses were asking about $850 K last time I looked - before interest rates went up. However the interim owner had put in a lot of upgrades.

I learned a new word!  geschrei

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

I am pretty sure Janelle's problems with Robyn are she sees into the manipulation as well. She was in charge of the finances and saw what she dumped on the family. I am also sure she pushed Kody to Vegas, being family were there and of course the great migration to Flagstaff for D'yun.

[Absolom]

23 hours ago, Tuxcat said:

Any reasonable person would see that Kody does not want to personally build on CP.

I think it died with the purchase of the house for Robyn.  Kody is settled in a very large already existing house without all the hassles of plans, electricity, water, etc., and the stress of building.

[gingerella]

43 minutes ago, Absolom said:

I think it died with the purchase of the house for Robyn.  Kody is settled in a very large already existing house without all the hassles of plans, electricity, water, etc., and the stress of building.

Add to this that I don't think Sobyn and her princesses would ever deign to live all the way out in CP. KoDouche knows this. He is also a puss IMO, and wouldn't want the inconvenience of living out so far from town. 

[ginger90]

10 minutes ago, gingerella said:

Add to this that I don't think Sobyn and her princesses would ever deign to live all the way out in CP. KoDouche knows this. He is also a puss IMO, and wouldn't want the inconvenience of living out so far from town. 

Coyote Pass is about 3 minutes from Robyn’s house. 

[GeeGolly]

To be fair, no one could have predicted the pandemic mini real estate bubble. Christine likely would not have had made as much money if the pandemic didn't bump up prices, considering she only owned the Flagstaff home for a few years.

Almost anyone who owned a home prior to 2019 could have made a nice profit selling their home, and they still can.

[ChristmasJones]

Out of curiosity I looked at CP on a map, and I hadn't realized how remote it is. You can't even use Google street view on the roads out there.  Where do folks go grocery shopping? 

[GeeGolly]

Huh, I just Googled Coyote Pass and saw 3 houses. Are those other folks' home. And this was parked near one of them.

[Petrichor]

5 hours ago, ChristmasJones said:Where do folks go grocery shopping? 

They probably go to what Flagstaffians call The Bad Safeway - it’s closest. It takes about 15 minutes to get there from CP, which is in an area called Baderville.

The Bad Safeway is really bad, though, so I bet they go all the way to Sprouts or Whole Foods in midtown.

[Elizzikra]

1 hour ago, GeeGolly said:

Huh, I just Googled Coyote Pass and saw 3 houses. Are those other folks' home. And this was parked near one of them.

I think CP is actually a large plot of land that is zoned residential and the Browns bought four lots - which wasn't all of them. I believe I read somewhere that the gate and the road in there are shared with other owners. That RV might belong to one of the owners of the other homes. 

[goofygirl]

8 hours ago, Absolom said:

I think it died with the purchase of the house for Robyn.  Kody is settled in a very large already existing house without all the hassles of plans, electricity, water, etc., and the stress of building.

Too bad Meri's still in a rennel and Janelle is in a 5th wheel OR an apartment. Whooee.  They really got the short end of the stick.

[LilyD]

20 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Yup in 2019, and then sold for $835,000 in 2021.

I guess few people could have known at the time that the prices would completely go through the roof. In a way Kody was right about selling: They had made a decent profit on each of the houses in a fairly short amount of time. If only they had known….

But I have always wondered about Janelle’s role in this. She had studied real estate after all and she was a licensed agent, though she never really took up a job in there iirc. (Well, apart from her attempt to sell their houses)

We sold and bought a house in the same time (not in the US) and our agent told us then that there was this ridiculous rise on the housing market worldwide and that the end was nowhere in sight! Could Janelle have known? And if so, why didn’t she speak out? Or was she simply ignored by Kody who followed his own plan as usual?

[TurtlePower]

10 hours ago, Petrichor said:

They probably go to what Flagstaffians call The Bad Safeway - it’s closest. It takes about 15 minutes to get there from CP, which is in an area called Baderville.

The Bad Safeway is really bad, though, so I bet they go all the way to Sprouts or Whole Foods in midtown.

Going from there to midtown doesn’t sound bad. We had A “bad” store when we lived in NM and drive 30 minutes to the next town versus shop at the bad one. 

Unpopular opinion — except for being in a flood plain and difficult to get utilities to, coyote pass isn’t a bad place. It’s not too far out of town but close enough that a grocery run isn’t bad. It would be hard to garden unless they treat the soil (hopefully Janelle knows this, if she stays and builds), but really it’s not that bad of a place to settle. Maybe not “those” lots, but I see the attraction. I’m biased, admittedly. 

[65mickey]

What do you mean treat the soil? I rememeber when they were looking at the lots the realtor told them not to let the small kids play in the dirt because of prairie dog plague. So is the soil poisoned by this and is unhealthy? Just another cost to developing the property.

[TurtlePower]

15 minutes ago, 65mickey said:

What do you mean treat the soil? I rememeber when they were looking at the lots the realtor told them not to let the small kids play in the dirt because of prairie dog plague. So is the soil poisoned by this and is unhealthy? Just another cost to developing the property.

Meaning treating soils for healthy growing plants to make sure they have enough nutrients, proper soil type and proper drainage for gardens. Its very common out west where most soil needs amendment.

Plague is transmitted by direct contact or by flea bites, however hantavirus can be transmitted by rodent droppings via dust in the air. I’m not sure why the realtor said that since plague can’t be transmitted like that unless perhaps fleas that dropped off the animals were in the soil waiting to bite humans.

I was face down in the dirt a lot in rural Flagstaff area for law enforcement scenarios. None of us got the plague (will take further conversation to small talk). 

[Roslyn]

5 hours ago, 65mickey said:

What do you mean treat the soil? I rememeber when they were looking at the lots the realtor told them not to let the small kids play in the dirt because of prairie dog plague. So is the soil poisoned by this and is unhealthy? Just another cost to developing the property.

I think instead of "treat" as Turtle said would be "enrich". Gardener here...if you look at what is growing all around Coyote Pass, it's pretty much (what looks like to me) one variety of conifer pine tree and a few very hardy native plants and scrub grass (a generic vs technical term). If Janelle wants to actually grow basic vegetables she will need to use raised beds and a whole lot of compost to give garden plants the nutrients and proper moisture and drainage to grow productively. Her talk of wanting greenhouses is great, but growing under cover is a whole different set of skills and knowledge vs just planting in the open.

[Cetacean]

13 minutes ago, Roslyn said:

Her talk of wanting greenhouses is great, but growing under cover is a whole different set of skills and knowledge vs just planting in the open.

And if she wants to do that as a business, she would probably need a variance since that area is zoned residential.

[Absolom]

I think as far as gardening in Flagstaff, Janelle has used raised beds.  She seems aware that the soil isn't great on its own.  Every photo I can remember of her "gardens" there have been pots or raised beds.

[SunnyBeBe]

On 11/30/2022 at 1:15 PM, Absolom said:

I think it died with the purchase of the house for Robyn.  Kody is settled in a very large already existing house without all the hassles of plans, electricity, water, etc., and the stress of building.

Hey, I have an idea.  If Jenelle could hook up with Matt Roloff, he’d love to design her house, get it started, move in the equipment to get the land ready, etc. That’s right up his alley!  And, he’s not above living in a trailer. Lol 

[ginger90]

[GeeGolly]

6 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Hey, I have an idea.  If Jenelle could hook up with Matt Roloff, he’d love to design her house, get it started, move in the equipment to get the land ready, etc. That’s right up his alley!  And, he’s not above living in a trailer. Lol 

And she can go tend his pumpkins.

[Celia Rubenstein]

Does anyone know where that picture was taken?  Does anyone know where Janelle is currently living?

That is a small kitchen but those cabinets look kind of fancy for an apartment (or maybe I just tended to rent dumps a lot).

[ginger90]

6 minutes ago, Celia Rubenstein said:

Does anyone know where that picture was taken? 

It’s the same place she was in when she posted her video about how long to soak beans, and that was in August. I don’t know the actual location.

From the video in August , first one is a blurry mess:

[dariafan]

She has 6 good kids.  2 grandkids.   And kody has a heart the size of the grinch’s to start with and a brain the size of a goldfish cracker.  And not those biggie sized ones either 

[ginger90]

[Teafortwo]

Holy cannoli, Janelle is trending on Twitter!

[the-grey-lady]

I totally get why people want Janelle to be more assertive in these confrontations with the King of Prairie Plague Pass, but I wonder if she's not the sort of person who freezes in stressful situations and needs time to collect her thoughts?

Narcs are especially enamored with those people because they can rapid-fire insult and berate them, leaving them tongue-tied and unsure. Then the narc feels like they've "won."

Not that being assertive would help Janelle's case, anyway. Nothing is going to distract Kody from his victim narrative, and he will retcon, lie, and gaslight as much as he needs to to maintain it.

[Gramto6]

Kodouche is the biggest ass hat that ever lived in this fambly.

[GeeGolly]

I forget which thread, but @Celia Rubenstein posted a clip from an old episode. In it Kody is playing with Legos with a young Sol, listening to Janelle, Logan and maybe Robyn(?) talking about an upcoming luau - a pig roast. Kody has a low key hissy fit and then says everyone can just piss off.

Next up is a TH with the wives. Janelle goes to great lengths to explain away Kody's fit. Maybe that was just for the cameras, or maybe not. If Janelle has spent 30 years making excuses for Kody, she might not be seeing what we're seeing. Although in the recent teaser clip she does get up and walk away, but I think that was because she's not used to Kody's wrath being aimed at her and she was outnumbered.

(Oh - Christine did not stick up for Kody in the TH)

[ginger90]

Screenshot from a video:

[Gramto6]

5 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

Screenshot from a video:

Oh Pleeze!! Might as well be kissing raman head for all the good it will do!!

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

maybe that poison in plastic actually serves double duty ( I will see myself out, or driving the bus)

[Elodia]

26 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

Screenshot from a video:

What the actual f...??? 

[antfitz]

On 11/30/2022 at 7:21 AM, ginger90 said:

Yup in 2019, and then sold for $835,000 in 2021.

WOW, what a difference!

[antfitz]

I hope the show follows Christine. I'd like to see how she succeeds. And if Janelle leaves I hope they follow her. I am more interested in the ones that leave than the ones that stay.

[the-grey-lady]

On 12/5/2022 at 8:24 PM, Gramto6 said:

Kodouche is the biggest ass hat that ever lived in this fambly.

Kodouche is the biggest ass hat that ever lived in this fambly.

FTFY

[Celia Rubenstein]

10 minutes ago, antfitz said:

I hope the show follows Christine. I'd like to see how she succeeds. And if Janelle leaves I hope they follow her. I am more interested in the ones that leave than the ones that stay.

I have to admit, while I am rooting for Christine and Janelle (and even Meri if she would get her act together), I would be more interested in watching Robyn and Kody navigate the aftermath of the family's implosion.  

The only problem is that in order to be able to see them, it would of course mean they still had a tv show on the air.  And I don't want them to be making money from a tv show.  I want to see them have to face real life without TLC money.   Eh, you can't have it all, I guess.

But I confess .... I would totally watch a Robyn/Kody show if the producers were willing to hang them out to dry as they are currently doing.  I'd watch just to see the two of them eventually turn on each other.  I'd watch hoping to see the kids serve Kody his long-deserved comeuppance.  I'd watch the hell out of that! 

[xwordfanatik]

3 hours ago, Mahamid Frauded Me said:

maybe that poison in plastic actually serves double duty ( I will see myself out, or driving the bus)

We kind of know that is true, don't we?  😜

[goofygirl]

On 12/1/2022 at 12:29 PM, SunnyBeBe said:

Hey, I have an idea.  If Jenelle could hook up with Matt Roloff, he’d love to design her house, get it started, move in the equipment to get the land ready, etc. That’s right up his alley!  And, he’s not above living in a trailer. Lol 

But Matt has a girlfriend! Caryn!  Where's she gonna go?

[Joan of Argh]

8 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Screenshot from a video:

Couldn’t believe my eyeballs, had to check it out for myself…. “Embrace that dildo, Kiss that dildo, make love to that BIG PINK DILDO!”  😖

Theres no telling what some folks will do for 💰