American's Most Desperate Kitchen: Part Two

(Written in early February)

Two weeks ago, Ben and I went to bed wondering if the next morning a camera crew was going to knock on our doors. Honestly, we were wrecks. We had spent the day trying to make our home look as presentable as possible, packing our family for a three night vacation, and questioning whether or not we were planning everything for naught. Logically it all added up to American's Most Desperate Kitchen showing up at our door: they called our neighbors, they hadn't canceled yet...surely we won, right? Right? We had all those doubts going through our minds combined with all the questions of what it would really be like if they came. What time would they come? (They didn't even give us a time frame!) How should we react if they show up to our door? What would they do to our kitchen?

I woke up Monday morning at 6:00, wanting to get all ready very early (no one wants to open to door to a camera crew in their glasses and pajamas, right?) Ben had moved into the guest bed sometime during the night because he couldn't sleep: he got maybe 3 hours of sleep that night because he was so stressed. By 8:00 we were dressed, kids were up eating, and we were planted in the living room waiting. We figured that they would show up fairly early in the morning because they would need a full day of renovations if they were going to finish the whole thing in four days. Ben couldn't eat anything; I was making trips to the bathroom because I was so nervous. We were stressed. I tried to do school with the boys to pass time. The minutes ticked by. Ben wanted to be surprised so wouldn't watch out the window; I hate being surprised so was glued to the window. Of, course it was in the minute that I went to grab something in the kitchen that they parked at our neighbors' house and started walking our way. I saw a group of people at the side of our yard and started screaming at Ben, "They're here!! They're actually here!!" And from there, I basically mentally blacked out. Everything happened so fast.

While the camera crew was coming across our front lawn from the neighbors, the Kitchen Cousins (John and Anthony) parked in the driveway, and walked to the front of the house. Ben saw them waving at the front window and didn't even wait for them to knock. He threw open the front door and started hugging. I scooped up Josh and made my way to the front door. The twins came with me. And then Josh started screaming. As Ben would later put it, "It couldn't have gone any worse." We didn't even let them knock, no one could talk because Josh was overwhelmed and crying so loud. It was a very crazy moment. We had about 5 minutes of actual filming the surprise, and then we went into the house and started having real conversations with the production crew and the Kitchen Cousins. At one point in time John said, "Should we take two on the surprise?" Somehow they decided that they got enough of usable video that we didn't need to feign surprise a second time (thank goodness...I have a feeling I'd be a very bad actress!)

My favorite moments were talking to the Cousins and the crew without the camera on us. We found out that everyone had been in town a couple days and that the Cousins hadn't been posting any pictures of their adventures on social media in case we would see it.  Good thinking on their part, because I had totally been stalking them on facebook and instagram! Anthony said that they had spent the previous day at Multnomah Falls, and I told them that we got engaged there (which is why they included a picture taken by Anthony at Multnomah Falls in our kitchen). John noticed Ben's Nike shoes, and Ben told them about being a Nike shoe tester and shopping at the Nike employee store (which we were able to get some of the crew into the store later that week! It felt nice to "give back" to the people that gave us a free kitchen). The Cousins were very nice and personable. It was amazing how at ease and smooth they were while the camera was on: they are very good at their job!

While we were talking, the camera, sound and lighting crews were setting up shop in our kitchen. Hidden microphones were given to Ben and I (so crazy!), the kids went to our neighbor's house (thanks Leslie!), and we got ready for our next filming session. Ben and I were to lead the Cousins into our kitchen to show them why it was so desperate. It was fun to see John and Anthony's reaction to our kitchen. We talked a lot about how the kitchen didn't function well, how the two big features (the island and the fireplace) overpowered the space, and how it really needed new space planning. As I stated before, the Cousins were so at ease on camera and amazing at leading the conversation where it needed to go. It was also a comfort to know that everything would be edited, so if we said something stupid (hopefully) it wouldn't be included.

Next, Ben and I went outside with the crew to be filmed for our "interview." We were so pleased that they set up the camera to show a background of our favorite old house across the field. The Lord also blessed us with a beautiful sunny day. Our sweet Dutch Canyon will be showcased well! During the interview we were asked questions like, "What were you feeling when the cousins showed up," "What do you hope will be done with the kitchen," and lots of other things I can't remember. It took a long time and Ben and I hope that we don't sound too dorky!

We got the kids back from Leslie's. They wanted to do a some "lifestyle" filming of our family playing in the backyard. Ben threw the football to the twins and we tried to get Joshy to play. He still clung to me and was shy. We played some soccer and pushed the kids on the swings. With only 22 actual minutes in the show, I'm doubtful if any of those shots will make it into the show. Anthony also wanted a picture of our family in front of the house. Little did we know that he would blow up that picture to use it as a feature in our new kitchen. What a cool idea and great keepsake of our time with America's Most Desperate Kitchen!

Finally, it was time for them to film us leaving the house. I ran around like a mad woman hoping that I remembered to pack everything (I didn't: I forgot all of Ben's toiletries and Josh's baby blanket...fail, although I get extra grace for the crazy circumstances!) We shot a scene with our whole family in the kitchen, luggage bags in tow, and the Cousins "kicking us out." They also shot a scene of us pulling our bags to the car and our car leaving (the funny part was that we drove the opposite way on the road than needed so that they could film the old house in the background). Here's one of my favorite memories from all this: from the time that the crew showed up, our darn dog Rosie was of course a pain. We threw her over the fence to Leslie's, but she managed to climb back over and fuss at the door while we were trying to film. Then, suddenly, she disappeared. So, when it was time to leave for our three day vacation, I naturally was stressing about where Rosey was, picturing us driving around the neighborhood calling her name for hours. I called neighbors, stopped by houses that she often haunts, to no avail. At this point we had two cars so that we could park our other one in the back lot. Finally, Ben pulled his car up to my window and sheepishly said, "I forgot: I put Rosey in her crate in the car about half a hour ago so she would quit bugging us!" That story illustrates how crazy it was with the camera crew here and how our minds were so overloaded with stress and excitement!

By the time we left, our kitchen had already been almost packed up (they did all the packing...I didn't have to do anything!). A u-haul had been parked at neighbor Larry' and unloaded into our garage with supplies. They had a refreshments table set up complete with coffee and treats for the crew. Our carpet had been covered. Everyone had first showed up at our house at 8:20. We left for good around 10:45. What a crazy 2 hours!

We dropped Rosey off at a friends (thank you Rank family!) and then drove out of town towards Great Wolf Lodge. What crazy, exciting, emotional thoughts were running through our minds! It was very odd to leave our house to complete strangers that were going to renovate our kitchen in a way in which we had absolutely no say. It wasn't like we left anyone a key or instructions about what to do with the heat, etc. (like you normally would do with a house sitter), we just left. There were probably at least 15 cars of people parked in our driveway and on the road, none of which we knew...and we left. We left the house to them to do what they wanted. Very crazy! The car ride was so fun! It was fun for Ben and I to debrief the experience and different conversations we had, and the boys were SOOO excited for Great Wolf Lodge. It was a very exciting car ride!

While we were gone, we heard relatively little from the production crew. One day they asked where an iron was. Another day we got a picture of some silly 60's wallpaper on the one of the walls. We touched base with some of our neighbors to get "spy" updates. We learned that the chimney was still there, which gave us a clue to the fact that the fireplace wasn't being torn down. I got a hilarious text from our good friends down the street that went on a "ninja mission" while it was dark, to shine flashlights and see what they could see. By day four, we were SO ready to see what they actually did to the space!!

Here are some before's of the kitchen:

Coming up next: The Reveal!