On this week’s episode of The Bachelorette, Emily Maynard and her bachelors enjoyed their first set of dates. The one-on-ones went to Ryan and Joe while Kalon, Stevie, Charlie, Jef, Chris, Alejandro, Nate, Alessandro, Tony, Michael, John, Aaron and Kyle were chosen for the group date. Maynard, 26, opens up about the dates in her Bachelorette blog for People.com. She writes:
“First of all, let me start by saying I hope you all enjoyed watching the dates on The Bachelorette this week as much as I loved being on them! I don't have any clue what I did to deserve this many great guys, but to say I'm thankful is an understatement. I especially love that I was able to get some of the guys out of the house and show them around the beautiful city of Charlotte. Most of them had never been here before and had no clue there was this much going on!
From the very first night I knew Ryan was someone that I would really get along with and couldn't wait to spend more time with him. Now I know he was probably expecting some crazy, fabulous, over-the-top date and to be honest, I was worried about telling him what we were actually going to be doing.
It really was my turn as "Snack Mom," and I was willing to risk Ryan being a little disappointed over facing the wrath of a soccer team full of hungry 6-year-olds! Ryan is such a great guy: He jumped right into my daily chores and even offered to replace light bulbs while the cookies were baking.
I was nervous to have him come over to my house, so that morning I was running around like a crazy lady with curlers in my hair making sure everything was clean and in the perfect spot. For dinner I took him to one of my favorite restaurants in Charlotte, Osso, and trust me when I say I've never had a welcome like that any of the times I've been there and since most of the crowd were girls, I'm thinking it had more to do with my handsome date than me!
I could've sat and talked to Ryan for hours, but I couldn't wait to surprise him with one of my favorite bands, Gloriana, outside! Ryan impressed me in so many ways all day and he definitely set the bar high for the rest of the guys.
Muppet Time
I really hope I didn't completely scare Kermit and Miss Piggy off because as soon as I walked into their dressing room I started crying I was so happy. I've been watching The Muppets since I was my daughter's age and I remember standing in the room with them thinking, "How in the world did this become my life?"
As amazing as it was to meet them, I was terrified at the thought of having to perform on a stage, much less having to walk down a flight of stairs in front of an audience of all of my friends in six-inch heels, but it truly was a once in a lifetime experience. When I called Ricki's name to come sing on stage, I have never seen that child run so fast in all my life! I know that neither of us will ever forget that day.
I'm so grateful to The Muppets and especially the guys for going out of the comfort zone and raising over $20,000 for the Levine Children's Hospital. By the time we got to the afterparty we were all exhausted and I hope that's the reason behind Kalon and Stevie's disagreement, because I still can't figure out why they dislike each other so much. I had no idea any of that was going on!
All day, I could tell just by looking at Jef that he was wondering what in the world he had gotten himself into. I immediately wanted to comfort him because I remember thinking the same thing on my first group date with Brad. I decided to give him the rose because I wanted him to give this whole experience a chance – I truly believe it can work if the right two people find each other.
I was so excited to bring Joe to The Greenbriar in my home state of West Virginia, a place where I have so many childhood memories. Joe has such a great energy that it's almost impossible to be around him and not have a good time.
My family and I would come to The Greenbriar growing up, so it was crazy to swim in the same pool as an adult and Joe made it that much more fun. He's such a sweet, genuine guy but during dinner while we were writing down our "love wishes," I realized that we just weren't right for each other.
Joe made me laugh all day, said all of the right things, and couldn't have been more of a gentleman, but I knew that we were just in different place in our lives. I had watched the show before and seen people sent home on dates and always wondered, "How hard can it really be? You barely even know each other!" Let me be the first to say I was absolutely wrong!
I never imagined I would be doing the "ugly cry" on my second date, but it wasn't because I thought I was breaking Joe's heart by any means. We've all had someone tell us that we're not the one for them and it's never an easy thing to hear no matter how well you know the person. I just hated having to look at a guy that had done nothing wrong all day and be that girl. Knowing what a funny guy Joe is, though, he probably skipped to the limo and made the driver laugh just as much as he made me and all of the other guys in the house laugh.
I'm so excited for you all to get to know the guys even better and see why I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Maybe I'm biased but I feel like this is the best group yet! I'm looking forward to next week's episode and can't wait to relive a moment that will forever go down as one of my all time favorite memories!”
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