Alt for Norge Daily Journal: Day 56 - June 17, 2012 (Episode 9)

I used my downtime to take a ride down the ski lift and
see the sights. Absolutely beautiful!

Today is elimination day and will leave us with the four finalists!! I got up around 9:00 and had breakfast with everyone else. At 10:30, C.J., Johnathan and Amy headed out for their challenge. Jessica and I would stay back and didn’t have to go anywhere until 4:00. We were supposed to take a road trip to see Ben and Tove’s (our hosts) hotel that they own about 40 minutes away. However, Jessica somehow pulled a muscle or cracked a rib or something in her back and is in terrible pain. We decided it would be best for her to just lie down and rest it. With that, we just stayed at our place and watched TV and movies until it was time to go. I also used that time to do some more studying. It’s nice to have two full days of stress-free time that allows for plenty of study time, all while the other contestants are stressing out!

At 4:00 they brought Jessica and I to the challenge area for the results, which was when we first heard what their challenge was. All 3 contestants, separately, would have to run up to a certain person in a city street and hear them say a sentence that would be of a certain Norwegian-areas dialect. You would then spend as much time learning it as needed. As soon as you thought you knew it, you would run to another guy, who was a local University professor, and say the line to him. You would have to keep saying the line or running back to relearn the line until you could say it with proper dialect! Once you’ve accurately said the first line to the professor, you would have to do it all over with four more people and four more dialects! This is definitely the hardest challenge we’ve done and one that I’m extremely thankful that I’m not in!

A look from our viewpoint, while getting prepared for the results.

After waiting a while, they decided to take us all back up to our lodge for the results. Henriette announced that C.J. finished first with a time of 9:30. (No surprise! That guy has a seemingly picture-perfect memory!) It would be between Amy and Johnathan for the last spot! One person had a time of 14:30 and the other, 16:08. The last person in the finals would be……Johnathan! Amy is going home! We’re down to 4!

Saying my goodbyes, for now, to a good friend!

We said our goodbyes to Amy, who was crying really hard. It really must suck to get this close and not make it to the end! After saying goodbye to Amy, we did a quick closing scene with Henriette, who congratulated us on making it to the Finals!! The four of us would be the only ones to be in every episode of Alt for Norge, Season 3, and I have a 1 in 4 chance to win this whole thing! Pretty crazy! We followed the closing scene up with more interviews, but then it was time for me to make my call!!!

The first baby gift from our host, Tove! A pair of
hand-knit socks from Selbu!

They had me sit on a rock outside of one of the homes and told me that I would have the opportunity to speak with you for 30 minutes, if I wanted. (There’s no way I’m missing a second of it!) There we were with a camera and cameraman 3 meters in front of me, a sound guy holding a boom mic over the top of me and a director sitting a few meters from me as well. It felt pretty awkward, but as soon as I dialed your number, everyone and everything else faded out. It was just you and me! I was almost in tears before the phone call, just thinking about it, so I knew I wasn’t going to make it long. Fortunately, the beginning of the phone call was good, thanks to you being pretty strong, but as soon as Zoe got on, I lost it! From that point on, I cried like a little girl through most of the phone call! The worst was when you told me Zoe was recently having a hard time. I couldn’t get words out at that point! Ugh, it was what I needed, but it was really hard! Then, to top it off, WE’RE HAVING A GIRL! Yes, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for a boy, but the more I think about it, the more I love that we get to add another one into the mix. I mean, Logan and Zoe are incredible and I love having “Daddy’s girls”, so why not stick with what’s working! I can’t wait to talk to her in your belly! I’ve even started to really focus in on girls’ names. We’ll see if we can find a winner! Anyways, thanks for being so strong during our phone call! I miss you terribly and really needed to hear your voice! I can’t wait to see you!

Tove and Ben of Telemarksunet. The greatest hosts ever!

After the phone calls, we did more interviews and then we were finally done with Episode 9! We went and had dinner with Ben and Tove and then spent the next 3 hours celebrating in our lodge! It never got crazy, but it was a very fitting ending. WE’RE HAVING A GIRL!

Day 56 Over!!