Just Sunday night, Ella and I anxiously gathered around the TV with blankets and snacks last night exactly at 8:00, to watch the long awaited finale of what was an extremely intense season of The Bachelorette. We watched as Emily Maynard, the bachelorette, struggled to filter out the jerks from the guys who she had absolutely no connection with from those who she could potentially have a future with. It’s a given that The Bachelorette had all of the drama and heartbreak that makes for good tv, there’s even a spinoff show Bachelor Pad, where they throw bachelor and bachelorette contestants into a house with The Bachelor and The Bachelorette superfans. But the drama of The Bachelorette led to a few confrontations- where Emily definatey put these guys in their place (You go girl!) One even called Emily’s six year old daughter, Ricki, “baggage”. It was quite clear with every rose that Emily gave out, or didn’t give out, she had her daughter in the front of her mind. We could tell, once it got down to the final four men, who was truly falling in love with this woman: ALL OF THEM. Each man, in his own time, poured their hearts out to Emily whether it was in little notes or letters, through gifts or kisses, we were constantly swooning at these men (One in paticular, thegoodnewsgirls were and still are team Jef!) It was not evident, though, who Emily was falling for until this final episode. With two completely opposite men competing for the love and possibly Emily’s hand in marriage, she had a very tough decision to make. Emily didn’t want to be “the girl who gets engaged fifteen times”, with no wedding, so the decision of who she would choose and if there would even BE a proposal at all weighed heavily on her as well as all of us viewers. She introduced both men to her parents, but only one man had the privilege to meet her daughter. After an amazing date with Jef Holm, one of the finalists, Emily brought him back to her house to meet and play with her daughter. It was clear by the way Jef interacted with Ricki that he would make an amazing dad- exactly what Emily wanted and so desperately needed in her life. That day, Emily knew what she had to do. Without even bothering to go on her other date with Aurie, the other finalist, she broke it off early and sent him home in an emotional and touching goodbye that was clearly painful for the both of them. This is somehting that I really applaud Emily for doing. Nobody wants to be strung on longer than needed, especially when their heart is on the line. Emily really proved to be a genuine and honest person throughout the show, and even though it wasn’t Aurie that she picked we could see that she really did care dearly for him. Later at the live After the Rose Ceremony Emily said that though she had fallen in love with Aurie and he did absolutely nothing wrong, it was clear that her feelings for Jef were much stronger. So strong that when he proposed…SHE SAID YES. Well, After a long, painful ten seconds on his knees, she said yes. Jef and Emily are still engaged today and are planning on moving in together in her town of Charlotte, North Carloina with a wedding on the way. I really think that they’re great for eachother, and hope that they make it work!

-Marley Bae