Review: S05Ep05 Mourning the Loss and S05Ep06 Confronting Failure

All right, let's just get the Drake situation out in the open.


What is obvious to me is that Kody took this sad event as an opportunity, once again, to feed his insatiable need to be THE CENTER of attention by showcasing his return to Utah for the first time. 

Come on, digging the grave while the dog is walking around, wagging his tail?



And that oh so dramatic 'breakdown' ?

When Kody says "This is so depressing" all I can do is scream at my poor TV, 

Puuuulllleeeezzzze!!!!!!!

Kody wasn't suffering  from the emotion of digging a grave - he was suffering from the effort of doing W.O.R.K. And don't be fooled when Kody 'cries' about not being able to say goodbye to his home in Lehi. HE STILL OWNS THE HOUSE IN LEHI... and left Lehi because he always wanted to live in Las Vegas. Kody has got to be the WORST actor on the face of this planet.

Let's just hope Meri and Kody weren't feeding poor Drake that green kool-aid.

'Nuff of that, let's talk about physical fitness!

Poor Trainer Bill. He has officially left the building and Trainer Sean has stepped in as his replacement.  Janelle has finally admitted to herself that she's an emotional and stress eater, and how a 10 pound weight loss in 6 months just doesn't cut it. She has also come to the realization that maybe it was better to exercise on her own rather than with her sister wives. With a set goal of losing 100 pounds (and her trusty green kool-aid to keep her hydrated), she now exercises in the early morning, when she knows her sister wives are still sleeping.

Ah the joys of plural marriage. It just keeps getting better and better!

So what's happening on those McMansions? Kody and his Kodettes go to Mona the real estate lady's office to finalize those options, like which cheap looking granite (out of only THREE cheap looking choices) for the counter tops, and that Meri still hasn't made all her decisions, but is still over budget on just her first page of options.

It's obvious Meri may be mourning the loss of her ever loving mind! Finally, FINALLY, the options are all worked out, but as they leave the office, Kody says something that's really puzzling. He said that Mona the real estate lady reminded him that they still need to maintain the little good credit they have, and continue to clean up their crappy credit  " as [they] move forward for the final purchase."

Say WHUT???? Did Kody just say move forward for the FINAL PURCHASE? I thought those McMansions were a done deal! So maybe, Christine wasn't lying after all, and her lips were indeed loose when she said they didn't get the houses?

Despite all of this ominous foreshadowing, we are still shown the ground breaking of the McMansions...well, Christine's McMansion. They even celebrated  with some red colored bubbly drink. But back on the couch, Kody explained that " We have a bunch of work to do, from the time that we make a contract to purchase the homes til where we are actually purchasing them."  When Meri tried to clarify by saying "...so really we could go through this whole process of looking at the homes and picking everything out and getting so excited and something could happen and we could not be ..."  Kody didn't let her finish, saying instead  "...we could lose it altogether! This is not a guarantee!"

Holy Toledo! Do the producers think this Did They or Didn't They tactic is going to sit well with the viewers? Is there a reason why the producers think it's necessary, at this late date, to still string the audience along for the ride? Earth to Figure 8: We want to see the Browns move in those McMansions they can't afford! WE WANT IT!!

Seriously, I think we (the audience) are being set up for the return of the Browns to their Lehi home. But here's a suggestion...how about the Browns relocating to four double wides in the Nevada desert first? Are you listening, Figure 8?

While the Browns confront the possibility of their McMansions going busterino, Robyn has her own problems. Yes, I am talking about that sorry launch of My Sister Wife's Closet!

But business before pleasure. Yes, I'm talking about Mykelti's dream of being a fashion designer. Was it just me or did Mykelti not look too excited about meeting a real fashion designer? I don't know, when I was Mykelti's age I wanted to be a designer too. I had notebooks upon notebooks of designs for dresses and shoes and hairstyles. But I'll tell you one thing, if I met a real life designer (Mary Quant was my idol) I would at least act somewhat excited about it. Maybe the fact that Kody took over the segment had something to do with it. It just didn't feel - right.

Frankly, there was no need to have Kody present, period. Kody, in his personality, chooses - no he DEMANDS to be the center of attention, even if it's a 5 minute segment about his teen daughter's aspirations to be a fashion designer. Note to Figure 8: This could have been a 30 minute show about Mykelti working with this avant-garde fashion designer. That would have been interesting. Kody, in his personality, trying hard not to ogle a fashion model getting into a garment was not interesting. It was weird.

At least Mykelti's mom Christine had something to cheer about. In confronting her failure, she finally succeeded in passing her real estate exam. So even though Kody was not very supportive of her, it was wonderful to see her smile while saying " I passed!" to her family. Equally delicious was her dig at Robyn, Meri and Kody when she mentioned how wonderful it will feel when she brings home her first commission check that she will use to pay off a family debt (most likely either Robyn's old Victoria Secret bill or Meri's cost overruns on her McMansion options).

And now, for what you have been waiting so patiently to read - the launch of My Sister Wife's Closet!

This little trinket will set your credit card back about $300.00 !! It's embarrassing to hear Kody's half brain explanation for the outrageous pricing. "In my head..." he begins, "our pieces I wanted to be somewhat iconic in the sense that they're different, they're unique to us, and they're not cheap." In other words, hold onto your wallets, Kody's gonna RIP YOU OFF!

It's so funny to read on the Facebook pages how some fans actually think the jewelry is not overpriced. In fact, one fan said she was glad the prices were high because you get what you pay for.

Honey, I have another saying for you, it's "A fool and his money are soon  parted."

Meri and Kody watching the visitor numbers going up up up!

Janelle not looking very optimistic: 300 visitors but no orders !

Kody's reaction to a fan's tweet about how expensive the jewelry is
 

Kody pondering how 28 sales will pay the mortgage for 4 McMansions

MSWC is overpriced junk. There, I said it. If Kody thinks this vanity venture of Robyn's is going to help finance those 4 overpriced McMansions, he is seriously deluded. Even Meri appears to be drinking the same Kody delusion cocktail when she arrogantly says " This is not discount jewelry." Hey Meri, maybe you should research how a discount jewelry business works and makes a profit before snubbing your nose at them.

And Robyn, perhaps taking some classes on running a business would help you and your little vanity venture. As it is, having your website go down every time the show mentions MSWC is rotten for sales. And don't turn to your hubby Kody for advice: He was a failure in  business - which is not surprising since he thinks price gouging makes good business sense. Next time instead of spending money for an expensive computer and gun for Kody, maybe invest in a better server for your website that can handle the traffic !!

Yep, the writing is on the wall for MSWC!!

Big Love and Sister Wives: A Brief Comparison Between Matriarchs

Here's a brief comparison of the grandmothers of Big Love and Sister Wives.

Yes, I know Lois and Adaleen are fictional characters, but they do present some common characteristics with  Genielle; mainly hospitality and love of family. Well, perhaps Lois not so much on the hospitality.

Anyway, one thing for sure, they certainly love their children, although I don't think Adaleen nor Lois would be as kind as Genielle if their son tried to eat half of her breakfast.

Genielle Brown	Lois Henrickson	Adaleen Grant
First wife of Winn Brown, mother of Kody Brown. Has 2 other sister wives.	Second* wife of Frank Harlow, mother of Bill Henrickson. Had 5 other sister wives (one deceased).	Sixth wife of Juniper Creek’s prophet Roman Grant, mother of Nicolette and Alby Grant. Had 13 other sister wives.
According to Kody, his mother would “fall on her sword for me.”	Sliced off the right arm of Hollis Greene with a large serrated knife when he dared to put a hand on her son Bill.	Conspired to have son Alby murdered in a rest stop men’s room. (Tap...Tap...Tap)
Was LDS, and converted to fundamentalism when Kody was in his teens. Was later excommunicated from the LDS church while Kody was on his LDS mission. Her sister wife Sheryl is Kody’s wife Janelle’s mother.	Lois’ father Orville Henrickson was prophet of Juniper Creek who died under mysterious circumstances. He was succeeded by his accountant, Roman Grant.	Adaleen has a complicated family tree. As she explains:“I'm 32 out of 56 children. And when I married Roman, I became my own step grandma as my father married Roman's daughter Faylene.   When I had Alby, he became my great uncle and I became his great great grandmother. Which of course makes me my own grandmother." Not to mention she also married her daughter’s ex-husband J.J.
Had problems with jealousy when Sheryl joined the family. As she puts it “I took care of kids and Sheryl took care of Winn.” Later, she got to know Sheryl better, and now considers her one of her very best friends.	Was notorious for her ill treatment of her sister wives. Of the concussions her sister wives suffered at her hands, she explained  "The Principle brings up our jealousies for the purposes of healing."	When Adaleen was asked how she could stand a particularly loathsome sister wife, she replied “I love her, and we are all equals. But last night I did dream I was trying to push her out the car  while driving along at a pretty quick clip.”

Big Love and Sister Wives: Comparing Bill H. with Kody B.

Since Sister Wives is on hiatus, I thought it would be fun to take a look at HBO's Big Love - the series that literally put polygamy on the prime time TV map.

So here's the first installment, a general comparison between Bill Henrickson and Kody Brown.
I know a lot of you were fans of Big Love, so feel free to add your own comparisons.

And for those of you who are in the process of watching Big Love, unfortunately, it would be difficult to prevent spoilers, so be warned...

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT

KODY BROWN…	BILL HENRICKSON…
Is a reality show polygamist with 4 wives.	Was a fictional polygamist with 4 wives (one wife left him)
Use to live in a big house. wives now live separately in 4 houses on 4 different streets, but hope to purchase 4 adjacent homes in a cul-de-sac that will share a common backyard.	His wives live separately in 3 adjacent houses that share a common back yard, but hopes someday to move all his wives and children into a big house.
Was a sign salesman. Currently works in an unknown capacity for a MLM company.	Was a businessman, owned 2 retail stores called HomePlus.
Third wife Christine Allred is the granddaughter and grandniece of 2 leaders of the AUB, a polygamous religious group.	Second wife Nicolette Grant was a daughter of the prophet of the UEP, a polygamous religious group.
Refuses to discuss the subject of his sex drive or if he has to use Viagra to keep up with his wives sexual  needs.	Has to use viagra to keep up with wives sex drive.
Extremely autocratic in his approach to his family and wives.	Extremely autocratic in his approach to his family and wives.
Wives gave him a gun for Christmas. Right after giving birth to his 17th child Sol, Kody's wife Robyn offers to be a surrogate for Meri.	Gave his wives guns for Christmas (season 5) When Nicki discovers she has unexplained infertility, 3rd wife Margene offers her eggs to be implanted into Nicki. Nicki declines, saying (among other things) she didn't want to give birth to one of Margene's big headed babies.
Drives a $60K Lexus sports car while his wives drive clunkers that were falling apart (seasons 1-3). Kody's Chevy Suburban blew an engine on the way to Wyoming in season 2.	Drives a $60K GMC Denali while his wife Barb drives a well maintained but extremely ancient Ford LTD station wagon.

Book Review: Becoming Sister Wives Part Four: Celebrity and Epilogue: Kody

Part Four: Celebrity

Meri's Chapter

Some interesting tidbits:

• Found it difficult to lie about being a polygamist and that Janelle and Christine were not Kody's sisters but actually Kody's wives. Meri said "Lying is not part of our faith, nor part of my own moral compass so to feel as if I had to lie, or at least not tell the full truth, was quite difficult for me."
• Believes Kody is a dreamer: Kody was on board for doing the reality show long before Meri was. She "...assumed this was another one of those plans that he would eventually drop." She was wrong.
• She claims Kody's purpose for doing the show was to show a different side of polygamy, different from Warren Jeffs and the FLDS.
• Meri was very uncomfortable the first days of filming. She said that Christine was the actor of the family and Meri found it difficult to act naturally around the cameras.
• Meri feels she is a black and white type person. She doesn't sugar coat and can only be honest. The couch sessions were a wake-up call because they had to learn to think before they spoke. Occasionally, someone would "..inadvertently throw a sister wife or Kody under the bus."
• Meri's relationship with Robyn suffered at the beginning because she felt unwanted and unloved. They were able to work through those feelings, and Meri now claims this shows the audience the beauty of the sister wife relationship - the constantly evolving of relationships towards being people.
• Meri said she was terminated from her job at a rehabilitation center for troubled youth because the management was afraid that the investigation by Lehi police would "...bring unwanted attention to the facility and the children housed there."
• She still is surprised when people across the USA recognize her as a Sister Wife. She believes she is just a wife and mom who happens to be on TV.
• She says she ignores "...the polls and commentary on the Internet about our show or family members. I have more important things to do with my time!"

Janelle's Chapter



The Moment Kody announced he picked out Robyn's wedding gown - just before Christine left the set for 3 days!

Some tidbits:

• Although originally apathetic about doing the reality show, as the premiere got closer Janelle found herself worrying and stressing out to the point she sought counseling. She says this annoyed Kody, who said she should think more positive.
• She was particularly worried about her job. The HR department advised her that as long as she never mentioned who she worked for, what she did in private was her own business even if it would be showcased on TV.
• Janelle said once TLC began advertising the show, her church community became very upset, "...worried that we were going to be sensational and improper. Once they discovered that we intended to film Robyn's wedding reception, some members became even more concerned."
• Janelle felt that at the beginning, the couch sessions were "...unearthing emotional hurts that we had skimmed over to keep the peace. There are times when we don't watch our words and put our feet in our mouths."
• Case in point, when Kody announced that he had selected Robyn's wedding gown, Christine walked off the set. What wasn't shown was that Christine walked out of the couch interview AND DID NOT RETURN FOR THREE DAYS!
• Janelle feels "...many intelligent Americans cannot differentiate between a healthy, polygamous family and a man cheating on his wife -- or even a harem!"
• When they decided to leave Utah, they told no one - including friends coworkers. She said even the show's producers had no clue they were leaving.
• Janelle credits moving to Las Vegas for exposing her children to a more diverse culture.

Christine's Chapter

• Christine states "My dad was drafted into the Vietnam War when he was nineteen. He was frustrated that he had to serve a country whose laws denied his family fundamental civil rights and caused them to live in fear."
• She was asked to represent her faith in Principle Voices, the public face of polygamy.
• It was Principle Voices that thought the Browns would represent polygamous families in a positive light. They were introduced to a journalist who wanted to use the Browns' story as a promo for a possible documentary. They eventually turned down this offer.
• Eventually, through Principle Voices they were contacted by Tim Gibbons, and that's how Sister Wives got started.
• During the early publicity interviews, some journalist asked extremely brutal questions to Christine, which caused her to nearly break down.

Robyn's Chapter

 Some tidbits:

•  Robyn attended public school and her father would walk away from her mother, brothers and sisters if he saw someone he knew outside of his faith. She was terrified someone would discover her beliefs.
• When she was dating Kody, she couldn't be truthful to her non plyg friends about the relationship.
• She initially dismissed Kody and family being on a reality show as a pipe dream.
• Eventually, she soon realized the show was happening, and that if she did marry Kody, she would be signing on for the reality show.
• Some of her family members believe being on a reality show about polygamy is sacrilegious. Her mother has struggled the most, and has even blocked Robyn's posts from her facebook page.
• She says "Sadly, during the first season, many of our fans cast me as a home wrecker out to destroy Meri, Janelle, and Christine's happy family. I try not to dwell on the Internet commentary, but since I think it's important to interact with our fans, I can't entirely avoid it. There have been so many negative comments about me that it's been difficult to shrug them off. People believe I have an ulterior motive -- that I want Kody for myself and not because I love the family or my sister wives. People believe I'm manipulative and conniving. I usually place last in the 'Favorite Sister Wife' poll."
• Robyn believes being on Sister Wives has taught her about herself and that the one constant in her life is her family.

Epilogue: Kody

• Kody claims the reason he left Lehi was because the situation had become unstable and unsafe.
• He coined the move as "the Vegas Vacation."
• Operation Detox partnership was due in part to his wives association with their fitness coach.
• Kody says "I'm sure that there are millions of people in the world who misinterpret what I do as hedonistic and selfish. My response is: Every day I work my tail off for this family. Every day I manage four separate marriages, four entirely different relationships, four distinct personalities. I'm not doing this for fun and games. I'm doing it because it is my calling..."

What ever, dude...


I am so glad I've finished this book, I'm just hoping I will probably never have a need to read it ever again!

Oh yeah...and a lot of trees gave up their lives for this book.

reprinted 7/25/14

Book Review: Becoming Sister Wives: Part Three: Family

Ysabel packing for a stay at Meri's



Part Three: Family

Meri's Big A-- Chapter

Well, over half way through, and finally, I get to Part Three: Family. Then I take a look at the chapters. Whoa Nellie! What's this? Why is Meri's chapter almost twice as many pages as Janelle's and Christine's combined?

What the heck is happening?

Then I start reading Meri's chapter. I don't know, maybe I'm getting tired of reading this stuff, but for goodness sakes, I can't believe how she could talk so much about so little.

For example, at the beginning of her chapter, she says when she married Kody, they shared a checking account. When Kody married Janelle, Meri added Janelle to the account. Meri paid all the bills, and set up the monthly budget, Janelle felt Meri was trying to control the finances and got mad at Meri. Eventually they got their own bank accounts and started paying their own bills for their households.

Four sentences. Meri conveyed the same information in four PARAGRAPHS. And I'm still left wondering, did Janelle think Meri was perhaps not allocating enough funds in Janelle's budget? Why would Janelle get so upset? Guess I have to wait until Janelle's scant 5 1/2 pages to get an answer, maybe.

As I continued to forge ahead, I notice a major faux pas - well in my book at least. After a lengthy discourse on why she doesn't allow her bonus children to jump on her furniture, how she expects her bonus children to not only respect her, but her space and inanimate objects too etc etc, she starts talking about how she had to discipline the boys who were picking on Robyn's girls on a camping trip. Wait a minute, wasn't that incident on the show (yes it was). And then 3 pages later she talks about her "close bond" with Ysabel and that "Christine will joke from time to time that Ysabel should come live with me...Half the time I'm not sure that she's joking!"

Hey, that was covered in the first 15 minutes of the same camping show, when Mariah was cleaning up the extra bedroom so Ysabel could move in. Are you telling me THAT WAS ALL FOR SHOW AND NOT REAL?????Ysabel wasn't really moving in??????

And why the hell is Meri writing about stuff that already was shown on the TV show anyway? What happened? Did the book writing get in the way of traveling back and forth to Utah?

Here's some tidbits - summarized to preserve your mental well-being:

• The Browns divide the responsibility for bill payment (mortgage, cell phone etc) based on each person's income level. In other words, the person who makes the most money, pays the most in bills.
• Emergency expenses are brought to Kody's attention who then will go to another wife (or wives if it's a lot) to collect enough money to cover the expense.
• If Kody had a good sale month, they would either use the extra cash to pay past due bills or use the money for a trip with a wife and her kids.
• Once when Christine disciplined Mariah, Meri disagreed with the punishment claiming it was inappropriate and extreme. Christine stood her ground and they agreed to disagree.
• When Robyn disciplined Christine's boys about picking on Robyn's girls (camping trip incident) Christine later told Meri she was completely out of line for yelling at the boys. Christine would have preferred to talk to her boys in private and individually.
• Mariah is a goody two shoes (my words) and plans on going to college and becoming a doctor and plural wife.
• Mariah shares Meri's eating habits - they prefer fruits, vegetables, chicken and fish instead of "kid-friendly" foods.
• Robyn and her kids join Meri for dinner at Meri's house often. This happens with and without Kody being present.
• Though Meri and Janelle both have pools, the teens tend to congregate at Janelle's house more often. Meri claims this is because Janelle's house is more centrally located and she has a bigger pool.
• Meri's house is the quietest of all the houses.
• Meri has bonded with Dayton, and they share the same birthday.
• Mariah is often at Robyn's house babysitting or helping out with her kids and she "...is happy to do it."
• When Mariah leaves for college, Meri sees her life going down three possible paths: continuing school, pursuing the family business by doing humanitarian work or travel, or Robyn being a surrogate and Meri becoming a mother again.

Janelle's Chapter

Some tidbits:

• Compared to Kody and the other wives, Janelle believes she is a softy, and if it wasn't for them, her children would have run wild.
• Certain kids form attachments with different mothers, in Janelle's case Hunter "gravitates towards Christine."
• She believes that because they are out in the open about being polygamists, they can be available for each other's children at school or sports events. "We can finally be the family we always dreamed of being."

Christine's Chapter

Some tidbits:

• Christine says "While all four of our households have more or less the same rules, the enforcement can be quite different! For example, none of us permit jumping on the furniture - but Meri's couches will last her entire lifetime, while Janelle's were broken after a month,. Mine get really , really dirty, really, really fast, while Robyn's will remain pristine for a long time."
• Christine finds plates and forks under her couches occasionally, and wrappers shoved in between the couch cushions.
• Christine acknowledges she has a problem with Aspyn and Mykelti showing too much skin, and hides their low neckline shirts.
• Mykelti is best buds with Robyn who helps her with hair and makeup.
• Christine has asked her kids not to go on blogs because "...some people have no conscience online and say  whatever they feel--and sometimes it really hurts our kids."
• Christine has been thinking about moving into a house with Janelle and her kids, but they would need at least 9 bedrooms.

Robyn's Chapter

Some tidbits:

• Robyn says "...Now that we have a television show, we are essentially working together as a family on a daily basis and we are a team financially."
• Breanna and Robyn are hypoglycemic.
• She stands up for the underdog: She stands up for Mykelti and sees  the best in her.
• Robyn does not tolerate bullying and minor teasing is off-limits.
• Admits the older kids did not accept her as a mom, and although their relationship is getting better, it's "still a work in progress."

Next but not least: Part Four: Celebrity and Epilogue: Kody.

reprinted 7/25/14

Book Review: Becoming Sister Wives Part Two: Sorority

After reading this section of the book, Sorority is definitely NOT the word I would use to describe these women's lives.

Armageddon...maybe. Purgatory...most definitely. But Sorority? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE TRYING TO KID??

Like I said, this part should have been named PURGATORY, for surely these women were living, and continue to live, in a place or state of continual punishment !!

 

Part Two: Sorority

 

 

Meri's Chapter

I've never liked Meri Brown. To me, her mouth seemed to say one thing, but her facial expressions said something totally different.  Remember Meri's scowl?

  

 Some tidbits:

• Meri describes herself as a paradox: She's reserved but can be opinionated.
• Acording to Meri, if it weren't for the fact Janelle was married to Kody, she says "I'm sure..our friendship wouldn't have gone past basic cordiality."
• She claims Kody never discussed his feelings about marrying Janelle to her, so she was surprised when Kody told her Janelle wanted to join their family.
• After Janelle and Kody married, Meri was relieved the newlyweds were not a "conventionally romantic couple."
• Janelle was pregnant with Logan when Kody started courting Christine.
• Meri felt threatened by Christine  because she was "...cute and energetic...young and girly...and quite flirtatious...[Christine's] relationship was grounded in an undeniable emotional attraction."
• Meri got pregnant when Christine was 4 months pregnant.
• Meri felt her sister wives flaunted their fertility "...to validate their marriages to Kody in a way [she] couldn't."
• When Kody got a job requiring a lot of travel, Janelle seized the opportunity to move out into a home of her own. It wasn't until they found the big house in Lehi did Janelle move back in with Kody, Meri  and Christine.
• According to Meri, Kody started dating Robyn during a low point in their marriage. She claims she had no idea she would be so involved in selecting Robyn as a possible 4th wife. Since Christine and Janelle did not know of Kody's attraction to Robyn, Meri saw this as her little secret between Kody, Robyn and herself.
• Kody and Meri sought help from a marriage counselor to mend their marriage while he was courting Robyn.
• While Meri's relationship with Christine was good, she felt it had no depth.
• After Kody married Robyn, when it was Kody's night at Meri's house, Robyn and her kids would sometimes drop by and spend the evening with them. Meri claims she never had to ask Robyn to give her space.
• However, Meri states "...when it's time for Kody and a wife to have their own time, I make it a habit to not call him unless it's something extremely important."
• Meri feels after 22 years of marriage "...Kody and I are better than ever. We share a deep and passionate love, and finally understand each other's love language."

My conclusions?  Meri has a lot of issues, and polygamy has not helped her to "smooth out the rough edges." She can be mean, bullies those she doesn't like, can hold a grudge forever and a day, and if you're her favorite, you can get away with murder. She is the Queen of passive-aggressive behavior.

You couldn't pay me enough money to live with this woman, let alone be a sister wife with her.

Janelle's Chapter

Janelle, Janelle, Janelle. Who would've thought she was a polygamy groupie? Or that she camped out on Winn Brown's Wyoming ranch in a teepee. But the most amazing thing about Janelle was that she lived with Meri and Kody in a cramped, 3 bedroom mobile home after marrying Kody.

This lady deserves a medal.

Some tidbits:

• She loves to work and have a career.
• When she moved in with Kody and Meri, Janelle says her relationship with Meri went ".. from cordial to frosty overnight." And that Meri had an overbearing personality when she was younger.
• According to Janelle, "Often Kody would take Meri with him when he worked out of state, which made me very resentful of her. I couldn't just take off from work, as she seemed to be able to. But when Meri didn't work, she didn't get paid - I thought it was extremely flaky to blow off work for fun like that, especially when we were so broke."
• During the first years of her marriage in Wyoming, Janelle was comforted that her mother (now married to Kody's father) lived only 20 minutes away.
• When Janelle visited family in Utah, they tried to forcibly bring her back into the LDS faith. She was 8 months pregnant with Logan.
• When Janelle found out she was pregnant, she knew that Meri would upset, but she said she "didn't care how [Meri] felt about my news. If it upset her, so be it. Things were incredibly tough in our relationship, so her feelings were of little importance at that moment."
• Janelle felt Christine acted like a little princess and was clueless.
• Janelle said Meri and Christine were close friends, and often would go off and not invite her.
• Janelle felt that it wasn't until 5 years into their marriage, that Kody begin to mature emotionally.
• After a particularly brutal fight with Meri, and Kody's subsequent lack of empathy, Janelle packed up her children and moved in with her mother for several months until she could find her own place. She went back to school and obtained a degree in accounting. Kody still visited her and the kids. She lived in her own house for 2 years, until Kody moved to the big house in Lehi.
• Janelle was surprised that after 16 years of marriage, Kody said he was interested in courting Robyn, which coincided with their agreeing to appear on TV in a reality show.
• Robyn taught the sister wives how to argue effectively.
• Robyn takes the lead in family discussions because she can keep a cool head.
• Janelle is working on further developing her relationship with Robyn.

Christine's Chapter

To tell you the truth, at this point, I am totally confused when any certain event takes place. So your guess is as good as mine in reference to a timeline in Christine's chapter.






Some tidbits:

• When Christine married Kody, she chose to ignore any potential problems in their marriage. She says "If I was naive, it was because I chose to be."
• She lived with her sister wives for three months. She then got her own cottage so she and Kody could work on their marriage.
• She got pregnant 3 months into her marriage.
• Christine claims Kody did not know how to listen to her and would cover his face and put his head in his hands when they argued.
• She considered Meri to be her best friend, but had a more practical relationship with Janelle.
• For financial reasons, the wives, kids and Kody had to move back into one house (3000 sq ft) in Utah. It had a kitchen and a kitchenette.
• Christine said she loved Kody way before they got married.
• She enjoyed being the housewife of the family.
• A year before she got pregnant with Truely, Christine had a fight with Meri accusing her of being too tough when disciplining her children. Christine felt Meri was taking her frustrations out on her children.
• Christine's mother broke her heart when she divorced her father.
• Christine loved being the last wife. She claims she was never jealous. But when Kody brought in Robyn, her world changed.
• She suffered from extreme post-partum depression after the birth of Truely. She panicked at the thought of being neglected.
• Although she feels Kody has become a stronger, more reliable man, Christine still feels a lack of stability in her relationship with him.
• She feels once she strengthens her relationship with God, her confidence will return and her jealousy will disappear, and everything will fall into place.

Robyn's Chapter

What a despicable, opportunistic, manipulative, gold-digging, passive-aggressive wrench this woman is! Don't forget she married into a "well-regarded" family the first time around. She knew what she was doing, too bad she didn't pick the right polygamist to climb up the social ladder. But wait, along comes this Lexis convertible with a goofy long haired dude inside it just aching to add a hot skinny mama to his unhappy harem to do the wild thing with. No matter what this woman says, read between the lines, folks, its plain to see exactly what her agenda was.

She didn't want a huge wedding, that was all Kody's idea. She just wanted a "quiet, yet romantic wedding." She didn't want to be the center of attention and she wanted to get married as soon as possible. But alas, Kody was broke. So, even though Janelle offered to let her move in with her, Robyn had to say no. She needed to explore her relation with Kody. And obviously, she needed alone time, in her own place, to get to know her man, if you know what I mean.

So, like that saying about what happens when people wait, a big old gift fell out of the sky into her skinny lap. The pilot sold to TLC, and TLC was willing to pay for a HUGE wedding! But, shy Robyn didn't want to be the center of attention. Oh no, as she puts it "It would be a grave disservice to Kody's first three wives to feature his wedding to me in the opening episode of the show...it would shortchange [the Browns'] rich family history."

But she continued on with her wedding plans, making sure her future sister wives were involved so their feelings wouldn't be hurt by all the lavish attention she had to endure. Robyn wanted her wedding to be a celebration all right, she "...wanted to do everything within my power to avoid offending my sister wives..." Then she adds, off-handedly, "...some of whom didn't have the opportunity to have a large wedding". Oh yeah, Robyn, great way to just rub those bitches' noses in it. You are one class act.

When Kody revealed that he had helped Robyn to choose her wedding dress, she just didn't think Kody meant to cause any hurt feelings. But now her sister wives think she only pretended to want their help. Well, we all know why Robyn thinks that way -- she didn't expect Kody to OPEN HIS MOUTH AND ANNOUNCE THAT HE HELPED HER CHOOSE HER WEDDING DRESS! As she puts it "I was frustrated with Kody for blurting out the story in a way that hurt my sister wives. I hadn't meant any harm..."

Of course you didn't.

Some other tidbits:

• Robyn said she would have been happy with the smallest of receptions BUT...since TLC was paying...
• She worried that it would appear she was getting preferential treatment. After all, she did get a big wedding and honeymoon and the first three didn't. But the honeymoon was necessary for her to get to know Kody better. And it was all Kody's idea.
• Even though she made sure Kody called each wife each day of their honeymoon, she was surprised to learn the wives were hurt by the length of her honeymoon and in some cases refused to take his calls.
• She can understand why her sister wives were jealous of her relationship with Kody, for her marriage was "fresh and young."
• She showed her sister wives, through example, how to argue effectively in family discussions.
• She says "My sister wives already do so much for me that sometimes I feel lazy."
• She also said she sees the perks of  "having three wonderful women help me raise not just [Sol] but my three other children."

Next will be Part Three: Family, Part Four: Celebrity and Epilogue:Kody.

reprinted 7/25/14

Book Review: Becoming Sister Wives: Prologue and Part One: Matrimony

DISCLAIMER: If you plan on reading this book and you don't want to see spoilers, STOP READING NOW!

Okay, now with that off my chest, I can begin.

You know, I rewrote this review/report at least ten times. Why? Because this book was just so awful, I couldn't  stand to read my own negativity.

Now, that's bad...

For a break (and my own amusement) I ventured over to the Brown's Twitter land pages. One person wrote " Oh, your book was so great, I spontaneously burst into flames while reading it" and another wrote "I just love your book so much I can't put it down and I need to go to the bathroom, reeeelllly baaaaad!"

Am I reading the wrong book?

So, I girded up my loins and started reading the book again, and promptly fell asleep. Woke up, started reading again and yep, fell asleep again.

Is it just me?

I am positive that the way this book was constructed had a lot to do with my sudden onset of narcolepsy. Allow me to describe the layout to you. First you have this really bad family tree -- basically composed of a column with a wife's name and the year she married Kody, with a straight line down from her name to whatever child/children she birthed and their year of birth.

I mean, we all know who the grandparents are, they are mentioned in the book -- sometimes by name. Couldn't we see at least one generation back? Guess the grandparents really didn't want to be connected with this mess of book and demanded anonymity. Or maybe Kody wasn't willing to share royalties.

That's OK, I feel your pain...

This book is constructed so oddly... as if Kody, Meri, Christine, Robyn and Janelle were handed a piece of paper and told to 'write, dammit, as if your very lives depended on it' and the results were then strung together as a disjointed Meri's page, now Kody's page, now another Meri's page, now Christine's page, now Kody's page etc etc ... a weird discombobulated mishmash of thoughts that sort of are connected with each other...sometimes.

But there are some real gems in some of those pages.


Prologue and Part One: Matrimony

Kody celebrating Robyn in labor by making out with Meri

If you've seen the movie 'Bridesmaids', there is a scene where Kristen Wiig accuses her roommate of reading her diary, and the roommate deadpanned "...I thought it was a sad, handwritten novel...", well that's what I think when I read Meri's 'pages'. Her thoughts were laid out so matter of fact, until she wrote about her love for Kody. Then she became animated. One thing for sure, Meri loves Kody and Kody loves Meri. They really are soul mates, no doubt about that.

But the one wife whose recollections were the most eye opening was Christine's. Now, I'm not sure if this was on purpose or was innocent, but Christine related a story that definitely was not part of the reality show. It seems that Meri and Kody, in their quest for a sister wife #2, started courting a girl from their congregation. Now, even though Christine had introduced this girl to Meri and Kody, she felt this young lady was a bit too young. You see, she was not yet 18 years old, but that was okay because as long as Meri and Kody did not marry the girl until her 18th birthday, they weren't doing anything wrong, apparently.

Now I ask you. Meri and Kody were at least 6 years older than this girl, and they were courting her for marriage? In fact, when the girl turned 18, they were dead set on Kody marrying her and even set a wedding date. Unfortunately, the wedding fell through a scant week before it was to take place.

Sounds so familiar, doesn't it? Isn't that the excuse FLDS parents used when asked about underage marriages -- that their daughters had to wait until they were 18? What they didn't mention was that those underaged teenagers were still being courted by adults.

Funny how this never came out on the TV show...

I've put together some other little tidbits of information that I found interesting.

While Kody stated as a family, their biggest struggles have been financial, he never mentions the failed businesses, or the bankruptcies. But he does say that "...If one of my wives...makes a bundle while her sister wife is looking after the kids, she will share her bounty. If someone has a windfall from tax returns or inheritance, then she usually shares a good portion of it."

Interesting...

Kody certainly had a lot to say in the prologue. While getting made up before his first appearance in front of the press, he nonchalantly tells his makeup person "My show is a lot more controversial. It's the first of its kind..it's about my family. I'm a polygamist and I have four wives."

Wow, not so fast bucko, because you were not the first polygamist family to be showcased in a reality show on TLC. That honor goes to Brian Wachtendorf in a gem called "My Husband's Three Wives". In case you missed it (and apparently Kody did) that show starred Brian, his legal wife Pam, his second wife Kathy and his prospective 3rd wife Denise. It premiered on September 24, 2006. And it was bad, very very bad...

Kody sealing the deal while Christine was in labor with Truely

Remember that famous kiss between Robyn and Kody that drove Christine to tears? Well, now according to Kody, right after he and Christine were married, she made him promise that if he married again that he would kiss his new wife before they said their marriage vows. So with that in mind,  Kody said he "...took Robyn's face in [his] hands and kissed her" to seal their engagement deal.

I guess Christine forgot about that...Aw heck, she was 9 months pregnant and hormonal!

Here's some more Kody tidbits:

• His mother discovered fundamentalism when he was 14 years old.
• His parents were excommunicated from the LDS church when he was 19 years old.
• By the time he returned from his LDS mission, his father Winn had already taken a 2nd wife (and it wasn't Janelle's mother...she was wife #3)
• He did not start courting Meri until he converted and was baptised into the faith.
• He was so grossed out by a chubby Christine eating chili cheese nachos that he cooled off their relationship.
• He was so financially strapped while dating Robyn, he considered selling his car, and admitted he didn't have the money to marry and support Robyn, but knew he would find a way. (hint hint)
• Meri made it clear to Kody that she was not prepared to court Christine, but Kody pressed on with the relationship.

Some of Janelle's tidbits:

• She married Meri's brother Adam after he converted to LDS. Although they had a Temple wedding, in six months they had separated and were divorced approximate one year after saying "I do."
• Janelle and Meri were best of friends until she joined the family as Kody's 2nd wife.
• Her mother at first was appalled to learn Kody was courting Janelle. When she met Kody's father Winn, they had instant chemistry and she converted and became his 3rd wife.
• Winn had wanted Janelle to marry Kody's brother, but she was already in love with Kody.
• When she married Kody, he and Meri were still "very much in love and they had no idea how to incorporate me into their lives...When we watched movies they would sit on the couch and hold hands under a blanket and I'd sit in my own chair."

Some of Christine's tidbits:

• Her grandfather was the head of their church, "You could say that when it comes to our church, I'm connected."
• She decided as a teenager she would enter a plural marriage only as a 3rd wife. Being a first wife was too much work and too much self-sacrifice. She felt a second wife disrupted the marriage between the husband and the first wife and caused heartache. The third wife makes peace between the first and second wives.
• Christine's mother divorced her father and left their faith.
• Although she married the man of her dreams, Christine realized on her honeymoon that she had married Kody too soon. He had a lot of baggage, not to mention two warring wives to contend with. It took a year for Kody and Christine to fall head over heels in love with each other.

Last but not least, some of Robyn's tidbits:

• She married at 21 to a man who was from a "well-regarded" family in their community. In fact, she called the Jessops Spiritual leaders. Unfortunately, he mistreated and misled her.
• She invented an alter ego super hero called She-Rah who represented Robyn's tougher, bolder side.
• She decided after her divorce, if she married again she didn't care what her husband looked like.

So there you have it, the Prologue and Part One: Matrimony. Next up, Part Two: Sorority.



reprinted 7/25/14