Erin & Chad are offical...

[vetrik]

I'm not too worried about Erin not knowing how to cook, it's not like what most fundies do really qualifies as cooking. As long as they have a can opener I think they'll be ok!

[nellautumngirl]

Kelly just posted, they are engaged :)

The pictures are super sweet, as usual.

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

Erin's dress is short! Well fundie short anyway. She looks gorgeous :)

[kaschmit]

They do look good.

Although to add to the whole "Erin is a Princess" talk, she did want to know the day she was getting engaged. Seems a little controlling.

Having said that, I actually really like them. They seem to have personality & their courtship seems slightly more like dating than smugger.

[Guest]

It looks like the date is November 2, and they're working on setting up their own blog. I put $20 on chadloveserin.com.

It's great to see her look SO happy in the engagement pictures though. No matter what they believe, it's always nice to see people marrying for love.

ETA: in another comment, Kelly mentions that Zach and Whitney are looking to get married in March.

[missbrooklyn]

Meh. Show me the ring!

[ladyamylynn]

I see princessyness is Erin for a number of reasons:

1) She's the only girl so far allowed to really follow her passion. Only recently has Michael been allowed to do stuff really away from home, and I have a feeling that's because people are always asking about her. None of the other girls seem to be encouraged to do anything remotely similar. With the boys, we see them encouraged to do a lot of different things.

2) Her hair. None of the other Bates girls, even ones with very thick hair, do that stuff. She obviously takes time on her appearance, which is fine in general, but it's to a degree not seen in the other kids so it's obviously not something super pushed on them.

3) There have been several blog entries where Kelly has commented about Erin praying for her siblings' spiritual welfare, worrying about their souls, pushing them to read the Bible more, etc. She is highly praised for doing so. That says to me that Erin enjoys getting into her siblings' business and being a bit of a nark. None of the other children have ever been described that way.

4) Her general attitude on both of the shows. Yes, TV can edit, but she's definitely got a superior attitude going on. Whenever I have seen her, I have thought her horribly smug.

I certainly wish her a happy life, and she does look happy, but I think I would find her totally insufferable to be around.

Let's just say I know from experience... Everybody has their role to fulfill, their narrative to live up to, so to speak. Even (or especially) in fundamentalist families. My sister was "the princess" of the family. Oldest, talented musician, extremely intelligent, blonde, big hair. The whole package. She got up at an ungodly early hour every day to do her hair. (Think 4am... no exaggeration)

Anyway. She was not a happy person. It was an artificial role that she was struggling to fulfill, just like we all were. When people are denied autonomy and the opportunity to live life on their own terms, they will cope, but their happiness and mental health will suffer. All the women in my family (3 sisters and mom) are struggling to get past the gross, weird family dynamic my father & our church imposed upon us. Being "the princess" did nothing for her in the long term. Nor will it for Erin, I would guess.

[skinch]

It looks like the date is November 2, and they're working on setting up their own blog. I put $20 on chadloveserin.com.

You win $20 - it's up :)

[VincentvanGoGo]

You win $20 - it's up :)

Now there's another website I have to go look every day :D

[Guest]

You win $20 - it's up :)

It's like I can read fundie minds!!!

Kelly mentioned in the comments that Erin will only have 3 sisters as bridesmaids and a couple flower girls. I did not expect that!

She also mentions that Zach has a ring and is waiting to propose to Whitney... Does anyone else think it's kind of weird that she broadcasts that? Whenever someone I know has gotten married, everything, including when and if they have a ring yet, is pretty hush hush until the day of.

[scc12]

It is weird.I wonder if Whitney is on the net and already knows about the ring and coming proposal? doesn't sound as romantic,if that is the case.

[thekate]

Kathleen August 26, 2013 at 3:05 am

Hi Kelly,

Congrats to you all! Did I miss a post about Zach & Whit? I didn’t realize he’s engaged now, too. How exciting for everyone. I do wish that TLC would bring your show back. You have such an inspiring and joy-filled family. I love your blog, so I will be happy with that in addition to re-runs on TLC. Thank you for taking the time to update us.

Reply

Kelly August 26, 2013 at 3:10 am

Dear Kathleen,

He’s not engaged yet, but he has bought a ring and is working on plans to surprise Whit! Soon! Love, Kelly

Reply

Well, it's not a surprise anymore!

[sunshine]

Well, it's not a surprise anymore!

I seriously doubt that Whitney will be on the net. She is probably spending every minute with the Bates to get adjusted and familiar with the family.

[HereticHick]

And what is this tease about driving to the Whitestone Inn? http://whitestoneinn.com/

Are they getting married there? That is a AAA Four Diamond rated B&B--where is Chad getting the $$ for such excursions?

PS Can we please fix the typo in the subject line? My brain keeps reading it as "Erin and Chad are offal"

[nokidsmom]

Let's just say I know from experience... Everybody has their role to fulfill, their narrative to live up to, so to speak. Even (or especially) in fundamentalist families. My sister was "the princess" of the family. Oldest, talented musician, extremely intelligent, blonde, big hair. The whole package. She got up at an ungodly early hour every day to do her hair. (Think 4am... no exaggeration)

Anyway. She was not a happy person. It was an artificial role that she was struggling to fulfill, just like we all were. When people are denied autonomy and the opportunity to live life on their own terms, they will cope, but their happiness and mental health will suffer. All the women in my family (3 sisters and mom) are struggling to get past the gross, weird family dynamic my father & our church imposed upon us. Being "the princess" did nothing for her in the long term. Nor will it for Erin, I would guess.

ladyamylynn, those are some interesting observations based on your experience and wouldn't be at all surprised that could be happening with Erin as well. She could be very well following a designated role within her fundy family based on her looks and talent. While I hope she is happy, I do wonder how she may cope down the line after she's married and removed from her designated role within her family. Especially when the babies start coming. Sure, she may continue with her piano playing, giving lessons and performing but highly doubt she will have the time she does now.

[xReems]

And what is this tease about driving to the Whitestone Inn? http://whitestoneinn.com/

Are they getting married there? That is a AAA Four Diamond rated B&B--where is Chad getting the $$ for such excursions?

PS Can we please fix the typo in the subject line? My brain keeps reading it as "Erin and Chad are offal"

I think that might be where Chad proposed to Erin. I find it weird that Erin wanted to know when the "big day" was going to be instead of being surprised. Then again, I know some people who started planning their wedding before getting engaged, so whatever makes them happy.

I think the reason why Kelly brought up Zach buying a ring and planning a March wedding is because Whitney and Zach have been planning since they started courting. Kelly mentioned something about them talking about getting engaged around October. If that's the case then Zach and Whitney will be courting for just 3 months before popping the question. Since he bought the ring already, it means the proposal will happen pretty soon.

Ha, not shocked that their website is "Chadloveserin.com". Shocking that Erin isn't going to have a bunch of bridesmaids like how David and Pris, Josh and Anna, Valerie and Adam, etc have had.

[thekate]

The wedding registries are listed on the website. Bed, Bath, and Beyond; Target; and Belk, although Belk is empty.

She has a very Erin-like shower curtain on the [link=https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/giftregistry/view_registry_guest.jsp?pwsToken=&eventType=Wedding&registryId=13656507&wcref=yes&wcsid=38358294]B^3 registry[/link], plus.....a hair dryer! :lol: Anyone want to go halvsies?

[Mela99]

Meh. Show me the ring!

I just hop Chad was permitted to put in on her finger, and Daddy didn't insist on doing it. That still skeeves me out to no end.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I just hop Chad was permitted to put in on her finger, and Daddy didn't insist on doing it. That still skeeves me out to no end.

I think if I was engaged to someone and their parent insisted on being the one who put the ring on, I would call it off.

It sounds like its saying "If you marry my kid, youre marrying us as well as we are too attatched to our child to the point where his mother breastfed him until he was 12 and he still sleeps between us in bed at night"

[xReems]

I just hop Chad was permitted to put in on her finger, and Daddy didn't insist on doing it. That still skeeves me out to no end.

I'm assuming he placed the ring on her finger because, IIRC, Kelly mentioned something about them waiting to hold hands until engagement.

A father placing a ring on the daughter's ring reminds me of Kristina's engagement when her father placed the ring on her finger. She could have placed the ring on her own finger (like how Valerie Mueller did when Adam Waller proposed) but nope, apparently, it felt "appropriate" for her daddy to do it. Gah. creeeeeepy.

[Sweetpea1]

The wedding registries are listed on the website. Bed, Bath, and Beyond; Target; and Belk, although Belk is empty.

She has a very Erin-like shower curtain on the [link=https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/giftregistry/view_registry_guest.jsp?pwsToken=&eventType=Wedding&registryId=13656507&wcref=yes&wcsid=38358294]B^3 registry[/link], plus.....a hair dryer! :lol: Anyone want to go halvsies?

I'll go halvsies on the hair dryer. I'll even throw in a couple of cans of Aquanet.

[Mela99]

I'm assuming he placed the ring on her finger because, IIRC, Kelly mentioned something about them waiting to hold hands until engagement.

A father placing a ring on the daughter's ring reminds me of Kristina's engagement when her father placed the ring on her finger. She could have placed the ring on her own finger (like how Valerie Mueller did when Adam Waller proposed) but nope, apparently, it felt "appropriate" for her daddy to do it. Gah. creeeeeepy.

I just don't get why it was inappropriate for him to touch her hand long enough to put a ring on it. Does hand holding like, automatically lead to crack and heroin and Hitler riding dinosaurs pissing on Christianity?

Also, they've been engaged what, a week? Two weeks? And they're already doing registries? Took us six months to even decide WHERE to register.

[pega127]

I think most people register right away after becoming engage (my fiance and I did). The couple picks a day, goes to a couple of stores and registers. Not very complicated!

[IReallyAmHopewell]

I'll even throw in a couple of cans of Aquanet.

Better check with Jim-Bob first--he may have negotiated a deal on a truckload. Couldn't let her crowning glory go limp in the OK sun..... ;)

[erunerune]

I really don't understand the "planning to get engaged" part. Erin & her fiancé already *knew* they were planning to get married, which sort of makes them de facto engaged from that point on, right?

Bear with me for a sec :)

So, because of the tradition and pageantry associated with "getting engaged" (even though IMO opinion they were essentially engaged as soon as they had a mutual understanding that they genuinely wished to follow through with marriage to each other), they basically pretend they are not engaged until the pageantry requirements have been fulfilled. Then they are for realz engaged, according to their worldview or community expectations or whatever.

Zach & Whitney are also in the "pretending not to be engaged really yet" stage. Even tho they are, according to everyone.

I honestly had no idea that mr. erunerune wanted to marry me until he proposed (it took me a while to even figure out he was proposing, srsly). So I have not personally experienced the "we both know darn well we are getting married yet won't consider it official until a certain number of boxes have been checked to make us official" stage.

Help me understand this!