Bates Family Part 7

[formergothardite]

I think the the Bates learned a lot watching the Duggars so they know how to put enough Jesus so that people know they are Christian but then leave out all of the crazy stuff. No more homemade dresses, talking about how they are just like the Duggars and showing their casual racism. The only things they are going to show us will be squeaky clean and non-controversial. I won't be shocked if they change their language to drop courtship or dating with a purpose. They won't really change anything, they will just change how they present it. 

I watched the Duggar episode where we met the Bates for the first time a couple of months ago and it is amazing how much they have changed their image. 

[Thorns]

Okay, now I got to the purity ring episode. Kinda put som rank weeds outside of the rabbit hole.

[actuallyjessica]

Alyssa uploaded a new pic. I see she's not using Allie as a prop in front of her stomach... If she plans to hide her pregnancy much longer she's going to have to get clever because the leghumpers are going to start leaving comments of congratulations very soon...

[grandmadugger]

2 hours ago, apple1 said:

Actually, TX is somewhat of a haven for cults. Check out Church of Wells - who have been permitted to pretty much take over the community of Wells, TX with almost no restrictions - and who were not held to any accountability in the death of a newborn, and who allowed the statute of limitations to expire on said death.

I was just thinking of FLDS.  TX didn't play with those guys but damn Church of Wells is scary shit.

[grandmadugger]

2 hours ago, Thorns said:

Okay, now I got to the purity ring episode. Kinda put som rank weeds outside of the rabbit hole.

The purity ring episode is pretty weedy.  After reading the Duggar girls' "book" it did make me giggle.  Those girls got to pick something out of mom's jewelry box, and these girls got a new one.  For me it just shows how much the Duggars half ass everything.  Oh we're gonna do purity rings here's mom's jewelry box pick something.  While the Bates at least make it special, if you are going to go whack-a-doo do it full on not half assed.

[JemimaPuddle-Duck]

25 minutes ago, grandmadugger said:

The purity ring episode is pretty weedy.  After reading the Duggar girls' "book" it did make me giggle.  Those girls got to pick something out of mom's jewelry box, and these girls got a new one.  For me it just shows how much the Duggars half ass everything.  Oh we're gonna do purity rings here's mom's jewelry box pick something.  While the Bates at least make it special, if you are going to go whack-a-doo do it full on not half assed.

I'm so stealing that. Don't half-ass your crazy!

[bashfulpixie]

2 hours ago, grandmadugger said:

I was just thinking of FLDS.  TX didn't play with those guys but damn Church of Wells is scary shit.

After seeing them mentioned here several times I did some reading... they are scary as hell

[LovelyLuna]

I spent 2 weeks at an arts center In the mountains of Tennessee near Smithville. It was magical!! The Flora and fauna was stunning, and I saw lighting bugs for the first time. I would live there is a heartbeat given the right circumstances. 

I not a city girl tho, I live in the suburbs boarding on lots and lots of desert, surrounded by mountains. 

[Shouldabeenacowboy]

7 hours ago, Gimme a Free RV said:

Back to the comment about leaving NY to live in TN:

As I sit here sipping my coffee, in my quiet neighborhood, looking at the woods in back of my house, where deer occasionally peek out and delight me with their beauty, I can tell you, TN is just a horrible place to live.  Especially the area where the Bates are.  Yes, the fresh air and the lakes and mountains (which, as we all know, NY state has absolutely none of) and the lovely scenery.  It's just awful.  However, for those who hate the rural life, fret not!  East TN is home to drug abuse (meth labs and pain killer fraud, of note), traffic jams and abundant shopping and a major university (Knoxville), and practically everything  a place like NYC has to offer, including the diversity, just in smaller doses with a smaller population.

Yeah, it's just horrid living in TN, especially in the Appalachian Mountains, near the dreadfully dull Smokies.

Tennessee is a fantastic state, I happen to have lived in the suburbs of Knoxville and I visited Memphis and Nashville, both huge hits in my book. I don't think the debate is  "Tennessee" vs. "New York", rather "urban, diverse environment" versus "where the Bates live". How many different languages do you hear when you are looking at the lovely Tennessee landscape? How many ethnicities, etc.? As beautiful as they may be, there are parts of this country that are still fairly culturally homogeneous and, for someone who is used to constant, continuous diversity, it just doesn't cut it. 

That doesn't mean that Ashley (or whoever) would not necessarily enjoy the change. I could see her trying to move down there, and then, after a few years, respectfully suggest to her headship a change of scenery.

[Gimme a Free RV]

@Shouldabeenacowboy, back in my younger days, decades ago,  the population on the eastern end of the state was much more homogenous.   Now, however, because of the college and university enrollments growing and because of immigration, there is much more diversity than ever before.   Go to the Smokies' tourist trap,  Pigeon Forge.  LOTS of folks working and living there from other parts of the country and from other countries.  Now,  the homogenous thing might be true in the rural areas but the cities have enough cultural diversity that you can easily hear Vietnamese, Spanish, Farsi, and other middle eastern languages being spoken in schools,  parks, restaurants, shopping centers, and other venues of commerce. 

Not everyone here is pasty-white like me, thank goodness!

[JesusCampSongs]

I grew up in Knoxville, hated it, and left as soon as I went off to college. I haven't lived there full-time since I was eighteen, and only go there three or four times a year to see my family on holidays. They keep leaning on me to move back, and it's like...noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooope. 

Nashville is pretty great, though. I lived there for five years, but I had to move away five years ago. I'd be willing to live there again, under the right circumstances. 

[treemom]

I just don't think we can say that Ashley won't like it because Ny and bilingual and has traveled.  She might or she might not.  But not all people with those three things in common hate it.

[withaj]

7 hours ago, accountingstar said:

If anyone is interested here's Gil's sister-in-law, Casey, blog:

http://bumpinalongtheroadlesstraveled.blogspot.com

This is the family with five children and they live on the farm.

Papa Bill and Mama Jane have some money and are Methodist. I knew that Papa Bill was a judge, but I just learned that Mama Jane was a nurse.

Oh man. This lady is not super smart. In a recent blog post, she talks about using the Little House books as supplementary material for their "colonial times" studies. Uh, off by a hundred plus years.

[imokit]

Wow - his sister is using an online homeschool curriculum which teaches evolution

http://bumpinalongtheroadlesstraveled.blogspot.co.uk/

one of the final links is:

http://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/curriculum/middle_school_science.html

In the details of their science curriculum for middle school:

Quote

1. Evolution - Students will explore the theory of evolution. Topics include the diversity of life, mutation, variation, adaptation, natural selection, evidence for evolution, tree diagrams, and extinction.

To her general credit, her oldest taking online classes at a tech (non fundie sounding college) and she seems to be a doing a decent job of school.
I'm getting the very conservative christian vibe off her, but not the Bates level fundyness...

[PennySycamore]

6 minutes ago, imokit said:

Wow - his sister is using an online homeschool curriculum which teaches evolution

http://bumpinalongtheroadlesstraveled.blogspot.co.uk/

one of the final links is:

http://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/curriculum/middle_school_science.html

In the details of their science curriculum for middle school:

To her general credit, her oldest taking online classes at a tech (non fundie sounding college) and she seems to be a doing a decent job of school.
I'm getting the very conservative christian vibe off her, but not the Bates level fundyness...

Greenville TEC is a public institute of higher learning in Greenville.  South Carolina started a statewide system of Technical Education Colleges (TECs) in the early 60s.  I usually see the school's name abbreviated as Greenville TEC and not Greenville Tech.

[withaj]

29 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

Greenville TEC is a public institute of higher learning in Greenville.  South Carolina started a statewide system of Technical Education Colleges (TECs) in the early 60s.  I usually see the school's name abbreviated as Greenville TEC and not Greenville Tech.

There's a photo of him on the blog in a "Greenville Tech" shirt so I think the branding goes both ways.

[roddma]

I agree meth labs run rampant in Tennessee, but we arent the meth capitol of the world.
As far as Alyssa being pro or anti anything, that's her choosing. I don't think anyone is less a person for not being involved in whatever's PC at the moment. . I prefer to call my self 'humans rights activist', life liberty and justice for all.
But what gets me is if the parents can choose their path, why can't the kids. It is clear Jim Bob, Michelle, Gil and Kelly all choose their life. Mama Jane said it hurt about Gil changing churches but she didn't stop him.

[accountingstar]

Lawson posted another photo. It me it looks like a modeling session.

Allie Jane by herself. I feel like John and Alyssa are posting similar photos now.

Michael and Brandon made a gingerbread house. I like more colorful candy on mine personally. It has more Valentine's Day colors than Christmas colors.

New video posted on YouTube.

 

[LovelyLuna]

1 hour ago, accountingstar said:

Michael and Brandon made a gingerbread house. I like more colorful candy on mine personally. It has more Valentine's Day colors than Christmas colors.

 

 

These two have trouble coloring outside of the lines. I feel that they will be very strict and legalistic parents. 

[Alye]

I was surprised when this picture came up a while ago because I've only ever seen Michaela in her maxi-skirts. It's a very flattering dress.

 

[16strong]

8 minutes ago, Alye said:

I was surprised when this picture came up a while ago because I've only ever seen Michaela in her maxi-skirts. It's a very flattering dress.

 

Michael has been dressing so stylishly since getting married. It's surprising to me, because I have always seen her as the least syle and appearance-conscious Bates girl. She looks gorgeous. I want that black dress for myself.

[socalrules]

I have always thought that Michael was the prettiest of the girls. Maybe Michael has a little more confidence now that she is married. She seemed to always take a back seat to everyone else, especially Erin and Alyssa. She not only got married but moved to another state. Michael's life has significantly changed. Didn't she say somewhere she was still going to school as well? Maybe Michael finally feels like her life is on track and she gets to set its direction. 

[Snarkle]

I'd give Gil's sister-in-law Casey some slack.  I have been reading her blog for a long time now and it's a nice back door into Gil & Kelly's family.  They are the "normal" cousins although they homeschool as well.  My guess is that Casey misspoke there and will realize it later - she usually posts every few weeks or so, but she said she had considered shutting down the blog completely (noooooo!) but her daughter asked her to keep it up so she posted three months' worth of things in one week.  Casey is a good contrast to the homeschool "program" Kelly uses, and does consult with Kelly as well as suggesting things to Kelly for the older kids.  Casey may homeschool, but as mentioned she uses decent curricula and her kids are in a LOT of activities with other kids - theatre and summer camps - and they wear shorts and regular swimsuits.  I always hope they will influence some of their Bates cousins to leave the nest and be less fundie.

As for Michael, I bet they got a gingerbread house now because it was on sale 75% or 90% off.  So it's a Valentine gingerbread house?  They're newlyweds who waited a long time to get together, so I will give them a little slack, too. (I have been married a couple of decades now and while I disagree with their lifestyle and beliefs completely, I do find their romantic gestures sweet.  I give them a couple of kids and a few years and that will taper off.)  And maybe she is dipping a toe into the Alyssa pool and wearing shorter, more fashionable clothing as a married woman?  Although in the latest BUB she was wearing the aqua/lime green dress from the neon family picture a year ago, but she wasn't married yet then.  Maybe she ditched the frumpers in the community closet at home?

[Snarkle]

1 hour ago, Alye said:

I was surprised when this picture came up a while ago because I've only ever seen Michaela in her maxi-skirts. It's a very flattering dress.

 

I kind of feel like this is a Before (right) and After (left) picture of the Quiverfull lifestyle (and before y'all call me out for body shaming, I mean happy newlywed full of promise, and the aftereffects of a couple dozen years of birthin' babies and them literally sucking the life out of you).

[madpsych78]

2 hours ago, accountingstar said:

Lawson posted another photo. It me it looks like a modeling session.

Allie Jane by herself. I feel like John and Alyssa are posting similar photos now.

Michael and Brandon made a gingerbread house. I like more colorful candy on mine personally. It has more Valentine's Day colors than Christmas colors.

New video posted on YouTube.

 

I just really wanted to quote the video, but watching this video, I then began to imagine either Lawson or Trace courting Marjorie Jackson. I suspect that Trace would be another Josiah, while Lawson and Marjorie would butt heads over who gets the most camera presence.