Our week in Wyoming was great. Ty, Eduardo, John, myself and our new guy, Rib, had a great time out in the rolling fields of Cheyenne, helping the Miller family. This family was stuck in a home that was physically hurting the family — levels of radon gas that were way above the dangerous limit. They didn't have the money to rebuild or to move. They were stuck. So to us, demolishing this house meant great things for this family.
Kaboom! Get ready for the biggest, baddest, loudest, craziest demolition that you have ever seen on the show — so big that we all had to stand no closer than 300 yards away. Even from 300 yards away, you could feel the earth move, you felt the heat of the fireball, and parts of the demolished house came floating down out of the sky.
That's right, for the first time in Extreme Makeover: Home Edition history, we actually blew up a house. Although the exact number of sticks of dynamite changes depending on the person you ask, I think we had over 300 sticks in that house. It was really cool. If you do a search on the Internet, you might actually be able to get a sneak peak of it.
And the explosion wasn't the only big event on this show — we had a couple of surprise guests that were pretty amazing. First, the family got to go to a soccer game and meet David Beckham. Before all of you ladies get jealous of us, please note — the family got to meet him. Not us. But, while they were doing that, we were back at the ranch experiencing our own brush with stardom — Wynonna Judd! The scene was spectacular: As the sun was setting, we all gathered to take a little break and listen to one of the prettiest voices I have ever heard. And she's not just a pretty voice or face. Wynonna is one of the nicest people I have ever met. She was so gracious and kind! I had the opportunity to work with her last year on the Country Music Association's Fan Fest where I introduced her to some fans. She was genuine and so sweet to these girls that she had never met.
Well, a year later, she is no different. In fact, she even stayed an extra day to meet the family! She was only supposed to come into town to do a concert for us, but she was so moved by the entire experience, that she stayed an extra day, knowing that it would be behind the scenes! So you definitely got the insider's track, but who knows, you might see a little of her during our reveal if you look closely.
Wyoming was so amazing! Our builder was amazing! The Carter Brothers, of Carter Brothers Construction, really built a beautiful home. They rolled out a red carpet for us in Cheyenne, as did Wyoming. The sunsets were beautiful, and the weather was great — all until one night when a freak hailstorm came out of nowhere. Lightening hit our carpentry tent, and the hail destroyed anything that didn't get destroyed by electricity. The next day? Another beautiful, sunny day. It was crazy weather, but we made it through.
Rib also made it through his first episode, but not without a little "new guy hazing" though. In one scene, Rib and I went to a nearby farm to check on the family's animals. This family rescues many animals, mainly dogs, but no animal is turned away from their generous care. The dogs were at a "doggie day spa" and were getting the full treatment. We jumped in and helped, we painted little doggie nails, gave doggie massages, trimmed some fur, and even got to wash a horse. And this is where the hazing came in. I was in charge of the hose, and let's just say that the horse isn't the only one that got soaked. I walked away dry as a bone! (No pun intended.)
My room was a High School Musical room. In doing my research, I felt like I was a teenage girl all over again. I watched the DVD over and over again, and by the end of the week I was singing along! I even tried to get Ty to sing along with me, but that didn't really work out. I thought it would be the perfect song, "We're all in this together!" It worked for the kids in the movie, and it's true for all of us as well. So through explosions, soccer stars, country music stars, hailstorms, and radon gas, we were all in it together and it was a great week.
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