DIY Yard Crashers

Several weeks ago my wonderful co-worker, Ann, informed me that Yard Crashers was going to be at a local nursery, Arbor Gate. I was so excited - I mean do you know how many times I have watched that show and said to myself, "I would love for my yard to be crashed!" Now they were going to be there at 9:30, so I figured if I decided to go, I would only need to take 1/2 a day off of work. So, knowing just how hard it is to find a substitute nurse to cover my shift, I decided that I would email the two sub nurses that are willing to come to my school and see if either of them were willing to cover half a day for me. If they were, I would go to Arbor Gate and see if I could get on the show, if not, well apparently it was not meant to be.

 

Two days later, I got a call from one of the subs telling me he could cover my shift! Woo Hoo!!! I did not tell a soul, except of course Ann, what I was doing. I just told them I had an appointment. So this morning, I got up, put on my scrubs, and took the boys to daycare. Afterwards, I headed to Arbor Gate to stand in line. I got there about 7:30 and was about 18th in line. Luckily I was by some great people and the two hours went by quickly because we talked and chatted. I found that one of the ladies was the next door neighbor of one of my great friends Lorrie Dillon - small world! By 9:00, over a thousand people were in line, and they had to close the gates and turn people away.

 

Finally, 9:30am arrives and Matt Blashaw comes out and addresses the whole crowd. It was a muggy, humid morning and to say the least we all were sweaty and can I tell you, my hair was a hot mess!!! He went through the whole crowd just giving everyone a high five. He told us that he would speak to everyone of us and look at every one's pictures and then they would pick a yard. He made his way to me and I showed him my bag of rocks and gave him my spiel about how uneven our back yard is, and that we have rocks on one side that I am continuously digging out. I of course threw in that I have a 3 year old and 15 month old. I was in my scrubs, but he asked me what I did and of course I told him I was a school nurse. He asked my name, and then moved on. Apparently when he asks someone their name, that is the producers clue to get the person's information. So after a few minutes, the producer comes up to me, gives me a golden ticket and takes some of my information. She asks me to hang around for the final round. I was the first they had given a ticket to. I was elated!!!! But oh no - I had only taken half a day and there was no way I was going to make it back. So I called Ann and asked her to see what she could do - of course, she took care of it and told me to just worry about getting on the show!

 

The golden ticket

 

So I stand around and wait and wait. I end up talking to another girl who had to receive a ticket and in the meantime had to do a 'mini commercial' for the people that do the commercials for Arbor Gate. I tell you I looked like total crap due the humidity and was ashamed to even be on camera. So after awhile the producers came over to us and told us that we needed to go to a different place and they would come and talk to us. There were about 15 or 20 of us and the producers went down the line, relooked at our stuff and got it down to about 5 of us. She came back through and when she got to me she asked where my husband was and if I could get him to meet us at the house. So I immediately texted Shane and he told me he could meet me when needed. The last thing to do was to interview with Matt. The producers gave us the instructions to be very upbeat, don't give your story, just act excited. So we waited around a bit and then, my name was called. It was starting to drizzle now, so can you imagine just how great I looked? The cameras are rolling and here we go!!! He asked me about my yard, and again I show him my rocks. He laughs and starts looking at my pictures. He asks me what I have envisioned for my back yard and I tell him I would like some seating, a place to relax, a place the boys could play and I wouldn't mind having an outdoor kitchen. He commented about my Texas accent and also had to comment about the University of Alabama grill cover. He was so darn handsome - more so than on T.V. Can I tell you, I was a nervous wreck and could not think on the fly!! Then he asks me what I have to bring to the table that the other people don't have. Uh, uh, uh well I am fun, a hard worker and honestly I don't remember what else I said. It was all a blur. I was told to go stand in another area and wait - ahhhh more waiting!

 

So once again we are standing around. Now by this time, we 5 finalists have really gotten to know one another. The five finalists were me, a girl name Kaitlyn who lived pretty far from Arbor Gate (so I didn't expect her to get picked), a couple that didn't really talk to all of us, another couple in their 20's who were referred to as Lash and Stache, and then another girl named Emily who was really sweet and honestly, her yard was a hot mess. We knew it was between the five of us and we could hardly wait. Then Matt arrived to address the crowd and announce the winner. He said that his choice had a lot to do with the yard, and I automatically knew it was Emily - and it was. Then he said that he had a second winner to announce and he said he could not leave Houston until 'he crashed the stache'. I will tell you, I can hardly wait to see Emily's crash. However I can not comment on the other couples because we never saw pictures of their yard. I do know they that will be interesting due to the lack of filters the possess. Those two will say anything!

 

My understanding is they will be back in November to do the actual crash, so it won't be until sometime after that that it will air. As much as I don't want to be on the show due to looking HORRIBLE, I am thinking I might be on at the beginning when they show the people winning since we were all standing together. As sad as I am that our yard was not picked, I enjoyed the experience and would do it all again!