Wheel of Fortune Final Auditions

Waiting for the auditions to begin...

The only picture I could really take since
they didn't allow cameras in. 

Just two weeks ago, both Jimmy and I received an email congratulating us that we had been selected to attend the Wheel of Fortune final contestant auditions. Filled with lots of excitement and much laughter, we made our way to the St. Paul Hotel on Wednesday to attend this fun, once-in-a-lifetime audition that we have jokingly “dreamed” about for so long.

Auditions began at 10am with a conference room filled with about 70 want-to-be-Wheel-contestants! We all took a seat and filled out an application asking us basic information about who we are and if we would be interested on being on any “special weeks”. The contestant coordinators made a sitting chart so they knew who was who and explained how the auditions would work.

The first round consisted of them randomly calling out someone’s name.  That person would stand up and then call-out letters of the puzzle until they got one incorrect or would land on a bankrupt (just like the actual show).  Since Jimmy and I were there together, we were able to try-out as a pair. So when they called our names, we stood up with lots of enthusiasm.  We took turns calling out letters and were doing great until we got bankrupt. However, the staff were the ones “spinning” the wheel and we noticed once a person/pair had been calling out letters for awhile, they would just land on bankrupt to give the next person a chance. 

What they were looking for were to see if you could call logical letters, if you could project your voice, if you were enthusiastic/happy and if you remained calm under pressure.  All which make for a good contestant on the actual show! J

Next, we all took a 5-minute written test. The test consisted of 16 incomplete puzzles where we were supposed to fill in as many as we could in the time allowed.  This was challenging! When finished, I think I only fully completed 4 or so of the puzzles and Jimmy thought he had about 9 completed.  So I informed Jimmy if we didn’t make it to the next round, I would be the one to blame! J  

The contestant coordinators left the room to grade the tests and to decide on who would continue on to the final round. When they came back, they announced 25 people they wanted to stay and continue to play. Everyone else was asked to leave.  Jimmy and I were the very last ones to be called! Wow, were we pumped and a bit shocked! Now it became more serious and intense.

The final round consisted of us going up front with the other three pairs to play a mock version of Wheel of Fortune. We interviewed like they do on the show and then played a couple of puzzles. Once again, all the letters we called were in the puzzle until we landed on bankrupt. However, on our next turn we were able to call letters and solve the puzzle!  The category was “Same Name” and the puzzle was “Relief and water pitcher.” It was a good way to end our auditions! J

Now we just wait to see if we are selected to be on the show! If they would select us, we would be notified by mail in the next few weeks.  How CRAZY would that be!!

Yes it would be disappointing not to receive a letter, however, this process has been tons of fun. It has been a wonderful experience to share with my best friend and have given us lots of laughs! Regardless of what happens, it’ll be a good story to tell our kids someday as we all are watching The Wheel some night after supper! J

Thus if you don't hear a follow-up, you'll know our Wheel of Fortune dreams end here! 

Introducing Owen James Buehler.

 We are beyond blessed to announce the birth of our second son, Owen James Buehler. Born just one week ago today on September 18th at 7:24 PM, he weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and measured a long 22 1/4 inches! Although he is our second son, this week was still filled with many first for our little guy! 

Our 1st Family Pictures

 

One of Owen's 1st Pictures in the Hospital

 Owen's 1st Visitors 

1st Snuggles                                                     1st Bath

                               

Owen's 1st Week of Life (outside of Mama's Belly)

 Welcome to our family Owen James. We love you to pieces and are blessed by your lil' life! 

The Latest.

What’s up with the Buehlers these days:

Baby Prep: We hit the 39 week mark! Yea! No signs of labor yet but this time last pregnancy, I had been in labor for over a day already. However, I hear every pregnancy is different so we’ll see when this baby decides to come! We don’t mind waiting a few more days as we still try to decide on a name for this lil’ life!

Home Projects: We’ve learned owning a home brings many home projects. Last Friday, we had a lightning strike the street right in front of our house. Other than making us shoot out of our beds, we had a series of minor things that needed fixing. From fixing the water softener pipes that were loosened to smelling a burnt lamp to discovering a fried outlet in the garage, our Friday quickly became filled with home projects! Needless to say, we were so grateful for God’s protection as it could have been much worse.

Bonding Time: We’ve been thoroughly enjoying our bonding time with Charlie. He definitely loves his daddy and mama time, and we are curious to see how he will do with the transition of the new baby. Although he does love giving the baby in mama’s belly hugs and kisses… so I think he’ll do just great being a big brother!

Ministry Prep: Jimmy has been loving his new position at the Evangelical Free Church of Willmar as the youth pastor.  As summer activities have wrapped up, he has been putting lots of time and energy into prepping for this fall’s ministry. From redoing the student center to prepping lessons to leader’s meetings, he has kept plenty busy and now is anticipating kicking off student ministry’s in just a couple of weeks.

Photo Taking: Relocating to Willmar has given us the opportunity to discover new photo taking places and new faces! We love learning more and more about photography all the while having a lot of fun doing it! As well as not forgetting to snap a few pictures of our own family along the way :) 

Lordwilling, the next update will include a baby in arms :) For now, farewell from the Buehler bunch!

Playtime and Picture Time in the Park

Since starting our small photography business last year, I have realized we take less pictures of our own family. Thus, I convinced Jimmy and Charlie to come play in the park for an evening of family fun, fishing and pictures. Well, since one of us is always behind the camera, this is as close as we get to "family" pictures these days. 

      

35 Weeks

   

Gotta love that smile. 

And I'm glad to grab some pictures before he gets too big :) 

However, I'm so thankful for our growing son and our growing family! 

Our New Home.

After many months of planning, preparing and praying, we are finally in our new home here in Willmar. And it feels good. 

We were so thankful to be able to close on our house on Monday, June 23rd as we had originally planned. If you have ever purchased a house, you know the process and the closing can always take longer than expected because of some unexpected something that comes up at an unexpected, and typically, inconvenient time! We were told it's never a done deal until you have the keys in hand... and those were wise words to remember in the home buying process. God was definitely wanting us to grow in trust and patience during this process! 

All that to say, we were thankful for a full week to paint and move prior to Jimmy starting his new job on July 1st. With me being 7 months pregnant, I was not much of a help in the painting or moving process!  Thus, I was extremely grateful that Jimmy had extra painting help from my mom, my youngest brother and from our church family. They were able to get the living room, kitchen and bathroom done prior to us moving in. The other rooms will get painted along the way! :) 

The following weekend, we made the two and a half hour move from North Branch to Willmar. We had Kost youth guys help us pack on the North Branch end and then we had a crew of Willmar youth guys on this end to help us unpack. This made for a wonderful and smooth move! Thank you to all who helped us in this process! 

So the last few weeks have been spent unpacking boxes, organizing cupboards, screwing in curtain rods, hanging curtains, installing new home items (such as the mailbox, water filter, dryer, dishwater, etc.), and attempting to make our new house feel like home!  It's a process...especially with a one and half year old running around... but we both have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and are so grateful for our new (earthly) home. 

Auditioning for Wheel of Fortune!

You may have already caught wind via Facebook of Jimmy's "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to audition for our favorite game show- Wheel of Fortune! Three words: OH SO FUN!

When we heard the "Wheel-mobile" was coming to Hinckley, a town just north of us, it was a simple convincing to get Jimmy to commit to going. We made it a double date with good friends of ours who also are Wheel-lovers. Thanks to Caleb and Melissa for joining in on our ridiculous fun!

How it worked: 

There were three "shows", each an hour long, and you could apply for each one if there were enough applications available for that specific show. We had arrived late and were not able to be a part of the first show so we filled the time by filling our bellies at the Hinckley buffet... and were reminded why we very rarely eat at buffets. :)

Along with hundreds of other people, we got in line for the second show and found a seat in the large auditorium.  After you fill out a simple application, it gets put in a big drum and then they randomly draw five names out at a time to be brought up on stage for an audition. Within a one hour show, I would guess there were probably about 30-40 names that would get called to stage for an audition.  An audition would include a quick interview to get to know you and then you would participate in one "fast-round" puzzle. Like they do on the TV show when time is running out, the fast-round puzzle is when the contestants call out one letter and then have three seconds to solve. If they aren't able to solve, it goes on to the next contestant until someone solves the puzzle.

How it happened: 

We were all full of excitement but realized our odds of getting called up to stage were very, very slim.   However, within the first few rounds, Jimmy's name was called! What a shock! What an excitement! He ran to stage full of enthusiasm as I screamed, "that's my husband!" We were so pumped to say the least.

Jimmy was the first in his group to give his interview. The point of the interview was to see if you are a fun, energetic person.  I know I am biased as his wife, but he did an awesome job and used his wittiness to get the crowd engaged!  You can see the clip at this link.

After the interviews took place, the fast-round puzzle began. The category was "place".  As the contestants called letters, the puzzle began to take shape. At that point I believe the puzzle looked something like: "The  _ ns_ _e   l _ ne." The gentleman before Jimmy called "I" and we all thought he would definitely solve because most of the entire puzzle was then filled in. However, the buzzer buzzed and it was Jimmy's turn. He called "D" and yelled out "The Inside Lane"! He solved the puzzle! It was quite a bit more exciting then we solve puzzles at home in front of the TV. :)

For getting called up on stage, Jimmy won a "Wheel of Fortune" hat, shirt, water bottle and mini pack... And even better, a free night's stay at the hotel plus $100 gift certificate to the spa! That in itself was worth it in my opinion! :)

What's next: 

Even though Jimmy solved the puzzle and had a great interview, there is no guarantee that he'll get a call back letter. If he would get a call-back letter, we would find out sometime in the next four months. At that point, he would have a second audition at the regional try-outs in Minneapolis.  Regardless of what happens, we had a ton of fun and are thankful for the "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity! It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon with some good friends!