The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Becoming The Bells with Dean Unglert and Caelynn Miller-Keyes

Episode Date: September 15, 2023

Ben and Ashley do a last minute wedding check in with Dean and Caelynn before they walk down the aisle! They say wedding planning is like climbing a mountain, but Dean may have taken that phrase too literally… Find out why his wedding prep has caused some friction between him and his soon to be bride. Caelynn shares an intimate memory from Paradise when she realized she would never meet anyone like Dean again. And we find out if little Deans and Caelynns might be coming in the future!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I would say this episode is about love. It's about kinship. It's about soulmates. We have Dean and Kaelin here with us to talk about so many important things coming up. Hello, Dean and Kailen. Hey, Ben. Hey, Ben and Ashley. Hey. So your wedding's coming up. And I have to say that so many people still come up to me after four years of us being

married and five and a half of us being together. And they're like, can you believe it happened? But like, I think about you guys like that. I think about you in paradise. and like Dean left you know came back for you and he was in this phase that everybody said he was in now friends know it's a little bit more complicated than that but everybody was like oh he's the like the target like F boy right nobody got called that more than Dean and look at him proving everybody wrong well for the record I don't think it's fair to compare the two because your guys's story the lead up to it was a lot longer than ours at least yeah Caitlin and I, the lead-up was less than a week, but you guys had your whole best friendship and all that stuff. And so I do think that maybe they're still, they're in the same sport, but you're playing major leagues. We're playing AAA baseball, essentially.

But yeah, no, it's interesting. It was, I always refer back to the movie definitely maybe one of my favorites. Ryan Reynolds is amazing. And Ila Fisher, I believe is her name, is also really amazing in it too. and they have a conversation and they're talking about finding the perfect person to be with for the rest of your life. And I think it's Isla Fisher that says it's not who, but when. And I really believe if I met Kalin on the first season of Paradise that I did, Bachelor in Paradise season four, when I was an F boy, I don't think it really, it maybe would have worked out.

Who knows? Probably not. I do think the two years of growth between four and six, those seasons are really what helped change me and show me the light and show me, you know, what? what kind of person I wanted to be, I guess, in the future. So I want to dig into this a little bit because we've never talked about this on the show. But Dean, if there's one person that did The Bachelor, that's a friend of mine that I know personally that I'm like, he could have cared less if he would have done this show or not. In fact, I don't think he has like, I don't think the show has any impact on his life other than his like relationship with Kalin. And I don't think Dean cares at all about the fame.

I think he likes coming to some of the events because we have friends there and we get to have a great time. True. But Dean, you're one of, I would say the few success stories coming from this show. So you do a show that you don't really want to do. You're not really thrilled that you did it after the show, but then you go back on Paradise and you find love on it.

At any point in time, does this ever feel like a big joke to you? like that this is like the world like coming back at you and saying you don't know everything well yeah I mean there's a lot to I guess unpack from that I do I do appreciate the show I helped my bank account quite a bit and for that I'll always have an incredible amount of respect for it I was actually gonna call Ben and you out on this because I remember the conversation leading in to Bachelor in Paradise season 6 and I was like Dean just do it for the followers and the money like why would you not do it for that. And you were like the only person I talked to before season four. We hadn't even met yet and I

texted you. I got your number somehow and you were like a thousand percent you should do it. Why wouldn't you be stupid not to? I'm sorry, what was the question again? So is this ever like, is this ever like laying in bed at night or sleeping on the top of a mountain, which we'll get into in a little bit? Does it ever just like feel wild to you that you met the love of your life on this show? You know, I think we can all kind of attest to it if you look at it from the outside, it definitely looks weird. But going through it, like, yeah, we fell in love on a TV show. And that's weird to say and weird to live, but it doesn't feel like that at all.

You know, like, we're, all of us are so far removed from the show, so many years past that, like, sure, we still talk about it and we have these podcasts and all these things that we are allowed to do, but like, we don't really incorporate any of that stuff into our everyday life. So it just doesn't feel weird to me. It just feels like we met. just like any other couple might have met. That's how I feel, at least. How do you feel?

Yeah, I kind of feel the same. I forget often that we did the show that we met on the show. And I mean, technically, I slid into his DM six years ago and then bailed on my first. We all know that story. We don't need to get into that part of the story. No, it just doesn't feel like we're a reality TV couple. Like I look at, I don't know, these Netflix dating shows and all these different shows, and they feel like a reality.

TV couple, and I just don't feel that for us. Yeah. And I would say the same would be for you guys as well. I mean, Ben, obviously, Jess was never on the show, but, like, it doesn't see, I feel like what so many people do nowadays with those Netflix shows are, like, they'll try to convince everyone else that they're in love by posting or doing whatever they do on social media or whatever it is. And I feel like the couples that are truly in love don't really feel the need to do that,

you know? And I feel like that maybe that's where we, yeah. And I feel like we keep a lot of our relationship private, too. Like, there are some things that are public, but then there's a lot that people don't know about us. Yeah. I try to be public as public as I can, but then every time I do, you hit me under the table and tell me to stop talking about it. Well, everything Dean says in the podcast makes a headline because he's like so real. You guys, I actually think it's less weird that we've met on a dating show.

Real or unwise. Because I want to be on Kaylin's seen here a little bit. Real unwise, unhinged, all of it. So, like, I've had friends' dads come out of the wood, like my friends from high school. as dads have reached out to me, like, sharing a headline of something so stupid that I said, and they're like, hey, maybe you should not be such an idiot. The time you said that your brothers could impregnate me. That one was the weirdest by far.

That's the one that I, like, called Jared and been like, Jared, wait, what? Yeah. It's going on with this? I'll say a lot of dumb things, not realizing it. And then the aftermath is when I start to put things in a perspective of what I said, jokingly, obviously. But, like, when friends, parents are that you haven't talked to in a decade, are coming out and saying like, hey, maybe you should button it up a little bit.

That's when you know, maybe, uh, maybe Kalen obviously has to better judgment with that. This is like every day with us. So I either roll my eyes or just laugh it off. And I forget that this isn't normal for other people to be hearing it. And then we get the headline. Yeah. Sorry. The, uh, well, the headlines, um, I don't think the headlines have given, uh, Dean enough

credit. But this is a question for Kalem. Uh, Dean is currently accomplishing something, Kalin that, uh, is, is incredibly impressive. And I'll explain why it's so. impressive in a bit. But Dean is, in short, climbing every 14er in the state of Colorado leading up to your wedding to get in better shape for the wedding. What's a 14er for those who don't know? It's a mountain that's 14,000 feet at its peak. And so, Kaelin, he's been gone a lot leading up to this wedding. How has that been for you? You are, you're similar to my wife in a lot of ways

where you can function alone pretty well, but I know there is a tad of missing your partner, especially as you lead up to a wedding. So walk us through what you've been doing leading up to this wedding while Dean has been getting in shape. Well, I'm not accomplishing anything quite as impressive as him. You absolutely are. What?

Every day is an accomplishment. How beautifully supportive. But no, this is, like Dean does these things. Like, you know, he goes to Pakistan, he goes to Antarctica. does all of these like crazy wild adventures stop and this one has been the longest so it definitely got to the point where I called him and I was like I just miss you and I don't want to like I don't want to miss you like it's just been you know three months and it's been too long and I was talking to my therapist and she was the one who brought me to that realization and she was

like it sounds like you just miss him like can't you just say that and I was like oh I just don't really like talking about feelings or like admitting that so I finally admitted it to him and I was like, no, I miss you. And it's, yeah, it's been a long three months. I'm super proud of him. I'm super happy for him. But I'm very excited. It's almost over. Yeah, we got in a little scuffle a couple weeks ago because there was a culmination of that, what she was just talking about. And I, like, got into a pretty hairy situation on one of the mountains. Yeah. He's doing this. And then he puts himself in situations to make it more scary because he gets bored. And that really freaks me out. I'm like, you're already doing this. I already have anxiety. Now you're doing things that are

more dangerous, which really makes me angry. Yeah. And I was like texting her about. out to tell like explaining the story and I was like embellishing some certain details just to make it see more interesting for you and I didn't realize that she was feeling this way and had I known that I obviously would have maybe eased up a little softened to the story a little bit but yeah we got not in like an argument but there was a contentious phone call I guess about it all but I do feel like it's been three months yes but I have been splitting time pretty well I've been home a lot I've been seeing you at least twice a month, which I, now that I say that out loud, doesn't really sound like very much as you lead up to a wedding. It's fantastic time.

It's like really great. That's what I told him. Like the timing sucks. It's terrible. You know, it's, I've known Dean for a long time. I've loved Dean for a long time. It's great as I hear this story because what I go to first is I remember many conversations and one in particular with Dean. you know, where he wasn't ever, I don't know, I think Dean and I shared a little bit of it. I think it came out differently, but I don't know if Dean ever believed he was really going to be truly loved and missed and liked by somebody that would want to spend their life with him.

And so. This is the weirdest thing ever. Well, but it's a true thing. Well, he's a beautiful man, yes. But, you know, for Kalin to miss you and communicate with that with you and also be really flustered when you tell her that you are running into bad situations that's a that's a that's very like for me that's a weird but it's a victory like you know you found it buddy um but to give some like insight into what you are doing and i want to spend a little time on this there are i think 58 correct

me if i'm wrong 14ers in the state of colorado uh i know obviously i live here i know a lot of people who have done them. I know people who have done different sets of peaks each year. I know people that try to cross off all 58 peaks by the time that they, you know, aren't able to hike anymore. And that always is a massive accomplishment. I have friends that try to go, you know, do one every weekend. I have never, honestly, in 10 years of living here, never heard of anybody say, hey, I'm going to do all 58 peaks in a year. I'm sure there are some, especially somebody, who I played golf with after the first peak, which was three months ago.

You said, hey, in three months, I'm going to do all 58 because these are brutal. I've done it myself. They're exhausting. Dean, spend a little time here, explain to the listeners, what you are doing because to me it makes very little sense. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, to your first point, I want to mention when we were getting in that scuffle last week or two weeks ago, I was getting upset that I was like, well, like, I was getting upset about the whole situation for whatever reason. I was like, this is my goal.

I'm doing whatever. I can to achieve it. And then I like took a step back. And I thought about how lucky I was to have someone in my life that cared enough to have feelings about me being away. And I just like took a step back. And I was like, I'm really grateful to have Caitlin in my life to care enough about me to want me to come home and hang out with her. So I just wanted to mention that that was a realization that I had not too long ago either. But yeah, the 14ers, um, growing up in Colorado. I love the outdoors. I love the state of Colorado so much. I think it's the best state in the U.S. for so many reasons. California is great too. I'm sure there's many, many others, but just as a

Colorado kid, I've loved it so much. And I've always closely associated myself with like the lifestyle of Colorado, which is like more outdoors, you know, all that kind of stuff. And then once we decided to get married in Colorado in the mountains, nonetheless, I like, I just feel like I owed it to myself to be the person that I always thought I was as far as like the Colorado vibe for lack of a better word goes and not to necessarily earn the right to get married in Colorado but to feel more comfortable with that because I so closely identify with the things that the state represents so much and yeah so there's 58 of them they're all over 14,000 feet which you know is pretty high I don't really get altitude sickness a lot of

people do kind of suffer from that, but I have never really dealt with it. And a big reason too was I hate going to the gym and I wanted to lose weight and look good at the wedding. So I lost 20 pounds, which is really nice. Holy, holy. Yeah, really good. I haven't really been drinking much booze, which is a big part of that as well. But I don't know. I just wanted to be able to stand up there on the altar in the mountains, in Colorado, with the love of my life and feel more like at peace or at home or comfortable, whatever it is. And this was like the way that I decided to make it happen that way, I guess. Most challenging way.

It's a challenging. Yeah, the thing is they are hard. Many of them are easy, but a lot of them are also really hard. But like, it just, you can just do it. All they have to do is just do it. And then, you know, then you did it. Yeah. You have to, no, no, no.

You don't have to just do it. You have to do it and then go, I have 57 more to go. I have 55 more to go. Because Ashley, here's something for you, right? I usually do one or two a year. I do one or two a year because they are an all-day event. I mean, you leave at the crack of dawn. For me, most of mine, Dean, you probably have been able to do them faster.

They can take a good five to seven hours is typically like how long it takes of straight walking. And half of that or over half of that because it's faster going down is up 14. thousand feet. I think that's insane. It's 14,000 feet. So, okay, so it's three miles about in the air. Yeah. And that's just like above,

that's the elevation above sea level. So typically you're going to start most of around like 9,000 to 10,000 feet. So you're gaining 4,000 feet, maybe 5,000 feet depending on the mountain, obviously. But then that's over the course of 10 miles. And it's funny, I just did the 56th one two days ago. and I finally feel like I'm in shape now and it's just, it's kind of annoying that now at the very end of it,

I feel like I can hike fast, hike stronger, hike longer, like those types of things. But now it's over. So it's like, now what do I do? Are you going to finish all 58? I'm going to finish. Yeah, so I have two left, the maroon bells. I'm going to do the traverse.

And I'm doing it the day before we leave for the wedding festivities with my brother, who I climbed the first one with a couple years ago. so it'll be like a good full circle moment we're changing our last name to bell the mountains the two mountains are called the bells so i thought it would be a good capstone as well um and it's in aspen so yeah so i have two more to do going to do them next week on wednesday um but yeah it's interesting because it is a challenge and it's such an great accomplishment i'm so so proud of it but like i said it's just like it's it's more of like a psychological challenge than it is a physical challenge at this point at least where there's just so many of them and like you have to continue

to motivate yourself to do these things. And some of them aren't fun. So you just have to, like, you know, grit your teeth and get through the boringness of it all. And so that's why Kaelin and I got in an argument because I needed to spice it up a little bit. Spice up in a relationship a little bit? Spice up the hikes, which makes it more dangerous, which then puts more stress on her. Okay. So Kailen, you get a text from Dean and then we'll get off of the mountain climbs. I just think it's something not only to be celebrated for because it is a huge accomplishment, but also to be confused by, which is also very fair in doing 58, 14 years in one year. Kaelin, you get a text from Dean that frightens you or makes you feel uneasy.

What do you understand of the situation and the story that happened on the mountains with Dean? So this one specifically that he's referring to, he, yeah, was embellishing, but I didn't know that he was embellishing, but he was also so upset. He's like sliding down the mountain. He's falling. He said he's fallen so many times. He could be encountering bears and he's bushwhacking right by a river that no man's ever touched is what he said. All this stuff, but I can tell he's so mad and I'm fuming because I'm like, it is 9 p.m. You're still hiking. You chose to leave at noon when you should have left at 6 a.m. You're putting yourself in

the situation, drops his phone. He has to hike back up because he dropped his phone, like all these things. But he's so mad. So I was like, I can't let him know that I'm mad right now because he's He's so frustrated. I can't imagine how frustrated he is. So I let myself go to bed and not really say anything. And then the next day or two days later, after he had. That's when we talked about. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that one was, it was 15 miles, two peaks, and a lot of elevation. I started at 2 p.m., which was way too late. I was a quarter mile up, and I realized I forgot my headlamp. And I was like, whatever, I don't need it. Oh, that was added there. I was so mad about that. That's fine. My map took me down this crazy route, which actually,

ended up just being a river. And so I was the only person that I probably had hike there all in the history of man. And it was dark and I'm bushwhacking and I have my phone flashlight. And it could be bear country, who knows? You know, like they'll stay away from the more trotten paths. But since no one's really been over here, that might be where they like to congregate. And so I was like singing out loud to myself the whole time. And like she said, I kept falling.

And the thing with this one was there was no redeeming qualities of the hike. I can't look back and be like, oh, that sucked, but there was this one moment where I climbed this rock and it was really awesome. Like the whole thing was just like long and steep and exhausting. And so there was nothing to be happy about except for it being done, I guess. That's why I was so worked up about it. Yeah. Yeah.

Do you normally like go on trails or is it just kind of going up the hill or whatever way you find? Yeah, most of them have trails. There's been a few where in order to make it more interesting. I don't go on a trail, I guess. But yeah, yeah, yeah, there's trails usually. Yeah. Now, this all ties into your wedding because wasn't the goal to do it all before the wedding day. And then once you were married, you were going to, quote, calm down with the explorations?

Yeah, I don't know if I'll actually calm down per se. I still think that the bug is still in me. I'll do obviously a lot more exploring with Kalin, which would be great. And that's the thing, too. like I would have loved for Kaelan to have joined me for some of these. But I understand if you're not like locked into the mindset of climbing a mountain, it's hard to get motivated to do it, especially when it's hard and you're tired and cold or whatever.

But there's no plans immediately after the wedding to go out and climb Denali or something like that. Maybe next year. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly. And now I'm seriously suspicious. Well, wait a minute, Sam, maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her.

Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor, and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him?

Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD...

Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free I-HeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. My name is Ed. Everyone say hello, Ed.

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stop most of my life because I'm married. Like that is something. I don't know who's telling people that, but it's, there's a lot of freedom in marriage I found. And as he's been climbing these, you have been planning a wedding that is coming up very soon. And to kind of transition to that has has him being a way made it easier for you to plan this wedding because, you know, he maybe doesn't have as much of an opinion on things or has it been harder? How's the wedding process been? Yeah, I think it's been a combination of both. I really, really love planning. So I've, I've been having a blast of this. Like, I feel like I should have done this professionally because I love it so much. But there are things where, like, I want his opinion and maybe he doesn't have service

where he's like not super responsive because he's been climbing. There's a lot of decisions I made on my own and he just has to live with it. Yeah, and well, that's the thing too. I want to live with it. I want you to make all these decisions because you have such great taste

and your opinion is more is worth so much more when it comes to this space, I think. And yes, I want to be equal partners when it comes to planning all these things. But like, if you want something a certain way, I don't want it another way to the point where I'm going to fight you on.

it because I want you to have everything your way you know what I mean yeah and the important things like we agreed on together like our first dance song his aisle song I wanted him to pick out and it's very him um I don't think anyone's ever walked down the aisle to the song that he'd pick I'm sure I don't know sure but yeah I don't know that there was a men's aisle song did you guys do that at your ratings yeah I was already uh I think I did yeah because I kind of walked down with my like groomsmen before everybody else and I think there was a unique song playing then okay that's pretty unique what was your song ben do you remember I don't remember I would news I knew you're going to ask me I was like I've no idea um but no as far as the wedding planning goes like I try to be involved but we we have two

wedding planners who are fantastic and they're they're absolutely crushing it for us and it's it's really the biggest obstacle that we've been faced with with this whole thing is just the the people that own the venue have been a bit of a challenge to deal with. They say something and then they go back on their word and then they change everything completely and then we agree to something, but then they think that we agree to something else. And we put our deposits down so we're kind of stuck into it. That's been the most stressful part of the whole process is the venue and dealing with the people behind it. And I'm excited to never have to deal with it again. Yeah. Yeah. We're excited for the wedding because we don't want to have to deal with them.

speaking of the venue i know that jared asked you this on the podcast it's beautiful we're so excited to check it out people uh but jared was like it seems so dean but actually kaelin you were the one that was really wanting it to be here and that also i just want to like kind of like tie it in to just your overall essence i was at dinner with a few like i was at dinner with jill chen you know from bachelor from bachelor nation yesterday and she was like i feel like helen is such a different person not in like a good way um than she was back on her seasons like she was the pageant girl in her season right and now she's this nature girl so how like how has dean evolved you into this being now like kind of your style as well yeah i think you brought out a lot of parts of me that were always

there but like i could embrace more like i never wear i'm wearing makeup like i feel like like three times a month now. I like never wear versus before I would always wear makeup every single day, like was fully like that pageant girl and not really comfortable in myself. I was like, you know, had this facade on all the time and I don't know. I've just been able to embrace myself and enjoy the outdoors. Like it's still, you know, hiking is a challenge, but I'm getting better. But I do enjoy like being in nature a lot more and just that whole aspect that he's introduced me to.

Well, and as you said too, that's been a part of your family. for so long, you're Miller side. Yeah. They, her grandparents have a sprinter van. Her uncle has hiked a bunch of 14ers as well. I just never thought it was like something ingrained in me and something I could do.

It was like me limiting myself. And Dean is really good at pushing himself and telling himself that he can do anything. And part of our relationship has been like telling me I can also do anything. But you can. Yeah. And sometimes you struggle with it still. But you can, you can do more than I can.

Yeah. I don't know. But yes. I mean, The wedding venue thing was funny because we, I didn't even know that we were going to get married in Colorado. There was one venue in particular that, or two venues in particular that I was really gung-ho about. One of them was expensive. I thought we were going to get a friend discount because my friend owns it, but his sister didn't let us. The other one was they gave me a

scholarship to go to college, and so I was excited to maybe potentially get married on their property because they basically helped me get a higher education, which I really appreciated. But the venue just didn't work out for what we wanted. And then we went up and saw this one. was the second one that we saw, and we pulled up and Caitlin was like, this is it. I was like, we haven't even, we haven't even gotten out of the car yet. What are you talking about? She's like, I don't care. This is it. I know this is exactly where we want to get married. And it was covered in snow. We couldn't even see it. But I really wanted it to be an experience. Like, I don't know. I've talked to so many people who have gotten married and they can't really spend time with

everyone that they want to. And so I wanted the weekend to be all about our friends and family getting together and have that quality time with them. So the unique venue kind of allows for that. just like slow down, not be stressed, and enjoy everyone. Yeah. And sorry, I feel like we're just talking nonstop over here. Sorry. No, I love it. I just want to say, too, your weddings are amazing.

But what we really wanted to do and what Kaylin I think really wanted to do too was like make it more, you know, like if you go to a wedding and everyone's kind of like doing their own thing until the ceremony happens, that's great. But what Kaylin wanted to do was make it more of like a group, group dynamic. And so everyone's going to be like staying on the property. We have like games and stuff planned. And hopefully it just makes it more of like a unique experience. Like a bond experience.

We're all about the unique experience. Yeah. It's going to be. I mean, I know this area and it's, it's got to be one of the most beautiful places in the U.S. where you guys are getting married. And so I think for anybody that's coming from L.A. or maybe not have, has never been in the Colorado mountains. I think they're going to be shocked. That would be me.

Yeah. I think you're going to be shocked at just what the mountains do for you and to you and what and kind of what you see and experience. And, you know, I've been to Colorado weddings where there has been a moose walk through the wedding where there's been a bear, you know, like coming through and everybody has to come in from the reception because the bear's down to eat the food. Like, those are the things that make it amazing and special. Well, as we kind of dive in and as you get a a week away, I would love to hear both of your kind of emotions around the idea that you are getting married next week or, you know, a little over a week away, that this is coming up soon

that you've kind of been prepping for a while. And so I want to start with Kalen. How are you feeling, you know, about being married? I'm excited. I mean, it's just so crazy because I had a crush on Dean for so long and like it's really crazy i i remember seeing you on my tv and i was like that guy is so hot and handsome and then i met you and thought the same thing and it's just so wild that i'm marrying this guy that i watched on tv and had the biggest crush on ever and you know we've created this life together we live in a home we do kind of feel married but it's nice to actually go through with the wedding and call him my husband which is crazy this is our last week of being fiancees um before were husband and wife but he uh i don't know i was like just going through my vows and like

trying to fine tune them and stuff and i this is potentially i don't know in them but i remember when he dumped me on the beach and i was like so heartbroken and it wasn't necessarily like i had loved him yet but it i knew that i would never meet anyone like dean ever again like he is the most special person ever and so i was like it's all downhill from here like i'm screwed And so it's just crazy. I just love him so much. I'm excited. Don't agree with that, Dean.

It's really true. Very well said, Caitlin. I love that so much. It's so relatable to be like, look, I, well, it sucks because now I'm going to have to marry my second place. Yes. I'm not going to be with him. Yeah. I really helped you out there, didn't I?

Yeah, it's weird to be. You're such a joke. It's weird to be marrying a fan. I guess I never expected that I've never been in a fan before. You freak. I guess that's cool. Yeah, I know you're right. I'm excited to be married. Obviously, I've been pretty marriage averse for a large portion of my life. And then even the first, probably half of our relationship, I was pretty marriage averse. Not that I was lifelong partnership averse.

Because I think once Caitlin came into my life, it was pretty, it didn't maybe happen as fast as it did for me as it did for you. But it was pretty quick for me to know that I was wanting to spend the rest of my life with you. And the wedding is just another way to kind of like seal the deal on that, which is really nice. And I agree, like going around and being able to call you my wife instead of having to say, do I say fiance? Do I say girlfriend? Do I say wife? That'll be nice to not have to worry about that anymore. But yeah, it's great. Kind of what you were alluding to earlier, Ben, like having someone in your life that cares about you more than you care about yourself is a really, really interesting feeling. It's something I've never really experienced in my life until

now. And just to know that for the next 60 or 70 or 80 years, like we're always going to have each other's back. And you have a bad day. You can come in and complain to your partner about how bad of a day you had and you can kind of rely on that. Like, it's pretty cool to be able to know that we're going to get to just continue to build and grow together for however long we get to live. I do feel like I'm going to be like 180 years old when I die. Kaelin might make it 200. So it sucks for me like 80 years of being a widower. But I'll take anything I can get every day is a blessing. And I'm super, super happy to be able to continue to build on that. And it just feels like too, like our relationship is so young. You know, you guys have both been

in your relationships for probably a little bit longer than us. I'm sure you can attest too. Like it feels like we just started dating like a week ago in a lot of ways. But obviously we don't like we know more about each other than anyone else on this planet. And so it's just It's an exciting time, for sure. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Oh, wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit.

Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Now, hold up.

Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor and they're the same age. It's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not?

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Ashley, can I ask one question? real quick that I was on the rundown that I don't understand. Yeah. I really have no clue where this comes from. I've never heard it. I don't know what's going on here. But it was written down on the prep. And I got to ask it. It says, you're considering becoming born again virgin's pre-wedding. Is this still something you're doing? This is definitely something that they made mention of that he shouldn't have made mention of. Okay. Dean's just talking out of his butt again. Sounds pretty standard for me. I don't even remember why I brought that up. You were like, that would be so cool if we didn't have sex until the wedding.

Oh, yeah. So we would become born again virgins. Yeah. Well, you can go the next week or whatever. Yeah. Okay. So we're nine days away. I'm assuming this is no longer a part of the plan.

Yeah, we're going straight to hell. Okay. I'm so glad that you, I'm so glad you threw that one in, Ben. I'm done. That was all I got. I saw it. I was like, I don't get what's going on here, but I want to ask. All right.

Yeah. I think my problem is I feel like on these podcasts, especially when Jared is co-hosting and Kaylin sit right next to me. I just feel, I forget that people listen to this. And I just talk, like I'm talking to my friends. And so it just gets out of hand sometimes. That makes good content. All right. So, Caitlin, we've seen you try on so many dresses on social media and like, oh my goodness, you're going to look good in everything. Did you settle on just one? Are you going to have multiples? I have a ceremony dress and a reception dress. Okay. Cool. And like, do you want to tell a style? what we'd expect from a nature wedding, or is it different?

Different. It was surprisingly so easy for me because I did pageants. So I've worn so many different styles of dresses since I was 15. And there were two styles that I, like, I knew I wanted. I went in and I was like, I want this style for the reception and I want this style for the ceremony. So the second dress I tried on was the dress I'm wearing for the ceremony. Yeah, ceremony. And then I think it was like the fourth dress or my reception.

I knew immediately super easy. I feel like they're not super naturey. Okay. Are you going to have a train? Yes. You are going to have a train. Did you think no? Well, no, I didn't think you were going to. That's awesome. Yeah. Are you going to have a veil? Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. Any other questions? Garter? Yes. Okay. This is exciting. Something blue, something borrowed and something new? Yeah, my grandma just said she has her handkerchief. I think she's like 85. Her handkerchief from when she was 18 years old and it's blue and it's old. And her grandparents are letting me wear their pocketwalk. I know. I was like, you kind of have the old and borrowed covered because it's my grandma's dad's

pocket watch. It's this vintage cool pocket watch. So he's going to be wearing that. And I also have a ceremony in a reception outfit. I'm changing between the two. Yes. You are. So Dean, like there's a lot of talk around your outfit because you wanted to wear some silly stuff. Like what is that called? Like those things with strings that cowboys wear around their neck? Bolo tie. Dean and I wore these at a VMAs together. Yeah. And we look at the T-shirt. You went to the VMAs in this?

With a T-shirt. Oh, no. We looked really good at the, I remember that VMA awards. That was pretty funny. Yeah, I, my style is, it is bad. It gets worse every year. I feel like I used to be semi-stylish. I've not really so much anymore.

But yeah, I've got a bunch of bolot ties that I'm going to decide on the day of. And I've got a long-tailed tuxedo, which Kaylin wasn't really super keen on it first, but I think she's maybe come around on it. But that was the reason I got a second tux just in case the long tail ends up feeling silly the day of. So then I'll just have a backup. But I don't think it will.

And so what I'll do is I'll just change between them between the ceremony and the reception. But yeah, my style is, it's not about me, obviously, that day at all. Yes, it is. Well, it's about you. All eyes are going to be on you. No, it's perfectly fine. It's about us.

It's about us. I'm not marrying myself. Sure, you're not. but I'm just saying like all of the attendees are going to be looking at you, not looking at me. They'll be looking at you. They're not even going to realize that I changed tuxedos.

But you are going to wear the bowello? How do you say it? Bolo. Bolo. And Kailen, you didn't want him to, but now you're cool. I like it with his second outfit, but the first outfit, it should be more formal with a bow tie or something.

You look great in a bow tie. Your Jack Dawson comes out. He thinks it's so basic, but I saw Sophia Bush her wedding was so beautiful and her husband. What do you mean? They're getting divorced. Oh.

See, bad jujuice. Well, the bow tie's okay. He wore this really cool bow tie. It was like, I think it's called a Western bow tie. It's like a thinner one and it's actually like a bow. Oh, yeah. That sounds ugly, but it looks cool. And it droops down.

Yeah. I mean, I'm going to buy a bow tie. I'm going to have options. That's the thing. But my instinct and my intuition is telling me to wear the bow tie to wear the long tail. I like the long tail with the bow tie and then bolotie for the second. We'll see. That's the thing I can cycle through the options. So many things to decide in just nine days.

Yeah. I'm going to have been in the room, helping me get dressed, and he can tell me what he thinks looks best and what doesn't want good. I mean, I did you well. I remember when Dean and I chose. He was my date. He was my date. Yeah. He was my date to an award show. And I didn't, I didn't like know what to wear to this thing. I had no idea. So I texted Dean. I was like, what do you wear to a red carpet show when everybody's taking pictures? and everybody's going to be like better looking and more suave than you and I. And we're like, let's go T-shirts, jackets, bolot ties, and just see where it takes us. And we did. And we might have got best dressed. We look good.

We definitely pulled it off. And the fact that we both like matched but didn't match was a big selling point as well. I remember one thing that sticks out to me about that night was I had just gotten a new haircut. And I think like maybe I did it myself or my friend did it and it just looks so bad. Okay. I know why I was confused. You guys, it was the American Music Awards. I didn't think he was the VMAs.

Yeah, it was like the VMAs. We were cool enough to get invited to the VMAs. Is that what you're saying? And now I see this and... That is what they're saying. It looks good. Oh. I want me to send this to you guys?

Did you Google it too? This does look good. Way better than I... I don't know why I was picturing you guys wear your like cow shirt and wolf shirt with a bow tie. I am wearing my wolf shirt. Yeah. Let's go.

He does go. Um, well, I tell you what, you two are a beautiful couple. We're very excited to be there to celebrate with the two of you. In fact, um, final questions. You're going on a honeymoon, I'm assuming. I don't know anything about this. I haven't heard about it. Are you leaving right away? Where are you going? No, we are going to South Africa in December. And Dean on our podcast just told me for the first time, we're doing a mini moon and we're going to Madeira. I'm really excited about. Oh, that's so sweet. You planned a mini moon. Yeah. Mini moon. Just because the South Africa wouldn't happen until December. That's so far away. Are we still going to Hawaii together? Yeah. In October, I'm pumped. In October that, yeah, we're going to Hawaii together. So I actually, we were falling asleep last night and I was like, do you think Ben's going to bring his golf clubs to Hawaii? And he's like, I don't know. You should ask him. So Ben, are you going to bring our golf clubs to Hawaii? I am, buddy. Let's go. Yeah, let's go. Let's go. Hey, we love you so much. We're very thankful for

the two of you. I have to interrupt you because I see another weird one on the rundown that must be Dean, after the wedding, do you plan on reversing your vasectomy? Oh, man. Well, that's just going to be half. We have to talk about that, I guess, at some point. The I-Hart producers know way too much about you. Wait, I didn't know you had a vasectomy. I don't, but I might get one after the wedding just so I could reverse it.

Dean. But just so I could reverse it, get it done and then reverse it immediately. You are so hot and cold. He's like, I want kids. Maybe I don't. Oh, my gosh. Well, so both my brothers. get one so he can say he reversed it.

Yeah, exactly. But that's just stupid because I have buddies that are at their age where they're getting them. Dean, don't do that to yourself. There's so much to that. Like, it hurts. There's no guarantee. There's going to be a reversal too. It's so funny how hot and cold we've been as a couple too.

Like she really wanted kids when we first started. I didn't. And now I really want kids and she doesn't. And so it's just, it's going to be. I do. I'm just not yet. Yeah, we're not ready yet. But both my brothers are new.

Both my brothers are new dads. So many years to come. And seeing them be parents. has like lit this fire within me and we like thought maybe we were pregnant like a month ago. But then we turned out not to be and I was like really sad about it. You were? Yeah, of course. I was like screaming it from the rooftops.

Like, hallelujah. And over, I'm like sulking in the corner over here. It's weird that you thought she was pregnant when you guys haven't had intercourse. Immaculate conception, I think is the thing, right? Guys, okay, I don't want to be the mom that now like, tells all my other friends that they need to have kids because I've already do this with Ben often. But listen, you guys are definitely meant to be mom and dad someone. But like you just plan at the same time. Let's just do it. Because like Dean

and I are about the same age. Kately and Jess are about the same age. Let's just plan this out at the same time. What's your timeline, Ben? I don't know soon probably. Yeah. Well, okay, well let it just keep us posted on the schedule. Two years. Sort it out in Hawaii. Yeah. Oh my God. There we go. All right. We'll see. Wouldn't that be great?

Two Hawaii babies. Very confusing. Hey, we're very excited for the two of you. This has been a long time coming. We cannot wait to celebrate with you. I know our listeners are excited to see the pictures. Dean, I hope you're posting all the wedding pictures and not just mountain pictures. It'd be nice to finally get a new post up.

That's not on top of a mountain. Yeah. So, but until. we'll less than two weeks from now. We'll see you soon. Thanks for having us, guys. We love you both. See you guys.

Very excited. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcasts on IHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Emanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes,

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