One Persons Account Of The Recent Speaking Engagement!

A few of you that didn't want to sign up to IMBD wanted to read the account of what Megan's experience was with the Jon & Kate Speaking engagement. So I am going to copy it here. I was super mad when I heard that on the hate blogs that people were already trying to rip it apart, but honestly, there is nothing TO rip apart. Another version on this day can be found on GDNOP HERE, as Nomoredrama went as well! And regarding the left hand pic. (this was from a PRIOR speaking engagement.)

By Meghan_H 23 hours ago (Sun Sep 14 2008 12:45:04)

"Hello everyone! Well, I just got back, and I can honestly say I'm glad I went! First of all, as vrigg said, do not judge me, do not criticize me, for going, for buying a picture, for contributing to the exploitation, anything. Bear with me. This is going to be long. Oh, and when I quote things, I am NOT directly quoting Jon and Kate, I'm just giving the general idea. The service was supposed to be held at a church, but due to high demand, they rented out a theater around the corner. My boyfriend and I got there about an hour early and there was a line out the door. They opened the door at 9:15. You had to preregister for the event so you had to give your name. I registered long ago but when we went to give our names it was not on the paper. I was afraid they wouldn't let us in, but they did. Anyways, I digress. We sat in the center of the theater, row G, so we were pretty close. I had a perfect view. We sang 2 worship songs. Then the pastor came out and talked about the church. We had to sit through a long video about the church. Then they had a raffle. The pastor then explained that there would be two offerings: one for the church to pay off their rent of the theater, and another for Jon and Kate. Finally, he introduced Jon and Kate. I was so excited!

Jon and Kate walked out. Kate was wearing a white blouse, khaki skirt, and sandals. Her hair looked unusually spikey this day. Jon was wearing a pink button up dress shirt and slacks. MAN he looked good! Definitely slimmer and more toned since the last time we've seen him on TV. I'm going to be honest, they looked miserable at first. Kind of like they didn't want to be there. They didn't really smile or make eye contact with the crowd. I think they were more annoyed at the fact that everyone was cheering and screaming and clapping and they just see themselves as a "normal" family. At least that is what it seemed like to me. The interview started and they lighted up I guess you could say. I don't remember everything the pastor asked, just the memorable things (in NO specific order). It started off with the cliche, "What was it like when you found out you had twins?" "What was your reaction when you found out there was six?" etc. They answered pretty much the same way they did on the show, cracking jokes about it and whatnot. However, they integrated their faith in God in a lot of their answers. Jon explained that he had no faith really until he met Kate. It was Kate who taught him about God, teaching him Bible quotes, etc. When asked about the birth of the six, Jon said that it was his faith in God that got him through, and wouldn't be where they are today without God, and Kate agreed. The pastor asked about how the birth of six kids affected their marriage. Kate said that they knew immediately that it would be a "marriage wrecker" but they work through it because they are a team. Jon said that it was really rough when they were born. He said one time he went a whole week without sleeping and wore the same sweatshirt with vomit on it. Everyone laughed, and he said "you are all laughing because you have the same vomity sweatshirt." It was cute!

Then they explained that they fought a lot at that time because of the stress. And Kate said something like, "I took all my anger out on you because it's not like I was going to take it out on all my volunteers!" At some point in the beginning the pastor asked a question that Jon began to answer. Then Kate interrupted him and said, "That was not his question! He asked [blah blah blah], not [blah blah blah]!" and Jon said "she never lets me speak!" and everyone laughed. I think majority of the people there were the "new" fans who know nothing about all the behind-the-scenes stuff that we discuss here. So they would laugh every time something like that happened. But my boyfriend and I who've watched this show religiously and read all the blogs, sunk down in our seats and felt kind of embarrassed. The pastor said, "My favorite part about watching your show is the interview part" and Jon said, "That's my least favorite. I always get an uncomfortable feeling when I'm in that chair... like I do now." Hahaha it was funny. Jon also made a reference to the interviews being marriage counseling, and he said they should paint the chair red because it is the "hot seat." Kate pointed out that the interviews are at the end of the day which is exhausting, and they just want to get it over with now. Jon said, "yeah we don't even do retakes anymore. We just don't care anymore" or something to that effect. The pastor brought up the "Embarrassing and Favorite Moments" episode and I think that was a sensitive spot for Jon. He shook his head and said, "I hated that episode, it wasn't our idea, we didn't even want to do it." Kate was also uncomfortable with that question and agreed. But she said she was glad she was able to use that time to discuss how they could've done things differently. They said that the cameras are not there all the time, sometimes filming for only 3 hours a day, sometimes they ONLY come just for the interview section, and it is not as much as most people think. Another question was, "How has being on national TV affected your daily life?" Kate said that it is hard being recognized in public wherever she goes and when people stop to talk to her because these strangers know her, but she doesn't know them. She said it's hard that people have formed bad opinions of her based on what they see on TV. She also went into how people stop at her house to take pictures, walk on her lawn, talk to her kids... She wishes everyone would just see them as a normal family. Basically, there were no sticky questions. He did not ask about the blogs, the Jodi thing, nothing like that. But he did bring up the issue about the show being their job. Kate firmly explained that her kids would much rather have their parents home, than each parent in and out with alternating shifts. She said the kids remember when Jon worked all the time and then Kate worked on weekends, and they are happier that their parents can be home all the time. They see it as a blessing from God, BUT they said that doing the show is the hardest job they ever had, but it is God's plan. Jon said something like, "Sometimes I just wish I could go to work everyday, hanging out with my IT buddies, just doing IT things." Kate said, "But you'll be able to look back and be glad that you were able to spend time with your kids." Jon agreed wholeheartedly.

BTW, apparently Kate does has friends. She talked about how her friends say they wish their husbands could be more like Jon. This was brought up because Kate explained how she trusts that Jon can do everything on his own if Kate is not around. WHICH brings me to another point. Apparently Kate is writing two more books (in addition to Multiple Bles8ings which comes out 10/14.) She said that she has to travel a lot to do her book writing things. And then she said "and this past week they filmed an episode of Jon taking care of the kids when I'm gone for 3 days," and Jon said something about being nervous for when she sees the footage, and everyone laughed. Kate also does some kind of "online devotional" once a week. Since vrigg wanted to know more about their faith, I'll go into that a little bit more. Apparently there was this lady who had terminal ovarian cancer, who was Kate's age. Her last dying wish was to meet Kate and talk to her. (This was in March). So Jon and Kate went to visit her in the hospital, where Kate helped her accept God and death. She passed away shortly after that. The grandmother called Kate to tell her the woman's son was diagnosed with pediatric cancer, completely non related. He passed away this summer. Kate still keeps in touch with this family. I think this is why her charity of choice is pediatric cancer. They said it was things like these, bringing people closer to God, is what keeps them going. It was truly inspirational. I had no idea that the Gosselins were this spiritual. Jon mentioned prayer (praying TO God, not AT God) and having a relationship with Him. Mady and Cara are also interested in their faith now. They each got their own Bible and are putting more Bible verses around their house.

My favorite part was when the pastor asked about their marriage. Kate said that many times, when Jon would run an errand, she would be afraid that he wouldn't come back. Jon replied and said, "I would never leave you..." (so preciously, my heart melted!) and it was really touching. Then he said, "Oh and when I run errands, I'm thinking to myself 'I hope I'm getting the right thing!', not 'hmmm Canada is only 5 hours away, I could just change my name to Smith and blend in!'" Apparently Jon does a lot of running to the grocery store. And he mentioned that Kate always give him a huge book of coupons, (so yes people, they STILL use coupons!) I think that was the funniest part. I really enjoyed it. Following the interview, the pastor asked us to be gracious with our love offerings for Jon and Kate for their being here, and something about the kids' babysitter. There was NO mention of any such college funds! I repeat! NO MENTION OF ANY COLLEGE FUND. The pastor said the money goes directly to the Gosselins. They set up the table and chair for Jon and Kate to greet and sign autographs on the photos. The photos were $20 each (I think Luna said it was $10 for one kid, or $20 for the whole family) but here it was $20 for the same picture. No, we did not purchase a picture, and no, we did not give a love offering. We did however, wait in line because I just wanted to see them up close (moreso Jon [[wink]] ). I made eye contact with Kate. Everyone was standing there gawking at them and snapping pictures as they were signing autographs. Then the security guards instructed them to not use their flash because it is distracting. We were allowed to take pictures though. I didn't want to be a part of that. Just being there was satisfying enough. I will post some pictures that my boyfriend took from the interview portion. Also, there was no Question and Answer thing like at other speaking engagements. I believe that is it. Any questions, let me know!"

Yes people. She didnt have to pay to get in nor did she HAVE to give a love offering. Anything to say about that?? Silence? Thought so.