Latest / The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast / Renewing Our Vows with Arie and Lauren Luyendyk

Transcript

Renewing Our Vows with Arie and Lauren Luyendyk · The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: with iHeartRadio.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: It's time for a very special episode of the Almost
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Famous Podcast. Of course, we promised you that in the
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: off season we are going to be interviewing and bringing
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: back guests who Bachelor Nation loves, and these two people
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: are definitely in that category. Ari and Lauren, thanks for
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: joining us.
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: Thank thank you so much us.
• 0:24
  Speaker 4: Hello all. Okay, so you guys have just returned home
• 0:27
  Speaker 4: from what our just told us was a month of
• 0:31
  Speaker 4: traveling with three kids under the age of five, and
• 0:36
  Speaker 4: holy crap, where did you go and how did you
• 0:40
  Speaker 4: do it?
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: Well?
• 0:42
  Speaker 5: We started in Michigan because my family we went there
• 0:45
  Speaker 5: during the summer is when I was growing up and
• 0:48
  Speaker 5: we just wanted to go visit family there.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: So we're there for a week.
• 0:51
  Speaker 5: And then Netherlands.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah, then we went to Holland to go see my family.
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: My grandma's their great grandma. She's ninety one, so amazing.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: She hasn't met the twins yet, so that was really fun,
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: and we were there for a little It was a
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: little long because it rained every day. What was it
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: like two weeks almost yep. Yeah, And then we we
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: arrived early, so The next stop was a Aruba, which
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: is really cool. And yeah, we.
• 1:15
  Speaker 5: Decided to leave the Netherlands early because it just wouldn't
• 1:17
  Speaker 5: stop rating and there was nothing to do with three
• 1:19
  Speaker 5: kids in the rain after we'd exhausted all this, right,
• 1:23
  Speaker 5: the family visits, so we went to Ruba early and
• 1:26
  Speaker 5: stayed there for a week, a little over a week,
• 1:29
  Speaker 5: but it was beautiful.
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: What are your tips to traveling with children, especially in
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: like long term stays, like two weeks in the Netherlands
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: is hard, Like where did you stay?
• 1:41
  Speaker 5: We booked an airbnb. I think like that's the easiest
• 1:45
  Speaker 5: thing for us because we've got three kids now, and
• 1:47
  Speaker 5: we planned to have the twins in one room in
• 1:49
  Speaker 5: a Lessian one room, and then obviously us in our own.
• 1:51
  Speaker 5: But they liked sharing rooms there in a new place.
• 1:54
  Speaker 5: They just felt more comfortable altogether, so they We could
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: have probably stayed in a hotel anyway.
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: But well, I think it's clutch because you can cook,
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: you have kind of like a home base. It just
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: feels like a little bit more. I don't know, the
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: transition I think is easier. The hotel gets a little
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: tiring because like you are just eating out every meal,
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: so it's good, I think to have a air bandy.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: The Midwest has a special place in my heart. Michigan
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: is a place obviously I went to from Indiana a
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: lot during the summer. We have a lot of friends
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: up there. I am shocked and Nashally and I were
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: just talking about this before you.
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: Guys jumped on.
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  Speaker 2: It's something that I hope to do one day as
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: a father, is to be able to travel with my kids.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: And so we do appreciate all the tips.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: You have.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: Question though, when you're flying from like Holland to arub
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: But how long a flight is that and how do
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: you keep everybody entertained?
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: Well, it was ten hours and it was the longest
• 2:51
  Speaker 5: flight we've done with them so far. Yeah, and we
• 2:55
  Speaker 5: did a red eye actually, so we were hoping you
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: would sleep most of it, but they didn't really.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: I mean yeah, I mean yeah.
• 3:05
  Speaker 5: They have iPads like Amazon Fire for the twins because
• 3:08
  Speaker 5: they're very rough on electronics, less expensive. Lux is like
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: not really into watching TV that much. He's just like
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: on off, on, off, like turning and pushing all the
• 3:21
  Speaker 5: buttons all the time. So he's our hardest one traveling.
• 3:26
  Speaker 5: So we kind of just like pass them back and forth.
• 3:28
  Speaker 5: We're like, all right, it's your turn the other one
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: to break and then go back.
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: But we don't. Yeah, we don't really give them screen
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: time at home, so when they are on the plane
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: and they have something to watch, they're usually super engaged.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: And then we bought like these like hammocks.
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: Hammocks are key, the ones that you wrap over the
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  Speaker 4: seat in front of the tray table and you can
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: feel like you're lying down a little bit. The elevation
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: of your foot just like half a foot is game changer.
• 3:58
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think they were much more comfortable that way.
• 4:01
  Speaker 5: So that's that's a big pit. I've never used those before,
• 4:03
  Speaker 5: but they loved those. We had like their like all
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: their sleeping stuff I always bring with us that they're
• 4:09
  Speaker 5: used to having at home, so like they have these
• 4:11
  Speaker 5: tiny little pillows, They've got their blankets there, these like
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  Speaker 5: they're tindy, like I don't know when little blankets they're
• 4:19
  Speaker 5: attached to.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it made it kind of like it's first packing
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: a little annoying because we had.
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: A lot of stuff like they're sleeping because I feel
• 4:28
  Speaker 5: like as soon as you put their sleepsack on, they're like,
• 4:30
  Speaker 5: oh okay, it's time to.
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: Go to sleep, so they just yeah, what about snacks though,
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: that's my key, He's able to eat whatever he wants
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: on a flight.
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, just keeping.
• 4:39
  Speaker 5: We had these like crazy boxes and they got tossed
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: into the aisle on the flank. They're not looking, They're
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: like sure, and it's just all over the floor. I'm like,
• 4:49
  Speaker 5: this is a bad idea motel.
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: I know, the floor is so disgusting when we leave
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: a flight.
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, they all got sick obviously because they're crawling and
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: touching everything. You just have to go this sound.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: I mean, here's the deal. I'm not a parent. It's
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: hard for me to put vacation and what you're telling
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: me in the same.
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: Sentence, Jara doesn't really believe in it.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't see. I don't see how this works. Also,
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: I am curious. Obviously the two of you are very busy.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: We're gonna talk about the duo app here.
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: Lauren.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Obviously you're a business owner, you design fashion, you have
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: a great presence on social media and ari uh. You
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: obviously are working with the app as well. But we've
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: also seen you on some reality television recently, like The
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Traders on peacock. How give us a picture of how
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: you do navigate life with all of this stuff happening
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: at all times.
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: Oh, I don't know. How do we navigate it? We
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: just prioritize, you know. I think in the morning, like
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: right now, like a whiteboard, I'm like, okay, I have
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: to do these things. But for me, the app has
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: been my focus this year, so I kind of took
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: a real estate took a back seat to that, and
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: the market's so stale anyway, so it's kind of a
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: good time to kind of shift into something else. And
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: it's been really rewarding to see couples having a good
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: time on these dates and a lot of great feedback
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: from the app. So that's kind of what I've been
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: focusing on, other than travel and just hanging out with
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: the kids. But I don't know, every day is different,
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: which kind of makes it's fun too. I think if
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: I did one thing for a long time, I would
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: get bored of it, So it's fun to like do
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: multiple things.
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah, And then for me, I guess I'm working
• 6:32
  Speaker 5: on the app too, but I do different things for
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: the app. I do it more of the creative stuff
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: and like managing people like, that's more my specialty.
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: She's really great at managing people. I cannot fire anyone,
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: I cannot give good feedback. I don't know what it is,
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: but she's great. I'm just too nice and I'm like, yeah,
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: you're doing great. And then behind close stores and like
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: they're terrible.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: More go talk to them. Either you're awesome, Lauren going there, but.
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I do that. And then this year, I feel
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: like I've been so busy since the twins are born.
• 7:07
  Speaker 5: I've been trying to be focused on the kids more
• 7:10
  Speaker 5: because I'm realizing, like Alessie's going to be with us
• 7:13
  Speaker 5: one more year before seating school every day, So doing
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: that and then obviously the app and then social media
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: just like developing in different avenues and in social media.
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  Speaker 4: Can you remind people why the app is different than
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: say Bumble or Riya.
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  Speaker 5: So our app is for couples that are already together
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: or like if you've met on a Tinder or Bumble
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  Speaker 5: something like that, and you don't want to plan the
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: date or you want to take the pressure off of
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  Speaker 5: one person planning your first date, you would go on
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: duo and we would plan a surprise date for you.
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  Speaker 5: So it kind of just like takes the pressure and
• 7:48
  Speaker 5: the stress off of one person planning it and you
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: can both show up and have a surprise date.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's so cool inspiration on there. So it's more
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: built for couples.
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  Speaker 4: You say the price range too, so it's not like
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: you're going to go on some massively expensive bachelor themed
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: date if you sign up.
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  Speaker 3: Correct. Yeah, you said the budget could literally be zero.
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: To believe.
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you could say zero and we could just plan
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: like something either at home. Did you creative ideas on
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: where you could maybe go to like a scenic outlook
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: and you bring snacks from the house, you know what
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: I mean. So it's always like this extravagant thing. It
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: can be. It could be anything.
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  Speaker 4: Really, that's such a good idea.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: I mean, we talked about the duo app when you
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: came on and first announced it, but at that point
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: in time, it was the announcement. It was kind of
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: just the initiation of this thing starting remind listeners out
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: there where this idea came from. Kind of what was
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: the birth child of this app and why was it
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: important to the two of you you to make it
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: a priority.
• 9:02
  Speaker 5: In your life, well as everyone on this podcast probably knows.
• 9:08
  Speaker 5: We met on The Bachelor and we were sent on
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: surprise dates and we both showed up and were like, Okay,
• 9:13
  Speaker 5: what are we doing? Kind of exciting and anxiety inducing.
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: So we were like, this is a cool experience. We
• 9:20
  Speaker 5: want to continue this throughout our relationship. So Ari and
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: I've always been really intentional about planning fun and like
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: new dates for each other, and through COVID, we had
• 9:30
  Speaker 5: to get really creative and I started surprising Ari with
• 9:33
  Speaker 5: dates at our house, just like totally off the wall,
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: run things that you normally wouldn't do. And we started
• 9:40
  Speaker 5: getting asked a lot about like how you come up
• 9:42
  Speaker 5: with these ideas, and you know, like what kind of
• 9:45
  Speaker 5: ideas can you share with other couples? And we're like,
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: you know what, maybe maybe we need to build a
• 9:50
  Speaker 5: platform or we can share you know, fun experiences like
• 9:53
  Speaker 5: this with other couples, because I feel like it really
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: strengthened our relationship and we wanted to help other couples
• 9:58
  Speaker 5: strengthen their relationship and keep things exciting too.
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: I love I love the idea of the app. It's
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: so such a good idea. Now we have in our
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: notes to hear something that I don't know about you
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: guys from your on social media because I follow you
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: pretty well. You guys sleep in separate beds, No, no,
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: we did.
• 10:15
  Speaker 5: We did when the twins were first born, like for
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: a while. Yeah, yeah, but it was just for survival.
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: So when somebody was on sleep and then somebody was
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: on like overnight.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: Mode, yes exactly, we just switch off like that. Yeah,
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: but not any longer. No, not any longer. The kids
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: sleep great, So like, yeah that was that was only
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: like a two month period maybe, yeah, no.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: It must be nice to come back together again then.
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: So you guys also came together in another way recently.
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: I think in Aruba you renewed your vows.
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, that was something we were not planning on doing,
• 10:58
  Speaker 5: okay soon, but we heard that Aruba has this whole
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: like group vow renewal that they do there every year.
• 11:06
  Speaker 5: It's called Aruba I do, and it's where a ton
• 11:09
  Speaker 5: of I think there were hundreds of couples that came
• 11:11
  Speaker 5: together on Eagle Beach and they do like a group
• 11:15
  Speaker 5: vow renewal and it was just so fun, Like our
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: kids were there. It was at sunset. We went to
• 11:20
  Speaker 5: like watch dancers and just celebrate like being married. For
• 11:24
  Speaker 5: four and a half years. We'll probably do another one,
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: but it was so fun.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: It was super cool. So I think going into it,
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: we didn't know do we write our own vowels again.
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: But basically there's couples there from you know, just married
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: for like a year or two to all the way
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: up to what sixty five years was the oldest.
• 11:42
  Speaker 5: It was a lot of years.
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: It was a lot of years, and so it was
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: really cool. They had one person sort of do the
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: vow renewal, and the vows that they that they spoke
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: about were awesome. I thought, Yeah.
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: I honestly, we kind of went into it lighthearted. We're like, oh,
• 11:57
  Speaker 5: this is gonna be so cute, like obviously you love
• 11:59
  Speaker 5: each other, be fun to do this together with our
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: kids there. But we both like we're starving expecting that
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: are He like tries to act like stone cold. He's like,
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: oh yeah, unbothered, and then he just starts getting like
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: all red and I'm.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: Like, I'm well, if I cry, she's definitely cry, because
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: it doesn't it doesn't a lot to make long.
• 12:25
  Speaker 5: And I love seeing couples that have been together forever,
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: like their whole lives. I'm like, oh, that's gonna be
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: us one day.
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, everyone dressed in white. You know. The weather obviously
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: was perfect, and it was the fifth year they've done this,
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: and it's just such a cool concept. I think. I
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: think it's like something that it's just like good for
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: the heart. Think it's never a bad time to just
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: kind of recommit and you know, telling each other why
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: you they mean so much to you. And I think
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: it was it was super fun.
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: So you guys didn't like exchange vows that you wrote,
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: you basically just kind of repeat after the leader.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: Yep, exactly. But I did write some vows, but I
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: wrote some in my head, so cute.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: I think it's it's always beautiful to tell your partner
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: how you feel something. I'm trying to get better at.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: As you know, I've been married now for almost two years.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: I forget that the partner needs to know like you
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: think it, you feel it, they need to know and
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: sometimes having that little push helps. Now, you did get
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: married back in twenty nineteen. You mentioned that you are
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: going on four and a half years, right over four years. Now,
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: you get married in Maui, then you also have a
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: house in Maui, and obviously everybody listening is familiar and
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: aware of the stories that are coming out of Mali
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: right now, the devastation from the fires and the lives
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: lost and the lives changed, and the lives affected.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: What.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Okay, So a lot of questions kind of underneath this umbrella,
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: But the first one is was your community affected? Was
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: your neighborhood affected?
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: Our neighborhood not?
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: Well?
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: Cool.
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: We lived up in upcountry and there were fires behind
• 14:05
  Speaker 5: our neighborhood, but luckily they didn't.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: Reach our neighborhood.
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: So people in the community where we live, yes, they
• 14:10
  Speaker 5: were affected, but our neighborhood was not.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah. So I think the closest fire house that was
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: affected to us was, you know, less than a half
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: a mile, so really close.
• 14:22
  Speaker 5: It was really close.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're did you do you know? I mean, I'm
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: sure you do. This is a neighborhood. Did you have
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: friends down there at the houses they could buy yours
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: at this time?
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: Where do we have what?
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Like?
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: Do you have friends in the neighborhood that were there
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: when the fires started to come over?
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 14:42
  Speaker 5: We're calling them every day. We're like waiting for them
• 14:44
  Speaker 5: to wake up. They're like, hey, how are you happening?
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: One of our neighbors. Dan he was one of the
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: only ones that kind of stayed in the neighborhood because
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: our neighborhood got evacuated and he lives sort of the
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: top of the neighborhood and behind his house is a
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: big open ranch and that's where the fire was. And
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: so so I was kind of calling him getting updates,
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: is getting closer to the house, like you know, where
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: the wind's doing, because it was all kind of dependent
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: on the winds. If the wind shifted, our neighborhood could
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: have gotten burned down. But it winds kind of continued
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: in one direction and it just blew past our house.
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: But yeah, he was sending images of the fire in
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: the field behind the neighborhood and kind of recounting like
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: how windy it was. He said it was insane, like
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: he couldn't even stand up. He had to go inside.
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: He slept in the living room because he felt like
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: the windows were going to break in his bedroom. The
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: winds were so intense, and.
• 15:34
  Speaker 5: He was sending us videos and our trees were sideways,
• 15:38
  Speaker 5: like just blowing so hard.
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so I went back there to check on the
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: house and to help the community, and you know, in
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: our yard, just a lot of down trees, but you know,
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: no fire damage. You went there, Yeah, so I just
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: got back yesterday. Yeah, yeah, yes, Dad, Oh my gosh.
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: So yeah. I went back for a couple of days
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: volunteered with We had the war memorial, which is where
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: most of the displaced families were put in the beginning,
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: and when I arrived, luckily a lot of them were
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: moved into the hotels. So now on kind of Poli,
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: which is right next to Lahaina, many of the displaced
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: families are staying at the Hyatt and they're being well
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: taken care of. But for the first kind of week,
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: there wasn't really a lot of organizations, so it was
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: a big, huge community poll to help the families, help
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: the affected, get water to people groceries. The water is
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: contaminated in a lot of areas on the island right
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: now even still, so there is a lot of like
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: community support, which is the coolest thing to see. So
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: I went to go volunteer there and it was definitely
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: eye opening. Where some areas of the island are obviously
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: like Lahinaer it's just like complete devastation, and other areas
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: it's so unaffected you would you wouldn't even know anything happened,
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: you know. So it's kind of a weird mix of
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: being in the most beautiful place in the world, knowing
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: that high as an ashes, but then also having all
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: these our friends and business owners being like, we really
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: want people to come here because you know, our lives
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: depend on tourism. So there's just like this weird a
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: mix of emotions right now. It's it's very intense and
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: very sad.
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: It's gonna say, can you elaborate on your emotions, like
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: how does it feel just to like see a community
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: that you feel like you're part of just being ruins.
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's it's obviously super devastating. When we
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: drive through behind a they blocked off where you can
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: go down, so no one can go down into ing
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: of town where the damage happened, but you can drive
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: along the highway, so you see it come down the hill,
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: you see it next to you, and it's just unbelievable
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: because it's really so it's a small area, but it's
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: just completely in ruins, and it's sad because we've had
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: so many moments there and it's just I don't know,
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: it's hard to put into words, but Luckily, I feel
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: like the community is so strong. Everyone's kind of come
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: together there, so you know it will eventually rebound. But
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: it's just it will take years and years and years
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: for anything sort of to happen there and for it
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: to get back to I guess how once could be.
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: I'm just really thankful to kind of be part of
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: that community and to help them for a couple of days.
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: But yeah, luckily our house wasn't affected.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: So do you have plans? I mean, I don't know
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: how often you guys were down there. I mean, you
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: know how often were you spending time in Maui?
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: A few times a year. We go there, usually during
• 18:44
  Speaker 5: the summer because it's super hot here. We just go
• 18:46
  Speaker 5: there to escape, are going on New Year's and then
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: like a couple of their times swinkled in there in
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: there just whenever we can.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: So do you have plans then to to go back soon?
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: Kind of what are you guys thinking as you kind
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: of process, you know, this devastation, are you planning on
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: keeping that same routine?
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 19:09
  Speaker 5: I think we do plan to go back to our
• 19:11
  Speaker 5: home up in Koula and like hang out with our
• 19:14
  Speaker 5: friends and our community there. But we're obviously not going
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: to be going near where the fires are where everyone's
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: trying to like rebuild and all of that. But we
• 19:23
  Speaker 5: want to go back and we want to help. I
• 19:25
  Speaker 5: think now that our's gone without the family, he's kind
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: of scoped it out and been like, okay, they'd be
• 19:30
  Speaker 5: okay for us to go back, and like maybe we
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: can help in some ways and have a Lessie involved
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: in volunteering and stuff and do what we can.
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's important to show Lessie and the kids,
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: you know, to be part of the community, to do
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: what you can to help, and so I think we
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: will probably go back in a few weeks and do
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: some more volunteering.
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: Did you go to your actual house while you were there, Yeah.
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: Yes, actual house. The community around that area was just
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: helping chop down down trees and helping neighbors get fresh water,
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: making grocery runs for neighbors like the elderly. So that
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: was kind of what I was helping with in our area.
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: And I was Lina and helped there's they set up
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: these like the locals set up these hubs, which is
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: really kind of creative at these parks. So anyone who
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: was displaced can go get food, clothes, you know, books
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: for kids, like the small little comforts that the community
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: could provide. They really came through with us, so that
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: was cool. So I volunteered at one of those hubs
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: for a couple of days as well, and then kind
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: of made runs for people like this one gentleman. He
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: didn't have a phone, so went and got them a
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: phone and made like lists for people and then and
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: went to like Costco and got them those things.
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: That's so nice, that's wonderful.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: So obviously you've been down there, you've seen it. I'm
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: sure you've gotten back and be broken down and talked
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: about the trip of Lauren, Ari and Lauren. If there's
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: some listeners out there that are going to help, I
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: want to support, but I'm not going to be able
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: to make it to Maui. What are some of the
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: organizations that you were able to see doing work on
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: the ground that you would say, hey, these are great
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: people to support right now.
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: That's actually so tough because I feel like there's been
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: a ton of donations already to a lot of different funds,
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: to a lot of different charities, and I think right now,
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: like the help is would be better used to directly
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: help the families. So Lahina has started like an Instagram
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: page and also like a huge Google doc with verified
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: families that have lost everything. And that's kind of where
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: I've put my attention to, just because the big organizations
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: like Maui Food Bank or Red Cross Salvation Army, they've
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: seen just a huge influx of donations. But really, I
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: think the immediate need is there now for the families
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: directly affected. So I think that's probably the best route.
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: What about Baby to Baby, I feel like you guys
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: are working with them.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Baby and the Baby is a good one, I
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: would say as far as the you know, that obviously
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: hits home close, you know, close to home, all the
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: all the parents out there with kids that are staying
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: in either the shelter or the hotels. They provide all
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: the necessary things like baby equipment, formula, diapers, which was
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: a really big need as a couple of days a
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: couple of days ago. So that is a great organization
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: of support.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: Well yeah, well that uh, that list is important right now.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: And our thoughts here are with the people in Maui
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: and Ari. It's great that you went down there. Now
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: we're gonna completely switch gears. Here, we're gonna finish this
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: conversation with the two of you talking about The Bachelor.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: Do you still watch it or have you not tuned
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: into this last season?
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: We have not watched very long time.
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: You guys. I know I know this about you, but
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: let me tell you, go watch this past season in
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: a binge form because it was amazing, which yeah, which.
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: Yeah, okay.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: It felt like a throwback season. It felt like one
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: that would have existed years ago, lacking drama, putting pestals.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: It was really really great. So you don't watch it,
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: you're not tuning in, so most of your world is
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: existing around working with this app. Then, so as we close,
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: tell us about your dreams for for duo, what you
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: hope to do in the future with this app. Kind
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: of where do you see this going?
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: I feel like our dreams are, you know, just to
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: improve relationships, you know. I think that's kind of the
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: number one thing. So many, so many married couples and
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: in mores, So I think a lot of that is
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: due to just not putting each other first. So I
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: think our app does that, and I think it puts
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: a priority on dating, which I think is important. So
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: our dreams and goals are just make the app obviously
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: as big as they can get to help a lot
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: of relationships. And I think that's that is the goal.
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: That's a great goal. That's beautiful. I love it, and
• 24:12
  Speaker 4: we will.
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: Be tuning into Golden Bachelors.
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: See people coming. All right, guys, it's been so good
• 24:20
  Speaker 4: talking to you. Thank you so much for coming on
• 24:23
  Speaker 4: and for doing what you're doing in Hawaii. We'll see soon.
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: Thanks all bye.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: This has been another episode of the Almost Famous podcast.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: Thanks Ari and Lauren for coming on the show. As mentioned, uh,
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: there there is some complexity in the donations to Hawaii. Obviously,
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: all those organizations that were mentioned, like Salvation, Army, Convoy
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: of Hope, United Way, Red Cross, like they do have
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: influence and your gifts to them and your donations of
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: the matter. But also there's a lot of individual families
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: out there that are hurting, that have and displaced and
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: need support also, and so Baby to Baby there is
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: another great organization. So maybe that list helps, Maybe it
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: helps guide if you're looking to support in some way,
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: and maybe if that list doesn't help, then we encourage
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: you to dig in deep and find ways to support people.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: Either financially or with time or with encouragement who have
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: been a part of this devastating event in one of
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: the most beautiful places in the world. Ari and Lauren
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: obviously are working really hard ash on this duo app.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: It came out in March. They came on the podcast
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: then to kind of announce it, and it sounds like it's.
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: Going really well, really smart idea.
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it sounds really cute.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: I've seen some of my friends on Instagram, Chris Harrison
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: kind of stands out to me who used this app
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: with Lauren at some point. They're doing some great promotion
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: and so you can go check out the duo app
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: if you're looking That's duo if you're looking for great
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: date night ideas. But as ashlen I mentioned earlier in
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: this week, we're going to continue to bring on past
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: Bachelor Nation contestants and catch up in their lives and
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: interview them and kind of figure out where they're at
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: in life. Where are they now, I guess is the
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: question that we'll be digging into. But until next time,
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: I've been Ben, I've been actually bye.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts on
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts,