#bethanyjoylenz Archives – Jamie's Two Cents

Quick Re-Cap

Emily was planning on taking a Hawaiian vacation, but instead is sent to the hometown of her ex-boyfriend, Jamie, for a work project that a coworker wasn’t able to complete. By happenstance Jamie and Emily arrive in town at the same time and Jamie’s sister thinks she’s there to spend the holiday’s with them. Emily is unable to use her coworker’s hotel reservation, so she spends the week with Jamie’s family while pretending she’s still his girlfriend.

My Two Cents

First things first…was I the only person searching faces in the crowds for an Andrew Walker cameo?! Since Tyler cameo’d in Walker’s My Christmas Family Tree, it seemed only fitting that we would see Andrew in this one. And then I saw him!! Andrew runs into Jamie in the bar at about 1 hour into the movie for those who want to catch the scene 🙂

Since Paul Campbell was in Kimberley Sustad’s movie, I think I’m going to go back and re-watch The Santa Stakeout again and see if Kimberley is an undiscovered Easter egg somewhere in there 🙂 Did anyone notice her? If so, where??

Okay, moving on from the Hallmark Easter egg cameos. This movie has lots of humor and heart. I was laughing for most of the movie and swooning for the rest. These are my favorite movies. The romcom’s with lots of heart.

The heart came through especially strong in many of the family scenes. Like the explanation of the ornaments on the tree, the story of the sleigh falling off the roof, or when Jamie’s Mom tells Emily that she always has a home with them. Extra heart-worthy was when Jamie and Emily are outside by the fountain and he shares the tradition of the family members writing their initials on the stones and putting them in the fountain. 😍

But the swooniest (yup, I like making up new words at night) moment was when Jamie asked his Dad, “How’d you know she’s the one?” His Dad’s answer was so simple and perfect, “Whenever we’re apart, I feel like there’s a piece of me missing.” Then at the end of the movie when Emily leaves – c’mon, you knew that would happen! – everyone says they feel like a piece of them is missing. Seriously y’all, soooo sweet. 😍😍

Like I said, this movie isn’t all feels. It’s also fantastic amounts of funny 🙂 The scenes with the waiter were some of my favorites. Keep an eye out for him in the last two minutes of the movie. That little nugget was totally worth it! LOL.

Honestly though there are too many cute/funny moments to list. Tyler and Bethany did a fantastic job with their characters. And they weren’t the only ones! Alison Wandzura was great as Jamie’s sister Becca!

I’m sure we’ve all threatened to tell our parents about a secret our sibling was trying to keep, right? So, I loved when Becca threatened to tell the secret to their parents if Jamie wouldn’t agree to be in the show and Emily had to work concessions. It’s dog eat dog in show business folks 😉

This movie is definitely on my Countdown to Christmas must watch list. It’ll probably make my all time favorites list too. I have a feeling I could watch it anytime and enjoy it just the same. Give it a try folks! I hope you like it as much as I did!!

Have you seen it? What did you think? Leave a comment!

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 5/5

I love these cute comedy centered sweet movies. Sure they’re a little – okay, a lot – predictable, but they’re so cute too!

In this movie, Lucy and her siblings return to her childhood home to find it’s been converted to The Ralston Inn. Lucy’s Dad hasn’t had any guests and needs to in order to keep the Inn.

The family discovers that a famous B & B blogger, Bea Turner, is in the area when Beth Thomson appears without a reservation. They suspect Beth is Bea and don’t want her to think there aren’t any guests, so some family members become staff, while others become guests. Basically, craziness ensues as people pretend to be who they’re not.

To add to the craziness, shortly after Beth arrives, so does Jake Finley. Jake is doing a geological study in the area and needs somewhere to stay for a few nights. Jake and Lucy hit it off immediately.

While the family tries to maintain their new identities and impress who they believe to be Bea, they have a great time with their guests.

Here’s break down of the characters for those trying to keep track of who’s who:

Hopefully the family tree helps. I had to take notes!

That’s probably one of the down sides to this movie. You barely learn people’s names when they’re changing names and who they are. No worries though, because this also contributes to a lot of the comedy!

After Beth arrives, someone needs to take her bags to her room, so Will runs like the building is on fire, grabs the bags and runs back into the house without being seen because Lucy distracts her. It’s a cute little scene that had me chuckle, because at the time, he was suppose to be “Clayton” the guest.

In fact, all the supporting cast was great in this movie! I loved Walter’s earnestness and his reaction when he won the ugly sweater contest. I also loved how everyone reacted to Francesca’s food and how they always watched Beth take the first bite to see her reaction. I would totally respond the same way to green soup though. What was in that?! Now I suddenly have a craving for Schnitzel from the Pinewood Cottage Inn. Haha! Don’t get it? Watch the movie!

Beyond the awesome supporting cast, the leads for Lucy and Jake were equally fantastic. I loved them trying to out quote sassafras facts and even though Jake won, he still gave it to Lucy. Smart man!! He realized she was too proud and stubborn to take it, so he paid for it and left it at the register. Awww…

Jake knew how to handle Lucy from the beginning. They were really like two puzzle pieces fitting together, which was one reason why the ending didn’t seem to fit for me. It felt like the whole ending was very rushed. I would have liked if they slowed it down just a little. Maybe cut out some of the beginning to be able to focus more on the end.

You should watch this and let me know what you think. Did they rush the ending? Did you enjoy it? Let me know!! Happy movie watching y’all!

See what I did there? I rushed the ending. Consider the rest of this a BONUS! Haha!

I’m giving this 5 stars because so much of this movie was overwhelmingly good. I had a small issue with the way Lucy and Jake come together in the end, because it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Mostly because I felt it was rushed.

Also, the super fake snowman killed my Midwestern heart. I can deal with digital and/or fake snow, but that fake snowman was pretty terrible. Snow doesn’t rock back and forth when you’re stacking the balls.

It feels wrong for taking stars for those minor issues. So, I can’t do it. Enjoy this movie for what it is. A cute Hallmark Romcom – meant to make you laugh and say awww at the appropriate moments, and it does that!

Sorry folks, this was a long one! I’m going to leave you with a few quotes I enjoyed. I wanted to work them into this post, but it didn’t work out. This way you still get to enjoy them! Happy movie watching!

- “You’re like Scrooge and the Grinch rolled into one” – Francesca to Lucy
- [discussing the purpose of a gift] “Very nice, but totally unnecessary” – Lucy
  - “Isn’t that the definition of a gift?” – Jake
- “What I want most in this life is a great adventure and I can’t think of a greater adventure than having a baby with you” – Will to Suzanne

Tag: #bethanyjoylenz

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Quick Re-Cap

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