Million Dollar Neighborhood - Ep. 2 - Wheelin' and Dealin'

Christella Morris is a blogger, social media expert and marketing executive who recently spent the summer filming a reality television show with her partner and two sons, along with 99 other families in her community. You can watch Million Dollar Neighbourhood, Season 2, airing on OWN Canada Sundays at 8pm EST. For more information about Christella, visit her blog at http://www.crawltheline.com

Hey Guys! It's almost midnight, I just finished a workout and I'm trying to get this blog post cranked out as soon as possible!

What did you think of tonight's episode? Did you catch us? Although we figured we'd be featured a bit more in this episode, I was sort of relieved that for the most part we were edited out. One thing I have to note is that they DID IT AGAIN. Production called Colin "Colin Morris" instead of by his accurate last name (Williams.)

All I have to say is, COME ON PEOPLE! It's not that hard! There are at least three other families that I know of on the show where the partners have different last names and they manage to get those right. Even if they didn't during production, the fixed it in the editing process. Poor guy!

Any-hoo, onto my take of the show!

One thing I kept thinking during tonight's show is "if we could only go back in time and know the things we know now!" It was interesting reliving the different experiences, seeing myself back in those moments, remembering the way I experienced things and thought about certain people before we truly got to know them.

Spencer Field at the Car Sale
(source: Facebook / Lia Skelding)

You should remember at this point it was barely into our second week of filming, most of our "group" filming was only done on the weekends and there was so much going on the only time we had the opportunity to get to know each other was during down time and team efforts. It definitely was a whirlwind experience!

Browsing Twitter and Facebook it seems that Julie Cooper has truly touched the hearts of many with her story. I can tell you from first hand experience that she is an amazingly strong person. The challenges that she has endured in the past few years would knock the best of us down, but she's still here, smiling and being an amazing mother and friend!

A lot of people felt some tension toward Julie, I can tell you there were times I wasn't sure what to feel. You see, at the end of the day, the show is still sort of a competition and right away people recognized that with her story and willingness to work as hard as she could, Julie was the one to "beat". Most people never saw it that way, in fact, most people took to Julie like bees to honey. But there are always a few people who see a threat instead of what could be a great person and those people, suffice it to say, never win in the long run.

Having spent the better part of the last 6-7 months getting to know her, Julie is as honest-down-to-earth and awesome as they come. In all of the trials she's faced she hasn't let that chip away at the person she is inside and I have to say it's amazing to see. Many people go through similar tragedies and are left a shell of a person, but Julie has been determined to maintain her funny and strong self. I'm sure in the coming weeks you will learn to love Julie, just as I do, for the person that she is instead of for the things she's dealt with.

Moving on!

I was very impressed throughout the show with John Hinds and his effort to dedicate himself to each challenge. This week was the first where he stepped into the light and he actually biked from Newcastle to Oshawa every day to work and back in order to stay true to the challenge. He is a very determined and patient person, and someone who I've come to admire very much!

Watching Brian and Rayna MacLaughlin on the episode tonight reminded me how fleeting everything in life can be. Getting to know their family has been an inspiration to many of us, as amazing and courageous as you'd have to be to face the onset of a terrible illness like MS, Brian was a trooper throughout many of the challenges and participated as much as he could. But, behind every man is a strong woman and his woman is as strong as they come! Rayna is a lovely person who stands tall in her family. She is a loving, caring mother and wife and has always done her best to support her family. I am so proud to call them friends (and I hope I don't miss the next games night! wink wink)

Looking back throughout our experience there are very few people I could say stand out as much as Brad McBride and Katie McCreary. One of the truly most endearing couples you could ever meet, some could be offput by Brad's quirky appearance but what many find quirky I find truly loveable. You'd be hard pressed to find something that's NOT loveable about this family. Taking care of two children without special needs takes a very patient soul, taking care of two children who are blossoming so well with special needs, one can only imagine where you could find the strength, but they do and they do it every day with a smile on their face. Their boys are wonderful and their family is inspirational.

signing away our lives?!

There was so much effort and organization behind the scenes this week. So many people worked tirelessly, not to get on television or be in the limelight, but to further the efforts of meeting our challenge, and we did! What was most impressive, to me, was how much we managed to SAVE by cutting out the unnecessary items in our day to day lives. Taking the lessons we were taught and applying them helped us, as a whole, save almost $20,000 in one week! How amazing is that?!

I'm definitely looking forward to next week's episode, and stay tuned for my Vlog!

If you'd like to follow along with each episode you can tweet with me @christellasays or follow hashtag #MDNtv -- hope to see you soon!!!