Week 1: Rachel

Its great to be in the Big Brother house again, I feel honored to have been invited back!(a little shocked, but very excited) I am ready for this season to be fresh and new and for myself as a player of BB to really develop. Last year I really struggled with my social game and I was very proud, abrasive, and in peoples faces -- I was always fighting to stay in the house in the game and with MY MAN. This year is totally new! I have the opportunity to have a great season, to go very far and to really fight to win, rather then just fight to stay in the house. This season Brendon and I are happily engaged and living and playing together this year as a team! I cant explain how different it feels to be in this with him fighting and playing as a team, its the biggest advantage in the world to not only be playing with a partner, strong alliance but with your lifetime alliance & best friend. There are def. challenges also; like the fact that Brendon and I are both strong willed people and that we are both stubborn, but LOVE, TRUE LOVE is really what keeps our hearts strong and beating for each other and able to really play and focus on this game. We came into this season and assumed that it would just be the two of us and we would be a huge target and that it would be us against the house again, but luckily we were wrong!

When Jeff & Jordan and Dick & Dannielle walked into the house I was soooooo excited. Super scared but really excited if the 6of us could ban together and form an alliance then we could RUN this house we could take over the season and then battle with the best in the end. We started the season like that the "veterans vs. the newbies" and we decided day 1 that we were going to take over the game, the house and the season! We had plans for every week, and 6strong players on our team to accomplish our goals. I was feeling like this would really be my season and that I really had a chance to make it far in this game. When we got the news that Dick was leaving, I was crushed, I was so excited to play with someone that I was intimidated by, scared of and very much respected their style(maybe not everything b.c he scares me too!) I took the news very hard, I didn't want a relapse of season 12 I didn't want to get picked off by the newbies one duo by one duo. I came into BB13 to play a hard fun game and battle to the end, but I wasn't expecting our strategy to blow up in our face! And we weren't just loosing Dick we lost Danielle also to the golden key(NO BUENO) so on day 6 we lost two of our best competitors, one until week 4 and possibly the strongest member of our alliance for good! I was so upset I wanted to go home, I felt hopeless and lost and really just scared. Thank goodness I came to my senses, IM NOT A QUITER I NEVER HAVE BEEN AND I DIDNT GIVE UP LAST SUMMER WHY SHOULD I NOW! We may be out numbered and down in competitions, but were strong and were fierce competitors. We have a lot of advantages and pieces in our favor, we have really strong competitors, we have strong social gamers, and we have a tight alliance that we know we WONT turn our back on, and people who wont turn on us. Thats HUGE IN THIS GAME! So now not only do I have my future life partner/best friend in my alliance, but I have 3 other REALLY strong players who are also my friends. In big brother if you have one person you can ultimately trust your golden, in this season we have a group of 5 people that will never turn on each other until the final 5, so were already playing with that in our favor, and were playing with no paranoia, no fear; and hell we have nothing to loose.

The newbies are definitely targeting us in the next HOH and in this voting, I am really frightened that they may switch their votes or that even the newbies were trying to pull to our side of the house are lying to us. Rather then try to work with us and be part of our alliance the newbies have decided to play against us. (WRONG MOVE) But were still in a very dangerous situation right now, we have only 4votes this week and going into the next HOH we have only 3players, were out numbered and in a tough spot. Throughout the week after winning HOH we tried to feel out the house to see who we can trust, who trusts us and who we can pull to our side. After nominations we had to REEVALUATE this b.c people always change, we lost Dick and the house was turned upside down. Thank goodness Brendon and I won the POV. Going into the POV this week Brendon and I knew we HAD TO WIN! Not only to keep the noms. the same but we had no other option then to win so we could use this power as a bargaining chip with the newbies and again to try to make some deals, (we need everything we can get right now to try to make this situation work out for our alliance) Winning this POV meant that we had the opportunity to shake up the house, possibly change the noms. and make deals to save us for the next week. Once the POV was won we had to work quickly to make people think we may use it so that they were scared of getting back doored, and would do anything we needed, and right now we need a miracle and we need mine and Brendan's duo safe but also jeff and Jordan's duo!(thank goodness for the golden key for danni right now--it is a blessing and a curse)

Coming up on this next HOH and next week we have to win, our targets are Dominic, and Cassi--mainly because we view them as the biggest schemers in their alliance, they are the ones who are orchestrating everyone against us, and telling them to put us up. Yet I think Cassi is going to try to get the boys to do her bidding and push them to make all the power moves for her, so she has no blood on her hands, eww that type of game DISGUSTS ME she's trying to flirt her way with the boys and let them do all her dirty work until she may actually TRY to compete, but she's def. playing the "cool girl floater role" lets see if she tries to win competitions Good thing I can see right through it. Adam is someone who is probably trying to play both sides of the house, and is just happy to even be playing big brother that I don't think he's going to do any crazy power moves that would put him in jeopardy. Lawon is someone who also is trying to play both sides of the house, I view him as a floater and I think that the second he can he'll back stab anyone in our alliance, I also think he is a floater who doesn't want to make any power moves yet. I am so happy to have Danni and Jordan on my side for support and girl time and girl talk! Jeff & Brendon are becoming great friends, and we are all growing very close. I am so happy and excited that I can actually enjoy myself in this game and have fun and have fun with it and with people living in the house. I am also thankful that I have the STRONGEST competitors on my side, I was a huge fan of Danni and Jeff in their season and Jordan has great social game and is sweet and the best part about this duo twist is that I get to play the game of Big Brother with my BEST FRIEND BRENDON and we can have fun and spend another CRAZY summer together in the house!

I have learned ALOT out myself this past year, about how strong I am, about how much I can push myself, about how strong Brendon and I are together and about life in general. I am ready to play this game and to really do a good job at it, I have Brendon and Danni to remind me that were NOT the care bear alliance, that were NOT here to make friends and that I cant play this game with emotions but that I have to make good strategic game moves that will further our alliance, I have to know when to strike and when to hold back, and I need to be unaffected by emotions, so that I can further myself and make it to the end where I can really fight for the 500k prize, b.c if I don't get to the final 5 Im not going to get to the final2. Im doing this for our wedding and our future starting a family with the man of my dreams who I met in the big brother game!!!!!!!!!! :-D

Thank you for the support of Brendon and mine fans, friends and families. We couldn't play this game with out y'all and we love and appreciate everything!!!

Really thank you I love our families and I couldn't have done this again with out you--Your giving Brendon and I the chance to win Big Brother and to start a family of our own! It means the world to me to know that I have your support, love and good wishes.