Doctor Who?

So, here's the deal. Sometimes David and I can be a little nerdy. For the most part we are a fairly normal family who, although they might be a little awkward at times, does fairly normal things. However, a while back my family started really getting into Doctor Who. We'd occasionally walk in while they were watching an episode and we determined it was the lamest show in the world. It was weird, super British, low budget, and (did I mention) really really weird.  We swore we would never watch it and resisted all attempts of my siblings to get us to join in. As time passed, it got to the point that I could barely understand what my siblings were talking about because everything was riddled with references to "The Doctor", jokes about "blinking", and sonic screwdrivers. I finally gave in and told David that I was just going to watch it so that I could understand what was going on and become part of my family again. I wasn't terribly happy about it and had a sort of martyr-attitude going into it. By the time I hit the second season, I was hooked! Five netflix-seasons later - I felt like a whole new world had opened up with friends and adventures I could never have dreamed of! I told David that he needed to watch it with me, and after some hesitation on his part - he agreed. What I realized, and have since told all others that I've recommended the show to, is that you have to commit to watch the entire first season and the first episode of the second season before making any judgements. By then - you are in. Of course David loved it and we quickly became (arguably) the biggest Doctor Who fans in the family. (I should also mention that my dad grew up watching the old black and white Doctor Who series and he's really the one that instilled the love into his children. He's pretty awesome.)

Our love of The Doctor and his big blue box has spread, and we decided that for the Season Seven Premier - we were going to have a Doctor Who party and invite all of the people around us who love The Doctor as much as we do. That is how our front door ended up looking like this:  

And our kitchen ended up being filled with treats like this: 

Lydia was beyond excited for "the party". She'd been a big helper getting everything ready and she knew two things: 1-her "friends" were coming over to play, and 2-she got to eat a marshmallow treat at "the party". She could barely stand it and spent much of the beginning of the party running around and giggling out of sheer happiness.  Poor girl was devastated when we took her upstairs and put her to bed. So, so, so sad. 

We hadn't really planned to do much more than watch the new season-opener, but our nephews, Josh and Daniel, had found this awesome instructional sheet on how to write in Gallifrey-ian. So we decided to give everyone the opportunity to learn to write their names using The Doctor's native language. It was pretty awesome and it turned out to be really fun.  

We got our food and everyone got ready to meet the new Doctor. 

Did I mention that the show is about a man who travels through space and time and occasionally almost-dies and regenerates into an entirely new person who is completely different, but exactly the same? As crazy as it sounds - it's full of wonderful people who travel around doing as much good as possible while saving the world/universe. What's not to love? Plus, we certainly loved sharing it with these awesome people: 

From left to right: Josh and Daniel started watching in the "Matt Smith" seasons and it took much convincing to make them go back and watch from the beginning (starting with Christopher Eccleston). They were one of the main reasons for the party- mostly because we told them that they couldn't come unless they went back and started over. Matthew, my brother, has been a huge Who fan for years. Garret and Karli Shields got sucked in when we convinced them to start watching, and although Garret is more of a fan than Karli is - she was still a great sport. Melissa taught me that you can still be cool and love Doctor Who - and is slowly convincing Blake of the same thing. 

If you want to come to our next Doctor Who party - you can start watching on Netflix. Remember though, the whole first season and the first episode of the second season. Commit to it before you start. Also, don't ever tell me that you like Matt Smith more than David Tennant. Not that I'm worried that you would - no one makes a better Doctor than David Tennant. (Also, I should mention that they've introduced a few new characters that we don't love. We kept hoping that it was just a short-term thing, but they were in the newest episode and if they don't phase out soon our love for Doctor Who will be seriously diminished - or at least limited to certain seasons.) 

Happy time-traveling, friends. Allons-y!  

Cassie's Bridal Shower

My sweet friend Cassie is getting married! I'm so happy for her. So, so, so happy for her. I posted about Cassie and Colin coming over for dinner and games a couple of months ago, and they got engaged pretty soon after that. 

When David and I got married, Cass did so much. She threw me a Bridal Shower, helped with wedding preparations, even put together our entire guest sign-in book. So I knew that I wanted to return the favor by throwing her a Bridal Shower. 

This is the only picture of just Cassie and I on our "Facebook: See Friendship", I know that it's not the only one of us, but even though this one is old... I just love it a lot! This is the facebook caption: "Cass and I at the Library at an extremely unreasonable time of night, just taking a quick break from studying!" Oh, the long, long hours of studying that we put in at the good ole Merrill-Cazier. (That is the library at Utah State, just in case you are wondering.) I'm pretty sure that this picture was taken one night when we were studying for our Chemistry class that we were lucky enough to have together. Our professor was Chinese and didn't speak awesome English, and so we spent a LOT of time working on the coursework for that class. 

I digress, I knew that I wanted to throw a bridal shower for Cassie. We chatted about a date and I put together some invitations. I sent them out, and pretty soon the big day arrived. 

After much deliberation (consisting of several chats with my friend Ashley, many discussions with David, and at least two phone calls to my mom), I decided that instead of doing a traditional "chicken salad sandwich/fruit/veggies" luncheon, I would simplify and do a Yogurt Bar. It ended up being really cute, really fun, and really easy. I would definitely do it again! Here are some pictures: 

The pictures above include the Yogurt Bar, thank-you treat station, "true love" banner (that I made using directions from this website after being referred there by a lady in my new ward), and a "he-said/she-said" game. The pictures below are of the little gift that I gave to Cassie, a picture of our cute family room in all of it's bridal-shower glory,  and the cute balloons on the front of our house.

Here I am, ready for the party to start. I wore this brown shirt as a tribute to Cassie. She let me borrow this shirt for my very first date with David. It was kind of a big deal, because I had two "first date" shirts that I always wore when I was going on a first date. However, when I was getting ready for our first date, neither of those shirts was working for me. Cassie was super kind and let me raid her closet and helped me come up with this shirt. Apparently the shirt worked! At the bridal shower that Cassie threw for me, she gave me that shirt as part of her gift. I love it and only wear it for very special occasions. 

The party was really fun. I had a few really cute games, and the girls were good about it. Prior to the shower, I was able to meet up with Colin and I video-taped him answering several questions about himself and Cassie. It all turned out really cute and I'm really happy with it all.

As we were eating, someone asked me about Red Ladder Design and how we came up with the name. I mentioned that we had wanted something really graphic (we take a red ladder along with us to our bridal fairs), that it worked with the "steps" of design, and that it was kind of a tribute to David's Ladder Theory. During his time at USU, David and his roommates came up with this whole theory of dating and called it the Ladder Theory. Pretty much anyone who went to Utah State around the same time as us has heard of it. It is complete with graphic illustration and lots and lots of details about relationships. It gives advice for what to do and what not to do. Anyway, I just kind of mentioned it but then several of the girls really wanted to hear the whole thing and so I was able to convince David to come and do an impromptu presentation of his Ladder Theory. The girls loved it! David did such a great job. I was so impressed that he was able to talk about it like it was yesterday that it was such a big part of his life. He was able to discuss the Men's Ladder and the Women's Ladder, The Jump, The Leap, The Pearl of Great Price, and the Pit of Despair without missing a beat. It was the condensed version, so he left out the glue, the elevator, and lots of other little details but the presentation was flawless! I helped out at the end by discussing the morals. I think that it was a really fun thing. In fact, if you are hosting a bridal shower anytime soon - let me know. I'll rent him out for an hourly price. He's a great guest speaker!  

After the impromptu dating lesson - It was time for Cassie to open her presents. She got a lot of nice things that will hopefully help her out as she starts her new life with Colin. 

I'm so glad that I was able to throw this shower, and even though it was a little stressful with just moving into a new house. It was really fun and I really am so happy for my Miss. Cassie and her soon-to-be husband Colin. 

Superbowl

Because we were homeless and staying with my parents during the Superbowl this year, we decided to have a fun little party.  Lydia went to bed fairly early and then while David was watching the game - I got my "cook" on. We had lots and lots of yummy things and I didn't want to miss out on documenting all of the fun. And so, in no particular order, photographic evidence of our awesome superbowl party: 

Yummy loaded potato disks. These were gone before anything else was even ready. 

My dad, always willing to help me with my crazy kitchen adventures. 

David, the only one really invested in the game, and thus the one who spent the majority of the time actually watching the game. The rest of us hung out in the kitchen for most of the night. 

Jacob, hanging out at the computer while waiting for the rest of the yummy food. (Note: see that giant dog? Yeah - I think if we let him he would eat my baby. Luckily, he hasn't attempted that yet - and Lydia loves him. Everytime she sees him she starts laughing and keeps her eyes glued to him.)

Football Sugar Cookie Bars

Chicken Bacon Ranch Bites

David enjoying a sugar cookie. 

Okay. So here is the deal. I really really really wanted to make homemade pretzels. Like, really wanted to. So even though we'd already eaten a ton and we didn't really need any more treats, I convinced my dad to help me out. Using several recipes I found on Pinterest, we made our attempt. Seriously, it was a disaster. You were supposed to put the dough into a baking soda/water bath and all that happened was the dough shrank, then got soggy. It was super gross. I was so sad! However, after baking - the pretzels turned out decent. (Other than being stuck to the bottom of the pan, and being slightly over-salted. Ha.) 

My dad is awesome.

I'm so sad that the pretzels were so weird. 

But I'm happy that they turned out semi-okay in the end. 

Happy Superbowl!