When we were in Disneyland (for Halloween)...

... this happened:

Still wonder why we had to get married?

Halloween House Party

We had a Halloween party at our house back in October. As per usual, Heather Noakes planned the whole thing and we just made sure our house was presentable (free of cat hair) and unlocked. Heather did all of the decorations, though Mark can be credited with putting most of them up (and apparently making the pomegranate juice).

Because neither Josh nor I thought to get the camera out, all of these shots can be credited to Mark Noakes (except the one in which he appears, I suppose). So this was our party:

Heather had these really cute tea light holders in the shapes of jack-o-lanterns, but it rained so much they flooded! Fun fact: when I cleaned up these gravestones, they were covered in slugs. Apparently slugs love wet Styrofoam.

Our spooky front door. I've been cultivating the spiderwebs for the purposes of this party, I swear!

Thankfully our bookcases were messy enough to already look like they belong in a haunted house 

No Halloween party is complete without a picture of the real Haunted Mansion

All of the food was Halloween-themed, like:

Eyeballs!

Worms!

And food from the devil himself!

 

Heather set up a specimen lab in the dining room

Heather has such an eye for detail, she even thought to put mice running along the baseboards!

My phrenology bust made a surprise appearance

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of all the costumes, but here are some of them:

 Sean and Kim Janeway as Jack and Jill

 Dave and Michelle Christianson as Darth Vader and Queen Amidala

 Me and Josh as Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Remember these costumes? There were a couple people who couldn't figure out who we were supposed to be (though I thought the guess of Josh as Sayid from LOST was a good one).

Matt and Tonya Gold as '70s Disco Dominators

Christine and Kevin Morton as a witch and Spiderman (he had a mask too!)

And Mark and Heather Noakes as a wizard and a witch

This is my favorite picture of the night because 1. Josh looks so happy, and 2. Even though we were having a Halloween party, we couldn't bear to take down our Ducks' season poster:

Mostly we spent our time eating and talking, though we did try to do some spooky things like watch The Twilight Zone. I don't know what Josh and I are going to do when Heather and Mark move this summer, but I can guarantee we're going to be a lot less popular! 

Powar and Greede

This was the third time this week that Josh and I donned costumes, but this time it was for a fun night of dinner and murder at Heather and Mark Noakes' house (for those of you not in the know, they are in our ward and Mark is in the same year in my PsyD program). Neither Josh nor I were the culprits, but we enjoyed some great food and fun conversation with a few other couples in the ward. It was a fun end to a packed week, though next week will probably be more hectic as I finally start my practicum and continue working on my thesis. Unfortunately, I'm really starting to feel the stress.

Me as "Ivonde B. Alohne," the beautiful and engaging film actress

Josh as "Hackford (Hack) Ryder," screenwright and not-so-secret alcoholic

I was trying to look simultaneously thin and suspicious, but achieved neither

Josh's Halloween Rules

This post came about from a conversation I was having with Josh while he carved our Halloween pumpkin and I washed the dishes. He is very serious about the whole Halloween thing and all of these rules are things that I have heard countless times.

1. You're never too old to Trick or Treat. Technically Josh has Trick or Treated every year except for during his mission and that one Halloween where he dressed as Earl. As long as you're wearing a costume, you get candy.

2. A costume is not a costume unless it's a COSTUME! The idea is that Josh takes costuming very seriously. It's not merely just putting on clothes and saying, "I'm somebody else!" Research should be involved. Josh was particularly annoyed when he saw people in college dressed as a "college student." He would like to say to those people, "No, you're a douche bag. It's funny how you could make that costume with things you had just lying around the house."

3. Kids should never be eaten by their costumes. This is a controversial issue, as he realizes safety is a big factor when choosing costumes for kids. However, Josh is always disturbed when he sees kid costumes that are portrayed as a particular character (ie Scooby Doo) when in fact the child's face is completely exposed, usually in the "mouth" of the character. In Josh's opinion, the person becomes not Scooby Doo, but a kid being eaten by Scooby Doo (see below).



4. Beware of the lazy tweens and teens! Just this morning, a couple of tweens rang our doorbell at one pm asking for candy. Josh's first reaction was, "Whoa! It's kind of early to be trick or treating!" The kids replied that they would not be at home tonight and Josh, being the kid (read: gullible) guy that he is, bought their sob story. However, he then noticed that their costumes fell squarely into the oh-so-typical style of "lazy tweenteen." This phenomenon occurs when tweenteens decide they still want candy but want to put in the minimal amount of effort to achieve such. You can recognize this right away by their lack of any actual costume besides a mask or "crazy hat" (see below). They are almost always wearing jeans and look like nothing more than an aspiring bank robber. Note: Josh still recommends giving these kids candy even though their costumes are shameful because they are the most likely to egg your house or TP your tree if you don't comply.


5. Halloween Night Life. Again, Josh realizes that when little kids are involved it is necessary to start trick or treating earlier than one would do with older kids. However, part of the fun of trick or treating is going out in the dark as your friends and classmates make their way to various neighborhood houses to collect their Halloween loot. The question is: How early is too early? In Josh's opinion, anything before 6pm is really pushing it. The prime trick or treating hours are between 7 and the universally recognized ending point of 9pm. Throughout Josh's quarter century career or trick or treating, he has noticed that homeowners' demeanors grow expontentially crankier the closer you get to 9pm. After that, the party is pretty much over. Note: the last fifteen minutes of the 8 o'clock hour can often net the greatest amount of candy, as people often want to get rid of their extra sweets.

For Mine Own Purpose Have I Made These Things

Moses: SUPERSTAR!

Josh and I went to the coast yesterday. We took some pictures.

I bring you these fifteen. . . **CRASH**. . . Uhh TEN commandments!

With this Beach Branch I will lead a nation!

Where is Moses? I don't know. I don't know.

I will destroy him with my mighty arms!

I tried to coach Josh to look angry, but he just looks like he has heartburn

The coastal wind HATES Pharaoh headdresses

The Beach Patrol stopped me before we trekked across the beach to make sure I dressed warmly

Josh kept snapping pictures when I wasn't ready

Still true!

Unfortunately we cannot explain all of these pictures yet, though we will give Super Awesome Brownie Points to the person who can guess why we would drive three hours round trip to take pictures of ourselves dressed like Moses and the Pharaoh on a day that wasn't even Halloween (and these aren't even our Halloween costumes!) More details will come in a few days.

ShepAlders in Disguise

Perhaps it is the frustrated actor in me, but I love dressing up for Halloween. This is one of the things that attracted me to Josh, because he loves to dress up too! As he and I have been putting together our costumes for this year, it has made me nostalgic for Halloween Costumes of the Past, so I thought I would share these pictures.

2007

Mario and Princess Peach
All the little kids loved Josh-- everyone thought I was Sleeping Beauty

2006
Josh as Earl from "My Name is Earl"

(I just want to mention that my moustache
there is 100% real... and awesome! -- Josh)

Rainbow Brite
My mom had to lengthen the skirt to make this costume more modest.
My cousin-in-law was going through my costumes the other day and swore up and down that there was no way I ever fit into this one. Sadness.

We were a couple months away from getting engaged,
so we hadn't yet started coordinating costumes

2005
Donald Trump says, "You're fired!" for wearing this costume

I didn't take a picture this year (I was on a second date),
but this was my costume (minus the beer stein!)


2004
Strong Bad
Josh says that he should win an award for this costume.
Our ward didn't allow masks, so this is all face paint.

Cinderella
Unfortunately, the dress was very ill-fitting, but my friend
was Sleeping Beauty and we made a nice pair.

If Cinderella were a vampire...
My BF at the time said this picture creeped him out, so of course I had to include it.

2003
Elvis Costello
No one in the ward knew who Josh was supposed to be.
He says it's because they all had bad taste in music.

Bunny (my BF at the time was a carrot farmer--cuteness!)
I couldn't find the full-length picture, but I was in a leotard. I got to wear this outfit all day at the planetarium, where I was working at the time.

And a special bonus costume...
1986
Honeybee
I don't look too thrilled, but this is my favorite costume and I plan to make all my kids dress up like bees (when I have them).