Wii Bowling Party: An Abby Gabs Tutorial

A little friendly advice, from me to you: when your husband/wife/significant other/roommate/little sister/self-built android comes to you and says, "Let's have a Wii bowling tournament party!" ----->just say yes. 

Because we did one this past weekend, and it was SO. MUCH. FUN.

Here are my tips to creating the world's awesomest Bowling Party, all from the comforts of your living room.

You Can Do It, Too: Wii Bowling Tournament Tutorial

Tip #1: Let Your Husband/Wife/Significant Other/Roommate/Little Sister/Self-Built Android Come Up With The Name Of The League AND The Event.

Because then, you wind up with a name like:

While it makes some decorations a little more difficult to create (YOU try putting that many letters on a banner), it makes everyone laugh when you step into the room to announce that the Inaugural Tournament of the Incredibly Excellent Bowling League of Awesomeness is about to begin. 

Don't worry. If you say it enough, you won't have to look it up every time. Promise.

Tip #2: If you have someone with minor OCD in your life, allow them to take over the planning, decorations, and food for the party.

In this little scenario, that person would be me. And I had an absolute blast planning bowling alley themed foods, bowling pin cards to identify said themed foods, meticulously wrapping the white plastic eating utensils with red electrical tape to look like bowling pins, and coming up with the most complicated bracket known to man.

Cheesy Bowling Ball

It only took four hours...ish.

OK, I lied. The bracket was too complicated for me. Brian made it up, I just wrote it all pretty.

Tip #3: Re-stock your printer with paper before you allow the OCD person in the scenario to begin creating decorations.

I made banners, lane markers, food cards, and more, just using my printer, some scissors, tape and string. I'm the MacGeyver of crafts, y'all.

Tip #4: Take pictures.

And once you've had a few beers, feel free to give the camera to your friends so they can capture some candids as well. Otherwise, you'll miss out on all of this:

Seriously, the best shots are often the ones taken after you bust out the booze. As long as they're in focus. Which brings me to my last tip...

Tip #5: Don't take so many pictures that you aren't allowed a little creative room to groove when it's time to blog about your party.

Because after three beers and a rum-and-coke, my camera was left in a corner somewhere, and I forgot all about a hundred different shots I wanted to take, including a group shot of the 11 bowlers that came to our party.

But never fear, Photoshop and our Nintendo Miis are here!

Back row, from left to right: Zach, Kristie, Arielle, Steven, Jenn, Ashley, Fred, Ray, and Sam
Front row: Abby and Brian

Seriously. That's one epically awesome team portrait--which is perfectly fitting for the Incredibly Excellent Bowling League of Awesomeness. (See, I told you remembering the name gets a little easier the more times you say it.)

Our Friends Rock

Sometimes, life gets stressful. 

And sometimes, when the stress begins to boil over and we start to look for an outlet to help us cope, social media, inevitably, becomes involved.

That happened with Team Abby Gabs yesterday. Concern over money--paired with lack of sleep, impatience regarding paperwork, a problem with our bank, and taxes--led to a monumental breakdown, all available for your viewing pleasure on my husband's Facebook page.

Suffice it to say that our friends and family were concerned, especially when you factor in the part about how my husband NEVER loses his cool, especially during a rant on the internet.

Brian, in no way, intended to worry anyone about our welfare. He may have blown the situation out of proportion just a tiny bit, and it may have all been a reflection of the mini-mental breakdown he had yesterday morning. 

You can't blame the guy. He's had a LOT on his plate the last few years, and it all boiled down to WILL I GET MY NURSING LICENSE IN TIME TO START THIS WEEK, YES OR NO, IT BETTER BE YES OR I WILL BE REALLY ANGRY ARRRRRRRGH.

Regardless, there it was, all over Facebook. Our dirty laundry. 

The response could have been anything ranging from "Who needs a hug?" to "Who needs a Valium and a hug?" In truth, I wouldn't have blamed most of our family and friends if they'd tossed their hands up in the air and backed away slowly. (Because it really is very, very, very rare for Brian to lose his cool, in any situation.)

It all started with a phone call. Someone I've been friends with nearly half of my life called to check in, offer support, and asked if she could wire us some money.

Within half-an-hour, I'd gotten text messages from four other friends, a few personal messages on Facebook, and an email.

Eleven a.m. rolled around with a knock at my door, and a dear friend bearing an armload of groceries, so she could stock our empty fridge.

By five p.m., I had a dinner invitation for one night this week, another for one night next week, and a third to be called in 'whenever it's needed.'

And as I was logging off last night, headed to bed, I got another message from a friend who heard about our stress, jumped into action, and secured a mini-spa-day, just us girls.

As I turned out the lights, I was left feeling humbled, grateful, and unquestionably blessed. The outpouring of love we received was enormous, and I'm still riding that wave today. Thanks to each and everyone of you! Whether it was a text message, a phone call, or a grand gesture, we thank you. 

Simply put, you guys rock.

Twenty Questions--An Abby Gabs Video Blog

I wanted to do a video blog, but I couldn't think of anything funny to talk about. So, I turned to the internet and asked my friends, family and readers to ask me their most burning questions (about me.) You asked, I answered. Here's the (incredibly long) video blog I promised. Thanks to all who submitted questions!





If you can't see my video, point your browser here:  http://youtu.be/U9L8V8QaJUc

Walt's video blog can be found here: http://youtu.be/nRuVF_P4STE

HUGE thanks goes out to Brian because if it weren't for him, you wouldn't be viewing this video at all. You rock my socks, babe.