Congratulations to Kasey, winner of the Star Wars Giveaway!

David and I each grew up watching Star Wars, and we still enjoy the films. I was so excited to get the package from MyBlogSpark containing Big G cereal and pens shaped like Yoda, Queen Amidala, R2-D2 and C-3PO!

You may have heard that Episode I The Phantom Menace is being released in theaters in 3D. General Mills Big G cereals want to help celebrate the 3D launch by featuring collectable Star Wars pens in-pack of participating cereals.

Here’s the info from MyBlogSpark and General Mills:

Collect all eight exclusive Star Wars pens that feature iconic Episode I characters including: Anakin Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi, Queen Amidala, Yoda, R2D2, C3PO, Jar Jar Binks and Darth Maul.
Participating Big G cereals include Cinnamon Toast Crunch® (12.8 oz.), Lucky Charms®(11.5 oz.), Reese’s® Puffs (13 oz.), Cheerios® (14 oz.), and Cookie Crisp® (11.25 oz)
In theaters February 10, 2012 you can catch all the action and adventure and relive how the saga began in eye-popping 3D!

For more information click here to go to the General Mills website. And here’s a link to the Phantom Menace trailer.

You can win a prize pack like mine! It contains:

Just leave a comment on this post for a chance to win!

Optional Bonus Entries:

*Like A Young Wife’s Tale on Facebook.

*Stumble any one of my blog posts.

Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry. I will chose a winner using Random.org and notify the winner by email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner. Giveaway ends March 15.

Disclosure: Prize pack, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

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For David’s birthday, I made him a Death Star cake. In case you didn’t know, I am huge nerd. I love Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, The X-Files…I also love to bake.

I baked a gluten free chocolate cake using a Betty Crocker mix in a glass Pampered Chef bowl.

It came out looking more like a UFO than a sphere. I think it would be really cute if you put a ring around it and made it a flying saucer! While it was cooling I made buttercream frosting. Once the frosting was on, it looked rounder. I’d asked David to pick up black food coloring, but our grocery store didn’t have any. David said to use the blue, red and green food coloring to make gray. I took a few years of art class in middle school, and I remember that red and green make brown as do blue and orange, so I was highly skeptical that it would work, but he was right.

I wiped down the plate with a wet paper towel and stuck the mouth of a clean water bottle (A circle shaped cookie cutter would work, too. My cookie cutters are in storage, and the water bottle was handy and the perfect size.) to the side of the cake.

I used a spoon to hollow out the circle.

I drew lines in the frosting with a knife, but using black gel food coloring might be a smoother looking option if you’ve got a steady hand.

David loved it!

There are lots of Death Star birthday cakes on the internet. This was not an original idea from me. You can do a google search and see some pretty fancy fondant cakes. I like what Life As a Mom did. She’s actually the first one I saw.

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You know you’re a geek when…

1. A co-worker mentions craving a Twinkie after watching a movie and you say, “Oh, you watched Zombieland?”
2. You can’t name the seven dwarfs, but you can name the eight members of the fellowship of the ring.
3. People tell you (as an adult) that you should be princess Leia for Halloween.
4. You select your flatware because the pattern reminds you of LOTR.
5. You knew Juliet couldn’t possibly live on LOST because of V.
6. You can quote Patrick Stewart’s monologue introduction for TNG. “Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise…”
7. You enjoy conversations with your spouse about Star Trek’s errors with the Universal Translator. If it was really a universal translator, people wouldn’t have accents and Warf couldn’t say, “Kaplah!” because it would be translated. Don’t even get me started on the transporter.
8. Your husband’s supervisor declares you a Level 4 Geek. (Yes, that really happened to me. He asked me what LAN stood for, among other things.)
9. You know the date when the New Moon movie comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray.
10. You saw The Two Towers five times in theaters (Three of those were dollar movies! Don’t judge me!) and the midnight premiere of The Return of the King.
11. Someone says, “Hey my computer won’t-” and you cut them off with “Did you try rebooting it?”
12. You marry a guy who dressed like Darth Vader the night Episode III premiered and dueled Jedi friends in front of a theater audience (People took pictures with him and his “realistic” light saber).

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I proudly proclaim: I am a sci-fi/phantasy nerd! Star Wars, Star Trek, Twilight, Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia are some of my favorites.

If you’re not a science fiction buff, you probably don’t know that it is uncommon for fans to like both Star Trek and Star Wars. Usually, people are a fan of one or the other. David and I are the rare fans of both.

Anyway, David and I have lots of conversations about Star Trek and Star Wars. Here are some of the highlights. Spoiler Alert: Don’t read the following if you haven’t watched Star Trek and Star Wars.

*In Star Wars, why are they so technologically advanced, yet so far behind other galaxies in medicine? Why don’t they have epidurals if they have such fabulous prosthetics?

*In Star Trek, there are multiple issues with the universal translator. For instance, if it universally translates, why do people still have accents? And why doesn’t it translate when Warf says, “Kaplah!” or any other Klingon words?

*Why the heck did Leah kiss Luc if she had “always known” that he was her brother?

*Don’t even get us started with all the parallel universes in Star Trek. Too many episodes and generations for the non-science fiction fan to keep up with.

*The issue of people walking into walls inside the holo-deck can be explained away by a treadmill effect, but you can’t explain how in some episodes they manage to get all the officers inside a single holo-deck. If there were really that many people in there, they’d all be able to see each other, and you wouldn’t have the officers looking for one poor trapped crewman.

*In Star Wars, they use land speeders and other vehicles which are basically hover craft. So, why do these hover craft vehicles continue to hover when they are turned off?

*If Yoda thought Anakin was too old to be trained, why in the world did he train Luc? He was waayyy too old.

Why yes, I do know the words to the American Pie parody, The Saga Begins. My, my, this here, Anakin guy, maybe Vader someday later…

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1. I love Diet Coke.
2. My favorite food is dessert.
3. I eat lots of fresh fruit.
4. My favorite store is The Container Store. (See posts on OCD)
5. I got a calf for my third birthday.
6. My favorite season is summer.
7. I love to wakeboard, but only if Daddy’s driving the boat.
8. One year for our anniversary David bought me a pink wakeboard!
9. Although I rarely get to go, I really enjoy indoor rock climbing.
10. My favorite color is pink.
11. I convinced my parents to let me be homeschooled for high school after attending public school from 1st – 8th grade.
12. I really, truly love my in-laws. They are absolutely wonderful. How many people can say that?
13. I could eat broccoli every day. It tastes so delicious to me. David even bought me a broccoli tee-shirt for Christmas.
14. My favorite magazine is Real Simple.
15. I have three younger brothers.
16. My parents were told they couldn’t have children. Guess they proved those doctors wrong!
17. Because of the preceeding statement, as a little girl I would tell people, “I’m the miracle child!”
18. I have never played on any sports teams.
19. Instead, I took piano and ballet and was in Girl Scouts for several years.
20. Sometimes, when I’m really stressed, I wish I liked to drink.
21. I’m allergic to cats.
22. And bees. I carry an Epi-Pen in my purse, so if I’m ever with you and I’m stung, dump my purse out and follow the instructions on the pen.
23. I don’t drink coffee, but I love the smell.
24. I had intense nightmares as a child. They stopped when I became a Christian at age 7.
25. I was born in Texas. I’ve lived here all my life. I love it.
26. I saw the movie Twilight before I read the books.
27. My favorite singer is Taylor Swift.
28. I enjoy hosting parties.
29. My college major was culinary arts.
30. My favorite culinary arts class was Food Sanitation and Safety. It just encouraged my OCD.
31. I avoid swimming in public pools. (See posts on OCD.)
32. However, my parents own a pool business, so I’ll swim in my parents’ pool. They’re highly trained professionals. They use the right amount of chemicals.
33. David proposed to me in Winter Park, Colorado after a fantastic meal at a German restaurant that ended with creme brulee. How could I say no?
34. None of my grandparents are living.
35. My maternal grandfather was in the cavalry. Yes, like cowboys and Indians, cavalry.
36. My paternal grandfather was in the Marines during WWII.
37. My maternal grandmother taught me how to sew when I was a little girl. Now, I’m lucky if I can sew a button back on.
38. My paternal grandmother had a green thumb. She grew everything. I have a black thumb. : (
39. I was in a beauty pagent, excuse me, scholarship program once when I was eleven. It was a fun weekend. I got to stay in a hotel with my mom. But it wasn’t something I wanted to continue with.
40. I didn’t even read blogs until a few weeks before I started this one.
41. Math was my worst subject in school.
42. David and I used to swing dance.
43. You know those email surveys that ask you fifty questions about yourself? I’m a big sucker for those.
44. I didn’t know where we were going for our honeymoon. David surprised me with a fabulous seven day Caribbean cruise. I’d never seen the ocean ’til then.
45. Christmas is my favorite holiday.
46. Seriously, I start Christmas shopping in the summer.
47. I’m a sci-fi geek. Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Gallactica…they’re so cool!
48. I own a gun.
49. I think Whataburger has the greatest ketchup in the world.
50. Reading and baking are my favorite hobbies.

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