Duck Dynasty Fiendette Naming!

I am now officially a named Fiendette! Just as the guys have their roll calls where they get a call sign (or nick-name) inspired by something funny they've done, the wives have quarterly namings in our squadron. Mainly we do it because it gives us an excuse to throw a big party and get to know our new ladies. The way it works is that three or four of the newer ladies in the squadron are selected as the next namees. Then they pick a theme and host a big dinner party with food, entertainment and decorations that go along with that theme. They also fill out a two page questionaire that circulates among all of the other ladies in the squadron. This helps us get to know them better and inspires many possible names. Everyone is required to wear their black Fiendette party dress to the event, but we all accessorize so our outfits fit the theme. This provides lots of fun opportunities to take silly pictures!

I was named with two long-time friends: Jordan Cienski and Carrie Ludington. As you know, the Cienskis are close friends of ours from pilot training in Del Rio. Carrie's husband Dave was in James' F-16 B-Course training class in Phoenix. We had a lot of fun planning our naming. We had so many ideas for a possible theme that it was hard to choose just one. But finally, we decided to go with the recent pop culture phenomenon: Duck Dynasty!
 

Duck Dynasty is a reality show on A&E that follows the Robertson Family, who have become very wealthy from their personally owned business that makes products for duck hunters. People think their southern antics and giant beards are hilarious. But really, it's a remarkable show because the Robertsons are a strong Christian family with good morals. At the end of every episode they sit down to a large family meal and pray together. Very cool.

We figured this would be an easy theme because we'd just utilize a lot of camouflage, wear bandanas on our heads and cook some tasty southern food! Over all, I think the night was a hit. =^)

We pushed the tables together to form 2 long family style seating arrangements

The tables were lit with lanterns we made from tin cans

We provided everyone with a mason jar to drink out of and take home as a favor

Sweet tea was one of the many yummy drinks we provided

Some of our dishes included fried chicken, gumbo, grits, green bean casserole, and apple pie

The whole group dressed in their Duck Dynasty attire

Channeling my brother's style in the camoflauge photobooth we set up

The ladies on Team Wentzel for our Duck Dynasty trivia game/relay race

I had a lot of fun being named. It was cool sharing stories from my past with the ladies and hearing the stories and observations they had for me. They seemed particularly impressed to learn about my scoliosis surgery and the fact that I won a student Emmy award in high school. There were many names inspired by my love of photography. Ultimately, they dubbed me KIWI. It was coined when I shared that my favorite vacation destination ever is New Zealand. Others remarked on how the pictures and stories I brought back with me has convinced a lot of people they need to visit that country someday. So I like the reference because it ties in my love of photography, travel, and fantasy stories like The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. (Both movie series were filmed in New Zealand). But it was also a very sweet gesture because the ladies decided KIWI is an acronym for: Kim Inspires Women Immediately. =^)

 In the hot seat, being interrogated by Mistress of Ceremonies, or Mayorette.

Love my new name!

The other ladies had a lot of fun too. Everyone was surprised to learn that Carrie is a trained EMT, as well as a very talented artist and passionate video game player. We decided her most important characteristic, though, is a loving mother to her son Desmond. So we named her KANGA (as in Kangaroo - an animal that always has their young with them in a pouch). Jordan went last and entertained us all with a rousing rendition of the Texas A&M fight song and several funny stories from her college days and their time in Italy. Ultimately, Jordan is a Texas girl at heart, so we named her TEXY. I think there's an acronym that goes along with that, but I can't remember it.

It was a very successful event. We had fun putting on the show. But I must say that we're all relieved to have that finished and enjoy all future namings as seasoned spectators.