The Origins of "Keddiebears"

So after a long hiatus, I've decided to rejoin the wonderful world of blogging. And this time, I'm dragging David along with me! We'll see how often we update this blog -- much of my time is taken up with my job, and I can't imagine that that will make for interesting blog fodder ("Went to the office today. Did a lot of stuff that I can't really talk about for fear of breaching attorney-client confidentiality."), and the same can be said for David ("Had a Bible study today. Can't say much about the content, because the guys trust me with their confidences."). But we'll try to come up with more interesting posts than that. :)

For starters, I should explain the whole "Keddiebears" thing. I mean, obviously, it's a cutesy nickname, and a silly play on our last name. But there's a reason why I'm not ashamed to name our blog "Keddiebears," and share it so openly with the public -- this particular nickname has already been outted and openly perpetuated by our dear friends...

Back when we were just engaged, I had a penchant for coming up with silly nicknames for David. (Oh, who am I kidding -- I still do that to this day!) I accidentally let "Keddiebear" slip out in front of David's roommate at the time, Jason. The poor guy witnessed a lot of my cutesiness during our engagement, though, so I didn't think too much of it.

Jason was David's best man, and stood up to give a little toast at our rehearsal dinner. At the end of it, he said something along the lines of "You know you're a fifth wheel when you walk into your own living room, and hear Christina calling David her 'Keddiebear'!" Much laughter ensued, and we took it all in stride.

Apparently, our minister, who was at the rehearsal dinner (and is David's boss, and a dear friend of ours), didn't think that we had had enough public humiliation... Part of the wedding homily he delivered at our ceremony was a charge to us to remain committed and loving towards each other in the hard times as well as the good. In the middle of this charge, he looked at me and said, "Christina, there will be times when David seems more like a grizzly bear than your Keddiebear!" Again, much laughter ensued -- this time from all of our family and friends who were at the wedding ceremony.

Included among those friends were several undergraduate students who were a part of the campus ministry that David works for (the Princeton Evangelical Fellowship, or PEF). One of the '08 guys, Frank, was particularly tickled by this nickname, and took every opportunity to use it with David. When this class graduated, they presented the PEF staff with personalized aprons. Guess what figured prominently on David's apron:

So, we're pretty much resigned to being known around these parts as the Keddiebears. But hey, it makes for a cute blog title, right? I knew there would be a silver lining somewhere... :)