Everything is bigger in Texas, right?

3rd grade.

That’s the first distinct memory I have of Will. Although, we went to the same school from the time we started kindergarten to the time we graduated high school. But it was in 3rd grade that our class put on a play, “Rockin’ Through Time.” It was a big deal. There were auditions for parts. Parts of our schooldays were set aside for rehearsals. There were costume fittings. Makeup and hair testing. Dress rehearsals. And when the opening day of the show started to approach, we began making our way to the high school every afternoon to rehearse on stage in the auditorium where our performances would be held. Our little 3rd grade selves thought we were the shit, mingling amongst the high school kids, sipping wine and munching on cheese backstage. Ok, that last part isn’t true. More like Juicy Juice and Goldfish, but who’s keeping tabs? And the only mingling we did with them was the one morning performance we put on for the high school in its entirety. Mortifying.

Hey, look! We were eventually those high schoolers. And then we graduated. This is from our 5-year class reunion.

The show was based on two kids stumbling upon a jukebox in their attic, plugging it in, and being thrust into the different decades through the music. We started with the 50s and ended with the 80s with a big compilation of The Contours’ “Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance).” And that’s where Will comes in. All I see is him doing the “Mashed Potato” and “The Twist” to his little 3rd grader hearts content. The video is rather hilarious. It’s hysterical. I wonder where it is.

My 1920s themed 23rd Birthday. So much fun!

24th Birthday. Typical faces.

Elementary school passed. Junior high passed. We had a few classes together here and there. But it was high school when we really became friends. And really, it was more like junior year where we were all inseparable. The five of us; me, Cassie, Alison, Kyle and Will. All together all the time. Before school, during school, after school, at practice, football games, competitions, weekends, we were always doing something together. And that time we went to dinner, the five of us plus Clint and the waiter thought we were on a triple date. Awkward.

Senior Year.

We graduated high school and went on a senior trip to Disney World for a week. It was grand. College came around; Will went to Emory, Kyle to UGA, Alison to GA State, and Cassie and I were at West Georgia, but we managed to stay close. Visits to them and visits home, holidays, and summers we always managed to get together to do something. Picking up right where we left off. And of course I’m sure you recall our celebration of Thomas Jefferson’s birthday every year?

TJBDAY 2009

TJBDAY 2010

At some point during our freshman year, Will auditioned to be the drum major for Phantom Regiment. Of course he got it because he’s brilliant, but that only meant he’d be gone all summer on tour. The minute we found out it was official, we were ordering tickets and booking flights and hotels to Boston for DCI Championships.

Leaving for Regiment

Pasadena.

When the week of finals finally approached, we were so excited. And this was how our summers went for the next few years. We always had DCI to look forward to right before having to go back to school. The next year we were in Madison, WI. Then it was Pasadena, CA. And his last year was inIndianapolis, IN. That’s the year that Regiment won. And we were there. Their show was nothing short of amazing. And we were there to see them win. We were there to see them drag Will’s limp “dead” body to the sidelines, draping him in his cape and walking away as all the other corps drum majors stood there, at attention. There show was Spartacus. He is killed in the last 30 seconds of the show and he lays on the podium lifeless while the drum major who killed him finishes it out. The most awesome thing I’ve ever seen. And we were there. We were there to see Will, as the drum major of the champion corps, made his way to the middle of the stands, and amongst all the fans directed the top 12 drum corps in the world. It was beautiful. It was chilling. It was amazing to be able to stand there and hold all that pride for a friend we’ve known forever.

Any guess which one's Will?

That was two years ago. We still say goodbye to Will each summer as he now is employed by Regiment. It’s only natural. They are his family.

This summer before he left for Regiment.

But tonight we said goodbye to him in a different way. Wednesday, he moves to Dallas, TX. It’s not like we won’t ever see him again. Please. Dallas is getting an In-N-Out. I’ll be there every other weekend. But it’s still sad to see him go. To know what we won’t be able to just drive into Atlanta to see him. And there are holidays. And weddings. I can't count how many weddings we've been to in the past couple years.

Matt & Rebekah's Wedding

Caroline & Tim's wedding shower.

Robert & Emily's Wedding

And of course I couldn't let him leave without the awkward hug. The awkward hug, awkward dance, awkward hand shake, they're the funniest. Will is the funniest.

And in case you aren't sure exactly why we're so sad he's leaving. Imagine this. All the time. The amount of laughing we do when we're with Will is ridiculous. My cheeks hurt right now from all the laughing tonight. Needless to say, we're going to miss him.

And this.

Almost a week.

Proud Aunt Jamie.

I went up and saw Reese today and she is as cute as ever. She's slowly improving but she has to start eating better if she wants to go home soon! She's been completely removed from the breathing monitors and her IV has been taken out. She was also removed from the bili lights yesterday.

Getting her tan on.

As far as eating goes, she still has her feeding tube in, but they've been attempting to bottle feed her twice a day. Last night she ate a full bottle, which I think is 4 oz. And this morning I don't know if she didn't finish it or didn't take it at all.

When I went in today, my sister was holding her while she was being fed through the tube and on my gosh she looks even smaller when she's in someone's arms. So tiny. And boy is she a mover! Always wiggling. Just like she was in the tummy. She's an active one, that Reese. Once the feeding was over, they swaddled her up and put her back in her bed and seriously, she's never looked smaller.

Have you ever?!

They're saying she'll probably be in the hospital for another week. I can't wait for her to be home. I know Jess and Joe can't either. But mostly, I can't wait until I can finally hold her.

xoxo

Introducing...

Reese Elizabeth Arnoldy

July 13, 2010 at 5:35am

5lbs 5.2 oz, 18.75” long

Shall we start from the beginning?

Monday night, July 12th, shortly after 9pm after I’d just gotten in the bed, we got a phone call from my sister. A phone call we hadn’t been expecting for at least another five weeks. Her water had broken and they were headed to the hospital. I jumped out of bed and bounced around my room not really knowing what to do first. Clothes, hair, makeup, camera, camera isn’t charged, computer, brush teeth, look for charger, what do I wear, shoes, grab a book, computer, where is my charger, time to go.

We ran out the door and headed into Atlanta. In the middle of a storm, naturally. We weren’t shocked at the fact that Reese had decided to come into the world on a stormy night because Jessica, she’s a weather freak, always has been, and is a meteorologist at the Weather Channel. The day her and Joe got married, there was a tropical storm and the wedding was outside. It only makes sense that they’d welcome their first child in the middle of a storm as well. We got to the hospital to a very calm and collected daddy and mommy-to-be. I think it was between 12:30 and 1am when Jessica asked for an epidural. At that point the two sets of grandparents-to-be and I headed out to the waiting room for the duration of the night. Mommy needed to rest up for the big delivery and Joe kept us updated on her condition via text. Between 1am and 4am she became fully dilated and they began the pushing. At 5:35, Reese was born. Mom did and was doing great. But being five weeks early, Reese was having a little difficulty breathing. They described her breathing as a grunt and said they wanted to monitor her. After she didn't improve, they decided to move her to the NICU. It was a long night and an even longer day, but our little girl kept pushing through.

In six hours Reese will be two days old. She's improving with each hour. When I saw her last night there was no longer any grunting, but you could still tell her breathing was labored. She had a pretty good night even though her oxygen dropped a few times. And today she drank a little from a bottle, daddy got to change his first dirty diaper and they were finally able to hold her late tonight.

Tomorrow Jessica will be discharged from the hospital. Reese will have to stay a little longer. It'll be tough leaving her there but they know she's in good hands.

I can't wait to hold her. I can't wait for her to come home. I can't wait to feed her. I can't wait to talk to her. I can't wait to watch her grow and teach her things. I can't wait to see who she'll become.

Baby Reese, you are so loved by so many people already. Get well soon so you can come home, baby girl!

xoxo

The Waiting Game.

What is my current location?

Piedmont Hospital.

Why am I at Piedmont Hospital?

Well, Baby Reese has decided she wants to be a July baby. Yep, she's one month early. Our only guess is that she's already a storm lover like her momma. It fits though as Jessica & Joe were married in the middle of a tropical storm. Were starting to see a pattern here.

At around 10pm last night, as storms were continuously rolling into Atlanta, dad got a phone call from Jessica and she said, "Hey. You ready to meet your granddaughter tonight?" And that was it. We were all running out the door.

About an hour later we arrived to a very calm and collected woman in labor. And also a very calm father-to-be.

It's now 2:30 am. She's been given an epidural and is dilated 5 centimeters. Right now she's resting up for the big delivery. And she needs it. She's been awake since 1 am yesterday.

And the two sets of grandparents and I are waiting.

Next time we talk, I'll be an aunt.

Until then,
xoxo

"The clouds I can handle. But I can't fight with an Eclipse."

Why wasn’t that line in the movie? It’s one of the best lines in the whole series. It should’ve been there. We’re talking about Eclipse, obviously.

It’s been a nearly two weeks. Have you seen it? Silly question I guess. The real question should be how many times have you seen it? My answer? Three.

The first round went down opening day at 10:30 p.m. We bought our tickets early.

See? Cassie bought them & dropped them off at my house. Can you read her note?! Hilarious.

We got there and got in line early. We walked in the theater and got good seats. When the movie started, the theater was empty! Whaaaat? I was shocked! Ok, it was a Wednesday night and it was late and it’s Carrollton, but still, I was a little surprised at how few people were there.

Round 1

Round two took place in Lawrenceville Saturday morning. Yes, morning. We thought it’d be less crowded and it’s cheaper! That’s a win in my book! Cassie and I went with Brittney & Tiffany. Short story, we'd been trying to get Brittney to read the books for ages! All three of us! And she just wouldn't do it. Finally one day we went over to her apartment and said, "We're watching Twilight!" We put it in and watched it and she LOVED it! Next thing you know, she's borrowing the books and we're camping out in mall parking lots for tickets to meet cast members...what?

Round 2

Last Thursday night Cassie and I went for round three. I never go back and see movies more than once. Never. But with Twilight, it's just a given. It's a must. The first time you see it, you're just so excited! Do you really even register what's going on? The second time is when you REALLY see the movie. And after that, it's just fun because you can talk through the entire thing and laugh when it's not appropriate.

Round 3

Highlight, Round 1: Alison hasn’t read the books so watching Eclipse with her was so exciting because she had no idea what to expect! I’m pretty sure she sat with her face in her hands the last twenty minutes. It was hilarious!

Highlight, Round 2: During the J/B kissing scene, you know the one, there was a grown man sitting next to us and I happened to look over and he was covering his eyes? And then a few seconds into the kiss he peeked through his fingers? Your guess is as good as mine, but I got a good chuckle out of it.

Highlight, Round 3: The old man who came to see it. By himself. And laughing and loving the whole thing.

Now for the movie itself, it was the best so far, no? But as I’ve discussed with several people, isn’t that the way it should be? Shouldn’t each installment in a series like this improve? It just makes sense. But with that being said, I’ve liked each one so far for different reasons. I like how each director has brought something new to each film and has been able to elicit different emotions and characteristics out of the characters and the actors. But I’m here to talk about Eclipse, so shall we?

Let’s get the bad out of the way first. What is the deal with the wigs in this saga?? Why can’t they seem to get them right? The Bella wig really wasn’t a huge issue for me. Sure, it wasn’t the best, but it could’ve been immensely worse. And we got the wig because we got JettStew. I’m ok with sacrificing a little bad Bella hair for that any day.

Dear JettStew, you win.

But let’s talk about Jasper. Seriously? If that’s the best they could do, they should’ve just gone back to the Twilight wig. Jackson Rathbone is full of the pretty and that wig, it hides the pretty. Like in the flashback with the hat covering the wig. And that tan. Did you see the heart fail pretty then?? I can't get over that scene. Major fail Summit for sticking Jackson with a bad wig. Another one they can’t get right is Alice. Again, I think the Twilight wig was the best. She looks too old now, no? One person they did manage to get right though? Rosalie! She looked gorgeous throughout the entire movie. Let’s pack that wig away and bring back out for Breaking Dawn, yes? And while we’re on the subject of ugly, how about that ring? What is it even supposed to be? I know it’s how Stephenie Meyer described it in the book, but I’m 99.9% positive that not a single fan would’ve joined the pickets had the ring been changed. Maybe Bella will loose it in the beginning of Breaking Dawn and they’ll have to buy a new one. Everyone cross your fingers. And toes.

Ready for the good now? How about Xavier Samuel? He was wonderful. I can’t get over how good he was as Riley. And so pretty. The way the movie opened with him as a human and being attacked by Victoria was a great way to start the film. And he carried his own throughout. He stole every scene he was in. The scene with the newborns coming out of the water, the look on their faces, and the music, it still gives me chills. So powerful. And how about the leg hitch/proposal scene? Was it everything you ever imagined? And more? I loved it. I floved it. It was near perfect. My one little complaint? Can we zoom out a little more next time so we can see what's going on? Thanks. The fight training and the fight scene itself were incredible as well. When the wolves descend over the rocks? Amazing.

With all the Twilight movies there have been laugh out loud moments. I like that. Without them, the movies would be way too moody. My favorites from Eclipse were THE talk. You know the one with Charlie. Billy Burke is remarkable the way he delivers a line. He's always right now. And the chemistry him and Kristen share on screen has always been exceptional. They just work well together. You believe them as father/daughter. And their banter back and forth about Bella/Edward's sex life was hilarious. They killed it. Another one for me was Jacob carrying Bella through the woods. Seriously. It killed me. Did no one else find it extremely awkward and hilarious?

So those are my completely random all over the place thoughts on Eclipse. Overall, it was great. What did you think?

Until next time,

xoxo

Summer Nights

I've taken to going on evening walks/runs with my cousin, Melissa.

Which means I get to play with the pretty babies:

Emma

Addie

David

The girls love me coming over and it takes them a while to understand I have to leave when it's time to go. Tonight Emma said, "Let's go run again!" I told her I'd be back tomorrow and she said, "Ok, and we'll run again. And then you'll be back again. And again. And again." And if you could hear her voice? She'd melt you.

xoxo

The Road to Eclipse

Let’s go back to 2008, shall we?

About two and a half years ago, I walked into Barnes & Noble at the Mall of Georgia with Drew and Alison. We browsed around for quite some time, eventually separating and going our own way. I went upstairs, not searching for anything in particular. What I came across though was unexpected.

Yes. I was thrust into the world that is Twilight. While the first book had been out around two years at the time, I had heard nothing of it. And actually, I initially picked up the book because I thought the cover was pretty. Go figure. I read the first few pages and that was it. I was sucked in. I looked around and noticed there were two others.

And

And what’s that, a sign announcing the release of the fourth book in the series?

It was late winter. Early spring? I had until August 2nd to finish Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. Puh! I thought, “well this is totally doable!” (note: I was a full time student and working at the time). Little did I know, it was going to be a problem, but not in the sense I had expected. The problem was I flew through the first three books! I ate, breathed, and slept Twilight. I read every second I got. I stayed up into the early hours of the morning to read. And then when I finished, there was the waiting…oh, I was going to have to wait for Breaking Dawn?! Damn, Jamie. Damn.

While I was reading Twilight, I kept telling the bestie, Cassie, that she had to read it. She just had to. That same week I started reading it, her and I were babysitting Reidy Speedy, Josh, and Jesse while their parents were out of town. One night we just had Reid and she had to work at the church nursery so him and I went to my house for dinner. We dropped her off and I said, “Here, take Twilight with you!” Two hours or so later we returned to pick her up. She walked out, got in the car, and turned to me and said, “Can we go to Target so I can buy my own copy?” I laughed so hard. And that began our obsession into Twilight together. That night, after we put Reid to bed, we both laid in bed, engulfed in the world of hunky vampires that Stephenie Meyer had created. We were hooked.

Reidy: "Mom, Cassie and Jamie are reading about vampires!"

I can’t remember if it was the same week or if it was a few weeks later, but we got to talking about the possibility of there ever being a movie made. We went on and on about it and finally Googled it, and what did we find? Production pictures!!

Exhibit A

Exhibit B (they look so young!)

Instantaneous excitement ensued. Hello, Kristen Stewart!! I’m not going to go on and on about her in this post, because if you read this here little blog, you probably know about my obsession already. I’ll spare you. You’re welcome. So now we have not one, but two things to wait for; Breaking Dawn in August 2008 and Twilight in November 2008. Whew, it was tough.

I’m not going to lie to you and say that we didn’t go buy BD at midnight when it came out. Because we did. We actually hadn’t planned on it, but we were awake, so why not? We hopped in the car and made the thirty minute drive to Borders. Luckily by the time we got there, the crowd had died down considerably. We bought our books, drove back home, and went to bed reading.

I read Breaking Dawn really slow. I didn’t want it to end. I knew it was the last, and I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. I read it so slow. I can still remember where I was when I finished it. It’s kind of like the questions, “Where were you when JFK was shot? On September 11th? When Michael Jackson died?” Seriously, where were you when you finished the Twilight saga? Me, I was sitting on the edge of a hotel bed in Indianapolis, IN. We’d driven up for DCI Finals, it was finals night and we were headed to the stadium. I had ten pages left and I couldn’t leave until I finished. I finished. I loved it. And I was immediately upset at the fact that there would be no more.

p.s. Regiment won that night. And we were there. It was beautiful. Here is Will celebrating.

Fast forward to November 21st. I can say with truth that we did not attend a midnight screening of Twilight. Instead, we waited until the next night and caught a showing in Atlantic Station. It was packed. People cheered when the lights went out. I hate when people cheer in movies. Why? People gasped the first time Edward Cullen walked on screen. You know the time. In the cafeteria. And that was the beginning of the end for Robert Pattinson. Bless him. We left loving the way Catherine Hardwick brought the characters from the book to screen. Was it cheesy? Absolutely. But we left loving it. And wanting more. And anticipating the announcement that New Moon was green lit.

Then there was more waiting as New Moon went into production. Almost a year to the day after Twilight’s release, New Moon rolled into theaters on November 20, 2009. This time the excitement got the best of us. We planned a night at the movies (not midnight) followed by a slumber party with games and cupcakes.

Team Edward? (yes, they DO sparkle)

Or Team Jacob (LIES)

I know most (read: the KSIBTU crew) didn’t like New Moon. It’s because of the LIES. I get IT. It is lies. But I liked New Moon. I liked what Chris Weitz did. How he made it his own. I cried. You know I cried the first time I saw it. Bella sitting in the window after Edward left. The camera panning around her. The music. The look on her face. The passing of the months. I was a hot mess. And the reunion. Please. You have to get through New Moon for the reunion. It makes it worth it.

I think this is more times than CC has seen the movie all together! Haha!!

It’s now June 29, 2010. It’s been seven months since New Moon graced us with its presence. In a matter of hours, millions of fans (not me) will flock to the theaters to see the next chapter, Eclipse. Many are already there. Waiting in line or enjoying a screening of Twilight and New Moon. While I’m excited, I don’t have that buzz of anticipation about me like I did with the first two. Maybe it’s because we’re not making a big to-do about it. Maybe I’m starting to realize that soon it’ll all be over. I’m not ready.

My KSIBTU crew is in NYC right now. They’ll be seeing the movie together tonight at midnight. So wish I could be there with them! I hope you ladies are having the best time!

CC sent me this yesterday. Do you see my painting in front of the TV? She brought it with her! So...it's like I AM there!

I’m seeing Eclipse tomorrow night at 10:30 with Cassie and Alison. That’s an almost full 24-hours after most everyone will have seen it. Oh the torture! Then we’ll see it again Thursday night with Brittney and Tiffany. And, I’m sure there will be other times too. You know there will. Did you see my other ticket stubs? Mmk. I’m sure I’ll love it. No matter what. Because KStew is in it. And Kstewisbetterthanu. What's not to love?

When next we speak, I will have seen it. I’m sure you will have too.

Happy Eclipse-ing everyone!

xoxo