Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Movie Review: Twilight

When I moved to Ft. Campbell, I was sucked into reading the first book of Stephanie Meyer's series, "Twilight" by two of my friends - Claire and Rebecca. I will have to admit - I got hooked! Although the books are designed for younger readers than myself, I fell in love with the storyline. Some people hesitate to read them since the story is built around vampires, but they are definitely PG-13. Because I got hooked, I finished the first book quickly and moved on to "New Moon" and "Eclipse" and read those even faster. I am currently about 25 pages from finishing the fourth book, "Breaking Dawn" and the storyline is still great! Check them out: http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilightseries.html.
Now, on to the movie. I'm sure most of you have seen the craze for this movie - I saw it on the day it came out. It was by far, the closest movie to the book that I have ever seen! They did a great job on ALMOST everything. Some of the casting was not that great, but that was mainly in characters that aren't as big right now (i.e. Jacob and Eric). Everything was so close to what I pictured it to be, with the exception of the Cullen's house. I was totally impressed. The only downer was that I was one of the "older" people in the theater and there were teeny-bopper girls screaming with giddiness when Edward or Jacob came on screen - SILLY! It is a movie I would definitely see again and I look forward to the sequel that will come out eventually (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/entertainment/view/392086/1/.html). I had never heard of this series until this summer and look how popular it is now! I highly recommend to anyone to read the book before seeing the movie - it makes it so real in your mind! The books are lengthy, but worth the read.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

It's Like He Never Left...

Jesse is HOME!!! His plane got in around 10am this morning, holding over 400 soldiers from the 1st and 2nd Brigade. Unfortunately, Jesse was all the way in the back of the plane so it took a while for him to get to the hanger. I did get my first call on my cell phone from Jesse when the plane pulled in to where all the families were! It was amazing seeing the plane land and all the excitement as the soldiers got off the plane. As soon as they were all off, the families and friends went back into the warm hanger and waited for the short ceremony to begin. They opened the hanger doors and in came all of the soldiers with their gear off in formation. Some guy gave a short 3 minute speech and then the soldiers sang the Army song. After that, they released the soldiers to see families. Thankfully, Jesse spotted his mom and I pretty quickly while in formation, so we found each other in the mass chaos easily. It was amazing...seeing him in person and being able to touch him - WOW. His mom took some great pictures of us reuniting and then he spent some time getting some hugs from his mommy. It was wonderful knowing that he was safe and back home. Jesse had some out-processing to do before he could come home with me, so after 15 minutes of a visit, the soldiers were put back into formation and escorted out to go to their brigade areas on base. We were in the car going home about 2 1/2 hours later after he arrived. Jesse was so happy to walk in our house and just be himself, not a Lieutenant. He had a little reunion with Callie (she was happy to have some extra lovin') and took some time to unpack, shower and reorient himself with "home". It has been an easy transition with us - it's like he never left. We can't believe that he's been gone 5 months! Thank you God for provision of my husband during this deployment - we are blessed!

Monday, November 17, 2008

About what I said before regarding the beautiful tree...

Yeah....It was beautiful and all, but COME ON!! Enough with the leaves in my yard already! I've spent the last 3 weekends raking those leaves and if I have to rake again, I'm going to scream!!!! I've had amazing neighbors that have raked some for me when it was just ridiculous and I had to work - I am blessed! I was warned by our neighbors when we moved in that we needed a blower for this very purpose and I'm so glad we got one. They weren't joking at all! I sent pictures to Jesse so he could see what he has to look forward to next year - HA! This was the first big leaf drop...

This is the yard after my raking frenzy...check out the piles of leaves!

And then this is 2 days later....YEP! 2 DAYS LATER!!! AAAHHHH!!!!!

Friday, November 14, 2008

What military wives do for the return of their husbands

When the husbands return home from deployments, wives begin doing the preparations necessary. You would think that this means just the straightening of the house and the finishing of projects. On the contrary, this also includes haircuts, manicures/pedicures, tanning (even in the Winter which I think is silly), grocery runs, and the last of the chic-flicks. I'm guilty of most of these, except for the tanning. This is a picture of my new haircut. In theory, you want to look your best for your husband's return, but in all actuality, he won't care much what you look like - he'll just be happy to see you as you are! I plan on finishing my preparations mostly this weekend so hopefully all will be ready for Jesse's return home. It's getting close!

Monday, November 10, 2008

My Veteran

Veterans Day has always been a special day for my family, with my dad a retired Lieutenant Colonel and my husband previously a reservist in the Navy. This year takes on new meaning with my husband now an active duty Army Officer deployed to Iraq. I am so thankful for what soldiers do for us and I'm even more thankful for my husband and his willingness to serve his country. God Bless America and my husband too!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

One of the Reasons Why Fall is My FAVORITE

I wanted everyone to see how beautiful the tree is in our front yard. Although I HATE blowing and raking leaves from it, I can't help notice how beautiful it is. My neighbor told me tonight that someone came today and took a picture of it. I was flattered - I love our tree! The first picture shows you how red it has turned. The second picture is from the ground looking up. Enjoy!

Halloween on Post - WOW

I had no idea how crazy Halloween night would be on a military post. All I can say is WOW! I didn't get home from work until 6pm, walking in my door, put up my keys and purse, and THEN, the doorbell rang! 30 minutes later, I was out of candy and had to shut off my lights. It was INSANE! People camp out in their yards for this to either scare the kids, give out candy, or just people watch. My neighbor had a University of Georgia tailgate and he was decked out as a Georgia fan (sorry, it was already dark). There were cars parked up and down the streets and military police were out directing traffic and driving around. I have never seen such an event for this holiday. I will be more prepared for this event next year - MORE CANDY! So, if you ever want to be where the action is for Halloween, don't go to a haunted house or a costume party...come to Ft. Campbell, KY!!

Ellie

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