Aaron "Twinkletoes" Rice

This July means Aaron and I would have been together for one year shy of a decade. After nine years of being boyfriend/girlfriend, fiances, or husband/wife, I feel like I know the man pretty well. Actually, I know him better than anybody in this world does. I can finish his sentences, see his rants and raves coming from a mile away, tell his childhood stories, interpret his moods, and be there for him better than anybody else. Its been a while since I have been able to say, "I didn't know that about you." Until this weekend. 

Aaron and I have been snowboarding, kayaking, hiking, cycling, whitewater rafting, dog sledding, and so many more crazy awesome activities that I can't think of right now. But we've only been bowling together once, and that was nine years ago when we were 16 years old, on our second date I believe. For some reason the opportunity hasn't presented itself again. So there was no way I could have known that this past Friday night would be one of the most insanely hilarious, about to pee in my pants, tears rolling down my face from laughing so hard kind of evening. Just when I thought nothing Aaron could do would ever surprise me again, I watched him throw a bowling ball, and my eyes were opened to the many things I might not know about this man I married almost five years ago. 

Aaron suggested we go bowling because our electricity was out all night and it would be cheap entertainment. But friends, let me just tell you now, it was very rich entertainment. For me. Unfortunately, I can't prove anything I am about to describe because I didn't have my camera or phone on me to document this hysterical event, but trust me, I couldn't make this up. I will try my best to capture this moment via words, but it won't do Aaron justice. 

The title of this post is probably the most accurate way to describe Aaron Rice, the bowler. Please try to visualize Aaron, the manly Marine who lost a leg in combat and beats his chest over his own manliness, as a ballerina. If you can do this, then you have seen Aaron Rice, the bowler, sans the tutu. We geared up in our bowling shoes, carefully chose our bowling balls, and entered our name into the screen that keeps score. Aaron was first. He studied the arrows on the lane and did mathematical equations in his head to ensure the angle and speed of his throw would be perfect. This seemed normal to me at this point. He walked over to the chairs where I was sitting, with bowling ball in hand, and I thought he was coming over to speak to me. But he did not want to speak to me. He was simply taking his position. I was sitting in the chairs in the back of the room, at least 10 yards from where the bowling ball spitter outer thing was. Aaron had his fingers in the bowling ball holes, and just started sprinting full speed toward the lane. I started freaking out and wondering why the heck he is RUNNING full speed with a 13 pound bowling ball. And then about 7 feet before he reached the lane, he started tippy-toeing, still at a very quick pace, and right before he released the ball, he did a graceful ballerina leap, and LAUNCHED the ball down the lane. And by launch, I mean throw the ball at the same speed a professional baseball player throws a baseball. Sometimes he would launch the ball straight into a gutter. Other times he would launch it down the middle of the lane and get a strike, But nothing in between. It was gutter, strike, or nothing. 

I can't even begin to describe how big my eyes got after watching Aaron do his sprint, twinkletoe, ballerina leap routine for the first time. After I realized he was not joking, the biggest wave of uncontrollable laughter I have ever experienced overwhelmed me and I ended up on the floor convulsing. I was crying tears of embarrassment and laughter, and Aaron was looking at me wondering what was so funny. It wasn't until I reenacted what he was doing that made him realize he was not a typical bowler. But he continued to sprint, twinkle toe, and ballerina leap for four games straight, and by the last game, he was exhausted. His shirt was sopping wet and beads of sweat were rolling down his forehead, and he was actually out of breath. He probably accumulated half a mile of running throughout the evening. I would be tired too. He ended up winning the first two games because I was laughing so hard and couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to actually aim the ball. And then I won the last two because Aaron had worn himself out so much that his energy level started diminishing. 

Something drastic must have changed in Aaron's bowling technique from the time he was 16 to 25 years old. Because if I would have seen him bowl like that on a second date, I can't promise you I would have gone back for a third. But I laughed for a solid two hours on Friday night. My abs are still sore and it is Sunday. Next time we have company, I already know what we are doing. I am going to let Aaron provide the entertainment. This is not something you want to miss, people. Believe me. When we got in the car to go home, I looked at Aaron and said for the first time in a really long time, "Wow, I definitely didn't know that about you." I wonder what else I don't know. Maybe we should go roller skating. 

Tic Tac, Blueberry, Raspberry, Green Olive, PRUNE!!

In just the few weeks that I have been too lazy to post, our little mate has grown from the size of a tic tac, to a sweet pea, to a blueberry, then a raspberry, now it's a green olive, and next week it will be a PRUNE! Never in my life have I purchased a prune, so I don't really know what it looks like or how big it is, but supposedly they are about 1.2 inches long. Crazy. We've been able to hear the little raspberry's heartbeat two times and both were an out of body experience. The first time was at 7 weeks, or the blueberry stage, and the tiny heart was thumping away at 161 beats per minutes. Strong heartbeat, check. The second time was 9 weeks, and it clocked in at 175 beats per minutes. Even stronger heartbeat, check! I won't go in for another appointment until July 2, and by then the little mate will be a lemon. I ordered a fruit plate not too long ago so I could see the exact size of a raspberry and think about the raspberry in my belly, and I hadn't even had the plate in front of me for 2 seconds before Aaron ate the only raspberry on the plate. How disturbing. 

I am going strong at nine weeks now. I haven't felt sick since Wednesday, May 13, which incidentally was the day I wrote my last blog. I woke up the next day feeling like a champion and haven't felt sick since then. I'm not counting headaches, because I get those bad boys pretty often, but I would much rather have a headache than the constant need-to-throw-up-but-can't feeling. Aaron and Jake are also handling things pretty well. They are getting used to the bizarre demands of a pregnant woman, such as the need for preggie pops, saltines, sprite, and of course, McD's milkshakes. Aaron has been doing most of the grocery shopping lately and he has learned to go ahead and get two boxes of cereal at a time because I usually eat at least 3 bowls a day. I started out with Cinnamon Toast Crunch but now I can't get enough of multi-grained Cheerios. How random. Also, Aaron is determined to get me on a diet that includes a lot of pomegranate because that is what makes babies smart. Not sure where he got that information from, but whatever. He has been enjoying the pomegranate juice himself, and we have come to learn that in Aaron's case, this juice acts as a laxative, so you can imagine what he's been up to lately. 

Note: I started writing this post before church, and now I am about to contradict myself. Out of freaking nowhere, I just randomly blacked out after church today. We were walking out of the building and I started sweating outrageously and my vision turned pitch black and I started falling. I actually pushed a 3 year old out of my way trying to get to a chair that was strategically placed near the door, and once I sat down for about 45 seconds I was fine, but by george, it was scary. All day today I've pretty much felt like crap, but hopefully it was just a random occurrence and I can continue on my nausea free pregnancy path. Good thing I have my trusty preggie pops. 

Please continue to pray for the raspberry, or the prune, or whatever you choose to call it. I've been thinking about the details of baby care and realized that I haven't changed a diaper in about 10 years and can't remember the last time I even held a baby. Aaron and I both pray that this little girl or boy will live every single day of his or her life knowing the Lord, and it is so scary to think that we will play the biggest humanly role in showing him or her the grace of God. We fall so short of being able to play that role. I woke up one morning last week and could not think of anything else but Jeremiah 29:11. To know that God already has plans to prosper this baby is too big of a concept for me to wrap my brain around right now. It's a green olive, but He knows the plans He has for the green olive. Aaron and I don't have a clue what our plans are for the green olive, but our God knows everything about this baby. So comforting. So very, very comforting. 

The raspberry definitely needs to get some sleep, so we're going to sign off now. It's going to be a long week for all of us, as Aaron starts his clerkship/internship tomorrow and I foresee an extraordinarily busy week at work. 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord.     Jeremiah 29:11-13

Two Lines?

Two weeks ago, I took a pregnancy test and two lines appeared. One line was very solid and the other was very faint, so I didn't really know what to think. And then Aaron had the most brilliant idea I've ever heard. "Why I don't I pee on a stick, and we'll see what negative really looks like."That is exactly what we did, and his test was a solid one liner. So as it turns out, Aaron is not pregnant, BUT I AM!!

Here are the symptoms I experienced that led us to believe a pregnancy test was in order. Four days before I took the test, somebody walked into my office holding a chocolate milkshake from McDonald's. Let me preface this by saying that I HATE McDonald's and the thought of any item on that menu can give me shivers, make me nauseous, make me gag and give me instant heartburn. But when I saw the golden arches on this person's cup and then discovered the chocolate milkshake that was in the cup, I started salivating. And I did not stop salivating. For four days I thought about the milkshake and could not get it out of my mind until finally, I told Aaron that we were going to drop whatever we were doing at the time and get in the car so I could get rid of this nonsense craving. Well, Aaron had the nerve to try to stall me by making excuses as to why we shouldn't go, and I responded by threatening to shoot him in the face or gut, whichever one was more painful, and then leave him. Permanently. So being a good and obedient husband, we got in the car and headed to the McGreasy's, and on the way there, he said, "Oh, by the way, you are taking a pregnancy test when we get back because this is ridiculous." I told him I pretty much did not want to hear his voice until I got my milkshake. We pulled through the drive-thru (how the heck do you spell that?) and upon placing my chocolate milkshake order, I learned that their ice cream machine was temporarily down, but oh, wait, never mind it was fixed. My blood pressure uncontrollably sky rocketted and plummeted significantly in a two second time frame. Anyway, with that first gulp of chocolate greatness came the biggest feeling of satisfaction, and all of a sudden, I quit salivating. Hmm...maybe I am pregnant? 

The next morning, I starting doing calculations. The kind of calculations that would help me determine whether or not this might be the case. I took a home prego test for the first time in my life, and after Aaron took his and showed me what a negative test looked like, I stood in my kitchen with my hand shaking as I held that tiny little stick and Aaron said in a rather loud voice "YOU'RE PREGNANT!" 

The next Monday, I went to my doctor to confirm it by a blood test. After taking 20 pints of blood out of my arm, he confirmed it. He referred me to a baby doctor for my first prenatal visit that Friday, where they took another 200 pints of blood and left a big bruise, but they confirmed it as well. According to Dr. P., this baby is due to enter the world on January 1, 2010. This means that I am somewhere in the ballpark of six weeks pregnant. Holy crap. 

For some insanely stupid, crazy, idiotic reason, I thought I was going to get away with not having morning sickness because at the time of that visit, I felt like a complete rock star. But a few short days later, I was proved so very wrong when I found myself doubled over trying to hold my breakfast and lunch in my stomach at work. My superpower sense of smell picks up on any and every little scent within a 500 mile range, and unless it is a chocolate milkshake from McD's, it makes me nauseous. This leads me to my next story. 

As I mentioned before, Aaron found out he was not pregnant. But he has always had a sensitive stomach, as in he literally can't handle the smell of poop, vomit, or anything that a baby does. Awesome. Anyway, Jake must have ingested something terrible because we found whatever he had eaten plus a a lot of something extra on the floor in the living room one morning. Upon smelling Jake's surprise, an immediate onset of nausea overwhelmed me and I could not so much as think about cleaning it up, much less be in the same house as it. Since Jake is not going to clean up his own boo boo, that leaves the only other person in the house who does not have an ever increasing sense of feeling like death on an hourly basis. After bellyaching for at least half an hour about how he absolutely could not pick it up and threatening to vomit over every inch of the house, he caved. Armed with an entire roll of paper towel, toilet paper, lysol, febreeze, Resolve, kitchen towels, and the fear of death in his eyes, he did what real men do. He picked it up, gagging, coughing, and tearing up along the way. He's going to be a good dad. 

But that is not the end of Aaron having to face his fear of reality. A few weeks ago, a little birdie decided to set up shop in the corner of our front porch. I thought it would be cute. See...how nice!

In no time there were about five little birdies just chirpin' and singing away and it was great. However, this is what was not great. 

Who would have thought that bird poop stinks as bad as it does. Trust me, it does. Bad. Very very bad. Like a zoo. Especially when the smell of sugar and water alone makes you want to throw up. And the smell started seeping into our house and I could smell it at all times. Something had to be done, and quick. What better way to clean up 20 pounds of bird hockey than our trusty pressure washer, the thing Aaron claims could make us rich one day if we decided to open a pressure washer business instead of becoming an attorney. Well, the pressure washer certainly saved the day, and it kept whatever food was in my stomach at the time in my stomach, because it worked a miracle. And this was not something you would want to have to scrub by hand. 

Don't be alarmed, the birdies had all learned to fly by this point and abandoned their nest. But left their poop. And all the while, Aaron gagged, coughed, bellyached, teared up, and acted like he was dying. But I did not care. I don't have an after shot to show the clean, sanitized front porch, but trust me, there is no evidence that any birdies every took up residence there. So, all of this boils down to the fact that from now on, because I know he can, Aaron will stay on hockey patrol. He's got about seven and a half months to learn how to handle the kind of things that babies do. I'll let you know how that goes. 

We drove to Hattiesburg and Jackson for Mother's Day weekend to spread the news. In Hattiesburg, we cornered his dad a few hours before dinner and asked him to include Aaron, me, and the baby that would be born in January in the blessing that night. That is exactly what he did, and it was one of the most beautiful blessings I have ever heard. Until it got interrupted by a stampede of squealing Rice women who screamed and cried and hugged me. And then we finished the blessing. And then we ate the most scrumptious meal I had ever tasted in my life. I even got to select (demand) the menu. 

We drove to Jackson on Sunday afternoon where my family was together for Mothers Day. I sat next to my mom as she opened her gift, which was a maroon onesie that said "Future MSU Bulldog (see below)." Her first reaction was to say "Aw, this is cute." And then about three seconds later, her eyes got really wide and she looked at me and said "Are you kidding??" I smiled, and tears instantaneously spouted from her eyes as she yelled to everybody in the house, "We're going to have a baby!!!!" It was great. If "we" are going to have the baby, then why am I the only one on the verge of tossing my cookies every second of the day? 

Aaron was covertly in the corner of the room filming it on my blackberry, so even though the quality is less than stellar, this will let you know how cute my mom was when she opened her present. I am sitting on the couch next to my brother and Jake is casually walking around like nothing important is happening. And of course, I choose to keep my food at a close distance, in my hand the entire time. Girls gotta eat. 

Then I went to my Dad's house and broke the news to him and Jan. We gave them a maroon onesie with Bully on it, and my dad thought it was an outfit for their dog. Thats right, a doggy costume. He nonchalantly thanked us and mentioned something about how it was going to look good on Max (the dog), and set it aside. It wasn't until my brother Drew said "Umm, Pops, thats not for Max." And I had to say point blank: I'm pregnant, that made him understand the present we got him. Honestly, my dad stared at me for about 30 seconds in disbelief before he could mutter his first word, which was "Really?" He called me the next day to ask how his grandson was doing, and I had to remind him that there is a 50% chance that he will have a granddaughter, but he wouldn't have it. He said Aaron deserves a son first because a daughter would be too much work, especially if it is a daughter of mine. Thanks, Daddy. 

I debated whether or not to spill the proverbial beans so soon, but I guess this is my subtle way of asking for prayer over the next 7 months or so. We are so excited, thrilled in an unexplainable way. I have a doctors appointment on May 28 where I will have my first sonogram and we will get to hear the baby's heartbeat. Right now, supposedly, it is the size of a tic tac. But its our tic tac. By the 28th, it will have hands, fingers, toes, and all major organs. Crazy. By having 10 toes, it will already be better off than Daddy. Poor Daddy. So please pray for us Rice's as we enter a journey where quite frankly we have no idea what we are doing. Also, now is the time to come visit us, because we will be sacrificing our guest bedroom for the little kiddo. No pressure, friends and family. Now that I have typed this novel of a post, and I missed my dinner because of it, you can only imagine how I'm feeling right now. I have my eyes on two things right now: cinnamon toast crunch and sprite. Yummy. More updates to come on the little Rice baby. 

Letter to my father in law.

Dear Mr. Rice,

In case you haven't heard, your son and I will be making another trip down to the Burg to join the family for Mother's Day weekend. I realize we were just there about three weekends ago, so this is probably not terribly exciting news to you. But I am very excited about it, because I'm already thinking about the food. Since we will be celebrating Mother's Day, I feel like I need to let Mrs. Rice choose the Sunday lunch menu (but I would be glad to help her if she would like). 

Now I am not sure if this was in the agenda for the weekend or not, but I would like to propose a Saturday dinner as well. Aaron and I had a pretty lengthy discussion last night about what we would like, and we were able to come to a nice compromise. Humor me if you will:

Roast with horseradish sauce, grilled to perfection, as usual

Asparagus

Mashed potatoes (I realize this is kind of risky, because mashed potatoes are definitely a hot Sunday lunch item, but I'm just being honest, it would be very great with this meal. I can think of another dish if push comes to shove. Perhaps baked potatoes?)

Rolls

Sweet tea

Aaron wanted to make sure to include the roast and horseradish sauce. And I want to make sure asparagus is in the picture. We are pretty flexible about everything else, besides the potatoes, rolls, and sweet tea. If a Saturday meal was not on the agenda, well, I guess that is okay. But I will bribe, beg on my knees, kick and scream, obnoxiously call you in 30 minute increments this entire week, and continue to publicly blog about you. I could even put you on a massive guilt trip, and mention how your meals bring the family together for food and fellowship and the family becomes a stronger unit with each meal, but I won't go there unless I find out we are not going to have a Saturday dinner. We can even compromise - you make the meal and I'll bring the ice cream. With all that being said, it is your decision, and we will respect it. Unless you say no. 

Our plan is to be in the Burg around 2:00, so if you need us to stop by Walmart, don't hesitate to call. I would say we are open to other menu suggestions from the rest of the family, but that is simply not the case. I might humor Haley and listen to her opinion, but only because I feel sorry that she won't be there, because she is in the desert. 

We look forward to seeing you. 

Love always,

Kelly

P.S. Jake will be coming with us. 

redeeming ourselves

We weren't complete bumheads this weekend. 

 

Ryan returns and the Rices reunite.

It is a Saturday night, and I have yet to do one thing that is productive and I'm pretty sure at this point that anything that would qualify as productive is not going to happen today. But this is good, and I'm very content experiencing a day in the life of Jake. I realized about an hour ago that I had not brushed my teeth today, and then I spent the hour debating whether or not it was even worth it since the day is pretty much over. I told Aaron that I had not brushed my teeth today, and he replied by saying, "Hmm, I don't think I did either." What a life. Not only did I fail to brush my teeth, but I stuffed my face with all things unhealthy, laid on the couch, took naps and played on facebook all day. I thought about getting up and taking Jake for a walk, but the idea of having to put shoes on and take steps just mentally wore me out. 

Here is the short version of what we've been up to. Last weekend, Aaron and I met friends and family at the Jackson airport to welcome Ryan home from his deployment to Iraq. 

Yes, the sign Haley is holding reads "My uncle is a NINJA" because that is exactly what Ryan is now. He earned his black belt in MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program), and this pretty much means a completely unarmed Ryan Rice is an extremely eminent danger to the enemy. In other words, he makes Chuck Norris look like a ballerina. We all left the airport and went straight to the Crawdad Hole where we ate, you guessed it, crawfish. LOTS of crawfish, for lunch, a snack, and then again for dinner. 

On Saturday, in order to squeeze every second of quality time in with Ryan, we (and by we, I mean me, Aaron, Haley, Hannah, Audrey, Austin, and Emma) accompanied him to all of the errands he had to run. He tried to hint to us more than once that we didn't have to come with him to Cellular South, the mall, etc. because it would be boring to us, but I'm pretty sure he knew that having an entourage of eight people following him around all day is less than enticing. But along we went, and of course, had a stellar time. After an entire day of running around town, we got to finish the day off with a big bowl of shrimp curry from who else but Chef Randy Rice. We stuffed our bellies and went down to the pier where we um, eh, had fun getting to hang out some more. 

Check out the rest of Ryan's homecoming pictures here. And there are more pictures from Audrey and Austin's camera that are spectacular, so as soon as they quit being turds and put them on Facebook, I'll post them here. 

On Sunday morning we went to church as a family, and it was so nice. It has been a while since we have taken up an entire pew. We worshipped together and heard a sermon that I am still thinking about. And to top it off, Randy Rice cooked an award winning Easter lunch with a trophy turkey and the creamiest, most delicious mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and mushrooms that my taste buds have ever experienced. We all pretty much had to roll off our chairs and crawl to the couch where we participated in a group nap. And then Sunday afternoon came and went and Aaron and I had to begin our five hour drive back to Oxford. And we chose to leave exactly when torrential rain poured from the sky which extended our five hour drive to almost seven hours. Awesome. 

I had a long and seemingly never ending week at work and Aaron has the weight of the world on his shoulders trying to get through finals, so it only makes since that we would be sloths this weekend. We spent about an hour last night on YouTube watching this video. And then we walked around all day today acting like the flamingos in the video with that music stuck in our heads. And I'm going to continue my night by watching my one of my two favorite movies of all time, Sister Act II (Grease is my favorite just in case you had to know). Aaron just doesn't understand why I tear up every single time I watch it but he doesn't appreciate true cinematic brilliance like I do. Jake has slept at least 20 hours today - what a man. 

Before I end this post I'm trying to think if I left anything out. I haven't blogged in several weeks so one would think I would have a lot to write about, but I guess that just isn't the case. I'm going to give Whoopi my undivided attention now. I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Sister Act II: "You are here to impress the judges with your voice, not your hiney."

Rices hit the road.

I am not the kind of Rice to go around and give my political opinions, but I just have to rant about how our President represented you and I on his visit to Europe. President Obama gave the Queen of England an iPod. He uploaded his own speeches on it (cocky), with a few "American" songs on it. Seriously, Obama?  It might have been somewhat of a decent idea if it was the first iPod ever made, but when 1 out of 3 people in the world have one, and the iPod will probably be outdated by next year, I can't think of a more terrible gift idea. I am embarrassed for him, and I want to send the Queen an apology on behalf of him. 

Now, back to relevant information. 

RYAN RICE IS IN THE STATES! No more horrific war nightmares, no more waiting on pins and needles, and all of our attention can be focused on planning an award winning homecoming for Corporal Rice. The only information we know right now is that he will be flying from California on Friday, which really means we have no idea when he is flying in. As of right now, we do not have a time or location, but hopefully info will start coming in closer to time. 

Aaron has turned in his paper and successfully argued his first appellate brief before three mock judges. The next and final item on the "law school to-do list" is study for finals and then he gets to call himself a 2L. Aaron was offered a clerkship this summer by a small law firm in Ripley, Mississippi, called The Harrison Group. There are so many reasons why this is an awesome opportunity for Aaron, but at the top of our list is that the clerkship is paid, it is within driving distance from our house, and it is a type of law that Aaron is actually interested in. Aaron thinks he was lucky to have gotten the clerkship, but I strongly believe The Harrison Group is lucky to have gotten him. Good job, little Arnie. Jake and I are proud of you. 

Speaking of law school, this past weekend we attended Barrister's Ball (aka Law School Prom) and we got all dressed up and went on a triple date with some of our pals. Aaron ordered the 'special' at the restaurant, and I ended up wanting to shoot him in the face because his meal alone cost $36.00, but whatever. I never would have thought that a bunch of law school nerds could get together and have so much fun, but they sure can boogie. There was a great live band who played their fair share of the rockin' 80's, so of course they caught my attention from the get go. And the cherry on top of the evening was the Cupid Shuffle because it is quite entertaining to watch Aaron participate. We danced for a solid two hours or more and I have crater sized blisters on my feet to prove it, but my fabulous shoes were completely worth it the scars that I am sure will form. I have some pictures from the evening and I'll post them when I have the energy to look for the USB cord to my camera. 

We got home close to 1:00 a.m. and on Saturday morning I woke up, packed my gear, and hit the interstate for Hattiesburg. My new boss got married in the Burg and I was more than excited to attend. Aside from his wedding being one of the most beautiful events I have ever been to in my entire life, I got to hang out with the Rices, and most importantly, I got to see Kate!! And of course with Kate comes her entourage (Haley), which is always awesome, and I don't think Haley will be surprised to read that Kate is quite the superstar in the family and we can't help but become super giddy when we know Kate is in our state. 

And this weekend we will hit the road again for Jackson where family and friends will welcome Ryan home and then continue on to Hattiesburg for Easter Sunday and mucho catch up time. The Rice kids haven't been in the same state in an awful amount of time, so I'm pretty sure the stories to come will be rowdy. Our tentative plans include renting the Crawdaddy Hole in Jackson where we will chowzer down on crawfish before heading to Hattiesburg, but of course I can't reserve anything until I have a date/time/location/any information at all. 

If you are in Jackson and can make it on Friday, please PLEASE please stop what you are doing and get your booty to the airport to welcome home a brave Marine who sacrificed almost an entire year of his life to defend our freedom. Stay tuned for updates. It's bedtime.