Wednesday Hero

Lt. Col. Nathan Blood


Lt. Col. Nathan Blood, brigade effects coordinator for 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light), Multi-National Division - Baghdad, says "Hello" to his 16-month-old daughter, Mackenzie, during a web camera communication.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams. Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Twilight Links

Here are some Twilight links I have enjoyed today and thought I would pass on.

Here are two from Blast Magazine---Warning! If you haven't read the series or Breaking Dawn you might not want to read them:

• Top 10 Twilight series moments

• Top 10 Jacob/Rosalie moments in Breaking Dawn

I don't think I could pick out my Top 10 Twilight series moments yet. I'll have to think about them.

And here is a great article from WSJ.com about how True Love Waits in the Twilight Saga.

And for my friend, Lady Lori, MTV's Twilight Tuesday: Jackson Rathbone Explains Jasper's Angst And Edward's Attraction

Here are the Twilight Saga books:
Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)
New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2)
Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3)
Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)

And here is what I wrote after I read Twilight for the first time.

Take some Twilight quizzes through here.


Official movie website here.
Author Stephenie Meyer's website is here.

Here is the trailer for the film!

Official Twilight the Movie trailer in HD

Wednesday Hero

Pvt. Nathan Z. Thacker
18 years old from Greenbrier, Arkansas
2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
October 12, 2007


Pvt. Nathan Z. Thacker had only been in the country for two weeks before his death, according to the soldier's father, Stephen Thacker.

Thacker's father said his son felt a duty to enlist. "He said it was his job. Even after he got his orders that he was going over there, he said it's his job."

Thacker had attended Guy-Perkins High School in Guy, Arkansas. He earned his GED in 2006, his father said. Thacker enlisted in the Army in April 2007 and completed his training at Fort Benning, Ga. He arrived at Fort Drum in August 2007. His honors include the Purple Heart.

"Nathan was an excellent man," sister Sabrina Black said. "He loved me, I loved him, and I’d give anything to have him back."

Pvt. Thacker was killed when an IED was detonated near his vehicle near Kirkuk. Three other soldiers were injured in the attack.

Pvt. Thacker is survived by his parents, siblings and his grandfather.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

One Year Ago . . .

. . . today we were at the Josh Groban concert, at Key Arena, in Seattle. I can't believe it has already been a year! I wish I could go again because it was such an incredible experience.
I didn't have much time to blog then, but here are the links to my posts:

• To the Josh Groban Concert We Go!

• Josh Countdown: Minus Four Hours!

• We saw JOSH!!!

This is the photo I took of Josh as he went past us, down the center aisle, while singing "In Her Eyes." My hands were shaking so the picture is a bit blurry. My friend Lady Lori actually shook his hand! Lucky girl!


It was such an experience! Fortunately, I can sort of relive it with the Awake Live CD/DVD. I just wish we could live it all over again!

Here are the words to this beautiful song:

Awake
Written by Josh Groban, Eric Mouquet, & Tawgs Salter

A beautiful and blinding morning
The world outside begins to breathe
See clouds arriving without warning
I need you here to shelter me
And I know that only time will tell us how
To carry on without each other
So keep me awake to memorize you
Give me more time to feel this way
We can't stay like this forever
But I can have you next to me today

If I could make these moments endless
If I could stop the winds of change
If we just keep our eyes wide open
Then everything would stay the same
And I know that only time will tell us how
To carry on without each other
So keep me awake for every moment
Give us more time to be this way
We can't stay like this forever
But I can have you next to me today
We'll let tomorrow wait, you're here, right now with me
All my fears just fall away when you are all I see
We can't stay like this forever
But I have you here today
And I will remember
Oh I will remember
Remember all the love we shared today

New Twilight Release Date!

So, now Twilight is being released on the date vacated by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 21 November 2008. Ahhh!

A press release from Summit Entertainment LLC: Summit Entertainment Moves Up Release Date for TWILIGHT to November 21, 2008

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- TWILIGHT, the first film in Summit Entertainment's thriller romance franchise, has moved up its North American release date to Friday, November 21, 2008. The film, which was previously planned to be released on December 12, 2008, is taking advantage of an opening in the upcoming fall release calendar. The new release date for TWILIGHT allows the studio to both bring the film to the written-series' enormous fan base sooner, and to present the film in more theatres prior to the holiday movie-going season where traditionally screen time for any popular film is limited.

"When Warner Bros. decided to move HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE to the summer of 2009, we saw a unique opportunity to slot in our film which has been gaining tremendous awareness and momentum over the past several months," said Rob Friedman, Co-Chairman and CEO of Summit Entertainment. "We by no means are trying to fill the shoes of the incredible POTTER franchise for 2008, rather we are just looking to bring the fans of Stephenie Meyer's incredible book series the film as soon possible from a programming perspective."

Starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in the thriller-romance based on Stephenie Meyer's publishing phenomenon, the film is directed by Catherine Hardwicke from a script by Melissa Rosenberg (STEP UP). Karen Rosenfelt (DEVIL WEARS PRADA), Greg Mooradian and Wyck Godfrey will produce along with Mark Morgan via his Maverick Films banner.

TWILIGHT tells the story of 17-year-old Bella Swan (Stewart) who moves to the small town of Forks, Washington to live with her father, and becomes drawn to Edward Cullen (Pattinson), a pale, mysterious classmate who seems determined to push her away. But neither can deny the attraction that pulls them together ... even when Edward confides that he and his family are vampires. Their unorthodox romance puts her in physical danger when Edward's nemesis comes to town and sets his sights on Bella.

I can't wait!

HBP Release Delayed!

I'm rather disappointed to see this story, as I was looking forward to seeing the next HP film this fall.

AP: Poof! Next `Harry Potter' flick moves to summer---

LOS ANGELES - It's summer school for Harry Potter.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth installment in the blockbuster film franchise about boy wizard Harry, is moving from its planned Nov. 21 release to July 17, 2009, distributor Warner Bros. said Thursday.

The move was made to take advantage of an open weekend in Hollywood's busy summer season, said Alan Horn, Warner Bros. president and chief operating officer. The film had been on schedule, and the change was not due to any production snags, he said.

"The picture is completely, absolutely, 100 percent on schedule, on time. There were no delays," Horn told The Associated Press. "I've seen the movie. It is fabulous. We would have been perfectly able to have it out in November."

Official website here.

At least we still have Twilight to look forward to in December!

Wednesday Hero

Spc. Matthew A. Koch
23 years old from West Henrietta, New York
Company C, 70th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division
March 9, 2005


Spc. Matthew A. Koch was on his second tour of duty when he was killed by an IED that was detonated near his vehicle in Taji. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He previously was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Army Service Ribbon and medals for service in the fight against terrorism.

Koch enlisted in the Army in January 2002 after the attacks on September 11, 2001 and re-enlisted because he wanted to help the Iraqi people. "He was a brave soldier who made the greatest sacrifice anyone could make for everyone else's freedom," Diane Worman, Koch's mother, said through tears. "He realized that by being over there, he was going to make a difference in the lives of those people." She said her son once unsuccessfully sought green cards for an Iraqi family that had been threatened for helping Americans.

"He always looked out for the other guy, never thought of himself. He volunteered to go to C Co before our first deployment so that one of the guys from our Platoon didn't have to deploy early and would have a chance to marry his fiance. That's Koch for you, always looking out for his buddies." - David A. "Buch" Buchanan.

"He really loved the service and went back," said James Worman, Koch's stepfather. "He had no problem. He was dedicated to the fact that people over there needed help. He was always concerned about other people. He loved children. He was a nice, soft-hearted kid."

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Congratulations, Michael Phelps!

Tonight Michael Phelps became the winningest athlete in Olympic history at age 23. He's absolutely amazing! And he's still got several races more to go.

(Getty)
Michael is truly talented and seems truly modest and friendly. I hope he can win the rest of his races (and, really, it doesn't seem like it will be that difficult). Every time I see one of his races he makes it look effortless. It is truly amazing how he can swim.

Great article from the Times Online (UK): Profile: Psychology and physiology make Michael Phelps a phenomenon

Wednesday Hero

Senior Airman Kimberly Bickford
332nd Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron


Senior Airman Kimberly Bickford performs a pre-load check July 28 on an F-16 Fighting Falcon at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, to ensure the cable that releases the bomb is operational.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Breaking Dawn Tonight!

I'm very excited today. The fourth and final book in my new favorite series, the Twilight Saga, by Stephenie Meyer, comes out tonight at Midnight. Breaking Dawn is going to be amazing! I'm having a little Breaking Dawn party with friends and my sister before we head to Barnes & Noble for the Breaking Dawn party there. We'll get our books sometime after midnight and head out to the lake to read until we finish the novel or fall asleep where we sit! It is going to be marvelous!


If you haven't read any of these books yet, it isn't too late. They are amazing! Here are the first three books in the series:

Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)
New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2)
Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3)

These books are about a girl named Bella who moves up to rainy Forks, Washington, to live with her father. There she meets a mysterious boy named Edward. He turns out to be a Vampire, but he and his family only feed on animals. They fall in love, but the scent of her blood is very tempting to him, which complicates their romance. These books are so fantastic I could just rave and rave about them!

Enjoy!

P.S. Tonight is the New Moon AND, a special Eclipse (article here).