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if it was the first iPod ever made, but when 1 out of 3 people in the world have one, and the iPod will probably be outdated by next year, I can't think of a more terrible gift idea.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.