Team Edward. There, I said it.

I've seen Breaking Dawn: Part 2.

Twice.

I never thought I would be that person.  When Twilight first came out, I didn't even see it in theaters.  I had no interest.  And I can't quite recall if I had read the book yet or not...  Anyway, the first time I did see it was when a friend, who shall remain nameless, obtained a bootleg copy of it before it ever came out on DVD.  A group of us girls piled onto her couch mid-morning on a week day and watched it.  I do recall that I was really sick and trying very hard not to share my germs with everyone, which wasn't easy on said couch.

Like anyone can tell you, the first movie is the cheesiest with the worst special effects of them all, and waaay too much emo.  I kind of wanted to smack Bella through most of it, and when I finally did read the book, I was so impatient with her.  "He's a VAMPIRE, you idiot!"  No, she was never my favorite character.

Fast forward to the other movies, and I did end up seeing each one in the theater.  By the time the second movie, New Moon, came out I had read all the books and knew what was coming.  More importantly, I already knew that Breaking Dawn was my favorite book, and that THAT was the one I was waiting for.

When Part 1 finally did come out last year, I wasn't one of the "wait in line all night" moms, but I did see it in theaters, and I did love it for how well it portrayed the events of the book.  And I finally liked Bella more.  She was willing to walk down the aisle and managed to do it without looking like she had an ulcer exploding in her gut.  What a nice change!

And then Part 2 finally came along, promising a great battle and a great end to this lotso' years long series.  My cousin and I went to see it together after our annual birthday lunch, and it was as good as I had hoped it would be.  It delivered the ending of my favorite book perfectly, keeping it exciting and surprising.  And it turns out Bella is MUCH easier to take as a confident vampire.  It seems I like her much better cold and dead.

What got me the most was the love story.  Emo or not, I envy the love between Edward and Bella, because I want it so badly for myself.  The kind of "I would do anything for you and can't stand the thought of life without you" love that doesn't come along all that often.  I do believe in it, and I have experienced it, but I'm impatiently waiting for it again and you know the old story of the watched pot...

My kids were very put out about never having seen any of the Twilight movies in theaters, so after viewing the last one in advance, I decided they could handle it.  We met up with our friend Tiffany at the same exact theater a week later and experienced it all over again.  It was actually fun waiting to see what the reactions would be by the kids at a very key moment, and I enjoyed seeing their happy surprise when it came.  At the end of the movie, my son actually had a tear on his face.  I asked him when that happened, and when he told me, I wasn't surprised.  I love that he could get that wrapped up in something -- empathy is an emotion I like to see in him.

There you have it -- I'm a Twi-hard.  A total nerd.  And I'm not ashamed of it!  While most guys out there (like the one I'm dating) would cringe at the very thought of sitting through one of these films, I like that there are action/romance movies that get our hearts racing and make us want romance and love and passion.  Because frankly, there's nothing better.