The True story of How it all Started

I was born on June 28th 1984. My dad owned a hardware store back then. Back in the good old days. My mother was a very successful doctor. Sounds like I had it made right? Well, yeah. When I was born my brothers were 6 and 3. I also had a sister back then. Her name was Madelyn. She was very pretty and was 9 at the time I was born. My brothers names are Chris and Mark. Chris being 6 and Mark being 3 years old.
So anyways by the time I was 3 (you can do the math on how old my siblings were) my mother and sister thought I had a singing talent. My dad thought that my mom was delusional. I guess she was thinking that a 3 year old could sing but I think that I really could sing if I had wanted to be a child star. But I guess I didn’t want to because every audition that my mother took me to I wouldn’t say a word or do anything so I guess it just wasn’t my destiny back then.
So let’s fast forward to Spring of 1989. More specific like April 19th. My mother and sister, Madelyn, were going grocery shopping. We needed raisins (my favorite), dog food, orange juice, tomato sauce, apples, and chips (my brothers favorite). So they went grocery shopping. Madelyn was 14. Her birthday was April15th so she had actually just turned 14. It was about 6:26 when they left to go grocery shopping. The next time I saw them was when they got home from grocery shopping. What were you thinking? They got back at 6:52. We were having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Hints the tomato sauce. My mom and sister were in the kitchen and I was playing in our living room with play food. “Hey Arden, why don’t you come in and help me and mommy cook the dinner” said Madelyn.
“Sure!” I said to Madelyn.
“But remember to be careful, the burners on the stove are hot. They will burn you hands if you touch them Arden. Got it?”
My sister told me. Sure I was listening, but I guess I wasn’t really hearing her or I would have never done what I did next. When we were done cooking my mom and sister took the pots off the stove but did not turn off the burners. My mom and sister went to go tell my brothers time for dinner. I knew that I wouldn’t get in trouble by touching the stove if nobody was around to tell me not too, so I touched one. It wasn’t very hot (because it wasn’t turned on) so I thought that Madelyn was lying to me. So I touched another one. Nothing. So I tried one more and yeah you guessed it. It was on high because it had been boiling the water for the noodles. At first I didn’t know exactly what the sensation was because it was like burning cold. I held my hand on there for almost 10 seconds before I let out a horror film scream. My mother rushed in but it was to late my hand had already been burnt. There was like little pieces or tar on my hand. Not really but it was just burned in places. My mother was yelling at me and I was crying and screaming because it hurt so badly. My mother yelled for my dad really loud. He came running down the stairs.
“How did this happen!!!” He was steamed. Madelyn got an ice bag and we all piled in the van. I was screaming all the way to the hospital. Maybe I was overreacting a tad but what do you expect from a 4 year old? My hand had these bloody blisters all over it and it was just not the prettiest sight. We got back to the house after I got bandaged up at 8:30. The spaghetti was like glue and the tomato sauce had hardened. We ordered a pizza instead of the glue. The pizza had a lot of sauce and not so much cheese and we were all tired after that whole fiasco on a Wednesday night.
So if you haven’t figured it out already this is pretty much the story of my life. Not every single day but major events in my life. Such as this next thing. It was actually just a few months later that same year. It was October 1989. My mom was picking my sister up from her friends’ house at 10 maybe 11 o’clock at night and neither of them ever came back. They were hit by a drunk driver and died on their way to the hospital. I remember it so clearly I can practically still remember that phone call from the hospital and how I was so tired and it was a school night I had school the next day. I remember it all. I was pretty unaware of what death was though. I thought after my mom and sister got better and didn’t have cuts and scrapes on them anymore they would just come back. I didn’t understand what everyone was crying about. I was five when this happened and I had just started kindergarten. I didn’t go back to kindergarten for a few weeks. More like 4 but still.
After my dad told me that my mom and Madelyn weren’t coming back it all really started to set in that I would never see them again and that really made me sad. But I was always a very happy girl so I guess I kind of got over it. Actually I am still not over it. I have just learned to live without them. No it wasn’t easy but my dad did an okay job with me and my brothers. But there is no way that he could be the same as a mom and I guess I understood that. He didn’t know what being a girl was like but he definitely tried his hardest.
The next few years were tough but I did pick up diving and skateboarding. I had a talent at both of them. I started diving when I was 8, three years after my mother and sisters death. I picked up skateboarding from Chris. He told me I was better at it then him. My dad by then still owned his hardware store. He said he wanted to sell it but he didn’t know what else to do for a job so he decided he would just keep it. I think he wanted to sell it because my mom and he had started it together and it brought back so many good and bad memories for him.
A few years before I went into middle school they decided to change it so that middle school started in 6th grade instead of 7th grade. I was a little upset but I guess I am kind of glad that, it happened that way. I met my two best friends in the entire world in 6th grade. We had every class together. Actually only five besides electives and homeroom. Their names are Lauren and Ann Frances. I am still best friends with them to this day. Sixth grade was not my best year. I actually really hated it. There was just way to much drama. Every other day me and my friends were in a fight. I don’t even remember one of them. I can guarantee you that they were all stupid though and none of them had any real reason. I was also diagnosed with diabetes in the 6th grade. Yeah I know it was pretty bad. It took a while to get used to but I did it.
By 7th grade I was really good at skateboarding. I could do the Ollie (the trick of all the tricks), the orthodox, and even the Yo Yo Plant! Yeah, I was pretty amazing at skateboarding. Our house was a 5 or 10 minute walk from my school so I usually skateboarded home or I every now and then walked. But the big highlight of 7th grade was my first boyfriend. He “asked me out” so we were going out. It was sort of weird but everybody else had a boyfriend so I gladly excepted. Especially since he was 5 8’, star of the football team and pretty much the most popular person at our school. He asked me out on September 24th. We were like a celebrity couple. Okay I know you know what I mean. Our relationship was so cliché. It was actually almost boring until December. We were walking to band one day and he said that he had to tell me a secret. Yeah, right. He bent over and instead of telling me a secret he kissed me on the cheek. I was mortified because everyone was looking at me and he and he gave me this really weird look and so I just ran to band. All of band I could hear him keep on saying “Arden” or “Hey get Arden.” I just kind of ignored him for the next week and then came Christmas break two weeks where I didn’t have to ignore him; I could just not be around him.
When Christmas break was over I just kind of acted like it didn’t happen. When anyone mentioned it I would act like I had no idea what they were talking about. We still went out but around April it got kind of weird and all we did was fight. We were not really getting anything out of the relationship. But we went out and then he decided to break up with me on my 13th birthday. People always asked me did I like his birthday present. It was pretty mean I thought so I decided to take a break from relationships and focused on my diving and skateboarding.
By 9th grade I had broken 2 ribs, a leg and an elbow from skateboarding. Not all at the same time though. The leg was most painful. But like I said by 9th grade I had become a really impressive diver. The year was 1999 and my coach at practice one day told me that we were starting to train for the summer 2000 Olympics. I was ecstatic!!! It was in Sydney, Australia that year and that was on my list of things to do before I die. But those next few months were really hard especially with a boyfriend. His name was Ben and I really liked him but I just had no time for him(or anyone else) at that time so I don’t think that we got very much out of that relationship so in April we broke up. Those next few weeks were probably the hardest of my life because I trained so hard. I got up a 5 in the morning went to swim practice until 7:30am. Took a shower, changed and went to school. My house, school, and the pool were all in walking distance (skateboarding for me) so I just skateboarded everywhere. And yes, those were pretty much the only places I went. When I got home from school I had diving practice from 5 to 8:30. Then I came home ate dinner, did homework, and slept until I had to wake up and do it all over again. Sur you would think that on the weekends I could take a break. Yeah, no. It was worse on the weekends. From 9am ‘till 4pm I had diving practice. It was just awful. Then finally summer came so I went to the Olympic Trials in Seattle Washington. It was hard but it all paid off. I got into the Olympics by 1 point!!! I also got a boyfriend. His name was Michael Phelps. He was only 15 at the time, but man was he good. We started going out during the Olympic trials. We didn’t see each other very often but we went out. When I got the bronze medal and I cam out of the pool he kissed me and even though he didn’t win any medals in that Olympics, doesn’t mean he wasn’t good. We broke up in August because we like hardly ever saw each other because he was from Boston I am from Lexington, Kentucky. So it wasn’t working out.
I got back from the Olympics a week after school had already started. I was a Local Celebrity. Everyone wanted to be my friend or go out with me. But I stayed true to my best friends. Sur I went on dates but none of them ever became a real boyfriend because my dad scared them away with his fake gun.
This actually a pretty funny story. Every time I had a date my dad would tell them that we should “Go out and have some but, I will be right he waiting for you and cleaning my gun when you get back.” It was a fake plastic gun that my dad threatened my dates with. I always told them that it was fake but no one believed me except for Collin. He was a great boyfriend and was 6 7’! When he kissed me he had to pick me up!! I was only 5 5’. I quit diving. I am not sure why I exactly did quit but I did. I think it was just too much for me to handle. We went out from when I was 16 until I was nineteen. I went to both proms with him but when I went to college at Vanderbilt we never saw each other. So we decided to break up. I didn’t go into detail because he was my first love. He was also 2 years older then me. It brings back a lot of memories that I don’t want to bring back.
In college I majored in Interior Design. I had fully intended to be an Interior Designer. But thought that I should have a back up so I minored in Journalism. I didn’t really have time for a boyfriend in college, I didn’t have one. I went to parties, had fun with my friends, and went on dates just like any other college girl.
When I got out of college I decided that maybe this isn’t what I really thought I wanted. So I took the plunge and tried out for American Idol 2006. I sang this song called Jesus take the Wheel. Simon even liked me. I moved on to Hollywood. What really surprised even me was how good I was. I had never even realized that I was a good singer. People told me that I was good but when I told my dad I was trying out for American Idol he told me
“Arden, I don’t think that the music industry is right for you. I mean you can’t even open the plastic on a C.D.!”
I was really mad a t him but he kept on telling me that the chances are one in a million. I told him that I wanted to be that one. In the 2006 American Idol I won. I won. Me Arden Hollenbaek. I t was almost like overnight fame but I did do my fair share of musicals throughout the years. I did Legally Blonde, Annie, and even Mean Girls. It wasn’t a Musical but I was Cady Heron. Now lets fast forward to August 2008. I am married to Kevin Jonas who is 23. We got married June 1st. We started dating in April 2007. He proposed to me in January. Now my name is Arden Jonas and we are the stars of Arden and Kevin Plus the Jonas’. Sure my life wasn’t peachy but it has been pretty good. And know I have the life I have always wan