Soooo....I hate to be an annoying writer that bugs you guys all the time, but I love writing this story and hearing what ya'll have to say about it...I have writers block right now but I am trying to pass through it. So I'm asking for 1 favor of you lovely ladies and that is that I wish to have at least 2 comments before I post another chapter, I know it's not a lot, but it would be a lot of help for me as well as encouragement because then I know ya'll are reading it. I'm not sure how many chapters this story will contain so I would love to keep it going for quiet a while because I have a lot planned for theses guys future...so that is what I ask, I hope it's not too much to ask. But like I've said before, I love the feedback, it helps me to see what you are wondering about upcoming chapters.
Thanks ladies!
PS-Another chapter was posted late last night :)
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Chapter 18
Christmas in Chicago was so beautiful, it was cold and snowing everyday. I had the day off while the boys had morning skate so I decided to clean the house and get it ready for the family coming into town within the next few days. The team’s Christmas party was the night before, and went very well, no drunken Amanda, no black eyes, just a fun night of dinner, drinking and more dancing.
My parents had made the plan to stay with us on their trip, and Jon’s parents were staying there as well so it’s going to be a full house. Jon and I went with Laura and Kaner to pick up a Christmas tree the week before, so that was decorated and made the house smell amazing. I picked up my parents from the airport the next day, and then Jon picked up his parents the following day while I hung back with my parents at our house. We had a big New Mexican dinner with enchiladas, posole and tamales and flour tortillas. The parents got along great, my dad and Bryan talked sports of course.
Christmas Eve was another home cooked meal with tons of food from home, and Andree had cooked a few things as well, some traditions they had back in Winnipeg. We had hot chocolate and some friendly competitions of Wii bowling and other video games before we called it a night. I always feel like a 5-year-old on Christmas morning, not knowing what to expect and so excited to open presents, I practically jumped on the bed to wake Jon up, then I got coffee started for everyone. Jon opened all the blinds in the house to see a new coat of fresh snow on the ground and it was still falling…gotta love a white Christmas! I had gotten Jon a Rolex watch that he had been eyeing for about a month but never bought, he got me a new pair of Uggs and some Chanel sunglasses…oh how I love him. Jon gave my dad a Hawks jersey signed by all the players, and my mom a gift card to the nicest spa in Chicago. Having just met, our parents didn’t exchange anything but cards, until they decided to do a dinner one night of just the 4 of them.
There had been 2 home games that we had gone to with the parents and they also went to dinner one night while Jon and I stayed at the house. All the parents headed back home and there was one road game against Buffalo the night before New Years eve, so they flew out for that while the girls and I stayed home and planned our big New Years Eve bash, which was going to be at Brent and Dayna’s house this year. Her and I had gotten outfits the other day that we decided to wear, so we just had to pick up all the food, which were just basic food trays that Costco sold, and we stocked up on the alcohol and the plastic ware also. The decorations that we decided to do was unbelievable, we had streamers everywhere, party hats, confetti, balloons, you name it, and it was probably there. The boy had arrived home on New Years Eve day after losing a close game against the Sabres 3-2. I joined Jon for a nap when he got home before getting ready for the party.
Dayna, Abby and I did some last minute setting up after arriving before people started showing up at 9. We had a table set up for beer pong and flip cup, and another table to play kings, Duncan brought his poker set so the guys could do that too. Laura and Kaner were the first to show up (she had to add that he had asked her to be his girlfriend on Christmas Eve…about time Kaner!) and before long, more then half the team and their wives or girlfriends were all at the house. Brent moved furniture out of the way so we had room to have a little dance floor. The night had gone by so fast because next thing I know, Dayna and I are getting the glasses of champagne ready for the toast. I walk over to the couch where Jon is standing and hand him a glass as he slips his arm around my back.
“I can’t believe it’s already going to be 2012,” Jon says
“I know this year went by so fast!” I tell him
“Are you glad you made the move out here?”
“Of course, I had plans to move out of New Mexico after I graduated anyways, but I’m glad it was here, the last half of the year has been amazing. I have the job of my dreams pretty much, I have an amazing boyfriend that I love so much, and I have great friends,”
“Yeah, it’s been amazing, sad that we didn’t win the cup this year, but I’m really glad I have my beautiful girlfriend out here with me,”
“Aww, thanks babe,”
“Of course, I love you, J,”
“I love you too,”
“Ok, guys, there’s 1 minute left in the year!” Sharpie yells
“Hellll yeah! This is our year gentlemen!” Kaner adds
“Kaner, you are so drunk!” Laura says,
“I know, ha ha”
“Ooooook, lets get this countdown started!” Kaner yells again
“8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year!” we all yell, Jon wraps his arms around me as we share a kiss
“Here’s to an amazing year together, we have so much to look forward to, I love you so much baby,”
“I can’t wait to see what the year brings us, I love you,”
Everyone partied into the early hours of the morning, most of the guys crashed at the house, we all got maybe 2 or 3 hours of sleep and then decided to wake up and watch the Winter Classic, which was at Yankee Stadium, between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadians. Abby and Elina went to the store for milk and juice while Dayna and I stayed back and made breakfast for everyone, thankfully there was only 12 of us, instead of the 25 that had been there only a few hours before, Chelsea and Laura were also there still and Chelsea decided to make mimosa’s when the girls got back from the store.
“So, here’s to a new year,” Chelsea says
“New adventures,” Laura says
“No crazy girlfriends,” I say with a laugh
“Ha! Yeah hopefully, but most of the guys now are taken, so hopefully that wont be much of a problem now,” Abby adds
“Yeah, except for Jeremy and Skille, all the guys are married or have girlfriends,”
“And Jake too,” Chelsea says
“Oh, yeah! I forgot about him, poor guy,” Abby says
“I know, at least they are still civil to each other for the baby though,” I say,
The girls got back and the boys had stampeded into the kitchen at the smell of the food, so we all got our plates ready and got settled in to watch the outdoor game.
February
Already the first month of 2012 had gone by quick, the guys were unstoppable, and winning 12 of the 15 games played in January, including 7 in a row. They had knocked the Kings out of 1st in the western conference and sat in 3rd place overall in the league, behind the Penguins and Hurricanes.
For the longest time, I was a boycotter of Valentine’s Day, I either never had a valentine, or just had bad luck, and so I completely hated it. Jon had little things planned throughout the day as well as after their game against the Oilers. He made breakfast in bed and sent me to a spa for the day while he was at practice, so I took advantage of it, got a great massage and also got my nails done before heading home. I walked into see a dozen red roses on the counter and another dozen on my nightstand in the bedroom. We cooked dinner together before heading to the arena for the game.
Diana and Abby had ordered a bunch of single stem red roses, pink roses and also red and pink carnations for the wags to hand out to all the ladies coming to the arena. The guys beat the Oilers in overtime, and all made quick post game interviews with the media before jetting out for plans with their ladies. I was sitting in the lounge talking to the girls when Jon came up and grabbed my hand for us to leave as I said a quick goodbye to everyone. He said he had some more plans to end the evening, saying he was going to make it the best Valentine’s Day ever; and of course not saying anything else about it, which surprised me because he was the worst person ever to keep secrets.
We had gotten home and he sent me to one of the guest bedrooms so he could set up whatever he had planned. After 10 minutes of sitting on the bed, he came in to get me. He had set up the balcony just like it had been on the night of our first date back in March. There were more blankets and candles then before, being that it was still cold, and he had wine and chocolate covered strawberries again, and topped off with George Strait playing in the background…geez who woulda known that Jon could be such a romantic guy. We polished off the bottle of wine when he mentioned the idea of a nice hot bubble bath. So I cleaned up the balcony stuff while he got the bathtub ready. I followed Jon into the bathroom in my bathrobe to see that he had filled it all the way up and added rose petals and more candles around the bathroom. We lay in the bathtub for almost an hour before our skin got all shriveled up. I started to reach for a towel to dry off when Jon just picked me up in his arms and carried me to the bed and slowly climbed on top of me before sliding himself into me. I had to give him credit though, he planned the amazing night, and so he deserved a little something extra if you know what I mean. And it really was the best Valentine’s Day ever, so I hated the holiday just a little less then I had before.
The guys had another 4-day Canadian road trip the following week. I stayed behind so I could do some office work with Diana and also Adam. The office had been pretty quiet for now, not many events going on until late March. I talked to Jon everyday, they had gone 2 for 2 on the road games, and he felt that the loss to the Flames was his fault because he caused the turnover that ended up being the game winner for them. The guys won the last game against Toronto, and Kaner had the bright idea to go out that night for some drinks. Jon had said he didn’t feel like drinking so between him and Sharpie, I think they would do fine with keeping the other boys in line. Laura heard about it and started freaking out, but I calmed her down, and told her that if she trusted Pat, then things would be fine. I was wrong.
The boys had gotten home the next day and took the bus from the airport to the arena, where the wags were waiting. Jon came into my office, and was in a quiet mood, I questioned to ask him about it but I figured he was just tired and didn’t worry about it. Patrick was extra quiet also, but that is a whole other story because Pat is never one to be quiet, so something is wrong. I gave him a hug and said good game, he quietly said thanks before I asked if he was ok, he responded with a nod and said he might call me later to talk…oh shit.
My parents had made the plan to stay with us on their trip, and Jon’s parents were staying there as well so it’s going to be a full house. Jon and I went with Laura and Kaner to pick up a Christmas tree the week before, so that was decorated and made the house smell amazing. I picked up my parents from the airport the next day, and then Jon picked up his parents the following day while I hung back with my parents at our house. We had a big New Mexican dinner with enchiladas, posole and tamales and flour tortillas. The parents got along great, my dad and Bryan talked sports of course.
Christmas Eve was another home cooked meal with tons of food from home, and Andree had cooked a few things as well, some traditions they had back in Winnipeg. We had hot chocolate and some friendly competitions of Wii bowling and other video games before we called it a night. I always feel like a 5-year-old on Christmas morning, not knowing what to expect and so excited to open presents, I practically jumped on the bed to wake Jon up, then I got coffee started for everyone. Jon opened all the blinds in the house to see a new coat of fresh snow on the ground and it was still falling…gotta love a white Christmas! I had gotten Jon a Rolex watch that he had been eyeing for about a month but never bought, he got me a new pair of Uggs and some Chanel sunglasses…oh how I love him. Jon gave my dad a Hawks jersey signed by all the players, and my mom a gift card to the nicest spa in Chicago. Having just met, our parents didn’t exchange anything but cards, until they decided to do a dinner one night of just the 4 of them.
There had been 2 home games that we had gone to with the parents and they also went to dinner one night while Jon and I stayed at the house. All the parents headed back home and there was one road game against Buffalo the night before New Years eve, so they flew out for that while the girls and I stayed home and planned our big New Years Eve bash, which was going to be at Brent and Dayna’s house this year. Her and I had gotten outfits the other day that we decided to wear, so we just had to pick up all the food, which were just basic food trays that Costco sold, and we stocked up on the alcohol and the plastic ware also. The decorations that we decided to do was unbelievable, we had streamers everywhere, party hats, confetti, balloons, you name it, and it was probably there. The boy had arrived home on New Years Eve day after losing a close game against the Sabres 3-2. I joined Jon for a nap when he got home before getting ready for the party.
Dayna, Abby and I did some last minute setting up after arriving before people started showing up at 9. We had a table set up for beer pong and flip cup, and another table to play kings, Duncan brought his poker set so the guys could do that too. Laura and Kaner were the first to show up (she had to add that he had asked her to be his girlfriend on Christmas Eve…about time Kaner!) and before long, more then half the team and their wives or girlfriends were all at the house. Brent moved furniture out of the way so we had room to have a little dance floor. The night had gone by so fast because next thing I know, Dayna and I are getting the glasses of champagne ready for the toast. I walk over to the couch where Jon is standing and hand him a glass as he slips his arm around my back.
“I can’t believe it’s already going to be 2012,” Jon says
“I know this year went by so fast!” I tell him
“Are you glad you made the move out here?”
“Of course, I had plans to move out of New Mexico after I graduated anyways, but I’m glad it was here, the last half of the year has been amazing. I have the job of my dreams pretty much, I have an amazing boyfriend that I love so much, and I have great friends,”
“Yeah, it’s been amazing, sad that we didn’t win the cup this year, but I’m really glad I have my beautiful girlfriend out here with me,”
“Aww, thanks babe,”
“Of course, I love you, J,”
“I love you too,”
“Ok, guys, there’s 1 minute left in the year!” Sharpie yells
“Hellll yeah! This is our year gentlemen!” Kaner adds
“Kaner, you are so drunk!” Laura says,
“I know, ha ha”
“Ooooook, lets get this countdown started!” Kaner yells again
“8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year!” we all yell, Jon wraps his arms around me as we share a kiss
“Here’s to an amazing year together, we have so much to look forward to, I love you so much baby,”
“I can’t wait to see what the year brings us, I love you,”
Everyone partied into the early hours of the morning, most of the guys crashed at the house, we all got maybe 2 or 3 hours of sleep and then decided to wake up and watch the Winter Classic, which was at Yankee Stadium, between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadians. Abby and Elina went to the store for milk and juice while Dayna and I stayed back and made breakfast for everyone, thankfully there was only 12 of us, instead of the 25 that had been there only a few hours before, Chelsea and Laura were also there still and Chelsea decided to make mimosa’s when the girls got back from the store.
“So, here’s to a new year,” Chelsea says
“New adventures,” Laura says
“No crazy girlfriends,” I say with a laugh
“Ha! Yeah hopefully, but most of the guys now are taken, so hopefully that wont be much of a problem now,” Abby adds
“Yeah, except for Jeremy and Skille, all the guys are married or have girlfriends,”
“And Jake too,” Chelsea says
“Oh, yeah! I forgot about him, poor guy,” Abby says
“I know, at least they are still civil to each other for the baby though,” I say,
The girls got back and the boys had stampeded into the kitchen at the smell of the food, so we all got our plates ready and got settled in to watch the outdoor game.
February
Already the first month of 2012 had gone by quick, the guys were unstoppable, and winning 12 of the 15 games played in January, including 7 in a row. They had knocked the Kings out of 1st in the western conference and sat in 3rd place overall in the league, behind the Penguins and Hurricanes.
For the longest time, I was a boycotter of Valentine’s Day, I either never had a valentine, or just had bad luck, and so I completely hated it. Jon had little things planned throughout the day as well as after their game against the Oilers. He made breakfast in bed and sent me to a spa for the day while he was at practice, so I took advantage of it, got a great massage and also got my nails done before heading home. I walked into see a dozen red roses on the counter and another dozen on my nightstand in the bedroom. We cooked dinner together before heading to the arena for the game.
Diana and Abby had ordered a bunch of single stem red roses, pink roses and also red and pink carnations for the wags to hand out to all the ladies coming to the arena. The guys beat the Oilers in overtime, and all made quick post game interviews with the media before jetting out for plans with their ladies. I was sitting in the lounge talking to the girls when Jon came up and grabbed my hand for us to leave as I said a quick goodbye to everyone. He said he had some more plans to end the evening, saying he was going to make it the best Valentine’s Day ever; and of course not saying anything else about it, which surprised me because he was the worst person ever to keep secrets.
We had gotten home and he sent me to one of the guest bedrooms so he could set up whatever he had planned. After 10 minutes of sitting on the bed, he came in to get me. He had set up the balcony just like it had been on the night of our first date back in March. There were more blankets and candles then before, being that it was still cold, and he had wine and chocolate covered strawberries again, and topped off with George Strait playing in the background…geez who woulda known that Jon could be such a romantic guy. We polished off the bottle of wine when he mentioned the idea of a nice hot bubble bath. So I cleaned up the balcony stuff while he got the bathtub ready. I followed Jon into the bathroom in my bathrobe to see that he had filled it all the way up and added rose petals and more candles around the bathroom. We lay in the bathtub for almost an hour before our skin got all shriveled up. I started to reach for a towel to dry off when Jon just picked me up in his arms and carried me to the bed and slowly climbed on top of me before sliding himself into me. I had to give him credit though, he planned the amazing night, and so he deserved a little something extra if you know what I mean. And it really was the best Valentine’s Day ever, so I hated the holiday just a little less then I had before.
The guys had another 4-day Canadian road trip the following week. I stayed behind so I could do some office work with Diana and also Adam. The office had been pretty quiet for now, not many events going on until late March. I talked to Jon everyday, they had gone 2 for 2 on the road games, and he felt that the loss to the Flames was his fault because he caused the turnover that ended up being the game winner for them. The guys won the last game against Toronto, and Kaner had the bright idea to go out that night for some drinks. Jon had said he didn’t feel like drinking so between him and Sharpie, I think they would do fine with keeping the other boys in line. Laura heard about it and started freaking out, but I calmed her down, and told her that if she trusted Pat, then things would be fine. I was wrong.
The boys had gotten home the next day and took the bus from the airport to the arena, where the wags were waiting. Jon came into my office, and was in a quiet mood, I questioned to ask him about it but I figured he was just tired and didn’t worry about it. Patrick was extra quiet also, but that is a whole other story because Pat is never one to be quiet, so something is wrong. I gave him a hug and said good game, he quietly said thanks before I asked if he was ok, he responded with a nod and said he might call me later to talk…oh shit.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Chapter 17
**I am currently in Hawaii for Christmas break with my family, so I'm not sure when I will get another chapter posted because the internet connection isnt the greatest, but here's a chapter for now, hopefully I will get more written soon! Kind of using this vacation as an inspiration for my writing. So enjoy! And as always, comments and feedback are always welcome :)
PS-had a run in with Ryan Getzlaf and a few Ducks players at the airport...pretty disappointed actually, he was pretty rude, so sorry for any Getzlaf lovers out there but I got a bad impression of him.
After a lopsided loss to the Senators, we were on our way to Toronto, and I met up with his parents at the arena during the boys’ morning skate. Andree and Bryan joined the girls and I in the owner’s box for the game that night. The game started with a fight in the opening two minutes…it was Colby Armstrong up against Brent, who easily got in some good punches before Colby knocked him onto the ice and the refs separated them. Good ‘ol Colby, was now my favorite Leafs player, since he’ll probably never go back to the Pens, but he’s an amazing player, minus the fact that Brent owned him in the fight. The fight between those 2 boys pumped up the Hawks and they were non stop after that, Jon got his first hat trick of the season and Brent had a 4 point night, and we won by a margin of 8-3.
After the Canadian road trip, the boys had a 2-day break before their 3 game home stand against the Blues, Sabres and Canucks. The game against the Canucks was the team’s Hockey Fights Cancer night, and being that this was my first year helping with it, it was my responsibility to get hockey pucks signed by the guys and wrapped in purple tissue paper for our HFC table at the arena; and let me tell you, trying to get almost 300 pucks signed was not an easy task. But the night was a success, and the boys getting the win made it more enjoyable.
Halloween was right around the corner, and Patrick and Abby were getting ready to host the team’s annual Halloween party, which was going to be on Saturday following the afternoon game against the Hurricanes. Game day came and much to the dismay of the boys, me, Abby, Dayna, Laura and Savannah watched the game at Abby’s house while we got it all decorated and ready for the party. I had decided to make Jell-O shots the night before, some with tequila and some with 2 different kinds of vodka; Dayna was in charge of making the jungle juice. The boys won the game in a shootout, so we knew they would be happy and ready to party tonight.
By 8:00, the Sharps house was getting pretty crazy with all the loud boys running around everywhere. Jon and I dressed as Danny and Sandy from Grease; Abby, Dayna, Patrick and Brent dressed as some of the Pink Ladies and T-Birds from Grease also, Laura was a sailor and Pat was a Pirate. Most of the team was there except for the few that had kids and no sitters that night. Jeremy, Jake and Bryan came dressed as the 3 stooges, and girls with them on each arm, who were clearly more excited about being there with all the hockey players then their dates themselves…in fact, after looking at one of the girls, I think I recalled seeing her with one of the Stars players, and also with one of the Sharks players when they played the boys here a coupe weeks ago…now there’s a jersey chaser for ya. Plus, Amanda wasn’t with Jeremy, so that was even better. We had a beer pong table set up in the basement, and Kaner kept running his mouth about how he could kick my ass at beer pong, so Jon and I challenged him and Laura to the first match of the night. We beat them the first game, and Pat wanted a rematch, so we had one and beat them again, then I gave up because we weren’t even drinking, and I didn’t want to mix beer and tequila because then I’d be one sick girl in the morning. The party was amazing, everyone had a lot of fun and there was no drama at all which is how we like it. A few of the guys crashed at Patrick and Abby’s, including Jon and I because we were both so drunk…thank god the boys didn’t have practice in the morning, otherwise coach Q would be pretty upset with a very hung over team.
November flew by and I spent my first Thanksgiving away from my family, which was a lot harder then I thought, but with the team on their 6 game road trip through Canada and California, I had to go with them. But knowing that my parents were making plans to come out to Chicago for Christmas made it easier, it would also be the same Christmas that Jon’s parents would be coming out as well, so the parents would all be meeting each other…little bit nervous for that, I wont lie. The road trip wins were back and forth before the boys won the last 2, making it a 4-2 overall record that trip. Adjusting to the cold winter weather in Chicago was easier then I thought, partially because I was used to spending the winters in Pittsburgh, so I didn’t have a problem with it, it just meant getting some cute winter clothes.
The boys were having some stressful home games, so I tried to make it as easy as possible for Jon at home. We had a few date nights and mostly spent time at the house, but that was the best time to have. After that first night of sleeping together, it happened more often, but hey I’m not complaining about it, Jon was a sweet and gentle one, not all crazy rough. And when the girls said if the boys want you all to themselves after a bad game, you just do it, and it was no joke, some of the best sex ever.
The bad games didn’t stop either, the boys lost 4 of their last 6 and the 2 that they did win were in overtime. The boys were on the ice and I was in the office I shared with Lauren when Jon came storming into the office and slammed the door.
“Babe, what’s wrong?” I ask him as he paces the office
“I can’t take this anymore,” he says
“Take what?”
“The loses, the way were playing, the way were getting criticized, its horrible!”
“But ya’ll are out there practicing everyday, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but it is so frustrating right now! And the stupid reporters ask question after question and don’t stop, they do it to get under your skin and they know it!”
“Yeah but isn’t there a point in time when you can tell them your done answering questions?”
“I guess, but I feel like its my job as captain to tell them what’s going on,” he says sitting down
“But it’s also Q’s job too,” I say as I sit in his lap
“Yeah, but ugh”
“I know I wont say the right things because I’m not skating with you guys, I’m not on the ice playing the game, but you guys are working so hard! I know that the losses are always hard, but you guys still worked your asses off and showed everybody that ya’ll should have won them.”
“Yeah, it just sucks, people are saying that we’re favored to win the Cup again this season too,”
“Well, it could happen, don’t let that get in the way though, it’s barely December and there’s still 60+ games left, you guys will get start clicking and winning again”
“Ughhh, ok your right babe,” he says and gives me a kiss
“I’m what?” acting like I didn’t hear it
“Your right!”
“Just wanted to make sure I heard that right,”
“Yeah, you did,” he said giving me another kiss
“Are ya’ll done with practice?”
“Yeah, I just have to change, are you done working?”
“Well I WAS almost done until my crazy boyfriend came to vent to me,”
“Sounds like you gotta keep this boyfriend of yours in line, what else do you have to do?”
“Just send out a few more email reminders to the Army and Navy guys that are coming to the game next week for the toy drive,”
“Toys for Tots is already next week?”
“Yep, the girls and I will be at tables around the arena with the guys collecting toys, then spending the next day wrapping them all,”
“Sounds fun,”
“Yeah, Lauren thought it might be a nice idea if ya’ll helped with the wrapping,”
“I think we could do that,”
“Well, I would sure hope so Jonathan,” Lauren says as she walks in
“Oh ok then, I’ll tell the guys,” he says
“Great! Now I have a few more things to finish so why don’t you go change and I should be done soon,” I say giving him a kiss and scooting him out of the office
“Ok, see you in a few,”
“What was that all about?” Lauren asks as I finish the emails
“Oh, he’s just a little frustrated with the season and the losses, so he was venting,” I say
“But it’s only the beginning of the season,”
“I know, I told him that too, and that they have been working so hard, they just need to get out of this funk of losing and they will be fine,”
“Thata girl, that’s exactly what I tell Brian when he is stressed too, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t,”
“Yeah, and I’ve never dealt with anything like this, the most was when they got knocked out of the playoffs and Jon and I were talking on Skype, we got in a fight cause I didn’t really know what to say, but I think being here kind of helped,”
“Yeah, definitely, and I know he’s happy your out here,”
“Well, I’m glad to be out here too, it’s been a good change from the desert,”
“Ok, so I sent an email to Dayna and Abby about coming by so we can put some signs up around the arena and then decorate the boxes, the toy drive is on Thursday’s game against Calgary, so I told them we should all meet here on Wednesday,”
“Yeah, that sounds great,”
“Ok, then that looks like that’s it for today,”
“Ok, cool,”
“Now, go keep an eye on that boyfriend of yours,” she says with an elbow nudge
“Yeah, I’ll do my best! Bye Lauren!”
“Bye, I’ll call you tomorrow!”
PS-had a run in with Ryan Getzlaf and a few Ducks players at the airport...pretty disappointed actually, he was pretty rude, so sorry for any Getzlaf lovers out there but I got a bad impression of him.
After a lopsided loss to the Senators, we were on our way to Toronto, and I met up with his parents at the arena during the boys’ morning skate. Andree and Bryan joined the girls and I in the owner’s box for the game that night. The game started with a fight in the opening two minutes…it was Colby Armstrong up against Brent, who easily got in some good punches before Colby knocked him onto the ice and the refs separated them. Good ‘ol Colby, was now my favorite Leafs player, since he’ll probably never go back to the Pens, but he’s an amazing player, minus the fact that Brent owned him in the fight. The fight between those 2 boys pumped up the Hawks and they were non stop after that, Jon got his first hat trick of the season and Brent had a 4 point night, and we won by a margin of 8-3.
After the Canadian road trip, the boys had a 2-day break before their 3 game home stand against the Blues, Sabres and Canucks. The game against the Canucks was the team’s Hockey Fights Cancer night, and being that this was my first year helping with it, it was my responsibility to get hockey pucks signed by the guys and wrapped in purple tissue paper for our HFC table at the arena; and let me tell you, trying to get almost 300 pucks signed was not an easy task. But the night was a success, and the boys getting the win made it more enjoyable.
Halloween was right around the corner, and Patrick and Abby were getting ready to host the team’s annual Halloween party, which was going to be on Saturday following the afternoon game against the Hurricanes. Game day came and much to the dismay of the boys, me, Abby, Dayna, Laura and Savannah watched the game at Abby’s house while we got it all decorated and ready for the party. I had decided to make Jell-O shots the night before, some with tequila and some with 2 different kinds of vodka; Dayna was in charge of making the jungle juice. The boys won the game in a shootout, so we knew they would be happy and ready to party tonight.
By 8:00, the Sharps house was getting pretty crazy with all the loud boys running around everywhere. Jon and I dressed as Danny and Sandy from Grease; Abby, Dayna, Patrick and Brent dressed as some of the Pink Ladies and T-Birds from Grease also, Laura was a sailor and Pat was a Pirate. Most of the team was there except for the few that had kids and no sitters that night. Jeremy, Jake and Bryan came dressed as the 3 stooges, and girls with them on each arm, who were clearly more excited about being there with all the hockey players then their dates themselves…in fact, after looking at one of the girls, I think I recalled seeing her with one of the Stars players, and also with one of the Sharks players when they played the boys here a coupe weeks ago…now there’s a jersey chaser for ya. Plus, Amanda wasn’t with Jeremy, so that was even better. We had a beer pong table set up in the basement, and Kaner kept running his mouth about how he could kick my ass at beer pong, so Jon and I challenged him and Laura to the first match of the night. We beat them the first game, and Pat wanted a rematch, so we had one and beat them again, then I gave up because we weren’t even drinking, and I didn’t want to mix beer and tequila because then I’d be one sick girl in the morning. The party was amazing, everyone had a lot of fun and there was no drama at all which is how we like it. A few of the guys crashed at Patrick and Abby’s, including Jon and I because we were both so drunk…thank god the boys didn’t have practice in the morning, otherwise coach Q would be pretty upset with a very hung over team.
November flew by and I spent my first Thanksgiving away from my family, which was a lot harder then I thought, but with the team on their 6 game road trip through Canada and California, I had to go with them. But knowing that my parents were making plans to come out to Chicago for Christmas made it easier, it would also be the same Christmas that Jon’s parents would be coming out as well, so the parents would all be meeting each other…little bit nervous for that, I wont lie. The road trip wins were back and forth before the boys won the last 2, making it a 4-2 overall record that trip. Adjusting to the cold winter weather in Chicago was easier then I thought, partially because I was used to spending the winters in Pittsburgh, so I didn’t have a problem with it, it just meant getting some cute winter clothes.
The boys were having some stressful home games, so I tried to make it as easy as possible for Jon at home. We had a few date nights and mostly spent time at the house, but that was the best time to have. After that first night of sleeping together, it happened more often, but hey I’m not complaining about it, Jon was a sweet and gentle one, not all crazy rough. And when the girls said if the boys want you all to themselves after a bad game, you just do it, and it was no joke, some of the best sex ever.
The bad games didn’t stop either, the boys lost 4 of their last 6 and the 2 that they did win were in overtime. The boys were on the ice and I was in the office I shared with Lauren when Jon came storming into the office and slammed the door.
“Babe, what’s wrong?” I ask him as he paces the office
“I can’t take this anymore,” he says
“Take what?”
“The loses, the way were playing, the way were getting criticized, its horrible!”
“But ya’ll are out there practicing everyday, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but it is so frustrating right now! And the stupid reporters ask question after question and don’t stop, they do it to get under your skin and they know it!”
“Yeah but isn’t there a point in time when you can tell them your done answering questions?”
“I guess, but I feel like its my job as captain to tell them what’s going on,” he says sitting down
“But it’s also Q’s job too,” I say as I sit in his lap
“Yeah, but ugh”
“I know I wont say the right things because I’m not skating with you guys, I’m not on the ice playing the game, but you guys are working so hard! I know that the losses are always hard, but you guys still worked your asses off and showed everybody that ya’ll should have won them.”
“Yeah, it just sucks, people are saying that we’re favored to win the Cup again this season too,”
“Well, it could happen, don’t let that get in the way though, it’s barely December and there’s still 60+ games left, you guys will get start clicking and winning again”
“Ughhh, ok your right babe,” he says and gives me a kiss
“I’m what?” acting like I didn’t hear it
“Your right!”
“Just wanted to make sure I heard that right,”
“Yeah, you did,” he said giving me another kiss
“Are ya’ll done with practice?”
“Yeah, I just have to change, are you done working?”
“Well I WAS almost done until my crazy boyfriend came to vent to me,”
“Sounds like you gotta keep this boyfriend of yours in line, what else do you have to do?”
“Just send out a few more email reminders to the Army and Navy guys that are coming to the game next week for the toy drive,”
“Toys for Tots is already next week?”
“Yep, the girls and I will be at tables around the arena with the guys collecting toys, then spending the next day wrapping them all,”
“Sounds fun,”
“Yeah, Lauren thought it might be a nice idea if ya’ll helped with the wrapping,”
“I think we could do that,”
“Well, I would sure hope so Jonathan,” Lauren says as she walks in
“Oh ok then, I’ll tell the guys,” he says
“Great! Now I have a few more things to finish so why don’t you go change and I should be done soon,” I say giving him a kiss and scooting him out of the office
“Ok, see you in a few,”
“What was that all about?” Lauren asks as I finish the emails
“Oh, he’s just a little frustrated with the season and the losses, so he was venting,” I say
“But it’s only the beginning of the season,”
“I know, I told him that too, and that they have been working so hard, they just need to get out of this funk of losing and they will be fine,”
“Thata girl, that’s exactly what I tell Brian when he is stressed too, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t,”
“Yeah, and I’ve never dealt with anything like this, the most was when they got knocked out of the playoffs and Jon and I were talking on Skype, we got in a fight cause I didn’t really know what to say, but I think being here kind of helped,”
“Yeah, definitely, and I know he’s happy your out here,”
“Well, I’m glad to be out here too, it’s been a good change from the desert,”
“Ok, so I sent an email to Dayna and Abby about coming by so we can put some signs up around the arena and then decorate the boxes, the toy drive is on Thursday’s game against Calgary, so I told them we should all meet here on Wednesday,”
“Yeah, that sounds great,”
“Ok, then that looks like that’s it for today,”
“Ok, cool,”
“Now, go keep an eye on that boyfriend of yours,” she says with an elbow nudge
“Yeah, I’ll do my best! Bye Lauren!”
“Bye, I’ll call you tomorrow!”
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Chapter 16
Preseason was underway with one win already taken strongly from the Caps, the boys were playing the Sharks and Lightning before a road trip to Phoenix and Atlanta to conclude the preseason games. Stan had assigned me to go on the road trip, to write an article on some of the pre or post game press conferences. He also handed me a press pass and an extremely nice camera to take pictures if I was able to. On game night against the Sharks, the girls, which consisted of Dayna, Savannah, Elina and Abby, and I decided to sit in our seats behind the boy’s bench, it was only preseason and we didn’t feel like being cooped up in the suite just yet. It was about 30 minutes until puck drop and both teams were on the ice warming up. Savannah and I had been talking about how we were starting to hear girls talk about us, we knew it was going to happen, and some of the girls talking about us were sitting near our seats at the games. We were also talking about how we hadn't seen Amanda around
“I haven’t really talked to Jeremy either, so I don’t even know if she’s still in the picture,” I tell her as were watching warm ups
“Yeah, me either, I’m not too worried though, Jeremy is smarter then that to bring her around here again,” she says
“Oh, no girls, you only wish,” a familiar voice behind us, says…Oh. Shit.
“Amanda, haven’t you learned to stay away from us?” Savannah says
“Hell no…not until I get what I want,” she says
“Ha! And what exactly would that be?” I say
“Jonathan,”
“Over my dead fucking body, you will never go near him,” I say now standing up
“Yeah that’s what you think,” she says with a laugh
“You better watch it, I have so much power over you I could get you kicked out of this arena, and it doesn’t matter if your with Jeremy or not, you would never be let back in,”
“Yeah? With that black eye and everything?”
“Better believe it, everyone knows that you did it, Jon would never hit me”
“I’m not scared of you,” she tells me
“I don’t care if your scared of me or not, I just don’t like you and if you keep causing problems, you will be taken care of and I will make sure of that,”
By this point everyone around us is sitting watching us yell at each other, but I don’t care, this prissy little girl needs to be put in her place. A few security guards come over to see what’s going on, they question both of us and Amanda totally tries to turn me into the bad guy; but she turns into the worst liar and all the girls I’m with, even some fans sitting around us, back me up and agree with me, she ended up getting kicked out.
“Geez, I swear if I ever see that girls face again,” I say as I sit back down
“Jeremy needs to get rid of her!” Dayna says
“I can’t believe she’s trying to go after Jon!” Savannah says
“Oh it doesn’t surprise me, she’d go after anyone she could, but I know Jon wouldn’t touch her, and he loves me so she can keep dreaming,” I say proudly
“Aww, he said he loves you?” Dayna asked
“Yeah the other night on the boat when we were dancing to George Strait,”
“So cute!” All the girls say
The game starts a few minutes after the girls get a little more details out of me about Jon and I. Neither team scored until the second period, when Devin Setoguchi got a tip in on a power play with Jon in the box, something he wasn’t too happy about. But with the Hawks on a power play a few minutes later, that changed when Jon picked up a beautiful pass from Taylor and shot it top shelf to put it behind Niemi. Savannah and I both cheered for our boys, along with the other girls too. It was a pretty slow game, after Sharpie got a short handed goal to tie it again at 2, the Sharks tied it up and scored again to seal the deal. The boys didn’t seem too upset in the locker room, it was only preseason and they knew the work they needed to do.
Needlessly to say, the rest of preseason went really good. The boys beat Tampa Bay, and had a strong road trip, easily beating the Coyotes 4-0, and not very welcoming fans of having Taylor back in the building; and then beat Atlanta 6-5. The first week of the regular season had all of the games at home, and consisted of games against Anaheim, Dallas, Florida and Pittsburgh. Work had been in full swing, and Lauren and I had very busy schedules that week, starting with the red carpet night for the season opener. Then our game against Florida was a promotional night where all the ladies of the Better Halves stood at the doors, handing out players t-shirts. We finally caught a break on game day against the Penguins. Morning skate was over for the boys and the visiting Pens took the ice. Lauren, Abby and I were going back and forth between making copies and running back and forth to the mail room by the time the ice was clear. I was walking to meet Jon and reading an email when I got knocked off my feet
“Oh man, I am so sorry, are you ok?” I hear as a hand comes my way to help me up
“Yeah, I’m sorry I should really pay attention,” I say looking up
“No, it’s my fault, I’m Jordan. Staal.”
“I know. Jamie” I tell him as I shake his hand
“Curiosity usually gets the best of me, so I decided to walk around a bit,”
“Oh, that’s not a problem, all of the boys usually do,”
“ Staalzy! We gotta go man,” Kris Letang walks up behind him before continuing
“Oh, sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt,”
“No it’s fine,” I say
“So, I take it you work for the Hawks right, meaning you will be at the game tonight?” Jordan asks
“Yep, I’m stuck in the middle too because I grew up a Pens fan, but my boyfriend plays for the Hawks…so I’ll be ok with whoever wins tonight,”
“Oh, it will be us,” Kris says confidently
“Your boyfriend is a Hawk? Which one?” Jordan asks
“Well, if you happen to run into me again before the game, you can find out when you see me in his jersey, it was nice meeting you guys” I say with a smile and walk away
“Hey babe, what took you so long?” Jon asks as I sit down in the locker room
“Oh, I ran into a couple Pens players in passing,”
“You did? Who?”
“Staal and Letang, I was walking this way and not paying attention when I ran into Jordan and then Kris came up so we talked for a few minutes,”
“Oh, I thought you were going to say Sid, and pass out on me” he says with a laugh
“Nah, I’ve met him before so the star-stuck stage is gone, but I think my heart skipped a beat when I saw Jordan,” I said jokingly like a 15-year-old girl
“Figures,”
“Oh hush, you know I love you, but Jordan is a good looking guy, I mean good looks run in the Staal family,”
“Yeah babe, I know,” he says before he kisses me, and finishes
“And Jordan doesn’t get to do that, so I’m not worried,” as we start walking out
“Oh he doesn’t know that you’re my boyfriend, he asked and I was like you’ll figure it out if you run into me again because I’ll be in his jersey,”
“Oh yeah, cause there’s only a million girls with my jersey,”
“Wow, babe, so cocky! Maybe I’ll wear Brent’s jersey instead! Ha ha”
“You wouldn’t dare!” He says
“Nope, I really wouldn’t, I love you way more,”
“Good, I love you too,”
After Jon’s pre game nap and dinner, we’re heading back to the arena, with Laura and Kaner in the back seat of the car. Laura about flips a lid when she hears about my run in with Jordan
“Dude, you like love him!” she says
“Ha! No I love the man that’s sitting next to me right now, but I’ve always had a little crush on him,” I tell her,
“Ooh, ok then, as long as this one knows” she says as she points to Jon
“Yeah, I’m not too worried about that one, I know who she’s going home with after the game,” he says with a smile
Laura and I meet up with the girls in the locker room and we all make our way to our seats after getting some drinks and junk food. At one point during warm ups, Sid and Jon were talking and then joking around, playing keep away from Geno, who was at center ice, then Jordan got in Sid’s face and they both started laughing before the boys went back to their team warm ups. I look back at the ice and laugh at Jordan as he’s looking around the seats; Letang beat him to it and yelled at him then pointed to us. He yells at me from center ice and I respond by waving back, he motions for me to stand up, so I do and I turn straight around for him to see TOEWS plastered across my back. Looked to me like he said ‘I knew it!’ with a laugh, I just shake my head at him as he skates around a few more times. It was another win for the boys, hard fought too, but we got our first win. And of course I ran into Jordan again, walking towards the locker room as they were leaving
“I shoulda known that your boyfriend was Jonny,” he says
“Well good guess, and good game tonight too,”
“Thanks, I had a feeling the boys wouldn’t give up that fast,”
“Yeah and especially against the reigning champs”
“Yeah well we can’t win them all,”
“No but you’ll get some. Oh and please beat the Flyers when you play them, I HATE them,”
“Jordo! Who is this lovely lady?” Max and Sid come up behind him
“This would be Tazer’s girlfriend,” he says and introduces me right as Jon comes up at the same time
“Gentlemen,” he says
“Yo, Tazer, you got a beauty here!” Max says
“Thanks, Max, I sure try,”
“We gotta be on the bus in 5,” Sid says, as I’m talking to Jon and getting my camera
“So, I hate to be an annoying fan but can I get a picture with you boys?”
I got an amazing picture with the boys I grew up watching, pretty sure my life was complete. We all said bye as they got on the bus to go back to the Burgh. The boys finish in the locker room, then me, Jon, Pat and Laura head to Jon's car. There were a few fans outside the arena so Jon and Pat got out to do some autographs and pictures. A little girl with her dad was so happy to see the boys that she started crying and it made me smile, she waved to me and asked Jon who I was, she wanted to say hi to me too,
"Hi sweetie! Whats your name?" I say as i kneel to her level
"Amanda, I think your pretty!" she says
"Aw thank you Amanda! Your a beautiful little girl!"
"Thank you, I like you with Jon, I think you guys are cute!"
"Oh, your so sweet! I do too"
"Can I take a picture with you and Jon?" she asks shyly
"Of course!"
So Jon comes on the other side of her and we all smile for a picture. We all get back into the car, Jon is determined that I made that girls life, but she was so cute!
The boys started their road trip the next day, which happened to be the first of a few Canadian road trips, and it also happened to be during the Canadian Thanksgiving. Jon’s parents were meeting up with us for the games, and Jon was excited about that and seeing them for the holiday and also for them to spend more time with me. Dayna, Savannah and I were the only girls to go on the road trip with the guys, Elina had classes and the other wives had jobs and kids to take care of. The first game was against Ottawa, so the girls and I spent the day at the arena while the boys were practicing. The girls and I saw Carrie Underwood passing us in the hallway, so we stopped and talked with her for a few minutes, such a sweet girl.
“I haven’t really talked to Jeremy either, so I don’t even know if she’s still in the picture,” I tell her as were watching warm ups
“Yeah, me either, I’m not too worried though, Jeremy is smarter then that to bring her around here again,” she says
“Oh, no girls, you only wish,” a familiar voice behind us, says…Oh. Shit.
“Amanda, haven’t you learned to stay away from us?” Savannah says
“Hell no…not until I get what I want,” she says
“Ha! And what exactly would that be?” I say
“Jonathan,”
“Over my dead fucking body, you will never go near him,” I say now standing up
“Yeah that’s what you think,” she says with a laugh
“You better watch it, I have so much power over you I could get you kicked out of this arena, and it doesn’t matter if your with Jeremy or not, you would never be let back in,”
“Yeah? With that black eye and everything?”
“Better believe it, everyone knows that you did it, Jon would never hit me”
“I’m not scared of you,” she tells me
“I don’t care if your scared of me or not, I just don’t like you and if you keep causing problems, you will be taken care of and I will make sure of that,”
By this point everyone around us is sitting watching us yell at each other, but I don’t care, this prissy little girl needs to be put in her place. A few security guards come over to see what’s going on, they question both of us and Amanda totally tries to turn me into the bad guy; but she turns into the worst liar and all the girls I’m with, even some fans sitting around us, back me up and agree with me, she ended up getting kicked out.
“Geez, I swear if I ever see that girls face again,” I say as I sit back down
“Jeremy needs to get rid of her!” Dayna says
“I can’t believe she’s trying to go after Jon!” Savannah says
“Oh it doesn’t surprise me, she’d go after anyone she could, but I know Jon wouldn’t touch her, and he loves me so she can keep dreaming,” I say proudly
“Aww, he said he loves you?” Dayna asked
“Yeah the other night on the boat when we were dancing to George Strait,”
“So cute!” All the girls say
The game starts a few minutes after the girls get a little more details out of me about Jon and I. Neither team scored until the second period, when Devin Setoguchi got a tip in on a power play with Jon in the box, something he wasn’t too happy about. But with the Hawks on a power play a few minutes later, that changed when Jon picked up a beautiful pass from Taylor and shot it top shelf to put it behind Niemi. Savannah and I both cheered for our boys, along with the other girls too. It was a pretty slow game, after Sharpie got a short handed goal to tie it again at 2, the Sharks tied it up and scored again to seal the deal. The boys didn’t seem too upset in the locker room, it was only preseason and they knew the work they needed to do.
Needlessly to say, the rest of preseason went really good. The boys beat Tampa Bay, and had a strong road trip, easily beating the Coyotes 4-0, and not very welcoming fans of having Taylor back in the building; and then beat Atlanta 6-5. The first week of the regular season had all of the games at home, and consisted of games against Anaheim, Dallas, Florida and Pittsburgh. Work had been in full swing, and Lauren and I had very busy schedules that week, starting with the red carpet night for the season opener. Then our game against Florida was a promotional night where all the ladies of the Better Halves stood at the doors, handing out players t-shirts. We finally caught a break on game day against the Penguins. Morning skate was over for the boys and the visiting Pens took the ice. Lauren, Abby and I were going back and forth between making copies and running back and forth to the mail room by the time the ice was clear. I was walking to meet Jon and reading an email when I got knocked off my feet
“Oh man, I am so sorry, are you ok?” I hear as a hand comes my way to help me up
“Yeah, I’m sorry I should really pay attention,” I say looking up
“No, it’s my fault, I’m Jordan. Staal.”
“I know. Jamie” I tell him as I shake his hand
“Curiosity usually gets the best of me, so I decided to walk around a bit,”
“Oh, that’s not a problem, all of the boys usually do,”
“ Staalzy! We gotta go man,” Kris Letang walks up behind him before continuing
“Oh, sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt,”
“No it’s fine,” I say
“So, I take it you work for the Hawks right, meaning you will be at the game tonight?” Jordan asks
“Yep, I’m stuck in the middle too because I grew up a Pens fan, but my boyfriend plays for the Hawks…so I’ll be ok with whoever wins tonight,”
“Oh, it will be us,” Kris says confidently
“Your boyfriend is a Hawk? Which one?” Jordan asks
“Well, if you happen to run into me again before the game, you can find out when you see me in his jersey, it was nice meeting you guys” I say with a smile and walk away
“Hey babe, what took you so long?” Jon asks as I sit down in the locker room
“Oh, I ran into a couple Pens players in passing,”
“You did? Who?”
“Staal and Letang, I was walking this way and not paying attention when I ran into Jordan and then Kris came up so we talked for a few minutes,”
“Oh, I thought you were going to say Sid, and pass out on me” he says with a laugh
“Nah, I’ve met him before so the star-stuck stage is gone, but I think my heart skipped a beat when I saw Jordan,” I said jokingly like a 15-year-old girl
“Figures,”
“Oh hush, you know I love you, but Jordan is a good looking guy, I mean good looks run in the Staal family,”
“Yeah babe, I know,” he says before he kisses me, and finishes
“And Jordan doesn’t get to do that, so I’m not worried,” as we start walking out
“Oh he doesn’t know that you’re my boyfriend, he asked and I was like you’ll figure it out if you run into me again because I’ll be in his jersey,”
“Oh yeah, cause there’s only a million girls with my jersey,”
“Wow, babe, so cocky! Maybe I’ll wear Brent’s jersey instead! Ha ha”
“You wouldn’t dare!” He says
“Nope, I really wouldn’t, I love you way more,”
“Good, I love you too,”
After Jon’s pre game nap and dinner, we’re heading back to the arena, with Laura and Kaner in the back seat of the car. Laura about flips a lid when she hears about my run in with Jordan
“Dude, you like love him!” she says
“Ha! No I love the man that’s sitting next to me right now, but I’ve always had a little crush on him,” I tell her,
“Ooh, ok then, as long as this one knows” she says as she points to Jon
“Yeah, I’m not too worried about that one, I know who she’s going home with after the game,” he says with a smile
Laura and I meet up with the girls in the locker room and we all make our way to our seats after getting some drinks and junk food. At one point during warm ups, Sid and Jon were talking and then joking around, playing keep away from Geno, who was at center ice, then Jordan got in Sid’s face and they both started laughing before the boys went back to their team warm ups. I look back at the ice and laugh at Jordan as he’s looking around the seats; Letang beat him to it and yelled at him then pointed to us. He yells at me from center ice and I respond by waving back, he motions for me to stand up, so I do and I turn straight around for him to see TOEWS plastered across my back. Looked to me like he said ‘I knew it!’ with a laugh, I just shake my head at him as he skates around a few more times. It was another win for the boys, hard fought too, but we got our first win. And of course I ran into Jordan again, walking towards the locker room as they were leaving
“I shoulda known that your boyfriend was Jonny,” he says
“Well good guess, and good game tonight too,”
“Thanks, I had a feeling the boys wouldn’t give up that fast,”
“Yeah and especially against the reigning champs”
“Yeah well we can’t win them all,”
“No but you’ll get some. Oh and please beat the Flyers when you play them, I HATE them,”
“Jordo! Who is this lovely lady?” Max and Sid come up behind him
“This would be Tazer’s girlfriend,” he says and introduces me right as Jon comes up at the same time
“Gentlemen,” he says
“Yo, Tazer, you got a beauty here!” Max says
“Thanks, Max, I sure try,”
“We gotta be on the bus in 5,” Sid says, as I’m talking to Jon and getting my camera
“So, I hate to be an annoying fan but can I get a picture with you boys?”
I got an amazing picture with the boys I grew up watching, pretty sure my life was complete. We all said bye as they got on the bus to go back to the Burgh. The boys finish in the locker room, then me, Jon, Pat and Laura head to Jon's car. There were a few fans outside the arena so Jon and Pat got out to do some autographs and pictures. A little girl with her dad was so happy to see the boys that she started crying and it made me smile, she waved to me and asked Jon who I was, she wanted to say hi to me too,
"Hi sweetie! Whats your name?" I say as i kneel to her level
"Amanda, I think your pretty!" she says
"Aw thank you Amanda! Your a beautiful little girl!"
"Thank you, I like you with Jon, I think you guys are cute!"
"Oh, your so sweet! I do too"
"Can I take a picture with you and Jon?" she asks shyly
"Of course!"
So Jon comes on the other side of her and we all smile for a picture. We all get back into the car, Jon is determined that I made that girls life, but she was so cute!
The boys started their road trip the next day, which happened to be the first of a few Canadian road trips, and it also happened to be during the Canadian Thanksgiving. Jon’s parents were meeting up with us for the games, and Jon was excited about that and seeing them for the holiday and also for them to spend more time with me. Dayna, Savannah and I were the only girls to go on the road trip with the guys, Elina had classes and the other wives had jobs and kids to take care of. The first game was against Ottawa, so the girls and I spent the day at the arena while the boys were practicing. The girls and I saw Carrie Underwood passing us in the hallway, so we stopped and talked with her for a few minutes, such a sweet girl.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Chapter 15
The next weekend was when we were having the team night on the riverboat. The wags and I had sent out flyers a few weeks before to remind everyone, even though most of the guys knew. It was a black and white themed party, so thankfully I had picked up a dress a few weeks ago while me and Dayna were shopping, it was white dress with a black bow across the middle and black along the bottom, I had another black dress that I let Laura borrow so she had a dress to wear, since Kaner had asked her to go with him. Her, Dayna and I had all hung out at the house to get ready while the guys were there too getting dressed and then playing video games until we were done. Us girls were joking around while getting ready and taking goofy pictures, but it was pretty typical of us lately. We had taken about 2 hours to get ready, knowing that this was one of the big events for the Hawks and there was going to be a lot of press there. Abby and I had talked to Stan and Diana a few weeks before and given her the idea of renting a party bus for the guys and wags so we wouldn’t have to worry about driving; they said that it was a fabulous and smart idea.
After we were all ready, Jon had gotten the call from Sharpie that the bus was outside, so we all left the house and walked out the door towards the bus. Sharpie, Abby, Nik and Elina, Jordan, Chelsea, Brian, Lauren and Taylor and Savannah were already on the bus.
“Heeeeey!” Sharpie said as we walked on the bus
“Hi Sharpie, hey Abby!” I say with hugs all around
“So are we ready to get this party started??” Sharpie asks
“Sharpie, are you drunk already?” Jon asks
“Toes, don’t you worry about it,” he says, as Abby shakes her head yes
“Ok, Sharpie, whatever you say,” Jon says with a laugh
“Savannah, how do you like Chicago so far?” I ask as I sit next to her
“Definitely different, but so far it’s nice,” She responds
“Yeah, you’ll get used to it, and thankfully you know you’ll be here for 2 years at least with Taylors contract,” I say
“Yeah, hopefully, I’ve only lived in Phoenix so it will be an interesting change to get used to, how long have you been here?”
“Since the end of May, so almost 4 months,”
“Oh wow, and your Jonathan’s girlfriend right?”
“Yeah, how long have you and Taylor been together?”
“It will be a year in February, so have you guys been together for 4 months, or longer?”
“Well technically, we became official in March when I was out here for spring break, so almost 6 months. Jon and I were dating when I got the job offer with the team, so after I graduated, I moved out here,”
“Oh, nice, well that’s cool that you had a job out here. I’m hoping to either find a job or maybe go back to school,”
“Yeah, I was thinking about grad school, but when I got the job with the team, I decided to wait on school,”
The bus had arrived at the dock for the boat that was all lit and ready for the ride. Coach Q and his wife were already there, the Bowman’s were going to come but they were watching the grandkids so they stayed in. The party bus had quickly unloaded, when another one pulled up with the rest of the guys on the team, once we were all on the boat it took off a few minutes later. Abby had dealt with the catering company and I arranged everything for the DJ. Coach Q had welcomed us all on the boat and said a little something about the new team members and the upcoming season, and then it was time for dinner. Jon and I sat at one of the tables with Laura, Pat, Brent, Dayna, Taylor, and Savannah. Savannah was a really sweet girl and I knew she wouldn’t have a problem getting along with any of the girls…or so I thought. I could see Amanda, Jeremy’s date, giving her dirty looks the whole time and I was hoping she would quit because she was such a rude girl and had the worst attitude.
After dinner, the dance started, which is always fun because the guys goof around so much on the dance floor so it makes it pretty entertaining. Jon had specifically asked the DJ to play “I Get Carried Away” by George Strait, and pulled me onto the dance floor
“You remembered,” I told him as we were dancing
“That George Strait is your favorite country singer? How could I forget?” he said
“His songs are always amazing”
“Just like my girlfriend,”
“Aww,” he deserved a kiss for that one
“I mean it though, J. You have been amazing in everything you’ve done and I honestly thank god everyday for bringing you to me, you’re so beautiful and all the work you’ve done for the team and helping me through things has been awesome” he says with a smile and continues
“You really got me to open up a lot and every time we’re together it’s always amazing, I look forward to spending everyday with you. I love you, J.”
“Jon, that was probably one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me. I love you too,” he pulled my face up closer and gave me a kiss after he wiped a tear off my cheek
“Those are happy tears, right?” he asks, halfway laughing
“Of course they are. I couldn’t be more happy right now, the decisions I have made in the past few months have been the best and I’m glad that you have been a part of them and that you are a big part of my life, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I say
“Ok, good. I’m so happy that we found each other, J.”
“Me too, Jon.” We share one more kiss on the dance floor as the song is ending, then we go back to our seats
We’re all talking with the rest of the group at our table and dance a few more times before we hear someone yelling and stumbling out the doors, it’s Amanda, clearly drunk, and yelling.
“YOU! Why the hell are you here? You’re a stupid slut!” Amanda says to Savannah as she walks towards our table
“What are you talking about?” Savannah asks calmly
“Who do you think you are, just waltzing in here and being friendly with all the girls? Nobody wants you here,”
“Amanda, I think you need to leave,” I say as I stand between her and Savannah
“This has nothing to do with you, so stay out of it!” she says while trying to push me
“No, you are the one that is drunk and causing drama. You don’t even know her, you have no reason to come over here yelling at her,”
“It’s because she’s a gold digging whore!”
“Woah, seriously Amanda, this is a team event, you need to calm down and stop calling her names!” I tell her just before I feel a fist go across my face
“Amanda! What is wrong with you?” Jeremy yells to her
She doesn’t even have time to answer because of the guys that are pulling her away from me and to another part of the deck while Jon pulls me up off the floor,
“Babe, are you ok?” he asks me as Sharpie hands him a bag with ice to put on my cheek
“Yeah, she didn’t punch me that hard, and it’s not the first time anyone’s punched me either,”
“Jamie, I am so sorry,” Savannah says
“Oh, don’t apologize Savannah, it’s not your fault,”
“I know but I feel bad,”
“No, it’s ok, I was trying to calm things down and that apparently didn’t work out,”
“She’s in one of the rooms on the lower level, and she wont be allowed back up here until we get back to the dock,” Taylor says as he sits down
“Thanks Taylor,”
“Of course, how’s your cheek?”
“Burns a little bit, but I’ll survive,” I say with a smile
“She’s a champ,” Jon says
“Jonathan, you mind if I steal her for a dance?” Taylor asks
“Oh please, call me Jon and yeah you can as long as you return her to me,”
“So how did you meet Jon?” He asks as we get to the dance floor
“Me and Laura were out here for spring break in march and we ran into him and Patrick at Starbucks and started talking, they ended up showing us around town and then we all went to dinner that night with some of the other guys, and the rest just kind of happened,”
“From what I know, he’s a pretty cool guy. When I got the offer to come play with the Hawks, I was really excited,”
“Yeah, the guys are great, and they are all really looking forward to the season. What about you, how did you and Savannah meet?”
“We met at a Coyotes event one night at a restaurant by the arena, she was a waitress and she just caught my eye, and the rest is history,”
“Aw, well you guys are cute for each other, and she is so sweet too,”
“Thanks, I’m really looking forward to starting a life together out here,”
A few hours later, the last songs had been played and we were nearing the pier again, signaling the night was coming to an end. Once we got off the boat, we got back onto the bus and went home, without another sight of Amanda. Jon and I got home and got ready for bed; I was taking off my makeup when the pretty shiner was more visible. Jon kissed it a few times, before he couldn’t even keep his hands off me. Clothes were all over the place before we got into the bed. Other then the fact of me getting punched in the face, tonight was by far one of the most amazing nights I’ve had since I moved out here.
After we were all ready, Jon had gotten the call from Sharpie that the bus was outside, so we all left the house and walked out the door towards the bus. Sharpie, Abby, Nik and Elina, Jordan, Chelsea, Brian, Lauren and Taylor and Savannah were already on the bus.
“Heeeeey!” Sharpie said as we walked on the bus
“Hi Sharpie, hey Abby!” I say with hugs all around
“So are we ready to get this party started??” Sharpie asks
“Sharpie, are you drunk already?” Jon asks
“Toes, don’t you worry about it,” he says, as Abby shakes her head yes
“Ok, Sharpie, whatever you say,” Jon says with a laugh
“Savannah, how do you like Chicago so far?” I ask as I sit next to her
“Definitely different, but so far it’s nice,” She responds
“Yeah, you’ll get used to it, and thankfully you know you’ll be here for 2 years at least with Taylors contract,” I say
“Yeah, hopefully, I’ve only lived in Phoenix so it will be an interesting change to get used to, how long have you been here?”
“Since the end of May, so almost 4 months,”
“Oh wow, and your Jonathan’s girlfriend right?”
“Yeah, how long have you and Taylor been together?”
“It will be a year in February, so have you guys been together for 4 months, or longer?”
“Well technically, we became official in March when I was out here for spring break, so almost 6 months. Jon and I were dating when I got the job offer with the team, so after I graduated, I moved out here,”
“Oh, nice, well that’s cool that you had a job out here. I’m hoping to either find a job or maybe go back to school,”
“Yeah, I was thinking about grad school, but when I got the job with the team, I decided to wait on school,”
The bus had arrived at the dock for the boat that was all lit and ready for the ride. Coach Q and his wife were already there, the Bowman’s were going to come but they were watching the grandkids so they stayed in. The party bus had quickly unloaded, when another one pulled up with the rest of the guys on the team, once we were all on the boat it took off a few minutes later. Abby had dealt with the catering company and I arranged everything for the DJ. Coach Q had welcomed us all on the boat and said a little something about the new team members and the upcoming season, and then it was time for dinner. Jon and I sat at one of the tables with Laura, Pat, Brent, Dayna, Taylor, and Savannah. Savannah was a really sweet girl and I knew she wouldn’t have a problem getting along with any of the girls…or so I thought. I could see Amanda, Jeremy’s date, giving her dirty looks the whole time and I was hoping she would quit because she was such a rude girl and had the worst attitude.
After dinner, the dance started, which is always fun because the guys goof around so much on the dance floor so it makes it pretty entertaining. Jon had specifically asked the DJ to play “I Get Carried Away” by George Strait, and pulled me onto the dance floor
“You remembered,” I told him as we were dancing
“That George Strait is your favorite country singer? How could I forget?” he said
“His songs are always amazing”
“Just like my girlfriend,”
“Aww,” he deserved a kiss for that one
“I mean it though, J. You have been amazing in everything you’ve done and I honestly thank god everyday for bringing you to me, you’re so beautiful and all the work you’ve done for the team and helping me through things has been awesome” he says with a smile and continues
“You really got me to open up a lot and every time we’re together it’s always amazing, I look forward to spending everyday with you. I love you, J.”
“Jon, that was probably one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me. I love you too,” he pulled my face up closer and gave me a kiss after he wiped a tear off my cheek
“Those are happy tears, right?” he asks, halfway laughing
“Of course they are. I couldn’t be more happy right now, the decisions I have made in the past few months have been the best and I’m glad that you have been a part of them and that you are a big part of my life, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I say
“Ok, good. I’m so happy that we found each other, J.”
“Me too, Jon.” We share one more kiss on the dance floor as the song is ending, then we go back to our seats
We’re all talking with the rest of the group at our table and dance a few more times before we hear someone yelling and stumbling out the doors, it’s Amanda, clearly drunk, and yelling.
“YOU! Why the hell are you here? You’re a stupid slut!” Amanda says to Savannah as she walks towards our table
“What are you talking about?” Savannah asks calmly
“Who do you think you are, just waltzing in here and being friendly with all the girls? Nobody wants you here,”
“Amanda, I think you need to leave,” I say as I stand between her and Savannah
“This has nothing to do with you, so stay out of it!” she says while trying to push me
“No, you are the one that is drunk and causing drama. You don’t even know her, you have no reason to come over here yelling at her,”
“It’s because she’s a gold digging whore!”
“Woah, seriously Amanda, this is a team event, you need to calm down and stop calling her names!” I tell her just before I feel a fist go across my face
“Amanda! What is wrong with you?” Jeremy yells to her
She doesn’t even have time to answer because of the guys that are pulling her away from me and to another part of the deck while Jon pulls me up off the floor,
“Babe, are you ok?” he asks me as Sharpie hands him a bag with ice to put on my cheek
“Yeah, she didn’t punch me that hard, and it’s not the first time anyone’s punched me either,”
“Jamie, I am so sorry,” Savannah says
“Oh, don’t apologize Savannah, it’s not your fault,”
“I know but I feel bad,”
“No, it’s ok, I was trying to calm things down and that apparently didn’t work out,”
“She’s in one of the rooms on the lower level, and she wont be allowed back up here until we get back to the dock,” Taylor says as he sits down
“Thanks Taylor,”
“Of course, how’s your cheek?”
“Burns a little bit, but I’ll survive,” I say with a smile
“She’s a champ,” Jon says
“Jonathan, you mind if I steal her for a dance?” Taylor asks
“Oh please, call me Jon and yeah you can as long as you return her to me,”
“So how did you meet Jon?” He asks as we get to the dance floor
“Me and Laura were out here for spring break in march and we ran into him and Patrick at Starbucks and started talking, they ended up showing us around town and then we all went to dinner that night with some of the other guys, and the rest just kind of happened,”
“From what I know, he’s a pretty cool guy. When I got the offer to come play with the Hawks, I was really excited,”
“Yeah, the guys are great, and they are all really looking forward to the season. What about you, how did you and Savannah meet?”
“We met at a Coyotes event one night at a restaurant by the arena, she was a waitress and she just caught my eye, and the rest is history,”
“Aw, well you guys are cute for each other, and she is so sweet too,”
“Thanks, I’m really looking forward to starting a life together out here,”
A few hours later, the last songs had been played and we were nearing the pier again, signaling the night was coming to an end. Once we got off the boat, we got back onto the bus and went home, without another sight of Amanda. Jon and I got home and got ready for bed; I was taking off my makeup when the pretty shiner was more visible. Jon kissed it a few times, before he couldn’t even keep his hands off me. Clothes were all over the place before we got into the bed. Other then the fact of me getting punched in the face, tonight was by far one of the most amazing nights I’ve had since I moved out here.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Chapter 14
**Yay another chapter! Gotta thank all you ladies for following and the comments, they are always helpful and encouraging! :)
Getting back to Chicago was not something I really wanted to do after having so much fun in Winnipeg, but I knew I would have to since this would be my new home and I would have to get used to it. Being that Jon and I roomed with Brent and Dayna, I had become good friends with Dayna, I guess maybe since she was closer to my age; all the other wags were in their late 20’s or early 30’s. We had a lot of lunch/shopping dates and even joined a gym to do hot yoga. We still spent some time with the other wags but they had other things going on; and Dayna and I seemed to have a lot of free time.
“So, I was kind of wondering, and I completely understand if you don’t want to tell me, but why didn’t you and the other wags not really get along?” I ask one day while were shopping
“Well, it was mostly the girls who were never around long, like one of the girls that Kane was dating, and Andrew’s fiancée when he was here and some other girls. They just thought I was another jersey chasing slut that was after these boys, but they didn’t know that I had been with Brent for so long, and most of them just didn’t care.”
“Geez, that’s how most girls are too, it sucks”
“Yeah, Chelsea was the first girl to talk to me and then I became friends with Abby too. And it wasn’t too long after that when most of the girls weren’t around and the rest had opened up to me”
“Well at least they finally did. I never really noticed how mean and caddy girls can be until now, with witnessing it all first hand,”
“Yeah, it’s definitely hard at first and it can always be hard every once in a while. You just have to remember who knows the real story and how strong of a relationship you have with Jon and that you guys have trust in each other and not let it get to you.”
“Yeah, definitely, trust is obviously a key factor in every relationship and I think that time of me going back home to finish school and graduate helped us”
“Oh girl, he was talking about you all the time when you were gone!” she says with a laugh
“Yeah, I’ve heard. I was home one day before graduation and Kane called me and was like seriously you need to come back asap cause Tazer will not shut up about you, I was like I’ll be out there before you know it”
“Ha ha yeah, I think Kane was just bummed because he didn’t have a wing man anymore”
“Guess he’s gotta find a new one!” I say as we both laugh
“Who do you think you’re closest with out here? Like guys on the team and the wags?”
“Well, for wags I’d have to say you, then Abby and Elina. Guys on the team…Sharpie is like the older brother I never had, then Brent and Kaner,”
“Yeah, the think I love most about always being around these guys is that they are always looking after the girls, but then giving us a hard time at the same time,”
“Absolutely”
We spent almost the whole day shopping, even though I don’t know why, it’s not like I needed more clothes or had the room for them. We had gotten back to the house to see Jon and Brent playing video games…pretty sure we could have been burglars stealing everything in the house, guess that goes to show how into the video games these boys get.
The only thing that caught their attention was us saying that we were going to go get food for dinner, and they both jumped off the couch within 2 seconds. The 4 of us went to eat at Rockit Bar & Grill, and then we decided to walk along the river walk.
Before we knew it, it was September and nearing time for the Hawks Hockey & Heels night, the convention and preseason. I had been doing a lot of work in the public and media relations departments over the summer, and dealt with new players coming in and joining the rest of the Hawks. Out of all the free agents, we only lost one this summer, and that was Fernando Pisani, the remaining free agents got contract extensions and we also signed a few guys out of the draft before sending them to the farm team. Taylor Pyatt came here from the Coyotes and signed a 2-year contract. I worked with him for all the press conferences and media stuff and he is by far one of the nicest guys I’ve met. The day that we were informing the team of the newest player and introducing him (lucky me got to do that), I thought about playing a harmless joke and giving the name of a player that they hated, but I knew I couldn’t keep a straight face, so I didn’t bother. Taylor had crossed paths with Sharpie a couple times before, being that they are both from Thunder Bay…there was clearly something in the water out there when those boys were born because they are beyond gorgeous, not to mention the Staal boys are from Thunder Bay also…geez. The boys were all welcoming of him, as they are with all the newcomers, him and Sharpie were exchanging some words, and Hammer came into the conversation as well.
Jon thought of the idea of everyone going to dinner to get to know him a little better, so with the help of coach Q and Stan, we got the Cheesecake Factory open for only the players and their wives or girlfriends. So the next night, we all got dazzled up for an introduction dinner. I hadn’t seen Laura in forever so she came over before the dinner and I helped her curl her hair and we got ready, then the 4 of us headed over to dinner.
“So who is this guy, I haven’t seen him yet,” Laura asks as we’re driving
“His name is Taylor Pyatt, he’s from Thunder Bay. He played for Vancouver before he got traded to Phoenix and they didn’t want to resign him on free agency day so Stan picked him up,” I say
“Oh, I think I remember you saying something about him before,”
“Oh yeah! When I went to see the Pens play them last year in Glendale, I saw him after morning skate when we were at the district where the arena is,”
“He’s a pretty quiet player too, not really flashy, but he’s quick” Jon says
“Yeah, he didn’t play too much when I saw them but I watched him when he played for Vancouver,” I add
“Is he hot?” Laura asks
“Yes,” I reply with a look from Jon
“Really, J?” he says jokingly
“What? It’s the truth, besides I already have a hot boyfriend, and he has a girlfriend that’s out here with him”
“Geez, Tazer, jealous much?” Kane says
“No, I’m just saying,”
“Well you have nothing to worry about, because I am alllll yours!”
The 4 of us are the first ones to arrive with Brent and Dayna and then Taylor and Savannah, we all get past the introductions; Savannah is nice too, petite little brunette, very friendly, and it’s clearly not the fake friendly either, really genuinely nice. The dinner went really good, all the guys got along great and Savannah really fit in well with the girls, with the exception of Amanda, I think that’s her name, she was Jeremy’s girl of the month, but we didn’t care because we knew she would be kicked to the curb before too long. Taylor and Savannah had settled into a nice housing development near Nik and Turco’s house, they had some time to get settled in while Savannah jumped right in with the Better Halves and helped with the Hockey and Heels event that would be coming up between the convention and the beginning of preseason.
The convention was all craziness, I was working back with Adam and the media stuff; we set up the red carpet for the guys to enter the hotel on. And between Brandon and I, we got the tables ready with all the place cards and the catered food that would be there; and arranged for the ice girls and Tommy Hawk to be there too. The planning had taken months and then it was a week of planning up to the day of, but I learned that it had been at the same hotel where it’s been the past couple years, so things went through pretty smoothly. Stan was able to get Charissa Thompson from Versus to come and talk to the guys which was pretty amazing, she’s been one of my favorite reporters so getting the chance to meet her was awesome. The only problem we had was some crazy fan who was in love with Jon and Pat, she went crazy and ended up trying to fight a security guard because she couldn’t get a picture of them, so the police escorted her off the premises.
Getting back to Chicago was not something I really wanted to do after having so much fun in Winnipeg, but I knew I would have to since this would be my new home and I would have to get used to it. Being that Jon and I roomed with Brent and Dayna, I had become good friends with Dayna, I guess maybe since she was closer to my age; all the other wags were in their late 20’s or early 30’s. We had a lot of lunch/shopping dates and even joined a gym to do hot yoga. We still spent some time with the other wags but they had other things going on; and Dayna and I seemed to have a lot of free time.
“So, I was kind of wondering, and I completely understand if you don’t want to tell me, but why didn’t you and the other wags not really get along?” I ask one day while were shopping
“Well, it was mostly the girls who were never around long, like one of the girls that Kane was dating, and Andrew’s fiancée when he was here and some other girls. They just thought I was another jersey chasing slut that was after these boys, but they didn’t know that I had been with Brent for so long, and most of them just didn’t care.”
“Geez, that’s how most girls are too, it sucks”
“Yeah, Chelsea was the first girl to talk to me and then I became friends with Abby too. And it wasn’t too long after that when most of the girls weren’t around and the rest had opened up to me”
“Well at least they finally did. I never really noticed how mean and caddy girls can be until now, with witnessing it all first hand,”
“Yeah, it’s definitely hard at first and it can always be hard every once in a while. You just have to remember who knows the real story and how strong of a relationship you have with Jon and that you guys have trust in each other and not let it get to you.”
“Yeah, definitely, trust is obviously a key factor in every relationship and I think that time of me going back home to finish school and graduate helped us”
“Oh girl, he was talking about you all the time when you were gone!” she says with a laugh
“Yeah, I’ve heard. I was home one day before graduation and Kane called me and was like seriously you need to come back asap cause Tazer will not shut up about you, I was like I’ll be out there before you know it”
“Ha ha yeah, I think Kane was just bummed because he didn’t have a wing man anymore”
“Guess he’s gotta find a new one!” I say as we both laugh
“Who do you think you’re closest with out here? Like guys on the team and the wags?”
“Well, for wags I’d have to say you, then Abby and Elina. Guys on the team…Sharpie is like the older brother I never had, then Brent and Kaner,”
“Yeah, the think I love most about always being around these guys is that they are always looking after the girls, but then giving us a hard time at the same time,”
“Absolutely”
We spent almost the whole day shopping, even though I don’t know why, it’s not like I needed more clothes or had the room for them. We had gotten back to the house to see Jon and Brent playing video games…pretty sure we could have been burglars stealing everything in the house, guess that goes to show how into the video games these boys get.
The only thing that caught their attention was us saying that we were going to go get food for dinner, and they both jumped off the couch within 2 seconds. The 4 of us went to eat at Rockit Bar & Grill, and then we decided to walk along the river walk.
Before we knew it, it was September and nearing time for the Hawks Hockey & Heels night, the convention and preseason. I had been doing a lot of work in the public and media relations departments over the summer, and dealt with new players coming in and joining the rest of the Hawks. Out of all the free agents, we only lost one this summer, and that was Fernando Pisani, the remaining free agents got contract extensions and we also signed a few guys out of the draft before sending them to the farm team. Taylor Pyatt came here from the Coyotes and signed a 2-year contract. I worked with him for all the press conferences and media stuff and he is by far one of the nicest guys I’ve met. The day that we were informing the team of the newest player and introducing him (lucky me got to do that), I thought about playing a harmless joke and giving the name of a player that they hated, but I knew I couldn’t keep a straight face, so I didn’t bother. Taylor had crossed paths with Sharpie a couple times before, being that they are both from Thunder Bay…there was clearly something in the water out there when those boys were born because they are beyond gorgeous, not to mention the Staal boys are from Thunder Bay also…geez. The boys were all welcoming of him, as they are with all the newcomers, him and Sharpie were exchanging some words, and Hammer came into the conversation as well.
Jon thought of the idea of everyone going to dinner to get to know him a little better, so with the help of coach Q and Stan, we got the Cheesecake Factory open for only the players and their wives or girlfriends. So the next night, we all got dazzled up for an introduction dinner. I hadn’t seen Laura in forever so she came over before the dinner and I helped her curl her hair and we got ready, then the 4 of us headed over to dinner.
“So who is this guy, I haven’t seen him yet,” Laura asks as we’re driving
“His name is Taylor Pyatt, he’s from Thunder Bay. He played for Vancouver before he got traded to Phoenix and they didn’t want to resign him on free agency day so Stan picked him up,” I say
“Oh, I think I remember you saying something about him before,”
“Oh yeah! When I went to see the Pens play them last year in Glendale, I saw him after morning skate when we were at the district where the arena is,”
“He’s a pretty quiet player too, not really flashy, but he’s quick” Jon says
“Yeah, he didn’t play too much when I saw them but I watched him when he played for Vancouver,” I add
“Is he hot?” Laura asks
“Yes,” I reply with a look from Jon
“Really, J?” he says jokingly
“What? It’s the truth, besides I already have a hot boyfriend, and he has a girlfriend that’s out here with him”
“Geez, Tazer, jealous much?” Kane says
“No, I’m just saying,”
“Well you have nothing to worry about, because I am alllll yours!”
The 4 of us are the first ones to arrive with Brent and Dayna and then Taylor and Savannah, we all get past the introductions; Savannah is nice too, petite little brunette, very friendly, and it’s clearly not the fake friendly either, really genuinely nice. The dinner went really good, all the guys got along great and Savannah really fit in well with the girls, with the exception of Amanda, I think that’s her name, she was Jeremy’s girl of the month, but we didn’t care because we knew she would be kicked to the curb before too long. Taylor and Savannah had settled into a nice housing development near Nik and Turco’s house, they had some time to get settled in while Savannah jumped right in with the Better Halves and helped with the Hockey and Heels event that would be coming up between the convention and the beginning of preseason.
The convention was all craziness, I was working back with Adam and the media stuff; we set up the red carpet for the guys to enter the hotel on. And between Brandon and I, we got the tables ready with all the place cards and the catered food that would be there; and arranged for the ice girls and Tommy Hawk to be there too. The planning had taken months and then it was a week of planning up to the day of, but I learned that it had been at the same hotel where it’s been the past couple years, so things went through pretty smoothly. Stan was able to get Charissa Thompson from Versus to come and talk to the guys which was pretty amazing, she’s been one of my favorite reporters so getting the chance to meet her was awesome. The only problem we had was some crazy fan who was in love with Jon and Pat, she went crazy and ended up trying to fight a security guard because she couldn’t get a picture of them, so the police escorted her off the premises.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Chapter 13
**Posted this from my brand new MacBook Pro that Im in LOVE with! :) Anyways--short chapter but I thought I would put a little something up...I will try and do another one soon, but with finals coming up things are going to be crazy so bear with me! hope yall enjoy and any comments and feedback is greatly appreciated! thanks ladies :)
We walked over to the restaurant, being that it was only a few blocks away from the hotel. Jon had opened the door for me and led me to find his parents who were already at the table; they stood when they saw us coming their way. Jon says his hellos then introduces me to them
“Jamie! It’s so good to finally meet you!” Andree says
“Hello Jamie, its great to meet you.” Bryan says
“Hi! It’s good to meet you guys too! Jonathan talks about you guys all the time.”
“Yeah, we’ve heard a lot about you too,” Bryan says as we all sit down
“So, tell me more about yourself Jamie, where are you from?”
I tell Andree and Bryan about growing up in New Mexico and going to school out there, they had a lot to say about it and how cool it sounds because it’s so different from Canada and Chicago. The conversations went well through dinner and I really enjoyed talking to them and hearing funny childhood stories about Jon. We were at the restaurant for about 3 hours just talking and ordering almost every desert on the menu before we decide to call it a night.
“Well, Jamie, I’m glad I finally got to put a face to a name, and you’re exactly how I pictured you,” Andree says as were walking out the doors
“Thank you Andree, it was good to finally meet you too, I was nervous for a while, but now I realized I was nervous for nothing,” I respond
“I’m glad Jonathan found you, you’re a beautiful girl, and I couldn’t be more happy for you two,” Bryan adds
“Yes, Jonathan you got quiet the catch here, I’m proud of you,” Andree says again
“Thanks guys, glad you approve,” Jon says
“Oh of course, Jamie, we expect to see more of you!” Andree tells me as she gives me a hug
“Yes of course!”
“Ok, we will be seeing you guys at the wedding tomorrow!”
Jon and I walk back to the hotel hand in hand and talking about the night. He said he’s never seen his mom so happy and that he was glad they liked me too. Brent and Dayna were already in the room when we got back, they asked how dinner went and Jon said it went really good. We all decided to go to bed knowing that tomorrow would be a long day.
Jon and Brent are the first ones up…morning people of course. I get up a few hours later and then Dayna. Jon thought it would be fun to walk around the city and see where he grew up and stuff, and show us the community center and such places where he went when he brought the cup here last summer. So we started at a local diner for breakfast before we made our first stop at the community center that was named after him. We also went to see his elementary and middle school and also the rink where he was always skating. We went to deli by the local hospital for a small lunch then we went back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. The guys played video games in the hotel while Dayna and I got ready
“Jamie, I don’t think I have ever seen Jon so happy then when he’s with you”
“Aw, thanks D!”
“I’m serious though! Like when I’ve gone out with the guys after games or whatever, I’ve seen girls come up to him, practically throwing themselves at him, and he didn’t really look happy and looked uncomfortable. But with you, he is more like himself and he’s not as reserved,”
“Yeah, he would tell me the stories of when him and Kaner would go out, and of course Kaner didn’t care, Jon was just like, there not caring about it,”
“Oh, yeah the horror stories of Kane’s nights out” she says with a laugh
“Yeah, so besides us, who else is here?”
“Jordan and Chelsea, Brian and Lauren, I think Andrew Ladd and his fiancé are here, and Adam Burish came out here too with some girl. And Patrick and Abby,”
“Oh nice, I don’t know why I thought there would be more here,”
“Yeah, I did too but some of the other guys had previous plans so they didn’t come,”
“Oh, well that’s cool though,”
“Yeah. So what do you think of Chicago so far?”
“It’s been amazing so far, it’s kind of hard being so far away from home though,”
“Yeah I bet, that’s how it was for me too, and I think I had it bad because I didn’t get along with any of the girls at first,”
“Really?”
“Yeah, they were quick to judge and ask questions and things, Chelsea was the first one to actually talk to me and be friends with me, then the girls eventually opened up.”
After talking about Dayna’s adjustment to Chicago and getting ready, the 4 of us got a taxi to the church a few blocks away for the wedding. The whole ceremony was beautiful and I’m pretty sure all the girls broke a few tears. Then it was time to go back to the hotel for the reception. There was a photo booth near the entrance, an idea they took from the Sharp’s wedding, so we had some fun joking around taking pictures. The reception was so much fun, typical wedding songs were played and the food was beyond amazing. I think Dayna and I danced to almost every song, and drug the boys out with us, or danced with some of the other guys, including Adam Burish and none other than Marc Staal, who I pretty much love because he is a Staal, and I love all those boys. After a full night of dancing, Jon and I headed up to our room and call it a night.
The next morning, before Duncs and his new wife jet off on to the Bahamas, they invited us all to breakfast, which was nice, even though we were all pretty calm and clearly still tired from the night before. Most of the guys had gone to their hometowns for the summer; Jon and I stayed in Manitoba for a few days and spent some more time with his parents, as well as his brother David and his girlfriend.
We walked over to the restaurant, being that it was only a few blocks away from the hotel. Jon had opened the door for me and led me to find his parents who were already at the table; they stood when they saw us coming their way. Jon says his hellos then introduces me to them
“Jamie! It’s so good to finally meet you!” Andree says
“Hello Jamie, its great to meet you.” Bryan says
“Hi! It’s good to meet you guys too! Jonathan talks about you guys all the time.”
“Yeah, we’ve heard a lot about you too,” Bryan says as we all sit down
“So, tell me more about yourself Jamie, where are you from?”
I tell Andree and Bryan about growing up in New Mexico and going to school out there, they had a lot to say about it and how cool it sounds because it’s so different from Canada and Chicago. The conversations went well through dinner and I really enjoyed talking to them and hearing funny childhood stories about Jon. We were at the restaurant for about 3 hours just talking and ordering almost every desert on the menu before we decide to call it a night.
“Well, Jamie, I’m glad I finally got to put a face to a name, and you’re exactly how I pictured you,” Andree says as were walking out the doors
“Thank you Andree, it was good to finally meet you too, I was nervous for a while, but now I realized I was nervous for nothing,” I respond
“I’m glad Jonathan found you, you’re a beautiful girl, and I couldn’t be more happy for you two,” Bryan adds
“Yes, Jonathan you got quiet the catch here, I’m proud of you,” Andree says again
“Thanks guys, glad you approve,” Jon says
“Oh of course, Jamie, we expect to see more of you!” Andree tells me as she gives me a hug
“Yes of course!”
“Ok, we will be seeing you guys at the wedding tomorrow!”
Jon and I walk back to the hotel hand in hand and talking about the night. He said he’s never seen his mom so happy and that he was glad they liked me too. Brent and Dayna were already in the room when we got back, they asked how dinner went and Jon said it went really good. We all decided to go to bed knowing that tomorrow would be a long day.
Jon and Brent are the first ones up…morning people of course. I get up a few hours later and then Dayna. Jon thought it would be fun to walk around the city and see where he grew up and stuff, and show us the community center and such places where he went when he brought the cup here last summer. So we started at a local diner for breakfast before we made our first stop at the community center that was named after him. We also went to see his elementary and middle school and also the rink where he was always skating. We went to deli by the local hospital for a small lunch then we went back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. The guys played video games in the hotel while Dayna and I got ready
“Jamie, I don’t think I have ever seen Jon so happy then when he’s with you”
“Aw, thanks D!”
“I’m serious though! Like when I’ve gone out with the guys after games or whatever, I’ve seen girls come up to him, practically throwing themselves at him, and he didn’t really look happy and looked uncomfortable. But with you, he is more like himself and he’s not as reserved,”
“Yeah, he would tell me the stories of when him and Kaner would go out, and of course Kaner didn’t care, Jon was just like, there not caring about it,”
“Oh, yeah the horror stories of Kane’s nights out” she says with a laugh
“Yeah, so besides us, who else is here?”
“Jordan and Chelsea, Brian and Lauren, I think Andrew Ladd and his fiancé are here, and Adam Burish came out here too with some girl. And Patrick and Abby,”
“Oh nice, I don’t know why I thought there would be more here,”
“Yeah, I did too but some of the other guys had previous plans so they didn’t come,”
“Oh, well that’s cool though,”
“Yeah. So what do you think of Chicago so far?”
“It’s been amazing so far, it’s kind of hard being so far away from home though,”
“Yeah I bet, that’s how it was for me too, and I think I had it bad because I didn’t get along with any of the girls at first,”
“Really?”
“Yeah, they were quick to judge and ask questions and things, Chelsea was the first one to actually talk to me and be friends with me, then the girls eventually opened up.”
After talking about Dayna’s adjustment to Chicago and getting ready, the 4 of us got a taxi to the church a few blocks away for the wedding. The whole ceremony was beautiful and I’m pretty sure all the girls broke a few tears. Then it was time to go back to the hotel for the reception. There was a photo booth near the entrance, an idea they took from the Sharp’s wedding, so we had some fun joking around taking pictures. The reception was so much fun, typical wedding songs were played and the food was beyond amazing. I think Dayna and I danced to almost every song, and drug the boys out with us, or danced with some of the other guys, including Adam Burish and none other than Marc Staal, who I pretty much love because he is a Staal, and I love all those boys. After a full night of dancing, Jon and I headed up to our room and call it a night.
The next morning, before Duncs and his new wife jet off on to the Bahamas, they invited us all to breakfast, which was nice, even though we were all pretty calm and clearly still tired from the night before. Most of the guys had gone to their hometowns for the summer; Jon and I stayed in Manitoba for a few days and spent some more time with his parents, as well as his brother David and his girlfriend.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Chapter 12
***Workin' on getting past the writers block here! Also hoping to get my laptop fixed cause I have more of my story on there...which I sadly cant get to. So this is written from memory, probably a little different then what I had planned. Hope ya'll enjoy and thanks for reading!
I finish up my meeting with Stan and walk down the runway to the ice. I had glass seats to a game before, but standing right at the door way to the ice and looking up at all the seats, you never realize how big the ice and the arena is until you are down there near the middle of it all. Jon was on the ice with Jordan, Brian and Sharpie, joking around more than anything it looked like. I just stood there in a daze looking around the arena before I almost had a heart attack because Sharpie decided to shoot a puck at the glass right next to me.
“Jerk!” I yell at him as I open the door and stand at the edge of the ice
“Ha, sorry I couldn’t resist, we kept yelling at you but you weren’t paying attention” he said
“Yeah, I zoned out I guess”
“Come out here!” Jon yelled at me
“No way, I’ll fall flat on my face”
“No you won’t, I wouldn’t let you,” he says as he skates over to me and puts his hand out
“Ok, but any broken bones and I’m blaming it on you” I say as I walk out onto the ice
“I promise you, you wont fall”
“Look out!” Jordan yells at me as Sharpie comes skating towards me and picks me up over his shoulder
“Patrick Sharp! You better put me down right now!”
“No, I don’t think I can do that”
“Pleeeeeeeeease?”
“Ok, I guess so” Sharpie says as he puts me down at center ice
“Thanks Sharpie!”
The guys joked around on the ice for a while longer; they even got me to shoot a few pucks, and let me tell you, trying to shoot pucks in flip flops is not the easiest thing to do.
After the guys changed, Jon and I headed home, and he jumped in the shower. I decided to put some blankets out on the balcony and sit out there for a while
“You really like it out here, don’t you?” Jon asks as he sits next to me and puts his arm around me
“Yeah, I love balconies, they always seem to be so peaceful, and the view is amazing”
“A balcony at this place was almost a requirement to have when I bought this house”
“I remember when I was in Spain and Italy a few years ago, every hotel had a balcony, I would always spend so much time on.”
“Nice, I usually hang out here too, sometimes before games to clear my head.”
“It’s good for that too”
June came and went pretty fast, the Penguins had won the Cup for the second time in 3 years, Jon was happy for them because he was friends with Crosby and a few guys on the team. Laura had made her move out here and found a little apartment off Michigan Ave and had a few meetings with Stan and the equipment team to get her internship situated. She had went on a few dates with Kaner, but she didn’t say much to me so I didn’t know anything as to what was going on. After countless shopping trips, I was able to find a cute summer dress to wear to Duncan and Kelly’s wedding, it’s a strapless dress that went to my knees and was pink with a black ribbon across the middle, perfect for me to say the least.
“So, I guess I should mention this now, but since the wedding is in Manitoba, my parents are going to be there” Jon says as we’re in our room packing
“Oh yeah?” I say, looking at him kind of nervously
“Don’t worry, they will love you,” he says as he walks over to where I am
“Ok, I think I can handle it, I’m just nervous”
“Babe, you have nothing to worry about,” he says with a kiss
“Ok then, I’ll take your word for it,”
“Ok, great”
The next morning we got a cab with Brent and Dayna and headed to the airport. After checking in and going through security, we hang out and wait for the plane; Dayna and I decide to walk around and get junk food or whatever, and let the fans talk with the guys for a while. We get back to see the boys relaxing and Jon on the phone, as I sit down next to him, all I hear is “yeah here she is,” then he hands me the phone saying it’s his mom
“Hello?” I say
“Hi Jamie! Its Andree,” she says happily
“Hi! How are you?”
“Good, thanks and yourself?”
“Great, just getting ready to head out to Canada!”
“Well great! I’m really looking forward to meeting you! Jonathan has had nothing but nice things to say about you!”
“Oh really? Well I would hope its all good things”
“Oh yes, it is! He talked about meeting you a few months ago and now with your move out to Chicago, and your living with him correct?”
“Yeah, I got a job offer with the PR department for the Hawks so I took it! Jon has been so sweet too, and yes I am, I didn’t know if he told you, but I was a little nervous about that part”
“Oh honey don’t you worry, he has talked about you a lot, you seem like a great girl and the first thing he told me after he said you were living with him was that he didn’t want me to think you were a jersey chaser, but I could never imagine that about you and I’m honestly glad that Jonathan opened his house to you, we couldn’t have raised him any better”
“Yeah, that was the first thing that worried me was that you would be wondering who this girl is that is living with your son.”
“Well I did kind of wonder, but I know that he wouldn’t let some random stranger live with him, I think his dad was more iffy about that one. But Jon talked to us before he went to see you in your hometown, so it reassured us a little more.”
“Ok, well I’m glad to hear all this, and talking to you makes me a little less nervous to meet you”
“Yes! I cant wait to finally meet the girl my son has been talking about! Tell Jonathan that to call me when you guys land and we will go to dinner!”
“Ok, great I will! It was great talking to you!”
“You as well, see you guys soon!”
“She wants you to call her when we land so we can all go to dinner” I tell Jon as I hand him his phone
“Ok, that will work and then we will see them at the wedding too, my parents and Duncs’ parents have been good friends since forever.” Jon says as we start boarding the plane…first class, I might add…yeah no wonder Jon changed the subject when I asked him how much my plane ticket was, oh well.
So many laughs, a million pictures, a few drinks and 3 hours later, we land in Winnipeg and walk through the airport to the baggage claim. I wish I could say we got through quietly and smoothly, but of course that didn’t happen; people caught sight of Jon and Brent and about lost their minds; some were respectful but some were straight up crazy. A group of girls even pushed through me and Dayna and one of them almost punched her in the face! I was about to step in her face and say something when Jon grabbed my arm and thankfully, airport security caught wind of this and came to escort us the rest of the way. We finally made it to the hotel, which happened to be the same hotel where the other guys were staying and it was also the same hotel where the wedding reception would be held. We all got situated into our room while Jon called his mom to see what they were doing. I, of course, went straight for the balcony to check out the view; it was absolutely breathtaking.
“I knew I’d find you out here,” Jon says
“Really? Never would have guessed,” I say with a laugh
“So I talked to my mom, and her and my dad are running around town. So we’re going to go to dinner with them at like 6:30 tonight,”
“Ok”
“Then wedding stuff starts tomorrow, but we won’t meet up with all them until tomorrow night at Bailey’s Restaurant and bar, that’s where the rehearsal dinner is. So during the day, I figured I could show you around my old stomping grounds.”
“Sounds great!”
“So, what do you say we take a little nap then get ready for dinner tonight?”
“I like that idea”
“We’re going to walk around the city and explore, you guys want to come?” Brent asks us
“Nah man, we’re going to pass and take a short nap. Going to dinner with the ‘rents tonight,” Jon says
“Uh oh, J, meetin’ momma and papa Toews?”
“Yeah, I talked to Andree on the phone when we were still in Chicago, so I’m not too worried anymore”
“Ok, good luck! We will be back in a few hours,” Brent says with a smile as they walk out the door.
5 o’clock comes around before I know it and Jon and I are getting ready for dinner tonight. Even though I had talked to Andree earlier today, my nerves came back a little bit, knowing that talking on the phone and talking in person is completely different. But Jon knew I was nervous so he kept reassuring me that I would be fine and that I am getting nervous for nothing. Jon and his parents decided on the Keg Steakhouse & Bar for dinner; I didn’t object, since steak is my favorite food, I didn’t have a problem.
I finish up my meeting with Stan and walk down the runway to the ice. I had glass seats to a game before, but standing right at the door way to the ice and looking up at all the seats, you never realize how big the ice and the arena is until you are down there near the middle of it all. Jon was on the ice with Jordan, Brian and Sharpie, joking around more than anything it looked like. I just stood there in a daze looking around the arena before I almost had a heart attack because Sharpie decided to shoot a puck at the glass right next to me.
“Jerk!” I yell at him as I open the door and stand at the edge of the ice
“Ha, sorry I couldn’t resist, we kept yelling at you but you weren’t paying attention” he said
“Yeah, I zoned out I guess”
“Come out here!” Jon yelled at me
“No way, I’ll fall flat on my face”
“No you won’t, I wouldn’t let you,” he says as he skates over to me and puts his hand out
“Ok, but any broken bones and I’m blaming it on you” I say as I walk out onto the ice
“I promise you, you wont fall”
“Look out!” Jordan yells at me as Sharpie comes skating towards me and picks me up over his shoulder
“Patrick Sharp! You better put me down right now!”
“No, I don’t think I can do that”
“Pleeeeeeeeease?”
“Ok, I guess so” Sharpie says as he puts me down at center ice
“Thanks Sharpie!”
The guys joked around on the ice for a while longer; they even got me to shoot a few pucks, and let me tell you, trying to shoot pucks in flip flops is not the easiest thing to do.
After the guys changed, Jon and I headed home, and he jumped in the shower. I decided to put some blankets out on the balcony and sit out there for a while
“You really like it out here, don’t you?” Jon asks as he sits next to me and puts his arm around me
“Yeah, I love balconies, they always seem to be so peaceful, and the view is amazing”
“A balcony at this place was almost a requirement to have when I bought this house”
“I remember when I was in Spain and Italy a few years ago, every hotel had a balcony, I would always spend so much time on.”
“Nice, I usually hang out here too, sometimes before games to clear my head.”
“It’s good for that too”
June came and went pretty fast, the Penguins had won the Cup for the second time in 3 years, Jon was happy for them because he was friends with Crosby and a few guys on the team. Laura had made her move out here and found a little apartment off Michigan Ave and had a few meetings with Stan and the equipment team to get her internship situated. She had went on a few dates with Kaner, but she didn’t say much to me so I didn’t know anything as to what was going on. After countless shopping trips, I was able to find a cute summer dress to wear to Duncan and Kelly’s wedding, it’s a strapless dress that went to my knees and was pink with a black ribbon across the middle, perfect for me to say the least.
“So, I guess I should mention this now, but since the wedding is in Manitoba, my parents are going to be there” Jon says as we’re in our room packing
“Oh yeah?” I say, looking at him kind of nervously
“Don’t worry, they will love you,” he says as he walks over to where I am
“Ok, I think I can handle it, I’m just nervous”
“Babe, you have nothing to worry about,” he says with a kiss
“Ok then, I’ll take your word for it,”
“Ok, great”
The next morning we got a cab with Brent and Dayna and headed to the airport. After checking in and going through security, we hang out and wait for the plane; Dayna and I decide to walk around and get junk food or whatever, and let the fans talk with the guys for a while. We get back to see the boys relaxing and Jon on the phone, as I sit down next to him, all I hear is “yeah here she is,” then he hands me the phone saying it’s his mom
“Hello?” I say
“Hi Jamie! Its Andree,” she says happily
“Hi! How are you?”
“Good, thanks and yourself?”
“Great, just getting ready to head out to Canada!”
“Well great! I’m really looking forward to meeting you! Jonathan has had nothing but nice things to say about you!”
“Oh really? Well I would hope its all good things”
“Oh yes, it is! He talked about meeting you a few months ago and now with your move out to Chicago, and your living with him correct?”
“Yeah, I got a job offer with the PR department for the Hawks so I took it! Jon has been so sweet too, and yes I am, I didn’t know if he told you, but I was a little nervous about that part”
“Oh honey don’t you worry, he has talked about you a lot, you seem like a great girl and the first thing he told me after he said you were living with him was that he didn’t want me to think you were a jersey chaser, but I could never imagine that about you and I’m honestly glad that Jonathan opened his house to you, we couldn’t have raised him any better”
“Yeah, that was the first thing that worried me was that you would be wondering who this girl is that is living with your son.”
“Well I did kind of wonder, but I know that he wouldn’t let some random stranger live with him, I think his dad was more iffy about that one. But Jon talked to us before he went to see you in your hometown, so it reassured us a little more.”
“Ok, well I’m glad to hear all this, and talking to you makes me a little less nervous to meet you”
“Yes! I cant wait to finally meet the girl my son has been talking about! Tell Jonathan that to call me when you guys land and we will go to dinner!”
“Ok, great I will! It was great talking to you!”
“You as well, see you guys soon!”
“She wants you to call her when we land so we can all go to dinner” I tell Jon as I hand him his phone
“Ok, that will work and then we will see them at the wedding too, my parents and Duncs’ parents have been good friends since forever.” Jon says as we start boarding the plane…first class, I might add…yeah no wonder Jon changed the subject when I asked him how much my plane ticket was, oh well.
So many laughs, a million pictures, a few drinks and 3 hours later, we land in Winnipeg and walk through the airport to the baggage claim. I wish I could say we got through quietly and smoothly, but of course that didn’t happen; people caught sight of Jon and Brent and about lost their minds; some were respectful but some were straight up crazy. A group of girls even pushed through me and Dayna and one of them almost punched her in the face! I was about to step in her face and say something when Jon grabbed my arm and thankfully, airport security caught wind of this and came to escort us the rest of the way. We finally made it to the hotel, which happened to be the same hotel where the other guys were staying and it was also the same hotel where the wedding reception would be held. We all got situated into our room while Jon called his mom to see what they were doing. I, of course, went straight for the balcony to check out the view; it was absolutely breathtaking.
“I knew I’d find you out here,” Jon says
“Really? Never would have guessed,” I say with a laugh
“So I talked to my mom, and her and my dad are running around town. So we’re going to go to dinner with them at like 6:30 tonight,”
“Ok”
“Then wedding stuff starts tomorrow, but we won’t meet up with all them until tomorrow night at Bailey’s Restaurant and bar, that’s where the rehearsal dinner is. So during the day, I figured I could show you around my old stomping grounds.”
“Sounds great!”
“So, what do you say we take a little nap then get ready for dinner tonight?”
“I like that idea”
“We’re going to walk around the city and explore, you guys want to come?” Brent asks us
“Nah man, we’re going to pass and take a short nap. Going to dinner with the ‘rents tonight,” Jon says
“Uh oh, J, meetin’ momma and papa Toews?”
“Yeah, I talked to Andree on the phone when we were still in Chicago, so I’m not too worried anymore”
“Ok, good luck! We will be back in a few hours,” Brent says with a smile as they walk out the door.
5 o’clock comes around before I know it and Jon and I are getting ready for dinner tonight. Even though I had talked to Andree earlier today, my nerves came back a little bit, knowing that talking on the phone and talking in person is completely different. But Jon knew I was nervous so he kept reassuring me that I would be fine and that I am getting nervous for nothing. Jon and his parents decided on the Keg Steakhouse & Bar for dinner; I didn’t object, since steak is my favorite food, I didn’t have a problem.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
bad news bears
UGH so my laptop decided to crash this morning and I wont be able to take it in until Monday....and I hate to say it but my story is on there :( boo Im so mad about it. But I will have you know that I will put a new post up as soon as I get it fixed...cross your fingers that it can be fixed and I wont lose anything! Sorry no update ladies :( Ill keep ya'll posted!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Chapter 11
***Little bit of writers block right now, trying to figure out where to go with this and how to write it too...but I figured I would post a little filter chapter :)
After the last minute packing up in Albuquerque, we had all started the drive on Monday morning. Keeping pretty good timing, we got into Chicago early Thursday morning. Jon had made arrangements for a storage unit to be ready for me when we got out there which made everything easier. And thankfully we had arranged most of the stuff in the U-haul to where the storage stuff was in the front, and some boxes that were coming up were in the back of my brand new Xterra that I had gotten as a graduation present.
Jon’s condo had turned into a maze of boxes. Some in the living room, a couple in one of the spare bedrooms, and the rest in his…um our room and closet. I was glad to have a few days to organize all my things before I had to meet with Stan. My parents stayed for a few days to help unpack and to check out the city before they headed back home. I had filled up 2 picture frames with pictures of me and Jon or me and the girls and hung them up around the house as well as the famous “Kissing the War Goodbye” poster. Needlessly to say, the walls were pretty plain, so he was glad to see the pictures and a little more color in the house. And thankfully, the closet was huge; because I had taken up all of the space he had made for me.
Once all my stuff had been moved in, Jon and I decided to cook dinner and invite some of the guys and their wives/girlfriends over. Although I was still waiting for Laura to move out here next month, I had gotten closer with Abby and Elina.
“Oh, hey I meant to ask you, did you bring your passport?” Jon asks me
“Yeah actually, I think I did. Why?”
“Well Duncs and Kelly are getting married in a few weeks. I already RSVPd, but I wanted to ask you if you would join me”
“Oh, yeah I would love to! Where is it?”
“Somewhere in Winnipeg”
“Ok cool”
“Ok, we will tell them tonight”
Duncan and Kelly are the first to arrive, so we talk to them and Jon tells them that he will be a plus one at the wedding, which made them happy; I'm excited too because it will be my first trip to Canada. Soon after, Pat and Abby arrived, then Nik and Elina and lastly Seabs and Dayna. My mom had packed green chile from home, so I made enchiladas, which turned out to be a hit; which I wasn’t sure about because I was positive that the only chile out here was the gross Tex mex. Duncan, Kelly, Nik and Elina left while the 6 of us decided to play rock band and Wii bowling for about 3 hours until the rest of them decided to go home.
I took advantage of the weekend that I had before meeting Stan to go shopping for some more professional looking outfits, and before I knew it, it was Monday morning and Jon and I were heading over to the United Center, he wanted to get some skating time in while the arena was vacant. We pull into the parking lot and walk down the hallway towards the locker room and the offices. Jordan Hendry and Brian Campbell were there also to get some skating time in, so they all headed out to the ice as I walked towards Stan’s office and knocked on the door
“Hello Jamie, come on in” he says as I sit down
“Hi, how are you?”
“I’m well, thanks, how are you?”
“Good, thanks”
“How are you liking Chicago so far?”
“So far I’m really liking it a lot”
“That’s good! So a couple little things right now, I am aware that you will be joining Jonathan and some of the other guys to Duncan’s wedding, which is fine because since it’s an early off-season, things are pretty quiet right now. “
“Ok, yeah I meant to talk to you about that, Jon asked me the other night and I hadn’t had a chance to call you”
“Oh, it’s completely ok. So with free agency coming up, I will have you help me with that, probably writing press releases for the Hawks website. And I’m going to tell you this now, when you are involved in a meeting that has to do with free agency, whether it’s a player coming or going, the information needs to be kept confidential until Coach Q or I address the team and we are ready to announce it on the website.”
“Yes sir,”
“Also, I know some of the guys will have public appearances in the coming months and I know a few of the guys will be having their usual golf or bowling tournaments for their foundations or charities, so I may send you out to those. None of them, however, will be attending the draft this year,”
“Ok, and will you need me to be at the draft as well?”
“As of right now no, but I will need to have you on call or near a computer to receive emails to update information on the website”
“Ok”
“Now, since it’s off-season and not much is going on right now, I will probably call you a couple days before I need you to come in for the day. And then once it comes close to time for the convention, I will need you on a daily basis, and then that will be when you start the actual internship”
“Ok, great”
“Besides you, there is only 5 other interns with the Hawks right now, 3 of them being with the athletic trainers and the other one with the equipment team. I don’t know if Jonathan told you and I might have forgotten to mention, but this is a paid internship. And if you show great improvement throughout the internship we will bring you on board for a permenant position with the team.”
“Oh wow, that sounds amazing!”
“Yes, and it is. I have good faith in you Jamie, Jon spoke very highly of you and I believe you will be a good addition to this organization.”
“Thank you so much”
“Ok, and I think one last thing is, we will be introducing you, as well as the rest of the interns, to everyone publicly, and obviously you know that people will talk about you, may be good and it may be bad;”
“Ok”
“Reporters will be coming up to you and asking questions as well. If it is business related, answer it. If they are just trying to get details on your personal life, I advise you not to say anything,”
“Yes sir, I never open up about that stuff if I don’t know the person”
“Ok good, and I’m sure you know that the guys have reputations to keep up as to how they act and their behavior around here or in their hometown. I would hope that you could do the same as well.”
“Yes sir,”
“There’s not a lot of paparazzi out here, but I don’t want to see you on the cover of any of those ridiculous gossip magazines. If an issue comes up that you think may cause a problem, come talk to me and it can be worked out”
“Yes sir,”
“Ok, great, and like I said, I have faith in you, I think you will be a good asset to this company. I don’t think I have anything to worry about with the last few things that we just discussed, so don’t let me down.”
“I won’t”
“Great. So I think that is it for today. I’m going to call Lauren Campbell in here and see if there’s anything with the Better Halves that you could help her with”
“Hi Jamie, how are you?” Lauren says as she walks in
“Hi, good how are you?”
“Good! So I hear you will be working around the offices this summer”
“Yes”
“Great! Now with the Better Halves, we do most of the events during the season. The next one coming up will happen about a week before preseason, when we organize a night on a riverboat for dinner and a night of dancing. It’s kind of an annual thing that us girls started planning, to let the guys have one more night to let loose before the season is back in full swing.”
“Ok great, that sounds fun!”
“Yeah, it’s always fun and the guys love it. We will stay in touch throughout the summer and more during the season. It’s always nice to have a new face in the WAGS association, especially after we lost so many last season due to trades.”
“Yeah, well I’m happy to be a part of all of this”
“Well great, I look forward to working with you! I have to get going and get the kids so I will talk to you soon, it was good meeting you!”
“You too!” as she walks out the door
After the last minute packing up in Albuquerque, we had all started the drive on Monday morning. Keeping pretty good timing, we got into Chicago early Thursday morning. Jon had made arrangements for a storage unit to be ready for me when we got out there which made everything easier. And thankfully we had arranged most of the stuff in the U-haul to where the storage stuff was in the front, and some boxes that were coming up were in the back of my brand new Xterra that I had gotten as a graduation present.
Jon’s condo had turned into a maze of boxes. Some in the living room, a couple in one of the spare bedrooms, and the rest in his…um our room and closet. I was glad to have a few days to organize all my things before I had to meet with Stan. My parents stayed for a few days to help unpack and to check out the city before they headed back home. I had filled up 2 picture frames with pictures of me and Jon or me and the girls and hung them up around the house as well as the famous “Kissing the War Goodbye” poster. Needlessly to say, the walls were pretty plain, so he was glad to see the pictures and a little more color in the house. And thankfully, the closet was huge; because I had taken up all of the space he had made for me.
Once all my stuff had been moved in, Jon and I decided to cook dinner and invite some of the guys and their wives/girlfriends over. Although I was still waiting for Laura to move out here next month, I had gotten closer with Abby and Elina.
“Oh, hey I meant to ask you, did you bring your passport?” Jon asks me
“Yeah actually, I think I did. Why?”
“Well Duncs and Kelly are getting married in a few weeks. I already RSVPd, but I wanted to ask you if you would join me”
“Oh, yeah I would love to! Where is it?”
“Somewhere in Winnipeg”
“Ok cool”
“Ok, we will tell them tonight”
Duncan and Kelly are the first to arrive, so we talk to them and Jon tells them that he will be a plus one at the wedding, which made them happy; I'm excited too because it will be my first trip to Canada. Soon after, Pat and Abby arrived, then Nik and Elina and lastly Seabs and Dayna. My mom had packed green chile from home, so I made enchiladas, which turned out to be a hit; which I wasn’t sure about because I was positive that the only chile out here was the gross Tex mex. Duncan, Kelly, Nik and Elina left while the 6 of us decided to play rock band and Wii bowling for about 3 hours until the rest of them decided to go home.
I took advantage of the weekend that I had before meeting Stan to go shopping for some more professional looking outfits, and before I knew it, it was Monday morning and Jon and I were heading over to the United Center, he wanted to get some skating time in while the arena was vacant. We pull into the parking lot and walk down the hallway towards the locker room and the offices. Jordan Hendry and Brian Campbell were there also to get some skating time in, so they all headed out to the ice as I walked towards Stan’s office and knocked on the door
“Hello Jamie, come on in” he says as I sit down
“Hi, how are you?”
“I’m well, thanks, how are you?”
“Good, thanks”
“How are you liking Chicago so far?”
“So far I’m really liking it a lot”
“That’s good! So a couple little things right now, I am aware that you will be joining Jonathan and some of the other guys to Duncan’s wedding, which is fine because since it’s an early off-season, things are pretty quiet right now. “
“Ok, yeah I meant to talk to you about that, Jon asked me the other night and I hadn’t had a chance to call you”
“Oh, it’s completely ok. So with free agency coming up, I will have you help me with that, probably writing press releases for the Hawks website. And I’m going to tell you this now, when you are involved in a meeting that has to do with free agency, whether it’s a player coming or going, the information needs to be kept confidential until Coach Q or I address the team and we are ready to announce it on the website.”
“Yes sir,”
“Also, I know some of the guys will have public appearances in the coming months and I know a few of the guys will be having their usual golf or bowling tournaments for their foundations or charities, so I may send you out to those. None of them, however, will be attending the draft this year,”
“Ok, and will you need me to be at the draft as well?”
“As of right now no, but I will need to have you on call or near a computer to receive emails to update information on the website”
“Ok”
“Now, since it’s off-season and not much is going on right now, I will probably call you a couple days before I need you to come in for the day. And then once it comes close to time for the convention, I will need you on a daily basis, and then that will be when you start the actual internship”
“Ok, great”
“Besides you, there is only 5 other interns with the Hawks right now, 3 of them being with the athletic trainers and the other one with the equipment team. I don’t know if Jonathan told you and I might have forgotten to mention, but this is a paid internship. And if you show great improvement throughout the internship we will bring you on board for a permenant position with the team.”
“Oh wow, that sounds amazing!”
“Yes, and it is. I have good faith in you Jamie, Jon spoke very highly of you and I believe you will be a good addition to this organization.”
“Thank you so much”
“Ok, and I think one last thing is, we will be introducing you, as well as the rest of the interns, to everyone publicly, and obviously you know that people will talk about you, may be good and it may be bad;”
“Ok”
“Reporters will be coming up to you and asking questions as well. If it is business related, answer it. If they are just trying to get details on your personal life, I advise you not to say anything,”
“Yes sir, I never open up about that stuff if I don’t know the person”
“Ok good, and I’m sure you know that the guys have reputations to keep up as to how they act and their behavior around here or in their hometown. I would hope that you could do the same as well.”
“Yes sir,”
“There’s not a lot of paparazzi out here, but I don’t want to see you on the cover of any of those ridiculous gossip magazines. If an issue comes up that you think may cause a problem, come talk to me and it can be worked out”
“Yes sir,”
“Ok, great, and like I said, I have faith in you, I think you will be a good asset to this company. I don’t think I have anything to worry about with the last few things that we just discussed, so don’t let me down.”
“I won’t”
“Great. So I think that is it for today. I’m going to call Lauren Campbell in here and see if there’s anything with the Better Halves that you could help her with”
“Hi Jamie, how are you?” Lauren says as she walks in
“Hi, good how are you?”
“Good! So I hear you will be working around the offices this summer”
“Yes”
“Great! Now with the Better Halves, we do most of the events during the season. The next one coming up will happen about a week before preseason, when we organize a night on a riverboat for dinner and a night of dancing. It’s kind of an annual thing that us girls started planning, to let the guys have one more night to let loose before the season is back in full swing.”
“Ok great, that sounds fun!”
“Yeah, it’s always fun and the guys love it. We will stay in touch throughout the summer and more during the season. It’s always nice to have a new face in the WAGS association, especially after we lost so many last season due to trades.”
“Yeah, well I’m happy to be a part of all of this”
“Well great, I look forward to working with you! I have to get going and get the kids so I will talk to you soon, it was good meeting you!”
“You too!” as she walks out the door
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Chapter 10
***Sorry it's a little short, and a little late then I expected....I took a road trip to see the Penguins play in Phoenix...and WIN, thank god! An exciting game, which made it even better! New post should be up soon! Enjoy :)
“I’m gonna miss this place” I say as I look around my almost empty room
“Yeah, I bet, it’s your comfort zone, it’s where you grew up”
“Yeah, but I think Chicago will be a good experience for me” I say as I tape another box
“It will be fun, and it’s not like you can’t come back to visit either”
“True, which I probably will, whenever I can,”
“So what do you plan on doing with this” Jon asks as he holds up all my Penguins pictures and the shirt signed by Sid and Fleury.
“Um, put it in storage I guess, the pictures I’ll put in a photo album or something”
“You don’t want to put them up?”
“No, but I want to take them with me, don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to move to Chicago, but I will always be a Pens fan.” I say with a smile
“Well yeah, you grew up watching them”
I planned on putting all my Penguins stuff in a box and storage, except for my shirts, and the Penguins blanket, which will be on the couch, thanks to a little convincing and sweet-talking from me. The walls that had collages, picture frames and posters were now completely bare. I even had a new picture frame to put pictures of Jon and I after all the Pens game pictures came out. The only thing left in my room was the air mattress, the last of the boxes, and a suitcase full of clothes.
After eating dinner with my parents, we decided to call it an early night, a long day was ahead of us tomorrow; picking up food and such and finishing setting up before the party starts at 2, there was a lot to get done.
Saturday
Having to wake up so early is one of the most unnecessary things ever! Jon and I were up helping set up things for the party. Thankfully, most was done the day before, all we really had to do was put the table stuff out and pick up the food and cake. Jon helped my dad with some more things well I went to shower and get ready. The party started at 2 but of course no one showed up right away; you always gotta be fashionably late, right? All my family had gotten there, and had met Jon. My uncle was the first one on his case and grilling him with questions, but Jon didn’t have a problem with it, he was happy to see how close I was with my family. A few of my cousins followed hockey, so they knew who he was and talked to him too, but like Jon normally is, he got along with everybody.
Me, Bailey, Steph, and Laura are sitting and talking when Jon joins us and sits next to me
“So, let’s go to Grahams tonight, yeah?” Bailey asks
“Yeah! I told my parents I wanted to go one more time and they said that was fine,” I tell her
“Ok, mom is watching B, so it works good. Chey and Kelly are coming too. You excited Jon?”
“Yeah, I’m anxious to see what this place is all about” he says
“Oh, it’s a lot of fun, but you better know how to two-step”
“I kind of know, but it doesn’t look that hard”
“No, James can show you too”
“Oh and both of the Megans are coming!” Steph adds in
“Ok sweet! Some people from work are coming too,” I say
“So lets meet there at 10?” Bailey asks
“Yeah, that sounds good” the rest of us girls say
The party was a success, all my family and friends had fun and they all loved Jon, which is always a good thing. Bailey and all the girls had left to get ready to go out later, so Jon and I helped clean up stuff to kill time until we leave for Grahams, which wasn’t too hard, we managed to give a lot of the food away as people left.
Before we knew it, it was 10 and we were going to Grahams. Soon after pulling into the parking lot, we see Bailey, Chey and Kelly next to us, and Laura was parked on the other side.
“Hey girls!”
“Hey!” they respond with hugs
“This is my boyfriend, Jon; this is Chey and Kelly”
“Nice to meet you both” He says and gives them handshakes
“I can’t believe your moving already!” Chey says
“I know, I’m kinda sad, but now ya’ll have an excuse to come out to Chicago!”
“True story; that would be awesome!”
“So, James, I gotta warn you that Sarah is going to be here…” Bay says after we get through the doors
“Ugh, seriously? I don’t want to deal with her drama”
“Neither do any of us,” Kelly says
“But she’ll probably have a guy with her…”
“Or 2 or 3” Chey adds with a laugh
“Yeah and Jon watch out for her too, she doesn’t care about any body, she’ll try and pull you away from Jamie”
“Bull shit she will! I’ll punch her in the face” I throw in
“Babe, you have nothing to worry about, I have you, why would I mess anything up?” Jon tells me
“Aww, well good. But I’ll warn you, she is a slut”
“Even more of a reason to stay away from her, I see enough of them in Chi, Kaner might like her though”
“Kaner wouldn’t touch her with a ten foot pole! That’s how gross she is”.
"Yeah and i'd kick her ass for that," Laura says
"Oh a little defensive, are we?" I tell her
"No, he just doesn't need anymore sluts around him"
We spent the whole night dancing, and having a couple drinks. There was probably about 15 other people that showed up, so it made it a lot more fun, and a little sadder too to know that I would be leaving in 2 days. Bailey had requested the Cupid Shuffle, which was a normal song for us, then had to teach it to Jon because he had never heard of it; and continued dancing until last call when we all left. Thankfully I took probably a million pictures to have with me on my move. I said some tearful goodbyes to people I knew I wouldn’t see before I left. Then we finally got back home at about 2:30, and passed out so fast.
“I’m gonna miss this place” I say as I look around my almost empty room
“Yeah, I bet, it’s your comfort zone, it’s where you grew up”
“Yeah, but I think Chicago will be a good experience for me” I say as I tape another box
“It will be fun, and it’s not like you can’t come back to visit either”
“True, which I probably will, whenever I can,”
“So what do you plan on doing with this” Jon asks as he holds up all my Penguins pictures and the shirt signed by Sid and Fleury.
“Um, put it in storage I guess, the pictures I’ll put in a photo album or something”
“You don’t want to put them up?”
“No, but I want to take them with me, don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to move to Chicago, but I will always be a Pens fan.” I say with a smile
“Well yeah, you grew up watching them”
I planned on putting all my Penguins stuff in a box and storage, except for my shirts, and the Penguins blanket, which will be on the couch, thanks to a little convincing and sweet-talking from me. The walls that had collages, picture frames and posters were now completely bare. I even had a new picture frame to put pictures of Jon and I after all the Pens game pictures came out. The only thing left in my room was the air mattress, the last of the boxes, and a suitcase full of clothes.
After eating dinner with my parents, we decided to call it an early night, a long day was ahead of us tomorrow; picking up food and such and finishing setting up before the party starts at 2, there was a lot to get done.
Saturday
Having to wake up so early is one of the most unnecessary things ever! Jon and I were up helping set up things for the party. Thankfully, most was done the day before, all we really had to do was put the table stuff out and pick up the food and cake. Jon helped my dad with some more things well I went to shower and get ready. The party started at 2 but of course no one showed up right away; you always gotta be fashionably late, right? All my family had gotten there, and had met Jon. My uncle was the first one on his case and grilling him with questions, but Jon didn’t have a problem with it, he was happy to see how close I was with my family. A few of my cousins followed hockey, so they knew who he was and talked to him too, but like Jon normally is, he got along with everybody.
Me, Bailey, Steph, and Laura are sitting and talking when Jon joins us and sits next to me
“So, let’s go to Grahams tonight, yeah?” Bailey asks
“Yeah! I told my parents I wanted to go one more time and they said that was fine,” I tell her
“Ok, mom is watching B, so it works good. Chey and Kelly are coming too. You excited Jon?”
“Yeah, I’m anxious to see what this place is all about” he says
“Oh, it’s a lot of fun, but you better know how to two-step”
“I kind of know, but it doesn’t look that hard”
“No, James can show you too”
“Oh and both of the Megans are coming!” Steph adds in
“Ok sweet! Some people from work are coming too,” I say
“So lets meet there at 10?” Bailey asks
“Yeah, that sounds good” the rest of us girls say
The party was a success, all my family and friends had fun and they all loved Jon, which is always a good thing. Bailey and all the girls had left to get ready to go out later, so Jon and I helped clean up stuff to kill time until we leave for Grahams, which wasn’t too hard, we managed to give a lot of the food away as people left.
Before we knew it, it was 10 and we were going to Grahams. Soon after pulling into the parking lot, we see Bailey, Chey and Kelly next to us, and Laura was parked on the other side.
“Hey girls!”
“Hey!” they respond with hugs
“This is my boyfriend, Jon; this is Chey and Kelly”
“Nice to meet you both” He says and gives them handshakes
“I can’t believe your moving already!” Chey says
“I know, I’m kinda sad, but now ya’ll have an excuse to come out to Chicago!”
“True story; that would be awesome!”
“So, James, I gotta warn you that Sarah is going to be here…” Bay says after we get through the doors
“Ugh, seriously? I don’t want to deal with her drama”
“Neither do any of us,” Kelly says
“But she’ll probably have a guy with her…”
“Or 2 or 3” Chey adds with a laugh
“Yeah and Jon watch out for her too, she doesn’t care about any body, she’ll try and pull you away from Jamie”
“Bull shit she will! I’ll punch her in the face” I throw in
“Babe, you have nothing to worry about, I have you, why would I mess anything up?” Jon tells me
“Aww, well good. But I’ll warn you, she is a slut”
“Even more of a reason to stay away from her, I see enough of them in Chi, Kaner might like her though”
“Kaner wouldn’t touch her with a ten foot pole! That’s how gross she is”.
"Yeah and i'd kick her ass for that," Laura says
"Oh a little defensive, are we?" I tell her
"No, he just doesn't need anymore sluts around him"
We spent the whole night dancing, and having a couple drinks. There was probably about 15 other people that showed up, so it made it a lot more fun, and a little sadder too to know that I would be leaving in 2 days. Bailey had requested the Cupid Shuffle, which was a normal song for us, then had to teach it to Jon because he had never heard of it; and continued dancing until last call when we all left. Thankfully I took probably a million pictures to have with me on my move. I said some tearful goodbyes to people I knew I wouldn’t see before I left. Then we finally got back home at about 2:30, and passed out so fast.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Chapter 9
May 2011
Graduation had passed and before I knew it, it was time to get ready to move out to Chicago. Laura took an internship offer with the Blackhawks training staff, so needlessly to say, I was excited that she was moving too. Jon and I talked everyday on the phone, over text and also on Skype, and thank god for Skype because I think it made it a little easier to see him while we were talking. It seems hard to imagine we would get into any arguments being so far away from each other; but when the Ducks knocked the Blackhawks out of the playoffs, it was a little more difficult to handle and it caused a few little fights, but nothing we couldn’t get though and in a way it made things stronger.
Thursday, 19th
It was the week of my graduation/going away party, and also my last night working at Red Robin. I was talking to my manager about things out in Chicago when the hostess tells me I had a phone call.
“Hello?”
“Wow, way to answer your text messages” Laura says
“Oh, sorry I was talking to my manager,” I tell her
“Ok, I just wanted to make sure your still at work, I have a surprise for you and I am going to bring it to you.”
“A surprise, eh?”
“Yeah, I’ll be up there in 15 minutes” she says
“Ok, see you soon” and hung up
I talk to my manager again when my phone goes off, it’s a text from Laura and it simply says that there is something on my car…I take off right away to look, because I haven’t even had it for a week. As I’m walking out to the side door, I see someone standing next to my car…
Oh. My. Gosh. I’m thinking as I get to the door to see that the person is Jon. I run out to my car as he holds a bouquet of roses and his arms out for a hug.
“Surprise!” He says with a kiss
“I can’t believe this! I’m so excited to see you!” I tell him with a smile ear to ear
“So surprise” Laura says
“Wow dude how did you manage to keep a secret like this from me? You are like horrible at keeping secrets!” I tell her
“Ha! Yeah it was hard to do, I almost spilled when you asked me what I was doing earlier, I was going to the airport to pick him up,” She said
Laura decides to leave and Jon and I go inside to see if I can finish up at work. My manager didn’t believe me at first that I was dating Jon, so this really topped it off; he was shocked to see him walk into the restaurant. Him and Jon talked for a few minutes while I finished up and clocked out, then I called my mom to tell her I had a surprise for her and dad when I got home. Afterwards, I said some tearful good-byes to the friends and memories that I had been around for the last 5 years. Jon and I got in my car and headed home so he could meet my parents.
“I gotta hand it to you and Laura for being so secretive about you coming down here,” I told him
“Yeah it was so hard for me to keep quiet, I talked to Laura before I booked my flight and everything and made sure she could pick me up. I wanted to surprise you and I figured now would be perfect so then I could drive back to Chi with you” he said as he grabbed my hand and smiled.
“Aw, well I’m glad you decided to. But I hope you realize that my party is on Saturday and my entire family will be there, so you’ll be meeting them.” I tell him
“I think I can handle that”
“Ok, just making sure, so I’m apologizing in advance if they interrogate you with questions”
“It’s fine, people love me”
“Getting a little cocky, are we?”
“Who, me?”
“Yes, you, Mr. Toews”
“So are you going to show me around this little town of yours?”
“Yeah, there’s not much to see. I’ll show you my high school and UNM, um there’s the Zoo and Aquarium, but those are kinda boring. Maybe I can get some people together one night and we’ll go to Grahams, there’s the tram too.” I say as we pull up to my house.
“You ready to meet my parents?” I say while he gets his duffle bag out of the backseat.
“Yeah,”
“Hey!” I say walking towards them and about to introduce them when my dad stands up
“Hi, you must be Jonathan, I’m Tim” he says with his hand out for a shake
“Oh, call me Jon please and it’s nice to meet you Tim”, then my mom says hi
“Sorry about the loss, I should change the channel, you probably don’t want to see this,” my dad says
“Oh, no sir, it’s not a problem at all” Jon says as we all sit down
“So Jon, tell me about yourself”
We were all talking for a while with the game on in the background, so my dad kept bringing up hockey, which surprised me because I didn’t think Jon would want to talk about it, but he didn’t mind. After an hour or so, we all decided to go to bed.
“Jamie, are you going to show him around town while he’s here?” My dad asks
“Yeah, I figured we would do some of that tomorrow, go up to UNM and that area, who knows.”
“Ok,”
“Since your bed is already in the U-Haul, and it’s just the air mattress in your room,” my mom starts saying
“You kids better behave” my dad cuts in
“Oh my god dad, chill” I respond
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” Jon says
“I must warn you, they aren’t very comfortable,”
“It will do, I'll respect any wishes or rules of the house”
“Well we appreciate that and if that makes you more comfortable, then knock yourself out,”
“Ok, well, Jon, I’m glad we finally met you, Jamie talked about you and the boys a lot, and never missed a Hawks game.” My dad says again
“Yeah, glad to meet you guys too, I was kind of nervous at first but Jamie talked about you guys a lot over spring break so, I think it made it easier” he said
“Ok, well goodnight guys, see you in the morning.” Mom said as we all went to our rooms.
Friday
I was still sleeping when I heard Jon come into my room, and then leave again. Such a morning person that boy is, I guess he went back to the couch because I didn’t hear him again until I woke up 2 hours later and found him in the living room.
“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” He asks as he sits in the bathroom watching me get ready
“Well, we can go up to the campus, I can show you around there, we can take a ride on the tram, I don’t know we can figure it out as we go”
“Ok,” he says
We eat breakfast with my parents and tell them we are going to drive around town so I can show Jon the sights, they decide to stay back and finish getting stuff ready for the party the next day.
“This is the house I’ve lived in my whole life. My sister and me grew up with a lot of different kids, but they all ended up moving away. One of the moms used to tell us to stay away from the ditch because the ditch witch would get us.” I say pointing to it
“The ditch witch?” Jon asks with a laugh
“Yeah, there was an old story that an old lady threw her kids into the ditch and they drowned, then she felt bad so she jumped in and drowned herself, so it scared us kids from playing in the ditch, otherwise she would get us”
We take a detour past my old high school before we park on the UNM campus and walk around, I showed him the student union building, where I spent most my time, also by the duck pond and some of the buildings; the last stop we did was the bookstore, I wanted to get him a UNM hat, even if he didn’t wear it, and one last shirt just to have. Next stop was going to be a ride up the Sandia Peak Tram, which is something New Mexico is known for and also the sunset on the mountains is the prettiest ever, that we will have to look at it tonight. We buy our tickets and get on the tram to go to the top of the mountains.
“Wow, this is amazing!” Jon says as we are overlooking the city
“I know, it’s especially pretty at night with all the city lights”
“I bet; do you come up here a lot?”
“Sometimes, it’s so peaceful up here, if I do, it’s to get away from everything for a while”
We hang out up there for a bit and take some pictures, then get back on the tram to go back down, we get back to my car when my phone rings,
“Hello”
“James!”
“Hey Bailey! What’s up?”
“Nothing what are you doing?”
“Just leaving the tram with Jon”
“Jon…your boyfriend is here?”
“Yeah he surprised me last night and came into town and is going to drive back to Chicago with me next week”
“Oh! Well I would like to meet this boyfriend of yours, and Briar misses you!”
“Aww little B! Ok well what do you have planned for today?”
“Nothing really, have ya’ll eaten lunch yet?”
“Not since breakfast”
“Let’s go to lunch?”
“Ok, let me check with Jon,” so I tell him then get back with Bailey
“Ok, he said that’s cool, we weren’t going to do much of anything else today,”
“K, come to the house while I get B ready and we can decide where to go”
“Sounds good, see you soon”
Jon has heard about Bailey before, she’s been one of my best friends since we met, so he’s looking forward to meeting another best friend. I tell him a little more about her and her 2-1/2 year old daughter when we pull into her driveway.
“Hello???” I say as we walk into her house
“Aunt Jamie!” I turn to see Briar running towards me so I pick her up into a hug, and not far behind is Bailey, we say hi and I introduce her to Jon
“Dang James, you did good!” she says to me after she shakes Jon’s hand
“Thanks, I try” slightly blushing
“So where do you want to go, I’m starving” Bailey says
“I don’t care, wherever”
“I want Chinese,” she says
“How about P.F. Changs? Or Elephant Bar?” I suggest
“What’s Elephant Bar?” Jon asks
“It’s kind of like P.F. Changs but cheaper, and they have more then just Chinese food”
“Want to go there?” Bailey asks him
“Sure, wherever is good” he replies
“There we go then.”
Bailey gets things for Briar together; then we all pile into my car to go to eat. Bailey asks questions about Chicago and about my job before saying that she wants to come visit, and I agree with her, especially since she hadn’t been out there before. At the restaurant, we all get situated and continue talking.
“So have you gotten recognized out here yet?” Bailey asks him
“Not yet, but J tells me that hockey’s not big out here”
“Yeah, she wasn’t lying.” She says with a laugh
“It’s nice though, to go someplace and know that I can be a normal person, but people in Chicago are respectful of us and they aren’t really crazy”
“I bet, so are you excited to move out there?”
“Yeah, I really am, I think it will be a good experience for me, especially since I already have a job and an amazing boyfriend out there,”
“That always makes things easier!”
“Definitely, it might be hard to get used to but I think it will be fun”
“Yeah it will be, now I have an excuse to go out there!”
“Yeah for sure! We’ll go to games and stuff.”
“Where are you going to live?”
“With me,” Jon says as Bailey gives me a questioning look, but Jon continues
“I know from experience that it’s hard to find a place out there, so I offered to let her stay with me, and if she finds a place on her own, I’m not going to hold her hostage,”
“Yeah, so I’ll be staying with him, when I was looking at apartments out there the majority of what was available was 2 or 3 bedroom,”
“Oh ok, well Jonathan, I expect you take good care of my best friend here, because I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Yes ma’am, you have nothing to worry about” he says with a smile
“So I was thinking that we should go to Graham’s one night, as a last final going away thing, because tomorrow will be a lot of family.”
“Ok, well why don’t we go after your party?”
“That could work,”
“Cool, I’ll call some of the girls”
“Ok, I’ll tell Steph and Meghan.”
“Sounds good, do ya’ll have anymore plans today?”
“Not really” I say as we’re leaving the restaurant
“I was thinking about taking B to the Zoo, because Jay is out of town this week, so we switched his days for having her”
So we ended up spending the rest of the day at the Zoo. I had forgotten how much I missed coming here. It always seems to be more fun with a little kid around; Briar never gets tired of coming here and seeing the animals all over again.
After a long day and a tired toddler, we took Bailey and Briar back home and we headed back to my parents house. They were setting up tables and chairs in the back yard with some friends that had come into town, so Jon and I decided to pack up more stuff in my room. I turn on the radio as we start taping boxes together. Thankfully all the big furniture was already in there, so we just had little things to box up.
Graduation had passed and before I knew it, it was time to get ready to move out to Chicago. Laura took an internship offer with the Blackhawks training staff, so needlessly to say, I was excited that she was moving too. Jon and I talked everyday on the phone, over text and also on Skype, and thank god for Skype because I think it made it a little easier to see him while we were talking. It seems hard to imagine we would get into any arguments being so far away from each other; but when the Ducks knocked the Blackhawks out of the playoffs, it was a little more difficult to handle and it caused a few little fights, but nothing we couldn’t get though and in a way it made things stronger.
Thursday, 19th
It was the week of my graduation/going away party, and also my last night working at Red Robin. I was talking to my manager about things out in Chicago when the hostess tells me I had a phone call.
“Hello?”
“Wow, way to answer your text messages” Laura says
“Oh, sorry I was talking to my manager,” I tell her
“Ok, I just wanted to make sure your still at work, I have a surprise for you and I am going to bring it to you.”
“A surprise, eh?”
“Yeah, I’ll be up there in 15 minutes” she says
“Ok, see you soon” and hung up
I talk to my manager again when my phone goes off, it’s a text from Laura and it simply says that there is something on my car…I take off right away to look, because I haven’t even had it for a week. As I’m walking out to the side door, I see someone standing next to my car…
Oh. My. Gosh. I’m thinking as I get to the door to see that the person is Jon. I run out to my car as he holds a bouquet of roses and his arms out for a hug.
“Surprise!” He says with a kiss
“I can’t believe this! I’m so excited to see you!” I tell him with a smile ear to ear
“So surprise” Laura says
“Wow dude how did you manage to keep a secret like this from me? You are like horrible at keeping secrets!” I tell her
“Ha! Yeah it was hard to do, I almost spilled when you asked me what I was doing earlier, I was going to the airport to pick him up,” She said
Laura decides to leave and Jon and I go inside to see if I can finish up at work. My manager didn’t believe me at first that I was dating Jon, so this really topped it off; he was shocked to see him walk into the restaurant. Him and Jon talked for a few minutes while I finished up and clocked out, then I called my mom to tell her I had a surprise for her and dad when I got home. Afterwards, I said some tearful good-byes to the friends and memories that I had been around for the last 5 years. Jon and I got in my car and headed home so he could meet my parents.
“I gotta hand it to you and Laura for being so secretive about you coming down here,” I told him
“Yeah it was so hard for me to keep quiet, I talked to Laura before I booked my flight and everything and made sure she could pick me up. I wanted to surprise you and I figured now would be perfect so then I could drive back to Chi with you” he said as he grabbed my hand and smiled.
“Aw, well I’m glad you decided to. But I hope you realize that my party is on Saturday and my entire family will be there, so you’ll be meeting them.” I tell him
“I think I can handle that”
“Ok, just making sure, so I’m apologizing in advance if they interrogate you with questions”
“It’s fine, people love me”
“Getting a little cocky, are we?”
“Who, me?”
“Yes, you, Mr. Toews”
“So are you going to show me around this little town of yours?”
“Yeah, there’s not much to see. I’ll show you my high school and UNM, um there’s the Zoo and Aquarium, but those are kinda boring. Maybe I can get some people together one night and we’ll go to Grahams, there’s the tram too.” I say as we pull up to my house.
“You ready to meet my parents?” I say while he gets his duffle bag out of the backseat.
“Yeah,”
“Hey!” I say walking towards them and about to introduce them when my dad stands up
“Hi, you must be Jonathan, I’m Tim” he says with his hand out for a shake
“Oh, call me Jon please and it’s nice to meet you Tim”, then my mom says hi
“Sorry about the loss, I should change the channel, you probably don’t want to see this,” my dad says
“Oh, no sir, it’s not a problem at all” Jon says as we all sit down
“So Jon, tell me about yourself”
We were all talking for a while with the game on in the background, so my dad kept bringing up hockey, which surprised me because I didn’t think Jon would want to talk about it, but he didn’t mind. After an hour or so, we all decided to go to bed.
“Jamie, are you going to show him around town while he’s here?” My dad asks
“Yeah, I figured we would do some of that tomorrow, go up to UNM and that area, who knows.”
“Ok,”
“Since your bed is already in the U-Haul, and it’s just the air mattress in your room,” my mom starts saying
“You kids better behave” my dad cuts in
“Oh my god dad, chill” I respond
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” Jon says
“I must warn you, they aren’t very comfortable,”
“It will do, I'll respect any wishes or rules of the house”
“Well we appreciate that and if that makes you more comfortable, then knock yourself out,”
“Ok, well, Jon, I’m glad we finally met you, Jamie talked about you and the boys a lot, and never missed a Hawks game.” My dad says again
“Yeah, glad to meet you guys too, I was kind of nervous at first but Jamie talked about you guys a lot over spring break so, I think it made it easier” he said
“Ok, well goodnight guys, see you in the morning.” Mom said as we all went to our rooms.
Friday
I was still sleeping when I heard Jon come into my room, and then leave again. Such a morning person that boy is, I guess he went back to the couch because I didn’t hear him again until I woke up 2 hours later and found him in the living room.
“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” He asks as he sits in the bathroom watching me get ready
“Well, we can go up to the campus, I can show you around there, we can take a ride on the tram, I don’t know we can figure it out as we go”
“Ok,” he says
We eat breakfast with my parents and tell them we are going to drive around town so I can show Jon the sights, they decide to stay back and finish getting stuff ready for the party the next day.
“This is the house I’ve lived in my whole life. My sister and me grew up with a lot of different kids, but they all ended up moving away. One of the moms used to tell us to stay away from the ditch because the ditch witch would get us.” I say pointing to it
“The ditch witch?” Jon asks with a laugh
“Yeah, there was an old story that an old lady threw her kids into the ditch and they drowned, then she felt bad so she jumped in and drowned herself, so it scared us kids from playing in the ditch, otherwise she would get us”
We take a detour past my old high school before we park on the UNM campus and walk around, I showed him the student union building, where I spent most my time, also by the duck pond and some of the buildings; the last stop we did was the bookstore, I wanted to get him a UNM hat, even if he didn’t wear it, and one last shirt just to have. Next stop was going to be a ride up the Sandia Peak Tram, which is something New Mexico is known for and also the sunset on the mountains is the prettiest ever, that we will have to look at it tonight. We buy our tickets and get on the tram to go to the top of the mountains.
“Wow, this is amazing!” Jon says as we are overlooking the city
“I know, it’s especially pretty at night with all the city lights”
“I bet; do you come up here a lot?”
“Sometimes, it’s so peaceful up here, if I do, it’s to get away from everything for a while”
We hang out up there for a bit and take some pictures, then get back on the tram to go back down, we get back to my car when my phone rings,
“Hello”
“James!”
“Hey Bailey! What’s up?”
“Nothing what are you doing?”
“Just leaving the tram with Jon”
“Jon…your boyfriend is here?”
“Yeah he surprised me last night and came into town and is going to drive back to Chicago with me next week”
“Oh! Well I would like to meet this boyfriend of yours, and Briar misses you!”
“Aww little B! Ok well what do you have planned for today?”
“Nothing really, have ya’ll eaten lunch yet?”
“Not since breakfast”
“Let’s go to lunch?”
“Ok, let me check with Jon,” so I tell him then get back with Bailey
“Ok, he said that’s cool, we weren’t going to do much of anything else today,”
“K, come to the house while I get B ready and we can decide where to go”
“Sounds good, see you soon”
Jon has heard about Bailey before, she’s been one of my best friends since we met, so he’s looking forward to meeting another best friend. I tell him a little more about her and her 2-1/2 year old daughter when we pull into her driveway.
“Hello???” I say as we walk into her house
“Aunt Jamie!” I turn to see Briar running towards me so I pick her up into a hug, and not far behind is Bailey, we say hi and I introduce her to Jon
“Dang James, you did good!” she says to me after she shakes Jon’s hand
“Thanks, I try” slightly blushing
“So where do you want to go, I’m starving” Bailey says
“I don’t care, wherever”
“I want Chinese,” she says
“How about P.F. Changs? Or Elephant Bar?” I suggest
“What’s Elephant Bar?” Jon asks
“It’s kind of like P.F. Changs but cheaper, and they have more then just Chinese food”
“Want to go there?” Bailey asks him
“Sure, wherever is good” he replies
“There we go then.”
Bailey gets things for Briar together; then we all pile into my car to go to eat. Bailey asks questions about Chicago and about my job before saying that she wants to come visit, and I agree with her, especially since she hadn’t been out there before. At the restaurant, we all get situated and continue talking.
“So have you gotten recognized out here yet?” Bailey asks him
“Not yet, but J tells me that hockey’s not big out here”
“Yeah, she wasn’t lying.” She says with a laugh
“It’s nice though, to go someplace and know that I can be a normal person, but people in Chicago are respectful of us and they aren’t really crazy”
“I bet, so are you excited to move out there?”
“Yeah, I really am, I think it will be a good experience for me, especially since I already have a job and an amazing boyfriend out there,”
“That always makes things easier!”
“Definitely, it might be hard to get used to but I think it will be fun”
“Yeah it will be, now I have an excuse to go out there!”
“Yeah for sure! We’ll go to games and stuff.”
“Where are you going to live?”
“With me,” Jon says as Bailey gives me a questioning look, but Jon continues
“I know from experience that it’s hard to find a place out there, so I offered to let her stay with me, and if she finds a place on her own, I’m not going to hold her hostage,”
“Yeah, so I’ll be staying with him, when I was looking at apartments out there the majority of what was available was 2 or 3 bedroom,”
“Oh ok, well Jonathan, I expect you take good care of my best friend here, because I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Yes ma’am, you have nothing to worry about” he says with a smile
“So I was thinking that we should go to Graham’s one night, as a last final going away thing, because tomorrow will be a lot of family.”
“Ok, well why don’t we go after your party?”
“That could work,”
“Cool, I’ll call some of the girls”
“Ok, I’ll tell Steph and Meghan.”
“Sounds good, do ya’ll have anymore plans today?”
“Not really” I say as we’re leaving the restaurant
“I was thinking about taking B to the Zoo, because Jay is out of town this week, so we switched his days for having her”
So we ended up spending the rest of the day at the Zoo. I had forgotten how much I missed coming here. It always seems to be more fun with a little kid around; Briar never gets tired of coming here and seeing the animals all over again.
After a long day and a tired toddler, we took Bailey and Briar back home and we headed back to my parents house. They were setting up tables and chairs in the back yard with some friends that had come into town, so Jon and I decided to pack up more stuff in my room. I turn on the radio as we start taping boxes together. Thankfully all the big furniture was already in there, so we just had little things to box up.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Chapter 8
**This is kind of a filler chapter to end spring break. The next chapter will have a little bit of being back in New Mexico before the move, then it will continue onto moving to Chicago...enjoy! :)
Thursday
Wow, this week flew by like nothing, I can’t believe we’re going back home tonight. Laura and I wake up semi early so we can be ready to leave for the airport after saying bye to the boys and their girlfriends or wives. I’m throwing things into my suitcase when I hear my phone ring, I walk over to take it off the charger and answer it, without even looking at it.
“Hello?”
“Hey gorgeous, what’s up,” Jon says
“Hi, ugh nothing just packing.” I say, a little sad
“Well take a break, me and Pat are kidnapping you and Laura to go to lunch with us”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, be ready in 20 minutes, we’ll be there.” He says
“Ok, who’s all going?”
“The 4 of us, Sharpie & Abby, Nik & Elina, Seabs & Dayna, Jordan and Chelsea”
“Oh wow, ok cool, we will be ready!”
“Ok, see you soon” he says
“Laura, get ready!” I yell to the bathroom
“Why?”
“Because the boys are coming to get us, we’re all going to lunch before we leave.”
“Oh ok, so should we be ready to check out and take our bags?”
“I guess, yeah, we don’t have to be at the airport for like 3 hours but we’ll probably hang out and talk for that long.”
“Ok”
20 minutes later, there’s a knock on the door, I run to open it to Jon and Pat standing there, and I move over and let them in.
“So, we figured you ladies should have everything ready and check out now, so after we’re done, we’ll just take you to the airport.” Pat says
“Yeah, that’s what we were thinking” Laura says
“Where are we going to lunch?”
“We were thinking the Cheesecake Factory, since it was our first group dinner, so it could be our last…well temporarily.” Jon says with a wink
“Yeah, sounds good.”
Laura and I check out of the hotel and throw our suitcases into the back of Pat’s hummer and then get in to go to lunch. I’m taking random pictures of all of us in the car, so I have something to remember this exciting trip and a happy reminder that I’ll be moving out here in a few short months. Jon can see that I’m sad to be leaving already so he grabs my hand and laces our fingers together, and pulls my face towards to him to give me a kiss right as Laura snaps the camera…picture perfect.
“Aw, guys that was cute!” She says as she shows us
“Dang, we look good!” Jon says
“I know, it came out good” I say
“Want to make a copy and send it to me?”
“Yeah, I think I could do that”
“Good, because I need pictures of me and my gorgeous girlfriend in my house” he says with another kiss
We walk into the Cheesecake Factory to see that Jordan, Chelsea, Seabs and Dayna already got a table, we all get situated and talk until everyone else comes. About 5 minutes later, all 12 of us are sitting around the table talking and laughing. Brent clinks his glass with a spoon to get our attention.
“So I have to say first of all, good job Tazer for finding a girl like Jamie, she’s a great girl and lord knows we all need another person to keep you in line” He says, we all laugh
“But in all seriousness, Jamie, I want to congratulate you on getting a job with the Hawks, it’s a fun industry to work in, especially with all of us goofballs, who you are stuck with now, so it will definitely be worth it. Glad your going to be calling Chicago home.”
“Aww…Brent that was sweet! I think I might cry”
“Geez, Seabs don’t make my girl cry” Jon says
Conversations keep flowing; the girls and me exchange numbers so we can keep in touch. We finish eating and are standing outside saying our goodbyes and take a few pictures, knowing it wont be too much longer until I am out here for good.
The last person I hug is Sharpie, he’s probably one of the guys I’ve become the closest with, next to Kaner.
“Good luck with school, and congrats on graduating!” he says into the hug
“Thanks Patrick, keep Jon in line for me, will ya?”
“You got it kid” he says as we all part ways to leave
The drive to the airport was a little more emotional then I expected. My eyes got a teary when we pulled up to the drop off area. We all got out of the car to get our luggage and say our goodbyes.
“J, don’t cry. It will be May before you know it and it’ll be time to move out here,” Jon says as he pulls me into a hug. I just melt as the embrace of being in his strong arms, and to think this is what I'm leaving behind.
“I know but this week went by so fast, and it’s changed my life a lot,”
“You’re going to love it though, you have me and all the guys to help you. The girls love you, it might take a while to get used to, but it will be worth it”
“Ok,” I say with a smile, before Jon closes the distance between us and gives me a long kiss
“Call me when you land?” He says, rubbing his thumb on my cheek,
“I will,” I say, trying to smile
“Ok, ok, let me get in here and say bye to her” Pat says
“Oh Patrick…I might worry about you sometimes” I say with a smile
“Yeah, I think we all do,”
“Well, I don’t know what we would have done if we hadn’t met you guys, but I wouldn’t change it for the world, because I have a job now and I’m so excited to move out here”
“Good, it’s going to be so much fun, you’ll be out here for the playoffs, and then summer time when we can just go crazy!”
“Can’t wait!”
“Ok, well you girls better go so you don’t miss your flight”
“Ok, bye Patrick, see you in a few months”
“Bye!”
Jon and I say bye one more time before walking into the airport. We check in our luggage and make our way through security to our gate. I look at all the pictures that I’ve taken over the week and I think it finally hit me that this is going to be my new home, and that I have a new family out here. I’m brought out of my thoughts when my phone goes off
J, this week has been amazing. I’m so thankful for the day that we ran into each other at Starbucks. I knew right away that you were a great girl that I wanted to get to know better. Thank you for letting us spend time with you girls and thank you for letting me take you out. The nights I have spent with you have been the best times I’ve had in a long time, and you showed me that. I can’t wait until you move out here so we can have so many adventures together and create more memories and build our relationship. Call me when you land in New Mexico. Xoxo-Jon
Thursday
Wow, this week flew by like nothing, I can’t believe we’re going back home tonight. Laura and I wake up semi early so we can be ready to leave for the airport after saying bye to the boys and their girlfriends or wives. I’m throwing things into my suitcase when I hear my phone ring, I walk over to take it off the charger and answer it, without even looking at it.
“Hello?”
“Hey gorgeous, what’s up,” Jon says
“Hi, ugh nothing just packing.” I say, a little sad
“Well take a break, me and Pat are kidnapping you and Laura to go to lunch with us”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, be ready in 20 minutes, we’ll be there.” He says
“Ok, who’s all going?”
“The 4 of us, Sharpie & Abby, Nik & Elina, Seabs & Dayna, Jordan and Chelsea”
“Oh wow, ok cool, we will be ready!”
“Ok, see you soon” he says
“Laura, get ready!” I yell to the bathroom
“Why?”
“Because the boys are coming to get us, we’re all going to lunch before we leave.”
“Oh ok, so should we be ready to check out and take our bags?”
“I guess, yeah, we don’t have to be at the airport for like 3 hours but we’ll probably hang out and talk for that long.”
“Ok”
20 minutes later, there’s a knock on the door, I run to open it to Jon and Pat standing there, and I move over and let them in.
“So, we figured you ladies should have everything ready and check out now, so after we’re done, we’ll just take you to the airport.” Pat says
“Yeah, that’s what we were thinking” Laura says
“Where are we going to lunch?”
“We were thinking the Cheesecake Factory, since it was our first group dinner, so it could be our last…well temporarily.” Jon says with a wink
“Yeah, sounds good.”
Laura and I check out of the hotel and throw our suitcases into the back of Pat’s hummer and then get in to go to lunch. I’m taking random pictures of all of us in the car, so I have something to remember this exciting trip and a happy reminder that I’ll be moving out here in a few short months. Jon can see that I’m sad to be leaving already so he grabs my hand and laces our fingers together, and pulls my face towards to him to give me a kiss right as Laura snaps the camera…picture perfect.
“Aw, guys that was cute!” She says as she shows us
“Dang, we look good!” Jon says
“I know, it came out good” I say
“Want to make a copy and send it to me?”
“Yeah, I think I could do that”
“Good, because I need pictures of me and my gorgeous girlfriend in my house” he says with another kiss
We walk into the Cheesecake Factory to see that Jordan, Chelsea, Seabs and Dayna already got a table, we all get situated and talk until everyone else comes. About 5 minutes later, all 12 of us are sitting around the table talking and laughing. Brent clinks his glass with a spoon to get our attention.
“So I have to say first of all, good job Tazer for finding a girl like Jamie, she’s a great girl and lord knows we all need another person to keep you in line” He says, we all laugh
“But in all seriousness, Jamie, I want to congratulate you on getting a job with the Hawks, it’s a fun industry to work in, especially with all of us goofballs, who you are stuck with now, so it will definitely be worth it. Glad your going to be calling Chicago home.”
“Aww…Brent that was sweet! I think I might cry”
“Geez, Seabs don’t make my girl cry” Jon says
Conversations keep flowing; the girls and me exchange numbers so we can keep in touch. We finish eating and are standing outside saying our goodbyes and take a few pictures, knowing it wont be too much longer until I am out here for good.
The last person I hug is Sharpie, he’s probably one of the guys I’ve become the closest with, next to Kaner.
“Good luck with school, and congrats on graduating!” he says into the hug
“Thanks Patrick, keep Jon in line for me, will ya?”
“You got it kid” he says as we all part ways to leave
The drive to the airport was a little more emotional then I expected. My eyes got a teary when we pulled up to the drop off area. We all got out of the car to get our luggage and say our goodbyes.
“J, don’t cry. It will be May before you know it and it’ll be time to move out here,” Jon says as he pulls me into a hug. I just melt as the embrace of being in his strong arms, and to think this is what I'm leaving behind.
“I know but this week went by so fast, and it’s changed my life a lot,”
“You’re going to love it though, you have me and all the guys to help you. The girls love you, it might take a while to get used to, but it will be worth it”
“Ok,” I say with a smile, before Jon closes the distance between us and gives me a long kiss
“Call me when you land?” He says, rubbing his thumb on my cheek,
“I will,” I say, trying to smile
“Ok, ok, let me get in here and say bye to her” Pat says
“Oh Patrick…I might worry about you sometimes” I say with a smile
“Yeah, I think we all do,”
“Well, I don’t know what we would have done if we hadn’t met you guys, but I wouldn’t change it for the world, because I have a job now and I’m so excited to move out here”
“Good, it’s going to be so much fun, you’ll be out here for the playoffs, and then summer time when we can just go crazy!”
“Can’t wait!”
“Ok, well you girls better go so you don’t miss your flight”
“Ok, bye Patrick, see you in a few months”
“Bye!”
Jon and I say bye one more time before walking into the airport. We check in our luggage and make our way through security to our gate. I look at all the pictures that I’ve taken over the week and I think it finally hit me that this is going to be my new home, and that I have a new family out here. I’m brought out of my thoughts when my phone goes off
J, this week has been amazing. I’m so thankful for the day that we ran into each other at Starbucks. I knew right away that you were a great girl that I wanted to get to know better. Thank you for letting us spend time with you girls and thank you for letting me take you out. The nights I have spent with you have been the best times I’ve had in a long time, and you showed me that. I can’t wait until you move out here so we can have so many adventures together and create more memories and build our relationship. Call me when you land in New Mexico. Xoxo-Jon
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