Funny how that happens...

Several weeks ago I was reading a blog I follow very closely, and she shared how she felt challenged to just write... not always having a "grand" blog to post, but to just write...write about the little things, about what she was thinking, about what happened that afternoon.  It got me thinking...

I was looking back through some of my past blog posts yesterday and realized that in the last few months I haven't written very much at all because I didn't think I had "enough" to post.  I love to have photos to go along with my writing (or have photos be the focus of a post) but on the days when I don't get photos edited fast enough, my blog stays silent.  And I think this needs to change.

Starting with today :)

I was thinking last night as I fell asleep how interesting it is that life comes full circle at times.  I didn't grow up with hockey as part of my life, yet hockey played a part in how I came to be lol!  My parents met at a hockey game, a Medicine Hat Tigers hockey game actually.  My mom was actually there with someone else, but a friend of my dad's kept telling him "There is this girl you just have to meet!"  The first time they laid eyes on each other was at a Tigers game... and needless to say the other guy didn't stick around long after that... Dad got the girl and the rest is history :)

Fast forward 30+ years and now me, their daughter, and my husband are regulars at the Tigers games, and hockey is very much a part of our lives.  As I've mentioned before, we are billeting one of the Tiger players this year, Patrik.  We were very excited and proud of him last night as he scored his first goal of the season and was awarded the first star of the game!

Yesterday we watched the game with Justin's dad and laughed and smiled as an adorable toddler entertained our small section.  Justin spent many years as a kid going to the Tigers games with his dad, and someday when we are blessed with kids of our own I'm quite confident that a third generation of Esau's/Scott's will be cheering on the black and orange...

Here's the clip of Patrik being announced as the first star of the game

Officially a Hockey "Mom"...

Yes it is official... I'm a hockey mom... 

Now before the rumors start, no I'm NOT pregnant lol, and even though I'm fully prepared to be a hockey mom when we have our own children, for the next 8 or 9 months I am a hockey "mom" to someone else's son :)  Two days before we left for holidays we welcomed Patrik Parkkonen, an 18 year old defenceman from Finland who is playing with the Medicine Hat Tigers.

(photo from the Tigers website)

For the past year as we have been finishing our basement, we had it in the back of our minds that if we could finish one of the bedrooms and the bathroom in time for hockey season that we would put our names in to be a billet family for a Tiger player.  Justin's family billeted for a while when he was a kid, and we have a few friends who are or have been WHL billets and all of them have had such a positive experience that we thought we'd give it a try!  Both Justin and I attended high school away from home and lived with other families for the school year so we are well acquainted with what it's like to be a young person living away from home.  We thought if we could open our home and give someone else a positive experience, why not?  We are very involved in hockey in Medicine Hat anyways so it just seemed like a natural decision for us.  

This is Patrik's second year with the Tigers so his English is pretty good.  Every now and then he kinda searches for a word but for the most part he seems quite comfortable with the language.  The other night, I was puttering in the kitchen baking and he and Justin were huddled around Justin's laptop watching hockey (surprise surprise lol!) and it's like I saw a snapshot of what our lives will look like several years from now lol!  Patrik has been a great addition to our home and we are excited to get to know him better as the year goes on.

And of course with it being the middle of September already, hockey is in full swing around our house.  Justin is the head coach of a Pee Wee AA rep team this year and they are well underway with practices already.  He is really excited about his coaching staff and the caliber of players they have to work with this season, we are expecting a great year.  So I am officially the keeper of the hockey schedules, two teams' resident fan and the cook hahaha!  We are looking forward to a great season with Justin's team as well as watching Patrik and the Tigers play!