I guess I'll start with events that have been going on in Nottingham. Earlier in October we went to something called the 'Goose Fair', which is apparently it's the largest fair in Europe. I have to say it was the first fair that I have enjoyed in the rain haha...that's England for ya. Anyway, we went with a large group of all the hockey guys and their significant others. I of course had to find the most bad-ass ride and take my chances on it being safe and not find myself in a 'Final Destination' situation. Luckily my friends Christy is also a thrill seeker and decided to go on with me. (Yes, I said Christy...not Jordan...he's a big baby haha.) I'm pretty sure it was the scariest ride I have ever been on and that is saying something because I've done many of fairs and been on plenty of rollercoasters in my day. Just try and imagine plumeting down facing the ground going 50 mph while spinning and having tons on steal behind you that would crush you in seconds. I didn't get a very good picture of the ride or pictures of the fair in general because it was raining...and I may or may not have figured out how to use my new camera at that point haha. Anywho....here are some pics from the night:
Fast forward a couple of weeks and we're at Halloween. I'm sooo happy they celebrate it here because I know a lot of other european countries don't do anything for Halloween. I was hoping to finally get to do a couples costume (given that I hadn't spent halloween with Jordan in 5 years), but he put the kabosh on that. "Hill, I just want to get the cheapest costume possible", Jordy said...crushing my dreams haha. He ended up going as a Ninja and I went as a Victorian woman.
The team decided to go to the same bar they went last year which is called the Pit and Pendulum. The Pit and Pendulum is the ideal place for a halloween party because it is super "creeptastic". (Does that word exist yet? If not, it should). Anyway the bar is decorated really spooky and they have the coolest little touches that really takes the place up a notch...i.e. the hidden bookcase bathroom! I'm pretty sure there were "regulars" there laughing at the stupid American pushing on the bookcase walls trying to find the entrance to the bathroom....unsuccessfully. It certainly doesn't get any easier after a couple of drinks. Luckily I had an escort most of the time so I only got laughed at once or twice. It was all in good fun though :o)
Jump a head 3 weeks and we find ourselves at the Rihanna concert. This was a last minute thing but well worth telling you about. One of the guys who works for the team ended up getting 14 free tickets and was nice enough to give us 2 of them. So here we are sitting at the bar in the arena waiting for the other guys and girls to get there when Adam, (the guy who got us tickets), comes strolling in and hands us wrist bands. Wait a second...wrist bands....not tickets? He promptly says, "wait till you see where we are sitting". I'm starting to get excited...my friend Nyree is starting to get blotchy because shes so excited, all the girls are about to pee themselves waiting in anticipation, and then we head into the arena. Ok cool, we are on the ground near the bar instead of seats. Cool I thought. Nope. We start heading toward the front of the stadium passing rows and rows of people until a security card stops us and tells us to wait for a minute. "Hmmm whats going on" I thought. And then they told us. "You guys are going to be on the stage and and we need to finish setting up so hold on a moment". Umm WHAT!? ON THE STAGE?! Yes we were pretty much standing on the stage but that's not even the best part. Halfway through her show, (which was amazing by the way), she begins to do the part where she gives someone from the audience a lap dance. I had seen this part of the concert online so I knew what to expect but what I wasn't expecting was for her to pick one of our friends!!! I was in SHOCK that our friend Mathew was on the stage with Rihanna getting grinded on haha. All I could do was look at his girlfriend Nyree and say "OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD" haha. They were both great sports about it and couldn't have happened to a better guy/couple. Nyree just kept saying she was jealous it wasn't her, and when Mathew came back he just said "It was great, but I couldn't really concentrate on what was going on after a huge bead of sweat dripped from her chin onto my face" haha. Honestly if it was any other guy we were with, (including my husband because Rihanna is his dream girl) ,they would have been like "yeah, she was so hot, she wanted me"..blah blah blah. So I'm happy she picked probably the nicest guy in our group. We also ended up making friends with the guitarist on stage so he hooked us up with coronas and shots of Jack Daniels. I also got one of his guitar picks which I think I'm going to use as my new lucky charm. Needless to say we had an amazing night! I really took some awesome pictures BUT I looked at my camera the next morning and realized that my memory card was missing. I AM GUTTED <-- (yeah I'm using English slang for this one :o) Anyway, hopefully my friends don't mind but I stoke a couple of pictures from the night:
Finally we are here today at Thanksgiving. I'm having the other American couple (the Kowalski's), Brock and his roommate Franny over for dinner. This will be my first time hosting Thanksgiving so I'm a little nervous. I have to work today so timing will be a little tight but I'm going to push on through and start cooking when I get home. Christy, (the other American girl), is helping me out and is bringing over some delicious sides. I think she's planning on bringing Jalapeno corn, green bean casserole, and roasted sweet potatoes. If her thanksgiving dishes are anything like her buffalo chicken dip then we are in for a big treat! I will be taking care of the meat, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, and gravy. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be having turkey tonight because I didn't have enough time to cook one but I think we're going to shoot for ham. And if not ham a rotisserie chicken...that's close enough to Turkey right? Anyway, I've left all of the grocery shopping for Jordan to take care of after practice...fingers crossed that he gets everything right. I went over a couple of the things last night that he was going to need and I can't say I'm too confident with his shopping skills after he asked "what the hell is beef bouillon?" haha.
Obviously I wish we could spend the holidays with our friends and family back home but I'm really happy that we get to spend it with new friends here. I can honestly say I am so thankful that Jordy is playing for such a great team with awesome guys and girlfriends and in such a wonderful location. We have had a great time here so far and I look forward to telling you more about it. Hoping everyone has a great thanksgiving, and happy holidays!
Cheers,
Hillary
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