Chapter 23

Hey yall! SO sorry for the delay! The end of summer got crazy & then with this dumb lockout, Ive been getting writers block! But here's an update FINALLY & there will also be one for my Toews story! 

Oh & in other news--Im moving to PA next month to live with my sister for a while...super excited! So hopefully that will give me some encouragement :)

Enjoy! 

~J

After we ran through everything, it was time for dinner. Something I was so excited for, since we can all hang out and relax (or try to anyways) and eat some amazing BBQ. James & I had our gifts to give out to our wedding party as well.

As soon as we got to my parents house, I had to take something to the bedroom. Once I got a minute to myself, I couldn’t hold it in anymore & I just started crying my eyes out.

“Baby? What’s wrong?” James asks, closing the door behind him and pulling me in

“I’m just anxious, all my emotions are coming out at once and I couldn’t hold it in anymore,” I say

“So this isn’t a bad thing?” he asks, halfway laughing

“No, I’m just a little emotional. Today was a little crazy too. I’m just ready to do everything & get married,”

“I know today was crazy, and some of it was unnecessary, but we’re going to get through it,”
“I’m actually really glad I don’t have to deal with Bailey anymore, I cant believe she did that. Well, never mind, I can,”

“Can I be honest with you?” he asks

“Yeah,” I say, hesitating

“I never really liked her to begin with,”

“That doesn’t surprise me…a lot of people don’t,”
“I’m surprised you didn’t cuss up a storm at her,” he says, laughing

“Ya know, I was about there, until I remembered we were in church, so it wouldn’t be very appropriate,”

“Are you ok now? I know this is getting stressful, but everything’s falling into place. We’re getting married tomorrow!”

“I know! Yeah, I’m good. Better now,”

“Ok, then lets go mingle and eat,” James says, taking my hand in his & leading me out to where everyone started arriving

Everyone had shown up so we started eating. I got a call at some point from Diana at the bakery to let me know the cakes were ready. So I had to figure out how those were going to get over to the casino, once I gave her Nicole’s name & number, she said she had worked with her before so that gave me a little more relief. There was also a guy working there that knew exactly how the Stanley cup looked, so he’d be the one to go with her and put it together and add all the finishing touches. So the cakes are taken care of.

We went to join the rest of the group in the back yard and grabbed some food and began reminiscing on a few old stories.  Mike told about when James called their mom, the day after we all went to Diesel, to tell her that he met the girl he was going to marry…I had no idea of this either, but I thought it was cute. I was grateful to have a brother-in-law like Mike, he’s so caring and so protective of me, and I know I could trust him with a lot. 

Before we cut the cake that my best friend made for us, James and I got our gifts to give to the bridal party to give those out as well. James gave the guys flasks & I gave the girls little baskets with a clutch for tomorrow, full of mints & lip-gloss plus a white button up blouse to wear for our hair & make up session in the morning. 

The time came for James and I to go our separate ways until the ceremony tomorrow.  He snuck me away for a minute to give me the goodbye kiss he would never give in front of our family. Wow. That’s all I have to say about that.

James took the car with the guys and went back to the hotel for the night, I joked and told them not to lose too much money gambling, cause we could use it for our honeymoon…which I still had NO idea where we were going. And James isn’t the greatest at keeping secrets, so he was doing pretty well at keeping quiet.

Guess what! I’m getting MARRIED today!! Holy cow, it’s so crazy to think about but so exciting! I did get a little emotional…but that’s normal right? And it was good emotions, obviously. I’m marrying my best friend!

The girls and I get up to shower and have breakfast, and then make a pit stop at Starbucks before heading to Natalie’s, where her and Rachel are doing our hair and makeup.  We spent most of the day gossiping and chatting with the girls; I was so thankful that I could get them to do this for me, out of Nat’s house too, since neither of them is at a salon anymore.

Nicole texted me letting me know she was on her way to the casino. She is going to do pictures of the guys, while Amanda does our pictures.

We were all done up and going back to my parents house to finish getting ready! Ah I was getting anxious and excited all at once.  We had sandwiches for lunch, calmed my nerves a little bit. 

Amanda brought us a little gift back with mini bottles of alcohol…just what I needed! She took some pictures of us in our button ups, before we figured we should get into our dresses.  Once the girls were dressed, I got my wedding day lingerie on, plus the garters, and then it was dress time! I am so unbelievably in love with my dress, it’s crazy. 

Once we were all ready, it was time to go to the church.  Mom and I made sure we had everything we needed. My overnight bag was already in the room where James and I were staying tonight. 

When we got to the church, I had Vero run in to make sure James was out of sight, and also to get Mike, so I could give him my ring.  The coast was clear, so we all went in straight to the choir room where we’d hang out until its time for the ceremony to start. 

A few family members stopped by to see us before the ceremony.  I had Amanda call James to our room, so we could get a picture together, without seeing each other, obviously. It was almost time to start, when my dad came in, with a surprise for me.

“You might want to have your camera ready,” mom tells Amanda,

“What are you talking about?” I ask her, confused

Not a second later, my dad walks in, with my older brother and his wife behind him

“Shut up. What!” I say, in complete shock

“Surprise!” David says

I’m definitely glad Amanda caught that on camera.

“I’m speechless right now, I thought y’all couldn’t make it!” between hugs

“We couldn’t at first, but I pulled some strings, and well here we are!”

“I had a few people add plus 1’s to their RSVP cards, so I knew you wouldn’t question it,” dad says

“You little sneak!” I say, taking Kleenex to dry my eyes

“I know,” he responds, laughing

So the ceremony begins.  We ended up having Sid walk my mom in, then the rest of the party followed.  Then, it was my turn. The first sight of James that I got, I was already almost crying & he was too, so cute.

I am OFFICIALLY Mrs. Neal! And it feels great! I’m pretty sure I was crying nearly the whole time and so were all the girls.  We all stood out of the church to say hi to everyone before the endless pictures.  One of my really good friends, who was also a hockey wife, and her husband made it down, which made me really happy. 

After all the pictures, and the ride to the hotel & casino, James and I ran up to our suite, before heading in to the reception hall.  The veil had been taken off, my dress was bustled and the girls and I switched into more comfortable shoes, and then went to make our entrance.

The wedding party walked into the hall dancing to “Sexy and I know it”, then James and I walked into “I Can’t Help Fallin’ in Love with you”.  Needlessly to say, it turned out perfect J

I took to Pinterest for a lot of my ideas, including our guest book being our top 2 favorite engagement photos, so we could hang them up in the house.  We also did the “fight box” during the ceremony.  James and I had both written letters to each other the night before, while my mom provided the box and a bottle of our favorite wine, we nailed it shut & had it ready in case we got into a huge fight, I thought it was a creative idea.

Chapter 22

 **Hey yall! Here's a shorter update that I thought I'd post! Wasnt really sure how to break this one up...so another full chapter will be up soon! :)

~J

Before we knew it, we were leaving for New Mexico; it was going to be a loooooong road trip. Miranda and Max skipped out on Vegas as well, so they came with us too. 

After a 3-day drive, we arrived in Albuquerque and it was good to be back.  Getting in with a little over a week before the wedding made things way less stressful, I was able to get a final dress fitting in and Miranda picked up her dress, Kelsey’s and Vero’s too.

We had done a few other changes too, the girls and I had found really cute yellow heels for them to wear, and my heels are the same blue as their dresses. We got the cake from my favorite bakery, and after the boys won the cup, I decided to surprise James with a groom’s cake in the shape of the Stanley cup. He’s going to die when he sees it!

Our combined bachelor/bachelorette parties are tomorrow, so the rest of the group from Pittsburgh would be getting in today.  Everyone had gotten situated into their rooms at the casino where the reception was going to be, except for James and I, we were staying at my parents house until the night before the wedding, when James would join the guys at the hotel and the girls would all crash at my parents house.

The girls and I went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, while the guys opted for Twin Peaks…and I have TK to thank for that one, I don’t know how he figured that one out. Great.   

The night of dancing was about to commence.  We got into Dirty Bourbon at the same time as the guys and went straight to the dance floor.  To know that James had learned how to two-step from his days in Dallas made me a happy fiancé, not to mention Kelsey and I dragging them out to the country bar back home.

We all had such an amazing time, I was glad that James and I could agree on doing the bachelor/bachelorette parties together, because it just made it that much more fun. 

Wedding weekend was finally here! I couldn’t believe how fast time just flew by.  On Friday morning, all the girls and I, along with my mom & sisters, went to the nail salon for our manicures & pedicures.  I debated on giving the girls their bridal party presents, but I decided to do that later in the night at the rehearsal dinner.

We grabbed a quick lunch then headed back to my parent’s house to meet up with the guys, who went to play golf with my dad while the girls got pampered. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed until it was time to head to the church for rehearsal.

From what I had heard from the people surrounding me, I was doing good at not being a crazy bridezilla…well for those who weren’t at the church for the rehearsal, can keep thinking that.

At some point when I was having the bridal party line up, Bailey was putting herself behind Ashley, the MOH, when she was after Kelsey. We decided WAY in advance that, after me, it would go tallest to shortest; it worked great for the girls and even worked out pretty well for the guys. So clearly it was Ashley, Vero, Miranda, Kelsey & Bailey. And she wasn’t having it.

“You’ve known me way longer then all of these girls, and I’m walking LAST?” she says

REALLY! Shits about to hit the fan.

“First of all, that’s a lie, I’ve known Ashley the longest. Secondly, James & I decided forever ago how we were going to place everybody & you just happened to be last,” I say, trying not to snap

“But you’ve still known me longer then these girls, I’m supposed to be your best friend,”

“I know that, but these girls are my best friends too, and all of you, I treat equally, like family, not by who I’ve known longer. You’re walking with Sidney, that’s where he is…& he’s not complaining!”
“Well I just think this is…”

“You think it’s what? This is MY wedding! You already had your turn, now it’s mine. So guess what? You can walk with Sidney, in that spot with him. OR you can exclude yourself from the wedding party. It’s as simple as that.”

Bailey doesn’t even say anything; she just turns around and walks out. Something I knew she would do. Her loss, not mine.

So I do my best to not have a nervous break down while James comes to comfort me, and we continue on with the rehearsal.

“Ok, well lets arrange it so Sid walks in solo, sorry Sid,” I say apologetically to him

“It’s ok, really. You did good standing you’re ground,” Sid says with a smile. That is why I love that man.

“Thanks. So he’ll walk in, then when y’all start to walk out, you come over on the other side of Kelsey and she’ll walk with both of y’all,”

“Whoop, Kelsey’s a PIMP,” Miranda yells

“What, what!” Kelsey says with a little victory dance

“Ok, lets run it through that way, yeah?” James says

We run through it all 3 times, then a 4^th for good measure. Everything looks perfect & suddenly, I like the fact that Sidney is walking down with Kelsey and Tyler. It just looked good and Sid didn’t mind, because he’s just that kind of guy. 

Chapter 21

FINALLY getting this up! Hope yall are still following it, I promise I have more time now since graduating so I will do more updates! Enjoy :)

~J

Morning comes, my parents spend time with my aunt and uncle, and James comes with Jordan and I to find an engagement ring for Heather.  Apparently he had done a bit of research when he helped James pick out my engagement ring.  He found a gorgeous ring for her.  He was beyond excited when he handed over his credit card.  I asked if he knew when he was going to propose, when James yelled at me to not get in his business, but Jordan didn’t mind. He came down to either asking her when we win the cup, or at the parade. I didn’t even try asking him what he would do if we didn’t win…because it’s a cardinal rule. And he brought it up first, so I just went with it. 

We ended up running into my family at South Side Works, so we decided to do lunch at the Cheesecake Factory before the boys wanted to go home and rest, because tomorrow is the big day! Game 1 of the finals against the Nashville Predators.

We won game 1, and then game 2 in overtime. The guys felt pretty confident heading out to Nashville, the girls had never been out there, so we decided to go, we left the day after I said bye to my parents until I’d see them again for the wedding.

Nashville was such a fun place to be, especially since the last time I was out there; my family and I got stuck in a tornado. Things were different this time; Heather, Janelle and Miranda joined Kelsey, Vero and I.  So while the boys had practice and whatnot, we explored the city.

Before we knew it, we were back in Pittsburgh.  The guys lost game 4, which was a heartbreaking, loss. Marc Andre had a tough game, having let in 5 goals in a 5-1 loss, but like he always does, he put it behind him and was ready for game 5. 

I don’t know how the boys were so calm, knowing that the Stanley Cup was in the building tonight, and that we had the chance to win it at home, in front of our fans.  Mario delivered another motivational message to the guys that got them pumped up, just like they were the last time they won the cup. James was even more excited to know that his parents were going to be sitting in the box with the girls and I tonight.

I had been doing well at keeping Jordan’s promise and not saying anything about him proposing to Heather.

“Hey Jay,” Jordan says, as I walk into the locker room with James

“Hi Jordan!” I say, giving him a hug

“So can I trust you with the ring for the game tonight?” He asks, with the box in his hand

“Absolutely! I don’t have my purse though to keep it in,” I tell him

“Here babe, why don’t you just wear my jacket, you can put it in there,” James tells me

“Ok, I can put it in the inside pocket,”
“Ok, just don’t forget it’s there and take it out on accident,”
“I wont, and if we run by the locker room later, I’ll take it out before I drop off the jacket,”
“Perfect!” he says

So I walk back out to the lounge right as Heather is walking in…keep your mouth shut Jay!

The game did NOT start out how we wanted to. The Predators took an early 2-0 lead, Vero was as nervous as ever, at one point she grabbed my hand and squeezed it so hard, I was almost positive I lost the feeling in it, but we were all in the same position when it came to being nervous for our guys. 

The team, and their hockey sticks, seemed to have woken up going into the 2^nd period, scoring 3 goals within 10 minutes to take the lead, that let us girls breathe a sigh of relief. 

We were half way through the 3^rd; the Predators had tied it up, before James scored the go-ahead (&his 2^nd) goal of the game. I was so nervous at the fact that we were less then 7 minutes away from winning our 4^th Stanley Cup. Jordan reassured us when he scored with 3 minutes left, and the most amazing backhanded shot ever.

“Oh, Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley, Bring me the Brandy!”

That was all we needed to hear & we are running through the arena to get to ice level. I made sure to take Jordan’s ring out of James’ jacket before throwing it in the locker room, and then we made our way to the ice with the Neal’s and the Staal’s close behind us.

The Predators had left the ice after the handshake and our celebrations were underway.  I was talking to Max and Kris when James skated over and picked me up in a hug.  I was unbelievably proud of him as well as they guys for their performance; their play through the entire playoffs had been like I’d never seen them play before.

Jordan came by to grab the ring from me and skated over to Heather, where she was talking with the rest of the Staal’s that made it down.  He pulled her to the side and got right down on one knee and asked her to marry him, cutest proposal ever!

The entire night was a blur of Jordan’s proposal, the on ice and locker room celebration, everyone running around everywhere…oh yeah and the presentation of the cup! And the Conn Smyth trophy to who? Mr. James Neal J

June was flying by so quickly.  Sid and some of the guys had planned on going to Vegas for the NHL Awards, James and I contemplated it…any excuse is an excuse to go to Vegas! But with the wedding coming up and us going back to New Mexico soon, we decided to pass. Vegas would always be there.  

Update!!!

Wooooow I've realized it's been literally forever since I've updated my stories. Stuff was crazy with work, school, graduating from college & job hunting. But I promise I have a lot more coming for both stories! I've been brainstorming and writing more while being on vacation. So be on the look out for chapters on BOTH stories in the next few days! Hope y'all are having a wonderful summer! ~J

NEW STORY

Hey yall! So Im still writing my James Neal story, but I have off & on been writing another Toews story...although I dont know when either will be updated with graduation slowly approaching. So I wanted to see if I could get feedback on if yall want a little teaser for my new Toews story & possibly what you would want to see happen in the Neal story?
Ive decided that I missed my Chicago story & a friend encouraged me to go back to it & I did!
So let me know what ya think! :)
~J

Chapter 20

***Better late then never...right? I got caught up in all the hockey games tonight :)

Enjoy!

~J

“So do we know what’s happening for your bachelorette party?” Vero asks while having breakfast with Kelsey and Miranda

“No, I told Ashley to hold off on planning it…I’m kinda wondering about what the guys are going to do though,” I say

“Jay, you shouldn’t be worrying about that!” Kelsey says

“I know, but I mean everything’s going to happen back home, the guys don’t know anything out there!”

“Oh, yeah I could see that being a problem then,” Miranda says

“So I was kind of thinking of an idea, that I’d run by the guys obviously, but how random would it be to do a combined bachelor and bachelorette party?”

“Not completely random, it’s been done before,” V says

“And I mean, I thought we could do our separate dinners, and then meet up for dancing or something,”

“That’s actually sounds like a good idea!”
“I’m totally not saying this because I’m worried about what the boys are going to do, I would just feel bad if they went golfing or something and then we were out all night, you know?”

“Well, run it past James and see what he says?”
“Do you think your men would be cool with it?”

“I think Ty would like it, he loves country dancing!” Kelsey says…her and Tyler were added to our wedding party; James & I came to terms that we wanted to include them J so that made the entire wedding party to 12 people.

Later that night, I ran the idea by James, and he thought it was a great idea; the rest of the guys did too. So with that, we would plan our own dinners, then go dancing at Dirty Bourbon, and last minute things were being set in stone. All the family members had rooms booked at the casino where the reception would be & all the wedding guests would be in town by Friday the 6^th.

I was shocked at how fast the time had gone by that I was almost too busy to notice that the boys had made it through the first 2 rounds of the playoffs and were nearing the finals. Almost. Ok, so not really, with the fiancé I have and the environment I was in, I’d probably get fired if I forgot.

We beat Tampa Bay, then Toronto, and tonight was game 4 against the Hurricanes in Carolina…with the chance to sweep them. YEAH. Like I couldn’t notice that. At least the Hurricanes fans were welcoming, maybe cause we were like family…we both have a Staal.

GUESS WHOSE GOING TO THE STANLEY CUP FINALS?  Yep, we are! We had to wait to see who we would be playing, as the series between the Predators and the Avs was tied at 2 apiece, but the guys were glad for that because it meant a few days off for them to gear up and get prepared.

“Are you guys ready for the finals?” I ask my mom as I’m grocery shopping

“Yeah, we’ll be home for the games, so we will be watching them,” she responds

“Ok, good. James wouldn’t let you live it down if you missed it,”
“We know, dad is kind of bummed that we can’t make it out there,”
“I know, I wish ya’ll could too,”
“Yeah, he was like my son in law is playing in the finals and I’ll be watching it from my couch,”
“Aw, well next year, you guys will be out here,”

“He’ll hold you too that!”
“Oh, I know! But mom I gotta go and finish at the store,”
“Ok, bye sweetie, talk to you soon,”
“Ok, bye,”

Last night was game 6 between the Preds and the Avs, which had the series win from the Predators, our opponent for Lord Stanley. Game on.  Once again, we had home ice advantage.

The next day, James and I go to lunch with Sid and Janelle at the pizza parlor in Sewickley.  James seems distracted the entire time through lunch, but I was figuring it was just nerves for the game, so I blow it off.  After lunch, we get back home and decide to pick something for our wedding that we haven’t done yet…pick our first dance song. So we sit on the couch with my laptop and iTunes and get to work.

Our list included:

“The Way You Look Tonight”

“I Could Not Ask for More”

“You Had Me From Hello”

“My Best Friend”

“Me & You”
“I Love You This Big”

We narrowed it down to “My Best Friend”, “Me and You” and “I Love You This Big”

“I think I like the Kenny Chesney song the best,” James says

“Me and You?” I ask

“Yeah, and remember, he sang it when we saw him at Heinz Field,”
“Oh yeah!” I say as he stands up

“So, can I have this dance?” He asks, putting his hand out

“Absolutely” I say, gladly accepting

[[Here's the video of the song in case ya'll haven't heard it...I absolutely LOVE it! I actually want it for my own wedding song :)]]

Cheesy, I know, but moments like this, when it’s just the two of us, are what I love the most, just us together. And there we were, dancing away in the middle of our living room. Perfection.

“I think it’s perfect,” he says, looking down at me

“I love it,” I respond, smiling

“Then it sounds like we found our song,”
“Definitely,” I say before he leans down to kiss me

Just then the doorbell interrupted us

“You expecting anybody?” I ask

“It might be Jordan, he was dropping off a video game,” James says as I walk to the door

“Oh my God!” I'm shocked to see my parents on the other side of the door

“Hi!” my mom says

“Hi! What…how did…when did this happen?”

“Dad had airline points, so we used them to surprise you!”

“And now were here,” dad said

“Well come on in! How did you plan this?” I ask

“We had a little help,” mom said, looking at James

“You did?” I ask him

“Yeah!”

“I tell ya, he’s amazing at keeping secrets!”
“What can I say,” James says

“What a beautiful house you guys got!”
“Thanks! Want a tour?” I ask

So we give them the tour of the house, and spend some time catching up.  It was a gorgeous day outside, so we decided to throw some burgers on the grill and eat dinner outside on the porch.

We start cleaning up and decide to go to Bruster’s for some desert, when Jordan calls me

“Hi Jordan!” I say answering it

“Hey Jay, how’s it going?” Jordan says on the other line

“Good, just hanging out with my parents, and you?”
“Just relaxing, hey listen, I need your help with something,”
“Ok, what’s that?”
“I need help picking out…an engagement ring…”

“AH! You’re going to propose to Heather?”
“Yeah, I am!”

“Oh my gosh, I’d be more then happy to help you!”
“Ok, so she is back in T-Bay, she will be back on Wednesday before the game, so any chance we could go tomorrow?”

“Yeah, that should work, my parents are here, but I’m sure they can spend a few hours with my aunt and uncle, or around town,”
“Ok, awesome, I’ll call you tomorrow then, ok?”
“Sounds great, talk to you then!”
“Oh and Jay, don’t say anything about this, not even to Vero…because I know how you girls are,”
“You got it Jordan,”

Oh boy...secrets are SO hard for me to keep. But I'm not going to disappoint Jordan, and I'm going to stick with his promise.