Alicia

09:43 pm: Avs Training Camp!
Alright, well I've been in Denver for 2 weeks now. I have 1 week of graduate school under my belt! I also just moved into my apartment last night. However, the highlight of my week was this morning when I went to the Avs Training Camp. It was great to see hockey again, it made me so excited for the season to start! There were tons of people there, at least a couple hundred. Afterwards, there must've been at least 75 people outside waiting for players to come sign stuff so I didn't think any would stop to actually sign. However, quite a few did. My whole reason for staying was to say hi to Ian Laperriere. First, Scott Hannan came out. I got a pic w/ him but didn't have anything for him to sign. He didn't seem very outgoing at all. Scott Parker came out next and even though I've met him before, I had to get another pic w/ him. I also got pictures w/ Mark Rycroft ("Rycrack"), Kurt Sauer, Ben Guite, & Peter Budaj. Finally, Ian Laperriere "Lappy" came out. I let everybody get their stuff signed by him so that I could chat w/ him for a minute. When he was done (he must've been out signing for a good 20 minutes), he turned around and started walking to his car. I yelled "Lappy!" twice & he didn't hear me, I was worried I wouldn't get to say hi. When I yelled his name a 3rd time, though, he heard me & turned around. I was nervous b/c even though I've met him several times, I wasn't sure if he'd recognize me w/o my sister with me b/c when he always sees us together. However, as soon as he turned around & saw me, he smiled and said "Hey! How are you?" and he came over & gave me a big hug. It was so cute! I was so happy that he recognized me. He asked where my sister was & I explained that she was back home in Nebraska and that I just moved to Denver 2 weeks ago for grad school. He asked about school & I told him that I was getting my Masters in Sport & Performance Psychology at the University of Denver. He asked when I found out I was moving to Denver & I told him that I was accepted a few months ago & he replied "Oh, so you didn't know last year?". I was trying to think of what he meant by that & the onlyl think I can think of was that he was like saying "well, why didn't you tell me last season that you'd be living here". Hehe. He was telling me that I'll have to rub it in my sister's face that I'm here & she's not so I asked him if he wanted to help me & I called her. I gave him the phone & he talked w/ Lindsey for a few minutes. I had planned to do that the day before b/c I knew she'd be so excited & that it'd make her day. He asked her how she was & asked her why she didn't move to Denver with me. He also joked that I'd be at all the practices & all the games (which I replied "yeah, like I have the time or money for that w/ grad school"). They chatted about how she's going to come & visit me & he said he was looking forward to seeing her. He is such a sweetheart. After they got off the phone, I got a picture with him. I asked how his summer was & he asked how mine was. He said that he came through Lincoln on his way driving back from Canada & that he thought of Lindsey & I when he was passing through. Awwwwwww!!! It was a fun day. I was so happy to see Lappy, that was the main reason I wanted to go & stay after practice. He is not only one of the absolute nicest NHL players I've ever met, he's one of the nicest people I've ever met. He is such a kind person & so charismatic & outgoing. He's just a fun guy to be around. Anyway,here are some pics from today (I was going to provide them in a link but it's not working for some reason):

Scott Hannan

Scott Hannan & I

Scott Parker

Scott Parker & I

Mark Rycroft ("Rycrack") & I

Kurt Sauer & I

Ben Guite & I

Peter Budaj & I

Lappy signing stuff

Lappy signing more stuff

Lappy taking a pic w/ a girl from Slovakia

Lappy & I

05:00 pm: To Denver!
Well, I arrived in Denver on Sept 1st. It was so hard for me to leave home, I miss my family. It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do. However, I'm excited that I'm in Colorado now. My friend Bugg is so kind and is letting me stay at her house until I find an apartment. I am looking on Saturday, though, to pick b/w 2 apartments so that'll be exciting. They're pretty nice apartments too, so that's a good thing. Bugg introduced me to quite a few of her friends so now I can say I at least know a few people in Denver. I had my first day of class orientation today. It was fun b/c I got to meet the 13 other people within my Sport & Performance Psychology program. I also met all the other people in the other Masters & PsyD programs. Everybody in my program seems pretty cool, I like them so far. I had already met one of the directors of my program, & thought he was super cool. I met the other one today and he also is really great. One is maybe 35ish & the other is no older than 30 so they're both pretty young & fun guys. They're super laid back but yet, very intelligent and can teach us so much. All of the other students in the other programs were jealous b/c we have 2 awesome young directors/professors while they had old & boring ones. Hahaha. After hearing what my 2 program directors had to say about the the expectations of us & of the program, I am really excited. I think this will be such a great experience & I hope to learn so much from it. Orientation continues Thursday & Friday & then classes begin on Monday. I hope the workload won't be too much to handle. My classes are from 9am - 7:50pm on Mondays & 9am - 3:50pm on Fridays. I nanny for around 7 hours a day on Tues, Wed, & Thurs during the days & I am starting a coaching job on Thursday evenings. I hope I won't be too overwhelmed w/ it all. We'll have to see. Well, I was just excited about what has been going on in my life recently & I wanted to share it w/ you all. I miss everyone!

01:59 pm: Grad school
I just wanted to give the good news. Last Thursday, I got a call from the University of Denver and I have been accepted into their graduate program for sport psychology. I am so excited! Classes start in the fall. I'm really excited, yet kinda sad, to be moving away. It'll be hard not being able to see my mom and sister every week. However, I'm looking forward to new experiences and meeting new people in Denver. Plus, my Avs are there so that can't be a bad thing!

07:31 am: I hate growing up...
Okay, well the last few weeks have been crazy. I recently figured out that most graduate schools accept applications only once a year. I was stupid and never realized that until now. Anyway, so the University of Denver's deadline is Jan 5, 2007. I am applying applying to DU's Masters of Art Degree program for Sport and Performance Psychology by the way. I hadn't done anything I needed to get in order to submit an application so over the last few weeks, I've been rushing to get everything I need to done. Let's just say that my stress level has been sky-high lately. I had to spend a lot of time writing a personal statement, which is extremely important when applying to grad school. I wrote a first draft, sent it to 2 people at UNL to read over and give me feedback, then I wrote a 2nd draft and had the same 2 people look over that one. Also, I had to fill out the necessary application forms, get my transcripts from UNL, & I am taking the GREs this coming Friday (ahhh!). I had to contact my 3 letter of recommendation writers, and am giving them my portfolio containing my resume, personal statement, transcripts, a cover letter, etc. It's just been really hectic lately. I think I got everything about done except for the GREs which are coming up on Friday. I am nervous. I hope I do okay.

I am also applying at Minnesota State University-Mankato for a Masters of Art Degree in their Psychological Aspects of Sport Program. Their deadline, however, is not till July. Although I am sure Minnesota has a great program and I would be so thankful to be accepted there, I would much rather go to the University of Denver. I love Colorado and it would be my ideal city to live in and my ideal school and program to be in. Hopefully, I can get all of my application materials done and sent in by the January 5th deadline. If DU is interested in me, I will hear from them in late February or early March about an interview and a final decision won't be made till April 1st. Alright, well I have to go study for the GREs some more. Cross your fingers for me everyone!

09:13 am: "It's All About Lappy" Shirt Charity Project
First, on Avalanche Alert


Then, in the Rocky Mountain Newspaper


Then, in Kukla's Corner on NHL.com


Now, in the Denver Post


Yay!!! It's All About Lappy!!!

06:58 am: Lunch with Mike with Ian Laperriere - IAAL shirts

"Lunch with Mike with Ian Laperriere - IAAL shirts" on Google Video
Here's a segment with Mike Haynes and Ian Laperriere on Avalanche Alert. Mike Haynes's wife contacted my friend Karen (who created the "It's All About Lappy" Shirt Charity Project) b/c Mike wanted to wear one of the shirts for the interview. It luckily worked out and he got a shirt. Here's the interview, it's great! It's done so well. They talk about Karen, her website, the shirt project, the Ronald McDonald House, and they even show the picture of Lindsey, Karen, and I with Ian!!! They totally showed us on tv! Woo! I was sooooooooo excited when I watched the interview, it couldn't have turned out any better. Yay!.

12:07 am: Patrick Roy, the greatest goaltender of all time
Tonight, Patrick Roy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. I can't believe it's already been 3 years since he retired...3 years already since my family and I were fortunate enough to see his #33 raised to the rafters of the Pepsi Center. Patrick Roy is truly a hockey legend. He finished with 1029 regular season games played, 551 regular season wins, 66 regular season shutouts, 247 playoff games played, 151 playoff wins, 23 playoff game shutouts...of which I think all are NHL records. Not only that, but he won 4 Stanley Cups, he is the youngest player to have won the Conn Smythe as the playoff MVP and the only player to have won it 3 times, 5 Williams Jennings Trophies, 3 Vezina Trophies, and the list goes on and on. In his first year coaching juniors, his team won the championships. He's just a winner at whatever he does. Someday, I will get the chance to meet him hopefully. Anyway, I just wanted to pay a little tribute to my hero, Patrick Roy. I wanted to thank him for his passion for the game of hockey and the many years watching him, there are so many great memories. Congrats again to Patrick Roy for his well-deserved induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame!

10:34 am: Yay for Lappy!
Congrats to Ian Laperriere for scoring his 100th career goal last game against the Minnesota Wild! Wooo! We told him to score it while we were at the games so of course he scores his 100th the game AFTER we leave. Haha, oh well...I'm still really happy for him. Congrats Lappy!

03:20 pm: Trip to Denver. Go Avs!
Okay well, Lindsey and I got back from our trip to Denver on Friday. We had the best time there! It was so much fun! We stayed with our friends Bugg and Steve (and their adorable dogs) for a few days. Then, we stayed with our friends Karen and Tim from LA for a few days and then we went back and stayed with Bugg and Steve another night before we left to go back home. On Monday, we went to the Avs/Kings game. The Avs played awesome and won 4-1. Lindsey made awesome signs for Ian Laperriere. First of all, Sean Avery plays for the Kings (Ian's old team) so he and Ian used to be teammates but they hate each other. So...Lindsey made these signs

We brought them to the game that night and when Ian came out for preskate, he saw them and was trying to read them so he turned around and skated backwards squinting so he could read it. Then he started laughing, he totally loved the signs. He also was teasing Tim b/c he was wearing a Kings' Rob Blake jersey. Lappy pulled on his jersey looking at Tim like "Hey, what's up with the jersey!?!?". It was hilarious. Ian also tapped his stick on the glass at Karen, but missed. What a dork!

After the game, we went to eat at Old Chicago. When we walked in, there was this guy sitting there and Lindsey jokingly said "Hey look! There's George Parros!" (one of the new Avs players) and we all laughed and said how the guy kinda did look like him. Then, the guy sitting with him turned around and it was Cody McCormick (another Avs player). It totally WAS George Parros! We all laughed about that. We went up to their table and asked if they'd sign our programs and they were nice enough to. Afterwards, Tyler Arnason came in and sat with them. We didn't want to go up to their table again so we didn't get his autograph.

The next morning, we went to the Avs' practice. The first thing Ian Laperriere did was look over to see if we were there watching. It was so cute! In the middle of practice, Ian came across the ice and was having trouble opening the door. Once he finally got it open, he came over to us and said hi to Karen and Tim. It was really nice. Plus, he didn't wave his hand but his glove to us. Hahaha.


Later in practice, Joe Sakic's kid and some other kids (I'm not sure who they belonged to) came out on the ice and were skating around. It was so adorable to watch! The guys were all playing around with them and pretending to try to get the puck away from them. Also Pierre "Turd Furgeson" Turgeon went over to Joe's kid and hugged him really big. It was so cute! Jose Theodore was sitting down on the ice kneeling on his pads and the smallest of the kids kept skating over to Jose and trying to shoot pucks at him. He even skated up behind Jose and shoved a puck through his 5-hole from behind. Haha, it was hilarious.

( Click here for the rest of my awesome story of our trip )

06:26 pm: Yesterday, one of my co-workers/one of the girls I used to coach's mom died. My family had known Cheyenne's family for a long time and although I did not know her mother extremely well, I knew her enough to know she was a nice person. Unfortunately, alcohol got the best of her and she basically died of alcoholism. Chey is only 18 and I can't imagine how horrible that must be to deal with. She was not very close to her mom, but still...I don't think I could handle that. She is handling this tragedy extremely well, way better than I could have imagined. My heart goes out to her and her family and I hope they can get through this hard time. There are going to be a lot of people at the funeral to give their love and respect to Marsha and there to support Cheyenne and her family. This will be my 2nd funeral I have attended, and I hope I don't have to attend anymore for a very very very very very long time. This tragic event made me think a lot about ...what if that were me? What if it was my mother who died? Not of alcoholism, but something else...my family and I have never been the hug/kiss/"I love you" saying type of family. However, I definitely need to start telling them more that I do love them, you never know when it may be the last chance you get.