Sharks Game

For the past few years, I have really wanted to go to a Sharks hockey game. To be honest, I'm really not that into the Sharks, but I've been to two Stockton Thunder minor league hockey games, and they were so fun. I figured that going to see a professional game would be even more exciting. Plus, my brother-in-law is a huge Sharks fan (my 3 year-old niece has known how to do the Shark 'jaws' during a power play since the time she was 18 months), so I've had the family enthusiasm spurring me on! And...you must admit, hockey is a great, fast paced sport to watch.

I've never been to a professional football game or basketball game either, but I didn't put a 49ner game or Warriors game on my list of 30 Before 30. The Sharks are who I wanted to see!

Well, it's funny because the first time Jason and I ever hung out was at a Stockton Thunder game (you can get the whole scoop in my previous post One Year Ago). Well, one year and exactly one week later, we went to our second hockey game together...this time it was the Sharks, though! Jason had been wanting to take me for awhile, and we finally had a wide open night. We didn't start looking for tickets until about two hours before the game. Jason went on craigslist to find season ticket holders trying to get rid of their tickets. About an hour before the game started, he struck a deal with a guy, and we got AWESOME seats for half the original price. (Seriously, this is the way to get tickets if you can wait until the last minute).

So we made our way to San Jose (in the pouring rain) and had a great time at the Sharks game. Unfortunately the Sharks lost 3-0 to the Blue Jackets, but we did see a good fight :) I was blown away by how clean the rank was and all the fans are so fun! And, I must say, any sport's stadium that has fully padded chairs is okay in my book! I definitely want to make it to another Sharks game in the near future...and hopefully see them score at least one goal...

One Year Ago...

I met my future husband. And now, five months from tomorrow we will be married. Wow! The saying, "A lot can change in a year" sure has applied to me this past year!

Jason and I met on November 1, 2009 at the young adult's group at our church. He was sitting in the seat behind me, so that's how I noticed him. After the group ended, I went to use the restroom, and as I was walking back in, he was on his way out. I stopped and introduced myself and then sent him on his way, as he appeared to be in a rush out, and I didn't want to keep him. While I thought I was being friendly to the new guy by saying hi, he interpreted my actions as rude because I seemed so quick to say hi and then bye...

One week later, we crossed paths once again at church. This time I was on my way out, but I had a quick question I needed to ask our pastor before leaving. I saw that Jason was talking with our pastor, so I stood to the side, waiting for them to finish their conversation...trying to be polite and not interrupt. After a minute or so, their conversation was interrupted by someone else, so I figured this would be an opportune time to slide in and quickly ask my question. Well, our pastor is an extremely relational guy, so he was more concerned about making sure that I had met Jason. So, right away, he asks, "Rebecca, have you met Jason?" I was so focused on being quick with my question so as to not interrupt their conversation, that I flippantly responded, "Yeah, we met last week..." and then proceeded in asking my question to our pastor. Jason again interpreted my actions as rude. This time I agree how he could see that...but that was never the intent :)

Fast forward one more week. This time it's Saturday night, and a bunch of people from church had planned to go to a hockey game. Turns out that Jason signed up to go as well. Also turns out that we happened to ride together in the same car to the game with two other friends. Here is when we really began to get to know each other, as it was a good 45 minute drive. Jason then conveniently seated himself next to me at the hockey game, so the conversations continued. We all went to dessert afterward, and what do you know, who did I find sitting across from me there...? Yes, Jason.


The next week was full of facebook messages back and forth that led to what I call our fake first date. Our church was helping out with a fair trade organization during the holidays, and we could volunteer to go to the organization's warehouse to help box packages. Since it was my Thanksgiving Break, I had signed up to help on Tuesday. Jason had signed up for the same day because it was his day off. This was not planned, but when Jason heard I was going on the same day he was, he suggested we carpool out together since it was about a 30 minute drive from where we lived. So, he came and picked me up, we drove out there together, volunteered for a few hours, and then he took me to dinner after. Hence, the fake date. Nice work, buddy.

Well, the first real date happened just a few days later on Saturday, November 28th. At this point we had talked on the phone every day since the fake date. It was a Saturday, and neither of us had plans for the evening, so he asked to take me out. He knew I loved the city (especially during the holidays), and while he is not such a fan of the city, he still took me there. We walked around Ghirardelli Square and ended up having dinner at Aliotos, right along on the water. Before we knew it, we were the only ones left in the restaurant and figured it was time to go since they were trying to set up for the next day.

I really didn't think ten months later we would be engaged! But God has blessed me with an amazing man, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him. It's funny because when I made my 30 Before 30 list, I can't tell you how many people asked if I was going to put 'Get Married' on my list. Part of the reason why I even made my list was because I didn't want to dwell on being married by the time I was 30. I didn't want to feel like I hadn't lived life fully by age 30 if I wasn't yet married. But, I guess things happen when you least expect it...God surprised me on this one, and I must say it was a very good surprise!