Notes:

I accidently deleted Ever After while updating the revised chapters. I've reposted the story since and all the chapters up till 21. 22 still needs some work. I actually still need a beta as my previous ones didnt quite work out.

Sorry for the inconveniences my accidental deleting caused. Thanks for being great redears (and reviewers) and people!

btw, i still expect 380 reviews! which is how much i had on EA before i deleted it

If you aren't in, then you are out. If you are not for us, you are against us.

While these statements sound like a recruiting add for the Marines, or the latest round of motivational posters for suicidal Islamic fundamentalists, I assure it is something slightly more domestic; in both senses of the word.

I have been lucky enough in my life to travel to a great many places in the world and there is one constant with every city I visit, and with every fellow traveler I meet. I wouldn't trade hometowns with any of them.

I had a great meeting with a couple of travelers from New Jersey while I was in Santorini, Greece a few years ago. The conversation was a one sided one, with these two waxing eloquently about the beauties of Jersey and how it was the envy of all who were not from there. They discussed the fine city life of Jersey, and how Jersey did a better "Greek Salad" than the Greeks (complete with Croutons, Caesar dressing, Bacon, and Egg... I think they have their antiquities mixed up!). I neglected to mention Jersey's high crime rate, and its less-than-abysmal weather. Then, an hour later (I was too polite, being Canadian, to interrupt their diatribe), they asked me where I was from. I pleasantly said Vancouver, Canada. As they looked at each other with a look of confusion, likely wondering where in Australia Vancouver is, I calmly explained that I lived in the city with the highest standard of living in the world, in the country which finished atop the UN's Quality of Life Index.

I have this great pride about where I live, where I work, and my fellow countrymen. I don't begrudge others who speak highly of their places of habitation, but I am convinced that mine is better. It is this attitude, which is well supported by the data, which leaves me rather confused.

I don't understand why there isn't a lineup of people willing to take pay cuts just to have the pleasure of calling Vancouver home. I find it insulting that someone would have the nerve to pass up a contract in Vancouver so they could go and work in Nashville, or Carolina, or Minnesota. It just doesn't make sense to me.

I have to admit that there is another emotion that comes out with the recent Free Agency (NHL) events in Vancouver. Anger. I get angry when I feel people are disrespecting my city and my team (the Vancouver Canucks). When Mike Toth spouts off his unsupported vitriol directed at my team, I get annoyed. When people talk constantly of Luongo (undoubtedly the best goalie in the NHL) wanting to leave Vancouver it drives me up the wall. Why does he want to leave? Is it the crime rate in Miami that is pulling him away?

All I need to do is look at hockey players who call this city home. Trevor Linden was born to play for this club. Willie Mitchell, I am convinced, plays a little harder than he did in Minnesota just because he is from Vancouver. Matthias Ohlund, in any other uniform just wouldn't be the same. There is a great deal of pride in this team and in this city.

I have no tolerance for those who do not want to play here. If you don't want to play for this team, then get out or don't come at all. I don't care if you are a blazing fast Russian, a hulking Canadian winger with a mean streak, or an over-hyped indecisive Swede. If you aren't willing to put it all on the line to play for my team, then you don't deserve to live in the best city in the world and play for the best fans in the NHL. This team deserves to be one of the best in the NHL, this team deserves players who will represent the quality of this city. This team deserves players who are as passionate as the fans of Vancouver.

This team, this city, deserves nothing less.

For anyone out there who might care.

Personals:

Name: Evangeline Aphrodite Mendez. Im not even kidding, look up my birth certificate. And, yes. My parent's were tremendously weird about names.

Appearance: Brown hair, hazel eyes, 5'1" 1/2 cuban, 1/2 italian. Born in Canada... wanna know my cup size? (i kid, i kid)

Life: I am, to put it buntly, an orphan. And I'm not going to sing you a sob story about how i drench my pillow(s) at night with my tears of bitter regret, because, honestly, i didn't know my parents that well. They died when i was 6. And aside from my daddy's awesome muscles (he was a navy man), the tickle-happy Sundays with him, and my mom's distinctly MOM smell (I'm sure all of you can relate), i dont remember much. As for the funeral? All I remember is my biggest brother, almost 15 years my senior, who never cried (not even when grandma died), bawling his eyes out. For the longest time I couldnt figure out why daddy didnt come home that night, the concept of death was shockingly new to me. I asked questions at first but my brothers all clamped up. So i learned not to ask. After almost two years, my big brother sat me down and explained. And it hit me so hard i couldn't talk for a month. Up until then, I lived a very sheltered, priveleged life. I didnt know what a hobo was till i was 11! Anyways, until very recently, i lived with my eldest brother, we all did, all four of my bros and me. He was 21 when my parents died so he was legally allowed to take care of us. I mean, our uncles still helped us, with money and big decisions, but our legal guardian was my brother. I love them all to death, and if anything happened to any one of them i think i would stop talking forever.

Why am I boring you with all this? 'Cuz I'm stuck in this stupid cyber-cafe until my boyfriend can actually get his butt out of work and show up. Eurgh.

Language: I can speak Spanish (my home-language), English, French, and bits of Italian. My mother was Spanish (Cuban really) and my father was Italian, but for some reason my brothers never fully taught me Italian...

In the Kitchen My culinary skills consist of scrambled eggs on toast, blueberry pancakes, and fresh-squeezed orange juice (no pulp!), And spaghetti, Italian style! Other than that. I suck ass.

At Home: Me and my boyfriend live in a loft in downtown Vancouver. The living room's got huge floor to ceiling windows with spectacular views of the port, Canada Place, and the Pacific Ocean. The kitchen is small and quant; it's got white antique-looking cupboards and stainless steel appliances (the door of the refrigerator is so heavy, i can barely open it). All the walls are painted a dark peach-ish colour, my sofas are red leather from the one and only IKEA. oh, and Ive got those big paper lamp things that look like vases too. Basically, my house is a catalogue for Ikea.

In Bed: Well... if you really must know. I share a bedroom (the whole loft, actually) with my boyfriend. It's got dark peach walls. My furniture is all mahogany wood (Ikea!). My bedspreads and curtains are the same shade of jade/forest green. And i've got this really intricate carved wooden door that i found at a flea market. It cost me close to 200. I use it as a wall hanging opposite my bed. It's real purty.

Education: I'm studying at UBC right now. Doing my undergrad on scholarship. I plan to go to Dartmouth or Harvard for my post-grad (if they'll have me).

B-day: March 20 (for a present you can leave reviews!)

From: I hail from the glorious city of Vancouver. It seriously is the best place on earth. It's not like New York, where everyone who goes there immediately falls in love with it, and thinks that THAT is THE place to live. It's not, New York is the most over-rated thing on this earth; even more so than Elvis. If you havent already, you should go to my beloved Vancity (Vancouver). At least once in a lifetime. The sights are to die for; there is an abundance of breathtaking mountains, lakes, rivers, and all around pretty-ness that will make you swoon. And also you have to not mind the Canucks-crazed ppl there; it's very much a hockey-city. Specially if the Canucks (gasp!) actually make it past the second round in the playoffs.

Now, I'm not a close-minded person who's never been out of British Columbia in my life. As I mentioned, my dad was a navy man, hence my family traveled alot until I had to start kindergarten. I can proudly say that I've touched every continent in the world. So, you see, I dont love Vancouver with a sort of blind, unrequited love. I've seen other cities, I've lived in Toronto (icky), I've traveled alot since my parents died, so I've seen tons of places. And I can honestly say that Vancouver is THE best. If you're the type that believes facts and statistics: Vancouver was voted the best place to live in the world. : )

Interests: Hockey, Music, Harry Potter, Avatar, Twilight series

My Fandoms: Harry Potter(I heart Grint!), Tamora Pierce (I heart Numair!), Avatar: The Last Airbender (i heart Zuko!), Twilight series (recently read all the books, on a tip from Rider Arya Svit-kona. Thank you! it's a great series)

Favourite Ships (In Order): HarryxGinny (I dont know the name of this ship), Maiko (ZukoxMai), George (SokkaxSuki), RonxHermione (once again, i dont know the name of the ship!). If I've missed any good stories from these ships, please tell me!!

My hockey team: The Vancouver Canucks -GCG baby!-

iTunes: lotsa stuff. rap, r&b, rock, metal. Anything except country/western junk -yuck-

All-Time Fave song(s): Apologize - Timbaland and One Republic, Unforgiven - Metallica, Time To Be Your 21 - Alexz Johnson, Do You Know - Enrique Iglesias, I Call It Love - Lionel Richie, What I've Done - Linkin Park, My Boo - Usher ft. Alicia Keys, Thnks Fr Th Mmrs - Fall Out Boy, Bartender - T-Pain ft. Akon, Stronger - Kanye West, Goodbye Apathy - One Republic, Hush - Angie Aparo

Fave song(s) at the moment: Riders On The Storm - Snoop Dogg ft. The Doors, She's So High - Tal Bachman

Food: pizza, cookies, chocolate, chicken soup, muffins, milk, mango juice, Sunny D, marshmellows, smores, my bf (lol) ... -yum-

Fave TV shows: Hockey Games!! Avatar: The Last Airbender, CSI:Miami, Family Guy, CSI:Crime Scene Investigation, SNL, Mad TV, Simpsons, Scrubs. America's Got Talent (mad-funny!), So You Think You Can Dance. (im ashamed to admit these -- Beauty and the Geek, Gossip Girl, American/Canadian Next Top Model...)

Boyfriend : Currently, yes. i like him a hell of a lot. he's not too talkative, we have a very Hermione/Krum relationship... But he's also been my bff since like... grade 3. so we're very tight (among other things... -get ur mind outta the gutter-). His name is Jon aka JD (-- Jon Dexter Joson... JD... get it? I dont like to call him JD cause it reminds me of that guy (Zach Braff) in Scrubs). Update: might move in with him, still contemplating the pros/cons. Update on the Update: He's moving in with me! because my loft is in the better part of town. huzzah. Update on the Update on the Update: Moving process complete. Leaves his boxers EVERYWHERE! (this morning, it was the kitchen, next it'll be the living room...)

If you guys don't know what I'm talking about, especially if it's anything Hockey/Vancouver Canucks related, look it up! Here's the Canucks website: www.canucks.nhl.com ... Or you could just google 'hockey' and get 500 0000 0000000000000000000000 hits...its not that hard.

Fave Poem:

Dulce Et Decorum Est - Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime. . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

DULCE ET DECORUM EST - the first words of a Latin saying (taken from "An Ode by Horace"). The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the First World War. They mean "It is sweet and right." The full saying ends the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - it is sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country. My ass.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm... :

(well... at least they make me go Hmmm...)

Aren't the "good things that come to those who wait" just the leftovers from the people that got there first?
If the S.W.A.T team breaks down your door do they have to replace it later?
Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here and drink what comes out"?
Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken over there ... I'm gonna eat the first thing that comes out if its butt"?
Isn't Disney World just a people trap operated by a mouse?
If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet soup?

Why do we call them 'apartments' when they're all really smushed together?

Ever wonder why 'phoenetics' isn't spelled the way it sounds?

The REAL Canadian Anthem:

Hey.
I'm not a lumberjack, or a fur trader...
and I don't live in an igloo or eat blubber, or own a dogsled...
And I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada,
although I'm certain they're really, really nice people.

I have a Prime Minister,
not a President.
I speak English and French,
not American.
And I pronouce it about,
not a boot.

I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack.
I believe in peace keeping, not policing.
Diversity, not assimilation.
And that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal.
A toque is a hat, a chesterfield is a couch
and it is pronounced 'zed' not 'zee', 'zed'.

Canada is the second largest landmass!
The First Nation of hockey!
And the best part of North America! (scratch that, the WORLD!)

I am Evie! And I.AM.CANADIAN.

-- Molson Canadian