02/11 — Aloha!

I cannot lie — I just had the best week of my entire life! I’m in a state of depression over the fact that I’m leaving Hawaii right now. Everyone was so amazing and I miss them already.

It’s really sad and we had like an hour-long cry-fest last night after the game. We all sat in a circle and everyone poured their hearts out. I told everyone that I was so scared before all this started because I really was intimidated. I didn’t have any background information coming into this week because this was a completely new thing for the Jets. I wasn’t really officially a cheerleader like the other girls and I had just received my pompoms a week before. But my first night there, all my nerves went away.

Ron is one of the head directors of e2K, the company that produced the week's Pro Bowl events here in Hawaii, and he's a tremendous inspirational speaker. He said I was the Most Valuable Player of the team this year. Since I was such a little baby coming into this and not knowing what to think, he said you could tell I was like a deer in headlights. But by Sunday, he said I fit in with everything else and it was like I had known everyone for years. His comments were very nice and it just made me cry a lot.

I got really close with Nicole from Buffalo throughout this trip. We hung out a lot and hit it off really well together. We actually both have spring break at the same time and we’re going to meet halfway and maybe spend a few days together. Also, my roommate Melanie and I got really, really close. We all have each other’s contact information and I’m sure we’ll be talking in the future.

There were a lot more Jets fans than I expected at the game yesterday. In fact, there were a lot of Jets fans I saw in Honolulu throughout the trip. You feel so good when you hear "J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!" and you know some of these people have rooted you on at the Meadowlands.

We all cried out all the tears we had last night, so the scene was a little different this morning. Everyone brought team photos, calendars and autographed pictures and handed them out.

My parents had such a good time this week, too. They went to all our promos, they visited Pearl Harbor, they did some nature tours and they also stopped by the pool. They thought it was exciting to see us perform yesterday and thought it looked like we had been training together for months and months.

Everyone made me feel so welcome. For years they’ve had 25 girls at the Pro Bowl, but I had the opportunity to be the 26th girl by representing the Jets. They all said I was supposed to be here and that “26” was the way it was supposed to be. It was awesome. A couple of the girls said I should go into the Hall of Fame because I was the first one from the Jets. This was truly a humbling experience.

My message from my parents today was "Welcome back to reality. You’re going back to school, you’re cleaning your room, and no more VIP escorts." All that’s funny and true. But nothing can change the fact that I just had the time of my life.