January 29, 2009 at 12:51 am (College, Friends, Random)
Tags: "Far Away", "How Lucky We Are", ballet, Coach OH!, College, Creighton, Girl Scouts, Harper, Homeschool, Hope S., Ingrid Michaelson, Meiko, Miss B., nationals, new coach, oncology, popcorn, Relay for Life, Samantha, scrapbooking, skating costume, venturing
OK, I was homeschooled, right, so I really don’t know too much about normal school. Well, everyone I kept talking to said college is really difficult. I honestly kind-of think that once you hit a specific point, the material doesn’t get that much harder (at least in subjects like history), just more detailed and specific. And you are just expected to think more. It’s not as bad as everyone made it out to be. Plus we have tons of free time. Miss B.’s friend gave her a scrapbooking kit and she said she might let me work on it. That would be so cool – I’ve never scrapbooked before. Hope is still trying to trick me into doing Relay for Life. I don’t want to. Harper said she is going to do it, and Sam said she probably will then too but really, I would just feel uncomfortable. Hope is totally pumped about it, Harper’s kind-of embarrassed (why, I am not sure), and Sam doesn’t want to leave me alone if she doesn’t do it, but I can tell she’s really trying to support Hope.
16 random things about me (idea stolen from Miss B.’s facebook):
1. I am a competitive ice skater and just placed third in nationals.
2. I have made my own ice skating costumes ever since I started. My mom and coach help.
3. I am really good friends with my coach, Coach OH!
4. It takes me a long time to trust people. I make friends pretty quickly but my very good friends are few and I’ve known them for a long, long time.
5. I am pretty outgoing and some people might describe me as brutally honest and/or blunt.
6. I am fascinated by medicine. I want to be a pediatric oncologist who specializes in leukemia.
7. Coach OH! is supposed to move to Omaha soon, but in the meantime I am working with a new coach who is really cool, but he’s really demanding. I like that in a coach.
8. If I had gone to “normal” school I’d have missed so many days I would have probably been kicked out.
9. This past spring and summer I sailed around the world with my venturing crew.
10. I was never a Girl Scout, but I did take ballet. Those are like the two essential elements of girlhood. I am back taking ballet now because of skating.
11. Miss B. has this box of popcorn on her shelf that she won’t share with me, and popcorn is my favorite food. When I smell it, I can’t resist making a bag myself or stealing some from wherever it is. It’s like an addiction.
12. Contrary to a lot of homeschoolers, I’ve never taken an online course. I like having someone there in person to teach me. I have taken classes with other kids before I came to college.
13. I’m not sure if I want to have kids, but I think it would be after I got my career established. But I do want a big white wedding. And to marry a lobsterman and live on an island in the blue bay. No seriously.
14. I am still waiting for a prince to come whisk me away on his white horse. I LOVE Disney films.
15. I like to go around singing random lines from songs, really off-key. Currently my favorite is “How Lucky We Are” by Meiko. It tends to drive people crazy.
16. I can tie every knot in the Boy Scout handbook, except for the noose. I refuse to learn that one, for obvious reasons. I love tying knots. Learning them can be hard at first, but really rewarding, at least for me.
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January 20, 2009 at 12:09 pm (Skating)
Tags: France, nationals, OWT, photos, skating costume
Here are some pictures of my costumes!! They arrived in the mail while I was in France with all the other OWT girls. They say they are making an album soon, so I won’t post all the pics.
This is the dress I made myself that I wore to nationals:
This is my dress for next year that I ordered:
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January 17, 2009 at 2:40 pm (College, Friends, Skating)
Tags: bronze, Creighton, Harper, Hope S., nationals, Omaha, photos, Samantha
Yesterday Hope’s friends and my classmates Harper and Sam arrived. I am not sure why they didn’t come with us but they stayed in Chicago a few extra days. Anyway. Here are the pictures of me and Hope that I promised:
Hope found this giant box and came to announce to me that it was there (like I couldn’t see it, as it was right in front of me…):
Then she jumped up on the box and told me to take a picture of her in front of our window that overlooks Omaha. I am not sure if I actually got any of the view out the window though since it was pretty far away.
Finally I convinced her to open the box and let poor Harper and Sam out! Except they were covered in tissue paper and looked like mummies! Sam tried to scare us.
And finally, here are all four of us at college. Yay!
Oh, and in case you were wondering… obviously I posted yesterday after finishing nationals and yes I did go to class, um, long story about how that worked out but… I got bronze! It was so exciting!! 
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December 20, 2008 at 10:15 pm (College, Skating)
Tags: Coach OH!, Mom, nationals, new coach, Paris, Skate America
But barely. It’ll be 4 in a few hours. This month has been so busy with Skate America and trying to pack and stuff that I really can’t believe it’s almost here. I’m starting to flip out. I’m so used to everyone at home… what if I hate college? Then again, Coach OH! is moving out to Omaha in Janurary after nationals so that will be cool. (She set me up with a local coach to practice with me until then. Neither of us are really happy about it, because it’s a HUGE deal to compete in Nationals obviously and it’d be better if I knew I worked well with the coach, but they’re friends and Coach OH! says she’s really good so it should work out. She said she’d come out but she has to pack with her family for the move. But she’ll be at Nationals with me.)
In three days I get on a plane to Paris. (!!!!!!!!!) Then I hang out with a host until Miss B., the teacher, can pick me up. We have this really early meeting set up on Christmas morning. Not sure if I’m too excited about the time, lol. Then we’re going to hang out and get some paperwork together and everything before I meet everyone. Sheesh! That’s a lot of waiting and hanging around… but hopefully it’s worth it. My mom’s talked to Miss B. a lot just to make sure things aren’t sketchy (worrywart!). I’m so psyched. I hope we get to tour the city, really that’s all I care about… oh, and making sure I find a rink ASAP!
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November 29, 2008 at 11:35 pm (College, Skating)
Tags: "Fairytale", "Love Song", Grand Prix, music, nationals, Paris, Sara Bareilles
Absolutely nothing. I’m getting ready for Nationals and GRAND PRIX IN KOREA!!!!! but that is seriously about it. I’ve been feeling kind-of tired lately and Mom is really concerned, but I think it’s still just skating stuff, and I’ve been going to bed really late.
I’ve been listening to Sara Bareilles. I love “Fairytale” and “Love Song”. Both are very badass if you do excuse my language.
I am getting VERY excited about Paris. I can barely contain myself!! What if we get to see the Eiffel Tower?! Oh, I would be so happy… I can’t wait… I’ve been out of the country but never to France! I can’t wait to meet everyone too! I am sure they will all love me…
This was a total crap post. I promise I will have a story or at least an insightful one soon. Thanksgiving was good, CHRISTMAS WILL BE BETTER BECAUSE IT WILL BE IN PARIS.
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October 15, 2008 at 4:21 pm (My Lovely Life, Skating)
Tags: "Answer", Dr. Kolberts, Facebook, Kira, Maine Medical Center, Mom, music, nationals, Olympics, OWT, OWT College Connections, regionals, Sarah MacLachlan, Sectionals, Worlds
I hate to bitch about my medical issues so much on here, but this whole thing with Dr. K. not wanting me to skate is driving me NUTS, so I guess it applies. I had to go back today to do more tests and her verdict was basically that I definitely should not be skating and that I need to get some things taken care of first.
DR K.! This is the qualifying season! If I don’t get to sectionals, there’s no Nationals, and if I don’t get to Nationals, there’s no Worlds, and if I don’t get to Worlds there are absolutely positively no Olympics. So what did I do? I said “Thank you for your time and opinion” and walked straight out of that stupid hospital. Mom finally caught up to me and was beyond pissed. I think I was pretty justified. Maybe Dr. K. just doesn’t understand that skating is my LIFE. I told my mom I had to get to practice. Ugh, and I’m not even looking forward to Nationals, they are in Ohio, and I dunno, Ohio seems really boring. I guess I can’t say anything, though, because I live in a ridiculously small town. But still. I kind-of hate Maine Medical Center at the moment and am not planning on going back there anytime soon.
To piss me off even more, a friend-who-shall-remain-nameless is suddenly in a bad mood 24/7. I don’t think she’s mad at me, she’s just taking it out on me and it’s annoying!
Also, the OWT packet asked me if I would send a profile to a girl named Kira. It’s kind-of like a Facebook profile but a little different. It’s for their website. I’m excited because it really means I’m part of the group now! I’m filling it out this very moment.
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October 14, 2008 at 11:42 am (College, My Lovely Life, Skating)
Tags: Christmas, Coach OH!, Dr. Kolberts, enthusiasm, Grand Prix, nationals, nosebleed, Olympics, OWT, OWT College Connections, Paris, regionals, Sectionals, Skate America, South Korea, Vancouver, venturing, Worlds
Let’s start off with lovely Dr. K. on Thursday. I went in today for a checkup after my lovely nosebleed disaster, and she was like, oh, let’s do some more tests. I said no, I feel fine, I don’t think you need to. She insisted on doing the standard blood tests and everything, so I was really mad because I was supposed to be practicing for Skate America and Coach OH! was going to kill me. We had to wait for the blood labs and then go back and by that time Dr. K. was supposed to be with another patient so we ended up waiting for an extra hour.
Dr. K. was like, I don’t think it’s a great idea to be skating right now. I said that was stupid, this is a key qualifying season for me because Nationals and Worlds are going to determine the Olympic team and you have got to be kidding me. So I’m skating but she’s not happy.
I am so pumped for Skate America though! It’s next Thursday and Coach OH! and I are going crazy over it. I kind-of flopped at regionals (for me, but not for not skating) and she really wants me to place in Skate America if I want to move up and get on the team for Vancouver. Um, yeah! Also, we would love for me to get 1st (and MAYBE 2nd) so I can go on to the Grand Prix in SOUTH KOREA!!! How cool would that be?! Plus it would be great for my records. I love how they were complaining about me not being enthusiastic. The minute things get competitive, the minute I start loving it. Maybe I was just worn out from the venturing trip and all the drama that went on with it. And I missed skating but was totally thrown back into it which was miserable. But I love it now!
On 11/11 I am looking forward to Sectionals and I NEED a 1st place in that competition.
On the OWT front. Saturday, I got a call from “Miss B.” who was like, “I heard you were skeptical at being accepted, congratulations, you are! We can’t wait to meet you in person!” So I guess I’m in! Guess who is really flying on a private plane to Paris over Christmas! Little old me! Well, not old, haha. I got my confirmation packet too. I’m really excited about this but I hope the girls are nice… otherwise it wouldn’t really be worth it, although I guess it’s not really costing me anything. I’m kind-of nervous! Imagine, me nervous!
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October 4, 2008 at 11:33 pm (Skating)
Tags: Long Program, Massachusettes, nationals, regionals, short program, silver, Team A, Team C, Worlds
AND I GOT SILVER!!!
I came in first for short program (I was amazed) and third for long. I guess my stylistic elements aren’t there but at least I still have some technique left in me! Oh, I was so thrilled! I started crying when I received my medal. I’ve gotten first at regionals before, but never have I been prouder of myself. I’ve seriously been back at skating for maybe two weeks, and I got second. At regionals.
I also found it weird that it actually balanced out to 1st and 3rd, but whatever. I placed, which is all that matters. And I feel like I’m now worthy of my placement on Team C – I was 8th at Worlds last year and 4th at Nationals, but I took off for so long that I seriously worried I’d disqualify myself. And I didn’t. I would’ve liked first place (actually, under normal circumstances, I would think I deserved first place), but the important thing is now I can qualify for nationals. The only problem is that I’m using the same short program as last season and I’m using a long program we came up with in basically two months. But I’m apparently getting better at it (that’s all we’ve been doing in practices). I’m excited.
I really want first in nationals. I KNOW that is crazy to think about, but hey, why not? I’ve done so many things with my life already, why not go for it? And it would get me on Team A… haha.
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