Finally

Yesterday was test day, and I was testing [for the sixth time] the Paso and finally....
I PASSED!!!!
...and I found out right away because I was testing another dance, but I could only test that dance if I passed the Paso, so my coach went to find out and she came back and told me I better get ready to get my but back on the ice....and then I screamed, and everybody looked, and then everybody knew I had just passed my Paso...lol. My other dance, the Quickstep, I failed but that was okay because it's a Gold dance, so they have much higher expectations, and it was my first try so I was okay, I got the important one!
So, my friend knew I was taking this test for the sixth time and I really wanted to pass it so she texted me to see how I did and I told her and today in church she brought me flowers with a Congrats balloon. I was totally surprised and felt so extremely blessed to have a friend like her. I love you Claire!!!!

here's a picture of the flowers....

On another note, we starting Carnival this week and I think it will be unlike any others, which is good. It's going to be alot of fun, especially the StarSkate numbers!
Carnival is on March 15th and you are all invited to come!
That's all for now, hope your having a good day!

I'm going to leave you with my
Top 10 things beautiful things/things that make me smile
[I saw it on another blog and thought it was a great idea]

1. Bring crazy with Brittany during Stolen by Dashboard Confessional at the rink

2. The picture speaks for itself....

3. Mia's stories at the rink [she's one of my skaters]...and the infamous Oinky.
Here's the story...we have this stuffed pig that is covered in blue marker but its still in pretty good shape otherwise so we still use it...anyways I took it out on the ice the one day with a bunch of other stuffed animals and Mia found it and fell in love with it...she named it Oinky and asks for it at every session, and when I say 'I'm gonna get Oinky, she screams and skates away-running away from me. This last monday she told me that Oinky needed a bed so I gave her a plastic container and she put Oinky in there and went on her merry way skating around, and all of a sudden she comes up to me and says 'Your my mom' and I said 'I'm your mom?' and she said 'yeah, Your the mom and I'm the kid and this is our pet Oinky' and so I asked her where we lived, and she said 'in this circle[since we were standing in one of the five circles on the ice]' and then she skated off and I was standing there chuckling to myself, thinking of the imagination in that kid.

4. Sitting out on the beach at night and seeing the moonlight on the water

5. Watching movies with my friends...squished on the coach

6. my bulletin board - which is 'scrapbooked' with pictures, flowers, cut-outs, and a bunch of other stuff.

7. Jordan when she asks for kisses after we've[syncro] skated, so she can have red lips on her cheeks.

8. The way it looks when the trees are frosted and the snow has freshly fallen

9. The Color ORANGE

10. Reed [one of my skaters] telling me he wanted to be
Tiger[from Winnie the Pooh] when he grew up.

My Valentines

I hope you all had a great Valentines Day. I spent my Valentines Evening babysitting for my neighbors which as always was so much fun. I decided to take my camera along and get some good pics of them.
Here's a sneak peak.
Enjoy.

Westerns Pictures

Here are some pics from our performances last weekend...




...and all the moments in between...
Hope you are having a great day!

Westerns

So I just got home from Camrose, Alberta about an hour ago, which is where Westerns [Syncro Competition] was this year. Just thought I'd put a few pics on here to give you peek at my weekend.

Juvinille Team - 2nd Place!!!!

Pre- Novice

Karen and Me with all our make-up and fake eyelashes

Ryley

Juvinille

Unfortunately I don't have any pics of my team [Junior] or the Pre-Juvinille at the moment so if I can find some I'll post them then.
Hope you are having a great day!

Update

So, I guess it has been awhile since I updated all of you on life on this end.
Things are still hectic with skating everyday, except Saturday, Carnival is coming up in less than two months...crazy!!! I'm leaving in two weeks for a Syncro Competition in Camrose, Alberta, I kinda have mixed feelings, I'm excited to go, but we still have a ton of work to do before we compete. Regionals went alright, I skated pretty well, the judges didn't really think so, but I can't do anything about that. Since that is the only competition for me this year, I'm kinda done for the season, so I started laying out my goals for next season already, and have been focusing on those these last few practices. I've been looking for some new program music, I haven't decided if I'm going to stick with the same music from this year, or get some new stuff. I'll probably only change one piece of music if I change anything.
That's all for now
God Bless

Skate for Her

Do you remember why you skate, or has it been too long? Is it because you’ve worked so hard to get where you are, or because you love to be part of this sport? Is it because you don’t want to let anyone down, including yourself? Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become, the hours of practice, the fellow skaters who believed in you, and the fans who cheered for you, is the little girl who put on her first pair of skates—who fell in love with the sport, and never looked back.

Skate for her.

A Year In Review

As I take time to look back on what seems like a very long and trying year I am amazed at how things have changed, how much I have accomplished, and how hard I have worked to move forward in my life through many trials and set backs.

Here is a look back at my 2007:

And as I look forward to a new year, full of new experiences, I will hold onto the past to remind me of where I have come from, and where I want to go. I will remember those who broke my heart and those you helped me put it back together. I will take chances and step out of my comfort zone and trust God to keep my heart in tact. I will hold onto the things most important to me and take each day one step at a time, and when it seems like I can't go on, I will hold on to the promise that God is always with me. I will cherish my friends and my family, I will try and live each day to the fullest, and I will make the most of each opportunity, because if I have learned anything in 2007 I have learned that you never know how long things will last, so don't wait for the right moment, just live. I will laugh harder and more often, and I will love with all of my heart. I will hug my friends and tell them how much they mean to me. I will do my best to make people welcome no matter where they are from or what they look like.
All in all my New Years Revolution is to be the best that I can be.

Some New Pics

Lincoln Maddox

Brendan James

Lincoln and Brendan

Merry Christmas

Opinion

I need your guys help deciding on a skating dress for my short program.
Everyone is welcome to leave their opinion!
Here are the options:

The music is really upbeat
it's called 'Samba Adagio' by Safri Duo if you wanna check it out

Update

So, it's been awhile since I wrote on here, I decided to freshen it up, and am very happy with how it turned out. Not much new here, skating and working--still looking for a different job, but whatever is supposed to happen will happen--skating is going pretty well, today was a very good day at the rink, I tried a new jump--lutz-double toe--and almost landed it on my second attempt. I also almost landed two other double jumps, I was so pumped and everything was going so well, which was good because yesterday was a very frusterating day at the rink, where everything seemed to be going wrong.
Coaching is going really well, it has its moments but it is definatly giving me a good look at the job. Mondays are my favorite with the little 2-4 year olds, they're so cute, and absolutly LOVE bubbles. They are all doing so well, and the parents seem to be liking my way of teaching which is a great encouragment.
I am new to the ebay thing but with the help of my neighbor, I ordered a skating dress from China about a week ago, so I'm hoping it will come soon. I'm super pumped, I hope it fits, and if it does, I'm ordering another one for my short program. The great thing is that they make the dress for you, so you send them your measurements and they make the dress for your body. Its so great and cheaper than having one made in town.
I also finally got a cd player in my car--no more radio!!!! and my command start got fixed, no more running outside to turn my car on!
I am about half done my christmas shopping, I have two more gifts left for my family and a few left for friends. I can't believe that it's almost christmas, these past few months have just flown by.
I think thats all for now, I hope you are all having a great week so far, its almost done!
God Bless!

New Look

I thought it was time for a change, hope you like it!

Pictures

A Playmate for Baby B

Baby Brenden aka Baby B. now has a playmate.
Jason and Jennie gave birth to a baby boy,
Lincoln Maddox this afternoon at 4:45.
I'll post pictures asap. Thats all for now!

High Fives!

I found this on another blog and thought I would put on mine too!

5 Things that you cannot live without for under $10/each:
White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks
Chocolate Crossiants
Labello - Pearl and Shine lip gloss
My Watch - it was like $12, but close enough
My Day Planner

5 Of Your Favorite Movies:
Because I Said So...
Stomp the Yard
The Cutting Edge: Going for Gold
The Guardian
The Holiday

5 +5 = 10 baby names that you love (5 for a girl, and 5 for a boy!):
Quinn
Kaden
Kameron

Jace
Aiden

Jordin
Ryleigh
Ava
Addison
Leah

5 songs you could listen to over & over & over:
Rylynn - Andy McKee [Instrumental]
Taking Chances - Celine Dion
So Small - Carrie Underwood
Believe - Suzy McNeil
Everything I'm Not - The Veronicas

5 people who have influenced your life in a positive way:
Pam - My Syncro Coach
My Parents
Kim - Coach
Tracy - Youth Sponser
and a whole host of other people, all my friends...the list goes on.

5 items that stay in your purse all the time:
My Day Planner
My Wallet
My Nametag for Work
My Sunglasses
Lip Gloss

5 moments when you knew everything had changed FOREVER:
The Day I got a Job
The Day I got my Drivers
The Day I started Coaching
The Day my Brother left for College
The Day my Brother got Married

5 books you really would like to read (or finish - if you're in the middle of one):
The Notebook
A Walk to Remeber
Ever After - Karen Kingsbury
Sunrise series - Karen Kingsbury
Just Beyond the Clouds - Karen Kingsbury

5 obsessions you have right now:
Scrapbooking
Landing my Axel
Finding the Perfect dress for my Short Program
Cups
Finding a New Job

Saving Words For Jesus

This morning in church, Pastor Herb gave an amazing message and the one thing that really stuck in my mind was how we don't have one word which describes only Jesus, for example we say Jesus is awesome, yet we often say how awesome our day was or how awesome our new car is, or whatever, and I realized he was right.
If Jesus is so great, how come we use the same words to describe him as we do other earthly things?
It really made me think about how important is he in our lives if we can't even find a word to describe our creator?
It's just something to think about...

CRAZY, CRAZY, CRAZY

So, time for an update.
My life is super crazy yet boring all at the same time.
I'm skating six days a week and have been asked to be a coach, thats right an actual coach, getting paid and everything, so thats super exciting, I'm just hoping all goes well and that people will take me seriously as a coach. Skating is going well, both my programs are done and I love them, its so cool to design them yourself, then you get exactly what you want, well mostly, I did have my one coach, Almira help me create footwork and an ending position for my short program.
Other than skating and work I have no life...lol, but thats okay.
I babysat my neighbors for the first time in a long time today, and it went so smoothly so that was good, I had babysat for Quinn and Kierra about a year ago or more, and since then they have had a baby so I had her too, and she was so good for me which was awesome!!! I babysit for them 2 a month on Tuesdays.
Other than that, life is pretty much skating and work, but thats okay, I'm glad I'm busy, anyways I hope you are having a great day and God Bless!

Something Good...

Today when I got home from the rink, I went to check the mail, and there was a package from Skate Canada, which I have been waiting for forever, it's my Canskate marks, and I passed with a 100%, I was so pumped, it was a great thing in a very stressful week. I just thought I would share my tid-bit of good news. I hope everything is going well with you and God Bless.

With a Thankful Heart...

I am thankful for...
*Brendan James - my new nephew, love you so much!
*My Family
*My Friends - I miss you guys:D
*People who make me laugh
*People who have stuck by me through everything
*My Neighbors
**Josiah, Logan, Noami, Quinn, Kierra, and Carys...love you all to pieces**
* God - Your Grace is Enough For Me
* Skating
**My Coaches, My Fellow Skaters, The Little Skaters**
*New Opportunities
*Life in General - It's truly a gift