Let's Celebrate, It's All Right!

The interview lasted about 20 minutes. She had a few more to go through so she said that she would hope to have a decision by last night and would call me sometime today. So here's hoping I get it. To be honest I don't think I did all that well. I was EXTREMELY nervous (I've never had a formal interview before) and I made a few jokes that I didn't realize what I was doing till it was too late to back out. But i think she liked the fact that I was born and raised on the Peninsula, that I live just right down the street from the place, and that I could make Kenai interesting (She did like my kenai joke, unfortunately I can't remember what I said it's all a blur! LOL) so we will see. I drew a blank early on in the interview... I was that nervous...


other than that I drove around for a while, we had to go get some scrapbooking stuff so I can get my skating stuff done. It's official I am a nutcase 3 packs of Timmy practicing????? WHAT WAS I THINKING? I have 5 photos of Evan practicing and 6 of Matt... and why did I take 9 of Ryan Jahnke?????? LOL bigger question why did I take 10 of Johnny? I've never been a fan of his so I am really confused as to what I was thinking. If any of you know what was going on in my head please say so LOL


I've been reliving nationals this week. Telling mom stories. She thinks we're all nuts, but she was glad that I ran into Heather. (She thinks you're really neat, Heather!) And she didn't freak when I said we upgraded our seats all week. She thought that was cool. LOL Gosh I've had so many remember when's this week... Remember when Peter Tchernyshev sat behind Kat and she practically hyerventalated right there. (We should have let her, maybe he would have performed CPR ;) then again that might kill her so it's a good thing, right?) or remember when Mel had to inform ALL of us that Peter smelled "really good" ? ;) Remember when Hez and Dawn were on the phone being mean to my Mikey???? LOL

seriously though I am so ready to go again. And if I get the job be ready because it's going to be nothing but "WOOT WOOT I'M GOING!!!!" lol for however many months till I get to go! ;)

tonight Kassy is coming over for dinner, she's babysitting our pastor's 5 youngest kids so they'll be here too (oh joy... UGH) Rob is also coming to dinner so yeah we're going to need more chicken. At least that's how *I* feel about it. LOL Dad and duane got home last night. Not sure what time though, because I had a headache and went to bed at 9pm last night! So yeah I am only on here for a few more minutes so I gotta go. I will get on later today I'm sure. Hope all is well with all of you!

-Toni
PS A HUGE SHOUT OUT TO aimzers *HUGS* I LOVE YOU!

I can definitely say that the ice dance portion of Nationals was a big part of why I went and why I had such a great time. Between Melissa Gregory's mom giving us the inside scoop about anything and everything (and do I mean EVERYTHING LOL) to the fact that I actually had more than one person/team to cheer for it was just really fun. Our section should have totally been deemed "Team G/P" because we were all really cheering our lungs out for them! LOL Not only that but Tanith and Ben are just so awesome that it just made for a fun competition (and those two teams are heads and tails above the rest of the field... you don't really see the difference until you put a lesser team up against Tanith and Ben though... Tiffany and Sergey are sooooooooooooo boring looking after Tanith and Ben skate LOL)

I really like Tiffany and Sergey though. They look well matched, both work well together. (And as far as I know, or really Melissa's mom knows the rumor about Tiffany and Peter are completely untrue) She has a lot of personality and it works. She is so pretty. Their costumes were great. But their FD left a lot to be desired. They had a sucky skate drawing considering they were back to back with Tanith and Ben and that REALLY made their weaknesses stand out. You can definitely see WHY Tanith and Ben are first and why Tiffany and Sergey barely made teh podium.

Melissa and Denis *sigh* that dang thing on teh ice! According to Melissa she hit something on the ice -- she's not sure what -- that distracted her. She was thinking about stopping and asking the ref if she could look for it to make sure she didn't hit it again, but then figured it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. She informed us that it pissed her off to not have a clean skate. It was so cute the way she said it. LOL She is so sweet. She signed my sign I made for them the night before (stayed up till after midnight and the first time I forgot how to spell her name, and the second one looked like it was made by a drunk girl LOL). We also finally found out what their program is all about. It's titled (by Nikolai no less) "The beginning of my life" and is a tribute to their wedding in Vegas. (hence the "21" on the back of Denis' shirt, and the dice on the front... and the arm pull during their footwork) Anna renamed it "Cha-ching" and when Melissa walked up after the competition was over that was the first thing Anna said to her. Which got a big roll of the eyes from Melissa. It was too funny, and kind of embarassing, but what can ya do? LOL I still want to think that Denis is wearing a 21 to say "happy bday" to me as the 21st is my bday! WOOT!!! LOL

Tanith and Ben... what can I say? They were awesome. They are so fast on TV but just so much more so in person... and so Dynamic... and exciting... and hot... and awesome... and cool... and sweet... and wow... loved them... loved their program... loved everything about them. . They totally deserved the 6.0s in my opinion, though. Great to see them win another title!

I love how Dale just walks up and treats us like life long friends! She rules!

The pairs were a surprisingly exciting portion of the competition as well. I was really looking for a splatfest and not much else and I am happy to report that I was completely wrong. Sure there were a lot more mistakes than there should have been, but it was no less exciting. I was disappointed that Scott and Dulebohn didn't skate their best to get 3rd, but there's nothing I can do that about it. :(

Scott and Dulebohn seem like such sweet people! It's really heartbreaking that they can't get it all together. They could totally rock out otherwise. I liked their costumes, and their LP is awesome. I hope they keep it next year and totally get a place on the Oly team. The program has a lot of personality and innovative moves. It was an enjoyable program, and they seemed well suited for it. They looked like they liked it. It was a very comfy program for them, which was nice to see. Phillip was such a kick at the awards ceremony!

Inoue & Baldwin -- his parents sat behind us again. His dad seemed to be so excited about the fact that there were 3 teams on teh podium that were national champions... it was weird LOL They had a decent skate, but I honestly do not see what is so exciting about their competitive skating. It was really just ho-hum for me. I'm not saying this because I am now a fan of Katie and Garrett. I just was not as impressed with them as others say I should be. *shrugs*

Katie and Garrett -- talk about awesome. He should totally get the flu more often. (ok not really, but still) they were great. She gets SO much height on the throws it's scary (especially since PEter said it was because she goes too high that her ankle can't support the impact) but omg I loved the program --hated the costumes--it was great. they were great... had a total fangirly moment and everything. Brenda, it's all your fault! LOL They looked so confused to have won, though, in teh kiss and cry. Ok, so Katie looked confused, Garrett looked down right sick. Poor guy.

that night was just inspired. It was really awesome. the awards ceremony was great too. Hoping the pictures turn out really crisp!

The last few days have been so busy, so sorry these are late... it's just really hard to do everything, ya know!

So lets see, this was the Mens and Ladies SPs...

Tim was the highlight of the night. Though I'm not sure *highlight* is the correct word. More like the skater who brought the most emotion to the arena. Not just with his skating, but everything surrounding it. Talking with Anna she said Tim was doing awesome ON the ice, but off the ice he seemed to be a mess. That just makes me love him that much more. He's SUCH a sweetheart that OMG I just really rooted for him this week. She said he was red-eyed and he talked with Frank in the morning in the skater lounge. Frank was saying how he didn't know if Angela could take anymore bad things, and Tim basically agreed with the thought. Frank told him that after nationals he had to full out be there for her, and Tim assured him that 1. he knew, and 2. that he would be there for her. Then another person walked in and he just collapsed in her arms (can't remember who she said). I'm glad I didn't see it, just seeing clips of it all week was hard. I think he had to whole place pulling for him that night...

Anyway since it's been a few days I will just go with what I remember of the actual competition...

The mens SP is so stinkin exciting! I was all happy and bouncy to be watching them. Nervous at the same time, but over all I just love the US mens, I have about 5 favorites now...

anyway...

Mike's SP -- well I remember it was pretty good. He fell, and I was very sad. LOL. I was taking pictures and then he screwed up and I stopped because I felt I was somehow jinxing him. I was very surprsed they kept him where they did.

Tim -- Oh. My. God. That is the BEST program of his I have EVER EVER EVER seen. not because it was live, but because he skated with everything in him. It was the most emotional program, and I doubt he'll ever skate it as well again, but it was just magic. Then he hit his last pose and it was all over. Everything he had held in came flooding out and it took a lot of strength on his part to even bow without falling all over teh place. He was just uncontrollably sobbing. It was heartbreaking... he got a standing "o" but you'd have thought he was the lonliest person there. Everyone around us had this feeling of wanting to just give him an arena sized group hug, not because it was Tim and just about every girl my age(and some older lol) swoons at the sight of him, but because he just needed it. I know the helpless feeling, and I think that's what he was 'suffering' from.

Evan -- He's one of those skaters that you just have to see LIVE before you really appreciate what he can do. He has so much personality! And he seems to love to flirt with anyone! LOL He was all showman this week and he totally won me over!!!!

Johnny -- I did not like the costume. My high school's cheerleading squad had a warm-up costume similar to what he wore and it was just like... well, it was distracting. I think I'm one of the only one that doesn't find him to be "all that". He's just not my "type" of male skater (though Melissa Gregory's Grandma loved him) it takes all types, right? ;) He was good but VERY tentative. Even to me he was not as exciting as he comes off. I was not impressed, but I really didn't expect to be.

Matt -- I love Matt. Love him, love him, love him. *sigh* He's another one that I don't remember much. I was just so content to watch him skate and just be there. Not only that but I've slept since then. No doubt once I get the pictures back I'll remember more (or rewatch the SPs on tape :))

Ryan was also a joy to watch, but I don't really remember him either. I am so bad about that LOL I didn't take notes as it was a lot of cheering instead of writing. :)


The ladies event, FOR ME, was not half as exciting. I'm not a big ladies fan right now anyway. Love a lot of the pros, but not as many in the competitive ranks.

I liked a lot of the newer talent compared to the big names right now. I love Jenny though. OMG do I love her. LOL She is just so much fun to watch. She should totally do a Chicago on Ice type deal. That short is just TOO CUTE! I loved watching it live. She has got such personality

Michelle was well she was Michelle, and I was good while sitting with Heather and the gang because I was nice and I clapped. Unlike Heather who was being mean to me and my liking of a certain male skater (ha ha, she was good too LOL she and DAWN on teh phone, on the other hand...) I do have to say that I like her Short more than Bolero.

Sasha did not have a great program. Neat moves, but bland program even for her.

Kimmie is so cute, and she is so awesome. She wasn't even acting like she was aware that she was the new kid on the block. She went out and just rocked the world with her skating... so awesome :)

Katy Taylor is another up and comer that I really enjoyed watching practice and then nail her SP...

Emily skated first and I was really expecting a splatfest on her part. Her practices were terrible, but she really knows how to skate during competition. We sat in front of her brothers and I swear we were at a hockey or football game the way they cheered for her. OMG! Who knew two guys could make SO MUCH NOISE (actually her whole family was there).

Rosenthal (can't remember what her name is and I have everything packed...) has SO MUCH personality on the ice, if she could only land her jumps she'd totally have it all!

overall a lot of good skating... just not as exciting from some of the top names...

I feel bad even posting anything about today after the news on Angela, but I guess I owe it to those who are reading this thing (all 1 of you ha ha)

Anyway, I got out later than expected, but I made it just in time for Mike to take to the ice and skate for his SP practice... *gush warning* I was so happy to see him skate. I was the only one in our group to be excited, but I was. I think he's great. Yeah his programs suck but what can he do? He doesn't have much to work with, ya know? He was really hit and miss but still I enjoyed seeing him live. It was exciting. I loved it. He was hitting some clean quads, but none in combination which is what he wanted, big time...

I didn't take notes and I'm still a little shell shocked so I will do my best to remember...

Tim's Short program is interesting. The music choice was different -- very light -- but it was very good. It worked, which was surprising considering it's TIM. I love Timmy too, so it was great to see him out there... Evan looked very strong too. Frank Carrol was watching Tim pretty closely. I guess Tim is still upset about the whole dropping thing, but they've been cordial from everything I have heard, so that's nice to know. An article on Tim and Frank was in the paper today and Frank was very nice and understanding. It seems like he genuinely cares (though I think dropping him when he did was kind of off... don't hurt the guy when he's down!) Tim, though, seems hungry for a win. I hope he stays strong... he wasn't doing a whole lot in teh way of jumps today.

Then the announcer gets on at the end of the session and says we all had to leave because the warm-ups were closed. Which was weird because they hadn't been any time earlier in teh week. The WHOLE CROWD started to boo, then this one lady started screaming and throwing a fit. Thankfully Melissa's mom came in about that time and said that it seemed like a really dumb rule and talked us into staying. Which we did and we never had a problem. I also got to meet Melissa's grandparents today. They are so sweet. Her grandma is a kick! I had gotten a roll of film developed yesterday and it was all Melissa and Denis and her g'ma wanted several of the photos, so I am getting her copies. She is a sweetheart... that whole family is just so loveable. They are very warm and recieving... Not only did Dale--Melissa's mom--introduce me to them, but Heather and Mel as well. That was just so cool. She's a doll! Love ya, Dale!(not that she reads but still haha!)

Anyway the warm-ups were good... We cheered hard for Melissa and Denis--of course--and I took pics--of course... they looked so good, but Dale was giving us info on Melissa's troubles with teh footwork. About a week and a half ago Melissa got a concussion after falling on a part of it. So after that I was soooooo nervous for them. But they rocked the house. The personality they put in that OD is just awesome! I still think they should have had higher marks but NO one listens to me LOL

Tanith and Ben were stellar, which is no surprise. I hate her "skirt" but what can ya do? Marks were good, did not agree with some but again, what can ya do?

I then came home and ate tacos...

headed back to the rink and that's when I first heard the news about Angela. Erin called me and asked if I was sitting down and I said that yeah I was lucky to grab a seat, and she said "good because Angela Niko-something's mom died in a car wreck" all I could say was "Oh my God" over and over. I was almost in tears. So upset in fact that someone asked if I was ok and did I need to get somewhere, and I assured them that I was fine and that the next stop was mine. I then ran for the rink and prayed that I could get to Heather to see if she knew anything. About the time I got to our seats (which are not the ones we paid for but hey! No one has claimed them so far!) is when Dawn must have called because Anna and Mel said that they just heard from Dawn via Heather... Dawn was clearly upset and that made Heather upset... and since we were all talking about it the officials surrounding us heard and wanted to know what the heck was going on. There were a lot of people calling people... ABC was frantically trying to get info... it was crazy....

The opening ceremonies were so boring

the pairs SP was pretty ho hum for me. the US needs serious help... either the team is relatively clean with no real choreography or they have great choreography and sucky everything else... I honestly thought that had Tiffany hit everything they'd have been fine... I really like their short. Oh well. Katie and Garrett were really teh highlight for me. Other than her fall they were great. I think if they'd had warmed-up the throw she'd have hit it. Rena and John are a snorefest IMHO. I really don't care for their program. I never have gotten into their skating... his mom sat behind us...

which reminds me NAOMI LANG and posse sat behind us (which meant that Peter T was there too... and the BABY!!!) the baby is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute! And was so hyper... and sweat... she is all cheeks! I loved talking with Naomi and playing with the baby. She smiled at me! I felt special (though she was more interested in grabbing Anna's hair. It was so funny!) Naomi was really cheering on Melissa and Denis which was awesome. What made me sad, though, was the fact that when the first flight came out for the warm ups Naomi was telling her mom she couldn't sit through the competition. She kept saying "it's going to be too hard to watch" but she made it through the whole thing, but it was obvious she was missing being out there. I wouldn't be surprised if she thought about a come back. She obviously still loves it. Johnny also sat behind us, but his silver shoes scare me LOL Not a big fan of his so I was more excited to make faces at teh baby. Peter, Mel informed Anna and I, smells really good. LOL

and I just saw what time it is so I'm leaving you all now!

not sure what the schedule is for tomorrow... I'll have to sleep on it!

[edited to add:] I totally spaced talking about Peter Carruthers. He was looking very nice all dressed up for the pairs SP... and I noticed he was wearing a pink shirt. Which I pointed out to Heather (who first looked towards where he'd sat all week during practices LOL) and then he stood up to mess with his jacket and we saw that he was also wearing a pink tie with purple diagonal stripes... so we got to have a little fun with that (he must be tributing the ice dancers as those colors are the most popular with them this season LOL) so there's some more fluff stuff that you didn't want to know ;)

Well I got to the rink sooner than I thought I would, which was great as I caught all of the mens practices... It was neat but I just wasn't into paying attention! I don't know why but all day I was just zoning!

Anyway I did try to keep watch of the "big names" as I figured that's what's important. Heather and Mel found me and then later Anna found us, so we were this foursome having fun. It was neat.

Group A:
Johnny was the only one who didn't run through even half of his program... this whole group was incredibly boring... I missed a few of the run throughs, but over all it was just a whole lot of standing around with a few jumps put in by Johnny and a lot of unknowns that really didn't keep my attention... Johnny had a few problems with his jumps though.

Dick Button was there, so I kept trying to get him on film, but he's too short when he sits and could never get a good view of him.

Group B:
Evan was late getting to the practice and missed the warm-up, but his coaches were on time! LOL Timmy looked really good. Calm and confident. Did not run through his entire number, and left before Jordan Wilson got to run through his. I took a lot of pictures of him though. Mike wasn't there :( (but that made Heather happy LOL)

Group C:
Ryan had a good practice, fell on a couple of jump attempts, but over all really promising. He looks really strong. His warm up and all work after his music looked good too. All of the men in this group skated through their programs. A couple of the men did not show up. Matt looked really good in warm-ups, but when it was his turn to skate he fell on both 3 axels. :( The second one he hit hard and was in a similar split position than Johnny was -- just not as bad... just looked bad LOL After his music he worked on the 3axel combo and had awesome results. He has been rubbing his right(?) leg/knee throughout the practice though. :-s None of the men had clean run throughs.

Then I called Melissa Gregory's mom (she is so awesome) and we figured out where to meet during the Dance CDs... She sounded really nice on the phone which was a big help because I was sooooooo nervous. So I told her where I was sitting and what I was wearing and she said she'd look or me as soon as she got there (she was waiting for Melissa to finish getting ready). I was sort of nervous about it, but Heather and Mel and Anna were there so at least I wasn't all alone! LOL

Dance CDs -- GO MELISSA AND DENIS!!!!


1 - Tiffany & Sergey = very nice. she is definitly the more expressive of the two.
I have honestly no idea so :p I am just going to comment on the ones that seem to have caught people's attention so if you want to know about someone else tell me!
8 - Tanith and Ben = WOOT WOOT!! awesome, awesome, awesome! They made it feel like a program. Tanith SOLD the program and Ben was solid... and he's easy on the eyes so ;)
***Melissa's mom came over then and we chatted with her during the zamboni twins. It was really cool! And after filling her in (well, as best we could) she gave us the awesome news about Denis! We also asked her about what the judges looked for in the CD and she said she had no clue. Which made us laugh, but really what DO they look for???***
11 - MELISSA AND DENIS = awesome awesome! ended a little off of the music, but it was a hot ending pose. Thouth they could have higher tech marks, but whatever!

I didn't stay, I felt very dizzy :-p

Ok so after a relaxing afternoon I headed back over to the rink...and with PERFECT timing, because I ran into.......... *big trumpet fanfare* HEATHER!!!!!!!!!! I actually noticed her and said her name and I think I scared her! But I was sooooo glad I ran into her... i had SO MUCH FUN at the practices!!! So we headed to wear the judges sit and we sat behind there, which was so cool because Peter Carruthers was RIGHT THERE!!!! OMG!!!! I was all into watching Peter and not the skating... so I/B and the other two pairs might as well be statues, because I was watching Peter interact with Doug Wilson! OMG!!! I was hyperventalating by that point!!! Doug Wilson, the God of US Figure Skating TV (director wise anyway) alot of what you see on TV when it comes to FS is because of that man. Luv ya, man!!!

Anyway back up a bit... when I/B and the other two pairs (see how well I pay attention??) were skating Katie was up in the middle section of the seats (200 level) in her warm up clothes stretching, looking very fab. Garrett was bouncing up and down in the K&C area (which looks like crap right now, but they are still setting it up) they went inside after the "warm up" before the practice...

fastforward till after the fangirly moment. Hez was rocking out with catching me up with all sorts of awesome things (which she also told Dawn so I'm sure she's already updated you all with that rocking info!) We had some fun making up stories about what Doug and Peter were talking about (though Hez insisted for the longest time that it was Dick Button because of the hat Doug was wearing LOL) and Heather was informing me about all the things that the skaters had improved on. Which was really cool, and fun, because we were chatting and it was awesome. I've never met her before, really met her, but we just hit it off... oh and dad, if you're reading, she thinks you're a kick, I listed all your favorite skaters (and she met Jenni and Todd and saw baby pics!!!!)

anyway back on topic! KAtie and Garrett were rocking during their practice... they were spot on just about everything... Garrett had one obvious slip up and it was just when he really had to hold on to the landing of their sbs jump combo he just didn't have enough speed to get a lot of height on the second jump, but the rest was awesome (though Heather said he might have 2 footed on another jump) I got a whole roll of nothing but them so hopefully some come out ;) Everytime they hit something HEather was -- Brenda is going to be so happy/excited about this -- it was funny.

anyway it's 10pm here even though my journal is on AK time LOL so I will be getting to bed soon...

lots to see tomorrow!

Trying to catch as much as possible of the senior stuff...

8:50am - 11:40am = Men FS Practices (Group A is going first and I really don't like any of the skaters in it... HOWEVER if anyone wants me to report on one of those skaters [or even take a few photos] comment and I will drag myself out of bed for AT LEAST part of the practice ;))

12:00pm - 1:45pm = Dance CD Competition (Yeah, I'm going... call me crazy)

2:00pm - 4:35pm = Ladies FS Practice (Michelle is in group A... guess I can manage to watch, right? *tee hee*)

I will not be watching pairs practices as I'm pretty sure I will 1. be beat by that time rolls around... and 2. because the groups I care about are skating late in the evening (sorry Brenda! I am going tonight though!!!)

the question is Should I stick around for the JR ODs and Pairs SPs? please comment (even those of you reading who don't have a journal here! Anon. posting is allowed!)

I never ever EVER want to hear that midnight blues music EVER EVER EVER again (unfortunately I will have to hear it tomorrow UGH) I am soooooooooooooooooooooooo sick of it! Why can't ice dancers do the same thing as ballroom dancers? I mean it'd be a lot easier on those of us watching, and I'll bet they'd have more people watch!


Anyway, didn't really pay attention to all the dancers. Just Melissa and Denis in their group (which was soooooooo cool!) and Tanith and Ben in theirs. It was a CD/OD practice so I got to see a lot of dancing. I am not knowledgable about dance, but I can definately see why Tanith and Ben are first in the US. They are soooooooooooo fast. If any of my pics come out sharp it'll be a miracle! Melissa and Denis are really quick and smooth too. but Tanith and Ben are gonna win. No doubt. The real competition will be for 2nd place, because all the teams look pretty strong... hoping for Melissa and Denis to come up on top though! I bumped into Nikolai today... ok not really he was walking up the stairs while I was coming down so we "brushed" by each other... I am not a fan of his by any stretch of the imagination but it was... well let's just say I got all jittery.

I chickened out and didn't call Melissa's mom LOL looks like I will have to try for tomorrow. LOL I am so lame! But I did get to see them as they watched Tanith and Ben's flight. Denis was really into watching everyone but Melissa was being all kissy faced at him, when she wasn't talking to their coach(es) it was cute! I was getting all fangirly then, thankfully the practice session was over so I left and headed back to the appartment for a little rest. :)


tonight I'll catch a few flights of pairs practice... tomorrow ice dance starts... so *crosses fingers* Go Melissa and Denis!


oh and look I found me in a picture

Ok so I planned on going to the Senior dance FD practices, but I got turned around with directions from a very helpful but misinformed volunteer, so I watched the novice everything. It was really fun. It’s seating ala carte so I got a great seat and had a lot of fun. It was freezing in there, but it was fun. I got there during the first flight of nov ladies practice, and then watched the 2nd and 3rd flights as well as the dance and then the competitions for everyone. There were some awesome skaters!!! I was really surprised with what they could do. Totally confused until they got the programs and the scorecard booklets, but finally figured it out LOL

Tomorrow I am going to try and catch Melissa and Denis’ practices, maybe even try to get ahold of Melissa’s mom... *crosses fingers* I want to catch the pairs practices, but they run until sometime after 10:20 (that’s when the last flight starts practice) so Brenda do you know what practice group Katie and Garrett will be in, if they’re in a group that isn’t skating late in the evening I’d go and catch them and take pictures (not that they’d be developed until some time AFTER nationals, but still) But yeah, that’s my plan. Haven’t had time to really get in touch with Heather, but I assume she made it okay. I just don’t want to catch her at a bad time, and the fact that I can’t remember how to get to my voice mail while roaming so yeah... gotta find a good time for both of us which will be impossible but whatever! LOL

Anyway on to my novice feelings...

For me what made the event so cool was watching the mens and ladies. Yes, I understand what goes on there more than anything else, but it was just neat to see the young talent. I am on a time crunch here as Erin has plans for us for the evening, so I will update late tonight on all of it.

I met a really nice bunch of people today too... learned a lot about volunteering too. I doubt I'd ever be able to do it (how can they expect me not to gush!!!) so for now I'm stuck being like the ONLY person who doesn't have those cool little name tag thingies! LOL


and some of the skating parents are annoying! One lady was all ticked off that I brought my camera with me to the event! It takes too much time to check (not really as it took them less time to look through it than it did her purse) and it is distracting to skaters????? I don't have a flash on any of my cameras... so I am really confused on that. She even seemed ticked that people other than family of the skaters were allowed to watch the competition... I really wanted to chew her out, but then figured I'd just find a seat furthest from her. So I did. LOL

anywho gotta get ready to go, so I will edit this in a bit!!!

Ok so I am being a bum today. I was able to get on an earlier flight that was a direct one into portland... so I got in at 6am OR time, so I let Erin sleep for another hour before calling her... then I came to her house and we CRASHED! and I've been sleeping on and off all day

now I am bored so ( on to a pointless survey stolen from priestess_x )

PORTLAND BABY!!!!

So yeah Portland is great and all... but today sucked... well when we came back to the city anyway...

Kerry's here... and so traffic was crap... saw his limo though. That was a rush... tried to get my friend to drive up next to him (he cut us off and then proceeded to cut through 2 more lanes of traffic with no signal... YIKES!) but she wouldn't because she knew I wanted to scream something mean LOL

so then we passed where he had some sort of campaign thing and then took an hour to go two more blocks because of all the stupid traffic still backed up...

and then went to bed and woke up two hours later to his stupid fireworks... I HATE THIS... scared the crap out of me... I have a long day tomorrow getting home and all and the jerk is having a party... why couldn't he have had the show at 8 or 8:30 and not 10:30?????? uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


oh well... I was a good girl and didn't call the police about the disturbence(they were really pretty though so maybe that's the only thing that kept me from doing that)

I think I may email Mr. Kerry and tell him just what I thought. LOL

G.W. Bush: FOUR MORE YEARS!!




cross posted in probush.

Erin's mom left today...

anyway here's the highlights of the trip so far...

Boo for the Alcan having 2 radio stations a gay news program on 24 7 and one that played the same 3 songs all day long... GAG ME... but it was cool when the caribou attacked our uhaul! LOL I liked Teslin and Watson Lake... and Beaver Creek Lodge would have been better if we'd had a tv in the motel room. Camping wasn't so bad... but then we got the brilliant idea to try and run the border so we spent 48 hours in the uhaul... talk about long and uncomfy! But we survived and that was a really cute security guy.. he flirted with us for about 45 mins and then we headed towards Deer Lodge. Made it there by 3am and slept all morning! :) Then we were up and playing tourist for two days... it is so stinking hot down here. I miss Alaska!

Oh and when we hit the Alaska/Canada border the Canadian guard was so easy... she didnt ask for id or nothing... and THEY try to blame OUR security for not doing their jobs! LOL too funny... oh well

Deer Lodge was really cool even for a podunk little town. Erin's family is cool and there's a lot to see in that little town. We visted the Prison(first in the Montana Territory) and I got Duane something from there. Also went and visited a ranch and that was cool too. I even roped a bull (ok so it was wood and small but still! LOL) I also got to play tourist and took pictures and all that good stuff(bought tourist trap stuff!)

Then Erin and I set off towards Portland. That's when the fun began. We left on Thursday and slept at a Super 8 Motel in Spokane. Watched TV, ordered Pizza Hut and then fell asleep. Next morning we headed out into a Lightning Storm to get to Portland. After getting completely lost at the Washington border we finally made it to that area we were supposed to be in when Erin's car had a flashing light saying to charge the battery. We stopped at a gas station and they said that all we needed to do was wash the battery. Ha ha ha. About 5 minutes later we pulled off of the road into this parking lot and the car died. Come to find out the altinator was bad(they just put a new one in the dang car supposedly but that's Alaska car mechanics for ya :p) but that was sooooooooooo much fun. 4 hours later and two meetings missed we got the car to a mechanic and caught a cab to the apartment. It's really small but really cute now that we've got it all fixed up. :)

We've been to the Oregon zoo so far... an we were supposed to go to the Japanese Gardens today and the movies but on the way to get the high speed Internet Cable and her new Cell phone, Erin hit a guy on a bike. He sped into traffic and she couldn't stop in time. Police ruled it was the biker's fault not Erins but she's in no mood to go out today so we're hanging here today.

Tomorrow we will visit the Gardens and take in a movie and do some shopping... then Saturday afternoon we're headed for Seattle... *sigh*

It's gone by so fast.



Quikie stories

Erin breaking things
Night One in Canada = Broke bathroom door at motel
Night two in Canada = Erin broke Toilet Paper despensor in bathroom
Day one in Deer Lodge = Erin kncked glass shelf down, nothing broken, lots of noise
Night in Spokane = Erin broke the ice machiene. States that the ice wouldn't stop coming so she shoved a cup up into it *rolleyes*
Day one in Portland = Erin's car breaks down

ok so it's getting long. Those on my friend list will get my cell phone info (I get to have Erin's Alaska cell until May when they shut that one off unless I decide to keep it! :))

miss you all but will have pictures coming soon so :) until then!

Mom says: "Tell Heather she won."

I am going to the US Nationals as soon as I have the $$ to order my tickets

for the WHOLE WEEK! WOOT WOOT! I am sooooooooo excited... Erin doesn't even know yet! But everyone here does!

call me a procrastinator... but my best friend is trying to talk me into going to the US Nationals in 05... she'll be living there... and Dawn and Heather are going... so why don't I want to go? Mom, on the other hand, is trying to talk me out of it... but it would be a great photographic experience, plus I'd get to see my best friend and live with her for a while... and I'd get to meet some of my online gang...

so I need someone to talk me into it... I don't know if I'd have the time or $$... but I need to make a decision ASAP!

so, go ahead. I have a feeling I know a couple of people who will end up fighting for this wonderful cause... but who all will be heading to portland... ;) that's something that would be cool to know if I do go...

Erin and I had so much fun this weekend being bums, we should do that more often! I can't believe in a little over 3 months she's going to be gone! :( I'm gonna miss the bum! LOL

oh well 3 months, 3 weeks, 2 days... PORTLAND BABY!


in other not so cool news I think Joey is avoiding me online... and if he's reading this he should email me and tell me if I'm right or wrong about that feeling!

anywho I gotta get back to the huge report that I had three weeks to write and is due tomorrow morning! PROCRASTINATORS UNITE!

Dad is applying for a job at the VA hospital here in town! Which means more $$ and benefits!!!! and he'll have awesome hours... and he'll be doing what he wanted to do every since getting out of the service... taking people's blood! YEAY!

keep him in your prayers, he really wants/needs this job!

in other news
all of my favorites are really low in the worlds standings so far... makes me mad... very very bummingish.... oh well....

4 months, 6 days till..............PORTLAND, BABY!!!

Ok now we're leaving the 30th of July... and we're going to stop and drop stuff off in Montana before we go to our final destination...

Reading all of the journal entries on SOI is making want to go on an adventure with everyone even more!

Maybe once the portland plans are finalized I can figure out a way to hook up with some of you LOL Though the way Erin's mom drives... we may not see a lot of Canada! LOL

ZOOM!