Thanks for so much support.
Hey guess what! I won 4 tickets to the Harry Potter premiere this Sunday Nov. 10th. I'm so excited! I can hardly wait. I love Harry Potter
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We began our journey in the Spunky Mobile, just me, my mom and Spunky
. I took my school books, skates and warm clothes because my mom said the midwest can surprise us in October with winter weather
. I was excited because I haven't seen snow since I was about 4 years old and I can't remember what the changing leaves of fall look like since we only have palm trees and desert plants. It only took us two days to get to Lincoln, Nebraska. We stayed the first night at a camp in Tucumcari, New Mexico. When we parked a cat came up to us....came right into our RV and made himself at home. When he was through visiting us he just took off. He was so cute and it was funny....he was our welcoming committee. Anyway, the trip was long but the excitement inside of me kept me going. I couldn't wait to get out of the desolate and barren lands of Arizona, New Mexico, and even Texas. When the rolling hills of Kansas and Nebraska showed its face, with the beautiful green grasses, the farms with cows, cornfields and country homes, and the cool windy air, I was so happy. I really miss the midwest. I guess I'm a country girl at heart.
I was so glad to see my great Aunt Ann and great Aunt Kay. I love spending time with them. My mom and I want to help them get out of their home that is about to crumble and move them into a nice apartment or home. My aunt Kay is 83 years old and my Aunt Ann, who is almost 80, takes care of her because she needs lots of help. I would help her out to the car with her walker when we went places and I'd get her things like snacks, meals and drinks. She loves coffee
. She doesn't hear very well and can't remember us sometimes but she is always smiling and has the most beautiful white hair. She always looks pretty. So does my Aunt Ann, who has dedicated her life to taking care of my Aunt Kay. My mom and I helped clean up their old house a little. The garage was falling over so we stayed around to see someone tear it down. I wish we could see this house fixed up, like one of those on that TV show "This Old House". It sits in the University Place Historic district of Lincoln, Nebraska and is over 100 years old! But, I think it would cost too much to fix it up. My Aunt Ann is sad because she has many memories in that old house and she doesn't want to leave it. It's hard for her to accept that it's too dangerous to live in. My mom and I took her over to some senior apartments, where my 93 year old grandma Gladys lives. Gladys is so alive and full of energy. She doesn't even take medication. She loves Nebraska football, like me, does exercise class three times a week and plays cards with her friends. She showed off her cute apartment to us and my Aunt Ann really liked it. It's in the same neighborhood and if she moved there she could look out her window and see the houses where she grew up as a child. She wouldn't have to worry about yard work or termite damage or plumbing problems. It would be a safe place. But, we can't force them. We just wanted to show her what she could do and tell her we would help her when she was ready. My aunts never had children and both of them lost their husbands a long time ago, before I was born. I guess my mom and I are like their kids. Anyway, while we were in Lincoln I kept skating
. I tried skating in Lincoln but they don't have too much. So, my mom would drive me to Omaha, which is about 50 miles away. My grandpa Tom lives there too. I skated at a rink called the Moylan Tranquility Iceplex. It is awesome! They have two rinks and freestyles all day long. I had some lessons with a coach who has an 8 year old girl who went to regionals this year and also an intermediate boy who is going to nationals. I also took a stroking class that was really good. They start teaching the basic skills kids edge moves I've never even tried from the very beginning and that's why their kids move up so fast. It was so exciting to be around such good kids. My mom said we could go there this summer for awhile. My aunts may be ready to move by then. My mom wants to help them in their old age and then I could skate too. I love my home here in Arizona and my coach Tammy but there is just such a good opportunity there in skating. If I could have my every wish though, I would live in Lake Arrowhead and skate. Well, I worked on basic stroking, footwork and getting my jumps bigger. The coach was funny, too, with his accent. Once when I did my back scratch spin he let out a huge sigh and said, "Ohhhhhhhh....we need some work on this."
You just had to be there. It made me crack up. He would get right in my face and look me straight in the eye with those huge eyeballs
, point his finger and tell me what to do, making sure I understood. But he wasn't mean, just strict. He just had this way about him that would get my attention. My granpa Tom would come and watch me skate, too and many times would stand on the sidelines and coach me in some power skating. We had fun! He would always give me a tough workout. He used to be a great men's gymnastics coach so he knows his stuff when it comes to strength and power and even height in jumps and stuff. He just has a coach's heart. Sometimes it gets a little much for me, though. Sometimes I just want to yell, "Hey, I'm just a kid!" But I love him and respect what he knows. He is a good grandpa and we went to his house in Omaha, where we also played catch football and I did some gymnastics and ran sprints. He thinks I'm a natural at running and that I should be on the track team. But, right now skating is my love. Maybe someday I'll want to do that but not right now. I can't help it that I love skating so much. Nebraska football is also one of my loves and my grandpa gave my mom and me 2 tickets to the Nebraska football game against Missouri. He bought another ticket for himself on the 50 yard line. I have never gone to a Husker game before and you really can't understand the excitement of Nebraska football unless you go to one of their games. Nebraska football is everything to the people there. I mean you can't believe how many people go to the games. Every store you walk into is filled with Nebraska football stuff and everyone all over the state is dressed in their gear. I have never seen so much red in my life as when I went to the game. It was cold that day but that didn't stop anyone! The stadium and university is in downtown Lincoln and there were tailgate parties everywhere down there. The noise at the game was unbelievably loud. One of the things I wanted to see was the tunnel walk the players take just before the game. The excitement just builds as the tunnel song starts. The crowd is screaming, the band is playing and the football players are hyped and jumping up and down before coming out! They remind me of my 23 year old brother, JJ, who is a football player, too. He gets just like them. Anyway, the whole experience brings chills. Sometime during the game I asked my mom when everyone sits down and she told me that it's a rare thing to sit during a Husker game. The fans are too into the game. This is a bad year for Nebraska football and the fans are not liking the head coach. They would yell things like, "Can you hear me Frank? Can you hear me?"...just like on that TV commercial for the cell phones. I think I was good luck for the team though because they won the game. It was so much fun! After the game most of the players knelt at the center of the field to pray. I really liked seeing that. The Nebraska football team has a huge FCA group, which is the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I have a dream of doing a commercial for the Nebraska football team where I'm dressed in a red and white skating dress and skate to the tunnel song with flashes of the team, fans and band, etc. in the background. Another cool thing at the game was this guy who did the baton and gymnastics. He was really good. I have never seen a guy do that before. While we were in Nebraska it snowed! In fact, it snowed so much we couldn't drive home. We were basically stuck in Nebraska. But I'm glåd it snowed because I really wanted to see it. My mom and I made a snowman and we took pictures. I'll put them on the website as soon as we get our computer fixed. I met a couple neighbor kids my age. One is a girl whose name is Jennifer and the other is Carl, a boy who is built the way all the Nebraska home grown football players are built. He is a center on a team there. Carl and I had a snowball fight. We also played football one on one and I beat him by 2 touchdowns! Ha! He kind of got me back in the snowball fight though. It was hard to leave Nebraska because my aunts didn't want us to go. But I have a competition coming up November 16th and I needed to get home to get practicing for it and to also get back on schedule with school and church. I loved everything in Nebraska but I also love my own bed. The trip back was hard because of the weather. We made it to Colorado Springs the first day. We stayed in a hotel instead of a camp. The next morning I skated at the World Arena. It was great! It is so pretty there with the beautiful snow capped mountains in the background. After skating we drove to Santa's village. I just had to tell Santa what I want for for Christmas this year, which is a Rapunzel doll and anything skating, including a sparkly black skating dress. I rode on some of the rides and fed some deer. I love mountains, which is why Lake Arrowhead is my favorite place in all the world. When we left Santa's village we started our journey back home again. About an hour away it started pouring down rain. The rest of the day was spent battling rain, wind, fog, hail and tornadoes. My mom couldn't see to drive at night with all the weather so we stopped at a camp in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was beautiful out by morning and we could then see that the camp was gorgeous. When we stopped at the camp the rain was pouring and it had begun to hail. It was so loud in the RV that we had to plug our ears. It was lightning, too, so I was kind of scared. After the storm passed we turned on the TV to the weather and found out tornadoes had touched in the area! Wow! God really protected us. The next day we drove to Las Cruces, NM and stayed at my uncle's house. I have not seen my uncle since I was 2 years old and I have never met his wife, Livia or their cute 18 month old baby boy Tom. He is so cute and is really smart. He can hold a big glass in ONE hand and drink. I loved playing with him. Aunt Livia is from Hungary and is pretty and very nice. They have a beautiful new house. The next day we drove home and it was good to finally make it back. When we got to Tucson I could barely stand it! I wanted to get home. The next day I skated at Oceanside and started getting my old routine back. Tammy and I have almost finished my artistic program. It will be done this week and then I only have two weeks to practice before the competition. I don't have a technical program yet, but I'm trying out a compulsory.
So, tell me....was that an adventure or what? Now, please pray for us because my mom is still looking for work and we need a small car. Plus, money is really short and so I can't skate much. I have alot of goals and I'd really like to make regionals this next year. All of our pennies and dimes go to rent and utilities and there is barely enough for food, let alone skating. But that is my love. My mom said someday I can write a book about it all. Hard times are good for us to help us grow and work hard and appreciate things. But just once I wish we didn't have to worry about bills. Well, just wanted to update you all on what is happening.....I'll be adding pics soon. Send me a line and tell me what's going on with you....
I was so happy. While I was skating I felt so good I didn't want the program to ever end. I just loved competing this weekend! I can't tell you how great it felt on the ice....it was just awesome! Now I can hardly wait to get back on the ice at practice and start moving forward again. 
