October 31, 2005:
Happy Halloween to everyone! Today was a great day! First of all, I got to work on the triple salchow again and that is so fun! I love it! I had a pretty good one and then I had a hard fall. But, it is so cool to do them and it makes the doubles so easy. I can't believe it! It was awesome!
Tonight was alot of fun! My mom had candy to pass out to the kids, put on Halloween music and lit our fake pumpkin. We have some cute Halloween decorations. Anyway, I took Cheyanne trick or treating around the complex and then my mom, Cheyanne, our neighbor Kim, her son Jeff, her brother and niece, plus my friend and neighbor Jamie and her baby Emma went to Jamie's dad's house to treat or treat. We walked the neighborhood getting candy. After that, Cheyanne, me and my mom went over to David Leatherwood's house. We met up with his sisters Laura and Jennifer and went trick or treating around their neighborhood while my mom and Teri, David's mom, sat in the car following us and talking. It was so much fun and when I got home I was exhausted! I have so much candy that I'm going to have to give some away. It's too much! UGH! I like candy but it gets sickening. So, I'm just going to share it here and there.
Ok, it's the end of the month. Tomorrow is the first of November already. Holidays are close and it's so exciting. I lo 
ve this time of year!
Sarah Kidd
P.S. Check out my up and comer skater site at http://groups.msn.com/upandcomerskatersofamerica
October 27, 2005:
Today I had a great practice and lesson. I had a nice surprise in that I got to try the triple salchow. It was so much fun! I can't even describe how fun it was. I love working on double axel and triple salchow. And actually, triple salchow seems like it is easier than the double axel. I love it! We had conditioning tonight and it felt like I hadn't been there in so long. We don't do conditioning a couple weeks before competition because we need all of our work on the ice and not be tired out. I bet I'm sore tomorrow. But, I love working out and I don't mind being sore.
Sarah Kidd 
October 26, 2005:
SW Regionals was awesome! We drove down to Dallas and it really wasn't that long of a drive. It went by quickly. We were tired though and were ready to get to bed right away and get ready for the competition. The next day we checked out the Dr. Pepper Stars center where the competition was being held and got practice ice set up. I had a great practice! Then my mom and I went shopping at the Stonebriar Mall across the street. It was so much fun! There are alot of stores I have not been to since living in Arizona so it was great! There is a rink in the mall too that is really nice. We picked up lunch at the mall and sat and watched the skaters. My knee was really bothering me so my mom got me set up with the PT that was at the competition. Her name is Catherine Ondrusek and she is the trainer for Katy Taylor as well as for the Texas Gulf Coast Figure Skating Club. She is absolutely amazing! I learned alot from her. She taught me things like how I was not stretching correctly and that I need to really have a good flexibility program. I went to her several times during the competition and my knee was actually doing so much better. She put heat on my quads as well as hamstrings. She also did two different stimulating things...I don't know what you call it but it was some sort of electrical stimulation. Then she did a massage of my quad, hamstring and calf muscles and actually did what she called a hamstring release, which really hurt alot but helped so much. She did some stretching of my hamstring and then she did a cold treatment where she wrapped my leg and had air pumped into this wrap that was freezing cold. When the air was pumped into the wrap it tightened up and compressed my knee. It was so cold I could hardly stand it. It was kept on my leg for a long time. My leg was so numb when it came off and red. I have also been taking ibuprophen to reduce inflammation. Anyway, her treatment helped me so much and I made it to finals and then placed 9th out of 18 in the final group. I was so happy with my skate! I really had a lot of fun!
I was really happy to see my friend from Colorado, Susanna. We were able to hang out at the rink and watch lots of skating. Susanna had a tough skate and her knee was really bothering her too. This was her first regionals and I hope she had fun. It's a really tough atmosphere but also fun.
I was a little disappointed in the judging of the higher levels but the skating was amazing and so I had alot of fun watching it.
I started working on my double axel yesterday. I love it! I was hoping to start working on it and sure enough, I did. It is cheated right now but it's getting there. I just love working on it!
After regionals was over my mom and I went to Six Flags! It had gotten cold and rainy but we went anyway. I actually got my mom on the roller coasters that went upside down and around. One thing good about it being kind of cold is there weren't the long lines to the rides, so we got right on. Yea!
The next day we went to WOGA (World Olympic Gymnastics Academy) which is where Nastia Liukin (US National Gymnastics Champion) trains and also Carly Patterson (Olympic Gold Medalist). The gym is huge and amazing! Even though it was mid day during the week there were high level gymnasts training. They go to a school for athletes. It's really cool. I got a WOGA T-shirt that says on the back, "Train hard or go home" . After checking out the gymnastics academy we started our drive home. It was longer trip and we didn't get home until after midnight.
Regionals was a great experience that I will never forget. I am motivated more than ever to work hard and keep improving, ready to work my way up the ladder. I got my new short program dress today. It is the rough draft actually and I can see it is going to be beautiful! I love it!
Gotta go for now but will write again soon.
Love,
Sarah Kidd
October 15, 2005:
Only a day and a half before we leave for regionals. I'm so ready to go. My knee still hurts after I skate but I am not worried about not being able to do my program. I just want to get there and see all the awesome skaters and also skate my program. I love competing. Today I had a lesson with my ballet instructor, Avi. He worked with me on my program, especially working on my extension and movement quality. He wants me to really think about giving value to everything I do and to always think about touching the boards, which means giving extension to everything. It's always an ongoing process with me.
October 10, 2005: 
Next week I leave for Dallas for the 2006 SW Regional competition. I'm so excited! This past week was the SW Pacific regionals and I was so happy to hear that Katlynn McNab won Juvenile ladies. It is just so exciting and I'm so pulling for her at JR Nationals. I know she can win it! In the mean time I need to get ready for my own regionals. Today I had another appointment with the physical therapist and it went really well. My knee is feeling better since having that shot of cortisone last week. I am not suppose to practice too much and I get mad about that because there is alot of work I have to do yet. I want to stay conditioned and keep up my skills. My mom is worried about us going because we are short on money so I'm praying really hard all our needs are met. It's a big trip. I can't wait!
I was really depressed on Saturday because my Husker football team lost to Texas Tech. They SO deserved to win. I mean they were down 21-0 in the first half and came back to take the lead. The crowd was so loud. Misha came over to watch the game with us because his sister Nina had a fever and his dad could not take him anywhere. We were screaming and yelling at the TV through the entire game. It was so exciting. It went down to the last second. The crowd was the noisiest I have ever heard a crowd and when Texas got that last touchdown that gave them the win the crowd was instantly silent. So were we. I think we were all in shock. It was so sad. The Husker guys were crying. They had worked so hard and put everything into this game....5 of our guys got hurt. What a game! I was proud of our guys. They are getting alot better with this new coach and new system. It won't be long and the Huskers will be a powerhouse again. I have faith in them. Anyway, when we took Misha home he had his head down and was so sad. He walked in the house and said, "Pop, I have sad news. The Huskers lost." His took Misha in the house and said, "I know, son." He said it in a way that was so funny. I mean that family cracks me up. But, I am sad about the game. Those guys worked so hard to come from behind and were ahead....4 unanswered touchdowns to get ahead! And for what? Nothing...they lost. But, they gained alot at that game...especially the respect of the fans. They gave them a show and a game and they had heart. Awesome!
Gotta go do schoolwork.
Sarah Kidd 
October 4th,
Only two weeks until Reagionals. I can't wait. I have been counting the days down until then. I know that it is going to be alot of FUN!
We hope to be able to go to Six flags when we are there. If we do I am going to go on all of the huge rides. I am a trill seeker. I think I must like rides because of all of the spinning I do already in the air.
I know it was a short entry but I have alot of school I have to do. I will write again soon.
Sarah Kidd
P.S. Check out and join my new site of up and comer skaters at: http://groups.msn.com/upandcomerskatersofamerica.
