Getting Ready to Test!

Monday is testing day.  On Monday I will have to test my juvenile moves in the field and my pre juvenile free skate.  I just got this beautiful new dress from China that is blue and has a whole bunch of sparkles all over it! This is the dress I will test in.  I am really excited and surprisingly not very nervous!  Usually I'm freaking out a couple weeks before the day of testing, but this time I feel confident and excited!  Today we will be skating at 10:50 to 12:20 so I actually have to get ready right now!  Sorry for the short post!  But I'll post on Monday telling you if I passed my tests or not!!

Thanks
Alyssa :)

Great Skate!

Yesterday I had one of the best skating days of my life!  I landed all of my doubles pretty cleanly and did some double-double combinations.  Today I finally landed a clean axel-double toe!  I was so excited!  I also landed for the first time my double flip-double toe!  And (one more thing) I landed my double salchow 10 times in a row without any problems!  I think I have found the key to success for all of the jumps I am finally landing!  I have noticed whenever I am in a bad mood and a bad attitude I don't end up landing the jumps very well.  When you are frustrated and angry it's very hard to focus on what really needs to be fixed for the jump and it's hard to concentrate.  But when you are in a good mood and have a good attitude your jumps are so much better! Now, I'm not saying that every time you're in a good mood you'll have great jumps, it just helps you mentally and it makes it easier for you to do them!  So from now on I will try to be in a good mood everyday and hopefully my jumps will keep getting better and better!

Thanks

Alyssa :)

  

Synchro Competition!

I am so excited right now!  In just about three more weeks, the synchro team that I'm on, Clarity, will be competing in Fraser, Michigan!  We will be having some tough competition, Michigan has some great, hardworking figure skaters! Our song selection has been picked out by our awesome coach Deb.  The song she picked out starts off with Don't Stop Believing (the Glee version) and then it switches to the song Any Way You Want It.  Our program so far isn't the best, we look a little sloppy and at some parts of the program we don't look like a synchronized skating team, but mostly we look pretty good, thankfully for the next three weeks we will be doing the practice over and over and over again until the routine is drilled in our heads and we can all do it in our sleep!   The thing that I look forward to every week would definitely be synchro!

Double combinations!

Just a couple days ago, I  started to work on some double jump combinations.  The main one I'm working on is double salchow-double toe loop-double loop.  This one is really hard because throughout the whole jump you have to have a lot of speed so you can land each and every jump nice and fast.  We skated this morning at 6:30 again, and I was working on my jumps most of the time, I did do some spin combinations as well though.  I tried a flying camel-back sit-back pancake spin.  OK that sounds really confusing but I don't want to confuse you with the meanings!!  Oh!  So remember when I said that me and my sister do synchronized skating?  Well we finally got out synchro dresses in the mail, and they are soooo pretty!  They are gold sparkly dresses with a black bow by the waist.  I can't wait to wear them for the ice show in January!!

Thanks
Alyssa :)

Early Birds

Today is Thursday, meaning we have a choice to get up and skate if we wan't to.  Last night my mom said didn't care if we went skating or not, she said it would be nice to get some rest but she'll definitely go if I wanted to! She said the decision was totally up to me.  So, last night, I set my alarm for 5:30 and forced myself out of my warm, comfortable bed.  Skating starts at 6:00 but it takes us all (Jessica, mom and me) about a half hour to get ready!  When we finally got to the rink, I started off by doing some spins. They were actually pretty centered today!:)  I also worked a lot on my doubles.  My double salchow and double toe loop are coming along really well, but my double loop (which I fell on really hard today) does need some major work.  And THEN, yes, I know there are a lot of doubles!  I also need to keep working on my double flip and double lutz!  OK, with that finally being said, yesterday, I saw one of my best friends from the ice rink, Jenna, for the first time in over a month!!  It was so fun to see everyone again and I really am glad that we are back! :)

Thanks
Alyssa :)

Saying Hello!

We just got back from our month long Seattle trip two days ago, and it's been so fun saying hello to everyone again!  One of my mom's friends from the ice rink (who's also a figure skating coach) screamed when we casually stepped out onto the ice like nothing was out of the ordinary. :)  . All of our skating friends looked over to see what the commotion was about, once they saw what was going on, they crowded around telling us how great it is to have us back again!  Yesterday I skated at the public skate, luckily there wasn't anyone else on the ice, so I got to do most of my doubles.  My double salchow is actually coming along really well!  My double salchow used to be really bad!  You know when you see a great figure skater do a jump?  And how they travel really far in distance when they're in the air?  Well when I used to do my double salchow I actually went backwards!  Yeah, I told you it was bad!  But now I'm finally moving forward across the ice, which I am really happy about! :D Oh! Almost forgot to tell you there is a Christmas ice show coming up at our rink but I don't know what day it'll be.  But don't worry when I find out I'll keep you posted!!  Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

Thanks
Alyssa :)

Vacation!

Hey everyone!  I'm really sorry I haven't blogged for a while, I've been on a month long trip to Seattle, Washington!  So we've mostly been exploring the city, and I haven't had a lot of time to figure skate!  But next week we will be back home and I'll finally be able to practice and actually blog again!  OK, sorry for the short post, just wanted to let you know that I'll be back in a week!! :D

Thanks
Alyssa :)

Regionals!!

Hey everyone today was Regionals and boy, did I have an awesome time!!  I skated this morning at 9:10 and my sister, Jessica skated at 5:30.  For my program I decided I would take out my double loop because I didn't feel comfortable doing it, so I added an axel-double-toe-loop (combination jump) instead.  I felt a whole lot better when we decided to put that one in.  But anyway, when we first got to Mentor (the place where Regionals was being held), I got really nervous.  All over the place I saw huge, glowing electrical signs saying "Regional Figure Skating Championships"  These four words almost gave me a heart attack.  Just seeing those words I couldn't actually snap into the moment and realize that I was actually going to be competing at the real Regionals!  So  we finally parked our car and walked into the big arena.  As I opened the door, I saw figure skaters all over, their dress's bedazzled jewels sparkling like crazy.  It was so crowded I could hardly get to the locker rooms where I needed to get my skates on.  Finally I could manage to squeeze through the packed crowd and get to where I needed to go.  As we got into the locker room, I tightly wound up my skates and put on my hard guards.  I don't want to explain the whole process because, this post is already starting to get too long.  So when it was my turn to go, after a successful warm up, I got onto the smooth, slippery ice and glided over to my spot.  Overall I think I did really well.  The only thing I realized was that I was going slower than normal, I sped up my jumps but I slowed down my overall skating, which is actually unusual because it's usually just the opposite.  So I ended up taking 6th out of 18 other girls.  My sister Jessica ended up taking 17th out of 18 :( but at least she's not upset about it, she is actually in a really good mood. :)  So, overall I think we all had an awesome time and I just wanted to say really quick that we will be moving to Seattle Washington tomorrow!  I'm going to end it at that! :)

Thanks
Alyssa :)

Results!

Sorry everyone that I haven't posted for a while I've just been so busy!  Anyway I told you about how our ice skating competition was on September 10, and I have to say it went pretty well!  There were five girls in my group including me.  When my group's warm up started and I got on the ice, I tried to do my double loop, but I just couldn't land it!  I was so upset.  So I think that really freaked me out because I was falling on a really important jump! It turned out when I was up to compete, I did end up falling on my double loop :(  mostly because, first I was already freaked out about not landing it in warm up and secondly because I was going super slow!  Like my dad says "Were you skating through molasses or what?"  Don't worry he's just like that, strict and honest.  Which is actually a really good thing.  See one of my biggest problems is that it is really hard for me to take criticism.  Here's and example.  When someone says "I think you could get a little higher on your jump"  I say "I thought it was pretty high though"  when I say this I know it's stupid, I can always get higher!  Duh!  So back to the competition I ended up taking third out of fifth.  So not bad but not exactly good either.  But I had a fun time and that's what really counts! :)

P.S.  Regionals is on September 29!  Time to practice, practice PRACTICE!!!  

Alyssa :)

New Dress!

Okay this is not good I'm seriously freaking out  about the competition!  It's already September!!  And my first competition of the season is on September 10! Arg!  But actually there have been a change of plans, we won't be going to Nashville Tennessee so we can practice at our rink for the competition.  I would really have enjoyed to go to Tennessee but in times of a competition where I have to do doubles in it, I think I'd rather just stay and practice at my rink.  Oh yeah, tomorrow we are going to my great grandpa's cottage to celebrate his 90 birthday!  I'm super excited!  And actually my grandma picked out a dress for me to wear for the competition so I'm also really excited about seeing what my new dress will look like!  I'm actually supposed to be packing right now so I'd better go! :)


Thanks
Alyssa :)

No Skating!

Ugh, this is the only problem about the weekend.  I can never, ever skate!  We always have something planned, which is good but I still want some time to skate in the day!  This whole weekend I've been doing my off ice jumps though.  Sorry this is a really short post, but not much to say today! :(

Thanks
Alyssa :)

Competition!

September 10 is drawing nearer by the second.  This is the day of my first skating competition of the year, and I will have to be doing my doubles in it!  I have to do my axel, axel toe-loop, double loop and double salchow!  (Sorry it takes way to long to explain about what all those jumps are!)  So I'm pretty nervous!  And the bad thing about it is, about two weeks before the competition we will be going up to my great grandpa's cottage to celebrate his birthday, and then that next week we will be going down to Tennessee for a business trip that my dad has, AND THEN, we get back home at probably 10:00 from after having stayed there for a whole week, and the next morning at like 8:00 a.m, I have my competition!  I know!  Way too crazy!  Oh, and did I forget to mention that I have to test my Juvenile moves on September 15?  This will be a crazy couple weeks!  Luckily my mom found an ice rink right in Tennessee near where were staying! :)

Thanks :)
Alyssa

Many Great Days!

Lately, I have been having tons of awesome skating days!  Today I landed my axel double toe loop (This is a combination jump.)  And I also landed my double lutz!!! :)  I also did my whole program with all of my doubles, I  landed every single one nicely throughout the whole thing! (And of course with the two laps at the end!)  Sorry that this is such a short post but I got to go eat lunch now!

You can check out some of my other blogs at http://lifeisgood-forever21.blogspot.com/
and http://teenreadingroom.blogspot.com/!


Thanks
Alyssa

Even Better

Today was even better than yesterday!  Today I did my 1 minute 39 second program with all my doubles in it, without falling or anything and, drum roll..............I landed my double flip!  This isn't where you literally flip in the air twice (you probably knew that) but it's were you hit your toe-pick and spin around two times!  I am so happy, once I get this consistent and well, also my double lutz consistent, which is really the same thing except you're taking off backwards and on an outside edge, I can go to qualifying regionals!!  I am so excited and happy!  Earlier before I had landed my double flip today, I spotted my sister trying to do her double flip and she was actually really close, and I'll be honest with you I did get a little jealous.  So I started working on mine and walaa!  I landed it!  And so did Jessica!  Now their's nothing to be jealous about!  Yay!

Thanks
Alyssa :)

Finally!

Today was a great day!!  I finally have landed all of my double jumps in my program!  I usually get so tired by the time I have to do my first double jump that I either fall on the jump or I start to jump and then I just pull out of it before I even go all the way around.  Today was completely different, I landed all of my jumps nicely without falling or pulling out of it!  I think I wasn't as tired because first every night I do about a half hour to an hour of off ice jumps and then every time I finish my program on ice my coach (my mom) tells me to take two laps.  At first I thought this was stupid, but now I know that this is definitely helping my cardiovascular system and making it easier for me to do my whole program without stopping!  If I go to the Olympics one day and can't even skate to a program that is 1 minute and 39 seconds, I definitely won't be able to do a 3 minute program!  I'm glad I'm taking her advice now!  :)

Thanks
Alyssa

Not The Best Day

Today wasn't the best skating day I've had.  Today we went to another public skate.  We usually don't skate at public skates, mostly just at freestyles.  So when I do go onto public skate ice I get so annoyed!  The ice looks bad, and just down right feels bad.  When I first get onto the public skate ice I don't feel like I'm happily gliding over it, I feel like I'm a big monster that can't even stand up on the scratchy, beat up ice.  I was working on my doubles today and I just kept falling!  Now I know I can't blame my falls on the ice, most of it was just me, but I was so frustrated because only my last couple double jumps were pretty good.  One and a half hours of working and only pretty good?  I don't know today just wasn't the best day I've had. :(  So we went home and I enjoyed playing Sorry with my little brother Ryan, and that made me feel a whole lot better  :D

Thanks
Alyssa :)

Weekend

On the weekends I will most likely be posting very short posts or no posts at all unless something really great is going on!  Today we went to the public skate and my dad came and watched.  Every once in a while he decides to come and see us skate and gives us tips on how to do things better.  My dad is not, not, NOT a figure skating coach, he is a total hockey guy, but for some reason he knows a lot of good stuff about figure skating.  Today he said "Wow you have improved a lot since last time" but probably because last time he came it was around November or something! :)

Thanks
Alyssa :)

Last Day of Camp!

Today was my last day of synchronized skating camp ;( so sad!  I've had so much fun!  Today we decided to choose which kids from the little Discovery team could move up to our team Clarity.  In the end we decided that since we knew all of the kids wanted so badly to be on Clarity, we all agreed that we would call the little team Clarity as well, I didn't know if they would be OK with this but  they ended up happy by this decision and so did our team, Clarity.  Some of the kids just weren't physically or mentally ready to move up to our team.  It would be way to hectic!  Oh!  I have to tell you guys something really exciting, this year our synchro team will be competing twice, and in many different exhibitions.  Every year we skate for the intermission of some hockey game, it's so much fun!  And also this year we will be competing in Michigan! January 14-15 if I'm correct!  I'M SO EXCITED!! :)  OK this is totally off topic but who says I have to write everything about skating all the time?  Skating isn't the only thing I do in my entire life (OK well practically) but I also love to bake!  I made these really good lemon, blueberry cupcakes!  They are so good, and I made so many!  Yay we'll have them for a while!!  Unless we all scarf them down!  Which we probably will anyway :)

Thanks
Alyssa :)

She Passed!

Well, I have some exciting news!  Like I said yesterday, one of my friends had her test today.  She was taking her Pre-juvenile moves.  OK so not to confuse you, here are all of the moves in order:  Pre-preliminary, Preliminary, Pre-juvenile, Juvenile, (I'm on Juvenile moves) Intermediate, Novice, Junior and Senior!  There, that should clear up some things for you! (I hope.)  Anyway she took her Pre-juvenile moves and she PASSED!  So now she is moving up to my moves, Juvenile!  I am so glad she passed, she's been trying so hard!  My mom, (my coach) was thinking I might be able to test today, but we decided I wasn't quite ready. So instead I went to see my friend test, and I gladly cheered her on! :)

 Feel free to share some of your exciting news with me!

Thanks
Alyssa :)

First Day

SYNCHRO:

So, today is my first real post about me ice skating!  This morning at about 9:00 we arrived at our rink.  We were actually about ten minutes late but whatever.  Anyway always at 9:00 for this week, we have an hour of synchronized skating practice.  In this practice session we do a whole variety of skating moves including the Ina Bauer, spread eagle, hydroplanes, choctaws, things like that.  And even if you're not a figure skating expert it's OK that you don't know about every single move that I'm doing.  Remember you can always comment or ask questions :)  I'll be glad to answer em'!  But back to this morning, part of the reason we're doing these synchro practice sessions is to see which people from the littler synchro team called Discovery, can move up to our team, Clarity.  Many kids want to move up but they have to meet the certain requirements.  Including the Ina Bauer spread eagle... you get the picture.  Oh, and by the way they also have to pass their first skating test called pre-preliminary, (which is basically just stroking and three turns if you're wondering) but they have to do all of these things to be able to move up and be with the team Clarity. Alright enough about synchro, I hope I'm not boring you.  OK some important things: this year (September 10) I will be competing at the Preliminary level.  This includes at least two different types of... hold my breath... DOUBLE JUMPS, and two spins maximum, with a whole bunch of other requirements that I'm not going to go into.  See the thing is I can land my double jumps fine it's mostly just my nerves.  And , to be honest maybe I can't land then fine all the time. :) The music I'm going to skate to this year is the theme song from Kung Fu Panda called "Hero." Go ahead, search it up it's cool!  Oh and one more thing before I go eat some lunch, one of my friends is testing tomorrow, she's taken this test a few times and I'm hoping and praying that she will do well!  She's taken it already and hasn't passed ;(  I hope she'll pass this time!  Wish her good luck!

P.S.  You may have noticed how many smileys I use in my posts.  This is really, REALLY, random but just for fun, what's your favorite smiley? Please put your answer in the comment box!

P.P.S. The  synchronized skating girls in the picture above are all doing Ina Bauers.  Just so you can get an idea of what I'm doing! ;)

Thanks
Alyssa :)

First Post!

This is my first post on My Friend the Ice.  In this blog I will try to post every day about myself ice skating.  This blog will include my upcoming competitions, ice shows, tests, my synchro team called Clarity, and much more!  I will also post some real pictures or videos of me ice skating on special occasions. ;)

Remember feel free to comment any time you want, I will try to answer any comments or questions that you'll have.  I will start my first post about me actually ice skating tomorrow hope you enjoy!

Thanks
Alyssa