April 21, 2008

Hi Everyone!

Chris and I have been very busy these past couple of weeks. First, we had the USFS Pair Camp and it was great! We really learned so much! We really appreciated all the great coaches, callers, and technical experts who came in to help all the teams. We had on ice instruction and off ice training. We were really excited about doing our quad twist for everyone! We learned so much and know this experience will help our skating.

Last week we also got to perform in the Blades For The Cure Show. It was very fun! We did our new show program to the music "These Boots were made for Walkin" We did a good job and so did everyone else! We have another show this week. It is the Showtime on Ice Show at my home rink. We have a solo and a big pair number. Also in the first half Chris and I have roles by ourselves. Chris is the Tin Man and I am the Sunflower.

I have a lot of homework to do, so buy for now!

Brynn

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March 25, 2008

Hi Everyone!

Thank you for visiting our website! We are always so appreciative of our fans. Chris and I have been working hard on some new elements. Our throw triple loop is coming. I need to get a stronger check and punch back and then we will have it. It is so much fun to do. We are also working on our side-by-side triple Sals. I like the triple Sal right now better than the double axel so we will see how it comes along in training.

We have also come up with a couple new lifts that are really cool! On one of them Chris goes down into a lunge and then back up again, but Dalilah doesn't think it is legal so I don't think we can use it for competitioin, but we may put it in our show program. The other lift is a up-side-down carry lift which is super cool! I think we will use it in our long. In our short we have a one handed star lift with is fun as well. We are also working to improve our spins both in level and quality. Spins are hard for us because of our size differece right now.

What we are really excited about is our new quad twist! I fly in the air which is really fun and exciting. I completely trust Chris so I push off super strong and he throws me high in the air and I rotate tight and fast and wow, its a quad! Dalilah knew we could do it. So one day last week we did about 10 of them and they were all really good. One time I hit my face on his head and my braces cut my lip up, but nothing too bad. Actually my swollen lip is a badge of honor! Here is a video of a couple clean ones:

We really enjoy doing them. We would like to do it at Broadmoor Open and maybe be the first US team to complete one at a USFS sanctioned event. We also realize that as I grow we may not be able to do them, so we will do it as long as it is safe and not hurting our bodies. Right now I am 5 feet tall and weigh 73 pounds so it works.

Some people think I am too small for such a big and strong boy, but what they don't understand is that I am still growing and am going to be tall. When I wanted to start pairs, Dalilah said I needed a tall strong boy that I could grow into over the years. She is so smart. She knew that my father was 6'3" and that I was going to grow. My pediatrician thinks I am going to be around 5'5". I have small bones and narrow hips so I should stay thin and light, but I will be long, tall and very leggy. Therefore, Chris is the perfect boy because he is tall and thin and we have great line together.

Like I have said before, Chris and I have paired up for the long run so the size difference right now will go away as I grow and mature. If you look at G and G at Jr. worlds she was tiny and he was huge. She grew into him beautifully and thats what me and Chris intend to do. Does our size difference help us right now with lifts, throws and twists? Yes! of course it does! But let me tell you, it makes pair spins, side-by-side spins and spirals much harder. So it all evens out in the end.

By the way, my Dad loves that I skate with a big strong boy because I am safe with him. We want to keep my Dad happy because remember, he pays all the bills!!! People should never guestion Dalilah because she knows what she is doing!!

Brynn

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February 28, 2008

Hi Everyone!

Hope all is well with you! Chris and I are doing fine. We took a week off after nationals and that was very relaxing. Now we are playing around with some new lifts and spins. We are also working on throw triples which is so fun! I almost hit a throw triple saw last week which was really exciting. We are also starting our new show program which is going to be to the music: "These Boots Were Made For Walkin". It is going to be very fun and cute.

In my last journal entry about Nationals, I forgot to talk about the Skating Spectacular which was on the last day. The first place winners of Novice and Jr. get to skate in it along with the top 4 from Senior. I was so excited to be able to skate again! We finished competing on Monday and got Tuesday off to rest. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we skated one hour on each of those days to get our program ready for the exhibition. The St. Paul Figure Skating Club gave us this ice at a nearby local rink so we are grateful to them. Dalilah had our cowboy music cut a bit differently before nationals just in case. She had the slow section taken out so the music is really fast and fun and is only about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. We worked our program out so that it was almost like the original, but a bit more fun. We even got to open up with our triple twist! I love that element!! It is so much fun to fly in the air!! We also did two lifts, death spiral, throw saw, pair spin, and side-by-side flips which we hit together with no problems! Yes!! Finally!! Our program was really good. We were really proud of it!! The audience liked it too!

In my last entry I also forgot to thank all our coaches which help us so much. We would not be very good if it weren't for them. I want to thank Dalilah so much for believing in us and pushing us hard everyday to be the best that we can be. I want to thank LeiIna for helping us learn to perform our hearts out and reach the audience. I want to thank Christy Krall and Eddie Shipstad for helping me with my jumps. I want to thank Becky Bradley for helping us with our pair spins and side-by-side spins. I want to thank Becky Calvin for helping me with my edges, speed and power. I wouldn't be the skater I am today without these amazing coaches.

I also want to thank all the people who work with us off the ice. Thank you Lisa, Natalya, Heather and Suzanne. We would not be as strong or flexible if it weren't for you guys. I also want to thank Dr. Davis for making my head strong. Because of her, I believe!!! Just one more - thank you Peggy and Julie for great outfits!! I know there are so many others, so thank you to everyone for helping us and standing by us!!

Have a Great Day!

Bye for now!

Brynn

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February 15, 2008

Hi Everyone!!

Thank you for visiting our Web site! We appreciate our fans so much!! Thank you for all your support during nationals. And thank you for all your kind e-mails and phone calls congratulating us!!

We had such a fun and exciting time at Nationals! We are so honored to be Novice National Champions this year. Our short program was a bit off to say the least, but we never gave up. The first 4 elements were beautiful, strong and fast. We had a timing issue on the throw which put me off balance and I stepped out of it and unfortunately I didn't recover quick enough for the side by side loops and thus fell on mine. I was so mad at myself, because I can do that jump in my sleep. After my mistake on the loop I wanted to end really strong with the footwork, but got way ahead of myself and popped off an edge and fell again in the footwork! How stupid!! I was really upset with myself. When the program was over, Chris could tell I was really upset. He put his arm around me to give me support. As we were waiting for our marks, Dalilah said she was happy that we stayed strong and I fought hard not to cry. When the marks came up they weren't too bad. We can do much better, but at least we still had a chance.

I went back to the hotel to rest and eat before our official long practice. My mom was so supportive. She said that one bad skate does not define a skater and that what would define this nationals for me would be how I rebounded and skated the long. She said that I was prepared and ready and could do anything I set my mind to doing. She said that Chris and I were a charming team with a huge future and this was just one more stepping stone. "Look forward Brynn, never back" was the last thing she said to be as I left the room to go to our official long practice.

Chris and I were smokin' hot on this practice. I was mad and wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. After practice, we went back to the hotel. Chris and I ate dinner, watched a movie and went to bed early. Monday morning we were up early and on the ice for our warm-up. Everything felt good. It is so nice skating with Chris because we just get along so well. We support each other so much by just the way we look at each other. I knew it would be a different day today!!

When Chris and I took the ice for our long program it was magical. I felt calm, focused and ready. The crowd was so loud and I loved it. We skated a great long. I was so happy! Chris was mad at himself because he had struggled a little on his jumps, but overall the program was fast, fun and exciting. We won and we were thrilled. It had been a long year with huge expectations put on us, but we got it done. Maybe not perfectly, but good enough under so much pressure to win.

The reason Chris and I make such a good team is that we do not place blame on each other. Some days I have mistakes, some days he has mistakes, but it doesn't matter because we are in this for the long haul. When we paired up it wasn't for a year or too or until someone messed up and then we would find a different partner. We are here to stay, thru thick and thin. This is what makes a good team, staying together and believing in each other. I believe in Chris! He is my partner and I trust him completely!! We are moving to junior and I can't wait!!

Have a great day!!

Brynn

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January 5, 2008

Hi Everyone!

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving, Christmas and Happy New Year!! I know I haven't written in a long time. After Mids I got home to lots of holiday activities and of course homework. I finished my first trimester in school and got all A's. I was so excited because I was put on the Honor Roll.

Also, I celebrated by 13th birthday. I had a big dinner with all the pair teams at Buca de Peppo in Colorado Springs. We had a great time and I got a lot of cool gifts. All the pairs skaters with their families came so there was at least 40 people there. Dalilah got in a food fight with John Coughlin and we all laughed!

After my birthday it was time for Thanksgiving and we had family come in to see us. Then it was my sister's birthday and then Christmas.

We have not stopped for a moment and on top of all the holiday stuff, Chris and I have been training super hard. We have been skating six days per week for three sessions per day!! We want to be really ready and prepared for Nationals.

I forgot to tell you about Mids. We had a great time and skated really well. We had one mistake in the short and one mistake in the long. Actually, I am just glad we got through the long because the day before, after the short, I ate at the rink concession stand and got food poisoning or at least we think that is what happened. I was really sick to my stomach and threw up at least 10 times. By the evening I had stopped getting sick and finally fell asleep.

The next morning I woke up feeling fine, just very weak. I wouldn't eat anything so Chris went to the grocery store and got me pediasure chocolate drinks. I drank two of them and was good to go for the long. I am glad I have a big, strong partner, because by the end of the program I had nothing left. The last lift was all him. I just tried to stay really still so he could hold me. After our lift comes the flips and finally the pair spin. I popped the flip and almost fell over in the pair spin. I don't think anyone noticed the spin problem, because Chris just grabbed me and held me up. He totally did the spin for me. Thank goodness he is so strong. When we ended I was so excited because we really put out a team effort.

We are both so excited about going back to Nationals. We hope to improve on our 4th place finish of last year. As always, thank you for visiting our web site. Happy New Year to everyone! I will write after nationals.

Love,

Brynn

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November 6, 2007

Hi Everyone!!

We are so excited about the Midwestern Sectional Championships next week! We have been training super hard with double run-throughs everyday. We can't wait to see all our pair friends that we have not seen since Indy. We are so excited about going to Michigan. There are 12 teams in Novice Pairs which is really cool. We compete on Thursday and Friday. Saturday we can watch and have fun.

We are flying out on Tuesday morning and Andrew Speroff and his new partner Britany Chase are on the same plane with us! Britany is really fun, so I am glad we are going together!

Since the last time I wrote we did a local competition in September and skated both our short and long programs very well. We also went with our coach, Dalilah Sappenfield, to regionals in Dallas to continue to train with her. She had four single skaters who were competing there so we went to just train. We were her only pair team so we got worked really hard, but it was worth it!!

Darlene and Peter Cain got us great ice at their rink called the Euless Dr. Pepper Center. We really had a fun time training hard and of course watching our friends compete in singles.

I will be sure to write after Midwesterns.

Bye for now and thanks for visiting our site!

Brynn

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August 27, 2007

Hi Guys!!

Wow! Our trip to Toronto, Canada was fantastic. We went to the Thornhill Summer Skate competition as part of the USFSA's new Developmental International series. It was so cool!! Our team leaders were Larisa and Craig Joeright and they used to be competitive pair skaters so it was so much fun to have them there.

Also, my roommate was Gretchen Dolan, last year's Intermediate National Champion! She was super nice and a fabulous skater. We hung out a lot and stayed up late at night watching movies. (After we were done competing of course.) We also met other great skaters on Team USA. I have so many new friends. On Sunday, when everyone was done, we went into the city and saw the CN tower and the city harbor. It was a very fun day.

Everyone did so well at this competition. The Novice ladies were 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The Novice men were also 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Chris and I skated well and got 1st. Our program had to be changed right after Indy to meet Canada's rules so we were thinking through it and it showed by being a bit slow and untrained. My jumps were not good that day either, so we know we have a lot of work to do before sectionals. I am glad to finally be home so I can work and train hard to get my elements stronger and more consistant!!

I have started school. I am in the 7th grade at West Middle School. I attend three classes from 8:25-11:25 everyday. I have math, language arts and social studies. I will have a tutor for science this year.

I skate a singles session in the morning at my local rink. After school, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday we drive down to Colorado Springs to skate. We skate pairs 2- 3 sessions per day. Chris comes to Denver on Tuesdays. All day Saturday is in the Springs and Sunday we are off. We also do not skate pairs on Thursday, but I skate singles. We do a lot of off ice training as well. We do ballet, yoga and pilates everyweek together.

By for now!! I have homework to do!! Have a great Labor Day Weekend!!

Sincerely,

Brynn

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August 15, 2007

Hi Guys,

It seems like forever since I have written a jounal entry.

After Liberty, we went to a beautiful rink in Iowa to train for a week because there was no ice in Colorado Springs. Iowa was fun but also very stressfull. I was still skating with pain and very weak from taking a week off due to the injuries. We were trying to get back to training hard in order to get ready for Indy, but it was difficult. My timing was off and my strength was not there so it made for a tough week. We worked through it the best we could.

Once home from Iowa, we left for Indy 3 days later. I love this competition because all the top teams go and it is fun to see all your friends. I also love to see everyone's new programs. Chris and I skated a good short though it needs to be stronger. And our long was a bit off, but again it was not too bad considering how hard things have been lately.

We both learned a lot from the experience and know what we need to work on the improve our programs. We go to Toronto, Canada for a developmental international and we are super excited. It is going to be so fun!! We are only doing our long program because the rules are different in Canada and our short would need to be changed too much to meet their rules. We leave today.

Once we are home from Canada, I start school and Chris and I start a new fall training schedule. September and October are going to be big training months for us. We want to be very prepared for Mids in November.

Oh! I almost forgot. I took my Intermediate singles freeskate test today and passed.

Bye for now!!

Brynn

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July 24, 2007

Hi Everyone,

I'm sorry I have not written lately.

After the Broadmoor Open, we were very busy training for Liberty. However, the week before we left I fell hard on a throw triple saw and separated my left shoulder. I took two days off and then skated with pain to prepare for Liberty.

When we got to Liberty we were skating great and I felt my shoulder was getting better. Our short program on Thursday night was great! Even better than Broadmoor Open! We actually improved our score by three points.

I have to thank Chris for getting me through it because it was very late at night and I was still skating with some pain in my left shoulder. We were able to get all our levels except for the footwork which is at the end of our program. We skated the short at 11:30 p.m. and needless to say my footwork was not very good. But overall it was a wonderful program and we were glad to get out another strong short.

The next day, Friday, we had a practice and unfortunately Chris and I were involved in a full speed collision with another pair team. I took the brunt of the hit on my left hip bone. Thankfully the other team was not injured and Chris was only scrapped up a bit and a little sore. I on the other hand was really hurting. My whole left side was banged up pretty bad. We tried to practice on Saturday morning but the pain was too much.

My mom took me to the hospital for X-rays to make sure nothing was broken. Thankfully, nothing is, just a very badly bruised left hip bone joint. But for the safety of myself and my partner, we had to pull from the long program. I felt really bad because I didn't want to let Chris down, but he understood and agreed we should not skate.

I get most of this week off to rest and heal. We will then get back to work and be ready for Indy and Toronto. Chris and I both agree that Liberty this year was a huge learning experience and we will be a stonger and closer team because of it. I want everyone to know how grateful and apprciative I am to be skating with Chris. He is the best!

Bye for now!

Brynn

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Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for visiting our web site again! It is so much fun to keep all of our fans updated as to how we are doing.

Last week, we started our competitive season at the Broadmoor Open and we skated two strong and clean programs! We really wanted to open up our season with solid programs that also showed improvement in the areas we thought were not as strong as they needed to be last year. Dalilah said we accomplished our goals and much more! Everyone seemed to love our new short program and the changes we made to our long program. We still have a long way to go!! But at least we are on the right path, so we are pleased.

We are going to go back to work and tidy up some areas that still need work. We also need to change some areas of our programs to better utilize the new judging system. We have found that the rules in the new judging system seem to change a lot and we have to always be flexible to change as well.

I also skated the juvenile qualifying round in singles to keep my skills sharp. I skated a beautiful program and actually got third. I was so excited to put out a solid singles event because the last one I had done was not good. Even though I made final round, I had to scratch it because pairs is my priority. It is very difficult to do all the late night pair practices and then the early morning singles practices as well as skate the pair freeskate 1 hour after the juvenile final round free skate. Dalilah always tells us that there is no "I" in team and the team comes first. So I skate singles to be a better partner for Chris. When I scratched the Juv. final round I made a new best friend because the 6th place girl got to take my place! We watched her skate the final and she did great so I am glad she got to skate again.

Bye for now!

Brynn

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Wednesday, June 13, 2007

I am so happy about writing a journal entry today.  Two great things have happend that Chris and I are so excited about. First,  I landed my first throw triple Sal. We couldn't believe it. We had been working on them on and off for about 2 months. I finally hit two in one day. They are really fun to do. 

And second, US Figure Skating has organized a Developmental International in Canada in August. It is a replacement for NACS and we are so excited to be considered as a team they would send. I have never been to Canada and it would be an amazing experience for both Chris and I.

This summer is going to be busy with lots of competitions.  We actually start our season next week with Broadmoor Open and we really want to put out strong programs that show the areas that we have been working on to improve. Since pairs is my first priority and first love, singles is going to have to take the backseat this summer due to all the big important pair competitions we are doing.  We have four major pair competitions in three months and that is a lot! Therefore, competitive singles is on hold for now. 

As always, thank you for visiting our web site and I will write again soon.

Brynn

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Sunday, June 10, 2007

Hi Everyone!

I am out of school for the summer and I am so excited.  I have more time to skate and train pairs with my partner.  Summer camp at the Broadmoor started last week and it was so much fun.  We really work hard, but we also find time to play around.  When I am not on the ice, I play cards or four square with my friends.  I leave home at 7:30 a.m. and get home by 7:00 p.m.  I do summer camp schedule four days a week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.  On Tuesday and Thursdays I skate only 2 sessions and then get to go to the pool or movies with one of my good skating friends Erica Bolton.

Chris and I really worked hard last week in pairs.  I really like working with my partner because he is always nice to me.  We have a good friendship and are very close.  We joke around all the time and when we have time he will take me to get ice cream.  We both love ice cream. 

During summer camp, we do a lot of off ice training.  I want to thank all the great coaches that work with us off ice.  Liza Mizer is our pilates coach and she is very fun.  Suzanne Simon is our yoga instructer and she always gives us back rubs when we work especially hard.  Natalya Khazova is our ballet teacher and she pushes us to always be better.  Sarah is our modern dance teacher and she makes us do goofy things with our body and we all laugh.

Bye for now! I will write again soon because I am out of school.

Brynn

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Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Hi Guys,

This week Brynn and I started our summer skating program down in Colorado Springs. We skate two pair sessions a day in the morning that way I can work in the afternoon. We also do off ice training like modern dance, yoga, pilates, ballet and stretching.

We are both excited for the up coming summer. Brynn and I can't wait to compete at Broadmoor Open, June 18-24 in Colorado Springs, and hopefully start out the year strong.

See you later!

Chris

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Friday, June 1, 2007

Hi Everyone!

Thank you for visiting our website.  We love hearing from our fans.  It is so much fun to get e-mail from our site.  I will try to answer all of you as quickly as I can.  Sorry I have not done a journal entry lately.  Also, I will get my partner to post a journal as well.  He is very busy, because he works a full-time job as well as skate with me so I guess I should cut him a break.

May has been very busy for us.  We have been training really hard.  Both of our programs are set and we are doing full run throughs of both everyday.  We have also had fittings for our new outfits.  We actually got our new costume yesterday for the short program and they are BEAUTIFUL!!!!  They are black and white and very flowy and regal.  I can't wait to wear my dress.  It is unbeliveable! I have never had a dress this stunning.  We are getting new cowboy outfits for our long this year as well.  I have seen a drawing and it is so cool. 

Also in May I went to a small singles competition in Santa Fe.  I skated okay.  Nothing great.  I only skate singles to become a better pair girl, but I want to skate better than that.  I got second, but the placement does not matter to me - only the skate and it needs to be better.  Skating pairs takes a lot of ice time away from singles so it is hard to stay competitive, but I want to always put out a good skate for myself.  

Chris and I will be doing three big competitions this summer at the novice level.  We are doing Broadmoor Open, Liberty and the Indy Pair Challenge.  We did these same competitons last year and can't wait to see our friends that we had met last year.  I also like doing these competitions because we get to fly to them and stay in a hotel.  These competitions are so cool because you get to see so many famous faces.  I can't wait!

Talk to you later!

Brynn

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Monday, April 30, 2007

Hi Everyone,

Chris and I just finished the Ice Show at my local rink. We had performances Friday night, Saturday day, Saturday night and Sunday day. The first half was Lion King and the second half was short productions of Oklahoma, 42nd Street and Phantom of the Opera. Chris and I had a solo with Jessica Rose Paetsch and Jon Nuss in Phantom and it was very fun. They are such a good team and it is a priviledge to skate with them. Chris and I also had a solo by ourselves to "Great Balls of Fire" and it went awsome!

It was a long week, but super fun! We did three triple twists in every show! I love doing them. It was hard work, but very good practice. We also had two throw double loops in each show and they were hard to do because of all the spot lights. I only missed one all week. We also got out our new lift which is a star that goes into a pencil (like Ben and Brooke's) and then it turns upside down into our butterfly, which we invented.

I am sad that the show is over because it is so exciting to perform in front of so many people.

Thats all for now. Check out our site again soon!

Love,

Brynn

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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Hello everyone.

Thanks for visiting our site again.

Chris and I are doing well. Training hard, working on our programs and getting ready for a show which is next week. We ran our show program "Great Balls of Fire" today and it was clean. It still needs work however to get it really polished up and ready for the show.

Next week we are not going to be able to train in Colorado Springs as much because of the show in my hometown. But it will be a fun week and when it is over we will get back to our regular training schedule.

We have decided to keep our long program from last year ("City Slickers" soundtrack) because it is really fun to perform and fits our personalities well. We might have new costumes made for it. We ran sections of it for the first time since nationals yesterday and they were good!

I have homework to do so good bye for now.

Brynn

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Thursday, April 12, 2007

Welcome back!

Chris and I are doing the South Suburban Ice Show at the end of April. We have been rehearsing a lot lately.

We have a solo with Jessica Rose Paetsch and Jon Nuss to the music "Phantom of the Opera" and it is really fun to work with them! We look up to them so much and hope to someday be as good as they are.

Chris and I also get to do a solo by ourselves. We are using the music "Great Balls of Fire" and the program is really cute. We are looking forward to this show and hope some of you can come see it!

Talk to ya later!

Brynn

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Monday, April 9, 2007

Hi everyone!

Our website is up and it is so exciting. We love it! We hope you like it too!

Chris and I have been working really hard on our new short program. We are using the music "Chopsticks" by Mozart. The program is very charming and fast. Our footwork is really hard. We have a level 4 lasso one arm lift that is really cool. We are already doing full run-throughs of our short and if we push hard in our difficult footwork we can actually end on time!

We are also working really hard on our side-by-side double axels. We hope to have them in our long program by the summer time. Besides working hard together on the ice, Chris and I also do a lot of off ice training.

We do pilates and yoga together every week. Goodbye for now!

Brynn

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Friday, February 16, 2007

Dear Journal,

Christopher and I are excited to be home to start preparing for the upcoming year. Although, it was hard to come home from a surprising week at nationals in Spokane, Wash., which left us happier than ever.

Today while skating, Chris and myself got to focus on perfecting our star lift, lasso one arm lift and the double and triple twists. We landed three sets of side-by-side double axels which we we'll be doing in our long program next year.

Also, we got to do a couple throw triple Salchows. I didn't land any but came really close on some!! It was really fun to do throw triples and can't wait until I land one.

Thank you for visiting our Web site.

Brynn