September 16, 2007

Hello everyone!

Thanks for visiting the site again! There has been a lot going on as I'm sure you guys have all heard.

I had surgery three weeks ago at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail, Colo. Dr. Marc Phillipon did my very, very successful surgery. He also did my first hip surgery I had in 2001.

It was kind of difficult to decide if I should have surgery or skate out the season and wait until the end. I was in a rollercoaster of pain for about three months and with the doc's encouragement decided to go and get the surgery done now instead of waiting a whole year with the possibility of getting worse. We were looking forward to this season so much, especially with finally getting two internationals. But as a team, we both feel that this was probably the best way to go.

I had my hip arthroscopy Friday, August 24. I was so grateful for all the staff and Steadman Hawkins for all their help and encouragement. Everyone that I worked with from the receptionist to the nurses and the physical therapist and all the doctors were so kind and loving. They made my surgery a very easy process.

I was on the stationary bike only four hours after the surgery, had no pain, and moved pretty well. I did, however, almost fall asleep because the anesthesia hadn't worn off yet. Haha! But don't worry, I had plenty of people around me incase I fell over.

The one night I stayed in the hospital, I had to go to the bathroom about seven times through the night. God bless those night shift nurses! They definitely had their work cut out for them.

I left Vail four days later with many "souvenirs". I have beautiful silver crutches that must be worn for eight weeks total... so only five more to go! I literally want to throw them in the trashcan now. They are very frustrating.

They gave me this contraption called the CPM machine. I have to put my leg in it and it moves your leg back and forth so you don't get stiff. I unfortunately have to use that for six hours a day for eight weeks.

I have to also wear foot pumps to prevent blood clots for eight weeks and ice my hip as much as I can. It looks like I have a mini hospital in my room. Sometimes well, most of the time, it's annoying and I get bored easily.

I go to physical therapy three times a week and water therapy almost everyday. I'm  moving pretty well and my pain level is a big fat zero. So I am hoping for a very smooth and quick recovery. Themi and I are hoping to be back for nationals. And as frustrating and annoying the recovery process is, I'll keep on them so I'll recover faster and be back on the ice in no time.

I can't wait to start skating again, and I can't thank everyone enough for all you support and "get wells"... I love you all!

Peace and love,

Naomi

June 30, 2007

Hi Everyone,

I'm sorry we have not written in a while. But I thought I would write a short entry to update you about what Naomi and I have planned for the upcoming season.

As far as we know, we are competing at both Skate America and Cup of China. We are both really excited about getting assigned two Grand Prix's because it will allow us a chance to make the Grand Prix Final, which is one of our goals for this season.

But for the most part, we would both just like to skate clean programs throughout the season—that's a big goal for us.

We recently did a show in Peoria, Ill., which was a lot of fun. The people of the city treated us so well, and were very supportive of our skating. They made us feel very welcome there. If the opportunity comes again, we would want to do another show in Peoria.

We also did a show in Burbank, Calif., to raise money for the Los Angeles Ice Theatre. It's a show they put on every year and this is our second time doing it. Naomi and I had a great time. We skated our new show number to the music from Screamin' Jay Hawkins, "I Put A Spell On You." We were very happy with how we skated. Evan Lysacek and Mirai Nagasu also did the show as well.

Right now, we are still choreographing our new programs, which we will tell you about in another entry. Naomi and I are also training new lifts and more difficult elements for the upcoming season.

Thanks for all of your support!

Sincerely,

Themi

February 26, 2007

Hi Everyone,

Sorry its been so long since we have written... We apologize for that!

Thank you guys so much for all your support. We have received a lot of fan letters and hope to get some postcards made so we can have it sent to you guys.

We had a pretty long break in between Skate America and Nationals. We did to a couple of holiday shows. One was in Phoenix, Ariz., for a company called Honeywell. The first time I did that show was when I was 9 and as a single skater. There were many friendly and familiar faces that were so nice to see. We also did a show for Los Angeles FSC in Pickwick and at our training rink at EastWest Ice Palace.

Nationals was a bit of a disappointment for us. We had a great short and felt awesome and confident going into the long. I think in the long I was being a little more careful to not making any mistakes instead of attacking each element. This was just another competition to learn from and gain experience from. Of course, we were disappointed and were hoping to go to Worlds. But now we just want to work even harder for the next year.

Spokane was a great audience. I don't think I've ever seen such a great turn out for a skating event. So thank you to all Spokane skating fans for making us feel welcome to your beautiful city. :)

Our next event was Four Continents, in Colorado Springs, Colo. It was only a week after nationals, so we really didn't' have time to think about what had happened at nationals. we came home and started training the next day.

We arrived in the springs on Super Bowl Sunday, so we watched the game at Ryan Bradley's house with a couple of friends. It was nice seeing friends again and of course Ryan was a great host.

We skated a little better at Four Continents than we did at nationals. It really was such a great experience competing against the Chinese teams. We definitely learned a lot from just watching their practices and became highly motivated. We hope that in the future years to come we will be considered competition for the Chinese teams.

Overall, our season was not we had hoped it would be, but we definitely gained a lot more experience competing internationally and putting ourselves out there so we are known to the ISU judges. We can't wait for the next year cause we can only get stronger and better.

Our next event will the be the Marshall's Showcase in Reading, Penn, so watch for us there. We will be performing a new number to "I Put a Spell on You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Our coach, Peter, is doing a great job on the program and we are really excited to skate the program for the audience.

Thanks for visiting our site again!!

Love,

Naomi

December 2, 2006

At our two competitions, Campbell's Cup and Skate America, we were just very excited and greatful to be there representing the United States. We always feel honored to be skating on the ice with the best in the world.

Campbell's Cup was a good competition for us to go out and work out all the kinks, and really get good feedback from the callers and the judges. With the new system it's always hard to determine if you're gong to get levels n certain elements, especially our spins and footwork.

We also learned the hard way that if one person falls during the combination jump, do no get up and try to finish it. It is an added element and even more points are deducted.

Skate America was our first Grand Prix. Even though we didn't skate our best in the long, we were very proud of ourselves for improving with every competition. And we were even more excited for medaling.

Everyone at Skate America, the whole us team was very nice and supportive, and the team leaders were awesome. A lot of the other skaters from different countries were very nice as well, we had a lot of fun with them the last day of the competition.

Korea was our first BIG SHOW together and once again was an awesome experience. It was incredible to have Brian Orser there choreographing for us, and to be skating with so many Olympic medalists, four of which are Olympic Champions!

Everyone was very nice during the show, and the people of Korea were awesome. The audience was cheering so loud the arena was vibrating. And the people themselves were all very hospitable and kind, and the food was incredible.

Sincerely,

Themi

July 12, 2006

The 2006 U.S. National Championships in St. Louis, Mo., was an amazing experience for both Naomi and I! We had no expectations going to Nationals other than the fact we wanted to skate our best.

It was a huge surprise for both of us when we were placed in 3rd after the short. We were both very excited, but wanted to maintain our focus going into the long program. I think it would have been easy for us to get overly excited about the fact that we had a very close shot at making Olympic team our first year.

Going into the long with the mentality that anything could happen and we just needed to skate our best was important for both of us. After the long program we were ecstatic with the way we skated. Regardless if we had placed 1st or last, just skating well was a huge accomplishment.

Later we found out our lift was not given credit, which resulted in a lower placement. We are still trying to get used to the new judging system and be aware of that fine line between originality and what your allowed to do in competition.

Since nationals Naomi and I have been working on our short program, which is a tango to a piece of music called jealousy. We are working on having more difficulty in our program. This consists of more difficult entries into various pair elements, unique and original transitions from one element to the next, and choreographically having more expression and maintaining character throughout the program.

Naomi and I are looking forward to our upcoming Grand Prix assignment Skate America (October 26-29, in Hartford, Conn.) We are extremely excited to start our second season!

Sincerely,

Themi

January 2, 2006

Thank you so much for visiting our official webpage, Naomi Nari Nam and Themi Leftheris Online. We appreciate all your love and support.

By the way, this is Naomi and I can't tell you how excited I am right now to tell you what has been up with my life.

Let me tell you how our partnership began.

Our first try out was around the beginning of April 2005. I was really quite nervous during our first try out. Because I had heard many great things about Themi, I wanted to skate well so he would want to skate with me.

Although I had only been skating pairs for about 2 weeks, the tryout went great. We were both ecstatic. Themi and I had a great connection together both on and off of the ice. It only seemed like we were destined to skate together.

The hard part then came for me. I had to make a decision between my coaches and Themi's coaches. It was by far the toughest decision I had to make thus far in my skating career.

Jenni Meno, Todd Sand and Mr. Nicks have been my coaches for 10 years. All those years have been so awesome; I wouldn't be able to put into words how much they have been the key to my success. They have been such a great support team for me. They loved and cared for me very very much. And, I love them very much.

Can you see how difficult this decision was?

By the beginning of April, I had made a decision to go with Themi's coach Peter Oppegard. I thought the change of coaches and being in a new environment would be the best for a "new start" in my career.

So far, training is going great. Themi and I train at Michelle Kwan's new rink in Artesia. I can't ask for a better training facility than the EastWest Ice Palace.

Peter has definitely made me the pair skater I am today. He works us very hard so we can be prepared for our upcoming competitions, like the U.S. Nationals in St. Louis. All three of us has definitely developed a trust and bond with each that no one can break.

I thank God everyday that He has helped me make the right choice.

I terribly miss all my friends, coaches, and employees of Aliso Viejo Ice Palace. I try to visit all of them as much as possible. But, now I definitely have made some new friends at the EastWest Ice Palace.

So, there is our story.

I am sorry I haven't kept this page updated. But as you can see, I have been busy trying to get back into skating so you guys have something to read about.

Thanks again for visiting our new official website! God bless.

Love Always,

Naomi