What a night! Ben and I started working at the 2004 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships. First, we went to the Westin Hotel to register and get our credentials and to our surprise Sasha Cohen was registering in front of us. She is so cute! She seemed very calm and just enjoying every moment. After this great start, we went to the arena to start our shift and we had another great surprise. I got assigned to the rink level between the dressing rooms and the rink, so I got to see all the dance teams practice� including Naomi and Peter. Ben got assigned to the judges lounge in the dressing rooms area, so he also got to see everyone. To our final surprise of the night, Sasha went by the ice rink so we got to see her again. What a wonderful experience!

After a shift full of excitement, we got to goof around a little bit. Beth � the security committee chair - took a picture of Ben and me in the kiss and cry area. I think that picture will make a wonderful souvenir of this event and will look great in our scrapbook. I am so excited and looking forward to our next shift.

My coach Nicole is in Sweden for two weeks coaching one of her students that moved last summer, so today I had a different coach. I spent my morning practice with Laurie Jackson. Laurie is taking care of all Nicole�s skaters while she is out. Also, I passed my Delta ISI Test today. I am still working on my routines, but I need to change my Spotlight routine to something else. At this time I am looking at Carmina Burana as an option.

Today we had to make some adjustments to the routine. After skating the routine to the music, we realized that the routine was too long. This called for a review of the elements and cutting some new exciting footwork that we had planned to include. The footwork that was affected by this cut was the power 3-turn sequence. We had to cut down the length and add the right inside 3-turn to the beginning of the power 3-turn sequence. This seemed to help with the timing, now I am only a couple of seconds over the music and that should be fixed with practice.

Next week, I will start working on my other routine for this competitive season. I will be skating to the Spanish version of the Disney�s Hercules, �No Importa La Distancia� by Ricky Martin. It is such an uplifting song, and it has great meaning to my skating because of my dreams of learning figure skating and the impact it has had in my life.

I started working on my new routine for this competitive season. I am skating to the music of the Mexican soap opera �Coraz�n Salvaje�. It is such a strong music and so full of mixed emotions, I can�t express how much I love it. We have the basics of the routine set, it has new and improved maneuvers and hopefully I will be able to fulfill the artistic demands of this fabulous music.

It has been a long time since my last entry, but a lot of exciting things are in the horizon� I took some time off the ice but I am back with more energy and ready to face the challenges of this season.

I am getting ready to take the ISI Delta test and working on new routines for this new season. I have continued landing the waltz jump!!!! I am so glad that the time off did not put me too far behind. Surprisingly enough, it helped me to increase my speed� I can�t explain how, but it happened.

Also, a lot of exciting things are in the horizon� I will post the news as soon as I get a final confirmation, but I can�t wait to tell everyone. All I can say so far, is that one of my biggest dreams is going to be a reality soon�

What an exciting day! I finally landed a waltz jump all on my own!!! I did it! I was able to do a waltz jump! I am so excited; it is such a thrill to finally accomplish something new.

This is it! Today is the Puerto Rico Figure Skating Federation National Championships and the PRFSF Open.

I woke up really early and got on the train and then the bus. Got to the ice rink and did another practice session. I am calm and confident that everything will go ok. I got to meet Arsenette and the other skaters. I am a little intimidated, I am the oldest in the group and I am the lowest in skating tests. Ben did a great job to cheer me up about this.

The competition started with the opening ceremony and the person that sang the anthem of Puerto Rico changed the words and sang it in �soul� rhythm instead of �danza�. If the so-called patriots of the Island would have heard him would have had a heart attack! LOL! ;-) It was an interesting change to the anthem. The opening ceremony was very short and they started on time!!!! I was so glad they started on time.

After the ceremony, I went to the locker rooms. It was so good to have a place to change and get ready� and warm! It was a change of pace from the usual competitions. I had never attended a competition where they kept the skaters in a locker room. It was so nice!

The time for my event came (Adult Artistic) and I warmed up and waited for my turn. I was wearing the Austin Powers costume. Ben took a picture of me. I think I looked pretty funny. I did my routine with no major setbacks. I only missed the spin. Since I got the allergies I have not been able to spin.

After the event I changed several times from skating apparel to jeans to skating apparel! But it was all for a good reason. They had all the skaters in the ice for Univision. The cameras from Univision taped a segment about the competition and passed it on the 6 o�clock news of their local channel in NY. My brother taped it for me and I made it into the segment for like 1.5 seconds! WOW! It was great!

We all went to lunch at Olive Garden. Arsenette and her husband gave us a ride. They are so nice. Everybody in the Federation is really nice.

When we came back in the afternoon we got to see the New Jersey Devils � NHL team � practice. What an experience! I always thought hockey players were humongous, but they are really not that big. They practice was amazing!

Then it was time to get ready again. I changed and stayed in the locker room until my warm-up. I was a little stiffed up because of all the time that went by between events. I did fine in my event. Again, I missed the spin but overall it was an ok performance. After my event I stayed dressed up with my skating apparel and on skates because closing ceremony was going to be on the ice.

For closing ceremony, they called our names and we skated to receive our awards and then stood in the center of the ice. Ben got some great pictures of this. Well, I am now the Adult Pre-Bronze National Champion of Puerto Rico. Isn�t that a long title? Well, I just accomplished one of my childhood dreams� hold a national title! What a feeling!

During the closing ceremonies we sang �La Borinque�a� and surprisingly enough, very few new the lyrics. I am proud that I participated in this event and that I was able to share this moment with everybody that attended. It had been a long time since I sang the anthem, and if felt good.

I arrived to NYC last night. I am really tired from the flight, but we went to South Mountain Arena for practice. I did two freestyle sessions today. I feel very comfortable with my routines. It takes 2 hours to get to the Arena. I never thought it was going to be this long of a trip in the morning and then in the evening to participate in these competitions.

I have been practicing all my routines for this weekend during the past two weeks. I am pretty confident that at least I will not make a fool out of myself. I decided not to attempt the bunny hop in competition. I might try it on last resource if I still have time in my exhibition program.

I can�t wait for Saturday! I am looking forward to finally meeting everybody from the Federation. Although, I have to admit that I am a little embarrassed that I am the oldest one competing and at the lowest level. Anyway, I think it will be fun.

Getting ready for Nationals is very exciting and stressful! I have been practicing 3 hours on a daily basis this last week. Just trying to get my routines to be perfect is driving me crazy! I am starting to feel my age! ;-) I am looking forward to next week and to finally meet everybody in the Federation. It will be so nice to finally put faces to the names and the voices.

Practice is getting harder and harder. I have been working on being more artistic and expressive� maybe I will finally get rid of that �terrified look� I have before competition. I think I am finally getting rid of it since at the Magnolia I was all smiles.

Well, I will keep you all updated with the latest about Nationals.

Today I competed at the Magnolia Open. What a day! It was full of surprises. The first was that I was the only adult competing in the events and since the judges did not know what to do with me they placed me competing against little girls (7 � 12 year olds). It was very odd! The second surprise of the day was that after my coach talked to the judges she just told me to go out and have fun because chances were they were going to place me last in every event because I was competing against little girls. Well, that was exactly what happened. I was last in both events placing 4th place in compulsories and 6th place in the freeskate.

I have mixed feelings about the whole competition. It was very fulfilling for me since I did my best performance ever in the freeskate and my compulsories were really good but on the other hand is the worst placing I ever had in competition.

My compulsories were satisfactory. I missed the one-foot spin but I did all the required elements. Overall, it was a very good routine.

I am so excited about my freeskate! I did it fast, the lunge was perfect! I did a bunny hop! And the one-foot spin was ok � just one revolution! But the great thing is that I did it all! I am so happy! It was a great personal accomplishment to go out and skate as well as I did! I loved it! I am very proud of myself. I hope I can keep it up!

I got my schedule for the Magnolia Open. Both of my events are on Sunday, March 16, 2003. Compulsories are at 6:55AM and the Freeskate is at 10:00AM. I will have a very early start!

Also, I practiced today my events and they are coming along pretty well. I did good today in my compulsories routine, got it down from 1:30 to 1 minute. My freeskate program is also looking good.

Well, my schedule was pretty much the same as yesterday, but today�s routine was �Austin Powers�. When I got to the ice rink I noticed that all the lights were off. When I talked to my coach she told me that this event was going to be with a spotlight. What a terrifying thought! It made me remembered my times in theater and how much I hated that bright light on me. It is so blinding!

Anyway, I started to work on calming down and thinking how to deal with it. During warm-up it was very dark and it made me more nervous. I was the first one to skate in my group, so I was able to get it over with fast. I went on the ice and I did my best. I was not able to see anything and I was terrified of falling. I went through my routine with some minor last minute changes to work around the spotlight. My spins were ok and my spiral was fine. They told me I looked calm and smiling, although I can�t remember if I smiled or not. I barely remember the routine I did, I was so nervous and I placed all my efforts in trying to find a way to avoid facing the spotlight. This was definitely a learning experience!

When results came out I was in Second place. After reviewing the results they discovered that they combined two events FS1-Male and Gamma-Female and that is why I ended in Second place. The problem was corrected and I placed first. This was another of those things that you learned with experience � pay attention to the event coding! LOL

I was at the ice rink by 7:30AM. I warm-up by 8:45AM and went on the ice at 9:00AM to do my �Tiempo de Vals� routine. What a feeling! I was not nervous at all! I enjoyed every minute and my knees were cooperating with me. I was able to do a smooth performance. I started with the right outside three-turn and it was great! In addition, I was able to do backward crossovers in public without shacking! After that I was confident that everything was going to be OK.

I did all the required elements up until my left outside three-turn. It was very disappointing that I put my foot down in the middle of it. The left turn is my best one! Anyway I started thinking where I should stick it in since it was a required element and it came to my mind to do it right before the hockey stop that was the end, but it did not worked out that way.

Well, I was so mad that I missed the three-turn that I did a wonderful spiral � the best I have ever done! It was so wonderful hearing the applause from the audience. All my senses were so aware of what was going on, it made it such a memorable moment because I remember everything I felt and the applause was the best. The whole �thinking while skating� was a thrill. At the end of my routine I felt so happy, it was even better than my first competition. I have improved since the previous competition and I could tell. Finally, scores came in and I got first place. Isn�t that great?

I am in Nashville, TN participating in the 18th Annual Sportsplex ISI Invitational. Practice was really good! ;-) I was able to go through my routines with no problems, very smooth and nice. My coach and me were really happy about how the routines looked and how calm I was. The Sportsplex ice rink facilities are great. The ice was so smooth I did not have to put too much effort in pushing to gain speed and also did not have to worry about the bumps in the ice.

This is my first competition away from my home rink. So far, it is proving to be an exciting experience and also extremely fun. I have practiced today for several hours and I am exhausted. What a great feeling!

I had a good practice this morning. I have been working very hard on the test elements but I am still having problems with the inside three turns and the backward edges. For the moment, I will be putting aside test practice and start working on my routines. I have been practicing my Short Program since competition is just around the corner. I am getting ready for the ISI competition in Nashville, TN. I am starting to get nervous but I think it will not be as bad as my last competition. I am doing my best to work on the little details and stay calm.

It has been a long time since my last entry! Well, I have been practicing for my Moves in the Field test and today I started going over my routines again. It is that time again� competition time!! I will be participating in two gamma events � short program and spotlight � at the 18th Annual ISI Invitational and 2003 District 5 Championships in Nashville, TN. I will keep you all posted about the competition and wish me luck!

Today I practiced the outside and inside three turns. My outside three turns are fine, I am just getting stocked in my left inside three turns. My hips are not rotating fast enough to hold the turn. I have to work extra hard on those. Everything else for the test is coming along beautifully. I am looking forward to the test!

I started working on the Pre-Preliminary Moves in the Field. I want to take the test in January. So far, the hardest thing to do will be the backward inside and outside edges. I practiced today the forward inside and outside edges, the spirals and the waltz eight. I have to work very hard to get them perfect by January. I just hope I can get the backward edges decent enough to pass! In addition, I will also be taking the Adult Pre-Bronze Moves in the Field. It is very similar to Pre-Preliminary, the main difference is that I have to do forward and backward crossovers in the figure eight pattern and the inside and outside three turns. My crossovers are good and my outside three turns, the inside three turns are the ones giving me trouble. I have plenty of time� I am pretty sure I can make.

Waking up for work everyday at 5AM is nothing compared to waking up at 5AM for competition! I got to the ice rink and it was already crowded. I did not have time to warm up, as I would have liked. Five minutes is not enough for a stiff adult!

7AM came around and it was time to hit the ice again. My compulsories routine was perfect! I was not nervous at all, did all the elements and it was over before I could think again. This was my favorite event. It was good to know that the audience had two skaters to look at the same time and chances are they were looking at the cute 6-year-old girl at the other half of the ice rink! Then awards ceremony came by and I got my first place medal.

Around 8:30AM was the stroking event. I totally hate this event. I know I will never participate in this event again. I had in mind that it was going to be two rounds around the rink (one in each direction), it end up being 6 rounds (three in each direction). With all my health problems, by the third round I was about to pass out. Hyperventilating was the least of my problems at that point. I started to have bad cramps in my legs and I got dizzy. After all this, I made it through and in first place. This was a memorable moment because definitely brainpower did it.

I had problems with cramps the rest of the morning. I ended the morning with the short program. It was a little disappointing because I was not able to perform at my best. I was in so much pain that my coach and I even considered withdrawing from this event. I decided not to, the experience was worth the pain. Besides after working so hard in this program the least I could do was try. I missed most of the elements, but overall it looked good. Coming out of the ice rink was very difficult, I had such a bad cramp in my legs that you can even noticed in the video how tight my muscles were and how much I was shacking. After all the struggle the awards ceremony took place and I got my 2nd place medal.

This weekend was wonderful! I made a reality one of my childhood dreams. And the best part is that I did it with flying colors, way much better than I ever expected. I am looking forward to more competitions, maybe in a year and/or after several more competitions I will not get as nervous.

Today is the day! I practiced from 10AM until 2:30PM for the competition. It started awful, but by 1PM something clicked in my brain and all of a sudden I started skating normal again. What a relief! By 3PM I was ready for my performance. I did ok! My knees were shacking, I could not feel my feet, and the butterflies in my stomach kept tickling me throughout the entire performance. That was the longest minute of my life!

After the routine was over, I had such a great relief and the best feeling of accomplishment I have ever experienced. Awards ceremony came, and I got 1st place.

What an awful day! I fall and did a belly flop. It was very painful. I am very clumsy and nervous. The picks of my skates are getting stock in the ice in every stroke. I hope I calm down by tomorrow. I have never been this nervous in my life. I am adding several hours of practice tomorrow. Hopefully the extra practice will help.

Today was not a very good day. I am getting nervous and I was not able to perform my routines. Hopefully, I will calm dawn before Friday and do better during the ISI competition.

The Austin Power�s routine will be funny and sexy. My coach and I finished the choreography and I love it! I need to practice more to take care of minor details, but I am sure it will be fine by next week.

I got my schedule for the 4th Annual The Cooler ISI Invitational. On Friday, November 1st, 2002 at 3PM will be the Spotlight Event; and on Saturday, November 2nd, 2002 at 7AM will be the Compulsories Event, at 8:30AM the Stroking Event and at 10:30AM the Short Program.

Today was wonderful! My routine of �Tiempo de Vals� is really nice. I am enjoying it a lot. Nelson was with me at the ice rink today. I was showing him the life size cutout of Austin Powers that I will be using for my routine. I decided to leave it at the ice rink because my husband and I have had several incidents with it since I got it. It is amazing how lifelike it is, it has scared us several times already.

In addition, I cannot believe I did a waltz jump today! It was not a good one, but who cares� I jumped! My coach is great about making me do stuff that I said was never going to do. Well, I think I have overcome my greatest fear!

I attended the Chevy Skating Festival Clinic with Todd Eldredge. First, I met him at the autograph session. My husband took several pictures of Todd and me. I saw him in 1997 Champions on Ice and I had the program with me. He signed the program and also gave me his picture. He is really nice and calm.

Then I had my skating session with Todd and the coach. Even though it was a group session, my group was very small. We were only 4 in the skating session. I really got to see him close and talked to him during the session. He gave me some really good pointers. It is really nice and impressive how just having someone totally new see you skate and pinpoint something you have been doing wrong all along and nobody noticed it. Between Todd, his coach, and the other two instructors they provided me with so much feedback and I saw results immediately. I had a wonderful time and I can�t say enough �Todd is such a nice guy�. He provides the people that surround him such a great feeling of peace and tranquility.

Please check the photos section for his picture and later for the event pictures.