And what a roller coaster ride it has been...
Let's start by bringing of my 2016 year in review post, shall we? I hit the mark on a few of my goals there. Not too shabby...and of course, some of the things didn't happen.
2017 Highlights, in no particular order:
Returning to skating and competition
My competition season typically kicks off with the Alabama Grand Prix series. This is a USFS Learn to Skate competition series, for beginner skaters up to Preliminary on the standard track, and Adult 1 through Adult Bronze on the adult track. The intent of the series is to get skaters used to competing and shake off some nerves. The Alabama Grand Prix has 3 events: Blades in Decatur, in Decatur (my home rink), Rocket City Junior Classic in Huntsville, and Blades in Bama in Birmingham. I competed in Decatur and Huntsville but unfortunately had to miss the Birmingham competition. I placed 3rd at Blades in Decatur and 1st at the Rocket City Junior Classic (where I was the only adult in the entire competition 😐). These results led me to win the Alabama Grand Prix series first place medal for Adult Bronze.
In August, I competed at the Scott Hamilton Invitational in Nashville. This was probably the biggest competition I've been to. And of course the highlight was meeting the man himself:
He is super nice and friendly just like I had expected! Please ignore my over-the-boot tights here...my hair and makeup are good though.
After that, I competed at the Peach Classic in Atlanta, held every year on Labor Day weekend. This competition draws a lot of adult skaters I don't see often and we always have a good time when we get together. I would have been able to have more drinks at the party if I hadn't signed up for 7:10 AM practice ice the next morning...what the hell was I thinking with that...One of the highlights from Peach was our bronze team maneuvers event, where I got to play a stern Russian coach! My friend brought this awesome hat that unfortunately, I had to give back. I also borrowed my coach's jacket.
My final competition of the year was an ISI competition that is very special to me. My very first competition was at Wind, Rain or Shine in Decatur in 2007. This made the 2017 competition my 10th anniversary of competing. I got to do something new that I'm both good at and really enjoy: announcing! Then I had the performance of a lifetime to my dramatic program "The Fighter". It's such a shame there was no video for it. My friend I was competing against is a silver level skater, and I knew I had an extremely low chance of winning, but I wanted to put everything out there. I wanted to see what I was capable of when I gave it everything I had. I was so proud. I don't know if I'll ever have another moment like that again, but I certainly hope that I do.
My 10th Wedding Anniversary
On December 15th, Ryan and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. It was not a grandiose affair but we had an absolutely great time. I got my hair done, and we went to the Galaxy of Lights (a huge drive-thru display of Christmas lights) and had a nice dinner. The big trip is on the horizon for 2018, hopefully!
Visiting Family
I came to Houston in July for my nephews' birthday, as I do every year. I love my boys, and my family so much! We had cake, and a parade, and swimming, and cocktails, and shenanigans. More than a girl could ask for.
A New Job (and promotion 😎)
One of my biggest goals was to finally get a promotion this year, and it happened! I started at the end of June. It is great to have a fresh new start and work with new teams to figure out my role. I have a lot of responsibility, but I will rise to the occasion. I was in a situation before where I just needed to make a change.
My New Friends on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
You guys have all made my year. Truly. I love all our interactions, and it's so good and refreshing to have conversations with people all over the world and from all walks of life. I hope that one day when the hubs and I are traveling the world, or I'm on the road for a competition, that I will get to meet you. I'm so thankful for all of you.
Other awesome events
I led the drama section at my church's Vacation Bible School again this year. I am very passionate about VBS, and I hope that it showed to the children. It was another fantastic experience. Then there's the Renaissance Feast and the Renaissance Faire, where I found a new piece of music I would like to skate to. VBS and the Ren Faire are highlights of every year! And let's not forget our new holiday tradition: the Handel's Messiah sing-along!
And now, on to the next section:
My Not-so-Great Events of 2017:
Again, in no particular order:
Hurricane Harvey
As many of you know, I'm a native of the Houston area. While I was not in Houston at the time of Harvey, all my family was, and they had to deal with the effects. My grandmother's house got flooded and they are still work on repairing it. It was an extremely stressful time because no one knew if they would have to evacuate or not. I had tears for many reasons over this storm. First were the tears of sadness, seeing everything I had known from childhood underwater. Then, there were tears of joy as I beamed with pride for the city that I will always call home. The whole world got to see what Houston, Texas was made of. This is something that I had always known, but now the naysayers saw it for themselves. People outside the area ask why anyone would want to live somewhere where it gets floods and hurricanes, and this is why. It's the people. The people opening up their businesses for shelter. The people rescuing their neighbors. This is where I grew up.
On that note, we have friends in Florida and Puerto Rico that are still recovering from hurricanes as well. There are some people in PR that still don't have power. We need to remember them in our thoughts and prayers.
My Skate Purchase on the Internet (and crappy attempt at fitting)
I had previously written a review of my new skates here, where things seemed to be going in the right direction. I had written that after I finally had a decent practice where I could actually jump for once, and I should have given it more time before writing an in-depth review. What has happened since has brought about a whirlwind of unfortunate events...
The skates are definitely too small and too narrow. That's the bottom line. Even after having the toe box stretched out, I'm still having problems. I'm getting bad toe cramps, and most of the time my feet are numb in my skates. I had been trying to make the skates work, and I did not want to admit I had screwed up and made a costly mistake for the longest time.
But wait, there's more! I started getting this bad pain in my arch too, and it has lingered on well after I have taken off the skates. It has made it hard to walk and I've been limping around on several occasions.
We had our dress rehearsal for the Christmas show and I was on the ice for over 4 hours. My feet were in excruciating pain by the time that was over. I could barely do anything in the last hour of the practice.
I also felt like I couldn't do some of my elements very well, particularly with my spirals. I was afraid to get my leg higher because I feared landing on my face.
So, here's what's happening now: I'm going to go to the podiatrist with my foot problems, then I'm selling these skates. Once I have enough money saved, I'm going to get a proper fitting and try on several different skates to get the ones that are right for me. No more online skate purchases for me, that's for damn sure! And it's also going to take me awhile to get money together for new skates, so I'm on another hiatus until then 😡😢.
Plans for 2018
I had been putting off writing this because I've been so upset about my situation with skating. At this point, I don't know when I will be back. I have some bills I have to pay off in addition to saving the money for the skates, and visiting my family. However, I'm now in a much better frame of mind and I'm able to see that there is plenty to look forward to in the New Year. I may branch into vlogging this year as well, if I'm able to get a new computer. I would love to share my videos with you, and I have a lot of great and amusing ideas!
I'm going to Houston in March, and I plan to see my little brother in Chicago sometime this summer, if not sooner. My husband and I are also saving and planning for a trip to Europe. We don't know where we plan to go yet, but I'm excited for pretty much anything!
As far as resolutions go, I'm just going to say that I need to take better care of myself. This includes what I'm eating as well as making my needed medical and beauty appointments. I sacrificed these things on several occasions this year but it's something I want to improve on. Once I get my foot fixed, I would also like to go back to my workout classes, particularly Zumba!
One final reflection: I have been "skating up" and competing at the Adult Bronze level for the past couple of years, even though I have not passed either the Moves in the Field or Free Skate tests yet. I don't have a flip or loop yet either. Pretty much the only Bronze element I have is the sit spin. I think I may hold off on competing at the Bronze level until I have passed the tests, and I still have a lot of work to do to make that happen. So, when I do get back to skating later this year, I plan to compete at the Adult Pre-Bronze level, at least for now.
I hope this post finds all of you well, and wish you a happy and prosperous 2018!
~ Autumn 🍁🍂⛸
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