State!

On Thursday Bethany called me to tell me that she was taking me to gym early and that she had some errands to run. The so-called errand was "going to the airport to ask about baggage restrictions because Aimee had to take some things to Acacia" when she flies see her at the end of April. I thought that was funny that we had to drive all the way to the Airport for that while the rules were perfectly accessible online. But I ate it up though a little part of my brain was suspecting something funny going on.

So we drove in circles a few times around the Airport while Aimee "checked the baggage restrictions" and about the fourth time around we picked Aimee up on the curb. And there was someone else with her---MOM! Yes it took me a couple seconds for my brain to make the connection, but once it did I jumped out of the car. HE HE.
I was absolutely clueless.
Anyway that was the big surprise, Mom flew all the way from Tulsa Oklahoma to watch me compete this weekend. Yayy.

The meet was ok. I qualified for Regionals by the skin of my teeth, which wasn't really my idea of qualifying, but I did. I have a few IFs, though I won't dare make excuses and just look at the bright side of it all.

Floor: 8.1
Vault: 8.575
Bars: 8.95
Beam: 8.475
AA: 34.1(34 being the required score for Regional qualification)

I have definitely got say that my routines have gotten much much cleaner when I think about it. I know what I'm capable of and while being disappointed, I'm excited that I'm able to show better. I will stop talking about it though and get to working on my competitive attitude.

OH guess what! Papa and Mom contributed half and half to have a professional photographer take action shots of me! So I have action pictures to post! I'm so excited that everyone will be able to see me flying!

And another thing! I am proud to announce that our level 9 team got third in the team competition!

pictures:












I'm so excited that these pictures were taken. I hope I look as professional as I feel:)
Aimee really likes to make fun of my butt.
bye
~

Duffy-Mercy

I think I like her. but I might get tired of her if I listen too much:)
The men on fire definitely make the video complete.
Enjoy.

I'll pass on the Peeps.

Happy Easter.
How is everyone today? ...

I'm totally absolutely blanking on what to say right now... um
Happy Easter.

I wish I could open my mind a little more so my thoughts would flow, but you know how Sundays are. You just gotta sit down and do nothing and that's what my brain is doing.
Oh I just thought of something. Papa and I went to Leavenworth yesterday. We were going to climb a route called Outer Space, but the descent would've been epic with my lack of experience, so we just hiked through a couple miles of snow and hung out at the base of the rock and hiked back down in the sun.
Snow is a pain to hike in. Especially downhill, but I learned(sort of) how to descend on my feet. After falling on my butt a lot I got pretty close to doing it right. I have a few pictures but I look stoned in all of them:)
On the drive home I used my time to look at the map of Washington and make fun of some names. Walla Walla, Hamma Hamma, and Deer Butte(pronounced "bute", but you might get why I though it was funny).
Last night, when we got home we watched Philadelphia Story with Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart. Good movie.
I just finished the book Lost Horizon by James Hilton. Wow, probably one of my favorite books now. English prose is soooo beautiful.
I called Mom today it's so nice to hear her voice.
State is next week. Yayy.

The truth shall make you free...

Did you know that your mind naturally rejects thoughts that your conscience deems "inappropriate" and puts them deep in the back of your unconscious? It's called repression and it's a theory of the European scientist Sigmund Freud who was a master of psychoanalysis and curing mentally damaged people. I find it very interesting. Lately I've been trying to bring all my thoughts to the conscious mind, good or bad, sick or beautiful. It's very difficult, but lately I've found it easier to remember my dreams in the morning. Your mind works in such a way that the memories you reject are more likely to come back to your conscious when the repression mechanism is weakest, at night. That's why dreams are really weird. They are all those thoughts that you put in the back of your mind for later. As a gymnast it's very important to notice all my thoughts so I can learn to block the one's that will cause a bad performance. It is nearly impossible because you have thousands of thoughts a day. wow.

I'm done with all the Card books we have. There are more and I think I want to get them. I just finished The Speaker for the Dead about Ender as an adult. Amazing! I want someone to "Speak" at my funeral. Tell the world who I really am, who I wanted to be, and who I failed to be. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32

Homeschooling is being banned in California unless the parent is a certified teacher. When I first learned this I almost freaked out thinking Oh my goodness I might have to go to high school! But then I remembered we're not in California anymore. Silly me. I keep forgetting. I guess good ol' California is still my home in my heart:) whew. I was scared for a second.

Anyway, we've had a few sunny days which must mean that spring is near.
~

Sweet smell of success... with little truth and jest

Yesterday I competed all four events, stuck everything except vault, and qualified for state! Floor- 8.15 This was one of the best routines of my season, but the judges didn't give me credit for a required element.
Vault- 7.85 I do a tucked Yurchenko which starts a 9.4. I fell on both but I did my vault for the first time in competition!
Bars- 9.275 I placed second. Let me note that the judges at this event are Olympic and National judges.
Beam- 8.75 I stuck my routine but with a few nervous wobbles. I'm capable of putting out a much better performance on this event, but this was decent enough.
AA- 34.025 I needed a 32.

We have three weeks of plain training before state, then after state comes Regionals and then Westerns but lets not look so far ahead. I have so much room for improvement, it makes me giddy. It's weird how I think of competition so much differently then I used to back in my old gym. Back then I would be totally satisfied with a 34 all around and would probably hold that constant score throughout the season. Now I think of it as there being 6 whole points worth of mistakes that can be perfected. Before I came here I didn't think perfection was possible. When I look at my teammates and see their scores of 38s and over it's intimidating at first and then I see what a true gymnast looks like and ask myself What do I lack? What is my TRUE potential?
Yulia says I need to see myself as who I want to be. I need to write down who I "am". I am beautiful. I am smart. I am strong. I am great. I am able. I can make the impossible look easy. I have hope...you get the idea. Only when these are all I think about is when I will see them in myself more clearly.

These are only intangible dreams without my Lord. He's been shaping my character. I've been thinking about what my dad said about how "God secures your salvation, training brings you to the top of your performance." He meant it in the sense that you can't trust in God alone to make you a champion. You need to train! This is understandable because you can't sit on the couch praying that you'll become a track star and actually expect that it will happen. This is how I look at it: I think of God as another trainer, but more in the ways of morality and character, like Papa, except He's ALWAYS there to give strength to maintain mental composure under pressure. My ability to rely on him under pressure is key to my performance. He's there to cue my conscience when I'm in a position to forget. Things like “Have Fun” and “I'm proud of you” “Don't forget I love you” are the things I hear from Him. These are the things that remind me that I'm ready to do my job. All I need to do for Him is put Him before gymnastics and let him change me. This, I feel, is the only way to be truly successful and truly satisfied.

This statement is the first real opinion I've posted up here. If you know me well you're probably wondering how in the world I did it. I have my own opinion! wow. ok ok truth and jest. Let me tell you something about myself: I'm sometimes such a people pleaser that I will rarely speak for myself and have my own opinion. This is so absurd that I'm trying to post something up here that will tell my conscience to get over it! so maybe I can be free to think for myself. What do I need to justify? You might be able to imagine what this feels like. And ladies and gentlemen she steps OUTSIDE HER COMFORT ZONE!!!! you should be proud of me.
Now that I've established my self as a total dork.... I will say:
Cha cha for now