Hey guys, sorry it's been a while since I wrote. Hope everyone had a great holiday. I've been so busy! My club hosted the 2003 Eastern Sectionals, and I was working some days at the competition. And then, before I knew it, we were all off to Lake Placid for Junior Nationals, where my sister, Jenna, competed.

Lake Placid was really great. I had never been there before and thought it was really cool to be where the Olympics were. Main Street shopping was so much fun. My favorite store was the hat store, "Where'd Ya Get that Hat?" At the hotel where we stayed there was a virtual reality ride that Liz Manley and I went on. It took you through the Olympic ski jump, bobsled, luge and being a hockey goalie. It was so cool. Your seat moved and with the virtual glasses on it made you feel like you were there and really doing it. I think my favorite part was going down to the Olympic Museum and being able to see the dress my coach, Liz Manley, wore when she won the silver medal at the 1988 Olympics.

When we came back from Lake Placid it was holiday time. The parties and presents and school dances I was invited to kept me busy, but I had so much fun. In January we found out that IceWorks will be holding a "Spring Extravaganza Show" on March 22 and 23. The show will feature IceWorks skaters, as well as Liz and Elvis Stojko, doing solo programs. I'm so excited to have a show program because at all of the shows and exhibitions in the past I've always skated my competitive programs. My show program is so much fun. I cut my music and designed my dress, which I will be "stoning" myself. Liz choreographed my program in one session, which I find amazing. After the Sunday show (March 23), we will have to hurry home, change, pack up the van, and head down to Washington DC for a week for Worlds. I can't wait for that. How exciting! Worlds, right here!

Back to me, and what I'm doing, ha ha ha! My new long program, "Seven Years in Tibet," will be so exciting to perform. I loved the movie too. I met with my dressmaker, and we went through the sketches, picked out the material and decided on the beadwork to be done. This dress, when it's done, will be so "Seven Years in Tibet!" I was discussing with my coaches, Liz and Oleg Fediukov, and my choreographer, Lisa Bell, about my short program for this year. We all decided that I did not want a "serious" short for the upcoming year. "Kismet," which was my short last year, will not be my short for this year. "Por Una Cabeza," which was my short two years ago, will be my short again this year. When I skated to it my first year as a Senior, I loved it right from the start. I can really feel the music and get into and "act." I'm really looking forward to this upcoming season and can't wait to get out and skate and perform. I'll write again after the show.

Luv,
Shayna