Dec. 22, 2008

Another exciting week has passed here at Stanford. With finals finished and the dorms closed for winter break, we moved into a house on campus along with the women's swimming team. It's totally awesome to spend some time with all the girls and just be able to relax and not to have to worry about school. Break also gives us the chance to have some free time, which of course includes some holiday shopping.

After having voluntary workouts through finals week, it was nice to return to a regular schedule with everyone practicing at the same time. We started off our week with our "Meet the Team" event and we rocked it. We were divided into two teams, the "Ninjas" and team "Chrismakuh," and performed skills in pairs, including a member from each team. We had "celebrity" judges award a point to the team that showed a better skill. Our vaulters began the day strongly and there were several huge vaults with stuck landings, which shows just how ready we are for season. Bars was next where Fee was impressive as she stuck her double Arabian dismounts and Purnell showed her wicked crazy release move that awed the crowd. Dani also earned some points for her team by performing a full twisting double layout in an overtime round. Beam was solid and one of the more exciting moments was when Shelley and JP both nailed their back handspring layout series to put team Chrismakuh in the lead heading into floor. But the day was highlighted by Allyse's floor dance and Fee's sword fighting dance which gave team Ninja the victory, along with a cooked dinner by the other team that night.

Outside of the gym this week had been jam-packed. A few girls volunteered for an afternoon at the Children's Hospital on campus and played with both patients and little brothers and sisters of patients at the hospital. Also, on Wednesday we spent the day working on houses for Habitat for Humanity. Tenaya ended up working on the roof while other girls spent the day hanging drywall and baseboards. It was wicked awesome to see the changes we made to the homes in only one day. I think some of us think we can build a house now!

Despite some snow delays, we all made it home this weekend and are looking forward to some time to spend with our families. Have a safe and wonderful holiday.

GO CARD!

-Allie