New blog entries incoming!

Been busy wedding planning and so I will be getting some blog entries together as of tomorrow! <3

Ciao for now readers!

Sam

Plot twist! Great news!

Hello once again Readers!

So this has been a rather interesting week this past week. A lot of different things have kind of landed in my lap and admittedly, all of it's exciting to say the least! At least I find it exciting. You might not, I don't know. I don't know you now do I? Alas, it's a fair bit of interesting news and it's funny how things seem to keep lining up back to back for me. I've noticed that since I met my coach and started skating, opportunities seem to be popping up and tossing things at me as I buckle down and work actively towards my goals.

I won't lie. It's great. Few things have presented themselves to me in the last few years beyond the obvious 'getting married' thing. Which is just as exciting as all of this. I'm so nervous. Seriously. Skating, Ballet and Riding keep me fairly calm though. Sometimes I doubt myself. But then I remember, I've been in love with her every day for the last 8+ years and I know it's the right thing. Still makes me nervous being in front of all those people though!

Moving on from my lovey-doveyness (Love you Sarah.), I'm happy to say that my skating time and career is likely to improve aggressively. The only downside being is that I will likely have a longer drive to get to my club once things change. My coach has chosen to move to another club (About a 25 minute drive from where I am.) and since I'd prefer not to lose her as a coach, I contacted the club she is moving to....and now I'm not sure why I didn't before. Not only do they provide skating year-round, they also have an adult program as well as private lessons. Seriously, it's awesome.

They also are looking to have an adult Synchro team this year and through a bunch of inquiring emails I may be trying out for it! I do actually love synchro but it's really not often you see men doing it. Not that I mind. It makes me the rarity. After careful consideration I think I'm going to try out for it. The skills they're looking for fall under what I've learned with my coach and while I'm no expert, I'm confident at them more or less.

So yay! <3

I can't remember if I've mentioned it before. But before I met my fiancée and delved into these hidden dreams of mine. All I ever did was play video games. I was a completely different person 5+ years ago. Not only am I happier these days, but I'm healthier and have a generally more positive outlook. Heck, I find most video games boring these days. I barely have anything in the way of a console these days. They just don't hold my interest or attention like they used to and I'm happy for that.

I wish everyone could rediscover themselves like I have. When you forget the world and people looking down on you for a little while and manage to take that plunge into your dreams. Everything changes for the better. I spent too long looking down that big, scary tunnel before deciding to go down it.

So a bit of a random blog today but hopefully it gives some insight into how things are going and how I feel about things lately!

Ciao for now!

Sam

Skating to Ballet: Fondu and Sticky Chocolate! Additional Lessons #3!

Hello once again readers!

I do hope that this blog gets read and inspires some people to follow their dreams. I received feedback previously on a forum I post to that said they hope my blog inspires others to follow their dreams. I don't think I could have gotten a nicer compliment and it made me smile to think that this blog is helping to inspire others or even provide a bit of an entertaining read. I haven't said it yet, but thank you everyone who does take the time to read this! It's been a pleasure writing it.

But alas! I came here for a reason. To write about todays lesson (Yup! I'm actually managing to write it the day after the lesson rather than half a week late haha. No more procrastinating.) We did all sorts of interesting stuff during this lesson with a few new pieces as well as practicing the basics/foundations of ballet as a whole. Also, is it weird that every time I listen to music now, I see skating routines that I could do to the music?

ON TO THE LESSON!

Rhythm/Bar Exercises/Pointe-Demi Pointe - So we worked plenty on these. This made up a fair chunk of our lesson and now that I'm getting the rhythm and movements down a bit more, it goes a bit smoother. It's quite interesting and fun learning to move your body in ways you don't normally do so. Smooth and easy. Though I find it hard to squeeze too crazy much into our lessons with the time limitation.

Plie - We are still working mostly on the first three positions here. My rhythm is getting a tiny bit better though I just learned about how I'm supposed to turn my foot when pointing so that's new! It looks so fancy <3 The main part I still struggle with is going into a full plie and not bringing my heels off the ground before I actually get to the grand plie. (Hopefully that's the right term? Correct me if it's not!) Hopefully in time I can get this down.

Weight Transfer - We once again touched down on weight transfer. My coach has reassured me that figuring out the quick 'turns' when transferring weight and where to put my feet will come in time and eventually just be muscle memory. Thank the gods for that because at this point I tend to confuse myself over and over. By the end I did get better however.

Fondu - So we did practice a new movement this lesson called a 'Fondu'. So many strange French words I will have to get used to! It's essentially a plie with the exception of bringing on foot off the floor up along your leg as you go into your squat/plie. The key here is that you're to show 'resistance' as you drag your foot off the ground and up your leg. The way it was explained to me is that you're trying to pull your foot out of sticky toffee or chocolate. It made sense ^_^

Jumping Focus - We tried to make it to jumping this lesson but we ran out of time unfortunately so it's been decided the next lessons focus will be on jumping and some of the more acrobatic moves that come with ballet. Hopefully I'm not doing splits mid-air or anything because I can't even do them on the ground yet! All in good time. I'm looking forward to this lesson!

That's really it for the content of my lesson. A question as posed to me whether or not I'd like to focus on ONLY the skills transferable to skating or if I'd liked to be trained as any other dancer. It's a good question but as much as this is the improve my skating I've found I've really enjoyed learning it. So I opted to learn as any other dancer would and I'll apply the skills to my skating as I see the ability to do so.

That's about it for this entry. Keep following your dreams and fulfilling those passions!

Ciao for now!

Sam

Skating to Ballet: Additional Lessons #2!

Hello once more readers!

While this blog is a touch late, I've been struggling to find how to best format it and describe my recent experiences. It seems I always post about being late don't I? I'll stop that now. My bad.

So then! This is entry #2 regarding my Ballet Lessons that I've recently taken on. Lesson number two was this past Saturday and while I generally dislike getting up early on weekends, I was genuinely excited to for once. Actually...the more I get out and actively do things the more I find myself wanting to get out and do more things and enjoy as much of the day as I can. Funny how a few small changes can make such a big difference! Especially for someone as introverted as me.

My lesson this week was great. While they are unfortunately, shorter lessons. We do manage to squeeze a fair amount of things into them and I am able to practice throughout the week where I can find time/space. Though I've discovered my local gym has a room I can use when it's not occupied AND it's a private space. Bonus! Thanks for that snippet of Info Lindsay!

I guess I should explain what my lesson contained? Shouldn't I? That IS what this blog is for. But before I do, I've been asked a few times why I write these. While it's a fun hobby and a way to share my experiences. It's also to help retain information and make my lessons sink in more. While I am a 'learn by doing' sort of person, I find that writing about each lesson I do helps kind of 'ingrain' the lesson in my head. It was an idea that originally came from a horseback riding coach I used to ride with and one I've kind of stuck with since. I've found for me, as I am quite forgetful. It helps loads and I would recommend the idea to just about anyone!

ON TO THE LESSON!

Rhythm/Bar Exercises/Pointe-Demi Pointe - This is generally what we start each lesson with after a good stretch on the yoga mats. (Which I've been doing all week! I've discovered muscles I didn't even know I had!) These consist of music playing while we practice the different positions. (So far we have only worked on positions 1, 2 and 3.). This also involves working on moving the feet and pointing the toes in Pointe/Demi-Pointe. Which as I understand it Demi means half with most things in ballet. These are fun, although I don't fully get the rhythm yet so I find I rush to catch up to my instructor.

Plie - As comes with Ballet, we did focus on doing Plies in this lesson both in the first position and second position which are basically identical except in one your feet are together in a V and the other they are the same except shoulder width apart. It's one of the few places where my heels coming off the floor in a squat comes in handy! Though I still have to work on stretching out those heels any way I can. Plies are interesting and combing with proper posture and arm placement I definitely find they make me a touch more aware of my body.

Weight Transfer - Next we did do some focus on was weight transfer. Pointing and stepping into different positions while properly transferring weight from leg to leg. Once I get the pattern down and how to do this properly I'm sure I'll be more successful/able to practice. It was a lot of fun though and it's certainly interesting feeling how to move as a dancer.

Jumping - So we touched base on this at the veeeery end of the lesson. Not too much, just basic stuff in first position jumping up and landing with knees bent. I did ok, but I have to work on keeping stable and proper posture while doing these!

So that was more or less the basis for my lesson. My homework was to work on training up my back muscles as best I can by using the 'cobra' yoga pose and finding the muscles in my back that I'm supposed to use when moving my arms. And here I naively thought I was supposed to use my shoulders! It's been good so far and I'm seeing tiny bits of improvement the more I do it. Though I wish the week had allowed me more time at the gym.

With this entry coming to a close, I just wanted to say I am genuinely surprised. While I've always loved skating and what it entails, I didn't expect that t and ballet would be my 'calling' per-se. The things that I am driven to do and enjoy doing more than anything. Not that I'm complaining, as the old commercial says, 'Nobody is good at everything, but everybody is good at something!' *insert T-rex noises here* Heh. Loved that commercial.

Alas! Our time draws to a close. Happy trails!

Ciao for now,

Sam