I get to see the different sides of skating now which involves not only competing, but entertainment.

I was thrilled one year when I was younger when not only did my brothers get hockey sticks for Christmas - but I did too!

I worked also, doing things such as our paper route and, later on, waitressing.

It is a process of finding the right music then planning a costume to fit that style of music.

I took group lessons at a rink near my home. We first had to learn how to stand up on the ice wearing skates. Eventually we learned to move forward, but soon found out that it was not that easy to stop! So that was our next important lesson.

Even now I can't describe why I love skating so much.

People would ask me why I was doing what I was doing - but I always told them that I just loved to skate. There was no other explanation.