Happy Holidays from Sarah Patterson

I thought I'd take this opportunity, while Courtney is home with her family, to wish everyone a fantastic holiday season, one I truly hope each of you is enjoying with family and friends. It is such a wonderful time of year, one that David and I are extremely thankful to be able to spend with our family in the warmth of our home.

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Home for the Holidays

Greetings from home!! Yes, we all have made it back home after successful practices the past three days and we're enjoying being back with our families. I was pleasantly welcomed by several inches of snow, which just makes it officially Christmas for me:) We all finished the semester strong with the completion of finals this week, which is a huge relief!!

Last night we had our annual Christmas party at Sarah and David's where we play everyone's favorite "Dirty Santa." We definitely have a feisty bunch and poor Kayla got her gift stolen from her at least five times,. But she still ended up with some adorable jewelry and accesories...that she took from me in the last ten seconds ha ha. Two Coach wristlets were the presents that everyone had their eyes on. I swear nearly everyone on the team had one of the purses in their possession at one point during the game! But it was tons of fun and everyone ended up with an awesome gift to take home.

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Great Weather, Lots of Studying and a Christmas Party to Remember

Things are hot down here in Tuscaloosa. And, no I'm not referring to the sunny 80 degree weather that sent me to the pool for my studying today. This team is on fire. Routines and event line ups are really coming together and now we're all just counting down until January 11th when we finally get the opportunity to showcase the talent, determination, and passion that Alabama Gymnastics is all about.

We're on a voluntary practice schedule this week so everyone is able to come in and workout based on their exam schedule. If someone has three exams one day, they may opt not to come in, or perhaps just condition one day after pulling an all-nighter. Basically, this week is all about smart gymnastics and staying healthy while finishing the semester out strong.

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Caroling, Birthdays and Rounding Into Form

It is hard to believe December has brought along 60 and 70 degree weather with it! It's not exactly the white Christmases that I and some of our other Northerners are accustomed to...but we're sure not complaining! After taking a couple days to get back in to the swing of things, we are plugging away again both in the gym and in our classes. We have finals beginning next week so we're all trying to get prepared for those and finish up projects for the semester.

This past week was an extremely productive one of practices and everyone took huge strides forward. Thanksgiving break allowed everyone the opportunity to rest and take care of some nagging pains here and there, so it was definitely very beneficial. Terin and Kaitlin's elbows also feel a great deal better and they were both able to make a lot of progress this week, earning their very deserved spots back in the bar intrasquads.

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Back to Work!

I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving and got to enjoy some quality time catching up with friends and family. Our whole team really enjoyed the chance to go home and rest our bodies but it sure is good to be back. It's so hard to believe we only have two more weeks of classes until exams, meaning we'll all be returning home again in another three weeks! It's rather scary how fast the time goes!

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Courtney's Chalk Talk...

Well, everyone survived the past week consumed by academic insanity and we've now made it to the next stop on our journey! I know I've told ya'll Sarah's philosophy on Thanksgiving in regard to the grand scheme of the season: wherever you are gymnastically going into the break is typically where you start off in competition. So here we are and I think all the girls, coaches, trainers, and managers will attest to the fact we have worked so hard to get ourselves to this place. With such an auspicious postion, I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am for these next five months.

As a final evaluation of everyone's progress and current status going into the Holiday, we had bars and beam intrasquads on Sunday. We even brought in a judge to give her input on routines and help simulate the pressure of a competition. On bars, our team consisted of Amanda, Ricki, Morgan, Brittany, Kayla, and Kassi. Kayla had a break, but the other five nailed their sets. Usually at this time of year it's satisfactory to have everyone hit and stay on the equipment, but you expect to see hops on dismounts or slightly missed handstands. Not this year. These routines were executed in postseason fashion:) There is such a high standard in the gym this year and each of the girls are making the lineups extremely difficult to break into. We are still without Terin in our bar intrasquads as her elbow is still giving her problems on some of her skills.

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Twas the week before Thanksgiving...

Another successful week behind us brings about the final week until we leave for Thanksgiving. I think I can speak for the entire team when I say this break couldn't come at a better possible time. Yes, the holiday will offer everyone's bodies a nice reprieve and chance to relax, but the break I'm referring to is the five days without classes (including the weekend of course). I've never really struggled much with the academic overload of tests and projects my freshman and sophomore year, but I sure am paying for it this semester!!

With the pressure and stress from classes accumulating by the day, it really is amazing to see so many huge steps forward in the gym. The ability to come into the gym and leave obstacles dealing with family, school, personal struggles, or illnesss outside the door says a great deal about this team. Our team chemistry is truly amazing and each girl is so willing to do what it takes. I'm telling ya'll, the potential in these fifteen girls is endless!

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Courtney's Chalktalk

Walking out of Bryant Denny Stadium Saturday after witnessing such an intense and invigorating football game, I was overwhelmed with this incredible sense of pride and excitment. I realized how glad and fortunate I am to call Alabama home and be at such an outstanding university that has so much support generated throughout the community. Even though we had just suffered a heartbreaking loss to LSU, I was still excited and thankful. I guess when you're slowly dragging your feet out of the stadium along with 92,138 other die-hard fans it becomes obvious that this isn't the norm. Not many people get to enjoy the unity of this eternal Alabama family. As disappointing as the loss was, every single fan knew that our football team was out there giving it 110%. Those boys were fighting their hearts out for their university, for their fans, and for their family.

This realization I came to seems so obvious, but it honestly becomes quite easy to take all these amazing opportunities and everything that seems to come with being an athlete here at Alabama for granted. And for that, I want to take the time to thank all of our fans and all of our readers across the country, and perhaps even the world. You have no idea how appreciative we are of your support and dedication to our university and Alabama Gymnastics. Without ya'll, we wouldn't be anywhere close to where we are today. I know I'm a little biased, but I truly believe that our fans, the 15,000 that come to our meets in addition to the rest of our loyal supporters, are the nation's best!

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Courtney's Chalktalk

Okay Tide fans, it's now the moment you've all been anxiously awaiting...at least for the past week, that is:) Here it is, my recap on the annual, and highly anticipated, Ghosts and Goblins!! Yesterday was definitely a day of high excitement, beginning when we entered the locker room. The Ghosts had decorated it full out in white & orange streamers, while the Goblins tried to outdo their rival team with black and green decorations everywhere! The ghosts dressed in all white, complete with white facepaint and orange mardi gras beads. The goblins were intimidating in their black and green ensembles, complemented by dark and dramatic eye make up.

Now that you've got such a vivid picture in your head I suppose I can go ahead and fill you in on the amazing gymnastics that went on There was so many high points and exciting routines, it would take days for me to get through them all. So, I'll share my highlights with you, and then you'll just have to come out to our first meet to see it all for yourself!

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Courtney's Chalktalk

I don't think there's a more appropriate way to begin this week's Chalk Talk than with a big ROLL TIDE!!! What a week we've enjoyed down here in Tuscaloosa! The Bama vs. Tennessee game was quite possibly the most exciting game I have ever seen in my life. Thanks to Kassi, who arrived at the stadium before 9 a.m., we were able to enjoy front row seats right on the 30 yard line! So, we were pretty much right up there in all the action...and there sure was a lot of it in Bryant Denny Stadium this Saturday!

I don't think anything tops Gameday here at Bama, but when you combine a football team of Tennessee's caliber in addition to the intense rivalry, and over 100,000 fans here on campus, you've got yourself one heck of a football weekend). I know watching the game got all of us fired up for season. It's so hard to believe it's just right around the corner!

First stop on our journey is our annual Ghosts and Goblins intrasquad. Now just five days away, the intensity has picked up and excitement is building. Our teams have been decided and we've worked out in our groups over the past several days. Our girls thrive on competition so everyone is incredibly eager to get out in front of a crowd for the first time this year. So those of you in the Tuscaloosa area, we would love to have you come out to the Coliseum and join us Sunday at 1:30 p.m. for the first look at this 2008 Bama team! Trust me; you won't want to miss out

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Courtney's Chalktalk - Hey ya'll!

Hey ya'll! I'm so excited to be writing the first entry in our new column, "Courtney's Chalk Talk" We thought it would be a great idea to keep our Bama fans up to date on all the daily happenings in and out of the gym.

Being a retired Alabama gymnast but still active with the team as a student coach, I hope I offer you a unique perspective on what's going on down here in Tuscaloosa.

I thought that for our first Chalk Talk entry, I would just give you a recap on all that has gone on so far since August. It sure is hard to believe we're nearly halfway through the fall semester! We're so thrilled to have our three new freshmen, Kayla, Jen, and Megan, with us...they are an awesome addition to our team! Each of them are adjusting to the demands of college life and balancing academics and gymnastics and its paying off!

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