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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