Wait no more, Natalie, Maggie and fellow Ponies! That often-discussed time of our past is here for your enjoyment.

I’m taking you back to the days in which I apparently always wore pink, knew all of the songs on pop radio, and always distressed my coach during shows and competitions with my not-so-neat-and-proper hairstyles. Figure skating holds such a special place in my heart. I made great friends — the kind that would show up for 5 a.m. practice half an hour early just so that we could play ditch in the dark bleachers of the arena before the “rink guys” turned on all of the lights. This, paired with “getting ready together in the locker room before shows” and “flinging tubes of craft glitter from JoAnn’s at one another,” are probably big contributors to how laughing became one of my most favorite things to do.

If you’re going to watch any of the below three videos, make it be this first one. It really highlights my love for Bette Midler’s “The Rose,” along with featuring some serious ballet elements that I thought I encompassed at the time. Pure genius!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNZ6rLYOSVU

Following is me skating to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” for my senior ice show. Again, in pink — only this time, I just spin a little bit faster. Weeeee!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q89FU9KsPeg&feature=youtu.be

Now for the real treat; this one is from freshman year, but is absolutely ridiculous. View at your own risk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmd2MdPqKU

I hope you enjoyed going down memory lane with me! For an update on my ice skating skills today, I’ll say that I am still pretty swift skating forwards and backwards – but the days of feeling more comfortable in skates than on solid ground are behind me. What a shame!