Journal Archive - 2006

December 24th, 2006 - Happy Holidays

Hello everyone, Happy Holidays!

This is our favorite time of year as we actually get some time to sit back and relax with our families and friends and not worry about training for a few days. Nice hey? We are in Quebec now until boxing day with Dave's family and my Mom and we're having a blast! We went skating yesterday with all of Dave's friends at "his" arena for 2 hrs and I had so much fun skating in my hockey skates. LOL I am sooooooooooo bad on them, you'd get a kick out of me for sure. You'd think I'd be good but without picks I'm not so......elegant. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and Dave was the happiest guy being with his buddies.
Dec. has been a fun month for us as you probably already know by seeing all the shows on t.v, it was a success for us. We stayed healthy and loved the shows. Hopefully you've seen some of them.
We are spending next week at home training and then we're heading to the mountains for New Years with our friends. There's also a special day in there for us, our anniversary. WOW! It's already been 1 year it's hard to believe.
Then we head to Japan for 3 shows on the 3rd so it's a short vacation in the mountains. It's o.k, we have many years to enjoy them.
Well, we wish for all of you to have the holiday season you were hoping for and that the New Year brings you great things!
For us it's always great when we are here and healthy so we are thankful for that. Have a safe and happy holiday everyone and we'll be back to tell you all about Japan and our trip.
Cheers,
Jamie and Dave

December 2nd, 2006 - Home from Lake Placid

Hi Everyone!
So sorry it's taken us a week to post but our internet has been down and we forgot until now.
We're pretty sure you've already heard how everything went but we'll give you our thoughts and impressions.
As we said before the show opened we thought it was a very clever and great show and from what our toughest critics said it's our best show in the 5 years we've been there. We absolutely LOVE it and have so much fun doing it, even though we've done one show. Rehearsals were great and it all came together really easily and with a ton of fun.
We have a little piece of inside information for you all.... the hr before the show we play music for the crowd to listen to and that music this year is music that all of us picked from our questionnaires that we were asked to do for Jef Billings our producer and costume designer. We all got to pick 2 songs of our favorite artists and they're played at different times every show so we don't know when they're coming up. Fun hey?
All of the transitions are videos this year and they involve the skaters talking about certain things that go on on tour, things we miss, things we don't like and everything we love about it. We think it's quite funny and the crowd seemed to really enjoy it.
It's all about how we have double identities just like the superheros we know. You all know us as skaters but you get to know us a little better as people through the videos, our personalities come out and we get be ourselves.
The best # in the show is 60's medley that closes the 1st act. Even if you don't like that era of music you'll like what we're doing to it and how we all look, it's so fun and funny!
We don't like to give everything away for those of you who haven't seen it because some things should be kept a surprise. We're quite confident that you'll have a good time at the show anyway.

We're getting ready to go to Prince George, B.C for our Christmas show this coming Wed. (rehearsals) and show is on Sat. and then we're back home for 2 days and then gone to Loveland, CO for Brian Boitano's show. After that show we are home for 5 days and then we're spending Christmas away in Quebec this year. And then it's off to Japan for 3 shows from the 3rd of Jan.- 8th of Jan. We are starting in the US on the 13th. That's our schedule for the next month so you're all up to date now.

Thanks to all of you who were there in Lake Placid for the show, we appreciate your support and kind words. We're happy that you liked it too. Looking forward to more of you ssing it.
Take care and stay warm if you have snow and it's freezing like it is here in Edmonton, AB. -20. Be happy if you never experience it.
Bye for now,
Jamie and Dave

November 12th, 2006 - Rehearsals

Hey Everyone!
We made it to Lake Placid for rehearsals and we're now finished day 3 of a fantastic show! You are gonna LOVE it! We all do anyway so hopefully you think the same.
We had a great time in Victoria for Skate Canada and our commentating debut but we were sure exhausted once we got home and only had 2 days to get ready to leave for L.P. We loved the t.v stuff and had fun doing the side shows for all of you watching at home to show you what you can look for in the pairs events, they were made up on the spot by us, totally spontanious. Good times!
We were very stressed and nervous about our commentating because the "Olympic Ice" show we had done in Torino wasn't quite the same although it definitely prepared us. We know we have a lot of improving to do to be as great as Tracy Wilson but that could take years, hopefully you'll all be patient.
We also did some backstage fluff for the parade of champions that was actually on t.v last night (sorry forgot to tell you) which was a blast for us and little less stressful.
Anyway, we got through it and we're excited about doing more work with CTV. We are doing some videoing of the tour this year and it'll be posted on the CTV website as well as ours so keep your eyes open for that later in the new year once the tour gets on the road.

We are taking the tour to Japan again for 3 shows before we actually start in the US. Should be a great time as it always is. LOVE Japan!
So the show is awesome so far, we've only choreographed 3 #'s but it's fun, fun, fun! We're all having a great time and love what we know about it and love what we've done.
Get out there and buy your tickets now, you don't want to miss it.
O.k, that's it for now so stay tuned for our update post opening night here on the 25th. Give a couple days o.k, we're so good at the right away thing. Thanks.
Take care,
Jamie and Dave

October 20th, 2006 - Post show update

Hey Everyone!

I'm sooooo sorry but I wrote an update 2 days ago and it's not here
I have no idea what happened but it was a good one, too bad.
Take 2:
We got back home on Monday evening from our trip to Toronto,Ont where we skated in Kurt's "Gotta Skate" with the Barenaked Ladies and worked on our commentating with Rod Black at CTV/TSN. Fun, fun, fun!
We had a great show and BNL were AWESOME (gotta go see them on tour if you can, a must see concert). They were the most fun we've EVER worked with in a show, very versitile and EXTREMELY
personable and friendly. Good 'ol Canadians!
Last Saturday afternoon we had a little chance to practice for our big debut in commentating at the Skate Canada grand prix event that will take place next month in Victoria, B.C. YIKES!
It's a bit scary as it's our first time commentating but we felt better after we worked with Rod, he's the BEST and we're in great hands with him. Along with him we have a stellar team with Tracy Wilson (also the BEST in the business), Barb Strain (she collects info on the skaters for us) and an awesome team behind the scenes (producer, director ect.).
So we'll survive our 1st experience and hopefully it'll be as much fun as we're expecting.
We are only doing the pairs event on Thursday Nov. 2nd and Friday the 3rd and both are on TSN, then we're doing a show on Sat. with everyone that'll be on CTV. Hopefully you can catch it but check your local listings just in case I'm wrong.
We're supposed to be doing Nationals as well but we'll be on tour having wayyyyyyyy too much fun so we have to wait until next year.
Nationals was always the most exciting competiton of the year and the most memorable for a lot of people so it would be fun to do and we're looking forward to being there next year (2008)

After that event we're heading to Lake Placid for another fantastic 2 weeks of rehearsals. It's gonna be a goooooooooood one guys! I'm telling you, from what we're hearing it sounds like a lot of fun and again totally different from any other year. We're excited more than any year and we can't wait for you all to see it.
Ahhhh, we always have fun but it sounds like the audience will have some good times too more than usual.
You'll seeeeeee
Well, I've got to go make dinner for my amazing husband (he's helping tonight which is unusual so I've got to take advantage of it, ). I can't complain at all because he's so good at doing the dishes after I've cooked. It's called putting them in the dishwasher!!!!! Cute though.
Take care and we'll be back soon for another update. Bye for now,
Jamie

September 12th, 2006 - Back home

Hey everyone!
We're back home from Sun Valley,ID and Nottingham, England and we're feeling great! No jetlag, (don't know how to spell it) it's like we didn't even leave.
Both shows were fun and we're happy with our performances. There was an unknown feeling with the fact that we had more time off this summer but we were ready and able to do everything. It felt awesome to be back performing.

Sun Valley is always a neat show as we skate under the stars outside on outdoor ice with the audience on 3 sides of it. Very cool!
Going back to England was great too and skating with Steven, Jennifer, Katia, Ilia, Yuka and Jason again was a blast. The show went off really well and we believe it was a big success. Way to go Steven!
(Steven Cousin's put the show on)
So our year has officially begun and we're choreographing another program next week and then we're ready for Stars. We had a change of music for our 2nd one but we think it's even a better choice than before.
Can't wait!
Thought you might get a kick out of the fact that we are doing a ballroom dancing "charity" event here in Edomton this coming Oct. 3rd and we're partnered up with different dancers. We are competing against eachother and let me tell you, it's COMPETITION all right! LOL
We're having a blast and Dave is so funny, he didn't want to go and now that he's having fun he wants to go back after for more. He's going to really turn it on I'm sure, he's good like that!
I will try to get a video for all of you and put it on the site for your viewing.
I'll do my best.

Besides that we're busy training and getting ready for all the upcoming shows this fall/winter. Dave is going to Oslo, Norway with his jr. pair team on the 25th of Sept for a week so he's pretty excited about that and it's 1st time he goes away with them.

Nothing else is really new but I think it's so funny you're all asking about my hair, it is quite short and it's definitely a new look for me. Lets just say you'll either like it or hate it. How's that?
It's fun and I do enjoy it when I'm skating now, it's all over the place.
Take care and be well. We'll be back soon to fill you in with more.
Jamie and Dave

August 11th, 2006 - Back to normal!

Well, hello everyone!
We hope that you are all enjoying your summer but that you're anxious for some more skating this season. It's coming fast and we can hardly believe how the time has flown by.
We've been having a great time on the ice and seeing my physio therapist every morning at 6am (now that's discipline hey?) has been helpful in speeding up my healing process and strength training. We are doing everything we used to do now and even some new tricks that we just put into our new program that we had choreographed this past week.
We think you're going to like it as it's a song that you'll know and it had a great response at the music awards.
Ah, you'll have to wait to see it we can't say anything and ruin a fun surprise!
We are doing our other program in the middle of Sept. and it's another fun one for us. It's something we haven't done yet and one thing we can tell you is that you'll either love the music or hate it. How's that for a hint?
It's like that every year, some times you win and some times you lose.
I wanted to thank you for the compliments on my Today's Bride shoot, you all made my day. I enjoyed the experience (we did it when we were in T.O for the Canadian tour) very much and we're both happy with the outcome. I was NOT wearing my actual dress on the cover nor on the little photo inside (I'm dressed differently with my hair slicked back and sitting sideways) but there is a photo of Dave and I on our wedding day so you can see my dress there. We are sending Erica some more photos soon so you all can have some laughs at us growing up and more from the last few years.

We are skating in Sun Valley on Sat. Sept. 2nd and then we're leaving for England immediately after for rehearsals. We're excited about that show and we both haven't been there in a long time so it'll be great to go back.
I'm all out for now but we'll be back to fill you in on what's new in a while, when we have something else to tell you. LOL
Take care and we hope you're all well.
Jamie and Dave

July 15th, 2006 - Back on the ice

Hi everyone!

After 2 and a bit months of physio therapy we're back on the ice again. We started skating on Thursday and so far so good. Slowly but surely and we're just working on basic things right now. I will still need another couple of weeks to start doing throws, hand stands and twists. It feels great to be back and we are having a lot of fun. I think taking that time off really helped us and now we're hungry to get going again.
Dave has been coaching a bit here (me, not so much) and his Junior pair team got 2 junior international competitions so he's so excited. He really wants to go to one of them in Oslo, Norway but we'll see, we have a lot to do and it may conflict.
Me on the otherhand, I've been getting up at 5:30am every morning to see my physio until 7:30am but it's been worth it as he has been kicking my butt.
It's not so fun to rehab I tell ya but every time I walk out of there I feel like I've improved. I'm going to miss him when I'm done because he's been so awesome with me and we've bonded throughout the process. He's a cute 60 some year old man who teaches here at the U of A and he's actually written a few of the text books for the Physio Therapy program. He's brilliant!

So that's about it for now but we'll keep you all posted on our progress over the next month. Oh ya, I'm not sure how many of you noticed but I've cut my hair much shorter. I wanted something different for the year and I love it. It's so fun. I gotta tell you though when your skating it's hard to have a "stylish" hair cut because it has to work for the ice, either up in a ponytail or a bun or half up but not in your face. So for those of you who know what I'm talking about there's not a lot of layers going on or really funky styles. Oh well, one day. Take care all of you and we're so excited to see you in the months to come. WOW, it's coming soon. Only a month and a bit left until Sun Valley and the England show.

Bye for now, stay out of trouble
Jamie

June 14, 2006 - Recovering and having fun!

Hey there everyone!

Hope you are enjoying your spring/summer (it's summer for us!!!)
We have been having so much fun with our time off. We took our Mom's to New York City for 5 days for their Birthday's and they had a blast. We saw Mama Mia, The Lion King and an exhibition called Bodies which is absolutely AMAZING and if you can ever go we highly recommend it. We took them all over the city, showed them where the Today show is taped and where the skating takes place for the show. We had fabulous food all the time, thanks to David Baden (IMG) who set it up for us, and experienced some fun places to hang out and take it all in. Crazy city!
We've been home now for 5 weeks and it doesn't even seems like it. We've been busy doing some house things, traveling a bit, catching up with friends and of course, watching HOCKEY. It could be over tonight if the Oilers don't win and then we're not sure what we're going to do in the evenings. Kidding!
We are enjoying watching the games and we got to go to the last 2 here in Edmonton with our friend Allison Weight who is the wife of Doug Weight who plays for Carolina. Good times I tell ya
My shoulder is doing really well and it's healing everyday more and more but I have to tell you it's testing my patience which is good for me because I kinda lack in that area. I want it 100% now and I want to be able to be where I was before the surgery NOW.
I'm working really hard on it and Dave has been WONDERFUL with me so that helps a lot. Keeping busy is always good for a distraction.

We are doing a dancing contest here in Edmonton in Oct. for charity (sick kids) and we both are taking dance lessons with different teachers and have to actually compete against each other on the night. It should be a fun and hilarious event. People are so excited to see us compete against one another. We've never taken ballroom dance lessons before either so we're looking forward to that. Good for the skating.

So that's it for now, we'll keep you posted on any new things happening or coming up. Take care and be well,
Jamie and Dave

May 18, 2006 - Home Sweet Home ( Canada)

Hi everyone!

We're terribly sorry that we haven't posted anything since the end of the tour but it's not because we haven't tried it's because our home computer for some reason won't allow us to actually post once we've written a message. ??? Thanks to Erica Armstrong we're finally getting it out to you.

It's kind of old news now that we've been home for a week and a day but I tell you anyway....

The first day we got home (Wednesday, May 10th) all we wanted to do was sleep. We were so wiped out I can't even express it to you. We slept for 4 hours that afternoon and then we got tickets to the Oilers/San Jose playoff game so we raced off to the game at 8pm. It was AMAZING! The Oilers ended up winning that game but not until 5 and a bit periods of hockey (each period is 20 mins.) which is almost triple overtime. It was so electric in the arena we couldn't even hear each other when we were talking.

Fun, fun, fun!!!

It was a very late night for us (1am before we got home) but us crazy Canucks love our hockey so we were totally fine with that.

The next day we basically cleaned our house/yard as much as we could before we were leaving for Cleveland for my surgery on Sunday. I was getting quite anxious and couldn't believe it was really coming closer. Last year I told myself I have sooooooo much time before I have to get nervous but BANG it's HERE!

So we left Sunday morning (too early) for Cleveland and then just hung out for the night but I have to say we weren't happy campers. The Oilers were playing again and the hotel didn't have OLN which was the channel in the US that it was on . My Mom had to call us every time someone scored to keep us in the loop. It drove us crazy! They won again which meant that they only had one more to win to win the series and move on to the next one which would be against Anaheim.

Anyway, so we went in on Monday morning and my surgery went better than we even expected (I was in the best hands anyway but we didn't know what to expect) and we flew home at 5pm and arrived back in Edmonton at 10:30pm. I was happy to be in my own bed that night I tell ya, I was a bit uncomfortable.

Dave was a Superstar though, he did everything for me and was never complained about anything. He still isn't but I don't know how long it'll last. LOL

I'm not enjoying doing nothing as you can imagine it's driving me bonkers but I also know I have to take it easy for a while. I start rehab tomorrow with baby steps and gradually over a 3 week period I'll be doing a bit more. It's 2 months before we skate again but we are actually looking forward to it as it's the first time we take more than 1 month off ever.
We will be able to start back on the ice in July and choreograph our new #'s. It seems so long from now but I know it'll fly.

We can hardly believe another tour is over. Of course now that it's over we feel it went fast but this year we were away from home for 5 months and we missed it very much.

The Olympics was what did it this year being over in Italy for weeks working and then the month of March for us was crazy with 4 shows in a row for 5 weeks straight. We were tired. But we made it and made it with no problems thank goodness.

We'd like to thank you all again for your continued support over the years, we are very much appreciative. We also want to thank all of you who sent gifts and spoiled us on the road, you know who you are. We are looking forward to possibly touring again next and seeing all of you great fans out there.

Thanks so much and stay tuned for our summer updates. Have a wonderful spring/summer and take care of yourselves.

Jamie and Dave

April 8, 2006 - Coming to an End

Hi Everyone!
(Love this little Canadian icon, very cute!)
It's already coming down to the end of another US tour, we can hardly believe it. It goes so fast and it's especially hard to believe it's been 4 years for us. Carzy how time flies when you're having fun
We only have 5 shows left including tonight in Worcester and then we have the long drive up to Halifax for rehearsals for Stars Canada. Yes, we drive. It's a 14 hr drive but we have a good time on our luxury buses, we have a bite to eat, watch movies or play games and then sleep all the way there.
We usually get there around 1 pm and then get ready to watch some hockey play-offs. Thank goodness there's hockey this year, YAY!
It's been great seeing you guys out this year supporting the tour and us, we really appreciate it and especially those who gave us goodies.
Thank you so much.
We hope you've enjoyed watching the shows and the shows were good ones to see. We've a great time performing and the crowds have been really awesome this year and we hope to see you all back next year.
We hope we're back too
We will still write you as we travel but that's it for now from me so take care and be well and thanks again.
Jamie

April 1, 2006 - It's me...really

Hi everyone!

Well it's the first day of April and spring weather is among us. We just had a day off in Hershey, Pa and the temperature was outstanding! So the guys and 2 girls (Elena and Sabrina) decided to go play paintball! We had the best time. Does it hurt? Only if it hits you! So the secret is not to get hit! You are probably thinking tell me something I don't know Captain Obvious! Well, strategie and communication among your partners is very important. Team Europe (Alexei, Elena, Steven and myself...I'm french so I decided to include myself into the team) won most of the games against team North America (Todd, John, Sabrina and Jason). Everyone went home with a few bruises and a huge smile on their face!

We are in Rochester tonight and there is only 9 shows left in the USA. I have to say the this tour flew for us. Everybody is doing great and the spirits are high! There is always the soccer game before the show and the soccer game after the show in the bus on the XBOX that keeps us entertained.

We saw Erica last night in Buffalo and it's always great to have familiar faces in the crowd.

So, only 9 shows left, only 9 games left in the NHL before playoffs and the Masters coming up next week-end...what else a guy can ask for?

All the best to all of you!

David

February 16th, 2006 - From the Olympics

Hello from Torino everyone!

It is day seven today of the Olympic games and I have to tell you we are having the time of our lives here. Working for NBC has been so much fun and the best experience. Television is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy different than skating obviously and to be honest I never had a clue of what really goes on behind the scenes to make it happen.
It's busy everyday and almost 24 hours a day too which makes it for an exhausting task for the editors, producers, directors and of course the guys who are behind the cameras.
It's like a little city that NBC has built behind the arena with people everywhere and cables all over the place. It's really quite fascinating for me.
We are not sad that we were not a part of the skating (competing) this time and have absolutely no regrets. We are totally enjoying this side of the skating business and we can't say we are envious of the skaters. We admire them but don't miss the pressure and stresses of competing and training.
This has been such a positive experience for us and we could definitely do it again, that's if they want us.
We haven't been able to really get out at all as we are working hard on the "Olympic Ice" show, which is on the USA channel for those who are wondering how to see it, but it's really o.k because the show is fun and we're are loving it.
We are getting wonderful reviews and apparently it's a "must see" of the Olympics. Cool hey? We're pretty excited about that, as it's our 1st time doing this and we had no idea we'd even be any good at it. I guess it's working.
Hope you are enjoying watching the Olympics, we sure are.
So that's it for now but we'll be back soon. Take care,
Jamie

February 3rd, 2006 - I'm back!

Hi!
Well, it has been a long time and I'm very sorry. I have no excuse. So let's get at it.

The tour is doing great on and off the ice. The skaters are healthy and the bus rides haven't been too long yet. With the Olympic break coming up, the month of March promises to be a hard one. We will have to make up for these 3 weeks off. We will not have a lot of days off and a lot of long rides. But I'm not too worried about it. We will cross the river when we will get to the bridge.

Guess what folks? It has been 4 years since Salt Lake City. As you might already know, we are going to be in Turin working with NBC. You might be watching the first skating competition with subtitles! Even though we are not commentating, and we are very happy about that, we will be working every day with a show call "Olympic Ice". We are looking forward to the challenge. It will be great to step out of our comfort zone (the ice) and try something new. We will be mostly at the practice arena to see what's going on with the skaters. Practices are a very important part of the competiton. I guess a lot of you know that since we always praticed infront of a lot of people at our competitions. The Olympics are different, SLC was anyway, the practices are not open to the public. That changes everything. You end up skating for a very select few that includes judges,competitors and media. It's not as easy as you might think but it's part of the Games and that's why it's so special.

I hope you guys enjoy watching the Games on NBC. We have the best team and I'm proud of working with Scott Hamilton, Tracy Wilson, Dick Button and Sandra Bezic. Do not worry about the judging, just sit and appreciate the skating. It will be great.

Talk to you soon

David

January 15th, 2006 - Wow, time is flying!

Hello and Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!

As you all probably know Dave and I got married on the 30th of Dec. in Banff and we have to say it was the BEST day of our lives. We had so much fun with all our guests and the day was beautiful and extraordinary. We were able to enjoy everything that was going on and actually be stress free because my Mom is an event coordinator and she had most of everything done for us. Lucky us hey?
Anyway, it was wonderful and we are still smiling.
Unfortunately we didn't have a honeymoon because of lack of time post wedding (which was completely our decision obviously) but at least we get to be together on tour and enjoy eachother everyday.
We are having so much fun with the cast this year and so far the show is doing extremely well. We are up in ticket sales and the crowds are AWESOME! We are so excited about the turn out and we heard it's like that most of the tour which makes us all happy.
There's great chemistry with us and we're all in a good place. The bus rides haven't been too bad so far but we a couple of long ones coming up.
I also should tell you for those who haven't seen it or just don't know we changed our program back to Wynonna Judd's I Wanna KNow What Love Is. We also got new costumes yesterday and we love them so we're complete.

We hope you all have a prosperous New Year with lots of success and happiness. We are doing wonderfully and we can't wait until you see the show. Take care and be well,

Bye for now,
Jamie
Hopefully Dave'll write next time