Yamahoochie?!

Hey guys!

I’m happy Cristián is staying! We were all so worried about him and didn’t know what was going to happen. A torn tendon is tough to deal with, but I really admire him for finding the courage to continue because he’s so great in the competition. You don’t want to be stopped because of an injury and he has an incredible spirit to fight and keep going even when you have an obstacle, so I’m really happy he’s not leaving. In skating, I had injuries here and there — I’ve had sprained ankles and torn ligaments and you kind of push on and do the best you can.

It was sad to see Shannon and Derek leave. They made a great couple. I think they showed improvement every week and coming into week seven, they did an amazing job. She should really be proud of how far she came and how much she grew in the competition.

I was so surprised to be called safe first this week. I was sure we were going to be waiting for a while. You never know. There’s always a pit in my stomach. It felt good and was definitely a big relief when they announced our names. I’m worried every week but this week, we realized, we’re really relying on our amazing fan support. We were hoping people liked it more than the judges.

So Kristi Yamahoochie, huh? Gotta give them props for that one! I guess it’s a good thing I’m showing off a sexier image though for our dances. I don’t know if it’s ever been hidden, but it’s nice that I can be seen as not one-dimensional anymore like I was during the first few weeks. People think I’m very serious and focused – and I am – but there’s definitely more to me, so it’s fun to show people different sides of my personality. I’m not sure how to retaliate to that though! I’ll have to bug them about their silver eye shadow! Jerry Mirrorball Eyes or something? I know, not as good!

Next week we have our last two unlearned dances – samba and quickstep. Now that we’ve done two dances in a week already, I feel a little bit more prepared going into it. We’ll see how the week goes!

Thanks for your support! Talk to you later!

Kristi