Livejournal: Danil Andropov

[Angela]

Character's Name: Danil Andropov
Journal Location: livejournal.com/tchaikovsky_on_ice
Readers: Everyone may read, however comments must be approved, and in order to contact him you must be on his Friends list. Depending on who you are, he'll most likely approve.

Journal Title: Lifted by Wings of Love

Latest Entry:

Title: La Vita E Bella (Life Is Beautiful)
Current Mood: Daydreaming
Current Music: Nothing (Peter's watching Sportscenter)

Hi everyone,

I am so happy to post here again. I want to say hi to my friends and readers out there. I am working very hard. I'm sorry I am not in the Grand Prix series this year, but I decided a lighter schedule will ultimately pay off, as it has in the past. I am busy with my wedding plans. Peter and I will have a civil ceremony in the beautiful mountains of Vermont on 15 April, so a lot of our time together is spent making arrangements. When we're not planning, we're enjoying each other's company, talking, watching movies, things like that. We're going to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert in a few weeks. I can't wait for that. We both love this group.

I want to thank you all for the brilliant music suggestions you've sent me! I've looked into some of them and am really interested in a few choices. I particularly enjoy the instrumental version of Memory from Cats that someone suggested. I may use that next year, because this year I'm more interested in switching gears away from films and Broadway, and moving to classical. Angela Rabatin introduced me to a wonderful pianist named Sally Harmon, she has a CD called "Pirouette" where she plays classical themes with wonderful beats. She put her own spin on classics like Fur Elise, Claire De Lune, Concerto d'Arajuez, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, Ode to Joy, and more. I'm thinking of doing her "Spring Fling," which is Vivaldi's Spring from the Four Seasons. I'm not sure though, I may think of something else, something more serious and dramatic. Again, thank you all for your suggestions, you're very kind!

Well that's about all that's going on really. I wish you all Happy Thanksgiving!

The Lord be with you,
Danilka

[Angela]

Entry Date: Jan. 15, 2009

Title: THANK YOU
Current Mood: Happy
Current Music: "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole (solo)

My dearest fans and friends,

I wanted to first send my regards to online friends and fans who were kind enough to send their best wishes to me with such beautiful Get Well Soon gifts, e-mails and cards. Peter is with me right now, helping me put into English what I want to say. My gratitude is overwhelming, as is Peter's and the rest of our family. The gifts started coming about Christmas, which was perfect timing! They have hardly stopped, and as I said we are grateful to you all for them.

I wanted to tell you that you, all of my fans, are the reason that I competed in Cup of Russia despite my injury. I love you as much as you love me, and am forever grateful for your support, and as I said, Peter is grateful too, and so is the rest of our family.

I want to extend special thanks in particular to Julia, Ariana, Maxim, Elena, Adrian, Emily, Jeremy, Anabelle, Nadine, Mandy, Tomas, Susanna, Kim, and Justin for their organization of all the gifts that we have received from fans in your areas. I wish to make mention in particular of the beautiful quilt that Anabelle sent us. We're grateful for you and those 50 collaborators who contributed patches for the making of the quilt. We thank also Nadine and Mandy for their beautiful needlepoints, and all of you for the scrapbooks of fans' notes and drawings.

We have a new member to our family! Today I found a sweet stray dog on our cellar steps. We took her to the vet because she had a broken leg. She is all right now and we have decided to adopt her. She is a beagle-chihuahua mix, perhaps about 10 years old. Peter named her Lucky, because it was lucky that I found her when I did.

Nic, Peter, Kyo and I had so much fun today! It was a snow day at Kyo's school and the roads were so bad that Peter and Nic both played hooky. We played in the snow with the family next door. They were kind enough to have us for lunch and dinner after we had our fun. When the roads were cleared, Zhenya came and brought his family, and we all played together, snowball fights and sledding on the neighbors' hills. Peter almost crashed into a tree a few times. Zoloto loved to chase after us every time we would go down, it was quite a sight!

Zhenya went with me to the shelter to make Lucky's adoption final, and he ended up getting three cats and two dogs of his own! Thankfully he has a big enough house and yard for them. It all started when this dog rushed up to me, a borzoi puppy. I was on the verge of adopting him but the managers said that they required a fenced-in yard, with a six-foot high fence. I did not meet that criteria and I was not really interested in having such a fence... But Zhenya loves him and he has a yard that meets that criteria. So, he decided to adopt him. His name is Prince Dimitri and he is good with children, dogs and cats, which of course came as a relief to us! The adoption is not final yet, first they have to interview Zhenya, consult him about his home life, make a home visit. Borzois are sighthounds and require a lot of attention and exercise. I'm actually concerned. With four kids, three cats and two dogs, how can he have time for it all? Then I just remind myself that he has his mother and of course Katya, and us! We always help out. I'm sure they will all be fine.

Slava was with Zhenya, and he got along with Dimitri right away! Exploring the shelter, he found a beautiful Jack Russell terrier, and because one of Slava's favorite movies right now is The Mask, he wanted to adopt him too. Zhenya was hesitant, but agreed that as long as the dog was Slava's responsibility that it would be all right to adopt him. As I said, Slava loves The Mask, so you can guess what he named him: Milo! It fits too, he looks very much like him!

I went to check out the cats, just to kill some time while the adoption process was being finalized, and Zhenya came with me, and ended up falling in love with three beautiful kittens. One is orange, and he named him Apollo, after the Greek god of the sun. There were two female kittens, people said that they would prefer them to be adopted together, since they were best friends. One is a grey tabby like mine! The other is a Russian blue. It seems all of a sudden Zhenya has become prideful of our heritage! (KIDDING!) The Russian blue he named Kisa, and the grey tabby he named Shvbzyk, which means "imp."

I was debating on getting another pet, but for now I think I will stick with my three babies!

I am taking this opportunity now to make an announcement.

This will be my last year of competition. I feel that I have gotten all I can get out of this career, and it is time to close this page of my life and open a new page. I want to explore a professional career while I study in school to be a veterinarian. It's a career I have wanted for a long time, and I think that it is time I pursue it. Peter and I also want to look into adoption. We want a child. These past few months hosting our exchange student has made us realize that a child would truly complete our family. I almost want to try looking into adoption in Russia, but I am afraid that would be unacceptable to them, so for now I will stick with America. I think Peter and I have a lot to offer a child that some straight couples cannot. We hope that you wish us well as we enter this new phase of our lives.

I am working extra hard for the Europeans and Worlds. I want to skate my best, as I usually want to, but this is even more important because it will be my last year. I want the last competitive image that people see of me to be one that is great.

I am also looking forward to Bratislava because it is my mother's hometown, and I am currently reading her diaries. Papa gave them to me as a wedding gift, and I have been reading them ever since we got back from our honeymoon. The diaries start out when she had her 13th birthday, and they end the night before she died. At first I wasn't sure I wanted to read, but in the end I decided that I should. I am still her son, after all. I owe it to her.

That being said, I want to end this entry by saying that once more we love you all and appreciate the kindness you have showed us over the past few months. You will forever be in our hearts and minds.

May God bless you all,
Danil and Peter