A huge part of swimming for me is I love it, and it is so much fun.

Hopefully I don't annoy people too much.

I don't think about the trials and the Olympics a lot. If I do, it's just going to stress me out and get me worried.

For me, it seems to help me take the pressure off if I don't pay attention to what other people are telling me.

For right now, I still believe that college is what's going to make me the happiest girl.

I don't like watching myself on TV, I don't like reading about myself.

I'm always so excited about what I do that I try to get everyone to feel that way.

I'm just an all-around happy girl who loves everything about her life.

Sometimes when my mom finds a fun article and really wants me to read it, I will. But I prefer to just kind of focus on what I want to do and not really what other people are saying, because I don't want that to affect me too much.

Christmas in Bethlehem. The ancient dream: a cold, clear night made brilliant by a glorious star, the smell of incense, shepherds and wise men falling to their knees in adoration of the sweet baby, the incarnation of perfect love.

The simple tableau is so rich with meaning that whether represented on the mantelpiece or in the mind, it seems suspended, complete unto itself, somewhere in eternity.