Reminiscing a Summer Weekend

Today is the first day of spring - welcome, spring!

Very regularly over the last couple months of winter, I have been dreaming of summer. Only instead of dreaming ahead to this coming summer, I've been reminiscing on last summer - in particular, a special weekend I spent with my friend Annelise and her family, in their home near Sydney.

This was definitely one of my favourite weekends from summer 2014/2015. It was an absolute dream! It basically consisted of relaxing evenings, restful nights, lazy mornings, going for drives, browsing the shops, drinking coffee, walking along the beach, taking photos, soaking in the sunshine... It was bliss!

Thank you, Annelise, for blessing me with your friendship, and thank you to the whole family for such a wonderful weekend! I look forward to the next time I get to visit :)

~Rachel

It Makes me Happy...

...Ballroom Dancing!!!

Dance class: Tango!

One thing that I absolutely love to do is ballroom dancing.

Some of you call it Boring Dancing, or roll your eyes when you hear anything to do with the topic... But I am standing strong, and no matter what you think of ballroom dancing, I am posting a few pictures to show you the fun that it is to me =D

Jo and Ryan at the Black Tie Dance

My brother and I started dancing 2-3 school terms ago (June - July 2011). We began going on Sunday afternoons with the G-family, and it was such fun!!!! I originally danced with Joe, and Ryan and Lisa danced together, while our parents were partners on the dance floor.

Brothers and sisters :-)
Lisa, Jo, Ryan and I

Over time, my parents became less frequent, Mr and Mrs G moved up to the Intermediate class, and Joe and Lisa stopped coming.

Gorgeous Lisa and I

So that left Ryan and I!
We spent two [school] terms in the beginner's class. By the end of that time, we were kind of "over" reviewing steps that we already knew - although once or twice, we had a private lesson because no one else showed up - that was kinda cool =P And we did get better at the steps over that time.

Concentrating on learning a new step

From the start of this year, however, we moved up to the intermediate class!! VERY exciting =D We learned about three new steps each week, that were definitely harder than what we already knew!
Ryan has been a truly wonderful dance partner ;-) (he's going to love me for writing this, I just know it) I've been totally surprised at how well he's done! He remembers more than me! We come to dance, for instance, the Cha Cha, when we haven't even thought about that dance for 8 weeks. I'm there thinking, "Right, Cha Cha, now, I know the first step... but the rest??... HELP!" And my awesome little brother just cruises in, starts out (in double-time, no less?) leading me with all the confidence you could imagine!!

Totally not posed ;-)

Love you heaps, bro! Thanks for coming dancing with me, even when you didn't feel like it. Thanks for enjoying it (cos I know you did, at times at LEAST!! =P ) with me. Thanks for trying so hard. Thanks for apologizing every second time you stepped on my toes.
Just thanks :-)
I love sharing this with you!!! I'm gona have these memories with me forever. They're a treasure.
~Rachel