-Ralph Rhanson
"Home is where your story begins."
-Author Unknown
"The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination."
-Don Williams
 |
| Saturday night I absolutely loved the year end show of my good buddy, Brenda's… her Theme this year was "STORIES OF OUR LIVES" Brenda and I have shared so many stories of our lives together… including merging studios back in 2002. Some other friends who have shared many stores of my life with me are Ella and Jacquie who watched the show with me… and Joanne… who is a teacher at BSOBAD and is seen with us above. |
 |
| Brenda dedicated her show to her dear friend, Doreen, mother of her best friend, Tara, and also here is Tara's youngest daughter, Kim. In the bottom right of photo are sisters, Cara and Shannon who have been at BSOBAD since they were kids. Cara was Mariah's first dance teacher … so we share many stories as well. |
 |
| Brenda's son Matthew posted this great pic on FB after the show… of him and his brother, Andrew… saying what a great show his mom puts on. I couldn't agree with him more on that… it was an outstanding show. Ending with the big colour co-ordinated balloon drop. So many dancers' lives revolve around the dance memories and year end shows are the grand finale to the year's journey each season. |
 |
| I have been wrapping the year end gifts for Brenda's show since 2001. Each year the staff seems to grow a bit… this year there were 57 gifts, which were a wonderful book about THE STORY of the LIFE of a dancer who grew up dancing at Brenda's, called "Confessions of a Dance Mom"… each book was signed by the author, Alison and mom of this dancer, Jesse. Also included in the gifts were lovely bracelets saying "Memories" on them! Because I work at the studio… I received one of these thoughtful and generous gifts, too… thanks Brenda! |
 |
| Also on Saturday May 30th… I attended another dance year end show in the afternoon. Co-incidentally the two themes were similar… one about journeys and one about stories of our lives. I liked the calendar quote on this date… it not only suited the two studio owners… but many dance teachers and people I know! My friend, Ella's grand daughter performed in Kristy's show so Ella and I both did the two shows that day together. Both shows were awesome entertainment including many steps… chapters… stories and journeys! |
 |
| One day last week, Beau and Mariah popped by for a visit. I have loved our journey since they have been in our lives. Their is no better story in life than being a part of your kids and grandkids growing up… every step of the way! |
 |
| Tuesdays I often get Mariah to her dancing lessons… and she comes here first. These pics were her enjoying some happy free time in our back yard last Tuesday before her lessons! She even took our dog Shuffle for a quick walk… she has taken many steps with her over time! |
 |
| Our very good friends, Bob and Jacquie hosted a lovely evening and BBQ supper last week. They are such gracious hosts and we have shared many stories of our lives with them over time. |
 |
| Also enjoying our evening out at Bob and Jacquie's lovely home… were our good friends… Vern and Ella. |
 |
| Each day has some happy hours and special moments in it... Whether it be over a glass of wine… or a fruit beverage! |
 |
| Last week we were invited to see our sweet great niece, JORJA… soon to be 6 months old. Although her journey has barely begun… it seems to have gone through a few chapters… she is already taking some awesome steps in her jolly jumper! |
 |
| Jorja's parents, Jeff and Savanna, are loving the journey of parenthood so far. We love having her in our life , too… and I hope to soon meet my other great niece, Brielle, born on Mother's day, in May of this year. |
 |
| The chapter to our Sunday mornings pretty much always includes a breakfast at Fuddrucker's with these good friends… Judy, Ella Jacquie… Vern, Dan, Bob and Brian! We get to share many of our life stories and journeys while there each week… so fun to share with good friends. Happy Monday to all my blog readers! Where does the time go on our fast moving journeys of life???? Another week has quickly come and gone, seems like only yesterday I was writing about the journey we took to Waskesiu a week ago! The writing of my life story in my weekly blogs has brought me lots of enjoyment for over 4 and half years now… and at any given time I can pop back to a previous blog post and see what I was up to then. I am glad I have kept track of some of the positive highlights in my story of life as I journey on forward. This was another fun filled and busy week for us. A lead up to the year end shows for many dance studios… My good friend, and studio owner of BSOBAD, Brenda, hosted her show on Saturday night at TCU place and it was an extravaganza of awesome dancing. Brenda does her show in a theme each year and breaks her themes into mini chapters within the theme… so her show has such great creativity and flow to it. Between the wonderful theme, choreography, dancing, spectacular costuming and marvellous lighting and set designs… the show was truly another STORY for the book of her life as a Dance Teacher. Brenda and I became really good friends shortly after losing our fathers in early 2000. By 2002, our studios merged and our stories did too!… Although I only do odds and ends for her studio now and no longer teach dancing… our friendship has remained strong through the on going stories and journeys of our two lives. Another dance friend, Kristy, also hosted her show Saturday and I enjoyed that as well. It was held at the Lake View Church which is a lovely venue for a dance show. Her show revolved around journeys. Kristy's dance journey and mine have crossed paths many times over the past years. I have actually taught a couple summer school sessions at her studio as well. My good friend, Ella's grand daughter danced in that show, so it was nice to see her perform. I consider myself so lucky to have so many wonderful acquaintances and friends in the dance world… who share the same type passions in their lives as I do. From the STEPS… to the CHAPTERS… through the STORIES and the JOURNEYS… We all DANCE our way through our daily lives! I also feel blessed to have many friends who share an interest in not only dance but other things I like as well. We are so fortunate to spend a lot of time with our good friends, too, which makes our life stories so much more worth the journey! We were out for dinner last night at other friends of ours who shared many years with Brian's journey as a car salesman. His boss, Ross, and his wife, Trona, hosted a delicious meal last night at their beautiful home and entertained us. They have been such dear friends for many years and so kind and generous to us always. Today we attended a celebration of a life well lived. We were at the funeral service for a man well respected in this city and it was very evident by the massive turnout at his service. What a lovely tribute to our friend, Urban. Lots of chapters and stories were shared about the journey in his life. Yesterday our dear friends, NANCY and ARVID… who we 'co-grandparent' with celebrated their 40 year journey of marriage. We celebrated with them the week previously in Waskesiu, but yesterday, MAY 31st was their actual wedding date. I know they have built some wonderful chapters and stories in the journey of their life together. Now we are sharing the Grandparent stories with them as we delight in watching our Mariah and Beau grow up right before our very eyes! Hope their anniversary was as special as they are. Later today we will have the grand kids here for supper time… never a dull moment… as our daily chapters unfold! I look forward to all the times we can spend together along the way with them, too. Tonight is the start of another journey for the new season of "So You Think You Can Dance" on TV… I look forward to watching that from week to week. Life is really a journey… a big story… and chapter by chapter ... step by step everyone's life is created. All unique and different ! On that note… here is my rhyme of the day… Our lives are really just like a big book… With so many chapters as we take a look. Our paths and journeys all cross at some stage, With lots of memories as we turn each page. Every step we take on the journey we tread… Is like a new chapter, soon to be read. Our lives are a blend of so many stories, Of so many memories and also of glories. Our friends become family in our story of life, Sharing our passions and supporting our strife. Dancing through life every step of the way, And making each moment as it happens each day. Every step, every story… to the journey's end, We make many memories and many a friend! |
No comments:
Post a Comment