Try Something New!

Practising Barre Chords On One Of Jesse's Guitars

My Knitting Supplies!

My New Hobbies

The other day I was thinking about when I was a young girl. I would try new things all of the time and everything seemed so fresh and exciting. I really liked to dance and I chose that as my main focus, leaving the other hobbies behind. I always think about what my life would be like if I had picked a different activity to practice and excel in. There are so many interesting sports and arts in the world that I would like to try. 

My Mom, Aunty, and Cousin always came to all of my dance recitals to watch me perform, and they always gave me so much support. For years they would watch me tap dance and they would mention how they wished that they could take a dance class and try and learn some new moves. Now I am mostly just teaching dance and I don't get too many chances to perform on stage. This year I will be the one going to watch my family dance! 

My family joined a tap class this fall. They have class for an hour a week on Thursdays, and every time they come home with new steps to show me. It is really inspiring to see them continue to try new things and it is amazing to watch how fast they can learn. 

Their new hobby has made me decide to try and learn some new things. My boyfriend Jesse is such a talented guitar player, I decided he would make the perfect guitar teacher. A few months ago I purchased my first guitar and I started learning basic chords and a few songs. I was surprised at how fast I was learning, I guess the rhythm I learned being a dancer really helps with playing a musical instrument. 

It can be very challenging and frustrating to learn something new but I know that if I keep practicing, one day I'll be able to keep up with Jesse. My goal is to learn a few Christmas carols to play as a duet with Jesse for my family party. If you're not lucky enough to have a guitar player to teach you, there are lots of great places in the city that offer private lessons. Get out there and learn some tunes!

My second and newest hobby is knitting. At the beginning of the school year I met Meg. She was always busy knitting when there was spare time in class and it shocked me at how fast she could make such beautiful things! Then Kailey took a few lessons and now she is working on knitting projects. 

I had seen knitting become popular again in the last few years with books like Stich n' Bitch being best sellers. I always thought that would be too hard to learn and that it was too late to become a good knitter, but after seeing Kailey and Meg knit I decided I wanted to try. 

Yesterday I went to value village and bought a big bag of knitting needles. Then I bought some yarn from Zellers (there going out of business, so go check out the cheap deals they have right now). I also picked up a copy of Stich n' Bitch to help teach me the basics of knitting. I am so excited to try and learn how to knit, I'll keep you updated on how it goes!

Meg, Kailey, Riele and I are also starting a knitting club at school. Were going to meet Monday at lunch for our first knitting party. We may look like little old ladies sitting in a circle knitting, but just wait until you see what we make! I'm hoping that I will be able to knit some gifts for my family for Christmas!

So whether you want to learn to knit, play guitar or whatever suits your fancy, I highly recommend that everyone keeps learning and trying new things!