1. SSQQ Instructor Daryl Armstrong met his wife Joanne here?  They were married in October, 1998.
   They have two children: Austin and Ali.
2. SSQQ Instructor Ben Liles met his wife Diana here at the studio?  They were married in October, 1999.
   They have two children: Cole and Allison
3. SSQQ Instructor Karen Clawsen met her husband Dennis here?  They were married in September, 2001.
4. SSQQ Instructor Jim Coulter met his wife Ulrike here at SSQQ. They married her in 2002.
5. SSQQ Instructor Paula da Silva got married a year and a half ago. 
6. SSQQ Instructor Tracy King met her husband Jeff Perry (#18), also an SSQQ Instructor, here at the studio.
   They got married a year and a half ago and recently had their first child Kay Lynn in October.
7. SSQQ Instructor Kathleen LaBounty got engaged to Mark Oryhon in February.
8. SSQQ Instructor Carol Armand met Arthur Madrid here in 2001. They married this July.
9. SSQQ Instructor Rick Archer was engaged to Marla Gorzynski in July. 
10. SSQQ Instructor Linda Cook was engaged to SSQQ Instructor Timm Chavez (#19) in August. 
11. SSQQ Instructor Michelle Wann announced her engagement to Trent Haynes in October.
12. SSQQ Instructor Patty Or married David Holmes in November.
13. SSQQ Instructor Vicki Bernard met Johnny Smith here at SSQQ in 2001. They married in November.
14. SSQQ Instructor Rachel Seff married Dave Koenig in November.
15. SSQQ Instructors Ann Bush and Brian White (#17) got married at the end of November.
16. SSQQ Instructor Michelle Yeiter announced her engagement to Scott Keepers in December.

ROBERT AND JENNIFER LEAKE
Wednesday, June 11, 2003 2:42 PM
 
“Hi Rick. Four years ago (1999) I met my wife Jennifer at SSQQ during a swing dance class. Our love blossomed over at the Orchid Lounge in the Village. We married in 2000.
 
Well, the Orchid Lounge is no longer there and our pretzels have all gone soft but today we have two wonderful additions... Our Twins Alexia and Aidan were born last summer. They are now 8 months old...We are blessed.
 
Thanks for everything!!  Robert and Jennifer Leake”

SSQQ SLOW DANCE AND ROMANCE 26 –
JOHNNY SMITH AND VICKI BERNARD GET MARRIED

Vicki Bernard and Johnny Smith got married on Saturday, November 8, in New Iberia, Louisiana.
 
Vicki and Johnny originally met at SSQQ in November 2001. At that time Vicki was an assistant instructor in a Western class that Johnny had signed up for. They soon started dating. One year later they became engaged in December of 2002.
 
Along the way, Johnny developed an interest in Western Waltz, partially because Vicki began to assist Judy Archer in teaching Western Waltz on Sundays. Taking a Waltz class was a good way for Johnny to hang out with his favorite lady.
 
As a result, when Vicki and Johnny began to prepare for their wedding, it was easy to choose to Waltz for their first dance. Although most people think Waltz is the perfect dance for a “First Dance”, in reality only about one couple in twenty end up dancing a Waltz because it is such a difficult dance to excel at.

With this in mind, Johnny prepared very seriously. After taking several Waltz classes in 2002, this year he and Vicki signed up for Sharon Crawford’s legendary Western Waltz class that runs for 5 months from April to August. He took careful notes plus he kept hold of his various syllabi that Sharon passed out for her class.
 
Vicki and Johnny quickly decided on a very beautiful Waltz named “When I Said I Do” by Clint and Lisa Black. Once they had the song chosen, Johnny then went to the trouble of counting the number of beats in the song, then mapping out all the patterns he knew to create a routine.

After Waltz class was over, the two would stay after class on Wednesdays and Sundays to practice whenever possible. By the time the wedding came around, the two dancers were flawless together. They knew the pattern like the backs of their hands. Not only did they have their pattern down a T, they even had the presence of mind to invent techniques in case of an emergency. Now that’s planning! Johnny isn’t an engineer for nothing.
 
As they walked out on floor for the wedding dance, Vicki told me she was not nervous in the slightest. In fact she was looking forward to it! She said Johnny may have been a little nervous, but he certainly didn’t show it. They were so in control as they danced that even a minor glitch didn’t stop them. Early in the dance the strap on one of Vicki’s shoes slipped loose. Vicki said she limped for three beats, then hesitated long enough to lift her dress and reach down to adjust the strap without even losing her stride. Such poise! Their emergency plans paid off as Johnny immediately returned to a Basic. It was all done so smoothly Vicki doubted anyone even noticed.

Her father was so proud of Vicki!! He said she looked like she was floating out there. This makes sense because a well-danced Waltz literally makes a woman with a lovely gown appear to glide across the floor like no other dance can. It must have been wonderful to watch these two well-trained, well-prepared dancers in action!
 
Vicki said when the song was over, 200 people stood up and cheered and applauded with a roar! They had been treated to a marvelous exhibition of dance. It was very inspiring!
 
After the wedding, Johnny and Vicki honeymooned at Playa del Carmen, a resort near Cancun in Mexico. They spent an entire week in Paradise without a care in the world.
 
However, they had a BIG SURPRISE waiting for them when they returned to Houston. Vicki picked up her answering messages. One of the first messages was from her mother announcing that the two were not legally married after all. What? Vicki was stunned.
 
Once she resumed breathing, Vicki listened carefully. It turned out that Johnny had not signed his name on the marriage license. This was due to the fact that Vicki had obtained the license on a visit to her home town one day while Johnny was still in Houston. The plan was for Johnny to sign it on the wedding day. However by the time the wedding rolled around, everyone had completely forgotten. Vicki’s mother said they had two days left before the 10-day expiration date kicked in and voided the marriage!!
 
Johnny and Vicki quickly got in their car and drove to Louisiana. Simultaneously her parents did the same thing and drove towards Houston. Somewhere around Beaumont they met. Johnny hastily signed the license in time for the parents to take it to the courthouse the next morning.
 
Life can be so complicated!!

Editor’s Note: On Saturday, November 8, SSQQ Swing Instructor Patty Or, affectionately known to me and to her friends at SSQQ as Patty O, married David Holmes. Patty is a lovely young lady who moved to the United States from Hong Kong shortly before the Chinese Takeover in 1997. She arrived here in the States just in time to participate in the 90s Swing Dance Revival.

Patty is too modest to take credit for creating the Revival herself, but I can tell you she was instrumental in promoting Swing Dancing in Houston. Patty worked tirelessly creating one Swing dance venue after another for several years just so she and her friends could Swing dance practically every night of the week.

Although I was thrilled when Patty said she had gotten engaged, I was also a bit sad for a very odd reason. I myself had coined the silly nickname “Patty O” and had grown fond of using it. Somehow Patty K or Patty Z or whatever her new last name was going to be probably wouldn’t have the same ring to it. When I pointed out I would miss calling her “Patty O” I was surprised to find that she actually liked the nickname too! This is something I was not aware of. Furthermore I discovered from Patty that a lot of her friends liked to call her “Patty O” as well.

I asked Patty what her fiancés name was. Patty said it was “David Holmes”. She immediately went deep into thought, then came back with a smile. Patty suggested I simply add an “H” to the end of her nickname!

So now we have the lovely Patty OH on the staff. Patty is too adorable.

By the way, if you visit her web site, you will see some of the finest pictures of the famous sights of Las Vegas I have ever seen!! (go to www.pattyanddavid.info ) If pictures tell the story, she and David had a heck of a fun honeymoon!
 

Here is the story of Patty Oh’s wedding in her own words:

“David & I met a year and a month before the wedding. Him being a computer expert and highly musical, and me being in the financials and heavily addicted to dancing; we love music all the same. After one year of planning, getting all the details nailed down... it was the big day. Our nuptial took place on November 8th of 2003. We decided that it would be a good date because the year before we had beautiful weather.

However, during the date, the weather was quite gloomy, not necessary a bad thing because it was perfect for taking pictures and boy do we have tons. The good thing was that the morning of the wedding, I was basically resolved to whatever. Meaning that if something were to go wrong, and I’ve been confirmed by many that it will, I said to myself, there’s nothing to be done about that, just go with the flow.

The bad thing was that there were a few miscommunications, the topper wasn’t on top of the cake, the doors weren’t open when we got there. But I didn’t sweat, just go with the flow. As you can see on the pictures, the Swing lessons David took for the 3 months prior paid off, and the private lesson with Judy in Waltz/Box step didn’t look too shabby either.

Advice to many future brides: 1, don’t sweat the family, even if they don’t get along, they will behave. 2, It doesn’t hurt to do a last minute private lesson just to brush up a little before the big day. We did, and it turned out great!
Love, Patty O-H”

I have known Rachel Seff for many many years. Rachel joined the SSQQ Staff in 1998. Her warmth, intelligence, and charisma made her one of the most popular instructors we have ever had. Whatever it was that the studio needed, Rachel was always game. If someone needed a sub, Rachel was incredibly giving with her time. If I needed a new crash course taught, Rachel was always game. Rachel loves to perform. Rachel taught belly dancing, she was the lead actress in one Lip Sync skit after another, she organized Christmas Carol singing at her house, and she became notorious for her unusually popular Dirty Dance class. I might add I never had the nerve to ask questions “why” her DD class was so popular. I just smiled and said “thank you”.

You might not know this, but Rachel was particularly good at matchmaking. Particularly in our romance record-setting year of 2000 where we had 30 different documented couples who met at the studio who either got engaged or married, Rachel claimed responsibility for pairing about half of these couples together personally. All year long Rachel and I had a good-natured competition about which of the two of us deserved more credit for assisting the various relationships along. Naturally Rachel claimed she won.

During this same time, I came to realize that Rachel was disappointed that she hadn’t found the right guy for herself. As she watched her friends get married, she wondered why with all her wit, beauty, education, business success, and sex appeal she couldn’t find a man to settle down with. Mind you, that was three years ago.
 
To say that Rachel was picky when it came to men was an understatement. She went about her affairs of the heart very methodically. She was determined not to make a mistake. And when she got depressed about waiting, she would confide her disappointments to me.
 
This said, when Rachel met Dave Koenig, I saw an immediate difference. She liked him a lot right from the start. So ladies, take some advice from Matchmaker Rachel - Do not compromise. Wait for the right guy. He will appear if you are patient enough.
 
Here are some thoughts Rachel shared with me about her courtship and her wedding:
 
“Ahhh…you want the scoop, eh?
 
I kissed a lot of frogs before finding my prince charming. I was in multiple different dating services, went to lots and lots of singles events, and literally forced myself to go to activities where I knew eligible men would be present.
 
In the end, I met my Prince Charming (Dave) through a colleague from work who was also a member of the dating service.  Susan had gone on a date with Dave.  A few days later, I asked her how it went.  She didn’t think he was a match for her, but she thought I might really like him. "Think about it, Rachel. He's from Boston, he likes to dance and he has a boat!!" (Those that know me know I am also from Boston, I love to dance, and love the water and the outdoors).
 
"Hmmm." I was a bit skeptical at first, but I trusted Susan. Thank goodness because she turned out to be right!  
 
Once Susan peaked my interest, I decided to send Dave an email: “My friend Susan thinks we might make a good match. Let me know if you’re interested.” He wrote back immediately and we had a nice ‘Email’ conversation.  
 
I told him a little about the dance studio. I casually mentioned I would be teaching a Belly Dance class, but Dave didn’t seem to pick up on the hint.
 
So on Saturday, November 9, 2002 (almost a year to the day of my marriage!!), I taught my belly dancing class. Then I stayed at the studio for the SSQQ Swing dance party. As I started to head home at 10:30 pm, another instructor, Jill Banta, asked me, "Have you met Dave?"
 
"What are you talking about?" I replied.
 
Jill said, “There's a guy here named Dave that asked me who you were and I pointed you out to him."
 
I responded, "Which guy?"
 
"Him," Jill said as she motioned toward handsome man in a white button-down shirt and red suspenders on a chair in the corner.
 
"That guy has been watching me all night!" I proclaimed.
 
So I proceeded to flirt about and walk back in forth in front of Dave a few times. No response. Finally, I waved at him and motioned I was leaving.
 
Dave stopped me as I was walking out of the studio.
 
"Hey!" he said. "When were you going to say hello?"
 
"When were you going to stop stalking me?" I replied with a flirt.
 
We sat on the sofas and talked for 30 minutes or so. It was a really good first conversation. Covered all of the basics….where are you from….what do you do…etc.
 
And the romance began! First date to dinner at Argentine Grill. He drove me home and immediately asked me out again. Second date to dinner and theatre downtown…and the moment he picked me up I knew this was one special guy. He was dressed in a handsome sport jacket, big smile, and a beautiful bouquet of yellow roses.
 
"This is it!" I told my girlfriends JoAnne Armstrong (Daryl’s wife) and Lisa Cloud as I gushed about him after our second date. Both cautioned me that I have met a lot of frogs in my day and not to get my hopes up that he was my prince.
 
And although we didn’t tell each other out loud, we both knew on the second date that this relationship felt very different than all the others. (But I think it was the belly dancing that really hooked him!)
 
Turns out, Dave also told his friend Jerry after our second date that he was pretty sure I was "the one." Jerry said no way and told him. So Dave bet him $100 and now he has to pay up!
 
Dave and I were married on November 8, 2003, exactly one year from when we met. We had a destination weekend wedding in Newport, RI, for close family and friends.     
 
My advice? Don’t give up! The only way you can meet someone is if your force yourself to get out and participate in activities where you will meet new people.    
 
And oh yeah, take my belly dance crash course in January. It will drive your potential mate crazy with enthusiasm!

Rachel Koenig”

 
(Editor’s Note: I found it interesting that Rachel, always the Matchmaker, actually met Dave through her friend Susan doing some matchmaking of her own. As they say, What Goes Around Comes Around. My guess is Rachel had some serious good karma to cash in on!
 
One of the ways the ssqq magic works is that many students invite their friends to come to the studio with them. The more targets for those floating pheromones to attack and attract, the more likely the chemistry will react. Or put more succinctly, the more the merrier.)

SSQQ SLOW DANCE AND ROMANCE 30 – SSQQ INSTRUCTOR MICHELLE YEITER AND SCOTT KEEPERS GET ENGAGED!
 
Editor’s Note: The very lovely Michelle Yeiter helps teach Salsa at SSQQ on Tuesdays. Michelle and her handsome boyfriend Scott Keepers have been seen on many occasions in SSQQ Whip classes throughout the year.
 
In Michelle’s words:
 
“On Saturday evening, December 6, Scott and I were sitting quietly together on the couch at his house. We were in the living room in front of a colorfully lit Christmas tree and a fireplace flickering in the background. To my absolute surprise, Scott handed me a ring and asked me to marry him. He could not have picked a more romantic time.
 
I was very happy to say ‘Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes!’“