Tornado Pictures

Tornado in Windsor, CO May 22, 2008

Most of this information is going to be a repeat for my family, but a new update for Jeff's family.

As most of you heard there was a class 3 tornado that hit my home town of Windsor, CO on Thursday. I had just gotten home from class at 1pm and decided to watch some TV while eating my lunch. I turned the TV on and it was already set to the Weather Channel. The first thing I heard was, "Tornado in Windsor, Colorado." What? It didn't register at first but quickly I realized that it was going on and immediately called my dad for any information. He didn't answer his phone at first because ironically enough Kelsey had just heard the news too and was calling him from Idaho. They did indeed have a tornado and all of the schools were on lock-down so we couldn't get a hold of Mom for quite a while. I called Jeff at work to tell him what was going on and literally broke down into tears... sobbing tears. While I was talking to him I was watching the footage and had just seen video of damage done to a residential area. I didn't know the area from and arial perspective until I saw the landmarks of our town pool and few baseball diamonds in Chimney Park. That's when everything really hit me and I realized how real it was and how close our old home of 30yrs (just sold 1 month ago) was to the video I had seen. Jeff ran home and we watched the news and live footage online for hours. Thankfully everyone was fine and we were able to get a hold of my mom. She was helping keep the kids as calm as possible during the whole ordeal by playing games, telling stories, and even rocking some of the kids on her lap. Mom and Dad went to Windsor (since they now live in Johnstown, about 12 miles south of Windsor) the following day to check out our old house and take some pictures. Dad says that our home and along 1st street was the edge of the "Destruction Zone." Our home was not damage, thankfully! One of the shed doors was blown off, the east side of our fence was pulled up out of the ground and laid flat (still in one piece though), and the neighbors trampoline was in our Sumac tree. From what Dad reported the worst of the damage was just east and north of us a few blocks. There are a couple families from church that were in the Destruction Zone and lost their homes. When he and Mom went to see the damage the worst of it is blocked off and no one could get in. I'm grateful that my childhood home is still in tact and so grateful that everyone is safe. Above are some pictures that my parents took the day after and there are a few that I've gathered from other postings online from Windsor folks.

Primary President

A few weeks ago I was released as the Relief Society pianist, and called as the new Primary President!! We are in a married student ward and do not have an actual "Primary." I was confused because I knew we had a nursery and no Primary and wondered if a few of the kids were reaching Primary age. I could only think of a few kids that could possibly be getting close to "Sunbeam" age and wondered if the Bishopric was setting up a Primary Presidency for just a few kids. Last Sunday the stake expanded our ward boundaries and said we'd be getting some new families in our ward. This made my calling make more sense because I figured there must be some older kids in the new families our ward was gaining that would need to go to Primary. Well, this Sunday (today) Bishop told me to "go in" and see how things were done this week. Turns out that the Nursery IS the Primary!! So, I and the 3 other girls that I asked to be in the presidency are now the nursery leaders... as are our husbands! I'm a bit relieved because it won't be as extensive as I was anticipating having to start our ward off with their first ever Primary. Today there were 7 kids and I had a lot of fun. We didn't know if Jeff was supposed to come with me today or not, but now that we know he will be joining me in nursery. I think his favorite part will be snack time: gold fish and raisins. I really am excited to have this new calling and get to play with and teach the kids. I think Jeff will be great too. He's great with children.

Foot Poetry Tap Dance Ensemble

I have been wanting to post something on here and try out this blogging business but just have not had anything worth posting. Now that I've waited so long I have a few things to share!
Some of you know that I am in a tap dance ensemble called Foot Poetry. The BYU tap director organized it herself because the University will not organize one for us. We practice at a studio in Lindon between Orem and Pleasant Grove. It consists of 36 dancers, most currently at BYU, others have already graduated, and I believe a few are going to UVSC. It's quite the group. We typically practice each Saturday morning for a couple hours but practices have been cancelled for the rest of the summer. We were supposed to have our first performance on June 27th at the BYU tap dance workshop, but it got cancelled because not enough people signed up. Our first performance is now planned for sometime in September or October.
The website is still in progress, but if you want to look at it, it's http://www.footpoetry.com/

There's no basement in the Alamo

This is fairly old news, but in March I attended the CNBAM (College Newspaper Business & Advertising Managers) convention in San Antonio with four co-workers from the Daily Universe. It was a three-day conference at the hotel, with workshops and speakers discussing how to effectively run a college newspaper. Nothing terribly exciting. The city of San Antonio, however, is a very cool place to visit. And I never thought I would say that about anywhere or anything having to do with Texas. We took a boat ride down the Riverwalk, which is a partially man-made river winding through the city with some very cool architecture and lots of restaurants and stores and stuff. The Mexican food there was fantastic, but the steakhouse we ate at was a little overrated in my mind. I learned that you can see everything there is to see in San Antonio in about a day. The atmosphere there with the Final Four happening the next week was pretty exciting for me. And most people we met were really nice. The Alamo was smaller than I expected, and it reminded me of visiting the Spanish missions in California.

A story you may or may not have heard...

On a much warmer evening than this one, exactly two years ago, I ventured out to the sand volleyball pit at Stadium Terrace Apartments. I had just reluctantly renewed a contract to live there for the next year. Spring classes had started, but homework was going to have to wait. I had business out there on the court. If I ever had a chance of meeting interesting females while doing something I was good at, volleyball was going to be about my only option. But competitive play was hard to come by at Stadium Terrace. I knew the crowd. Short stumpy guy trying to play at the net? Girl with her hands clasped together tightly who pummels the ball into the bushes? Big dufus who hits the ball over EVERY time on the second touch? Wow, this gets old quickly. But lo, what is this vision on the horizon? Yes, two females. Maybe newbies? Definitely strangers, but females all the same. The one with the long brown hair is pretty cute. But can she PLAY?? Put her on the other team. Now serve it Big Dufus! Yes, yes, pass, set, and take this you vixen! Teach you to tug at my heartstrings while I'm playing volleyball. Whack! Dug. Whaaa?! Did that just happen? Yes, that just happened. The cutie passed up my dagger spike. Guess it's time to hang it up. Hey, she just asked you your name idiot! "I'm Jeff." I felt like saying "I'm Yours." Before I know it, the game is over, and I'm back in my apartment talking to my roommates. "Guys," I said, "I think I am going to ask out that Amy girl sometime." Two years ago today, true story.