"No tears, or I will come back to haunt you"

I know it has been awhile since I last posted. Needless to say I have been a little busy.

Emily passed away on June 21. She was such an amazing person and will be missed by everyone she came in contact with. She had such a strong will and had one of the nicest personalities despite everything she encountered throughout her short life. One of the things Emily told people this last time in the hospital was "No tears, or I will come back and haunt you!" Trust me, it has been hard, but I do believe Em would be the one person to do it. I'm just happy that she can do the things she was restricted from doing here on Earth, and the fact that she can breathe easier.

One of the nice things that resulted from Emily's death was how the Garden Plain community came together. Friends and neighbors came together to help my uncle and family harvest their wheat. It was such a cool site to see. There were around six to eight combines working in a field at a time (this is almost unheard of since most farmers stick to their own fields to hurry to get the wheat cut). The co-op even donated the use of three semi-trucks to take the wheat in. It was really a nice gesture for the family and the community in general. It's nice to know that there are people out there who really care and are willing to help their neighbors in a time of need. Thank you to everyone like that out there.

I will try to get some pictures uploaded on here... Harvest is really a great time in Kansas.

A Bittersweet Homecoming

It's been awhile since I've been on here...lots of catching up at home, I guess. I made it safely home from Greensburg last Thursday night (I was fortunate enough to have everything completed and was able to come home a little early).

Coming home wasn't the best homecoming a person could ask for, I guess. When I arrived at home, my cousin Dustin was there. Usually that means something bad, which was true in this case. His sister, Emily, was born with cistic fibrosis (CF) and has some problems with it. In this case, Emily was admitted to ICU and Dustin had to come stay with us while she is in the hospital.

A few months ago, Emily decided to put her name on the list for a lung transplant. Ever since then, she seems to be getting more worn out and tired. On Tuesday, Emily was released from ICU and put into a regular room. Hopefully she will be able to come home by the end of the weekend (we can only pray).

Wichita, Oh Wichita, Where art thou, Wichita?

Well, I'm back in Greensburg for another fun week. You can check out my blog posts and some of the work I've done at www.greensburgrebirth.com. Basically what I'm doing out here in the middle of nowhere is writing stories about how the town has essentially regrown after being levelled by an EF5 tornado. And yes, this is for a class.

I woke up this morning to someone's alarm clock screaming out like a rooster. It first went off at 7:00 a.m. When the girl finally pulled herself off of her air mattress, everyone else was up and about and it was 9:00, time for our meeting. Needless to say a lot of the girls who slept in that room were a little upset. One girl said she counted the alarm going off 13 times. Snoozing is fine, just try not to disturb the rest of us, PLEASE!

For the most part, I have been totally and completely bored. I have cried the last two days, which is highly unusual for me. I just hate being here and have nothing to do and just want to go home! I'm only here for three more days, surely I can make it through that, right?

John Deere and sand dunes

Greensburg is underway. I'm getting several interviews done and have even completed a couple of stories. Yay!

Larry Hatteburg came out for the morning to give a presentation. It was very interesting to hear how he goes about getting interviews and putting together the pieces he does. He is one of my TV journalism icons. And, nerdy as I am, I had to add to my collection of photographs of semi-famous people.



Later this afternoon I went to the BTI John Deere Dealership where EVERYTHING was John Deere. Even the pop and vending machines!

I was so impressed! One guy said they had a pop corn maker too... However, I did not see it, but I do believe that if one did exist, it could be found in this location.

One of the girls from the class got her car stuck in the sand on one of the roads outside of town so we had to go dig her out. It was quite an adventure as well. I'm going home tomorrow and I can't say that I will be sad to leave.

Out in the 'burg

Well, the crew left Wichita around eight this morning. Two hours later, we arrived in the greenest town in the world, Greensburg, Kan.

Two years ago, a tornado destroyed 97% of the town. While in Greensburg, I am taking a class writing about how the town has come back and rebuilt after the tradedy.

Since we've been in town, we went on a tour of the town and saw a bunch of the different points of interest. (Pictures will follow later in the week.)

One of the projects that the town has been working on is producing LEED Platinum projects. This means that these structures will withstand a certain amount of force and will virtually be indestructable. They are working on designing a home like this and are almost finished with the model. This home design is called a silo-project because a lot of the grain elevators in the area were left untouched. The homes have a similar design to a silo, hence the name.
This is one of the model silo-homes. On top, there is a garden planted with solar panels in the middle. It' s pretty neat what they've done.

Wrapping up the weekend

This weekend has been a busy one, but it only preceeds an even busier week. Friday night I met Ryan out at his brother (Billy) and sister-in-law (Monica)'s house for a barbeque. Mmm, mmm was it delicious! Monica made some potatoes and pasta salad and caesar salad, while Billy grilled burgers, dogs, chicken and steak. It was a feast for all, except for Ryan who took too long to get into the food line.

Then on Saturday I had another day of work and then Ryan and I went to my grandma's house for my cousin Johanna's first birthday party. She was a hoot and a half. Johanna is my aunt and uncle's first baby, so of course EVERYTHING had to be captured on a camera. It was funny watching the two of them "coo" and "aww" over the little things Johanna does. Sometimes it makes me think to myself I hope my kids aren't that wonderful so I don't have to be so impressed by them, but I know it's all part of the first-kid syndrome.

Then today another one of my cousins, Sydney, had her high school graduation party. I went out with my family for lunch and just to hang out. And, of course, there was more "ooh-ing" and "aww-ing" over Johanna while she ate. Yet again, I just have to laugh and shake my head. Ryan was in a father-son golf tournament so he was unable to attend the graduation party, but I really don't think he was too upset about missing the party. After golfing, the guys are all going back to someone's pool house, "The Cabana," to hang out and all of their women and children are invited to join.

I've got work again tomorrow during the day and then it's out to the racetrack before I hit the road. For the next two weeks I will be in Greensburg taking a class and reporting on how the town has been trying to make a comeback after a tornado almost wiped it off the map a couple of years ago. Hopefully I can get some pictures from that uploaded onto here, along with some of the small-town happenings.

Until next time, I'm out!

Just getting started

I used to blog back in the day and decided it would be something that would be fun to start doing again. I had to blog for a class last semester and found out that blogging has become a new trend in the communication field, which is of course my area of study. With only one semester left in school before I graduate, I might as well get ahead of the game (well, I may actually be behind now, but that's besides the point.) Blogging world, I'm back!