Greetings Y'all!

Anyone who knows me also knows that I have exceptionally crazy and bizarre dreams. I like to think that they are the result of suppressed imagination that doesn't get used during the day, but I also know that they are just random reflections on my day too. I've had these crazy dreams as long as I can remember. One has even given me an idea for a novel I want to write.

One of the first dreams I can remember as being crazy and bizarre happened when I was about 8 years old. My family was living in Layton at the time, near the railroad tracks. This dream was rather scary when I had it, but now its just funny.

In my dream a huge storm blew into Layton. It was colossal! The sky was so dark and had a green tinge to it. Intense wind kept blowing things over in our yard. The radio announced that tornados had touched down and that we would need to find shelter. Instead of hiding out in our basement, we all ran out to our beatup stationwagon. It was one of those really cool ones with the backwards facing backseat. I loved riding back there!

We started heading down the road in search of shelter when we were suddenly surrounded by 6 huge tornados! They grew evil faces and started chasing us! We drove and drove, speeding recklessly along and swerving through subdivisions and through a field trying to lose them, but they stayed right on our tail. We found ourselves out on a rural dirt road and my dad was able to pick up enough speed to get us a little ahead of the menacing, creepy death-winds.

Just as we were beginning to despair of ever reaching shelter, a church house appeared in front of us, it had clear sky above and almost screamed, "Safety here!" Dad zoomed into the parking lot and we all dashed out. The tornados were getting closer.

As we ran inside, the church changed from a church into a funeral parlour! There were coffins lying around everywhere. This old caretaker materialized and told us to get downstair with everyone else. The basement of this church/funeral home was a gigantic basketball court! It was so full of people that there was hardly room for my family to squeeze in. Just when we thought we were safe, a hundred more people tried to get in. The caretaker decided that some people would have to leave and face the fury of the tornados. Of course no one wanted to leave, so he came up with an ingenious lottery.

Since we had a basketball court and balls, it was decided that anyone who could make a 3-point shot could stay. I like sports, but I suck at them. Especially basketball. I got in line with everyone else and one by one we all had a chance to shoot the basket. (I have no idea how we had time for everyone to do this when the tornados were so close, but we did) I watched as everyone took their turn and made their required baskets. I walked up to the line and the old man handed me the ball. My heart was pounding, my palms were sweaty. I knew that if I didn't make this shot, I would be forced out. I knew that those tornados would kill me.

Slowly I raised the ball into a shooting position, said a prayer, and let it soar. It arched in slow motion across the court and THUNK! It hit the rim and bounced away. I felt immediate despair and my eyes grew dark.

Then I woke up! Thank heavens! I thought for sure I had died. To this day, I can't shoot a 3-point shot. I have no idea why I remember this dream so well from so long ago. Maybe I was supposed to learn the importance of basketball or something.

So that's the first dream I'd like to share with you dear readers. Hope you enjoyed it! More entertaining dreams will be posted soon, but since that was the first dream I can remember really well, it seemed fitting to share it first.

From happenings in the life of Julie:
Tonight I went to Salt Lake with some girlfriends for a much needed Girls Night Out. There was much rejoicing! We opted not to wait the 4.5 hours for the Cheesecake Factory, but instead ate at the Macaroni Grill. Soooo much fun! They brought out appetizers for everyone waiting and we got to meet the chef. He decided we were pretty cool and gave us free dessert. Good times were had by all!