Jennifer Elkington Hughes

I'll write a quick bio here. I took more time to do a ponderous, real one on Classmates.com, for all three of you who are really that curious about my life.

I went to WSU and graduated in English and music (voice) in 1993. I was a perfect student, and of course I still remember everything I learned. As a Mormon youth of 22 years old, I met my husband Ben (BHS '88--boo--go Viewmont City) in Mormon Youth Chorus in 1994. It fit, you know. After a long courtship of 3 weeks, he proposed, and the rest is history. (Did you ever see me as being a fast girl? Neither did I.)

I had my fourth child--a girl, after 3 boys--when the oldest was 6 1/2. So I guess that proves I really am a fast girl.

We lived in SLC while Ben finished up his degree in Communication at the U. We lived in a tiny little house in NSL for a few years, then built a house in Tooele, then after 9/11 the economy tanked, so we had to move out of state for a new job. We went to Puyallup, Washington, for 3 years, where I received my lifetime RDA of rain during that period. Then the opportunity came up for us to move back "home" (I was homesick), so we moved to Layton, close to two of my sisters. That's where I park my minivan now.

By the way, yes, I do proudly drive a minivan, but I had to spice it up a little, so it's red and has white flames. Tasteful flames, of course. I kid you not. I'm going to try to remember to take a picture and post it. (But those are several steps, and I don't remember things that take more than one or two steps very well anymore.)

*When Miss McGuire put up a bulletin board announcing "The Sound of Music," the stage crew rearranged two of the letters to become "The Sound of Mucis." I was eating fruit snacks when my mom was back there with a camera, and I had my picture taken in front of the altered board with a fruit snack held right under my nose on my index finger!

*Debbie Wesemann and I took piano lessons together for many years, and one year we were learning duets together. I worked at Molly's restaurant at Crossroads Mall and they had put a piano in the center court for the occasional hired musician. I talked Debbie into doing our own personal concert at Crossroads. We dressed up and took our families. (Why did my mom go along with my crazy ideas like this? I don't know.) We played all our duets and then some solo pieces too. We kept waiting for the customer service desk people to say something to us or kick us out, but they never did. They gave us a some funny looks though. I guess they let the show go on because we didn't look like juvenile delinquents. That was a great concert! The adrenaline ran high that night!

*What Tolman Elementary graduate can forget the famous Elkington spook alleys and carnivals? Again, why the heck did my mom go along with all my crazy ideas? (She claims that I just announced the last spook alley on school announcements and invited everyone to come. Then she had to help me throw it together. I had a good time anyway. Notice I said that was the last one I did.)

*At a Christmas Madrigal concert, some of the girls wanted to spice things up a little and kiss our dance partner for real at a place in a song where we just came up from behind them. Everyone was on board but me. I couldn't betray my boyfriend Andrew! They made all kinds of mean threats which I cannot remember now, and so I ended up doing it. My dance partner was Shane Bangerter, and he was so shy. He turned bright red when I kissed him on the cheek, and wouldn't you know his parents were there videotaping the concert. So it is preserved in fuzzy quality forever somewhere in the Bangerter home video library.

*One time after school I was in my big 1970 Ford pickup, originally orange but my dad had permanently primered it in brown and gray, and I'm just waiting in line to turn out of the parking lot, minding my own business, when I feel this giant BUMP, and I look behind me and Emily Richards has just hit me with her wood-paneled station wagon. She yells out her window, "I just had to give you a car kiss because your car is so ugly!" Neither of us bothered to get out and look for body damage on our ugly cars. Actually, it was only Emily's car that was ugly; mine was COOL!