Valle (Swafford) Watada

Ft. Collins, Colorado
Family Status: Married

Children: 3
Our oldest daughter, Stephanie, is 27 and a wedding is planned in the near future. She graduated from Metro State in Denver with a double major in criminal justice and family studies. She currently works as a manager for Anthropologie in the Cherry Creek area.

Leah is 25 and finishing her RN degree and working part time for Kaiser in Denver. She would like to work as a surgical nurse in either cardiology or oncology pediatrics. Both girls love to travel.

Ian just turned 21 in February and is completing his junior year at Colorado State University. He attended school on a soccer scholarship in Nebraska and then transferred to CSU this year. This summer he will be traveling through Europe and ending up in Prague doing a study abroad. He will graduate with a degree in Sociology and criminology. He hasn't decided yet if he will pursue a career in law enforcement. Ian currently works part time as a restaurant manager for a Thai restaurant in Ft. Collins and coaching soccer for the kid's competitive soccer league.

Grandchildren: 0
I have two "grand dogs" - Sidney, a rescued black lab mix (7 yrs.old) and Charley, a rescued chocolate lab mix (1 1/2 yrs. old).

Career: I have worked for the school district in Ft. Collins for over 11 years-most of that time in the junior highs as registrar/counseling secretary. Two years ago, I moved to the new Ft. Collins high school in the Career and Counseling Center. Although I enjoyed working at the junior high level, I really enjoy working with high school students. I am very involved in the student's activities (prom, music festival, athletics, Scholarship Breakfast, etc.) and am the AP (Advanced Placement) coordinator for our school.

5 Years from now...
Possibly planning a second wedding and spending time with grandkids? Our family went to Costa Rica for soccer and I loved the country. I would love to return and spend an extended period of time there (maybe retire there?)

Retirement
Having a small farm/acreage with a home where all the kids and grandkids can spend time. I would like to pursue my interests in art and gardening and always be reading a book with a dog or two near by.

Other Information:
My husband Douglas and I have been married over 30 years. I took a power tools class with the Community Learning Center and loved it! Recently, I joined the group Women Build (part of Habitat for Humanity) and we will be starting to build the third Ft. Collins' home in September. I traveled to central Mexico two summers ago for an immersion program and would like to continue learning Spanish.