Directions to where I am...

Be born October 31, 1977 (Halloween) in Salt Lake City, Utah. You will be the first of three children to be born into your family. You will anxiously wait for other siblings to arrive and be thrilled to finally have a baby sister that you can smother with love. You will enjoy mothering, teasing, and playing with her. After a few more years, a baby brother will arrive. On the day of his birth, you will be greeted by neighbors at your home, after school, to be taken back to their house for the night. You will miss and worry about your mom and dad all night and cry yourself to sleep in your care-bear sleeping bag. When you wake up in the morning, you will be told that you have a new baby brother and feel very proud and excited. For a few years, you will share a bedroom with your brother and sister and love it! You will enjoy telling them what to do and playing make-believe games with them.

You will love Elementary school and have many friends. For your kindergarten school picture you will wear a blue and white jumper that looks just like the one in "Annie." Throughout these years, you will sing, sing, sing. You will stand in front of your piano, which has a mirror on it, and watch yourself sing along with Neil Diamond. While doing so, with a brush in hand, you will imagine yourself singing on-stage with him in front of lots and lots of people. You will experiment with scissors and cut your own hair and have to have it all chopped off. You will play in your grandma's basement with cousins, play her organ, love her ice cream and peach jam, and love the Christmas traditions at her house. You will crack your chin open while playing on a teeter totter at your aunt and uncles house and get stitches. While on your way to getting stitches, you will be sad that you don't get to eat your aunts amazing Navajo Tacos. Your other grandma will take you shopping to Nordstrom regularly to buy you new clothes and you will love it! You will be the tallest girl in your class and hate standing on the back row of all your class pictures. When you are in the 5th grade, you will have the cutest boy in your class ask you if you want to go steady. You will say yes, but rarely talk to him. One day, at school, your boyfriend will stop you in the hall to tell you how he feels about you by having you put headphones on and listen to "I'll be Loving you Forever," from your favorite band, New Kids on the Block. Your face will turn bright red, but you will feel soooo cool! You will beg your parents for a dog and finally get one for Christmas. You will want to name her Princess, but, since she is really your Dad's dog, your dad will convince you to name her Dutchess. You will really love this dog! You slip in dog poop, while in your socks, in your front yard, while trying to impress your boyfriend. You will try to get back into your house to change your socks and, while giggling, your sister and her friend will lock you out and not let you in. You will take many trips to St. George, UT to visit cousins and love it! You will forever feel connected and close to these cousins from these trips. You will make up dances to Paula Abdul in your basement with your best friend and teach them to your sister. You will be a Daddy's girl and love to follow your dad around the yard while he does yard work. Your dad will tell you not to let your friends call you "Kim" because "Kimberly" is a much prettier name. You will listen to and sing along with Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine over and over and imagine yourself singing her songs. You will run for Class Historian, in the 6th Grade, and use a New Kid's on the Block theme by saying: "Kim's got the RIGHT STUFF" for your ad campaign and win. Elementary school will end and shortly after the beginning of your 7th grade year, your entire life will change and you will leave all of your good friends and move to the southern California, a.k.a The OC.

Much of your Junior High years will be difficult. You will experience having your clothes, hair, and make-up being made fun of for the first time in your life. You will feel alone, sad, and wish you were still in Utah. You will spot a boy with a BYU sweatshirt on and wonder who he is and think he looks cute. You will try out for the 8th grade cheerleading squad and while practicing your routine, trip over your dog and sprain your ankle. You will not make the squad and feel sad. You will, however, audition for the 8th grade vocal ensemble, make it and feel happy. At the end of the 8th grade, you will try out for the freshman high school cheerleading squad, make it, and finally feel like your life is good again. You will have two boys ask you if you become popular if you will go out with them. Their comment will make you feel sad that you are not popular, but feel hopeful.

High School begins and you feel confident and cute. You are starting to have many friends and love being a cheer leader! You will also join the Choir and love it! You will turn 14 and start attending Saturday Night Church Dances. This is where you will meet Boyfriend #2. This boy will call you many times on the phone, which you will love, and he will ride his bike, during the hot, hot summer, 20 miles or so to your house to see you. He will kiss you in your back yard and then your dad will put his bike in the trunk of his car and drive him home. You will break up with this boy. When you are 16 you will fall in love with Boyfriend #3. He is a goof who you have fun with and think you might marry someday. You will break up with him. You will meet the boy from Jr. High, with the BYU sweatshirt, named Devon, in History Class, your Junior year, and invite him to go to Swing Class with you. He will become your final boyfriend, best friend and sweet heart. You will do everything together. He will even go with you to mail packages to Boyfriend #3 who is on a mission. You will have three car accidents (2 your Junior year and 1 your Senior year). Your third accident will cause you to have anxiety about driving the rest of your life. You will audition for Vocal Ensemble, make it, and love it, love it, love it! You will sing a solo in Prism and love it! Your confidence will grow and grow. Your sweet heart will ask you to Junior Prom by sprinkling candy kisses all over your floor. You will go to Senior Prom together too. During these years, your parents will lecture you on dating other people and be worried about you dating only one person. You will think very hard about their lectures and consider dating other people, but not want to lose the one best friend you'd had since Elementary School. So, you will continue to date him and fall in love with him. You will graduate from High School together and wonder what the future holds for you as you leave to attend Ricks College and he makes plans to go on a mission.

Your parents will drop you off at Ricks and you will walk around campus crying all day long. You will miss your family immensely! Devon will come visit you and you will feel happy. Devon will leave for his mission. You will worry about him, but enjoy the new friends and opportunities. You will do silly things, stay up late, study hard, and giggle and laugh with roommates lots and lots. You will meet a girl that will become a best friend for life! Devon will get very sick on his mission and come home. You will debate about what to do, but finish out your time at Ricks and graduate. Devon will visit a lot and you will visit him a lot.

You will come home and pick up where you left off, attend Cal State Fullerton, and love being home. Your parents will still wonder if you should be dating the same boy and tell you that maybe you should still date other people, but you don't want to. Boyfriend #3 will come home from his mission and you will realize that he is a loser and wonder why you ever thought you might marry him. You will be a part of the Miss Placentia Pageant. You will work at this very hard and not win, but feel very good about what you did. You will go on a week long trip to Washington, D.C. with your family and, on the day you get home, get engaged! You will feel very excited, but hesitant to share the news with your parents. Your parents will be happy for you and 6 months later you will marry your best friend and man of your dreams in front of numerous family and friends who love you. It will be one of the happiest days of your life!

Six months, after marriage, your husband will decide to change careers and you will put your house up for rent and move into your brother and sister-in-laws basement in Utah for 4 months. You will fall in love with their adorable twins and learn a lot of life lessons. You will remain in Utah for 3 years. During this time you will experience the joy of pregnancy and welcome into your life a beautiful daughter. Although she keeps you up at night, and you are sleep deprived, you will fall deeply in love with her. You will enjoy every aspect of being her mom and singing sweet songs to her. 4 months after her birth, you will move to San Diego. You will love it there and make lots of friends. One day, while driving in the car, you will have a strong impression to have another baby. You will share this experience with your husband and become pregnant (probably that night) with baby #2. It will be a boy. He will be the most happy, smiley baby who also sleeps well and is a joy to have. Him and his sister will become best friends. You will buy a house in San Diego and wonder how you afford it. You will watch your daughter and son become best friends and treasure every kiss, hug, laugh, and moment. You will fly to Denver, Colorado to audition for American Idol with your sister. It will be one of the greatest experiences of your life and you will love every minute of it! You will welcome a third son into the family who will add so much more joy than you ever thought you could imagine. You will be so grateful for these wonderful gifts from your Heavenly Father. You will have days that seem impossible and days that you never want to end. Soon after your third son is born, your parents will move to Tennessee, your sister will move to Utah, and your brother will return home from his Mission and go to BYU. Your heart will ache and you will feel sad that they are so far away. But they will visit often and you will remain close. You will become closer to your own family because of this and remind yourself of all that you have to be grateful for. Life will go on. You will continue to clean your house, do laundry, go to the pool, the beach, the park, talk on the phone to friends and family, go to church, still sing along to your favorite songs and imagine it being you in front of the fans, share sweet moments with your children where you play imaginary games, sing songs, read books and cuddle and kiss them good night. You will fall deeper in love with your husband and share many fond memories with him that the two of you will hold onto for the rest of your life. Blog and Blog and Blog. Write this post and anxiously wait for others to write one's similar to this for you to read. You're here.

This blog was inspired by my cousin Christie who I have loved reconnecting with and inspires me with her words of wisdom, my sister, Robyn and brother, Michael who remain to be two of my very best friends and help keep us connected although we are far away! Writing this blog was a really fun trip down memory lane!