*EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER*

All I have to say is that you have to have a heart of stone if that show doesn't either make your cry, choke you up, or at least touch your heart a lot! Every single time for me it's tears, tears and tears! It's very inspiring to say the least. I couldn't help but think of what the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson often say's,

"Find someone who is having a hard time and DO something for them."

If you ask someone who is struggling, "Is there anything I can do?" Or "What do you need?" They are 99% of the time going to say, "Oh I'm fine! or I'm okay." And guess what? They are NOT okay. I have learned that you don't ask...you just DO!

My little sis had a friend call her up and say, "Have 3 loads of laundry that need to be done and ready for me to pick me up." The lady came, picked up the laundry and brought it back clean and folded. I thought that was so kool! I KNEW that my sister needed that. That simple act took a small weight off her shoulders. Of course we don't want to impose on people...but I've found that when I call upon the spirit of the Lord and ask him "What can I do to help?" Little ideas will come into my mind. Don't ask people, "Is there anything I can do?" Just DO!!! Do something!

It is little or big acts of service that help us all to be sustained.

Also remember,

"For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again."

~Alma 41:15

Those words are TRUE.

*OH LILY!*

Once again Lily has fallen in love with the Christmas tree. It is her favorite place to hide and play in. Last year I got the best shot of her...but this year she kept hiding and did NOT like the camera. This picture cracks me up...she kept looking at me like "GO AWAY!" :)

P.s. I just hope she stops chewing on it. She thinks It's grass and that it's real. I don't want to have a *Christmas Vacation* experience. "If that cat had nine lives...she just spent 'em all!" :)

*I DON'T WANT TO BE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE*

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.

~Henry David Thoreau

So I've been on *Facebook* for over a year now. A great place to get in contact with old friends. At first I found a few friends here and there and then one day it spread like wildfire. Now every one and their dog is on it. It's been great and yet INSANE! I've found friends from Elemetary school and even old shrinks! jk. :) I have to admit that I've had that feeling like "One of these things is NOT like the others." I see friends and their "Eleventy Billion Kids" and some of them are TEENAGERS! Okay...okay...this is weird. I've been in a time warp and my life has been sooo different. God has obviously had a different plan for me. But here's the thing...I'm okay with it! I REALLY am!

In Mormon society your kind of the odd man out if your not married with children at age 34. What do I say to this? Don't cry for me Argentina! Seriously...don't! I am OKAY with where I'm at in this area. I don't cry myself to sleep at night wishing I was a mom or a wife. (I dream of having good health!)I'm just my own person. I've felt a lot of pressure lately (Okay that's a lie...I've felt that pressure for over ten years!) from people that I need to "jump on the bandwagon" because if I don't I may never marry or they like to mention that my "Biological clock is ticking!" *Rolling my eyes* I'm not saying I don't ever want to marry...it's just that I'm FINE with where I'm at.

And...the truth is that children are just not on my agenda. Do I love them to death? Of course I do. I'm the greatest aunt that God ever sent to the earth! Ha! Well...at least I think I am. :) I also feel that I helped raise them. My family has been through a lot. And so many times I have had to step up to the plate and help raise my nieces & nephews. So really, in many ways, I feel like they are my kids too. The thought of starting from the beginning is so overwhelming. I have always felt like I'm a 90 year old in 34 year old body. I have lived a very LONG life!

So I guess what it comes down to is that I just want to be myself and have everyone let me be me. :) I'm not evil because I don't want children...it doesn't make me a bad person. I have yet to meet a guy who is okay with that. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why I don't fully "Click" with the guys I date.

My life is not black & white...it never has been. I don't like the feeling that I have to do what everyone else is doing or thinks I should be doing. I feel like the little kid that yells out "It's a free country, I can do what I want!!" I don't want to be like everyone else. Nothing should be forced in this life...that's the beauty of free agency. I'm just Kim Kool Curtis...you can take it or leave it. :) *shrug*

P.s. My health has been in the way of many things but I know my own heart, I know what it needs, and I know it will continue to lead me.

I KNOW who I am.

P.s.s. Photo taken on New Years Day in Costa Rica. 2008 (Butterflies are free to go and do as they please.)

*FOR YOUR G-WHIZ COLLECTION*

Did you know that rocks can melt and the sea's (water) can burn? Ahhh the things you learn at 7 in the morning. Just thought I would share this important and meaningful info. :)

*I'VE BEEN ALLOWED & I AM GRATEFUL*

I fell asleep early tonight and now, at 3am I'm wide awake. I woke up with a few things on my mind. With Thanksgiving only a couple days away I was thinking of what I was grateful for. At first thought I didn't feel very blessed. I felt tired, sad and overwhelmed at my constant challenges. But as quickly as I thought this, my thought process changed. I started to feel this gratitude for all I've been asked to endure in this life. I've been *Allowed* to go through these things...

I've been allowed to go through the disease of depression & anxiety.
I've been allowed to have my heart so broken that I felt I couldn't even breathe.
I've been allowed to be hated for no reason at all or reasons I didn't understand.
I've been allowed to be falsely accused.
I've been allowed to be at the mercy of others.
I've been allowed to become completely disfunctional, bed ridden and dependent on others.
I've been allowed to be emotionaly abused.
I've been allowed to be betrayed.
I've been allowed to watch all my hopes and dreams be dashed before my eyes.
I've been allowed to lose my faith for a short time.
I've been allowed to cry oceans of tears and not feel any help.
I've been allowed to be humiliated.
I've been allowed to be completely misunderstood.
I've been allowed to feel total silence when I pleaded for help.

I've been allowed to go through all these things to UNDERSTAND others and to be given the privilege to SUFFER that I might become more aquainted with Christ. To love and know him in a way that many may never be blessed with in this life. To have a testimony that he is the ONLY ONE who can deliver me and that he is the Holy One Of Israel and The Great Redeemer.

So, do I have MUCH to be grateful for? YES. How blessed I am!

I am grateful for the woman I have become.
I am grateful for my amazing family & friends who have carried me, prayed for me, and literally saved my life.
I am grateful to understand that life itself is a great miracle.
I am grateful for the compassion and love I have for others.
I am grateful for the deep love I have for animals and all living things.
I am grateful for the gifts and talents I have.
I am grateful for the opportunity of living in a free country and being able to visit and love other countries and the people.
I am grateful for the shelter over my head.
I am grateful for nieces and nephews who have prayed with unfailing faith that their Aunt Kim might be blessed. And of course for their pure hearts, spirits, and their smiles that bring me happiness.
I am grateful for beautiful music.
I am grateful for my guardian angels.
I am grateful for my heritage and those who have paved the path that I might be able to look to their lives for courage and strength.
I am grateful for laughter.
I am grateful for forgivness...to be forgiven and to be able to forgive.
I am grateful for clouds and the beauty of the earth. This blessing of being able to "Lift up thy head and rejoice."
I am grateful for the faith of my sisters.
I am grateful for the compassion of my mother.
I am grateful for EVERY PERSON who has ever come into my life.
I am grateful for Miracles and the hope that they can happen.
I am grateful for The Book Of Mormon and The Bible.
I am grateful for my testimony that has held me up when the vicious storms raged.
I am grateful for Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel.
I am grateful for the current prophet of the church, Thomas S. Monson.
I am grateful for my Heavenly Father. For his patience, forgiveness, and love. But most of all for his son, Jesus Christ. The Atonement means so much to me. His life means so much to me! I am grateful to know that I will see him again in his glory and majesty. I will see his face again...I will see my best friend again. Oh how I miss him!

Friends, count your blessings. Count your sufferings with an eternal perspective and watch them unfold into gifts from heaven.

Happy Thanksgiving. :)

*TWILIGHT REVIEW...*

Pammy, Tiff, me and Stine.

...3 & 1/2 STARS!
Okay, so the day finally arrived. The day I've been waiting for for almost 6 months. Twilight the movie was released. About 6 weeks prior My sis and friend got 4 tickets. We were stoked! On the day of the movie we were even more stoked! So here's what I liked and what I didn't like.

Dislikes:
1- The movie was really choppy...it just didn't flow. I know every detail of that book and it is just frustrating that so many things were cut out. But I realize that it is near impossible to pull that off in a less than 2 hour movie.

2-There was a handful of cheese. Sometimes to the point of me cringing a little. Almost everyone I know has to point that out. The thing is, this is a TEENAGE VAMPIRE LOVE STORY! "Teenage" being the key word. Also, this is a low budget film. They had very little to go on and had they been given a bigger budget I know it would have been much better.

3- The makeup & hair was a NIGHTMARE! Who on earth was their makeup artist & stylist? Oh man! My sisters and I were talking, and being in the "hair & makeup" buisness...we were seriously disturbed. I am bound and determined to find my way to be on the next movie set to provide my service as a makeup artist. hahhah

4- They needed WAY more special effects. And that's where we come back to the low budget film. I read that they had little to work with. The special effects they did have were great! I particularly loved the baseball scene. :)

LIKES:

1- Of course, I love Rob Pattinson. He can do no wrong in my eyes. I think he and Kristen Stewart did a very good job. They both fit the parts well and for the most part I think they made a great Bella & Edward. (and despite the pasty white makeup on Edwards face...his hair was kool.)

2- The scenery was gorgeous. It just makes you WANT to be there. Also, I wished I had super powers and could run through those trees a hundred miles an hour. (I'm serious! Stop laughing!)

3- They did a great job picking the music. I think it fit well and added a lot to the mood of the movie. I had hoped they would use the "Decode" by Paramore song in the movie and not in the credits. It was written for the movie...so that was a bummer.

4- I still don't know what my favorite scene is. I'll have to come back and post it after I go see it again. :)


Overall I enjoyed it and would love to see it again. I think it's pretty 50/50 with those who will love and those who will hate it. I will say that I would NEVER go with a boy. They would ruin it by all the rolling of their eyes, yawning, and mocking. :) Thank heavens I was with my best pals and we had a great time! Rock on!

P.s. They made 7 million dollars in the midnight release alone! And 32 million on opening night. Obviously Summit Entertainment gave them the thumbs up to go ahead and start making "New Moon." I love that their budget just jumped up a huge notch and hopefully that will make it even better. :)

P.s.s. I think they picked the perfect girl for "Alice" she was my favorite.

*IF YOU CAN LAUGH AT IT...U CAN LIVE WITH IT*

Thank heavens God gave me a sense of humour. I don't think I would have made it through this life without it. I'm very good at laughing at myself and my "struggles." With a depression & anxiety disorder this especially comes in handy. I've learned that the more I can laugh at myself...the more I can live with myself. Depression is a terrible burden to bare, but humour can sometimes make it bearable.

I always joke around that I am *Bob* from "What about Bob." It's in my top five favorite movies. And there are a few things I can relate to as far as phobias and such. A lot of people that I've recently come in contact with can see, with this video clip, what I am like now. :)

*9 DAYS : 5 HOURS : 15 MINS...*

...AND 10 SECONDS.

MY TICKET.

*WE BOTH LOVE SOUP*

The inside joke from the post below this one comes from this awesome scene in one of my favorite movies, "Best in show." I recently shared it with friends and family and it's now everyone's favorite!

Enjoy!

*A GREEN DREAM!*

I wish I had my own personal seamstress that I could have whip up any outfit I ever wanted. I so love this jacket and the shirt underneath! I have no idea where I even saw this photo...but it is a dream!

*PEE PEE DIDDY HAS TO GO!*

I'm sorry but P Diddy is such a dork! I've never seen someone so full of himself. And today he made a classic statement that proves it. Speaking of the win of Barack Obama becoming President (and picture him saying this in his puffed up voice) he stated;

"I felt like my vote was the vote that put him into office. ... And that may not be true but that's how much power it felt like I had."

?????? Yeah...okay pee pee diddy, whatever you say! :D

Ps. Update: Apparently Puff Daddy is also Gods gift to the world.
http://www.people.com/people/gallery/0,,20238412_20539682,00.html

*BARACK OBAMA & OUR PERSONAL DUTY TO GOD*

Tonight was an important moment in History. The first African American was voted President Of The United States- Barack Obama. He is a good man and I feel that he will do a good job. But we live in a truly troubled time. As I was pondering this thought, this moment in time, I can't help but going back to the God of the Universe and finding peace in knowing that He is the one leading this country...this world. My life is really in HIS hands. It is by His hands that all things were created and by His hands that all things will come to an end unless we follow His son, Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation. I just read this quote and felt it was appropriate for a night like tonight. It is truly a charge for all of us to stand for something and to remember who we are.

“We live in a great and evil day. Never have the powers of darkness, evil and perversion covered the earth as they do in this generation. This is a season in the Lord’s affairs that the greatest generation of men and women in the history of the world is being called forth. Our work is at hand. It is not a time for cowardice or compromise nor is it a time to indulge or live an undisciplined life. It is a time to rally to the banner of our Master, to declare with unwavering allegiance our loyalty to His great cause. It is a time to be noble and pure, to live lives disciplined like no other generation. It is a season for a “Spartan” life, a “committed” life, a “conquering” life.

This generation of men and women are going to accomplish the seemingly impossible because you are on His errand. Your generation will fight the greatest army of satanic hosts ever assembled. You will be severely outnumbered. You will need a deep and abiding faith in Christ to survive—and you will survive. The Lord and His servants will triumph, we do know that.”

~Elder Robert L. Backman, Vaughn J Featherstone, and Rex D. Pinegar.

*HELLO LITTLE FRIEND*

I was reading yesterday and this little guy randomly came walking by. Cute. :)

*TWILIGHT MOVIE COUNTDOWN 18 DAYS*

PARAMORE- "DECODE"

*U2 UPDATE. I LOVE MY BOYS!*

'We want 2009 to be our year'

'We’ve hit a rich songwriting vein and we don’t want to stop.' Bono has been talking to U2.Com about how the songs are shaping up for the new record and plans for 2009 to be their year.

‘This is our chance for us to defy gravity once again, ‘ explains Bono, calling in from a break in recording sessions in the south of France. ‘ We have what it takes, we have the songs, new rhythms and a guitar player who is not ready to re-enter earth's atmosphere until he's taken a slice of the moon!
'It's been fun, it's been maddening... there have been injuries and recoveries, no babies born that I know of, but this one is nearly ready for the new year of 2009.'

The band have been writing and recording the follow-up to ‘How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb’ since last year, and the feeling is that they’ve hit a creative groove so there are no plans to stop. Everyone, he says, is excited about where the recording is taking them.

‘When we set out on this record it was Larry who came up with the plan not to have a plan. He put up this idea that wouldn’t it be great just to make music for its own sake, not for the purpose of a live show or on album but just to see what we’re capable of…’

It’s an idea that’s paid off. Following sessions in Morocco, in Dublin and through the summer in France, the band have written ‘fifty or sixty’ tracks. And counting.

‘We’ve hit a rich songwriting vein,’ he explains. ‘It gets a bit dark down here but looks like we've found diamonds not coal. I thought a while back we might have the album wrapped by now, but why come up above ground now if there's more priceless stuff to be found?

For now, they’re keeping a promise they made to themselves when they started writing: ‘We said to each other that if we got to the great place then we wouldn’t stop…’

So the writing and recording continues and while they now know what shape most of the album will take, they're not leaving the studio just yet.

‘We know we have to emerge soon but we also know that people don’t want another U2 album unless it is our best ever album. It has to be our most innovative, our most challenging … or what’s the point ?’

They have no doubts that it will be as important a release for U2 as any. ‘It’s a brand new chapter for us, and everyone we’ve played the tracks to has said that musically it feels like another departure.

‘The last two records were very personal, with a kind of three piece at their heart, the primary colours of rock - bass, guitars and drum. But what we’re about now is of the same order as the transition that took us from The Joshua Tree to Achtung Baby.’

He also mentions that the recording in Morocco was the first time the band have worked in a studio open to the sky: ‘On that track you can hear the sound of a swallows nest close to the building - it’s beautiful.’

Longtime collaborators Danny Lanois and Brian Eno have joined the band at different times, and, more recently, Steve Lillywhite – usually a tell-tale sign that a record is nearly done. ‘Steve has that ear for a top line melody and a good hook.’

But while Bono is itching to get the music out he says it’s going to be early 2009 when we first get to hear the songs.

‘I’m always the one who underestimates how easy it is to simply 'put out the songs now', if it was just up to me they’d be out already! But early next year people will be able to start hearing what we’ve been doing. We want 2009 to be our year, so we’re going to start making an impression very early on …’

(Thanks for the info Jeff)

*HALLOWEEN 2008...THE CATS MEOW*

It was a great Halloween this year. I hit both my own family party and then ran up to my friends house for a fun night with my girlfriends watching a ghost movie. As you can see from the photos, I dressed up as myself..."The cat lady." There is nothing that brings more joy to my heart then watching everyone dress up "cute" (it seems most girls prefer it) and me dressing up to look "NOT CUTE." It brings a sort of strange satisfaction to me. The ability to laugh at myself is one of the best gifts God ever gave me. :)