Blogger Update

Ok, so clearly I'm not very good at blogging every day. But, after another weekend of no internet, I'm back. :)

Day 18 -- Regrets
While I try to not regret anything and, rather, choose to learn from mistakes, one cannot help wishing some things had happened differently. One major thing I wish I had done differently in life is learn to stick up for myself and not live in fear long before I did. It would have saved me a long time of unhappiness and a lot of money. But, I have learned a lot from those times!
I think one always "regrets" not taking advantage of things/appreciating things until they are gone. I wish I had had a better relationship with my dad while he were alive. I feel almost that our relationship is better now, as I have learned to appreciate him and accept things about him that I could not as a teen. Perhaps it's age, perhaps it's loss. Not sure.

Day 19--Something I miss
Obviously, if you've ever met me or read my blog, you know I miss my dad. But, on a slightly cheerier note, I also really miss home. Also, if you know me, you know I move A LOT! My family always told people to never keep the Davis address in pen in an address book, because it will change. We warned people to write in pencil, always. However, mine changes so much, my family's gone to keeping me on sticky notes! I've worn a hole in my mom's book with her erasing so much. Because I move so much, I don't get tied to places easily. I don't allow myself to truly take root and establish "home" often. However, I've truly fallen in love and accepted as home Boulder, and I miss it. While I'm in NY I know that Boulder is home, and I will return soon.

Day 20--Nicknames

O here's a fun one. My middle name is my mother's first name, Sue. So, when I was growing up, although I'd hardly count this as a nickname, my sister used to love to torment me by calling me my full name and adding my mother's middle name. Thus creating Kimberly Sue Ellen Davis. To which I would always respond, "That's not my name!" It has now become a fun joke with us, but boy did it drive me crazy growing up.

Since then, I've been honored with a different, rather better nickname--The Hammer! It started when I was working as an assistant at the car dealership under the top salesman. As such, I would often finish up paperwork and do administrative things while he would work with another customer. Soon after I had been hired, such an occasion came up. He was working with an older couple and was paged to greet a new customer on the floor. He informed the older couple, who were at the stage of just doing paperwork, that his assistant would come and assist them with the completion of the paperwork, to which the older gentleman joked, "O, here comes the hammer!" which everyone (namely, Dennis) found hysterical, as here I come around the corner (still new to the job) timid and meek. Apparently in the old days of selling cars it was customary to have the "salesman" type make you fall in love with the car and decide to buy and then hand you off the strong-armed paperwork person to nail out numbers. In this case, that had already been done, but Dennis found it greatly amusing and it stuck. He was certainly one for nicknames. So, I became Kim "The Hammer" Hudson. And that's how he always referred to me, even when paging me over the loudspeaker at work. "Hammer to the Honda showroom, please, guests waiting" or "Kim The Hammer Hudson, call on XX." O he loved it. Honestly, so did I. It was fun. :)

And today: Day 21--The Meaning of Life

Wow, a hard one. Well, my senior year of high school had a final project in English class to explain the meaning of life...any way you wanted, any meaning you wanted. Seems kinda reminiscent. To me, at least right now (if not always), the meaning of life is love. To love and be loved is the ultimate human experience. It's all we can ask for, right? I mean, without love, what is there? That's my thought. Yeah, I'd like to travel the world; I'd like to see everything and experience it all, but really, I just want to share a love. That's really what it all boils down to. I'm lucky, really. I have an amazing boyfriend, wonderful family, fantastic friends--all of whom love me. And I love them. Life's pretty good, no?

Day 17

Well, since I'm not a mom, I'll take Becky's idea and say something I'm looking forward to.

I'm looking forward to a lot of things. Most soon I'm looking forward to graduating. I really want to graduate with honors, and I'm on the right track. Additionally, I'm really looking forward to going back home and getting my teaching career started for real.

I'm also looking forward to being a wife and mother some day. I'd love to have a family of my own (not that I don't have an awesome family now) and share my wonderful life with them.

I also look forward to traveling. I hope to do a lot of it in my life, and I look forward to that!

I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them now.

Day 16 Blog Challenge

My Day 16 is my favorite season. This is really difficult. I love all the seasons. Each one offers the fresh outlook and hope of a great new thing, and the reprieve from the last. I love that I live in the best place in the world, one that has all four seasons.

Spring is awesome because it offers new life and hope. It gives the relief from winter's harsh cold. Plus, you can play in the rain!

Summer's awesome because you can hike and enjoy the mountains, after they've thawed from winter. They're a great way to escape heat.

Fall's great because you have beautiful colors and awesome smells. It's starting to be a family-oriented time of year with holidays and things. It's great.

Winter is fun because there's snow! You can ski, snowshoe, etc. Plus, there's snow to play in! :D And who doesn't love sweaters!?

So, I'd say my favorite season is: all of them and the fact that I am fortunate enough to call home a place that has all of them. I love Boulder!

If I had $1,000,000

I'd be rich! Haha, but seriously, today's blog is about my dreams and what I'd do with the money to make it happen. Firstly, I'd get rid of ALL my debt (and there goes a big chunk of change) and that of my family. I'd donate a bunch. And, with what I had left (if any), I'd travel the world. I'd take the ones I love and explore! I'd make dreams come true (mine at least, and torture those with me to follow along, haha)! I'd go everywhere! Obviously, this is a dream of having endless money. If I were set to have $1,000,000, I'd do as much as I can and still have a secure future. Even in my dream of endless money, I'd work. I'd find a school where I could teach and be truly happy, because I love teaching. It's in my blood and it's my passion. So, with endless money I'd see the world and teach to my heart's content. That's my dream. :)

Blog Challenge Continued

Oops, forgot to finish this last night...my bad. :)

After a long weekend away and no internet access, today I'm playing catch up (all the way up to Day 14). Sorry for the big post, but it'll be worth it. :)

Day 10: What I'm Afraid of:



I'm afraid, like many people of failing. I'm not talking about college tests (although if I had them I might be), but on the bigger picture. I'm afraid of failing the people I love and letting them down. I'm afraid of failing myself and repeating old mistakes, thereby letting myself down. I want to make people I love and care about proud. I'm afraid to fail. I set pretty high (sometimes unrealistic) expectations on myself in order to please/make proud/etc. the people I love, and I really want to live up to them. Unfortunately, sometimes they are pretty lofty and I fall short. I'm working on it, as always.


Day 11: Something I've Lost and Miss:



As you know, I've lost my dad. It's been nearly 10 years now (June), and I obviously still miss him. A lot. Like with anything, some days are worse than others. Important days in his life (birthday, anniversary of his death, Christmas Eve, etc) are harder than others, but randomly it's hard, too. I wasn't really a daddy's girl (that was Becky's area), but we definitely had our things. Theatre was our sacred place. We could fight like cats and dogs, but in the theatre, there was nothing wrong. We just synced. It was great. Our McDonalds trips, too, were our thing. Becky had donuts with Daddy, I had McDonalds breakfast. It was just us time. And I cherished it. Maybe that's why I still love McD's breakfast to this day.


Day 12: Favorite Trait About Myself:

I think my favorite thing about myself, which I sometimes forget, is that I am strong. I have been through a lot in my 25 years, and I strive in them. I more than survive. I am strong and just keep getting stronger. I know what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and I've had my fair share of strength builders. :)

Day 13: Some things I believe:

I believe everything happens for a reason. God has it all planned out and wouldn't present you with something you can't get through. You may not know it at the time, but everything happens to better you. You may not understand it, like it or want it, but it makes you stronger, better, and is for a reason. I also forget this sometimes, but I know deep down it's true.

And finally, Day 14: My favorite color:

If any of you know me, you know it's orange! I love it. It's so cheerful and happy. It's always been my favorite color, ever since I was a kid. It also happens to be Patrick's and my dad's. Weird, huh? I think it's just cuz it's an awesome color! :)

Blog Day 9

Hmm...my options...a picture of friends (which I don't have many pics of) or a book that's had a profound affect on my life. Wow. Hard. I'll attempt Julie's.

My favorite book of all time is Le Petit Prince. I read it in high school French class and have loved it ever since. I've read it so many times. It has some of the best quotes and lessons in it. I think it's probably had a pretty significant impact on me. Both its lessons and its language are in my soul. I try to live them. As you know, I'm obsessed with all things French, so what better, right?

Another pretty significant book is "The Night Before Christmas" because Daddy read it to us every Christmas Eve. I've continued that tradition. So, in a way, that story has had an impact.

Never a Dull Moment

Similar to Mary's always telling Julie to write a book, my friend at school here, Kate, keeps saying we need to write a book about all the adventures we have. It seems they're ceaseless. Every time we go out, it turns into an event. Although, I think it's just the city, personally. Or maybe it's just me. :)

Anyway, I got back to NY late Sunday night. Yesterday was MLK day and the school was closed. It was nice to have a day to recoup and rest before the routine started up again. Plus, it gave me a chance to get my apt set up again, after being gone for a month. MAJOR grocery shopping needed. Plus, with my new diet, anything that was left over, I pretty much can't eat, anyway. :)

So, Kate and I decided to make a day of it. Running errands...what a day! She needed a new blanket and I decided there was probably some housey stuff I needed, too. She mentioned she'd been to Times Square with her boyfriend the day before and seen a Target there. Ok, cool! We headed downtown only to find out that it's not a Target, but rather, just a giant sign. Poo. So, in the bitter cold, we walked the 9 blocks to the Kmart I knew was just a ways away. Not a biggie. We found an awesome blanket for Kate and a toaster (I mean, "stapler") for me and headed back up.

Riding the train with our new exciting housewares, we stopped in Harlem for the grocery store. I'm tellin' ya, it's an exciting day of hanging out, yeah? I know you're jealous! We wandered through the grocery store and $120 later were out of there headed home to cook some yumminess. As we were walking out, we found a cab that took the sketchiest way back home...unappreciated, sir. Finally we made it back and unloaded. We had our DELISH dinner of lasagna casserole and pampered her poor puppy who had just had surgery. Poor Cabbot. He's doing much better, but of course he hams up the injury to get lovins. He is her seeing-eye-dog and had to have a toe removed, so he can't work for another couple weeks. Luckily it was during break. Anyway, I felt bad that I couldn't give him any noodles; he looked so sad and pathetic with his cone on. But, I was good and didn't feed him.

So, laughing all the way through dinner, we enjoyed our eventful day of Target-less Times Square, sketchy cabbies, and late dinner. All for a day of errands. Love this city!

Blog Challenge Update

Ok, so I fell behind...shocker :)

Day 6 is (on Becky's a picture--done that and on Julie's a sad memory--no thanks) interesting facts! So, Becky put 15 interesting facts about her on her Day 1, but I didn't, so I will share some now.

1. My favorite number is 6. I was born on the 6th at 6:00 and weighed 6 lbs or something like that, I think. Anyway, I like it. But my lucky number is usually 7. Weird!


2. I love stupid trivia. Useless knowledge fascinates me, and I can always find a place to share it. Usually it's with my students (kids love the stuff). I make a fun time of the day to share a new fact.


3. I don't like escalators. I never have. When I was a kid, I had this Sesame Street book where Ernie and Maria go to the mall. They get on the escalator and the line in the book says, " 'One, two, three, step!' said Maria" and anytime I had to get on an escalator mom would say that to me. To this day, I still say it in my head every time I step on. If you watch me, you can probably see me concentrating getting on. They scare me. I hate them!


4. My favorite color is orange. It's just such a happy color. Coincidentally, it was my father's favorite, too. Neat. It's also Patrick's favorite. Convenient. :)


5. I too have the uncanny ability to find misspellings and typos in things. It drives me CRAZY. It seems like such a good ability to have, right? NO! It's annoying as hell! They're everywhere! It amazes me how people don't understand their own language!
6. As you know, I'm in grad school. But did you know....I only have 4 months left!? To the day, I'll graduate in 4 months. So excited.
7. I have adrenal gland problems and can't eat sugars or fake sugars. And there's sugar in EVERYTHING!
8. I, also, don't find myself that interesting. If it weren't for Julie, I wouldn't have this blog at all. :)

Day 7 is my favorite movies: O boy! Well, in no particular order, some of my favorites are:

• Empire Records


• Happy Accidents


• Life as a House


• Must Love Dogs (and pretty much ANYTHING with John Cusak in it)


• Princess Bride

I'm sure I'm missing some, but o well.

And today is Day 8! Today we'll discuss a place I've travelled!

You all know how I love travelling, so today's more of it! :D This past March, I went to Belize, Central America. It was beyond amazing. I went with a few of my friends to love on the kids of Belize. We painted a school, hung out with some orphans and learned immense amounts about how others live. It was a very humbling experience to see the joy these kids have with so little. The whole trip was so amazing (we went cave tubing, monkey hunting--SO FREAKING AMAZING!, and to a Mayan ruins site--also way cool). But the kids really made it for me. During the lunch and recess breaks at school we played with them; man they have energy! It was so great to be able to share the love and get dirty for kids! :D

Blog Challenge Day 5

Well, the challenges Julie and Becky are doing for their Day 5 I've either done or don't know what I'd say, so I'm gonna make it up :). For my day 5, I'll explain some goals I have! Sounds fun, right? haha. We'll see.

So, I have some pretty expected goals, you know, graduate (seems like I've had that one my whole life, no?). But more specifically, I'd like to graduate with honors. I know it's prestigious to go to an Ivy League school, but I'd like to prove to myself I can do it and to some caliber (and I kinda think I'm part masochist). One goal is to get my Master's with honors.

Along with that, I'd like to teach. DUH! But not just be a teacher in a classroom, I want to really teach. I want to be the teacher that changes some kid's life. I want to inspire and motivate my students to be the changers of the world, to love learning and never quit!

Goal in life #2: See the world! This is really 2 goals: I'd like to visit all 50 states (I have 5 left) and all 7 continents! Yup, even Antarctica. It sounds soooo awesome!

Like most women, I have a goal to be a wife and mom. I want a family. I want to spread all this love around (gosh, I'm gushy today haha).

Some more minor goals: I'd love to teach abroad, at some point. Maybe not for a full year, maybe so. Maybe just take some kids abroad and teach things (like the curriculum I'm writing now). Either way, I would love to combine my 2 passions.

Anyway, it's a short post today, but at least I didn't cheat, eh Julie ;) haha. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Blog Challenge

Ok, so everyone is doing these "Blog Challenges" and wanting me to do it, too. So, ok, fine. I figure I'll just make it up as I go. So, Day 1 generally seems to be an introduction to myself. Well, since the only people that actually readmy blog are my sister, my boyfriend and my best friend, I think I can skip that, eh?

So, moving on...Day 2 is generally the meaning behind the blog name. Since I don't really have a good meaning, it was something I came up with on

the spot as Julie was making the blog for me before I left for NY (she doesn't have fb, so she insisted I have a blog, but I made her set it up). Since that's not really a whole post's worth, I'll move on.

Day 3--A love or a recent pic. Hmm...I'll do both! I've attached this pic of Patrick and me because I think it's a really sweet picture. It overlooks a golf course in Golden and was taken in September at a friends' wedding. It has the mountains I love in the background and I'm with the man I love...WIN!

Day 4 (Since they've been short) seems to be discussing family. This one might be longer. My family: I have a mom, a step-dad, a sister who's married, so a brother-in-law, and two step-brothers (each married, so some sisters-in law, too).

My dad passed away nearly 10 years ago (this June), and my mom, whom I consider one of my best friends, remarried in 2008 to Jeff. They are amazing together and have really shown me what a healthy and loving relationship should look like. Jeff is a great man both for her and for Becky and me. He is wonderful and I love him and am happy to call him part of my family.

Becky is my sister. She's 5 years older than me and has recently become rather close. It most definitely wasn't always that way, but like we say, the best thing to happen to us was 3000 miles between us! It really has been good. We've grown up and are now able to really have a sisterly relationship, which is really nice. PLUS: she's given me a nephew...how cool is that!? She and Kevin (her awesome hubby) brought Porter Davis Menard into our crazy world in September, and he just lights up all of us (even though I haven't officially met him).

My brothers Nick and Ryan are both older than me, Nick's closer to my age and Ryan only 3 weeks younger than Becky. Nick lives with his wife, Andrea, and their puppy in Dallas by Mom and Jeff, and Ryan and Valerie live in Iowa near where I was born. They're pretty cool guys, and I always wanted brothers :) so it's pretty neat. I only wish I saw them more.

So, in a nutshell, that's my family. It's growing and expanding and I love it! That doesn't even include my friends that might as well be family, but that's ok. They know who they are. :)

Love you all! Till next time...

Blog Challenge

So, my sister, having stolen my glory for making a blog, started this blog challenge thing in January. I thought it was interesting. Mostly, I was impressed at the insight she shared into our family that, honestly, I had not even paid much attention to. It's the little things, things I took for granted, but it's nice to hear them and see them spelled out. So, maybe when she's done with hers, I'll use the prompts and write mine for Feb...maybe. :) So, thanks, Becky for sharing. I'm interested to see what all the topics are for this challenge.