Describe your bedroom when you were my age.

Kindergarten: We lived in Missoula, MT in a housing development called "Russell Park." The house was green with yellow trim, and had a garage that was almost attached to the house (breezeway). The yard was fenced. I don't remember my room...although it might have been located at the bottom of the stairs (the house was sort of split-level). I remember coming home from a trip with Uncle Doug...it was late at night and I was so surprised that my Mom had cleaned and organized the bedroom, and had found a whole bunch of Fisher Price play houses and dolls at a garage sale ~ they were all arranged very nicely and I wanted to play with them!

1st grade: We lived in Missoula, MT at 2320 Briggs Street . I remember the house, and the basement where the Missionaries lived, but I don't remember my bedroom. Sorry. Here are some other things that I do remember about that house: the huge lilac hedge between our house and our neighbors' house; that Aunt Karen liked King Kong; that there was a big fireplace in the living room and in the daylight basement; that Dad taught me how to count money...it was very hard for me to learn, and I cried because I was so frustrated...after he helped me, I felt a lot better; Aunt Cyndie and I decided we didn't want to live with Mom anymore, so we packed our suitcases and told her we were running away...we stayed in the front yard and built a snowman...after a while we thought we should finally leave, so we headed for the empty field that lay between our house and the school (Cold Springs Elementary) ~ but the barbed wire fence had flags on it, and I told Cyndie that meant there were mean indians around and we were too scared to go any further, so we turned around and moved back home; we through our jack-o-lanterns off the deck and watched them smash on the ground; we had an Easter Egg hunt in the backyard; we watched General Conference on our TV at home ~ Dad asked me to draw pictures of the speakers and write their names...this was the first time I remember President Monson and he instantly became one of my favorite speakers at Conference.

this is what the house looks like in 2009; I don't remember the mini-canal in the front yard, but I do remember that crooked tree

2nd grade: We lived at 3139 E. 32nd Street in Spokane. It is the first address I memorized. I shared an unfinished basement bedroom with my sister Cyndie. Karen, Sheila and Lisa (who was born while we lived here) shared a larger bedroom in the basement. My bedroom didn't have a door, ceiling, or walls. But it had a bunkbed and a dresser. That house was teeny-tiny. My dad rented it before my mom ever saw it...and I don't think she ever liked it. But as a kid it was just great.

3rd grade: We lived on Brighton View Drive (at the corner of 94th) in Sandy, UT. My bedroom was in the basement and it was the first time I had a bedroom of my own. The floor was old industrial vinyl tiles and it was always cold. I had 2 windows and the walls were dark wood paneling. Other things I remember about this house: there was a KFC behind the house and the backyard (especially the 3-story treehouse) smelled like fried chicken ~ to this day, when I smell KFC, I remember that treehouse; our dog Russell was hit and killed by a car on 94th and Mom had Aunt Cyndie and me take a shovel and the wagon to bring him home...it was a very sad day for me; this is the house we lived in when Aunt Julie was born (several hours after Thanksgiving dinner) ~ we stayed with friends who lived on a mink farm and it was SO stinky that I couldn't sleep that night.

can you see the KFC bucket above the house? this is what the house looks like in 2009 ~ I can't believe that the KFC is still there!

4th grade: We moved from Sandy to 1375 N. in Orem, and I thought my life was over. I missed my friends SO much! I shared a basement bedroom with Cyndie (and maybe Karen ~ I can't remember). The bedroom was at the front of the house and we would sometimes climb out of the window-well to play in the neighborhood ~ I stopped after I found a HUGE spider there one day! That Christmas Santa brought me an alarm clock of my very own ~ it scared me when it went off in the morning!

5th -6th grade: We moved across a big empty field (which has since been developed into houses) and our address was 1098 W. 1300 N. My bedroom was to the left of the front door. It had shag carpet. I had a metal shelving unit at the foot of my bed. There was an earthquake (not too big) and all the dolls on my shelf started rattling...I couldn't figure out why Mom was shaking my shelf to wake me up! There was a very loud and obnoxious cricket who lived outside my window that summer...I tried to drown him with the hose several times, but it wouldn't work. When I got the chicken pox, Dad brought a small TV in and put it on my dresser so I could watch TV in bed; it made me wish the chicken pox lasted a lot longer! We lived here until just after my 7th grade year started.

this is how it looks today. when we lived there, the front yard was not fenced and the RV pad was not paved.

7th Grade: Dad moved to Spokane ahead of the rest of the family to start his new job ~ mom stayed behind with the kids to sell the house. After a time they realized it wasn't happening, so Cyndie and I moved to Spokane with Dad (who was living with his best HS friend & family)...we shared a bed in their family room for almost 2 months. When Mom & the rest of the kids finally came to Spokane, we moved to what I remember being the largest home we lived in. My bedroom was in the back-front corner of the basement. Wood paneling on the walls, teeny windows and, if I remember correctly, dark carpeting. It always felt dark. I decorated with rainbows (my favorite thing at the time) and my favorite item was a stuffed parrot I'd won by selling magazines at a school fundraiser. I also had a spider plant that I liked to take care of. My cousins (Chuck, Jen & Jack) gave me an old stereo and I loved listening to 8-tracks, vinyl records, and the radio.