Here is the long-anticipated, much-requested "Kelsey's Wish List." She began putting this list together after her 16th Birthday and she worked on it up until just a few days before she passed away. They are written in a journal that was given to her by Jason Wade, the lead singer from Lifehouse. They are listed here in the order she wrote them with very little editing on our part.

We know that many of you want to see the whole list so that you can accomplish some of the things Kelsey had dreamed of doing, and we think that is a wonderful tribute to her. With that in mind, it only seems fitting that you only check things off the list that you have done since she passed away.

Simon & Teresa
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KELSEY'S WISH LIST

1. Get married to someone who really loves me.
2. Get a book published.
3. Win the Newberry.
4. Introduce a new word to the dictionary.
5. Swim with dolphins.
6. Order diet water.
7. Go on a Mediterranean cruise.
8. See Colonial Williamsburg at Christmas.
9. Make a discovery that proves God.
10. Speak/debate on abortion.
11. Make modesty fashionable.
12. Sleep under stars.
13. Visit every continent.
14. Spend a year in the UK writing and drinking tea in the countryside.
15. Go up a down escalator.
16. Speak in front of a large group of strangers.
17. Become friends with a stranger.
18. Plan a wedding.
19. Plant a lily garden.
20. Go firefly hunting.
21. Eat at a Food Network chef’s restaurant.
22. Teach a totally ignorant person about God.
23. Go a week without makeup.
24. Eat chocolate icing out of the can on a bad day.
25. Teach a child to read.
26. Audition for an ad.
27. Become fluent in German.
28. Invent my own recipe.
29. Save someone’s life.
30. Read the Bible cover-to-cover.
31. Rescue an animal.
32. Volunteer for disaster relief.
33. Eat cake with a fork. (?)
34. Go through a drive-thru after midnight, then have a movie marathon with the girls.
35. Watch the sunset over the ocean.
36. Have a boyfriend.
37. Get a henna tattoo.
38. See shooting stars.
39. Eat something not meant to be eaten (guts).
40. Eat ice cream in a Jacuzzi.
41. Visit the Holy Lands.
42. Create my own constellation.
43. Search for fairies in Ireland.
44. Go to Hershey, PA.
45. Get accepted into Emerson College.
46. Eat pizza in Italy.
47. Have a baby.
48. Be an extra in a movie.
49. Go on an American road trip with the girls.
50. Rent a castle.
51. Learn to Waltz.
52. Eat three scoops of ice cream on a cone.
53. Eat a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.
54. Eat at a Fuji place. (Japanese hibachi restaurant)
55. Eat at The Melting Pot.
56. Get a pair of pink satin slippers with bows on the toes.
57. See the Nutcracker Ballet.
58. Dye my hair lavender.
59. Eat Memphis BBQ.
60. Rent a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN for a week with the Mitchells and the “Grams” clan.
61. Buy a long, old-fashioned lace and ribbon nightgown, white.
62. Eat Chinese takeout from a cool box with chopsticks in front of the TV.
63. Learn to ski.
64. Learn to use chopsticks.
65. Eat a whole thing of Reddi-Wip.
66. Ride sidesaddle.
67. See a Broadway show.
68. Learn to ice skate.
69. Learn to snowboard.
70. Take Faith and mom on a mother-daughter lunch and shopping spree. Buy Faith a new outfit, shoes, jewelry, and smelly-goody stuff.
71. Buy a VS bra.

Okay, this is your chance to say thank you to Jude Cole & Lifehouse for all that they've done for Kelsey and our family. They have been, and continue to be, so wonderful to us.

If you write it, we can guarantee they will read it! ;)

At the end of your comments, please put your city and state. We want them to see the widespread appreciation!

Simon, Teresa, Jordan, Simon David, & Faith

Ok, since March is pretty much over, I thought I'd post a quick recap of what had to be the best bday ever!

Feb. 28th: I went on a shopping spree and bought everything I wanted(!!!including 4 pairs of beyooteeful ballet flats.

Mar 5th: I went to the spa and got a mani/pedi, facial and a massage. And I got to keep my toe polish which is a gorgeous sky blue OPI and a deep sea somethin foot cream! The facial had to be about the most relaxing thing I've ever done. She didn't just rub one lotion on my cheeks for a minute. She used three or four different products allllllllll over for like a half hour! Sooo lovely.

Mar.6th We celebrateed my birthday on this day and I had a special breakfast and the Smiths, Aunt B, Mr. Michael, Knuckle Dave, and Gramma and Grampa ate my bday meal. (a description of which will be online tomorrow)

Mar 7th: first, we had donuts. i mean, c'mon!-that woulda been a good day on its own! then, at ten, i went to Alecia, a hair stylist from church.She did my hair, maakeup and eyebrows for my tea! And while i was there, my friend Kirby and her mom brought a lovely bouquet of lilies(my faaaaavorite) qnd a box of dove chocolate, which, to sound like Amy
March, is absolutey divine. I adore dove chocolate. In fact, I am eating some right now. :) Lovely.
Anyways, back to my bday extravapalooza.
When we got home, Gramma,Grampa and Uncle Dave had already left (oh yeah, Kirby and her mom had put a happy bday sign in the yard to greet us when we got home :)
) Tnen Daddy took Simon and Faitth out for a while and I attempted not move. Me and Momma had some girl time and watched What Not To Wear.Well Daddy gets home about an hour before the tea and says "what are those weird bags on the porch?" i said i didnt know and just moved on, thinkin he'd bring em in.But he insisted, so I hobbled outside. Sitting on the porch in bags were two of my favorite people in the world!! Hannah and Ashlyn!! I just kinda stood there and blankly asked "how'd you get here!?" annd then Mommy Laura and Uncle Dave walked around the corner! Then it was pretty much time for tea. We had the whole tea room to ourselves (ourselves being me, Hannah, Ashlyn, Kirby, and Jen). there were flowers on the middle of the table that someone brought over anoynously.
Me and Kirby got hot tea. They bring over this huge box of bags and then after you choose ( i got chammomile citrus which was quite good, very herby and smooth) they bring you over your own little pot, creamer, hunny (yes, i know thats the poohbear spelling! i love pooh) and a cup and saucer. Everyone got scones and Devonshire cream which is a soft sweeter cream cheese kinda. The scones tasted like muffin cookies and weere so good. We all got chicken salad on a very good floaky croissant and a fresh fruit cup with a tanngy poppy seed dressing, which I loved. We had to dare Hannah to eat some. She didn't like it, lol. For dessert we had cheesecake wirh red fruit topping. I loooove cheesecake and so does Jen, but Ashy can only eat so much, Kirby doesnt like it and Hannah didnt really have an opinion. As soon as they set it down, I dug in and everyone just watched. Finally, I asked why i was the only one eating ( with my fork in my mouth, lol). As if on cue, every started to sing happy birthday!

Over all we just had a fun, girly time. We took lotsa stupid pictures, tried 'a spot o tea', aqte a byproduct of volcanic ash (otherrwise known as Sugar in the raw, or volcano poop). It was everything
I hoped but better, cause Ashy and Hannah came. We had a great day together and Mommy Laura got us a joint birtthday cake because we all had significant bdays this year!

March 9th is my actual birthday. Everyone came in and sang to wake me up and then we had donuts! I had a cream, custard and apple fritter!Then it was off to LA!


I'll do the Disney part of my extrapaloooza later, becausse frankly, I dont wanna do it now.

But in case anyone is wondering, these are gifts I got and opened, like not in the mail:

Grams and Ppoppas: Twilight! Edward whenever I want!

Gramma and Grampa: A scrapbook of my life and moolah.

Uncle Dave: Never put Ketchup on a Hot Dog, a book all about Chicago dogs!

Aunt B and Mr. Michael: my tiara (which I wore to the spa, my special dinner, the tea, all day on my bday, the studio, and disney!) twilight chocolates, chocolate covered pretzels and bookplate stickers

The Smiths: photoalbum and Mickell's Pickles. The 2nd best pickles in the world.

Ash and Hannah: A book of my writings and pics of us.

Momma and Daddy: A book stampm aaaaaaaaand

Aine! (anya, its irish)

Okay you impatient people.I guess y'all can share my memories.

I have to admit, I was nervous on the way to the studio. I mean, this is my favorite band. I am just Kelsey! And you know, I'm really not that interesting. And we were staying ALL day. I could maybe pretend to be interesting for an hour or two. But all day!

Jude Cole, the producer, came to the garage to meet us. He's the one who arranged for our trip. He gave me a hug, a nice hug and told me how great it was to meet me and stuff. Before we even went in the studio, he told us that for today, this was our home. We were to go wherever we want, touch whatever we wanteed to touch, whatever! So then we went in and met Jenn, who got together tickets, reservations and all those details. So we rolled down this little hallway to this room from where there is coming really loud music.We go in and Jude says, "Hey guys, this is-" but the guyys were already comin over and sayin "Hey Kelsey". They gave me hugs too and asked how I was, then Jude took us through the studio.

The actual recordy part of the studio (hereafter referred to as the couch room) was very big and comfortable. There was a couch and coffee table in the middle of the room, and directory across from it kinda against the left wall were Rick's drums. Behind the couch were guitars. Kiefer Sutherland, who part owns the studio, collects guitars and they wrapped around the right wall. The two other walls were mostly glass. In the frontmost right corner there was a little box room with a piano and a mic where Jason would sing. It was all glass too. So then we walked through the rest of the studio, which happens to be Kiefer’s house when he’s in LA, He was in Germany though, so it was just us. His master bedroom was bigger than our whole house! There were exposed beams and awards and all kiinda stuff in Kiefer’s house. Jude trashed Kiefer in a buddyish kinda way, picking up awards and going, “What’s this? A SAG? Ah, who cares.” We stepped in the lounge for a sec and ate exceptionally good cupcakes and chatted a minute with Jude.

Then we headed back to the couch room where Jenn, Mitch, Winnie, Flo (who are all sound tech guys), and the band were hanging out We brought Kelsey quote shirts for each member of the band and I brought a copy of my poem, So we gave out those and then Jason had a birthday present for me! First I opened a little silver heart locket with a K on one side and ‘from Lifehouse’ engraved on the back. He said his wife picked it out but it was from the band ☺. Then I pulled out this beautiful leather journal with embossed detail in the corners and the middle. Jason said he picks up journal for songwriting wherever he goes and he picked up this one In Venice. He wrote the lyrics to “Everything” on the first page, which happens to be one of my favorite songs!

Then we all went to the control room which had three levels. The bottom level was a couch facing the couch room. There were four tvs over the glass wall with video of outside and info on what song is being recorded. The next level had the big slidey board and two chairs. There was a mac connected to the top of the big slidey board that actually recorded everything. Underneath the big slidey board were tons of little pedals and boxes, switches and wires. The next level was a big desk with tons of sound stuff and papers, laptops and more chairs where my family sat. Underneath the desk were lotsa stereos and other sound machines that I do not know the purpose of. The band got hooked up, Jason on guitar and vocals, Rick on the drums, Bryce on bass, and Jude on guitar in the control room.

I sat next to Flo, a German guy who controlled the slidey board. He showed me how he could isolate anything, even down to Rick’s left and right feet! They started playing, and every few minutes, someone would stop and make a suggestion. They’d adjust and start again. Or someone would ask to play a certain section of the song. Flo would move some buttons around, and everyone talked to each other. Jude said one time that ‘they kept it in the family’ and it really seemed that way!

Jason, Bryce, and Rick seemed like brothers. They teased each other and joked but they also listened to each other and took suggestions.There was no blaming when someone messed up, just teasing. Jude wasn’t exactly ‘fatherly’ because there was no superiority about him. There was no feeling of “I’m the boss, do as I say.”. It was more like, “Hey I think that’d sound good, what do you think?” and everyone else recognizes he knows what he’s talking about. He’s like the cool uncle or the way older brother I guess. Jenn
I guess was the mom. Not because she was motherly or anything, she just had everything under control. And as a big sister, I know I only wish I was that good. She made everything seem smooth and effortless and seemed capable of handling everything. Flo, Mitch and Winnie were cousins. Essential to the family, a huge part of the family, just not in the spotlight,. Flo was terribly nice, always making sure I could see and I had what I needed. He4 explained the slidey board to me and teased a lot. Winnie, I’m not gonna lie, I’d probably run away if he approached while I was in public by myself. But he was really funny and nice. He messed with guitars pretty much all day including one time when Bryce messed up something on his bass. I didn’t see much of Mitch.

It was like they spoke another language! They’d play a little and Jude would stop and say, “Bryce, can you choke it a little more?” and they’d try again. And I could hear a subtle change, but I had no idea why. Bryce choked ‘it’ til ‘it’ turned blue! Unless ‘it’ was a Smurf.. I am of the opinion that Smurfs turn purple.

Jude asked to change quite a bit of stuff and you could tell he was obviously awesome at what he does/ He heard things that were so subtle and tiny, but make a difference!You could tell they were all working to make the best music they could, not just to make money.

The whole time they played, Flo adjusted the slidey board, making subtle changes to each member of the band. Occasionally someone would stop and ask him to adjust something and those changes were a little easier to hear.

One of the funniest things was watching Rick get into his drumming. He drummed with his whole body.He wore a pink sweatband over his headphones and just banged away. He was so full of energy, but he was serious about his music. I just think he may have had a Monster or two.

Everyone teased and laughed a lot, but you could see the earnestness in the music. You could tell they really loved doing this and really cared about making it the best it could be.

Bryce and Rick went in by themselves at one time to just record their parts and Bryce went in by himself to do his part also.

After as few hours we decided to break for lunch. So the band came into the control room and Jenn brought in this giant book and we all discussed what we wanted for lunch. It was so normal, everyone just talking about what sounded good and what our options were. We decided on Indian amd so Jenn called for it. We just all hung out while we waited.

They told us about funny concerts and Daddy told Jason about India. Bryce and I talked about Disney and Faith talked about monkeys BTW, there are lots of funny stories, but instead of posting them in one blog, I’m gonna do one at the end of my next few blogs, k? It was just like hangin out with friends.

Then we went to Kiefer’s where all the food was on the island and everyone just helped themselves and sat down at the huge dining room table. It was exactly like when we go to a friend’s house to eat! We just talked about food and macs, and just hung out! Then after everyone cleaned up, Jude had to make some phone calls, so went back into the couch room and talked to Jason for at least a half hour. We talked about our favorite songs and Jason told us why he wrote them and we just talked. Jason was very open and answered all our questions. The other guys came in too and we all talked. Jude told us why he invited us to the studio and told us we’re the first people ever to come see Lifehouse! It was so relaxed and natural, it really did feel like just chilin out at home!

Then we went back into the control room and they listened to the instrumental a few times through and made a few little adjustments. Then they listened to it with vocals and Jude and Jason played around with effects on a keyboard,

Then they dimmed all the lights except for in the soundbox and Jason went in and just sang . With everything he had. And he sang it all the way through with no interruptions. It was so pure and loud and clean. I could have sat there all day and just listened to him sing. Then our car arrived and we had to leave. ☹ Flo and I played with the mic for a few minutes and made my voice really high and then really low. It was really funny. We took pictures outside and got hugs and then we waved as we drove away.

It was so cool just to be there and hang out. They were so genuine and nice! Jude, Jason and Jenn tolde me to call them if I needed anything and really meant it! I really felt at home and didn’t want to leave at all. BTW, I loooov e the song they recorded while we were there.

I have a new website, http://lifebyfork.blogspot.com/ which is going to be all about food. All the Chicago by Forks are there, so if you've been directed here to read them, please make your way there. It should be amusing and I'm lookin forward to doin it, so please check it out. :)