arguably the best day of my entire life

I was destined to be a teenybopper. It’s a role I took very seriously from the ages of 11 to 15. I mean, keeping up with every detail of the lives of an entire boyband really takes true dedication and a lot of time. It’s not like my Justin Timberlake posters were strategically placed all over my bedroom walls by themselves. Did you know, I was honestly truly going to marry Justin Timberlake? Way before Jessica Biel. No, really. I was. My best friend, Laura, was too. Ask her.

Some might say J.T. was my first. My first lust, perhaps. But not my first love. There were four others before him. You’re probably asking yourself, “at 11 years old”?! I know, shameless, I know. But it’s true. Years before those bleach blonde curls and bright baby blues graced my life and lovingly gazed at me from every corner of my bedroom, my heart was stolen by four boys. Or should we call them men? Let’s call them Boys to Men, but we’ll add in the letter ‘z’ and the Roman numeral ‘II’, because that makes it smooooth, and Boyz II Men are just that.

When most 9 year old girls were begging Santa Mom for Easy Bake Ovens, I was ‘down on bended knee’ asking for a coffee table biography about Boyz II Men complete with 50 pages of never-before-seen family photos! And don’t worry, Santa Mom totally got it for me.

Apparently I have a passionate thing for harmonizing. And a good beat. And soulful R&B. And tacky stage costumes, but we don’t have to go into that one. I did however grow out of my “thing” for frosted blond hair and I no longer jump up and down incessantly screaming when my friends and I sneak backstage at concerts. But sneaking backstage? That we still do of course..

Oh yea! So about the best day of my life. Well, see for yourself…

I know, right?! I was sandwiched between Nathan and Shawn! Me! This was a few years ago. After watching them perform at the Utah State Fair, and singing my little heart out to every. single. song, I went backstage and MET BOYZ II MEN. I walked right up to them, hugged each one (a 45-second embrace isn’t weird, right?) and then proclaimed, “I love you SOOO much!”, to which they responded that they loved me too, and asked if I would like to come on tour with them, and told me that they’d always wanted a little sister like me, yadda yadda yadda. Okay, some of that is an exaggeration, but basically we looked each other in the eyes and we bonded. Forever. And that is that. Perhaps the best day of my life. My mom cried when she saw this picture and I told her about it. She cried! I asked her, “Mom! Why are you crying?!”, and she said (this still makes me laugh), “Because it’s one of your dreaaaaams!”. See? Dreams were reached that day. Best.Day.Ever.

So, Boyz II Men are coming to Wendover this July. That’s like an hour and a half from Salt Lake and totally worth the drive especially if you ride the Wendover Party Bus and play Bingo with senior citizens along the way. Am I going? Duh. I’m working on convincing my girlfriends that there is hardly anything in the world as fulfilling as being sandwiched between these soulful angels but who actually needs convincing, right? Also, I’ve got to come up with ideas on how to be the girl that gets picked to go on stage during, ‘I’ll Make Love to You’. Seriously.

Best day ever, round two. Here I come.