I suck at endgames; making me a worse player.. Help?

How can I improve my endgame? My openings are decent, middlegame is good. But the endgame always kills me. I have literally watched victory slip out of my fingers so many times!

How can I improve my endgame?!

I know how you feel...

It depends on your level.  A book like Seirwan's "Winning Chess Endings" is good.  There are some must know basics of course. 

If you don't want to spend money on a book at least practice these positions.  Take one of those games you watched "slip through your fingers" and start from a point in the middle game at a point where you're sure you had an advantage (or at least weren't losing) then analyse the game, not just for mistakes, but try to pinpoint the moment when you started to lose.  It isn't necessarily the moment you drop a pawn, it's the point where even good moves can't save you.  This is hard to do by yourself if you're a beginner, use a program (there are free chess programs online) or a stronger player to help you go over the game.

On that note, feel free to post any such games here, and other players (like me) will point out some good things to know, techniques, as well as which moves were good/bad etc.

I am almost the exact opposite. I LOVE ENDGAMES. It's where my memory of positions and my memory works at full blast. On the other hand, I hate openings because there's so much theory and novelties appear all the time

Silman's CEC is great, I agree.  "Endgame Virtuoso" may not be the best for instruction though.  Silman seems to put it under the "hero worship" category although it can be instructive. From Silman's site: 

And so, we finally come to the real topic of this review: ENDGAME VIRTUOSO ANATOLY KARPOV by the amazing Tibor Karolyi (How is it possible for this well known chess trainer to write so many excellent books so quickly?). This "hero worship" endgame book wisely stands in the evergreen category. People will always have heroes, and they will always want to see proof of their heroes' specific skills.

I realize that Mr. Karolyi will argue that this is also an instructive book, and in a sense he's right. You can only get better by looking over Karpov's handling of seemingly quiet positions, and a Master will find his endgame basics greatly expanded if he carefully goes through a book like this. Lower rated players, though, will enjoy the bright light given off by their hero, and they will even subconsciously pick up concepts and patterns that will lead to a strengthening of their endgame skills. But overall, the thick reams of analysis will prove too daunting to non-masters.

This is not to say that the non-master shouldn't buy it! The book does offer Karpov fans more bang for their worship, many lessons will be learned, and you don't have to go over every bit of analysis to enjoy Karpov's endgame acumen.

The part I marked in red got my attention.

Promise? If I spend time on pawn endgames, I will improve my understanding of the what, when, where and why of pawn moves in the opening?

Outside of the ideal 1.e4 2.d4 pawn moves in the beginning, opening diagonals for both my bishops to develop, all the other pawns a,b,c,f,g, and h are a mystery and mostly get in the way of my pieces.

The f,g,and h pawns serve a necessary role in the opening for the short castle, keeping them on the second rank unless there is a good reason to push them in the opening.

In live chess where I play against the 700's and 800's.

I see my opponents push the queenside pawns before I think a pawn storm should happen...heck...I even see early pawn storms on the kingside where my opponent quite happily strips the pawn cover from his king.

I've seen many non-book pawn moves in the opening in live chess, the most common being excessive pawn moves while keeping pieces on the back rank. 

Most premature attacks from my opponents have this common theme: one queen, one bishop and almost every pawn. The rest of the army watches from the rear.

The tricky part for me is finding time to develop while I am under attack.

How does one develop while under attack?

Here's one example of my attempt to play a Sicilian Defense after White plays 1.e4. How am I supposed to develop when I am under attack on move two! The pawn moves from both sides are anything but book or principled in the beginning. It's a free for all romp!

My turn based games start out with book moves, with normal development from both sides. Blitz is nuts! A peek into my world of live chess. 

That seems like a bad opening there.  I'm not sure what the best response is but whenever you see the queen come out early, try to get tempos against it. 

i second silman`s endgame course. it`s a great book.

"White's Queen is making 3 moves now. Black has already achieved his goal of trading off his c-pawn for a center pawn too."

I didn't see that continuation. Thank you.

I could tell you all I know about them, but I don't have much time now, so you can maybe send me a message or something. Basically:

1. Look at the two sides of the board

2. The King is a VERY valuable piece in the endgame

3. Pawn structure and pawn movements is key; look for a move with the pawns that supports your pawn structure, not weakens it

4. If it's Rook vs Rook, remember Capa: "A rook on the 7th is worth a pawn." Meaning put your rook on the 7th file and you'll freeze the position and make the other rook passive.

5. In B v B same color, it's a draw unless you have one more pawn than the opponent.

Endgames are just counter-intuitive.  I suck more at studying them than playing them--if that's possible.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=70993586E3E01AE7

Here is a fun, comprehensive endgame collection. Almost 50 videos make up about 6 hours of carefully assembled material, so you can cover the entire endgame spectrum: from beginner to expert player. Enjoy! 

You should play more regular time chess games so you could think deep about what are your best options for winning.

I agree with most of what others have said: some study from a well chosen basic endgame book; play longer games; analyse your games -- both wins and losses.

As for study at your level, a lot can be gained from just a little work. Start with K & P vs. K. Learn about opposition. Just those basics can help you understand how to convert a lot ofadvantages into wins. It will also help to form a solid foundation for more complex endgames in future.

A little endgame knowledge can go a long way. If you pick up just a few things, you may start to like endgames. Knowing what to do with familiar endgame positions then helps in formulating middlegame plans in some positions which seem quiet and confusing otherwise. Suddenly you see how you can trade down into a position you know how to win...! Knowing about opposition can often suggest when and how to activate your king, and makes it easier to queen that extra/passed pawn. It can also help you to spot your opponent's endgame mistakes and capitalize on them.

It can only make you a better all around player.

All are not helpful

See these games:

pick up silmans endgame book for the absolute basics. 
honestly, a big part of becoming a good endgame player is to change your mentality. middlegame thinking doesnt always quite work with endgames, for example, creating threats that prob wont work is not good in a middle game but its essential to 'squeeze water out of stone" that is often equal endgame positions. Endgame mentality instead shifts to accumulating small victories (centralize king, maximize weaknesses, push passed pawns as much as you can....safely, create static advantages, limit your opponents options). In the middlegame, this stuff matters too but the dynamics often muddy the successful execution of many plans. Not so in the endgame.

When you play the endgame, you should be reminding yourself over and over all the main principles that pertain to your position. Actually, i recommend a small online course called "an endgame expert" by GM smirnov. Its on the pricy side but i never read a more succinct summary of all the main endgame principles to keep in mind when you play (they are certainly more ,but they tend to be more circumstance specific).

I have recommended Chernev’s Practical Chess Endings for decades. I have told students that this book is the one that helped me win more games than any other book.