post title lyrics from this song by The Civil Wars
Dear Hannah,
What happened to you? Where did you go? Are you alive? Did you get into graduate school? How much do you cry about House ending for good?
Very concerned for your well being,
Your Faithful Readers
Dear Lovely Readers,
I suppose you want to know a smidgen of my life since my last March update. I'll just bombard you with pictures and a few captions mostly. But here are the main points you should really make note of and care about:
-I got into graduate school at 2 of the 6 schools I applied to. Good enough for me.
-I'm moving back to Texas in August to attend Texas Women's University (don't worry, men go there too!) in Denton for the next 7 semesters to earn my Masters in Speech Pathology. And also don't worry, we don't ever mention this actually happening because I can't even begin to imagine life without my besties every single day.
-I'm still recovering from a recent heartbreak. But you probably didn't even notice because I've gotten better at faking it till I make it.
-I have the best friends in the universe.
-I love wedding season.
-I quit a job for the first time and it was the best decision of my life. (not the one with adorable kids, duh)
-I have a roommate under the age of 6 months and she's the cutest. Her mom is also pretty cool too.
-I'm training for a sprint triathlon on Labor Day in Texas. The horror of humidity! I must be crazy.
-My mom is cancer free!
And now for the Instagram repeats from the past 2 months in no particular order:
Jack Attack. Best dressed little toddler in all of Provo. His mom is mabes one of the funniest people I know.
Once upon a time I had an obsession with Draw Something. This is just one example of how all of my drawings do NOT look like. Mine usually look like scribbles and sticks. I haven't played in over a month now, and I apologize to those of you still nudging me to take my turn. The poison in my brain won't let me do the things I used to do before the terrible awful.
Once upon a time my foot fit into a size 5 little girl's shoe at Target.
Once upon a time I then bought that shoe for $10 and put it on my foot for the rest of the summer.
And another time, I started to get my domestic on and became pretty good at baking chocolate chip cookies.
Honestly, how can you not want to reach through the screen and kiss those cheeks?
We celebrate most occasions with Slab pizza. This time was because I quit my night job and had evenings free to party with my homies.
We are really good at going on girlfriend dates. This date was at Fat Cats. BTOML.
Once upon a time I was a lush (on non-alcoholic Martinelli's, duh). Also, I got into grad school on this day.
Don't be alarmed by my wardrobe. This is also post-workout.
Tipsyyyyyyy.
Once upon a time we went to Moab and saw cavemen drawings.
Once upon a time my best friends are better than yours.
Diva Eva hanging from a hanger like a little monkey.
Hunger Games midnight premiere with my homies.
Proof of the happy Draw Something times when we all played together on our various smart devices in the same room after midnight.
The University of Utah only wishes I chose them. No, but seriously. They keep sending me stuff like I'm in their program even though I already turned them down. GET.A.CLUE.
Once upon a time I went to the Holi Festival of Colors for the third and last time. Too much powder up in my lungs and every part of my body. Only good for pictures.
Yep, we definitely saw Titanic in 3D. I had only seen it on TV before, so of course I was in for some nudity surprises!
Teacher Appreciation week is actually the best week ever, did you know?
TWU doesn't know what's coming to them. I'm actually scared out of my mind, but also kind of really excited.
What? How did that get in there?! It's me as an Asian baby! SO CUTE!
Wedding number one! Walla Walla, WA for Katherine and Justin!
Wedding number 2! Alpine, UT for Rebecca and Kyle. FINALLY AFTER 3 YEARSSSSSSS!
Um it might be a little bit weird, but I have a picture of myself that's almost identical to this picture of Evabug. Mom, will you find it for me and scan it? pleaseandthanks.
Katie will never stop cleaning my room for me. And I will never stop being so grateful.
Soccer keeps me sane and the poisonous thoughts away. You probs can't tell, but that's an awful turf burn that hurts like h e double hockey sticks!
We are going through a virgin margarita /real deal kettle corn phase, and it's fine.
How could I not include this picture? We look perfect, and you look bad.
Best news in the entire world.
Seriously, nothing says happy summer like this drink right here.
I will now leave you with 2 videos that either make me laugh so much or feel like my heart won't explode.
In case you didn't catch what happened, adorable kindergartner Hannah let one go. Grad student Hannah never lets that happen nowadays. However, pretzels are still my favorite snack and I still laugh just like that. fo realz.
It might be slightly cheesy, but I really love the lyrics a lot a lot.
Recently I have been second guessing myself and the career path I thought I wanted when I chose my major over 4 years ago. I've already decided to put off grad school for a year, but lately I've been thinking I want even more time off. Maybe even two years. I'm almost positive I want to find some sort of full time secretary position when I return to Provo (hopefully at some department at BYU) because I already know I'm good at it. I'd go as far as to say I'm exceptional at it. And I love that atmosphere of answering thousands of phone calls and questions, organizing things, entering data, scheduling appointments, etc. But it's completely unrelated to Speech Pathology. What the heck am I thinking?!
I guess what scares me the most about grad school is not knowing if I'll be any good at it. Not knowing if after 2 additional long, challenging, and expensive years of education/training will I be any good at the profession. I really, really like to be good at the things I choose to do. It's not a great trait, but it's one I've always had.
But I know that I love people with disabilities. My oh my, how they warm my heart and soul. I love them. I would love to have a profession that helps these sweet people of the earth who can't quite do all the same things everyone else can do in quite the same ways.
Mexico has given me loads of time to ponder what I like and what I don't like. What I want for my future and what I don't want for my future. Putting off planning lesson plans has its advantages and disadvantages. I lose a tiny bit of sleep, but then I find some really sweet awesome videos like this one:
You should probably know that I teared up while watching this video. And I realized that I do want to do that. That thing that's gonna change the lives of people who can't quite get out all the words they want to get out. I'm just not sure how ready I am to do that.
So even though it might not happen right away, I'm pretty darn sure it's gonna happen. Heavenly Father certainly has a plan for me, and with loads of prayers and faith, it's gonna be awesome no matter what.
Listen, blogging can take so much out of you sometimes, amigos. Especially if you are keeping up with as many blogs as I do (reading is much easier than writing). So I hope you'll forgive me if my Zacatlán post is delayed for a bit longer and humor me as I talk about my most recent obsession: the color code profiles. I am a sensationalist, you know.
The first time I heard about this book was my freshmen year of college. One roommate checked it out from the library and then all 6 of us proceeded to take the test to find out our true color. We made anyone who stepped foot in the dorm take it as well. I moved out and didn't really have any encounters with it again. Occasionally friends would bring up these colors/personality traits and mention how the way I just made someone get to the end of line instead of cutting was so "red", but that was pretty much the extent of it. I wasn't quite obsessed with the whole theory of it yet.
And then I move to Mexico, and Head Teacher Kelly can't stop talking about it. I think she even brought it up at training before we even got here. She printed out the online version of the test so we could all take it when we had a free moment. Who doesn't love taking tests about themselves? We all took our turns, and Kelly had explanations for all of us. She received the book as a wedding gift and practically memorized it on her honeymoon.
And now, thanks to her all I want to do is analyze all of my friendships and relationships. I just have to know what color you are! It's absolutely fascinating to me. It explains so much! Here's what you're gonna do:
If we are friends or relatives or even just acquaintances in any way at all, you will take the test here. This is not an option. It is a command (refer to bullet point #5 of natural weaknesses below). Add up your answers. A= red, B= blue, C= white, & D= yellow. And report back to me as soon as possible (POR FAVORRRRRRRR) so I can better understand you and the strengths of our relationship. ¿tu entiendes? Bueno!
For example: I had 21 A's, 18 B's, 3 C's, and 4 D's. Surprise, surprise! My primary color matches the current color of my back.
If you were by chance thinking that attempting to apply Aloe Vera on yourself (to the back region) by yourself is a fun idea, you are wrong. Very wrong. But if you were thinking that Aloe Vera can be one of your very best friends if administered properly, you are correct.
These pictures were just one big tangent so that I could incorporate Mexico pictures into the post. Remember, you're humoring me. I decided my tan wasn't progressing as fast as I hoped. Omitting sunscreen from body parts below your face while spending 6 hours at the pool on Saturday is one way to speed that up. It is also one way to ensure pain and discomfort. And that white part in between red? It's just the area the sun missed due to my ponytail and halter top. Never again will I neglect sunscreen application!¡embarazoso! Now, before you tell me that I have incorrectly used this word, I will first tell you that Red Characteristic #417 has me needing and wanting to be right 95% of the time. I have and will always check with Google before posting words that seem questionable. Embarazoso does in fact mean embarrassing according to my pocket Spanish dictionary and Google translate. Embarasada means pregnant. I am certainly one, but not the other. I could have used the word vergüenza, but I prefer embarazoso. Glad we got that settled.
Anyway. If you've spent even just 10 minutes around me, you probably figured out I have a lot of Red tendencies. Let's look at this very legit chart of Red traits I found by Google searching:
I can be very blunt which in turn can sometimes be offensive. But mostly hilarious. Sometimes I'm impatient. But I can also be very efficient and I obviously love planning things and getting things done. I will now admit that I get as giddy as a school girl when reading about potential secretarial job descriptions. I am probably the most competitive person you will ever meet and I'm super achievement driven. I was born this way.
I have already planned and registered for our 1st reunion a month after we get back to meet up as a team of teachers in Salt Lake to compete in this:
It's gonna be freaking awesome. We'll be dressing up as Mexicans in some way or another. AND we'll also be staying at fellow party planner Paige's grandmother's mansion cabin in Midway that weekend. BTOML.
But GUESS WHAT?! I am probably the most indecisive person you will ever meet. Did you see the very first bullet point? Yep. That is not me at all. Indecisiveness is totally white or yellow so I don't know where it comes from. Can't help it, I was born this way. I will phone a friend and use any lifeline possible before I make a decision on my own. Whether its choosing cereals to purchase or movies to watch, I just have the hardest time making the final choice. I value others opinions and advice so so so so much.
So now we come to the biggest tangent of them all. I need your help with my most recent dilemma: which plate do I choose?!
I bought my car in Utah and currently it has Utah plates. I drove it home to Texas in April, and my parents are so kindly re-registering it with Texas plates for me.
These 2 are the old standard plates that I miss so so so so much.
This is the current standard Texas plate. I hate it. Why did we have to add that awful sky blue with horrible cursive at the bottom. Gross!
These choices are more unique designs from myplates.com. Please note the new BYU option on the far left.
I bought this frame at the BYU Bookstore as a graduation present to myself.
So without going overboard with Alumni-ness, what should I pick? Do I suck it up and stick with the current plate and add the frame? Or do I lose the frame and choose the special Y design from myplates.com? Or do I choose something different altogether from those other myplate designs and keep the Alumni frame? Guys, HELP!
I thought I would add a poll about this to the top of my blog because A) I really do value others' opinions, B) to see how many people actually read this besides my mom, and C) it's actually kinda fun to add new gadgets to the sidebar every now and then!
It doesn't matter if you love him or capital H-I-M, just put your paws up and vote on my poll!
Update: my mom donated her old plates to me- as in the 2nd one pictured with the space shuttle- and forgot to tell me till after this post was written. you don't have to vote after all and thankfully someone else made the decision for me. BEST NEWS OF MY LIFE.
My next post won't be this much rambling. Cross my heart. And my secondary color is blue, just in case you were wondering. It actually really balances me out in a positive way most of the time. Buenas noches!
