'Cause I'm on top of the world, 'ay

Post title lyrics from this lovely song by the talented Imagine Dragons. So excited for all their new success! Even Glee's doing a version of It's Time. Tee hee! Props goes to The Momma who first heard this song at a work meeting. I think it goes quite nicely with this post. 

Dear concerned citizens of the Blogosphere, 

I am alive and well and I have recently relocated to Texas.

You have may have noticed my talented and lovely sister updated my blog header to more appropriately fit my current stage of life. (Come check it out if you're on Google reader!) If you recall, this is what I had before: 

That panda sure was adorable, and though I'll miss him so much, this new header is here to stay (at least for the next 7 semesters). 

In case you missed it, I will be attending Texas Woman's University (I embarrassed myself and kept calling it Women's instead of Woman's up until this week when I had orientation. HOW EMBARRASSING) to pursue a master's degree in Communication Disorders. It's pretty self explanatory, but I'll just tell you anyway. Em spelled out palindrome phonetically (get it? speech pathology and phonetics? they go hand in hand! hardy har har) and also added that cutie little Texas because well that's where I live, Sillies. Plain and simple as that. And I loveeeeeeee it. 

So now I'm just gonna get real for a bit because this is my blog and I do how I please. If you thought this would include mostly Instagrams then you're wrong. It includes mostly words as I reflect on life and how I got here, and I'm pretty sure you'll stop reading here, Katie Derrick, but that's jusssssssssssst fine. 

I graduated BYU in 2011 and knew it was best for me to take at least a year off of school. I was just burnt-out and needed a break. And then I went to Mexico and loved that, but had my doubts about my future. 

Then I got this really cool dream job, which turned out pretty nicely until he couldn't give me full time hours and then up and decided to move to India. So artistic, so hipster, so awesome. But then if I hadn't left that job when I did, I wouldn't have found my new job as a Speech Language Technician. And then I wouldn't have realized how cool this field really is and truly solidified my desire to be a real live SLP. 

So yes, I did have 5 different jobs in the past 10 months, but working was not my main focus. I took this year off of school to just relax and have fun and really figure out what I want out of life. Grad school was the last thing on my mind, and I actually dreaded the thought of having to go back to classes and homework. If you rewind to last October, I visited a friend doing the same program at ASU, and after seeing her busy lifestyle I literally wanted to vomit and never attempt such a thing. Like literally. I was so grumpy just imagining myself at grad school anywhere. 

When I applied to grad schools in December and January, moving back home to attend TWU was  honestly the worst case scenario and very last option in my plans.  I imagined myself at UT hanging out with the fruitcake liberals of Austin, far enough away from my hometown, but still close enough to visit my main peeps. But you know it goes, life happens when you're making other plans. When I hadn't been accepted to any programs by the beginning of April I just told Heavenly Father I'd stick it out in Provo just one more year and party with my BFFLS while pretending to study for the GRE retake. And wouldn't you know it, Heavenly Father thought that was pretty hilarious, so not 2 days after making that decision, I was accepted to not only TWU but also the U of U. 

All signs pointed to TWU and living at home with my main peeps (as in living at the same house with my baby brother and parents even though I've been independent for the past 5 years.... yep...) As much as I never thought I would do such a thing, it just felt so right and still does. (Also, when your mom makes scrumptious homemade dinner and basically encourages you to watch Downton Abbey and Project Runway on DVR almost every night, how can you say no? Oh, and if you can find me a place that's cheaper than free, please let me know)

Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need and when we need it, all we have to do is trust in Him. He's got it all figured out, so I just gotta learn to be a little bit more patient and wait as He unravels all of life's surprises for me. 

So here I am, on the eve of my first day of grad school and I couldn't be more excited. This is exactly where I'm supposed to be doing exactly what I'm supposed to do. 

It may have taken a full year to feel this ready, but I do and I'm on top of the world. 

And since you've made it this far, I will reward you with a preview of what's to come on Instagram tomorrow! Brace yourself for some straight up adorableness. 

Out with the old

Well, well, well. What do we have here? Oh, it's just the new blog header my sister designed for me.

I'm sure you have loads of questions so I'm here to answer them for you. If you're reading this on Google reader, I advise you to go ahead and click the title link and see theses new changes for yourself.

Q: What did your old blog look like? I never paid attention like I should have.
A: Well, I forgive you, but here's a screen shot for you.

Q: Why is there a giant panda holding a Mexican flag included up there?
A: When Em asked me what new things I may want incorporated, I knew that I was going to miss those little Aztec looking birds and would need some kind of little animal to replace them. And also, who doesn't love cuddly pandas? They're one of my favorite animals. AND THEN, once she had actually designed it, this was her much better explanation: "the Mexican flag is because you are a Mexican trapped in an Asian body. Like this panda bear." Like duh.


Q: Why is that panda bear holding ice cream in his other hand?
A: My sister actually drew that panda on Illustrator and made the whole thing while we were still in Mexico. So she asked her little host sister what else he should be holding and she said "ice cream".Um, well, DUH. How fitting! I recently found out that ice cream is my actually my number one favorite food, especially Blue Bell. There, I said it. It's fine. First step is admitting it.


Q: Why did you pick that font?
A: Em designed the whole thing. Really. And she picked that part first, so once she said that and coupled it with the idea of putting a panda on there it just seemed to click. The letters are just so soft and cuddly and black and white, so a panda obvi belongs with it and all of it belongs on this blog.


Q: Why does it say 'post-grad edition' like that?
A: If you notice in my previous design, it had a tiny banner that said "Mexico Edition" because for the summer my posts were written in Mexico documenting my adventures there. Now I'm on to the life that follows college graduation and fun in Mexico. I may still write about a few Mexican vacations I failed to write about before, and most likely I will mention Mexico several more times because it's a part of my life now. But for the most part, I'll just stick with the events of my normal everyday post-grad American life.


Q: What is a palindrome?
A: I decided to save you all a little Googling and put the definition in my About Me section. It's quite elementary, but don't feel dumb if you don't already know. 87% of my readers usually don't know what it means at first. 


Q: What's your new favorite song obsession since returning to America?
A: Funny you should ask that! I just can't stop listening to Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night". No, I'm really not joking with you. Can't. Stop. Won't. Stop. And I think the video is hilarious. (may not be appropriate for ages 12 and under)


Q: If the sweet Asian ladies at the nail salon point at your eyebrows and nod a lot, what do you do?
A: Well, if that were ever to happen to me, I'd most likely feel extremely self conscious and give in to a waxing right there and then. Too much pressure on the spot! And then perhaps, my eyebrows might be all pink and tender for the rest of the night, but boy they sure would look great in the end.


Q: On a scale of 1-10, how excited are you to be back in America? And to return to Provo in a few weeks? 
A: 25 to the first, and 11 to the second. My future is as bright as my faith, and life is really good right about now. 


Q: Aren't you really glad you're not starting school this week or next week like a lot of your peers?
A: OMG YES! Thank heavens most of my BFFLS have also graduated, so there will be so much playtime happening when I get back to Provo! 


Q: How is your Macbook still functioning with all that power cord trouble you've been having?
A: Thankfully, Apple replaced it with a brand new one FREE OF CHARGE! But really, I owe my sister big time because she let me use hers tons before that happened. 


Q:Why didn't you write a birthday post dedicated to your little sister on her 20th birthday?
A: I was too busy enjoying the Texas summer heat with raspas (snow cones) at the pool with her. And when I wasn't doing that, I was stuffing my face with American Italian food at Olive Garden with her and the rest of my lovely family. But I think I shall be doing a belated post rather soon, because gosh I sure do think the world of her! And this is my public note of gratitude for all of her hard work on this new header!