Name them one by one.

Hi! Hey! Hello! Remember me?

It's only proper that I write my one and only post for November about the things I'm grateful for, right? It's not like every other blogger and their mother's are doing it too.

So here we go!

I am so very thankful for:

My parents, grandparents, and heck the whole fam damily! Seriously, guys. These people are my world and they offer the perfect kind of love and support I need to make it through the rough times (like maybe that one time when I was sad for the whole month of October in 2011 and therefore neglected my blog).

Airplanes! I can go home for Christmas and not worry about driving through snowy mountains and stuff like that.

Modern medicine! Way too many family members and friends are having problems with that cancer stuff and other terrible illnesses and thankfully there's a lot of medicine that can heal or slow down the spread of it.

Technology! Skyping with mi familia all the time is always a highlight of my week. And would you look at that! The whole fam damily is upgrading/has upgraded to smart phones so we'll all be having Skype chats anywhere we please. (I may be slightly in love/obsessed with my new iPhone 4s/Siri... is that bad?)

My old job as a personal assistant! Surprise! I don't work at my dream job anymore because I needed full time hours and he could only give me part time hours. I was pretty upset about it all when it happened, but without that job (even for the short time I was there) I wouldn't have been able to pay the rent! And if I would have stayed with it then I wouldn't be at...

My new job as a Speech Language Technician! With a lot of help from my Heavenly Father I saw the opening at just the right time and it all fell into place quite perfectly. This is an experience of a lifetime and just what I need to feel more prepared and confident for grad school in 8 months.  I'm a very lucky girl with a very nice paycheck to prove it. But it's only 2 days a week so I'm looking for something else to supplement my income and for the moment I think I may be doing market research calls (just a means to an end!). If you know of anything else I should be applying to, please hook this girl up!

My education! I am so very fortunate and blessed to have attended such a wonderful school and to have been taught by such amazing people. Without my opportunity to attend college, I wouldn't have earned a degree that landed me this great job. There are so many people in this world who do not have the chance to go to college, so I've got a lot to be thankful for. (But that certainly doesn't mean I'm gonna start liking homework anytime soon, do you hear me?)

My taste buds and senses! Slab pizza and Blue Bell Ice cream. Need I say more?

My country! Living abroad this summer definitely made me appreciate America so much more. It's the land that I love and I am so thankful for all the men and women who serve for my freedom.

The gospel! I have the "good news" in my life and I'm so blessed. Jesus Christ is my Savior and I love Him with my whole heart!

Exercise! Wait... what?!? Sometimes I may have to drag myself there, but most of the time I am obsessed with Zumba and Kickboxing classes at Gold's gym and the way I feel afterwards.

This awesome new Christmas Lower Lights album! Especially Brooke White's voice in "I saw Three Ships"!

Exclamation points! Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em!

My health! My body! It's definitely not perfect, but I am so lucky to have all my limbs and a healthy immune system that allows me to do all the things I want to do.

My car! My new dream job is all the way in Alpine so I'm pretty lucky I have my own vehicle to get me where I need to go. (I know I already mentioned them, but I'll say it again! My grandparents are seriously the best and let me stay at their house 2 nights a week to make my early morning commute a lot shorter and my time in a warm bed a little longer. Sure love ya'll, Nan and Papa!)

My warm bed! My clothes! My hair! (That one may sound vain, but seriously, folks. Some people have  diseases where their hair falls out, so I'll just keep counting my blessings for my long & luscious locks!) My fantastic friends! Wedding receptions with delicious food and beautiful people who inspire me to look forward to an eternal marriage instead of having a jaded attitude towards the young adult dating scene! My talents! My music! My apartment! Hulu! Hot chocolate!

The list goes on and on. The point is, I need to take the time to count my blessings more often. I probably wouldn't have very many sad Octobers if I just realized that I have a lot to be thankful for despite the things that aren't turning out quite right.

One of my favorite pins on Pinterest!

Another favorite pin!

I threw this one in here for kicks and giggles. And really, how often do you get to see me looking like an Asian or even a Harajuku girl for that matter? More Halloween pictures can be found on the FB. If you're not living under some rock you've probs already seen them.

Peace and blessings.

P.S. I'm not that thankful to be writing personal statements for grad school apps at the current moment, so if someone would like to volunteer and do that for me I'd be fine with it. In exchange, I'll feed you a yummy spinach salad with feta cheese and maybe a Fresca too... if you're lucky.

Welcome to my BBQ, where we pig out and dream anew.

Would you look at that? I only posted on the first day of the month and now the second to last day of the month. I guess I should probably tell you about all the days in between and how September has been my favorite month so far of 2011.

Remember how I can be a sensationalist? How I tend to exaggerate my love for things? Like my host family in Mexico? Welp, I certainly haven't changed one bit since then and probably won't ever. Deal with it!

Since I last posted, I have recently moved back to Provo. Can I just tell you a few little stories? Okay, good.  So this summer, while in Mexico, I bought a Southwest roundtrip plane ticket from Dallas to SLC for Sept 8-Sept 26 for less than $200 because they were having such a great anniversary sale. And I knew I wanted to be in Utah for a wedding, the Dirty Dash Mexico Reunion, and job hunting (because I eventually wanted to move here) during that time frame. But I also knew I wanted to spend some time at home to be with my main family peeps since I haven't been at home for longer than Christmas break for the past 4 years. I also knew I didn't want to drive my car back alone to Utah and my parents have busy lives, so we didn't think they would be able to drive back with me until sometime in October. Does this seem too complicated? It kinda was.

Then an epiphany hit! Why not use that flight credit to fly a BFFL out and save my parents the trouble?! So that's just what I did. It was the most perfect solution and I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier. But who has the time to do such a thing? Who graduated with me and doesn't have a job or school to miss? Oh, EASY! KATHRYN LEE FREAKING DERRICK.

Okay, phew. So that catches us all up to my life in my last post. I was just hanging out and loving life in Texas until Katie came to visit and drive back with me to Provo. That happened and it was fantastic. I drove the whole way because 1) I felt bad making a pregnant lady sit behind the wheel with that cute little belly so close to danger and 2) I wanted to feel accomplished after doing so because it was my first trip across the country without mi padres driving for me. We listened to The Help on audiobook and got through half of it! I still need to read the rest before I see the movie, and I am determined to do so. We ate at a Whataburger on our way out of Texas (because you haven't experienced Texas fast food without it!), had many pit stops/bathroom breaks, and received no traffic/speeding tickets! Please check FB for more pictures, because this post is already getting too long without them. 

Can you even tell she's preggo? Um, nope! Cutest pregnant girl ever!

I am absolutely, completely, incandescently, and perfectly happy with my life right now. I'm in love with every bit of it. Remember this little girl? She loves her hair, her haircuts, her dads and moms, pajamas, her whole house, and she can do anything good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And guess what? I feel exactly the same.

I love my hair and my haircuts and my best friend Savannah and my hairdresser Shannon (her mother).

Savannah and I before I moved back to Provo. How can I not love my hair (or her hair for that matter!)? Silky perfection right thurr!

I love my dads and my moms. A LOT. Today my mom had her routine cancer check up (every 6 months or so) and I received this text from her right after the appointment:

Clean scans! Yahoo! :) 

Tell me that's not the best text you've ever seen. It certainly added cheer to my day! And my dad is also cancer free, not that he ever had it, but these days that's quite a statement to be happy about.

I can do anything good! Better than anyone! YEAH, YEAH, YEAH! I got a job! And not just any job, but my dream job! I think it's pretty safe to say that if you love what you do, then you're living your dreams. Verdad? And I really, REALLY, really love my job. I'm a personal assistant for a really cool guy and his company called Monalisa.com. You can watch some pretty cool videos about him and the company here. Part of the day I work for him at the office, and the other part of the day I go to his fun artsy home to help watch his baby. I started on Monday and I can honestly say this has been the best first week of work in my life. So far, I've done some cool stuff on the computer, ran some errands to Walmart, Costco, and Best Buy, set up 4 monitors and a printer, and became best friends with the cutest 21 month old on this planet. BUT REALLY. I am in love with this job, this family, that baby, my schedule, EVERYTHING.  Um hello, since when have I not loved doing anything on Google or spending time with perfect angel babies? Uh, never.

I love my whole house! I just moved into a new apartment last week. Can I just tell you how perfectly everything falls into place when you have faith? Amanda moved into her apartment last month and I fell in love with the place when I saw it. I knew I needed a spot in the complex as soon as I got a job. Then I saw an opening with free September rent and only half rent for October, just up the stairs from her place!   I didn't have a job yet, but I knew I probably wouldn't find a deal that great again. And I had faith I could find something before November's full rent was due. BUT THEN I GOT MY DREAM JOB THAT DAY RIGHT AFTER I SIGNED THE CONTRACT. That's in all caps because I am seriously so blessed and I need to proclaim it to the world.

I love my pajamas and all of my stuff and all of my clothes that are currently in totes/piles in my new room because I just haven't found the motivation to unpack all the way. It will happen very soon, I promise. Don't you even worry, Mom! Hopefully I can bribe Katie into helping me while she sits on my bed in her pregnant condition,  commanding me where to put everything. Cross your fingers for that option, por favor.

Picture is unavailable because my room is too messy. Later, I promise.

I just got invited to be on a BYU intramural women's soccer team today and I'm so excited! I didn't think I'd be able to join a team at this part of the season, but everything is just working out so well lately so how could this not happen? My fifth intramural season since being in Provo starts tonight at 7:15 PM! Now I have to pay a little bit more money since I'm not a student, but this hobby is worth the money. And now that I'm a working girl, I think I can manage that. I'm a working girl! I love saying that! Also, I hate the words "woman/women" so I refuse to call myself that until I'm at least 45. 

But soccer in America will never beat soccer with these cool cats in Mexico.

bomb.com team right here.

I love my new ward and my new bishop. I get to meet in a real life meetinghouse instead of some random building on BYU campus, and it's amazing. And there are cookies in Relief Society every Sunday!

I love my social life and all of the people it includes. I have some really awesome people in my life right now, and I can't help but smile when I think of them. You know who you are. And if you don't think you're on that list, send me a text and let's go get some froyo so I can add you to it. Easy peasy.

That about sums it all up, peeps. Last year at this time, I was at a pretty low point. I hid it well most of the time, but a lot of the time was hard. If you told me a year ago how happy I'd be a year later, I'd tell you you're straight up crazy. But I like crazy. And I like this.

Happy Thursday to you! And watch General Conference this weekend because some really awesome people have some really awesome words of wisdom to share with all of us! I can't wait!

Come back in October when I'll think about posting more regularly. Highly doubtful, now that I'm a working girl.

Post title references the song called "Barbeque" by ALO. Look it up. It's great. I love referencing songs for post titles. Get used to it. 


POST EDIT: EVEN BETTER NEWS TO SHARE! 
Turns out I play on Char's intramural team. She was one of my coaches at BYU soccer camp years ago, she played for BYU 2002-2005, and she's like one of the best soccer players I've ever played with. It's seriously like a dream come true to be on a team with her because I see her every season and I've always wondered how anyone can get so lucky. If I only got to play that one game with her, I'd call it a day because it was an honor! Such a fun and amazing game! So, basically this team kicks A and we won 5-0. Not all thanks to Char, but many MANY thanks to her and our captain Savannah who also dominates the field like no one's business. 


I had dinner with a lovely girl I like to call Carly Out-of-line Hyatt at El Gallo Giro tonight. It was magical and scrumptious. Truly something to write home about. Mostly because she's like the nicest girl I know and she lets me eat all the chips and salsa I want. Love love love you CadHyatt!


And Blue Bell ice cream is coming to Utah, so how can you even beat that? If you want to take me to that new parlor to enjoy such a treat, I'm sure I wouldn't be opposed. Ice cream is my favorite food dontchaknow. 

Just let the love begin.

I saw this cute little video on Katie's wall today and wanted to share it with my main peeps, duh, because I'm all about sharing the love this September. Life is really quite grand right now, and I'm feeling the love all over the place. I suppose you want to know what's been going on with me and stuff like that, so here's a post in pictures of happenings since I've been back in America. ¡ Buen Provecho !

For starters, Mexican BabyGirl Vale. Just because I miss her so much.

As soon as we got off the plane from Mexico we drove to south Texas to visit our REAL MEXICAN FAMILY (basically we flew a bunch of miles just to drive halfway back). This Czech Stop was one of our many fun stops along the way.

We literally could not believe we were back in America and everyone spoke English.

Best snow cones on this planet are located at Young's Sno-Wiz in McAllen, TX. FYI. Each of us probably consumed at least 6 during the 3 days we were there. OOPSIES. 

We spent a lot of time in the pool with this precious little 5 yr old second cousin, Alec. He's a champion whistler. I'm 22 and I still don't know how to whistle. (or braid my own hair. no big deal, right?)

We also celebrated Em's 20th birthday in McAllen. Our abuela certainly makes us giggle. I wish I could remember what she said here.

Alec was really good at helping Em open her gifts, which happened to be mostly kitchen/sewing things. What else is new?

When we got back to McKinney (my hometown) we had to scramble to help younger brother Jacob finish his senior parking space. I wish I could find the picture of mine from years ago. This is one of my favorite traditions at McKinney High School. Did you get to do something similar your senior year? 

There are some really talented artists in this class of 2012. I am quite the perfectionist, so I don't dare interfere with someone else's hard work. So I was only allowed to take pictures of everything while everyone else painted. Typical.

Team Jacob! Get it?! He's quite the Renaissance Man, involved in so many activities like Cross Country, Wrestling, Head Hunters, and Broadcasting. His older sisters hardly compared when we were his age, but one of us still managed to graduate college in 4 years. NBD. 

This kid has serious style. Benefits of having older sisters, I believe. First day of 12th grade!

And this kid can do no wrong. Ever! First day of 8th grade!

Mother Dearest treated Em and I to mani/pedis after all that walking around the dirty streets of Mexico. Someone has a serious sandal tan line. Who me? Couldn't be! (note to self: eyebrow waxing really irritates your skin. just say no next time!)

Boyfriend Jack Attack celebrated his 6 month half birthday last weekend. I think more people should celebrate half birthdays. Great excuse to eat ice cream...and you know how I feel about ice cream.

His momma, who I call Brookie Cookie, picked out a delicious Baskin Robbins Snicker's ice cream cake and invited a few of us over to celebrate. Love that family!

After cake, he stripped down to his birthday suit and diaper for bed time. Our skin colors are identical! Guess we both spent a fair amount of time at the pool this summer. 

 Look what his Mexican girlfriend brought back for him! A team Mexico miniature soccer jersey! What's cuter than anything in miniature form? Um, nothing. Wait a second, didn't she just say she's Mexican? Her eyes say differently...

Fits perfectly! Notice the MEXICO written on the back?  It's official. My boyfriend plays for the Mexican futbol team. Jealous?

Since being home, I do a lot of errand running and chauffeuring people around. So who can blame me when I sneak in a few cartons of my favorite drink with the other items my momma asked me to pick up at Walmart at 10 PM? 

I've also had a lot more time to spend with my favorite little brothers, which is fantastic.  I forgot to document it at the theater, so this picture was taken after our movie date to see my other boyfriend in Planet of the Apes. Sure do love that guy. And those apes!

Sometimes this is the kind of face you make when you take pictures in your parked car on your driveway. NBD. 

And this is me at this moment while writing this blog post. I just got these new spectacles today and I'm obsessed with them. Also, my other recent obsessions include Crest Whitening strips, and therefore I didn't feel like smiling. 

But wait! I decided to smile awkwardly with them on instead.  NERD ALERT! (Embarassing fact #498, the bridge of my nose is pretty much non-existent, just ask my mom. Therefore, I usually push my glasses up or hold them like so for a picture)

 What's this adorable picture doing here? Oh, yeah! This precious pregnant lady is flying out to Dallas next Wednesday to visit me! And then we shall make the journey together back to Provo in my automobile with Texas license plates! And it shall be the best time of our lives! And then I'll be in Provo! And then I will play with all my friends that I've missed for the past 4 months! Hooray!

So yeah, peeps. That's about it. While everyone is away at school or work, I'm just at home looking for jobs, writing cover letters (mostly pretending), G-chatting, texting, working out, sometimes chauffeuring brothers to orthodontist appointments, blog stalking, TV watching, protein smoothie making, cleaning, tanning, going on Friday lunch dates with parentals, or Facebooking. 

Such is the life of an unemployed college grad, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Please don't make me be a real grown up yet.