You are flying home right now!!! In about two hours you will be arriving in New York for your First Layover from Italy, and then after anotherrrrr layover in Illinois, you will be in SLC!
I can’t wait to see you! And see your dyed hair. And see your amazing photographs from the trip.
I can’t believe the semester is already over. Remember when we were at the pool this summer and just thinking about you leaving us was practically a heart-break?
See you soon,
xoxo,
Katie
P.S. I owe you (and Danica, on that note) a Cocoa Bean for your Birthday!
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2010-12-03 18:54:392010-12-03 18:55:46Arriving at SLC at 9:30 pm!
Just like millions of other, on November 18th, a few friends and I waited for the Midnight showing of Harry Potter 7.1. We went to a ghetto theater where tickets were only 6 bucks, but we had to wait outside for about four hours. Photo op? Yes. (I apologize for looking so anemic in these photos. This is what happens to me in the winter when I ban the tanning bed.)
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2010-12-01 19:31:242010-12-01 19:31:24Power was my weakness and my temptation.
I spent the day with my D-Dawg (Dana, my old roommate) and Carrie (Advertising buddy) a little while ago. We hit Ikea and the Rack, then came home and made sugar cookies with our new wild animal cookie cutters, which are probably the coolest thing I have ever bought.
Unfortunately, we only had neon color icing, and most of the animals like the squirrel and moose are supposed to be brown. So our cookies looked insane. And then, when one of the legs broke off our moose, Dana and Carrie thought it would be funny to make a massacre out of it. I promise I wasn’t a part of this disturbing photograph, however funny it may be.
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2010-10-29 15:26:192010-10-29 15:26:19D-Dawg and Carrie
We threw a Halloween party last Saturday night and it was a complete success. Throughout the night, we had about 20 or 25 people come through dressed as Mimes, Devils, Victorians, Princesses, Marios, Luigis, Care Bears, Russian Ice Skaters, Zoo Keepers, Nerds, Lumberjacks, and Leopards. We carved pumpkins, dipped apples in caramel, ate lots of food, strolled down a runway for a costume contest, and watched Halloweentown and Harry Potter.
I’ve got a lot more pictures on their way, but for now, here are photos of T.J.’s and my Jack-o-lanterns!
Once upon a time, my adorable niece, Claire, decided it would be a fun activity to shove lemons in Blair’s mouth. Claire was right. It was a fun activity, hilarious actually.
When Claire would turn around to grab another lemon, Blair would spit out the lemon and put in back in the pile when she wasn’t looking.
Claire thought she was swallowing the lemons whole.
And that is my story with the Blair, Claire, and the lemons.
One of my greatest leaders at church who became a great friend of mine is Christina McEvoy. Christina was my Young Women’s president for a couple of years. She is a mother of two and is one of the strongest people I know, physically, mentally, and most importantly, spiritually.
Christina moved to Idaho the spring of my Senior year and we’ve tried to keep in touch through the past three years. I called her the day I got engaged and let her know that, without her strong leadership and help through my high school years, I wouldn’t be in the place I am today. It was that day when she she told me she might have melanoma again.
After a long journey over these past 8 or 9 months, she has been fighting melanoma (the most serious form of skin cancer) that has spread to her lymph nodes and to her lungs. She is currently midway in a series of treatments to help fight back.
Christina, in her blog, wrote, “I am back to feeling optimistic about the future, I am ready to fight this ‘bad boy’, as I like to call it. Cancer will not win. I will come out on top eventually. Someone told me once that during treatment, you will feel like crap, but the cancer will feel even more like crap! I love that! I know that I have everything I need to conquer this-a strong body, a healthy and positive mind, an amazing family, wonderfully supportive friends, and the help of the Lord along the way. In the end, it will be alright. I am not done yet. I have many more things I know the Lord wants me to accomplish, with the most important being raising these 2 boys!”
Christina is a motivation to me. Her optimism in such a critical time is inspiring. She is a fighter, a winner, and most of all a great example for all of us.
On October 16, there will be a benefit run in Kaysville, Utah. I invite you to sign up and run the race in support of Christina’s battle. There will be t-shirts, food, fun, and most of all, a chance to be a part of this trek of Christina’s.
If you’d like to read more about her story, visit her blog, Strong Enough, or website.
Although this is a little late, I wanted to dedicate a post to my pal, Eliesa. She currently is studying abroad in Sienna, Italy. And although I slightly hate her because she left us (she works in the LAO too) and am extremely jealous of the adventure she is having, I am excited for her to have this opportunity (and bring me back something from Italy).
So anyways, I wanted to let her know how much I miss her already and I can’t wait until December 3rd when she will be arriving in the SLC airport at 9:30 p.m.!
On Friday, T.J. took me to Macaroni Grille, which is my favorite restaurant. I am not the type of person to order the same thing when I’m out, except for when I go there. We always order their Mediterranean olives. They’re truly amazing. And then I get my favorite dish: Chicken Cannellonni, made with their homemade pasta. I ate a little more than usual because I hadn’t eaten all day.
Mistake.
After dinner, we were going to head to a park up the canyon. My stomach felt a bit uneasy so I popped a half dozen tums (I’m exaggerating, Mom, I didn’t really take 6 pills) and took a swig of the pepto hoping that would be the end of it.
It wasn’t.
We got up to the park, made a nice fire, but then the stomach volcano was getting pretty intense inside of me. I’ll spare you the deets. But I was very blessed that we chose a park with a bathroom and that the bathroom was unlocked.
A half hour later… I was back at the fire, watching people eat s’mores and having a blast.
Once it got pretty dark and the fire faded, our buddies Heidi and Sean stargazed with us. We found a little, open field perfect to see the stars. We saw a bunch of meteors that put the shooting stars to shame as they crossed the entire sky, with a long tail. We also saw two lights traveling fast that eventually disappeared, which Heidi believed was a UFO.
Anyway, the night was a success and a great summer memory, gotta live it up while we can!
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2010-08-17 16:49:262010-08-17 16:49:26Firepits and Stargazing
Last night, Hannah and her date Jacob Black came over for dinner. (You might have heard of him, he’s a werewolf.) It was a blast to hang out with them and swap stories. Jacob told us about this brutal fight he was in a few months ago, but he won! Oh and he told us how he’s so excited to be dating someone with the same roots, since Hannah is also Native American.
Anyway, I made Pad Thai because it’s his favorite. Maybe next time he comes over, you can come too.
medium shallot, finely chopped, or 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2
eggs, beaten
12
oz frozen cooked peeled deveined medium shrimp, thawed
1/4
cup finely chopped dry-roasted peanuts
3
cups fresh bean sprouts
4
medium green onions, thinly sliced (1/4 cup)
1/4
cup firmly packed cilantro leaves
In 3-quart saucepan, heat 4 cups water to boiling. Remove from heat; add noodles (push noodles into water with back of spoon to cover completely with water if necessary). Soak noodles 3 to 5 minutes or until noodles are soft but firm. Drain noodles; rinse with cold water.
Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir lime juice, 1/3 cup water, the brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, red pepper and 1 tablespoon of the oil until well mixed; set aside.
In nonstick wok or 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium heat. Cook garlic and shallot in oil about 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until starting to brown. Add eggs. Cook about 2 minutes, stirring gently and constantly, until scrambled but still moist.
Stir in noodles and lime juice mixture. Increase heat to high. Cook about 1 minute, tossing constantly with 2 wooden spoons, until sauce begins to thicken. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, tossing with 2 wooden spoons, until noodles are tender. Place on serving platter. Sprinkle with cilantro. Garnish with additional chopped dry-roasted peanuts and green onions if desired.
P.S. Make sure you have all of your ingredients ready to go before you start this recipe. I learned that the hard way this time.
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2010-08-11 20:38:492010-08-11 20:38:49Jacob Black and Pad Thai
I think I have blogged about her before. But because she left the 100th comment on my blog, I thought I would devote a post just to her.
So anyway, Carrie is from Oklahoma, which automatically makes her awesome because it’s a random home state, just like mine! We lived in the same Freshman dorm hall together.
Our friendship grew on the day of her birthday, our freshman year. It was during Thanksgiving break, so no one was home in our hall and I just got back into town. I was so sad that she didn’t have anyone to celebrate with on her birthday, so we hung out in my dorm room together. We had a bunch of laughs, especially when I put on a fashion show for her with all my ugly clothes….”You may think this is an animal!”
Well, Carrie and I became good friends, along with her roommate Bianca and my roommate Dana. Probably the best memory I have of all of us was when we went to East High in Salt Lake where High School Musical was filmed. We were all totally obsessed with HSM and especially with Zac Efron and ashamed to say it now, Vanessa Hudgens. In fact, on the way there, we saw a limo, convinced ourselves that they were inside and I was so excited, I cried.
We even made a video to a song from HSM. (It may seem like we were lovers in this video, but it’s supposed to be two friends upset at each other… plus we couldn’t find a boy who’d do it for us…)
To wrap up this post, I will write one of my famous acrostic poems:
C is for Cramming all of her work into the last minute, because she likes to procrastinate, just like me.
A is for Advertising because that’s her major. We are always in classes together and love working together.
R is for Refined. Carrie never says anything mean or rude. She is the sweetest!
R is for Really happy. Carrie always is smiling and laughing! She’s never in a bad mood, and if she is, she laughs it off!
I is for I’m jealous of her Zac Efron posters.
E is for Especially looks like D.J. from Full House when she gets “Yearbooked”
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2010-08-10 18:04:152010-08-10 18:04:15Carrie O.
I think I have blogged about her before. But because she left the 100th comment on my blog, I thought I would devote a post just to her.
