Timeline of a Life Change

January 4th- A certain friend mentions applying to grad programs in Scotland. The thought percolates and I start thinking about how cool it sounds. I start thinking about how cool it would be for her to attend. I start thinking about how cool it would be for me to visit. I start thinking about how cool it would be for me to attend. I start thinking about applying. I begin to look into applying.

January 5th- I begin to e-mail program directors, students, advisers; anyone that can give me extra information.

January 6th- I mention to my mother that I'm considering applying.

January 15th- I decide to officially apply and ask for a couple letters of recommendation. Cannot sleep for two days.

January 17th- Have first mini-meltdown.

January 23rd- I officially apply.

February 2nd- All letters of recommendation and paperwork are in.

February 4th- All letters are processed and attached to application.

February 3rd-20th- I stalk the application website daily and try to see if there is any progress. I attempt to not look at housing. I attempt to not try and stalk down the local church information for Edinburgh. I attempt to not tell everyone and anyone about applying in case I don't get in.

February 18th-20th- I go home to attempt to regroup. Convince the parents face-to-face that this seems like a good plan. I seem to be mostly successful.

February 21st- I finally cave and e-mail the student rep I had communicated with before to see how long it took her to hear back. She said the average time should be about a month. I decide I have at least one more week to wait. Maybe two. I tell myself this will be okay.

February 22nd- I get laid off. Have second mini-meltdown.

February 26th- I stay up all night for online international student information sessions. I ask the admissions team when I should hear back. Anne tells me at 7:25 my application is with the selector and I should hear back soon.

February 27th- 7:43 AM- I get the e-mail. I have an unconditional offer to attend the University of Edinburgh's Master's of English Linguistics Program.


BOOM BABY!!

Waiting

I suck at patience. Honestly. Truly. I am horrible.

I like to plan things out. Imagine the possibilities. Think about what might be, where I might go, and what I might do. Since I can't do those right now, I've been trying to keep myself distracted.

Here's some of the high points.


This.

This.
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And this.

Decisions

Things in my life have just taken place. A thought occurred. It kept coming up. It felt right. I did something about it.

I thought skipping a grade would be good and on the way home from piano lessons asked my mom to look into it. A week later it was official.

I wanted to go to BYU and applied there and only there. I didn't even take the SAT. Sounds like poor planning for a girl from California, but when I got the letter saying I was accepted it was anticlimactic. My dad was more excited than I was; maybe because the thought never occurred to me it wouldn't happen.

I had a Spanish class where a professor came in to tell us about a study abroad to Spain. It sounded fun. About two weeks later I interviewed with him and told my parents I wanted to go. Six months later, I was living in Spain.

I graduated BYU and moved home; no idea what I was going to do. Called my sister and asked how she felt about an unemployed roommate. Three weeks after graduating I was buying a mattress and transferring my life to Palo Alto before heading back to Southern California to pack.

Life has always just chugged along. High tides, low tides. Placid bits in between. That's how it's always been. I've never realized before how bad I am at long-term planning.

Never before have I thought something sounded like a fun plan, followed by taking the idea really seriously, to just questions myself over it later. Never before have I had to research into a question and find that there are multiple answers that I have to decide between. Never before have I had to weigh my emotions against what was right for me. Never before have I had to make decisions when in the middle, needing more answers, and having to find them as I go.

Being an adult is overrated. But you get to do some fun stuff....

Hittings On

There have been a couple of realizations that I have come to in my life.

1-I got hit on a lot more before I went to BYU.

2-Most of the guys that blatantly hit on me have been Polynesian. I am definitely okay with that.

Now, due to recent developments in what you may call my lack of love-life, I would just like to compile a list of some of the best pick-up lines or phrases and interactions that have come up. Some of these are better without context.

"Oh, yeah, because of your boooody!'

"You played really well. It was like your magic fingers flying across the keyboard."

"You're 17, right?"

He looks me up and down. Looks me up and down again. "Heeey!"

"This is a YSA dance. The purpose of YSA is to get to know each other."

"Woah! The power!"

"Your voice could be a navigation system."

"You look glamorous. Like a model on a magazine from the 70s."

"Why so smiley? You just have a zest for life? That's attractive."

Understanding

I have moments in my life when I realize that there are people that truly get me. Whether it's the floral and polka-dot bake ware I find at Ross or the chap hop that gets me through the workday.

I recently had one of those moments when I got this in an e-mail.

"I was at Costco today and saw this cute little old lady - dressed in a British style complete with bowler hat and scarf…and I thought "Suzanna would like her style"…and then I noticed that in her cart she had three HUGE bottles of Absolut Vodka and I thought…"Suzanna would like her style"…"

Daylight Reveries

I've always described my sub-conscious as being "on crack." Whether it's dreams of my sister stealing a modified Hummer garbage truck or me leaving my Spanish mob boss fiance for Mark Madsen, my synapses clearly fire in strangely entertaining ways.

Now I'm starting to wonder about my waking mind. Is it really sane for me to legitimately seek out jobs in England? Am I silly for wanting to geek out every day of my ordinary working life? Why do I suddenly start haunting monster.co.uk when I just bought my tickets for my August UK adventure? Since when do I think in so many questions rather than my usual declarative statements?

Maybe I should just go back to the original pipe dream. Work for Google. Free meals, free snacks, on-site masseuse. (Yes, I actually spelled that correctly on the first try.) But England, I hear it calling. It entices and serenades at the same time. It soothes the rejection e-mails with distance, but promises more opportunities all the while.

With my luck, I'll end up back in Utah within a year...

Dating Refresher

Another round of dating help for the needy.