diff --git a/.bash_profile b/.bash_profile
index b72e72584..cf03d3a6f 100644
--- a/.bash_profile
+++ b/.bash_profile
@@ -1,17 +1,21 @@
-# bash profile settings for William Carroll
+export PATH=$HOME/bin:/usr/local/bin:/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:$PATH
 
-# welcome message
-echo "Hello, welcome back, William"
 
-# change bash prompt
-PS1='$ '
+echo "Welcome back, $USER"
 
-# input mode to Vi
+# use vi bindings for terminal input
 set -o vi
 
-# shortcuts
-alias h="history"
-alias vi="vim"
-alias c="clear"
+# aliases
+source $HOME/pc_settings/.w_aliases.sh
+
+# functions
+source $HOME/pc_settings/.w_functions.sh
+
+# run cmatrix command for 3 seconds before exiting
+#. $HOME/pc_settings/.matrix_intro.sh
+
+# syntax highlighting for CLI; if not installed, run the following command
+# brew install zsh-syntax-highlighting
+source /usr/local/share/zsh-syntax-highlighting/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh
 
-export EDITOR=/usr/bin/vim
diff --git a/.misc_functions.sh b/.misc_functions.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index e775c2a89..000000000
--- a/.misc_functions.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-# download files to /tmp directory
-function wdownload {
-  URL="$1"
-  FILENAME="$(basename $URL)"
-
-  wget -O /tmp/"$FILENAME" $URL >/dev/null && open /tmp && echo "Downloaded to: /tmp/$FILENAME" || echo "Error ..."
-}
-
-# spell checker
-function wspcheck {
-  if [ $# -ge 1 -a -f "$1" ] && input="$1" || input="-"
-  cat "$input" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | tr -cd '[:alpha:]_ \n' | tr -s ' ' '\n' | sort | comm -23 - ~/english_words.txt
-}
diff --git a/.w_functions.sh b/.w_functions.sh
index e1a76bd3f..071289e46 100644
--- a/.w_functions.sh
+++ b/.w_functions.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-functon npms() {
+npms() {
   clear;
   npm start;
 }
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ source $HOME/pc_settings/.js_to_bash.sh
 source $HOME/pc_settings/.git_functions.sh
 
 # custom bash helpers functions
-source $HOME/pc_settings/.misc_functions.sh
+# source $HOME/pc_settings/.misc_functions.sh
 
 # generates placeholder content for FE work
 function lorem {
@@ -29,3 +29,17 @@ function wsearchpath {
   echo $PATH | tr ':' '\n' | xargs -I {} find {} -type f -perm +111 -maxdepth 1 -name "*${1}*" -print | xargs basename
 }
 
+
+# tests an internet connection
+function is_online {
+  wget -q --spider "http://google.com"
+
+  if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+    echo "Online"
+    return 0
+  else
+    echo "Offline"
+    return 1
+  fi
+}
+
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..302245f14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# install brew and its packages
+. ./install_brew.sh
+
diff --git a/install_brew.sh b/install_brew.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..a86f1a155
--- /dev/null
+++ b/install_brew.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+echo "Installing Homebrew..."
+$(which ruby) -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/uninstall)"
+$(which ruby) -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
+echo "Homebrew installed."
+echo ""
+
+pushd "$HOME/pc_settings"
+
+# install brew dependencies
+echo "Installing Homebrew packages..."
+cat ./brew_packages.txt | xargs brew install
+echo "Homebrew packages installed."
+echo ""
+
+echo "Homebrew installed complete!"
+echo ""
+
+popd
+
diff --git a/install_brew_packages.sh b/install_brew_packages.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 050ff655f..000000000
--- a/install_brew_packages.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-pushd "$HOME/pc_settings"
-
-# install brew dependencies
-cat ./brew_packages.txt | xargs brew install
-
-popd
-