Looking Young

Last week I went to get my eyebrows waxed. I got all dressed, did my hair and put makeup on before going out and thought, "I look goooood!" As I sat in the waxing chair, the woman made some smalltalk with me, asking me where I'm from, ect. Then she asked me what I'm doing for summer break, which I thought was weird, but I said "I'm working." Her next question was, "How old are you?" I answered, "23." And she said, "Oh! I thought you were 16!"

For our honeymoon, Ben planned a cruise. Anyone under the age of 16 needed to be accompanied by an adult. As Ben and I boarded the ship I was stopped by a girl who said, "Hold on. Can I see your FunPass card?" I said, "Um, sure?" And handed it to her. She needed to check my age, so Ben said, "This is my wife." The girl looked at me really awkwardly so I said, "I'm 22." And she said, "Oh, I thought you were 14!" 

A few years ago, I took my little sister to register for her first year of high school classes. I walked her to the registration table where she was told to go stand in another line and pick up her class schedule. I waited by the registration table where I was approached by a short lady who asked me, "Have you registered for your freshman classes yet?" I'm pretty sure my mouth hung open for a second before I answered saying, "Um, I'm a junior, in college."

Yesterday I told my family I wanted to be in the Young Woman's program at our church, but they joked saying church leaders probably can't put me in that position because it might look bad having someone in there who looks 15 and pregnant.

I look young. It's true. And it's a little annoying! I know I'll be grateful for my youthful looks in a few years when everyone is 40 and I still look 28, but right now I'm sick of getting ID'd.

100 Things I love

Part two of my experiment is seeing how long it will take me to type 100 things I love. I really hope it takes less time than typing the 100 things I hate! Go!
1- Julie loves her husband
2- Julie loves her job
3- Julie loves her family
4- Julie loves music
5- Julie loves writing
6- Julie loves newspapers, real ones, that you can hold in your hand
7- Julie loves reading
8- Julie loves swimming
9- Julie loves going to musicals
10- Julie loves traveling
11- Julie loves autumn
12- Julie loves being with Ben
13- Julie loves the piano
14- Julie loves giving Ben singing lessons
15- Julie loves teaching piano
16- Julie loves being barefoot
17- Julie loves deep conversations that sometimes involve debating
18- Julie loves ice cream
19- Julie loves free things
20- Julie loves having a car
21- Julie loves sandwiches
22- Julie loves NYC
23- Julie loves German
24- Julie loves Berlin
25- Julie loves being pregnant
26- Julie loves her small feet
27- Julie loves how the bug guy is coming to her house to kill the worms
28- Julie loves having a house
29- Julie loves her husband's dad and mom
30- Julie loves doberman puppies
31- Julie loves old cars
32- Julie loves the 40s and 50s
33- Julie loves TV
34- Julie loves eating breakfast in bed
35- Julie loves bubble baths
36- Julie loves the farmers market in SLC
37- Julie loves the beach
38- Julie loves beverages
39- Julie loves poetry
40- Julie loves intelligent people
41- Julie loves getting sorry/ thank you waves when driving
42- Julie loves grocery shopping
43- Julie loves milk
44- Julie loves hard boiled eggs
45- Julie loves musicals, plays and operas
46- Julie loves how cheap entertainment in Europe is
47- Julie loves France and learning French
48- Julie loves that she's graduating in December
49- Julie loves when Ben rubs her feet
50- Julie loves dressing up all fancy
51- Julie loves cheese and crackers
52- Julie loves scuba diving
53- Julie loves fish
54- Julie loves funny things people say at work
55- Julie loves eavesdropping
56- Julie loves old couples who are still in love
57- Julie loves people watching
58- Julie loves laughing
59- Julie loves headphones
60- Julie loves trendy places with cool decorations
61- Julie loves Tony Caputos
62- Julie loves how she got a Jimmy John's sub for a dollar today
63- Julie loves her new reporters
64- Julie loves learning new instruments
65- Julie loves musuems
66- Julie loves listening to you talk passionately
67- Julie loves when Ben does potery
68- Julie loves dancing
69- Julie loves water
70- Julie loves going on walks in the evening
71- Julie loves sunsets
72- Julie loves stargzing
73- Julie loves trying new things even when she's not very good at them
74- Julie loves listening to Ben talk about old cars
75- Julie loves Kid Rock's "Sweet Home Alabama"
76- Julie loves cards
77- Julie loves baking
78- Julie loves her new oven
79- Julie loves Ikea
80- Julie loves that she found a dress for her sister-in-law's wedding
81- Julie loves Einstein Bagles
82- Julie loves cheap flights
83- Julie loves random car trips to Califronia
84- Julie loves Seaworld
85- Julie loves earings
86- Julie loves pearls
87- Julie loves getting pedicures
88- Julie loves back tickles
89- Julie loves watching children trying to figure out a sarcastic comment
90- Julie loves Christmas
91- Julie loves flowers, when they're alive
92- Julie loves scaring birds
93- Julie loves knowing the answer to questions
94- Julie loves decorating cupcakes
95- Julie loves compliments that are real
96- Julie loves acting
97- Julie loves her baby
98- Julie loves her new bedding
99- Julie loves surprises
100- Julie loves her lunch box
16:09
The results are in!!! It is easier to list 100 things I love than 100 things I hate. I usually consider myself a pessimistic-optimist, but I guess I'm more of an optimistic pessimist. I know this is kind of a contradiction in terms, but this characterization makes sense! I usually think of the things that can go wrong before making a decision. I am, however, happy with the decisions I make and the way my life has turned out! Go optimism!

100 Things I Hate

Last week I listened to my co-worker read a blog that listed 300 things some guy hated. As I laughed and listened along with everyone else, I wondered how hard it would be for that blogger to list the 300 things he loved. So, this is my experiment: today I will time how long it takes me to make a list of 100 things I hate and tomorrow I will time how long it takes me to make a list of 100 things I love. Ready, go!
1- Julie hates shopping at Walmart
2- Julie hates waiting in line
3- Julie hates listening to "Careless Whisper" by the Sexy Saxophone Guy every day at work
4- Julie hates driving to Provo
5- Julie hates bugs in her house
6- Julie hates having to kill spiders when her husband's not home
7- Julie hates how short weekends really are when you factor in sleeping
8- Julie hates trilogies
9- Julie hates listening to lectures
10- Julie hates exercising
11- Julie hates trying to sleep while pregnant
12- Julie hates vegetables
13- Julie hates how people harass her about not liking onions
14- Julie hates second person
15- Julie hates fantasy books
16- Julie hates shoes
17- Julie hates jeans
18- Julie hates butterflies
19- Julie hates camping without flushing toilets
20- Julie hates dirty houses
21- Julie hates listening to you sing "TGIF"
22- Julie hates her keyboard
23- Julie hates how long it takes for everyone to show up for desk meetings
24- Julie hates portable dishwashers
25- Julie hates how the bug guy hasn't sprayed her house yet
26- Julie hates the grass
27- Julie hates the nasty duck pond south of BYU
28- Julie hates parking at BYU
29- Julie hates people who read things on the internet and therefore think they're smart
30- Julie hates Facebook
31- Julie hates Twitter
32- Julie hates most forms of social media
33- Julie hates the SUV mini coopers
34- Julie hates dog hair that never gets vacuumed up
35- Julie hates going to the mall in Provo
36- Julie hates the radio
37- Julie hates jacked-up trucks
38- Julie hates construction
39- Julie hates when people tell her how being pregnant really is
40- Julie hates public bathrooms
41- Julie hates how there's never soap by the sinks at work
42- Julie hates not having lotion
43- Julie hates making her husband sad
44- Julie hates searching the internet for something and then getting distracted by something else
45- Julie hates how old her desktop computer is
46- Julie hates BYU provided internet
47- Julie hates how Court doesn't sit in his chair, but spins it while stands it
48- Julie hates owls
49- Julie hates when people don't think Seaworld is the greatest place ever
50- Julie hates braces
51- Julie hates retainers
52- Julie hates her dentist
53- Julie hates being sick
54- Julie hates how Michael left the office
55- Julie hates when TV seasons end
56- Julie hates it when people say you shouldn't watch TV because it will make you stupid and fat
57- Julie hates eating junk food
58- Julie hates nuts in her food
59- Julie hates raisins in her food
60- Julie hates how the custodians never vacuum under her desk
61- Julie hates watches
62- Julie hates how hot her house gets at night
63- Julie hates turning on the AC at 3 a.m. every morning
64- Julie hates losing games
65- Julie hates people who knock on her back door
66- Julie hates how she scratched her new hardwood floor with an 80-year-old dresser
67- Julie hates when people miss deadlines
68- Julie hates professors who ask you to call them "Brother So-and-so"
69- Julie hates online newspapers
70- Julie hates how she can't find a dress for her sister-in-law's wedding
71- Julie hates when people stop walking and stand in the middle of the sidewalk
72- Julie hates people who pretend they're talking to someone on their cell phone
73- Julie hates how everyone thinks they're a model on Facebook
74- Julie hates flies and bees and wasps
75- Julie hates taking fake nails off
76- Julie hates that once fat guy who endorses Subway
77- Julie hates how it's not Christmas time
78- Julie hates water on her face
79- Julie hates spilling
80- Julie hates ugly dogs
81- Julie hates chain-link fences
82- Julie hates ant farms
83- Julie hates the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies
84- Julie hates getting up at 6:00 a.m.
85- Julie hates counting
86- Julie hates math
87- Julie hates never having ice cream
88- Julie hates music from the 80s
89- Julie hates driving by a car that is blasting lame music
90- Julie hates old men drivers
91- Julie hates ovens that don't cook right
92- Julie hates cockroaches
93- Julie hates small airports
94- Julie hates the smell of airports
95- Julie hates plastic waterbottles
96- Julie hates the fridge at work
97- Julie hates her fridge
98- Julie hates binders
99- Julie hates college ruled paper
100- Julie hates Wendy's new fries
***27:25***

The German Moses

For the past few weeks the photographers and media guru have been talking about these YouTube videos by Flula. I finally decided to take a look so I could understand the strange comments coming from all sides of the newsroom. I just have this to say: RJ, you're really good at finding things on YouTube that waste time and make you laugh.
The German Moses
Why Dirk is Great
I've never been a big fan of YouTube, but there are some pretty entertaining videos I can watch while at work. For example: shrimp on treadmill.
And since I'm trying to be less of a prude, YouTube is becoming less and less stupid to me. When there's time to spare at work, I'm willing to watch suggested videos, so bring them on.

Things You Thought Were True as a Child...and Still Believe to be True Now

Each day I hike my unfit body up 119 stairs and a monstrous hill, avoid sprinklers that are, for some strange reason, on at 9 a.m. and 12 p.m., and try to avoid stepping on all the bugs that crawl beside me. This morning I saw a daddy long leg running up the hill.

When I was little, my parents, brother, teachers and friends told me daddy long legs are the most poisonous spiders on earth, but because their mouths are so small they can't bite humans. As I walked to work this morning I thought about this and concluded there was no way a daddy long leg could be so poisonous. After a quick Google search I found thousands of articles and websites that say this myth is false. This was my favorite: http://spiders.ucr.edu/daddylonglegs.html. Then I started thinking: where do we get these weird ideas that myths are true? 
Did your parents ever tell you popping your knuckles would give you arthritis, shaving would make your hair come back thicker or swallowing a watermelon seed will make it grow inside you? Here are some myths I believed when I was younger:

1. Cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis 
2. Shaving your legs will make the hair come back thicker
3. Swallowing a watermelon seed will result in watermelons growing in your stomach
4. Bees won't sting you unless you provoke them
5. Bugs are attracted to blond hair
6. You will get the flu if you go outside without a coat
7. Playing video games will make you go blind
8. If you swallow a piece of gum it will stay in your stomach for seven years
9. Caffeine will keep you from reaching puberty
10. Eating vegetables will put hair on your chest (Okay, I didn't believe this, but my dad ALWAYS said it)
11. If you go swimming in the pool after you eat you'll throw up

I'm sure there are more myths I believed when I was a kid and probably even more I believe today, which is why I think it's interesting we believe things even without evidence. I still believe gum will stay in your stomach for seven years, Top Ramon Noodles will never fully digest and reading in dim light will make you go blind.

Increasing Productivity

Today at work I was asked to rate my reporters on their productivity. The problem is productivity seems to have three separate parts to its definition:

1. doing something
2. knowing how to do it and
3. doing it well

I basically gave everyone a 10 before I was distracted by my co-worker who was reading a list of 100 things some guy on some blog hates. That's when I realized how productive the newsroom really is, no sarcasm intended. Things move a little slower in the summer, but despite the lack of local news and reporters with questions, we're always busy with something, even if that something is listening to a cat in heat or replaying "Careless Whisper" 10 times a day (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaoLU6zKaws). That's not to say we don't spend a good portion of the day editing, finding stories and contacting PR people, but we know how to have fun and use our time wisely when there are a few moments to rest.
Working as an editor at The Daily Universe has helped me gain some professional experience and a feel for what it's like in a newsroom. We laugh, we mock, we discuss politics and we focus on news. I LOVE my job! I'm hoping I can work here through the fall, since that'll be my last semester and finding a job while pregnant can prove difficult.
Increasing my productivity is the main reason I've decided to start this blog, which will include funny things said in the newsroom as well as random thoughts I have. You as the reader need only to fill your Time to Spare reading these insightful events and ideas to increase your productivity as well.