100 Random Things About Me

1. I'm the first girl born to my parents but the second girl in my family (G-2 as my parents call me. The list goes all the way to G-10!).
2. I love to read, but I didn't always. I remember sitting there in second grade just turning page after page to see the pictures but never really reading a single word.
3. I've never been afraid of animals -though I have to admit, the T-Rex on Jurassic Park made me cry, but that was, of course, back in the day when it was still in theaters and tickets were like three bucks.
4. I'm not a picky eater. If I'm hungry I'll eat it. If I'm not hungry -I'll probably still eat it.
5. On the subject of food, I have discovered that, even after I've stuffed myself completely full, I can always find room for dessert. How odd.
6. It nearly always takes me a good half hour to fall asleep.
7. I very rarely remember my dreams and when I do they're so bizzare that there really is no point in remembering them because they're too complicated to tell anyone about.
8. I find myself interested in the strangest things. Example: How pencils are made; Geology - though not enough to actually take the course; How English words came about; Why 'Y' is only sometimes a vowel and not ALL the time, etc, etc...
9. Okay, this might sound a little strange coming from me, especially by those who play host to my living (namely Melinda), but -I love to listen. I'm always eavesdropping -not on purpose, mind you -well, not usually. If I'm not listening to one conversation I'm listening to another. "Selective Hearing" is what my teacher called it. Huh. Anyway...
10. I love climbing trees.
11. I hate touching money! I always have to wash my hands afterward and if I don't I can't touch anything. Money is so gross!
12. I am completely and utterly stupid -in more areas than one. Not until a few weeks ago could I point out exactly where Turkey was and even to this day I couldn't label all fifty states without getting at least ten wrong.
13. Even though it wares me out within the first fifteen minutes -I love to run. I love to push myself to the fullest -when it comes to brawns anyway -but there has been a few times where pushing myself hasn't always been the healthiest of choices....
14. When I was very little my dad called me Fred.
15. I'm not really afraid of anything, though "the dark" would probably come the closest. It's like my cousin said "it's not the dark that scares me, its what's in the dark." That's how I feel. Have you ever seen the movie Scrooge with Albert Finney? Do you remember the scene when Scrooge was flying in the sky with Marley and all these ghosts came rushing toward him? ...well, that's how I feel. When it's dark, even though I keep my eyes closed tight, I always see these dark figures rushing at me and I get so overwhelmed that I have to stop. I have to concentrate really hard and force myself to keep going....Pretty strange hu?
16. The only thing I love more than laughing is making other people laugh (mind you, I like it when they laugh with me, not at me).
17. I love roller-coasters! I love the rush! And I've been craving one these past few days. My family and I use to go to Branson all the time. I can't wait to go again.
18. I have allergies. I've grown accustomed to carrying a roll of toilet paper with me everywhere I go.
19. I can't go to bed with socks on.
20. I like to be early for everything. I don't like the feeling of being rushed, except of course at work. I'm use to it there.
21. I've never worked anywhere except fast food.
22. I was fifteen when I had my first visit to the mall.
23. I'm a strong believer in "If you want something done right you have to do it yourself." Especially at work. I guess that means, if I ask you to do something, that means I really trust you to do it right. If I avoid asking you, well then...
24. I love going to the movies.
25. I gave up eating popcorn about two years ago. How cool is that! -Now if only it was that easy to give up chocolate!
26. I don't like video games. Why waste your time inside watching a TV screen when yo u could be outside playing with a wagon?
27. As a child, and I guess as an adult still, I was very mischievous. My step mom calls me an "imp".
28. I love music. I'm always listening to the radio or some CD. (Country is my preferred, but I like the soft rock, pop stuff too.)
29. I love to sing songs with my family. I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, good at singing, but I still like it.
30. I love writing. It's my escape from this world to another. My safe haven, so to speak.
31. This might sound funny but, I'm a big flirt. -See? Told you it would sound funny. I don't know, it just comes naturally. I only noticed it while I was at work the other day. My co-workers -all female- kept asking me how I felt about our assistant manager. They told me that we flirt like crazy! Holy Cow! I didn't even realize!
32. 85% of the time, I'm lonely. I can't wait to be surrounded by Mormon college students just like me!
33. In infancy I was diagnosed with "Beta-Strep".
34. I like driving, but not for hours at a time.
35. I have never been on a plane, but I really want to someday.
36. When it comes to financial means -I HATE asking for help. I avoid it at all costs.
37. I am very analytical. My mind runs everything through a very logical course.
38. I'm not spontaneous. I can't do anything spur of the moment. I have to give my brain time to copy it into my mental schedule before doing it. Its like that with everything. When I wake up I have to run the entire day through my head and then I can go out and do it. I run a tight mental schedule!
39. I'm not good with words (though, ironically I love English).
40. I love grass. Short, green, soft, good looking grass.
41. I love taking walks in the rain.
42. I love the woods. Especially in the spring when everything is green and the birds are all out singing their songs.
43. I'm probably the easiest person to stress out.
44. I was born in Plano, Texas.
45. Of all the sports, Football is my favorite. (But keep in mind, I'm not much for sports)
46. I love to cook. I like making things something good enough to eat! :P
47. I was never much of a doll person, but that's the only thing my sisters played and I hated being left out. So, dolls it was.
48. The only job I ever really wanted was to be a mother. I had other ideas, just in case I never got married, things like: veterinarian, zoologist, author, celebrity. etc.
49. I never attended High School. I started homeschooling just after my eighth grade year and took my GED just before my would-be-senior year.
50. I love dancing. Not particularly the line dances, but anything with a guy. Ballroom, Foxtrot, things like that.
52. I like to draw.
53. I tried learning Spanish once, but discovered very quickly that I didn't have the tongue for it. Well actually, I lacked the capacity entirely.
54. I love dogs. (so long as they're clean...)
55. I was the "egg gatherer" whenever we had chickens twelve years ago. I don't know why, but I loved the chickens. They made the funniest noise! I also remember saving the chicks from a gardener-snake. It just slithered in under the walls and made itself at home around all the baby chicks. I remember my mom was there, along with my two older brothers. As soon as the snake pulled back I snatched up the chicks saving them from a most horrible fate! It was exciting!
56. I love being outdoors! I remember going on hikes with my cousin and older brother. We would take to the woods and go exploring down the creek. I remember being gone for hours! But holy cow! We had so much fun!
58. A choice between a digital clock and a ....non-digital clock, I'd pick non-digital. I like those better.
59. I like broccoli. Especially with melted cheese.
60. I love going horseback riding.
61. I enjoy landscaping very much, but I'm not sure I'd want to make that my profession. I'd much rather just stick with fixing my own turf.
62. I love getting mail. I was the "mail-checker" when I lived at home. Whenever I'd ask if anyone had gotten the mail yet, they'd always say "Do I look like Julia?"
63. I like the name Julia, but I really do NOT like being called Julie. Jewls or Julia -or even Hey You! -just not Julie.
64. I don't particularly like talking on the phone, except of course to family. I don't know why, I'd just much rather talk face to face. Oh, and I don't like leaving messages either. I'm still not sure why, I just don't. Something about having my voice recorded or something...
65. Ever since I saw the show "Smallville" my favorite car has become a red-bug convertible. ...Someday, I'm gonna get one. Hopefully.
66. My first job was picking up rocks for my dad. I got One (Uh! There's not a cent sign on the keyboard. There's a $ but no cent sign! Uh -the nerve!) Anyway, I got one cent per rock. I remember getting a whole three dollars and seventy-eight cents! I was so excited!
67. I love mowing the lawn. I like the push mower better than the riding one. Better workout. ;)
68. I love to clean! I always have. But don't get me wrong, I didn't like doing chores, -cleaning on my own free will was entirely different.
69. I love technology!
70. I love the hurt, sore feeling I get after I exercise, it lets me know I've accomplished something. And feeling the pain for three days straight was wonderful!
71. During certain parts of the year my hands get all dry and crackly and sometimes they start bleeding. Yeah I know, "Lotion works!" I just can't get myself keep it on! I'm always washing my hands or doing something where I can't afford to have slimy fingers.
72. My favorite composer is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. (I love how in the movie "IQ" Einstein is always humming his tunes!) Bach is good and so is Vivaldi, but Mozart all the way!
73. I can't see numbers in my head, I have to write them out on paper.
74. My favorite breakfast (I guess it works for dinner and lunch too) is my dad's biscuits and white, sausage, gravy. Umm-Umm!
75. If I could go back in time I'd like to meet Thomas Edison, either that or Karl Benz -or just any of the great inventors.
76. I am a sandwich artist. A professional one at that.
77. When I was in grade-school my siblings and I would ALWAY bring a lunch. It consisted of a sandwich, chips, cookie, and a drink. I ate this every (school) day for nine years in a row. And can you believe I never got sick of it!
78. I like watching chick-flicks with my brother.
79. I absolutely detest mustard!
80. Whenever I sleep I have to have a blanket, and it has to be pulled up over my shoulders. I can only fall asleep on my back, with my legs together and my arms against my stomach. It's really weird, I can't fall asleep in any other position.
81. I love ankle-socks.
82. When I was younger I had to take a "special" class for children you aren't good at reading -or in my case, just didn't find it at all interesting. I remember the class. Surprisingly that's a part of my childhood that I can remember -of all the things that happened, this had to be the thing that I remembered! How silly!
83. I like eagles (falcons work too). I like the majestic, noble look about them. It makes sense that the eagle is the U.S. bird. Did you know that Ben Franklin wanted it to be the turkey? How weird would that have been!?
84. I love dogwood trees.
85. I love plumeria-blossoms.
86. For my honeymoon I want to go to Bora Bora. How awesome would that be?!
87. If I had a million dollars, the first place I would go would be Haiti.
88. I don't like taking naps, I always wake up either tired or grouchy, not to mention the fact that I can't remember what day it is. Naps totally throw off my schedule!
89. As a kid my favorite books were the "Santa Paws" books by Nicholas Edwards. (It's about a dog that saves lives -a lot like Lassie. But in my opinion Santa Paws is a bit more practical. No jumping out of parachutes or anything...)
90. "I am Mr. Lonely. I have to no-body to call my own! I am so lonely..."
91. I love blogs! I love reading what happens in others lives, especially when its funny, or else, put into a funny perspective.
92. Even though its not the prettiest of birds I love the mocking bird. (How cool is that to know ever song of the birds?) I also really like the red-wing black bird. I think they look really cool!
93. My family and I lived in a mobile home for....a good chunk of my life (a big long chunk) and my cousin and I would go out under the house and hide out there forever. We'd talk for hours just having a blast. I remember making tons and tons of mud balls and stashing them up in the rafters and then finding them again years later, hard as rock.
94. My mom, for a short time in my childhood, always had a bag of dum-dums in her closet and I would, just about every day, go in a take one. ...I never told her, but I'm sure she noticed.
95. Ooo! That reminds me! When I was about four or five years old (so this was like fourteen years ago, and I hold myself completely guiltless for anything I did that long ago-) I was at my grandma's house and she gave me a sandwich and said that I had to eat it before I went outside to play. Well, it was a awful big sandwich and I was just SO anxious to go outside that eating the dreaded lunch was just WAY to much for my little self to handle. Well, the sandwich had to disappear somehow. I remember looking around the kitchen trying to find a loophole, if you will, in getting rid of the sandwich. And then it hit me! -the cushion! My grandma, brilliant woman, had previously furnished her kitchen with these sort of straw chairs and of course they all need cushions -nobody wants to sit on hard pockie straw or whatever it was. So anyway, I slid the sandwich slices on either side of the cushion on which I sat and made it look just as convincing as I could manage trying to flatten the sandwich beneath me. "Grandma, I'm done!" I remember saying, and, of course, she let me play outside. ...I never actually told my grandma this, but, naturally, I'm sure she found out. ...I wonder what she did when she discovered the pancake sandwich? .....oooo
96. (Holy cow that was long!) ...Erm, I am the only grandchild (of my grandparents, of course) who is eighteen. The rest are just pulling out of that age or just pulling into being seventeen. Of all ninety or so of my cousins, none of them are my age. How ironic!
97. I think of numbers as having personalities. Two and Seven are my favorite. Not sure why...
98. I have just recently been told that I am a very stubborn person.
99. I hate routine. Schedules are good, they're what I live by, but when they become routine -like work for instance -it bugs the snot out of me! Ugh.
100. I think one of my greatest weaknesses is pride. I'm not sure how I manage, but I seem to have a lot of it.

Lone Star

After work on Friday I went on a date with myself -didn't have enough time to ask a guy, not that I even really wanted to. It's just a chore of mine to go on a date once a month. Ha! Some chore! I'd rather be up in my elbows with Commet cleaning every toilet in the house! ...well, okay, its not that bad. Just tedious. ...Anyway- I went to one of the High Schools and watched the students preform one of William Shakespeare's biggest plays -"A Midsummer Night's Dream."

I got there early, of course, and didn't have to worry about buy a ticket because I already had a few days in advance, of course, so I just checked up at the entrance doors and took a seat near the front of the room and waited for the production to start.

Before the play had even started I loved it! The stage was amazing! Holy Cow! I don't think I've ever seen such a simple thing decked out with such beautiful trappings. It was the scene of the forest and it was just amazing! My descriptions will do it no justice, but I'll give it my best shot.

Nets of green and brown hung low from the ceiling along side the tall, thin trees scattered along the stage. The lights were low with a hint of fog -I was impressed by the lights that mimicked the sunlight escaping in past the canopy above; it really made the stage sort of come to life. -A platform sat in the middle of the stage; it's plastic designs made it look like an actual piece of forest floor cut out and somehow it was managed to be put on the stage without making even the slightest mess. A long curtain hung along the scene causing the effect of fog and scattered sunshine. I was thoroughly impressed! ...But see, I can't do it justice. I guess you'll just have to take my word on the fact that it was truly a piece of art!

The play was ten whole minutes late in starting (I didn't mind so much though. Like I said, I was already enjoying the view!) The time, though well spent, made me feel a little off. I was sitting alone, of course, and I felt well out of place. I was glad when the lights dimmed and the production began.

It was hilarious! I must say, after watching it preformed by school kids, I like it so much more than when I watched it played out behind the screen of a movie. So much cleaner! My favorite character was by far Nick Bottom. (If any of you have ever read "A Midsummer" then you know who this is, if you haven't, well, just know that he is an ecstatic performer -he plays in plays in a play, if that makes any sense at all- and during this whole escapade he gets turned into an -well, a donkey. I'm not sure which I liked more, the actor or the character. They were both very well done! The actor was by far the best. He said all his lines with utter clearness and volume and he was the most boisterous of all the performers.

...I guess there isn't much else to say on this matter. The play was good and as soon as it ended, and having no reason to stay behind and linger, I went home. I was a little shocked that my cousins had already gone to sleep. It was only nine-thirty. ...but I guess not all of us are as young as we use to be ;)

Well, I guess that was the end of my evening. I enjoyed it very much, or, as much as one person can enjoy something when they are all alone. But that doesn't matter so much. Like Dr. Seuss said "Alone is something you'll be quite a lot." ...As a matter of fact, every day for the past -who knows how long? I've been alone. (not in the sense that I am utterly alone and there isn't a solitary soul anywhere around, but more on the lines that I am lonely. I guess thats a better word to use...) I wake up and see my cousin for a brief twenty minutes and then after seminary I see his wife for a smaller fifteen minutes. And then...I'm alone. I go to school come home for five hours and then go to work. By the time I get off of work everyone is already asleep! Bleh! ...I'm not sure that things are going to get any better though. After school lets out I'll more than likely pick up another job and then I'll be swept up in the same routine. ...For the most bit it doesn't bother me... I've gotten use to being alone. ...But then there are days when I fell like curling up in a little ball on the couch in the empty livingroom and singing "I'm all alone! There's no one here beside me..." ....Haha, I guess I've gotten use to it though. I just hope that it doesn't cause any ill heath in me. I hear when one doesn't talk to someone else for a long period of time one can lose there sense of speech.... Not that that's anything I have to worry about, but still, the posiblity is there.... -Okay. Now I'm just rambling. I'm going to stop before I say anything else thats utterly witless.

Me And The Open Road

I had to drive down to Arkansas the other day. Holy Cow! I didn't realize exactly how far and long eight hours and four-hundred plus miles could be. Ugh! That's what I have to say about it: Ugh. I left around nine-ish and my appointment wasn't until 3:20. Yeah, I know. WAY early. I was hoping that they could squeeze me in early and that way I'd have the rest of the evening to myself. I did not want to spend it driving.

It was quite a hardship trying to keep myself occupied. It didn't take long for the radio to bore me. (Isn't it strange how when one station is talking -ALL the stations are talking? It's like they time it out just right. And sometimes, upon looking at the clock, I see that its at the strangest of times. They'll talk at 8:43 or 11:17 or just something weird like that, but the funny part is -they ALL do that. ...Anyway, its just weird.) If I had the choice between any power, I'd pick the ability to read and drive at the same time. I mean, wouldn't that be cool? You get to educate yourself and be safe while driving all at once! Think of how many books you could get read!

But unfortunately, we aren't so blessed. We are, however, blessed with something that my dad introduced to be a while ago. I didn't much like it at first -It seemed to suck the fun out of everything. Reading is reading, that's that. This thing, is called: Audio Book.

Can you see why I don't like it? You're not reading your just listening. Don't get me wrong, I love listening, its just...reading is so much more beneficial -in my opinion anyway. By reading you are giving your mind that puzzle of words and your own voice to every character. Its hard when your listening to get the full effect. I guess that's all I'm trying to say...

So anyway, not too long before my ginormous trip,my dad was nice enough to put some audio books on my MP3. So that's what I did all the way down to Arkansas and all the way back up here. I listened to books. It was actually rather fun.

Now for some of you who don't know me, I like to talk during movies. I like to tell the main characters that what they're doing is either stupid or genius. I really get into it. I gasp at all the scary parts and cheer for all the good parts. I have found that it's the same way when I'm listening to a book. I get all excited when the narrator nears the climax or when they say something completely hilarious. So, as I was driving I'd start hyperventilating or pleading with the characters to change their ways. Its really kind of funny. I think of how funny that might look from an outsiders perspective. Here I am talking to myself and acting all crazy for no apparent reason. I don't know. I thought it was funny.

It wasn't until my heart rate had jumped a few beats faster and my pleading cris of "No, Don't do it! It's a trap!" was all I could hear that I realized that I do indeed get involved in audio books. They're not so bad. I guess. I still prefer reading over listening. My mental images have better screenshots.

Death by Tests

I have learned something about myself during these past few months -that's not to say that this is the only thing I've learned, but merely, one of many...

I will inevitably get sick before every test.

I'm not sure how it happens or quite exactly why, I just know that it does. I realized it -or rather, it was further confirmed to me -last week just before my third History Exam.

The sickness hit ten hours before the test began. I was sitting in bed trying very hard to sleep. My gut had rolled into a hard lump and my nerves were erratic, making it hard to breath at a steady pace. I was restless.

I don't know why I worried so much. I had study my hardest and read the chapters thoroughly taking notes on everything I thought was important. I had the terms memorized and knew the dates to all the important events -even though it was "un-required" -my professor said he would never test us over dates, simply facts. -I felt confident. I felt completely ready for the test -even three days ahead of schedule. I was ready to get it out of the way and have time to worry about the rest of my schooling.

I skipped breakfast that morning, unable to eat anything when my stomach was already full -of obnoxious, over eccentric butterflies.

I made it to school early, as usual, and went over all my notes for the umpteenth time. I was nervous. But I felt ready. I was glad when my professor passed out the test just as soon as the class was seated. For some reason I felt almost in hurry to get it done.

The test consisted of forty multiple choice questions; four terms -each had to be a paragraph long; and then two other paragraphs -preferably larger than the first four. As soon as the test was handed to me, I ripped the memorized dates from my head and scrawled them on the top of my test, worried that my nervous brain would draw a blank just as soon as I got a hold of the question page. -I was lucky that I never had to use them. My brain remained fully intact through the whole escapade. All consciousness remained. I was lucky.

The multiple choice wasn't so bad. I mean, of course, I could have done better, but I did my best -I gave it all I had. The terms were a cinch. We were given ten options and were free to choose the four we wanted. Of course, I picked the ones I felt most comfortable with. ...It wasn't until the first two paragraphs formed that I realized my problem. These paragraphs were big, healthy, but still big. A little too big. I only had three pages on which to write, and if you've ever seen this certain set-up you'd know just how narrow the pages really are. I was suddenly worried that I wouldn't have enough room.

Thinking it through quickly, I decided that I'd write the last two paragraphs first to give them the room they needed (they were, after all, much more important then the terms). So, on the third page, I wrote -in my neatest scribble -the two paragraphs, thoroughly pointing out the purpose and significance of their indicated topics. When I was satisfied that I had touched every point and given them all the room necessary, I used the last few lines for the neglected terms. When I finished, I re-read them to make sure I had covered all the necessities. Aside from the last two pitiful, three lined, terms, I felt fairly confident. After checking the test and making double sure I had filled in every bubble, I flipped the test over to adjust the pages that I had turned over so that it would be easier for me to write on the oddly formatted columns. -I gasped subconsciously when I righted the test, seeing the back for the first time. I had a whole other page!

I ran the options over in my head, quickly knocking off all possibilities of putting this abandoned page to use. I had already written the terms and even if I wanted to re-write them, I really had no choice. My eraser wasn't big enough and it always left a long black stain whenever I used it. These simple facts were enough to make me mentally kick myself for being so ignorant. Ugh! This was definetely going to cost me!

And yet...despite my horrible streak of bad grades with this overly-picky professor, and my shameful promise that I'd never, in any reality, pass this class -I felt comfortable when I gave the professor my test and headed out the door to my next class.

It wasn't until I turned to open the door when I realized that I was one of the first ones to be finished. That made me a little worried. Perhaps I could have taken a little more time, going over every possible answer, doubting if my first choice was right. ...No, that wouldn't be good. At that rate, I'd never get anything done -doubting every choice and driving myself crazy because none of the answers seemed to fit, or else they all fit at once. I shut the door before I did anything rash and made my way across the campus. I was glad to escape.

....Today was much the same. I have a test tomorrow, but the sickness that I feel is something a little different. I'm afraid that, along with the reckless butterflies trapped in my stomach, I have another kind of bug. I'm not sure what it is, but I sure hope that it leaves by tomorrow. I can't afford to be sick twice....at once...

I guess all I'm really saying is -I hate tests. They are so unhealthy for me. I only wish there was some kind of vaccine or medicine to help with their ever-present-ness in school. Bleh! Tests stink!