A summer of new experiences

August is just about over, and you know what that means: alternating panic and self-flagellation for wasting another summer.

Except, I'm not getting that feeling. Because I did things this summer. I was too busy living new experiences to be bothered too much by the things I love to gripe about during the summer (the heat, the sleep trouble, the having to go to work—you know the list).

Apartment renter to homeowner

This is the big one, guys—the biggest change I've made since I started working after college. And in almost all ways, it's been a positive one.

But moving from a one-bedroom apartment to a four-bedroom house brings some challenges. Like, finding the energy to vacuum all. that. carpet. And having three levels instead of one—I feel like I'm trekking up and down stairs constantly. And now that I have about 47 closets, it takes me much longer to find lost items (weeks longer, in some cases, because I routinely forget about certain closets). And I have three bathrooms to clean now, because one person definitely needs three bathrooms. Seriously, between the miles and miles of carpet and the infinite number of closets and doors, sometimes I miss that grungy little apartment for its sheer simplicity.

(There's also the commute. Before school started it was long but bearable, but now it adds an extra hour of hell to every work day and I can't talk about it without getting ENRAGED so let's move on.)

But everything else? Awesome. I love how soft and fluffy the carpet is, even if I resent its abundance. I LOVE having a kitchen that's big enough to move around in. No more balancing cookie sheets over the sink or having to move eight things every time I need to cut up some vegetables. I love having a few extra rooms so I don't have to keep all my stuff in my bedroom if I don't want to. I LOVE having a garage to park my car in; it's my favorite adulting thing ever. I love that everything is brand new so I don't have to worry about stuff breaking on me just yet. I love putting any investment into this new space of mine, whether it be cleaning/decorating or putting in a water softener. It's mine to do with what I wish, and there's a certain pride and joy that comes with that.

Another thing I love? I have a library. As if I needed another happy place in this house.

Never been outside the U.S. to world traveler

I finally did it—I traveled outside the U.S., to the exotic land of Canada. Still no stamp on my passport because apparently you have to travel in by plane to do that, but we took many pictures to mark the occasion.

I didn't expect Canada to feel any different from the U.S., but right away I noticed some things that made it feel "foreign." Like their use of the metric system—I'm a dumb American, so I couldn't tell you how much gas costs there in Americanese. You see French almost as much as you do English, and Canadians are super nice. And not in that fake way you get here all the time where we just act nice because we're supposed to, or smile sweetly while plotting ways to murder someone. It's a real, genuine, not-at-all annoying niceness, and I think we should all be like Canadians.

Also, Niagara Falls is incredible. The boat tour was my favorite part of the entire trip.

Singles ward to family ward

This was by far the hardest transition I made this summer, but it had to be done. I may still end up back in a singles ward once I officially hit "mid-singles" age, but for now it's been a nice break from the YSA wards I've outgrown, and it's been a great way to help me get to know my neighbors and actually become a part of the community I live in. Plus, I have family in the ward again, and I was given one of the few family ward callings that doesn't terrify me—primary pianist.

Still, my heart goes out to any LDS single (sorry, Latter-day Saint single) making this transition, because it's rough. I hated feeling like I couldn't blend in anymore, and I really missed quiet sacrament meetings. (Still do.) But it got easier, and eventually I started believing what I kept telling myself—that everyone else is too wrapped up in their own lives to notice how different mine is, and that I share more similarities with these strange married people than I realize.

But, there is one thing I'm not sure I'll ever get used to: calling people Brother/Sister So-and-So. One of the many great things about singles wards is that everyone addresses each other my their first name—like you would in literally every other adult situation—so going back to the Brother/Sister thing feels archaic. It's not quite as strange when the primary people call me Sister Carter, but I'm still holding out hope that this weird cultural thing will die out.

4-time Convention survivor to 5-time Convention survivor

Nothing new about this year's USANA Convention experience, other than it was an easy one for me. ("Easy" being an extremely relative term here.) And that I broke my single-day steps record (22,000). And that I somehow still had the energy to smile on Saturday morning.

Pardon the bags under the eyes. They're part of the Convention uniform.

Cheers to an abundant summer. Even if your summer wasn't abundant, take heart in knowing that the best season has only just begun.

Pearls of 20-something wisdom: Career stuff

This post has been sitting in my queue for weeks, and I've lost track of how many times I've rewritten it. The primary pursuit of my 20s has been establishing a career, so I can't just not talk about it. But the problem is, I have no idea how to concisely say everything I want to.

I could start with a timeline of significant career happenings. Too boring? Fine.

Or I could write a "20 Things I Learned While Starting My Career" post. But that's been written about 8 million times already—no one wants to read that again.

Perhaps I could do a Q&A. Answer all those questions people ask when they find out what I do. Ugh, even I have no interest in reading that.

Maybe I should just get the words down and see where they take me (career lesson #15).

The lucky ones start showing signs of what they'll be when they grow up at a young age. Looking back, I can totally see that I was one of them. I beat my classmates at all the reading challenges in first grade. I subconsciously started editing signs by fifth grade. I wrote a bunch of terrible stories in elementary school and junior high (many of which starred my celebrity crushes, from Lance Bass to Chad Michael Murray).

I had other passions—music and sports, mainly—and even dabbled in other fields (like accounting—weird), but I was destined to work with words. That's what I was drawn to. That's what brought me the most satisfaction (career lesson #4). It wasn't about the money, the status, or the glamour. All I needed was words. (And punctuation.)

Career path: all set.*

*Although it did take me a while to stop hoping for the "marry rich" solution to adulthood (career lesson #436).

But the weird thing is, there's more to a career than deciding what you want to do. I grew up in a world where a job is something you have so you can get money so you can eat and take hot showers and wear clothes and all that fun stuff. Perhaps that, combined with my greater desire to be a wife and mother, is why it took me so long to grasp that a job can be more than a means to an end or a necessary evil (career lesson #53). It can be a good and meaningful part of your life.

For starters, adults aren't great at making friends, so chances are, your workplace is where most of your friends are (career lesson #28).

My first business trip. I was still green enough to think that was what adults actually called them.

A field trip to Top Golf. My family thinks working for USANA means you just play all the time. If only that were true. Let me just say, there's a reason my blogging frequency has dropped drastically over the last six months. 

And secondly, if your job is the most important part of your life, then you'd better make sure it's a good one (career lesson #41). That you're doing something you enjoy, that excites you, with people you can easily tolerate. Because if you don't like your job and you don't have something pretty significant to make up for it, then you'll find yourself constantly wishing for something to fill the void (career lesson #40).

Editors are a bit of a dying breed, so I had to fight for the right to be one (career lesson #42). Not all of my editing peers get that chance, even if their skills are seriously impressive. But somehow I found a way to make a living using the skills I want to use. (And I don't have to teach! I'll forever be grateful for that.) I've been very fortunate.

There's no way to say this without sounding cheesy, so maybe read this part really fast, before you have a chance to roll your eyes: I found my "calling." Editing is what I was meant to do, and I have zero regrets about choosing this career.

And, I think that's all I really need to say. Hooray. I'm kicking this thing off my queue.

Wrapping up summer

The past few weeks I've been checking off item after item on my end-of-summer to-do list. Here are a few:

The Union Unicorns won the YSA regional softball championship. (Okay, so it was the losers' bracket, but we're still sort of champions.)

After playing softball for three hours straight, I took a cold shower, and then it was time to move Shannan back home.

Good timing too, because USANA's International Convention was a few days later. At the end of those 12-hour days full of super-charged energy, there is nothing better than going home to pure solitude.

Between our Associates' insane love for our blender bottles and the dinosaurs roaming around, I almost didn't make it out alive. It was a close call.

Some extra freelance work prompted me to spruce up my wardrobe a bit, so I took advantage of some back-to-school prices. (Summer may officially be over by the time the rest of my clothes ship, though.)

And then, of course, there's the trees.

The best thing about wrapping up summer is that fall is just around the corner.

Convention first-timer

Just a few weeks ago, I was bemoaning this culture that makes us slaves to our 9-to-5 jobs, when BAM! USANA's International Convention hit, the event we spend months preparing for and that defines our entire year.

In a nutshell, here's what my first Convention experience was like:

• Four 12-hour days, most of it on your feet.
• By 3:00 p.m. every day, my feet hurt so much I kind of wanted to cry. It was even worse waking up in the morning to the thought: "Crap. My feet still hurt."
• Getting to know co-workers I don't usually work with.
• Those who suffer together instantly become friends.
• Celebrity sightings. I was more struck by people's reaction to these celebrities, though. Some people throw safety and sanity out the window when they see someone they've previously only seen on TV or social media. Yeah, these people are famous, but they're still just people, not deified beings.
• Convention food. 'Nuff said.
• As the week went on, I got more and more annoyed with the people who would drop items in random places throughout the store and leave crumpled shirts in their wake (even though I'm guilty of doing both of those things). Four days in retail was all the confirmation I needed that fast food was the right path for me pre-college.
• During Convention week, the outside world doesn't exist. I didn't cook or clean, I had no idea what the weather was doing, and there was no room for things like current events in my life. If it happened outside the Salt Palace or the EnergySolutions Arena, it didn't happen.
• The store take-down was inspiring. I have never seen so many people work so quickly with so much focus. We were all off to celebrate the end of Convention week within a half hour of the store's closing.

It was an exhausting, yet exhilarating, experience. Leading up to it, I could not fathom why so many employees look forward to Convention. But amidst the long hours and brutal demands on your body, there are a lot of laughs, fun shenanigans, new friends, and a much-needed shakeup from the daily grind. It may be hard mentally and physically, but, in some strange way, it's good for the soul.

The sad thing about spring/summer

Contrary to popular belief, spring and summer don't mean warmth.

Not if you work in an office all day.

We live in a world full of useful conveniences like smartphones and wi-fi and Netflix and thousands of other little trinkets (virtual or otherwise) that make our modern lifestyle so great. But the corporate world has yet to figure out how to combat the rising temperatures outside without overcompensating and freezing its residents for several months.

I recently packed away all of my sweaters to give my lighter apparel some breathing room. I haven't touched my boots for weeks. But here I am, wishing I had worn a turtleneck and boots instead of a short-sleeved shirt and sandals.

It's May 15, guys. It's just not right to be thinking about sweaters and suffocating footwear during this time of year. I shouldn't have to worry about cold fingers and whether I'm wearing enough layers.

Winter is over; all anyone wants right now is to be warm.

So today during lunch I am going to take my jacket off, get in my car, park it in the sun, and soak in the saturated warmth for an hour. It may not be enough warmth to protect me from the rest of my afternoon, but at least for a short while, I will be wonderfully thawed.

Time for an update

There's something about updating my life in writing—even if it's just to myself—that is soothing and tension reducing. If my thoughts aren't organized, I don't function properly. There are a lot of Harry Potter–related magical objects that I've longed to try out, but a Pensieve is one object that I think would be most beneficial for my Muggle lifestyle. Even small minds need an assistant sometimes.

Good thing I enjoy writing.

New job

• Switching from a small company to a huge company is quite the adjustment. So far most of the changes have been positive, though. The extra red tape is well worth the extra employee perks.
• It's still strange to me how nice everyone here is. Like, genuinely nice. It makes me feel guilty for forgetting almost everyone's name when they introduce themselves and welcome me to the company. I have new sympathy for teachers who have to learn hundreds of new names every semester.
• USANA is all about wellness, and it's rubbing off on me already. I bought a water purifier because I'm a little freaked out now about the stuff that's in my tap water. And I've added some stuff to my daily exercise. And I'm probably going to stop bringing in chocolate-covered raisins to snack on. :(
• I love, love being able to tell people I'm an editor and leave it at that. No lengthy explanations required. And I love working with other word nerds again. I have someone to cringe with when words are misspelled and punctuation is mispunctuated. Being a solitary nerd is fun sometimes, but it's exponentially more fun when others encourage your nerdiness.
• Speaking of nerdiness, I'm not the only one here who has read Harry Potter. Thank freakin' goodness. And I'm not the only BYU fan, either.
• My commute is only 8-ish minutes longer than my old commute. On the one hand, it's nice because I don't have to get up much earlier, but on the other hand I'm a little bummed because I was looking forward to some extra music-listening in my car.
• I need more stuff to decorate my cubicle walls with. I have much more space than I'm used to, and my two pictures and Y sticker are looking a little sad and lonely right now.

School

• I turned in my thesis on Sunday. It wasn't nearly as exciting as I thought it would be because I feel like only 1–2 of my 12 essays are publishable. Writing is hard.
• Just a few more weeks of this thing and I'll be a master. 
• That is, if I pass my teaching class. That class is a bully to me.

Apartment

• Last week they upgraded the plumbing in my apartment. All of my bathroom and closet stuff was scattered throughout my room. Every morning I had to partially reassemble my bathroom so I could get ready and then dismantle it all again before I left. For a few days, there were holes in my walls and ceilings. Then it smelled like paint. But what bothered me the most was the dust. Oh man, it drove me crazy. Everything I own was caked in it. My big Friday night plans involved eradicating that dust, and let me tell you, it was hugely satisfying.
• Last night my fridge stopped working. It's a super annoying problem to have.

Other

• I bought Words of Radiance the day it came out even though I had just barely started reading Way of Kings. (A few more days and I'll be ready for WoR.) Brandon Sanderson's mind boggles my mind. That guy could probably put the biggest Pensieve in the world to good use.
• I am quite pleased with BYU's better-than-expected NCAA tournament bid. We couldn't have asked for a better spot. (Have you seen the basketball team's reaction video? It's awesome. And hilarious. I think it will even make the BYU haters smile. Here's the video link if you want to watch it.) I'm cautiously optimistic about Thursday's match-up, even without Kyle Collinsworth.
• Yesterday it was so windy I was slightly afraid for my life.
• I forgot about St. Patrick's Day again. I think I've worn green on purpose on St. Patrick's Day exactly once in my adult life.

On my last day at work

I woke up smiling this morning. I may have even hopped around my bedroom a bit. (I have no new bruises or scrapes, though, so I can't prove that the hopping actually happened. It could have been a dream.)

I've already been through the first 4 Stages of Self-Induced Change (excitement, doubt, terror, sadness/nostalgia) and have been sitting in the impatiently-ready-to-move-on stage for several months now. Usually when something comes to an end I'm still in either the terror or sadness/nostalgia stage, and then my journal entry that night is full of soul-searching questions and/or an overload of sentimentality.

Rarely do I approach a new chapter in life feeling this prepared. I was excited to turn off my Google news alerts and stop following the health IT blogs I've collected over the past three years (I'm not even sad that I won't be reading HIStalk anymore). I cleaned out my desk yesterday thinking about where I should recycle all of my paper rather than all the memories I was tossing away.

In fact, the thought at the front of my mind isn't that my last minutes are slowly ticking away: I'm too busy thinking about how BYU's WCC tournament run is going to go (I think BYU can totally win it, in case you wanted my opinion). And when I'm going to have time to take my car in for an oil change. And the fact that I didn't utilize my spring break the way I was supposed to and only managed to complete half the catch-up homework I planned to do (which isn't bad, really).

It's a little weird being this mentally prepared for a change, actually. So prepared that there's no need for final reflection or conflicting emotions--just the driving need to officially finish up this chapter and move on.

11 things I learned from my first post-college job

My stint with my first post-college job is rapidly coming to an end. Those of you who have been reading between the lines probably guessed that I've been waiting/preparing for this for a long time (13 months, to be exact).

But as much as I've wanted out this past year, and as ready and I've been to move on, ChartLogic has been good to me and for me. When I started just over three years ago, my boss asked me a stream of get-to-know you questions, and one of them was "What is the best thing that has ever happened to you?" My first thought was "ChartLogic," but I was too embarrassed to say it out loud, so I said something like "graduating from college" instead.

The fact is, though, that my first real job changed me more than my college experience did. I'm not going to miss much about my current job other than my co-workers, but I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't acknowledge what I learned while I was here.

1. What makes a good manager. I've had four different managers, in addition to being a manager myself. I've learned that the best managers trust their employees enough to delegate, offer constructive feedback, don't blame their employees for things that go wrong, respect their employees, and are assertive enough to make changes and/or stick to their decisions when needed. A lot of people will disagree with me here, but a manager who is also a friend is a nice perk.

2. More than I care to remember about electronic health records. I knew nothing about health IT before I was hired, and now people come to me for clarification about new government requirements. I'm not by any means the most knowledgeable employee at the company, but writing over 1100 pieces of content plus the user guide makes you something of an expert.

3. How to work with people. College tried to prepare for teamwork that actually serves a purpose, but it only partially succeeded. I was fine with things like delegating and dividing responsibilities, but I still needed a lot of help in the communication department. I would worry for hours (and sometimes, days) whenever I couldn't find a way around swinging by someone's office to ask a question. My fear of approaching people was a character flaw I thought I would always have, but ChartLogic stamped most of that fear (the irrational part, at least) out of me.

4. How to be a girl (more than I was before, anyway). City girls are much more fashion conscious than small-town girls. Even though the guys outnumber the girls at least 6:1 here, the girls rubbed off on me more. Five years ago, I would have been ashamed of this, but I've morphed into a new enough creature to recognize that it's okay to not just be a girl, but to enjoy being one every once in a while. I still stay far, far, away from stiletto heels and I refuse to wear a skirt/dress unless it's absolutely necessary, but I accessorize a little more now, paint my toenails regularly, can walk in shoes with a little bit of height to them, purposefully buy clothes that are a little more exciting than my comfy, conservative drab at home, and even wear perfume and real lip stuff sometimes. (I guess I haven't completely overcome my tomboyishness, because I had a really hard time typing out that last confession.) I've even practiced that chipper attitude that girls adopt when they talk to each other, though it's exhausting and I don't plan on ever being good at it.

5. Competence. I have a strong desire to be liked, which has the dangerous side effect of making a person passive and unopinionated. Gradually, I've replaced some of my "I don't knows" with "This is what I thinks" and I've used my mad negotiating skills (former manager's words, not mine) to get my way when I felt pretty strongly that I was right. Nobody likes to work with a know-it-all, but people trust you more if you believe in yourself.

6. "It's just business, nothing personal." I don't like it, but that's the way the business world works.

7. Progress is a crucial piece of my mental well-being. I may not like change, but I am extremely unhappy if I'm stuck in the same place for too long. I need to be challenged every once in a while, otherwise I shut down. The good news is that a lot of the time I have the power to challenge myself; I don't have to wait around for someone to give me something new to do.

8. Contentment with the person I am. I don't have a lot in common with my co-workers, at least not on the sales/marketing side. And apparently if you're a girl and you like books, music, and sports, you're a bit of a freak. Several years ago these differences would have bothered me, but I've since become comfortable with the differences that make up who I am.

9. How to feel at ease in the city. I have to renew my lease again pretty soon, and I was rather surprised how happy it made me to know that I don't have to move to another city (and not just because I don't want to move all my books again). I don't know when it happened, but Midvale has become one of my homes, rather than just the place I work and sleep in.

10. The importance of having a work/life balance. I doubt I'll ever be one of those people who saves up her vacation days for three years, or who is forced to take time off. I like to be busy and productive, but I also really need my leisure time. Since I'm a writer/editor and can easily do my work away from the office, it takes a lot of mental effort to leave my work and work and enjoy other things during my time off. But that balance is crucial to my overall well-being and sleeping pattern.

11. Hard work, dependability, and humility are what get you ahead. That's all there is to it, really.

When it rains

I'm a firm believer that when inclement weather arrives on the scene, 95 percent of the time it doesn't foil your plans; it simply, shall we say, enhances the experience.

Yesterday was my company's summer party. One of my co-workers has been planning this event all month. That morning it was cloudy and 10 degrees cooler than the day before, but we moved forward with our plans nonetheless. 

At 11:00 a.m. the marketing team arrived at Big Cottonwood Park ladened down with raw meat, condiments, bags of ice, cake, coolers, and drinks. The wind was blowing approximately 50,000 miles an hour, so we anchored anything that weighed less than five pounds down with pickle jars, drinks, and plates of watermelon. Our hair blew in thousands of different directions at once, clothes threatened to part from our bodies, and the letter A on our ChartLogic cake peeled off.

But the rest of the employees arrived anyway, and became very adept at crouching over their plates while they ate to prevent the wind from whipping their burgers, chips, and cake balls away. Piling our plates with food was difficult, as we no longer had the option of putting our plates down while we loaded up. More than one of us upended our feasts that way.

Phase two of the event was a company kickball game. We were prepared to play despite the wind, but by the time everyone made it to the field the wind had finally died down. 

In its place was a light drizzle.

We divided into four teams. As the hour wore on, the rain got heavier and heavier, but the battle for 1st place only got more intense. It didn't matter that the ball was hard to catch because it was so slippery. It didn't matter that injuries were more likely due to the wet grass. We played on, and by the time the winning team put my team out of our misery (they scored at least 12 runs in the last inning), we were all thoroughly damp.

And thus I fulfilled one of my lifelong dreams; playing sports in the rain with no shoes on. Softball games are usually canceled the minute a blip of lightning appears 50 miles away, and most umpires require that athletes wear proper footwear for their own safety. But yesterday there was no thunder, no lightning, and no umpires. And, it turns out, it's kind of hard to kick with flip flops on, so I was one of four who played barefoot in the warm, summer rain.

In short, it was awesome.

Most of us returned to the office wet, exhausted, and frizzy-haired. But I would gladly relive that experience.

And today, I went grocery shopping right before the big rainstorm hit. As the cashier was ringing up my items, I watched in awe as floods of thick raindrops came pelting down on unprepared victims. I pulled out my Utah Jazz umbrella as I exited the store and walked calmly along to my car. Despite my attempts to keep both my hair and my groceries dry, each bag had taken in a lot of water by the time I finally got them in the car. My hair was still mostly dry, but my pants were making delightful galoshing noises as I put my cart away.

I felt like I had just climbed out of a swimming pool when I finally entered the welcoming arms of my apartment. I threw my clothes in the dryer, put pajamas on, and mopped up the puddles I had tracked in. I now have a full evening of Harry Potter, hot chocolate, and freshly dried clothes to look forward to.

Neither of these experiences would have made it to my blog if it had been a typical sunny, summer weekend. But when it rains, life becomes much more blog worthy.

The value of an English major

College education is under fire right now. A degree doesn't guarantee you a job after graduation. Recent graduates aren't prepared for the workforce. Tuition costs are skyrocketing. Students are drowning in debt.

Society's solution to these problems is to encourage students to major in something useful, like business or engineering. Don't waste time pursuing your passion, because there's no ROI in that.

My major, English, tops nearly every "Most Useless College Majors" list. Usually I just smirk when I read these articles. I think I've done okay with my English major, and every time someone jokes about its uselessness I enjoy using myself as an example to prove them wrong.

But I feel it's time to defend the value of an English major, and humanities in general. Aside from it actually being a fun major, there are benefits that even a money-focused society can recognize. 

Monetary value

Simply stating that the humanities make us better human beings will fall to deaf ears if I can't demonstrate its usefulness to the economy, so I'll start there.

If you're like most people, you probably think that the only thing you can do with an English major is teach or write. Teachers are notoriously underpaid, and writers--unless you're one of the rare gems of the literary world like J.K. Rowling--can't usually support themselves on book sales.

That's all the evidence most people need to conclude that an English major is doomed to an educated life of poverty. However, the skills acquired from a humanities background apply to so many fields. I'll go out on a limb here and say that an English major can qualify for more jobs than an engineering major.

Let's start with that skill we're all familiar with: writing. When I was hired at ChartLogic two and a half years ago, I knew absolutely nothing about healthcare technology. I knew nothing about marketing and sales, other than my belief that salesmen are evil. But the company wasn't looking for someone with marketing skills or healthcare knowledge. What they needed was someone who could write and who had a strong grasp of English usage and grammar. The rest could be taught.

While anyone can learn to write, only some can do it well, making writing a skill that's high in demand. Virtually every business needs a writer to write content for their website/blog. Good writers are essential for marketing collateral, business proposals, and technical materials. Editing is another skill that is applicable to many different fields, not just traditional publishing. 

Many writers have gone on to hold prestigious business positions like marketing director and editor in chief.  Others cushion their income a bit more by taking on freelance jobs for magazines, newspapers, and other businesses. Even if writing or editing isn't your forte, there are still companies that want employees that can think analytically, something humanities students excel at. And while I chose not to go this route, I applaud all those who have made it their business to make sure the next generation is literate.

It's true that most English majors won't be living in that mansion on top of the hill, but the idea that a major is only as useful as its potential for a six-figure salary is just dumb. So is the idea that a person can only do a couple of things with any given major. Education is only as useful as you make it; if you want to succeed, you'll find a way.

Societal value

I am in love  the written word, a craft that isn't getting the attention it should in schools. Without it, my life would be bland. According to this guy, 

Literature, we are told, is vitally engaged with the living situations of men and women: it is concrete rather than abstract, displays life in all its rich variousness, and rejects barren conceptual enquiry for the feel and taste of what it is to be alive.

Studies have also shown that those who read are more empathetic. In the words of one of my favorite authors, 

The ability to empathise with others is an essential ingredient in forming genuine relationships, and healthy, genuine relationships are the basis of lifelong happiness. We cannot live through everything, we cannot experience everything. But we can live our lives, listen to others, and read. Reading literature, reading deeply, fills in the gaps of personal experience. Reading makes us better, kinder, smarter, happier people.

And that's it, really. The humanities humanize us. Of course, we still need doctors, engineers, business people, tech geniuses, and yes, sales guys, but if we eliminated the word nerds, musicians, and historians because they studied Paradise Lost in college rather than economics, this world would sure be a boring, unfulfilled place to live in.

"I have all these thoughts, and I HAVE to say them!"

My boss at BYU had this grandson who wouldn't talk. When he was about five, his parents took him to "therapy," where they literally fed the kid candy whenever he said anything. That did the trick. From that point on, he wouldn't stop talking. One night, this kid and his brother were staying at Mel's house for the night, and after enduring nonstop talking for about 15 minutes, the older brother said, "Russel--I'm trying to sleep. Please stop talking!" To which Russel responded: "I have all these thoughts, and I have to say them!"

I sympathize with that kid. I know what it feels like to have your head stuffed so full of thoughts you feel like you'll explode if you don't let some of them out. Hmmmm. I just had a possibly brilliant idea. I could rename this blog "Dumbledore's Pensieve." Too much?

• I've uncovered another truth about adulthood. When I was a kid, I thought one of the great things about being an adult was that you didn't have to do anything anyone told you to do. I already learned that adults still have to do what they're told, but now I realize how much of a luxury it is to have someone to tell you what to do.
• And another realization: getting a promotion isn't all about the glory. It means you're about to be a lot more uncomfortable, all the time. At least, that's the case if you're like me and you're very unambitious when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder.
• I now understand how it's possible to get overwhelmed by emails. I check my inboxes constantly and I like them to be clean. Seeing that I have 12 unread emails makes my blood pressure rise a little. Now, all of the sudden, I am getting 100+ emails a day and it's impossible to keep up with them all. I guess I'm going to have to de-OCD my email habits.
• The parallels between my life now and my life eight years ago is just freaky.  
• Last night I learned that I do not have the correct genes required to load new staples in a staple gun.
• This morning I had an unusually mundane dream. I dreamed about getting ready for work, making breakfast, and talking to people at work about normal work things. Boring.
• I am so happy it's Friday I could . . . take a nap.

An unconventional 8-5 week

I like having an 8-5 job. I like the stability and predictability (try saying that five times fast) that comes with it. I like waking up at the same time every day, having a pretty good idea of what to expect for the day ahead.

But even for those who don't mind sitting at a desk all day, doing the same thing day in and day out can get kind of boring, even if tasks and meetings keep you busy. A field trip to Office Max or an hour-and-a-half lunch break can go a long way in breaking up the tedium just enough to keep you content with the tedium.

My week so far has deviated from the norm quite a bit, adding a few more firsts to the story of my life.

Sunday

• While Sunday is not part of the typical work week, this Sunday's normal flow was disrupted slightly due to the fact that the entire bishopric was out of town. Our elder's quorum president conducted sacrament meeting, and he looked like a freshly ordained elder who is still getting used to wearing a suit, which he hasn't quite grown into yet.

Monday

• I've written a lot of video scripts for marketing videos, and I've seen the finished products that were created from the scripts, but I've never witnessed the important middle part: shooting the video. I got to watch a real director and real actors try to impromptu their way through awkward segments. I was one of many who stood in the background, away from the lights and camera, watching the actors as they struggled to remember lines they looked at for the first time that morning. I was a bit mystified by the number of times the crew adjusted an actor's tie or told them to wipe the invisible sweat from their forehead. I am still amazed at the amount of skills and people required to create a 30-second video.
• I also had my first (and hopefully last) cameo appearance, which featured Shari and me sitting awkwardly in the background.
• I ate in a coffee shop for the first time. My curried-chicken sandwich weirded me out. People watching was fun though.

Tuesday

• July 24th--the holiday that isn't a holiday. It was a normal day for me, but not normal enough to stop the booms and pops that echoed through the darkness that night (thankfully people were done making noise by about 11:30).

Wednesday

• In honor of a departing co-worker and to welcome a new one to the crew, we went to Cafe Rio for lunch. Seriously, I don't know why I don't take real lunch breaks more often.

As for today, well, I can't believe it's Thursday already.

The careers you never heard of when you were a kid

When I was in college, I always dreaded the follow-up question to "What's your major?" After finding out I was an English major, about ninety percent of the time people would ask, "Are you going to teach, then?"

It drove me crazy. To me that said, "Oh, well English is basically a useless major, unless you plan on teaching high school or something." An unfounded accusation, yes, but that's the way I felt every time someone assumed I was going to be a teacher.

Note: I have nothing against teachers. I have a lot of respect for them, in fact, from the Gospel Doctrine instructors to the world-renowned college professors. It's just that teaching is not something I ever wanted to volunteer to do, especially in a career.

Things haven't improved much since I graduated. People still make incorrect assumptions about my career path.

But it's not their fault. American society tells us that we can be whatever we want to be, but we are still limited by what we know and understand. Most kids don't dream of becoming a data systems analyst when they grow up, for instance.

When I was in kindergarten, I concluded that I had five career paths to choose from when I grew up: teacher, bus driver, musician/athlete, doctor, and secretary. Those were the jobs I was familiar with because, for the most part, the adults I spent most of my time around fit into one of these categories. As far as I was concerned, the world didn't hold any other jobs.

When I was in fifth grade, my worldview had expanded a bit to include writer, actress/actor, computer genius, chef, janitor, seamstress, barber/hair dresser, president of the United States, and police officer.

And by high school, the career options in front of me had grown even more: interior designer, mechanic, architect, editor, lawyer, photographer, vet, interpreter. All careers that fit in nice little categories, with job descriptions that everyone understands.

It wasn't until I started searching for a post-college job that I began to comprehend just how many careers there are out there, many of which I had either never heard of before or was baffled to learn that such jobs even existed.

Take my current job title, marketing copywriter, for example. I didn't know what a copywriter was until I started applying for copywriting positions. Now I dread the automatic assumption that follows my revelation that I'm a copywriter for a company that does software for doctors' offices. It's usually either "So, you do some sort of legal work?" or "So, you write the software?" The remaining people just smile and nod, having no clue what I just said.

I am one of thousands, if not millions, of Americans who has one of those jobs that can't be adequately explained in three words or less, unless you spell out the acronym (if applicable). I wish I could just tell people that I'm a writer and be done with it, but society's traditional definition for "writer" doesn't really fit my job description.

Most of us don't dream of becoming something we've never heard of when we were kids, but that's the irony of the career world; there are far more ambiguous job titles than traditional ones available. It's one of those strange things that makes the world go 'round.

The favoritest season of all: Construction

One of the nice things about winter is that construction projects (sometimes) halt for a few months. Workers will literally stop everything mid-project when the snows come, and don't usually bother to put machinery away or move those annoying orange cones.

Did I say that was one of the nice things about winter? Hmmm.

Only, this "winter," certain people didn't abandon their projects; the work must go on, despite the weather. People need buildings to live in and buildings to work in, gosh dang it.

After spending almost two weeks in the construction zone that was my parents' house, I returned to work after New Years only to be tossed back into the construction zone that is my office building.

But, adapting to an environment, no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient it is, is part of the human code, so we adjusted.

• We continued to use the conference room / break room / storage area for meetings and soon ignored the people that would walk in to squeeze something into the fridge, make copies, or fill the room with smells of coffee.
• In what was supposed to be a short arrangement (a couple of days) but that has stretched on for months so far, others were forced to take on an office roommate and just deal with the extra conversationalist in the background when trying to demo a product or close a sale.
• Some were forced to wait 20 extra minutes for lunch because that was less scary than interrupting an important meeting taking place behind closed doors where the fridge was located.
• Every week someone says, "Where did the microwave go?!" 
• No one even reacts when the power goes out.
• Half the building is in darkness, so the support guys have to huddle in their little cubicles and do all of their work by lamplight.
• One of the elevators is accessible only to the construction guys, which means the rest of us have to either take the stairs (gasp!) or wait an eternity (about 45 seconds) for the other elevator to make the trip back to the 2nd floor.
• There is only one way in and out of the office. No more shortcuts.
• And, of course, the sounds of demolition and rebuilding are just charming. And I've heard the men's bathroom is even more charming, especially in the afternoons.

That was all before, when the construction was mostly taking place in areas we didn't need to be in.

Now, the construction has moved on to the center of our office, the hallway that divides the support/tech people from the sales/marketing/finance people, the hallway that leads to our only exit.

So now, in addition to all of the above,

• we must enter the unsteady, one-way tunnel of Sheetrock and plastic tarp whenever we want a drink or need to use the bathroom,
• the pounding just got ten times louder,
• the fire alarm goes off all the time,
• even more people have been displaced from their offices,
• and it's a lot colder in here all of the sudden.

But alas, it's hard to phase us humans, and despite the extra grumbling, the work does go on. Unfortunately.

More proof that lying is pointless

A few months back, I won a book from the Goodreads firstreads program, entitled The Secret Life of Pronouns: What Our Words Say about Us.

Now, a normal person wouldn't enter themselves in a drawing for a free copy of this book, because, believe it or not, grammar doesn't generally stimulate excitement. And seriously, what secrets could pronouns possibly have that would be remotely interesting?

I, however, am not normal; any sign of words, even discussion of the most boring words in the English language, sets off my nerd radar. So I was quite giddy when I was informed that I would be receiving a free copy of this book in 6-8 weeks.

The book proved to be a fascinating read. I think even those who don't know what a pronoun is might have been mildly interested. In a nutshell, the author, James Pennebaker (cool name, by the way), argues that the nothing words of language--pronouns, articles, etc. (that's words like "he," "them," "it," "the," and "an" for those who speak English but prefer not to classify the words into formal categories)--reflect who we are, what motivates us, and how we think. The point Pennebaker repeatedly makes is not that words shape us, but that the little words we use--not the exciting words like "firetruck," "magic," and "spontenaetousness" (my boss made that one up)--that no one notices act as sneaky mirrors into our personalities.

This means that by analyzing how often a person uses "I" or the number of times "the" is used, a computer program can determine whether the writer is male/female, happy/depressed, lying/telling the truth, a leader/follower, among other things. It's not an exact science, obviously, but that's not the point; the point is that we give people clues about ourselves all the time without even knowing it, even if we want to keep those clues hidden.

If the word analogy fails to capture your interest, here's another analogy that sort of doesn't have to do with words: handwriting.

Last night my company had its holiday party (I thought it was rather smart to have the party after the chaos of the holidays), and for our "entertainment" they invited a handwriting specialist to analyze everyone's handwriting. Simply by looking at a person's handwriting, this woman could tell you all sorts of stuff about that person, from personality quirks to religious/philosophical beliefs.

To complete this exercise, she had everyone write out a ridiculous paragraph about monkeys and purple people eaters, and then she came around and gave everyone an evaluation.

Again, it was surprisingly accurate. She knew for certain that I am stubborn, very selective about my friends, a good listener, detail oriented, and good with my hands, for example. A few of her comments were way off--like the injury that I apparently procured on my left leg years ago--but my handwriting, just like my choice of words, further betrayed me by giving someone else clues into what's really going on underneath the facade.

That little activity prompted further discussion at our table regarding other methods people use to analyze you, focusing on eyes, palms, and a variety of other things.

So basically, there is no point trying to lie or keep certain aspects of your life hidden because your brain is actively trying to betray you.

And by the way, my handwriting analysis also revealed that I am very secretive.

Long-awaited sick day

I've always been intrigued by the concept of paid vacation and sick days. Since I turned 16 and started working, I've only called in sick once (and that was my very first week at Domino's), and taking vacation days, while fun, always left me wondering how I was going to make up for the money I didn't make that week.

So naturally, I couldn't wait until I had a real job that would pay me to go on vacation and pay me to be sick. I loved the concept that you wouldn't always have to work for your pay, and that jobs with benefits would take into account that you need a day off every now and then and would pay you to do so.

It was quite exciting the first time I got a holiday off (Memorial Day) and still got a full paycheck. It was even more awesome when I played in DC for a week and still had a normal paycheck waiting for me when I got back.

Now all I needed was a sick day, and my life would be complete.

The only problem with that, though, is that technically you have to be sick to call in sick. I haven't been sick (beyond allergies, headaches, and other non-contagious stuff) since my sophomore year in college, which, shockingly enough, was four years ago. I was starting to feel invincible, and it felt pretty good to be confident in my ability to not ever get sick, even when those around me were coughing and sniffling.

Well, I guess I bragged about that a little too much, because come Halloween night, I started to feel a bit woozy. I don't know why, but this made me a little bit giddy. By the next day, I knew that this cold was for real, and I left work a little early to stock up on cold medicine, orange juice, soup, tissues, and hot cocoa mix. I was ready to experience my first paid sick day ever and it was going to rock.

Unfortunately, the next day, Wednesday, was packed with to-dos, and I wasn't about to skip out on one of my busy days (those are my favorite, by the way). So I went to work, and soon understood why people complain about being sick; it really sucks keeping up with your normal routine when your body isn't 100 percent.

Not about to repeat that experience again, I decided my best course of action for today would be to . . . stay home and sleep all day. I like to be lazy, and I finally had an excuse to milk it for all it was worth without the productive shoulder angel making me feel guilty; because really, it's hard work being sick. Simply making a trip to the bathroom or heating something up in the microwave is enough to make you a little dizzy and somewhat exhausted, so it can be argued that you did work hard enough to deserve watching that second movie.

So my sick day consisted of watching daytime television, taking naps, reading my book, and crocheting. (Although I had to watch my movie on my laptop because my darn DVD player won't play anything but Boy Meets World at the moment; that show is just too awesome to live down, and now that I'm done watching all the episodes I guess my DVD player is protesting.)

In short, my first paid sick day was supremely awesome. Even with the mountain of tissues I've gone through, the fact that my head still feels like it's trapped in a bubble, and the medicine that is doing its best to make me feel weird, it was all worth it because it allowed me to truly feed my laziness and enjoy it more than I have in a long time.

Sadly, though, I'm bringing this brief reprieve to a crashing halt tomorrow, because I have too much work to do to justify taking tomorrow off too. I'll probably hate being sick 12 hours from now, but I must admit that for today, it's been kind of awesome.

Working at home

Sometimes, I really hate having the option of working at home. If I ever do get sick enough to call in sick (which I'm kind of looking forward to, actually, because I've never had a paid sick day before), I'll probably just end up working at home because I can work just as easily from the couch as I can from my desk. I am free to leave work early when I need to, but I'll have to resume working again at home to get my hours in.

Basically, having an easily mobile job makes it very difficult to get away from work.

However, sometimes I really love being able to work at home. Today is one of those days. My boss is at a trade show until next week, I desperately needed to catch up on some sleep, and I'm having one of those weeks where I just want to curl up in my bed with a humongous teddy bear, if you know what I mean. So, I'm taking advantage of my annoying mobile office option to have a major hermit day; I have donned my ratty old Payson Lions t-shirt and pj bottoms, no way am I putting any makeup on, my hair is pulled back into a greasy ponytail (it's long enough to do that now, even with all the retarded layers), and I'm lounging on this couch with my friend, the laptop, until my work is done. The only way anyone will hear from me today will be via email or text.

And after I'm done working, I'm going to take it easy.

Email communication: crises averted

Of the many technological conveniences available to us today, email is probably my favorite. Actually, there's no "probably" about it; email helps me avert crises on a daily basis. For example:

Crisis #1 (at work). You need to ask someone a question, but don't want to do it face-to-face for at least one of several reasons: (1) You don't like the person, (2) the person is currently unavailable, (3) it will take longer to gather up the courage to interrupt someone in their "important" work than it will to shoot them an email, (4) You are too lazy to yell or leave your chair.
Crisis averted: By sending an email, you save yourself the trouble of leaving your chair and approaching someone who also doesn't want to leave their chair or who is otherwise engaged. Tone and facial expression are also absent, so it is harder for the person to detect that you don't like them.

Crisis #2 (at church). During Relief Society, someone bubbly announces that the month is almost over and that it is time to call your visiting teaching supervisor and confirm that you were awesome enough to encroach on someone's personal life for a half hour.
Crisis averted: Half the time I don't know who my visiting teaching supervisor is, and if I only communicate with them through email, then chances are they won't know who I am either, which reduces the likelihood of them hunting me down. And, coming from a person who has been a VT supervisor twice, the supervisor will love you for reporting your success/failure without taking any of their time, and they really will leave you alone.

Crisis #3 (anywhere): Someone delivers a brilliantly concocted insult and you have no comeback.
Crisis averted: Email gives you the extra time you need to fabricate a few well-chosen words, even if the insult wiped your mind blank during its initial delivery. Of course, this only works when someone insults you via email, though sending the offending person an "oh yeah?" email isn't a complete waste of time.

Crisis #4 (at work): You work with words and information on a regular basis, which requires you to not only read a lot, but to be all-knowing.
Crisis averted: The email attachment feature is a godsend.

Crisis #5 (anywhere): You need to give a large group of people the same information.
Crisis averted: This one is pretty self-explanatory unless you're 80 years old and have never used a computer before.

Imagine the dilemmas you will be faced with in the event that your email provider fails you: people will have to be confronted, ancient means of sharing information (i.e., paper) will have to be used to distribute information, and a lot of "I don't knows" and "I'll have to get back to you on thats" will replace your brilliantly constructed (and grammatically correct) dialogue.

Actually, what really happens is this: deadlines are missed, vital communication doesn't happen, work-at-homers get lost in the vortex of loneliness, and we all sit in the dark, frustrated that our perfectly legitimate excuses for laziness are no longer valid but secretly glad that we can blame our inactivity on inefficient technology.

That wonderful summer-fall transition

It came as a shock to me when I realized that thousands of kids got up extra early this morning, donned fresh new clothes, and posed for yet another first-day-of-school picture. My baby sister entered the gilded halls of high school this morning (and "gilded" isn't too much of an exaggeration; Salem Hills High is the nicest/hugest high school I've ever set foot in--much more classy than Payson High School), and college students (including my little brother! I'm getting so old) are bidding farewell to their lackluster summer jobs and/or exciting internships/study abroad opportunities, or are frantically trying to relax after an intense bout of summer school before starting all over again in the fall.

Despite saying goodbye to late nights and sunny, carefree days, it feels good to shed superfluous leisure and don productivity and hard work once more. Friends are reunited/introduced, stories are exchanged, and a whole new set of adventures begins.

It's an exciting time of year, is it not?

Of course, I didn't experience any of that this week. I didn't relish my Saturday night as my last night without the feeling of impending doom. I didn't sharpen my pencils, organize my folders and notebooks, review my schedule, or lay out a brand new outfit to wear the next day. I went to bed at a normal time last night without the typical start-of-school angst, woke up groggy this morning (my dreams were very vivid last night), and somehow managed to make it through yet another morning routine without climbing back into bed. It was a typical Monday, following a typical weekend.

But the end-of-summer buzz didn't completely pass me by; it got me as I was doing my usual pre-work reading (which tends to take a lot longer on Mondays). Despite its short tenure, I am not sad to see summer bow out; I love the summer-fall transition. This time of year just might even be better than Christmas, partly because the anticipation for the holidays starts at about this point.

Even for old people like myself, fall brings exciting changes, one of those being fall sports (football in particular). In the past I haven't been a huge football fan; I would watch the BYU-Utah game and the Superbowl, but that was about it. In high school I wanted to go to the football games not so I could watch the games, but so I could be a part of the social atmosphere. (And I'm sure I'm not the only one; Payson football hasn't been good since . . . it's never been good.)

Thanks to the NBA lockout and my steady 8-5 job, I've never been so excited for football to start. I still don't understand a lot of the rules, and I usually only cheer or groan because everyone else is doing it, but there's something about watching a football game as the air starts to get a little nippy and the leaves are changing colors that makes the whole experience fresh and exciting.

So, farewell summer and welcome back fall! (I say this while trying to ignore the fact that it's supposed to hit 100 degrees later this week . . .)

Slackers, spontaneity, and responsibility

I had one of those "I wish I were still in school" moments this morning. I have had surprisingly few of those moments since I graduated, and the "moment" I had this morning had nothing to do with sitting in a classroom and enjoying an intense literary discussion.

No, the thing I missed most about school this morning was the freedom I had to skip class whenever I chose. Possibly because we have a three-day weekend coming up, every day this week has felt like at least two, and I'm not sure what is keeping me going. Maybe the Snickers bar I just consumed. Back when I was in school, I would have solved this dilemma by eliminating the problem--taking a day off from school for no reason other than that was what I felt like doing at the moment.

Granted, I do have a more flexible job than most career goers out there, but it's not that flexible. Skipping an entire day's work, even if it's for no legitimate reason, takes a lot more planning, which tends to ruin the spontaneity of being a slacker.

That's one of the bummers of entering adulthood, I've found. Despite all the wonderful freedoms and opportunities offered to you, you are more restricted by the responsibilities that come with those new benefits.

However, I think Fridays will allow us some leniency. Seeing as it's 1:00 and eerily empty and quiet around here (and I have a feeling a lot of people will not be returning from their lunch breaks), I think I'll have many opportunities to sink back into my slacker mode every now and then.