I’m Julie Stiles Mills, a consultant, trainer, coach, worship leader, speaker, incurable bibliophile, theology nerdess, and exploring writer who’s passionate about helping people live an abundant life through an intimate, living, dependent relationship with God.
This list is a work in progress, so watch the number in the title and check out the additions when it increases!
1. Why Julie Stiles Mills? Seriously. Do you have any idea how many “Julie Mills” there are out there?
2. I sort my m&m’s by color before I eat them. Every time.
3. I didn’t drink coffee until I was 30 years old. What was I thinking?
4. I have one husband (affectionately referred to on the internet as “FirstHusband“, (sometimes promoted to “FavoriteHusband”), one son (FavoriteSon), one daughter (PinkGirl), two black cats (Boo and Bob), 5 fish, one minivan, hundreds of books and (what is that, like 7 things?)
UPDATE: In Fall of 2014, we lost both Boo and Bob two weeks apart from each other – to the day. Boo died from a burst abdominal abscess and Bob died from a blood clot. Given our affinity for black cats, we adopted a black kitten and named him Perry the Catypus (inspired by the Disney show Phineas and Ferb) because, when he’s not actively interacting with us, he disappears and we found ourselves constantly asking each other where the kitten was.
5. I can’t cook without a recipe. (unfortunately ownership of many cookbooks does not translate to home cooked meals every night.)
6. Whenever I begin saying “A job worth doing is worth doing well.” My children roll their eyes and finish saying it with me. Even in their sleep.
7. Had my first mammogram on January 16, 2008. Moved off my butt to get it done by my friend/my daughter’s teacher, who was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer. (she’s in remission) Are you at “that age” (and female) and haven’t had a mammogram yet? STOP reading this blog, pick up the phone and make the appointment. ya big baby.
8. I’m a vocalist. I’ve led worship and I’ve sung at churches, retreats, weddings, even funerals. Been singing since I can remember. When I was a young teenager, I could imitate Karen Carpenter. Sounded just like her. (It takes a LOT of practice.) I can’t do it anymore. I just sound like me now. These days, I mostly record covers. Am I any good? I’ll let you decide. Click here to listen.
9. It took me 9 years to get my undergraduate degree. Besides the fact that I worked full time and went to school two nights a week (for YEARS), I changed my major 5 times: vocal performance, music education, journalism, radio television and finally – organizational communication. Then I got my MBA in 22 months (it was a lockstep program).
10. I don’t own ANY pink or purple articles of clothing. No lime green either. Or bright yellow. Or Aqua. Or Teal.
11. When I make a sandwich, the lunch meat is always touching the slice of bread covered with mustard. The cheese is always touching the slice of bread with the mayonnaise on it. Any other ingredients go in between the lunch meat and the cheese. I don’t know why, but this is very important.
12. My favorite rose is called Whiskey Mac. It’s a peachy rose color and smells WONDERFUL. Whenever I find a Whiskey Mac rose bush, I buy it. I plant it. It produces beautiful roses for one season. Then, it dies.
13. I can’t finish the book Atlas Shrugged. I’ve tried. Can’t do it.
14. I believe . . . (yes, I like the blue collar guys). I believe that when a stay at home mom is asked what she “does all day” she should smile sweetly and ask: “Between the bubble baths and pedicures?” while trying desperately NOT to roll her eyes.
15. My favorite time on a digital clock is 11:11 – a.m. or p.m.
16. I have four big, beautiful, green plants on my back porch. They are all silk. The real plants turned into brown paper. every. time. It turns out, you have to water real plants. UPDATE: Not anymore.
17. One of the first things I do when I come home from ANYWHERE is remove ALL my jewelry. Whenever I forget to put my wedding rings, I say I “forgot to get married.”
18. I refuse to read a fiction book series until the author has finished writing every book in the series.
19. I once caught a shark. I was saltwater fishing with FirstHusband (LastFiance at the time). It’s been a long time, but if I remember, shark actually tastes pretty good.
20. FirstHusband and I used to own a boat (pre-kids) which we named, “The Briar Patch.” It was only about 19 feet, but it was enough for us. UPDATE: To date, we’ve owned 3 boats. The current one is a 25 foot, twin engine named “Reel Time.”
21. I like “clean” food. Not really a “sauce” person. Especially sweet sauces. Or thick sauces. FirstHusband is a sauce man.
22. I almost ALWAYS order salad with dressing on the side. I don’t care for salad soup, where there’s a puddle of salad dressing at the bottom of the bowl when I’m finished. Instead, I dip my fork in the little bowl of dressing before using it to stab some salad. At home, I can measure and add just the right amount , so it’s no big deal.
23. I love mushrooms. In anything. Cooked or raw.
24. I hate salmon. I went to London on an MBA class trip and was inundated with salmon everywhere we went. My classmates were convinced I would like it if I tried it baked. or grilled. or smoked. or poached. or whatever. I finally refused with: “How much salmon do I have to try before you people will believe I DON’T LIKE SALMON?”
25. Sometimes, when we go out to dinner, I ask FirstHusband to “surprise me” and place my order for me. When I’ve made enough decisions for the day – or maybe for the week – and I just don’t want to make even one more, no matter how small, he graciously does this for me. Knowing my anti-sauce, anti-salmon, dressing on the side and mushroom preferences, among other things, he always does a GREAT job.
26. My favorite Weird Al song is a toss up between Hardware Store and White and Nerdy. I prefer the student made video of Hardware Store to the official. And I prefer the green screen behind the scene video of White and Nerdy with Donny Osmond dancing in the background over the finished official.
27. On April 30, 2009, after more than 15 years of dealing with fibroid tumors, 3 surgeries, keloid scarring and 2 years of anemia, I finally had a hysterectomy. NO regrets! (Kept the ovaries, they never did anything to me, so I left them alone.)
28. Since it was (hopefully) my LAST abdominal surgery, I decided I wanted a better looking scar this time. I asked my GYN if she would consider a tandem surgery with a plastic surgeon and she gave me a referral – no more keloid!
29. Yes. It hurt. But Percoset was GREAAAAT! And by the time I finished with the Percoset (started driving again), FOUR ibuprofen tablets did the trick. UPDATE: I don’t know why I included this in my list. I must have been high on Percoset. 🙂
30. I would rather eat a Brussel sprout than a Peep. bleh. It’s like goo with glitter on it. and again. bleh.
31. I have absolutely no problem, however, purchasing Peeps for the sole purpose of blowing them up in the microwave. After seeing this on facebook, we’ll be new to “Peep Jousting” in 2012. As Larry the Cable Guy would say, “I don’t care who ya are, that’s funny right there.”
and a fitting end to a Peep in my opinion.
32. My preferred drink with pizza is milk.
33. I like a little pizza (or spaghetti) under my pile of Parmesan cheese.
34. I rarely watch TV. But those Hallmark Christmas movies are like a magnet. It’s gotta be an “opposites attract” kinda thing.
35. can’t complete a thought, much less this list of thin . . .